expecations

Having now read most of the blogs, it seems like a big theme of the trip so far is expectations. I even touched on this in my last/first entry. It is amazing how, as human beings, we formulate so many anticipations for the future. I think this is relevant even in daily life, as I have expectations for how practically every day, week, or month will go, whether its business as usual or something spectacular (like this trip). Moreover, I have felt like I am practically retracing the steps of last years trip, having listened to the same lecturer, visited the same museum, and gone to the same market area. Thus, I feel that I am especially susceptible to allowing my expectations to take over my senses and not directly experiencing what is going on around me. I am working hard to be mindful of this, which is a really interesting exercise.

Today we had the first classroom component of our trip, which was fun. Zwelethu, our lecturer, is a really engaging speaker with a lot of really cool history. I did, however, feel a little ignorant, as I am really rusty with my history. I think I was even a little sharper last year on these topics. Regardless, he had a lot of cool things to say and presented the history in a really comprehensive way. I really wish we would have had more time to discuss the lecture, however. We broke for lunch immediately, and I feel that information like this gets lost pretty quickly when you don't immediately stop and consider the take home messages. Additionally, this was my first chance to be a teacher in the classroom, and I was sad at the lost opportunity to try facilitating discussion. I am sure there will be more chances though. I wrote down some questions I wanted to ask, so I will save them for Friday, when we have alloted discussion time.

Overall, the first two days have gone by quickly. Reading the blogs, I sense that the rest of the group is getting restless for the township stuff. I have mentioned a couple times how that part of this trip is really intense, so maybe I am setting them up for it. This trip has a really interesting design, in which we get comfortable in the parts of South Africa that are really familiar. We are purposely staying away from the stuff that is really controversial. I love how this illuminates the poverty that we will see. It shows how society is full of contradictions, which are enshrouded in an organically evolved culture that reinforces them. Just like in nature, everything fits into its context perfectly. Every element of the universe is interconnected and in complete, uninterrupted dialogue with everything else. I hope I can impart a sense of this transcendence to the students, as I feel this is something critical to a deeper understanding of our personal experiences and our role as societal leaders, regardless of the immediate context.