The Very First Day

Hello from Johannesburg!

Everyone (eventually) triumphed over some inclement weather challenges leaving DC and we've arrived at Gandhi's Backpackers in Joburg. Today was a great first day! The weather was sunny & beautiful today here (it's the middle of summer in the Southern hemisphere), which is a welcome change.

First, we visited Constitution Hill, where we toured an apartheid-era prison. Gandhi was actually imprisoned there for about 7 months total between 1908-1913 for organizing Indians in South Africa to resist laws requiring them to carry laborious identification passes everywhere. We also visited the South African Constitutional Court, known for upholding landmark human rights cases since it began in 1996, including abolishing the death penalty, legalizing same-sex marrriage nationally, voting rights for prisoners, and access to suitable housing and healthcare.

We picniced in a beautiful park before heading to the Apartheid Museum, famous for being the most comprehensive & well-done tribute to the historical significance of institutionalized racial segregation - literally "apartness" - in South Africa. There happened to be an extensive temporary exhibition chronicaling the life of the one and only Nelson Mandela, who has recently returned from the hospital (supposedly recovering well from a lung infection) to the village where he was born, Qunu.

More adventures to come - everyone was a bit tired when we left the Apartheid Museum, but hopefully by tomorrow we'll all be well-adjusted.

Sending lots of love from our whole group!!