The best metaphor for describing my experience studying abroad in Cape Town and volunteering at Etafeni is bungee jumping. I chose this as my metaphor because nothing as exhilarating as bungee jumping can really capture everything that’s happened so far. Also most of us have either bungee jumped or stood on the bridge and watched us jump, so I hope this metaphor is relatable for you all.
The metaphor has two levels to it. First, I’m going to talk about experience of studying abroad in Cape Town in general. Second, I’m going to delve into specific concepts I’ve dealt with at Etafeni.
Here’s an overview of the bungee process (which I’ll soon describe more in detail).
-Ledge
-Initial Free Fall
-Rest & Rebound, followed by a duration of gradually decreasing oscillation
-Finally the Ascent back to the bridge
The first part is the ledge. This is the part where the anxiety really starts building up as I look over the ledge and see what exactly I’m getting myself into. My friends are cheering my name just like the way my family and friends are saying their goodbyes and wishing me good luck. In other words, reality has hit me on the plane ride over and I have come to the realization that I am leaving the States for the first time ever. The uncontrollable feeling of excitement and anxiety I got from looking out the plane window is not that different from that feeling I get from looking over the ledge.
The second part is the free fall, or the 5 unforgettable seconds where everything just rushes to my head. My heart is pumping adrenaline throughout my body and all I feel is fear. Despite being surrounded by the beautiful natural landscape, all I can think about is whether I’m going to be alive in the next few minutes. Being in a new country and cultural context, I bombard myself with all types of questions, trivial or serious: from “How do I get around in this unfamiliar city?” to “How do I feel about being the only Asian American in a 20 mile radius and how is that causing me to be more conscious of my race?” or “from How will group dynamics play out?” to “What were those metal shacks I drove by and do people really live in them?”
The rest and rebound phase is the period of oscillation and the end of adjustment. After that first bounce, I realize my time bungeeing is almost up. This was the same feeling I had when we reached the midpoint of this program. As a result, I began trying to make the most out of it by cramming in as many goals and activities as I can: bungee jumping, exploring a safari on a ATV (without knowing how to drive…), or even teaching as many computer lessons as I can to the Income Generation Project women. While bungeeing, there is also this beautiful natural silence that surrounds you. Being here in Cape Town has given me a space to reflect on my privilege and power, something that I would not normally do back at home when I’m too ingrained in my usual routine.
Finally is the ascent phase when Marshall descends like a heavenly host and slowly brings me back up. I look around and begin wishing I could relive the whole experience all over again. Needless to say, this is word for word how I feel about studying abroad in Cape Town. And of course, how can I describe to my family and friends what the experience was like? Watching the live video of me diving from the bridge does not capture the full extent of the experience just as looking at my Facebook photos does not give a holistic image of my experience here.
So now I would like to talk more about understanding bungee jumping as a metaphor for understanding some service learning concepts I’ve dealt with.
The first concept is border crossing. Every time I visit Etafeni, I feel like I’m tied to a bungee cord. I am able to delve into the Nyanga community which is a socially constructed space I would not normally operate within due to socio-economic differences. The cord allows me to interact with the Other. However, it also acts as a force that pulls me back. This refers to the ingrained mindset we all have which reinforces spacial divides based on race, class, gender, etc. No matter how warm and welcome I feel at Etafeni, there is an invisible force that makes me associate Obz with my real home. A radical solution would be to cut the cord. If I’m being honest with myself, I would have say that I have not been able to do this, but some people have begun doing this by hanging out with the people they have met at their placements outside of the placement like Nika and the Fit for Life, Fit for Work students at Mizoli’s.
The second concept is reciprocity. In order for you to oscillate, you have to pull on the cord and the cord has to pull on you. Similarly, if service is to be a rewarding experience, there must be a mutual exchange present. I taught some of the women from the Income Generation project computer literacy, and in return, they showed me their art of beading and sewing. Through this bidirectional flow of knowledge, we are able to establish trust and repertoire with one another - which are critical to the success of any project.
*The third concept is swapping roles. When you bungee jump, you are told to jump off the bridge in a swan diving form. Basically, you’re upside down for part of the time, but then when you swing up, you’re right side up again. It’s this whole process of you going from right side up to upside down until the cord finally stops swinging and you just hanging there upside down. This was precisely how I felt at Etafeni with regards to my power. There were times when I felt my status as the oppressor very clearly, such as whenever I interviewed creche principals and they would surrender their chair and desk to me while they sat on a child’s chair. But then there were also times when I was thrown to the bottom of the power relation, such as when I was building vegetable gardens in someone’s backyard and pedestrians would just stare at me while I sat on the ground covered in dirt and sweat, struggling to saw in half a plank of wood. In the end, I was left hanging upside down. I gained critical insight into the way power relations operate in every little interaction we have with people. Breaking down these power imbalances is not an easy step, but realizing that they exist in the first place, I believe, is the first step.
*I didn’t get to this part in the presentation.
Overall, I think bungee jumping is a powerful metaphor for my experiences here in Cape Town and at Etafeni. The same way we temporarily dive off a bridge into a serene abyss, we dive into South Africa and our respective placements with excitement and wonder.
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