travel log | cape town 2004

Sundries

My weekend was great. This blog makes my time here look like it's all depressing and challenging, but sometimes it's just plain fun. Friday night some friends and I hosted a Shabbat dinner for about twenty five people. Yours truly made matzo ball soup and noodle kugel and roasted two chickens and fried up some blintzes. Be impressed. Then on Saturday I hiked up Table Mountain -- the big beautiful mountain that is the backdrop to this fine city -- and then I hiked back down. Saturday night we had a little BBQ/party at the hostel where we stay, and it was funny because our professors came and made it awkward for everyone, but hey -- the effort was cute. Sunday was the Jewish museum and Scrabble. A nice weekend, overall.
I've been following the developments in the States with the proposed Marriage Amendment, and I find it rather sickening. The fact that it's political suicide to support gay marriage is truly troubling. (The Vice President's daughter is a very outspoken lesbian, yet same sex marriage is a threat to the American family?? Whose family? The Cheneys?) It's especially interesting reading about this while I'm here, learning about -- among other things -- the very impressive South African Constitution. If I may quote section 9.3 of the Bill of Rights of the Republic of South Africa (the italics are my own):
The state may not unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds, including race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language, and birth.
Yep. Protection against discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation is enshrined in the South African Constitution (the only one in the world to have such a clause). Too bad the USA's Bill of Rights is not nearly so specific. But honestly -- using a Constitution to roll back rights is abominable, not to mention impractical.
I found out today that my Poverty & Development professor is planning on running for president of Zimbabwe in two terms. He's completely brilliant (not to mention charming, articulate, incredibly knowledgeable, and articulate). He's experiencing a lot of problems in Zimbabwe, where he uses his lectures at the University of Zimbabwe to openly criticize Mugabe's repressive government. Apparently Mugabe's government have made life very difficult for him and his family, and he's even been to jail a couple of times. It's actually pretty scary, since they say most people who try to run against Mugabe can expect to end up dead.
One of the interesting things I've noticed here is the surprisingly non-reciprocal relationship between African-American students and native African students. The African-Americans seem to align themselves with the black Africans, and often (but not always) view the white South Africans rather disdainfully. Contrariwise (love that word), the black Africans seem to see the white South Africans more as their fellow citizens, in a "we've all been through this together and have to heal" kind of way, while they look at African-Americans as Westernized foreigners, who have no understanding of their experience. They even seem to resent it sometimes when the African-Americans try to speak for them, as if they can relate. One of my friends, who is a black South African, said that while white America is conditioned to have a fear of black men (through media, etc), she is as well, since her only images of African-American men comes from crime shows, sensationalized news, and the like. Surprising, yet it makes sense.

// posted by LF @ 5:41 PM