Grahamstown has been my home for the past five months. Before seeing the town myself, I was warned that it would be a lot smaller than anything I had experienced before. So needless to say, I came in not knowing what to expect. Grahamstown is about 130km (80 miles) from Port Elizabeth (the airport I flew into after Johannesburg). The last 45 minutes of the drive is absolutely breathtaking. Grahamstown is surrounded by beautiful hills and trees and it really is a stunning drive. The town was a lot bigger than I was expecting, but I was also only expecting three or four blocks past the university. Grahamstown is definitely a university town and could not survive without Rhodes.
My first impression on Grahamstown was a bit skewed. I think I have 20+ hours of traveling and my American paranoia to blame for that. My first week in Grahamstown was very eye opening. I was not use to seeing so many people just sitting on the sidewalks or so many beggars following us. Since unemployment is a large problem in South Africa, some have turned to self-employment. One of the largest forms of self-employment is car parks. A car park is someone who watches your car and then you have to pay them. While I think it's great that people have found ways of earning money, it was definitely a new sight to see. By no means would I say I was scared walking around town when I first arrived, but I was weary to say the least.
After five months of living in this town, I have found beauty in the simplicity. Grahamstown has a very laid back style of living and Africa time is the standard here. Everything in town shuts down from 12-14:00 (including the university) and some stores decide their hours based on the day. After living in Boston the past three years, such a relaxed climate was one of the largest culture shocks I experienced. While it is rare for me to go anywhere in town without at least five people asking me for money, I no longer feel uncomfortable or afraid walking around.
I have often found that it is when I am walking alone in town that I truly realize how beautiful the town really is. By not having a companion to walk with, I find myself looking at the buildings and the people as I meander about. Despite the buildings being a bit run down, it amazes me to think of how much those buildings have lived through. Many of my favorite places in town have been reverted from old buildings during colonial times. One of my favorite coffee shops was an old prison. The town has so much character and and is a very unique community.
This isn't to say that the town is without its problems, and five months of living here has illuminated them. First, it is impossible to escape the poverty that exists in Grahamstown. From my residence hall, I could see the townships up on the hill. Or walking through town, I am often confronted with children asking for money or men digging through the garbage. Economic inequality runs rampant in Grahamstown. The town is extremely divided with homes and schools near the university tending to be much more prestigious and larger, and only a few blocks away you can see the beginning of the townships. One of the second largest problems the town faces is the ineffectiveness of resources. Multiple times this semester the town has lost power or water for hours or even up to days. And finally, the third problem I experienced here was crime. Luckily it was very rare, but there were a few occasions where I would be talking to a friend outside a restaurant or bar and I would turn around to find a man's hand in my purse. I was very fortunate not to have anything stolen while I was here, but I cannot say the same for the rest of my friends. Despite the flaws of the town, I can honestly say I have fallen in love with Grahamstown.
After spewing on about why I love this town so much, here is a brief history!
Grahamstown (Afrikans: Grahamstad) is a town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa and is in the Makana municipality. The population (as of 2003) was 124,758. The population of the surrounding areas, including the actual city was 41,799 of which 77.4% were black, 11.8% coloured, 10% white, .7% Asian. It is stated that the city proper has an overwhelming white majority, while the neighboring townships have a black and coloured majority. However, I would say that the city proper is where most, if not all of the whites live, but it is not a white majority. I would say in my experience it is about 50/50 between whites and blacks in the city proper, and then the further you go from the university, the more black dominant the city becomes.
The town was founded in 1812 as a military outpost by Lieutenant-Colonel John Graham as part of an effort to secure the eastern frontier of British influence in the Cape Colony against the Xhosa, whose lands lay just to the east.
In 1904, Rhodes University College was established in Grahamstown through a grant from the Rhodes Trust. In 1951 it became a full-fledged University, Rhodes University. Today it provides a world-class tertiary education in a wide range of disciplines to over 6,000 undergrad and postgraduate students.
Grahamstown is also known as the "city of saints" due to its abundance of religious affiliations. Grahamstown has Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Ethiopian Episcopal, Methodist, Baptist, Pinkster Protestant, Dutch Reformed, Charistmatic, Apostolic, and Pentecostal churches. There are also regular meeting places for Hindus, Scientologists, Quakers, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Muslims.
Grahamstown is home to the National Arts Festival ("Fest") which takes place the end of June/ beginning of July every year. It is one of the largest festivals in South Africa!
Here is a chart about schools in Grahamstown:
[In case you cannot read the beginning it states: Grahamstown is the only city in South Africa whose primary commerce sector is that of education. Whilst this statistic is surely abetted by the high cost of the private schools and the relatively small population, it has a remarkable number of schools per capita. Of these, some of the more privileged schools are listed below]
I could not have picked a better school or town to introduce me to the magic of South Africa. Grahamstown will always be the place where I fell in love with this country.
(And a picture of the Rat, where I proudly knew every bartender... and they knew me)
No comments:
Post a Comment