email to a friend

below is an email I sent a friend in Gburg earlier this week. obviously edited a little bit, it contains some feeling and reflection on the whole experience thus far.

yoooo remember that email that we talked about last week? well this is it. haha i apologize if there is just way too many mediums of communication going on between us right now. haha

the entire time here has just been overwhelming. to start, the plus the 'skin' movie really gave us a surreal intro into the whole apartheid theme. and since then everyone that has come in to talk about issues such as AIDS, gender equality, housing, teenage fatherhood they're all experts and work with orgs that deal specifically with those issues. and of course our own AD who is just awesome and has lectured us on the history, apartheid and another one on staff talked about economic issues. and we don't just learn it in the classroom but we go out and actually see the reality behind it.

I mean every country has their own issues but the way we are learning about them is just incredible. I haven't even looked at the Philippines in this way although I know a lot about the issues that are going on, etc. what I like about this program is that we are supposed to process these experiences. its just so surreal and I like it. looking at another third world country esp in Africa. I really like it. our experiences outside of the lecture room also have been a great learning experience. everyone experiences different adjustments and maybe difficulties in understanding why african families practice certain things but it has overwhelmingly been a positive response by everyone.

I enjoy dealing with our homestay families, neighbors and the other locals. the neighbors are great too. the staff described this place to us as not the safest at night but everyone's friendliness makes us all feel very safe. and for most of the group here, are very surprised at how tight-knit the community is as compared to the individualism in the US. communities are dying in the US and most real communities exist in the third world.

everything combined has just been a lot to take in so soon. we are encouraged to keep a daily reflective blog on whatever we learned or experienced and will be given a grade on it. needless to say i have not been keeping up. haha everyone here keeps a personal journal and is lagging with the reflective blog. I am just not a very reflective person and live in the 'now' so much that its hard to keep any sort of journal so I don't have a personal journal. I'd rather talk about these things with someone else.

also I'm very happy with the group of people and staff. Our AD is just incredible, funny in an old man way and is fun when we're out of the classroom. being with college kids definitely makes him feel younger. we also have a "mom" on staff and a logistics coordinator who are great as well. everyone in the group is also nice and everyone gets along well. I think that these first weeks would suck if everyone felt overwhelmed and no one got along. group cohesion just creates good dialogue between all of us to share thoughts, etc. I believe that the group consensus is that we are all very happy with the program staff and the people in the program!

haha alright this is a long-ass email already. haha take your time reading it :p just a lot of thoughts and feelings haha tell you more about the weekend some other time!