I would have never thought that I
would have learned life lessons in just a few short days from a stranger but I
am so grateful to say that I did. It all began in Ocean View. I really was
unsure of what to expect. I was trying to keep as open as a mind as possible
but still preconceived notions crept in. I knew that the history of the
township was a sorted one. It was, and still predominantly is, comprised of
those who were classified colored and forcibly removed from their homes under
apartheid. With this knowledge in the back of my mind I began to picture the
homes we would be staying in. Would it be an informal settlement? A shack made
of tin or any other material available? My mind was running wild with all of the
possibilities. Needless to say I was quiet surprised when I actually arrived
there.
My host mom Shireen greeted me with
open arms exclaiming how happy she was to have us at her home and that she’d
been looking forward to it for quite sometime. She had an infectious laugh that
I can still her when I think of her. I was particularly interested to
experience what living with a Muslim family would be like. When we brought up
religion Shireen talked about how everyone regardless of religion is connected
and when we pray, we all pray to the same God. One of my favorite things she
said was just as she would not want someone else telling her what to believe
and how to live her life, she would never do that to another person. I respect that
belief a great deal and my admiration of her grew during that conversation.
I thought that living with a Muslim
woman for a few days would be a culture shock and I was pleasantly surprised to
find that we are all far more similar than we would think. We both shared a
love of American television- talking about Oprah and Dr. Oz, complained about
how we can never eat just one potato chip and past the nights playing
solitaire. Shireen noticed the cultural similarities and pointed it out that we
are all so much more similar than we would have thought at first and it is our
belief that we are different from one another than causes conflict. As a
political science and human rights student, I have found that in my studies it
is very easy to become accustomed to seeing people as us vs. them. When
studying conflict or human rights abuses, it is of course heartbreakingly sad
but I don’t often then think about it in terms of myself. However after just a
few short days with Shireen the concept that we have far more things in common
than we do differences is a lesson I will take with me for the rest of my life.
The final life lesson I learned from
Shireen was about materialism and valuing your possessions. Shireen’s home was
modest compared to American standards but she had such pride in it. She talked
about how she worked to buy her own house and had done so by the time she was
25. She spoke of the importance of working for everything she had and wanted.
Though her home was by no means cluttered everything she owned had significance
and purpose. She acknowledged that she was by no means wealthy but that she had
everything she could possibly want and if not then she was working towards it.
One of the things she said that really stuck out to me was that if a person has
anymore than what they need then they should donate their money to charity
because there are other people who do not even have the bare minimum and by
continuously collecting material things they lose their meaning. This powerful
sentiment is something that I have always believed but rarely practiced. Not to
generalize, but as an American I believe that we live in a society of extreme
capitalism where there is never a thing too big, too new, too much. Taking a
step back to a simpler way of living actually made me feel more at peace.
Everything had meaning and life was not cluttered by the materialization of
social status. As my time in Cape Town continues and I think about life at
home, this is a lesson I will for sure take back with me.
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