Look at me now.

Well, everyone at Tiger Tiger seemed to appreciate my dance moves.  I went out Tuesday night for Megan’s birthday, and we had a blast. Ish took us to Claremont (and yes, I did tell him about Clairmont, Georgia) to check out the South African club scene. Instead of spotting frat stars and athletes, I spotted spiked hair and unbuttoned shirts—not my personal favorite, but I’m trying to appreciate the cultural difference. There are a few guys in Athens (cough Chase Vasser cough) who could easily rock their hair gel and V-neck shirts here. My favorite reminder of the classic city took place about twenty minutes into the night when I made my dancing debut with AnnaBeth and Megan on the “girls only” stage to “Waka Waka” by Shakira. Chris Ramanauskas (AKA: Romo) and I also broke it down to Chris Brown and Lil Wayne, hence the blog title today.



Thanks for plenty of practice, Bourbon Street.



We didn’t get back until 4:30ish, but that didn’t keep us from skyping with my hilarious and insightful sister. Here’s your shout out, hope you enjoy it! I’m really missing everyone back home, especially since I missed Christian Robinson’s 21^st birthday. Love and miss you, Crob!

I didn’t just dance and skype that night; I also did a little schoolwork when I got home at 4:30 A.M., the most productive time of day. I had to review my strengths assessment and answer questions about our guest speaker from the University of Western Cape. She reviewed the history of apartheid in South Africa and went into great detail about the forced movements of colored and black people. The Group Areas Act of 1950, the Separate Amenities Act of 1953, and the Separate Representation of Voters Act of 1956 in South Africa remind me so much of the segregation problems that led to the Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968) in the United States. Did you know that the South African government used to put a pencil through someone’s hair to determine if he/she were white, black, or colored? It breaks my heart to hear such personally traumatizing stories of interracial inequality, and it blows my mind to know that such extreme ideas of white superiority existed on both sides of the globe. Although apartheid and segregation are technically and legal over, we still have a long way to go.

A man by the name of Ghamza Adams, interviewed by the professor who spoke to us on Tuesday, said that “justice was not done” when he received his restitution rights from the South African government at the fall of apartheid. Another interviewee said that “Restitution cannot undo the past. It cannot transform this city.” I hope and pray that we will be able to make some sort of a transformation, no matter the scale, to this incredible city and amazing country.

Dr. Wolf's lighthouse view, no big deal!

I spent yesterday morning cooking breakfast with my community group and running around the resort to take ridiculous pictures for a scavenger hunt designed by Global L.E.AD. interns Dustin Harris and Matt Fornito. The winner gets to have a private lunch with Vince and Barbara Dooley! They’ll be here next week.

Ben (AU), Romo (UGA), Carey (UGA), Sarah Lawton (AU), Carey (Wake)

P.S. I took a big step outside of my comfort zone and drank champagne on our sunset cruise last night! Don’t worry, it’s legal here so my future politician reputation is still clean. I had approximately two sips of champagne and one sip of white wine, with a sour look on my face the entire time. Good thing I have a year and three months to prepare myself for drinking in the States!

Shelby Ausband (Ole Miss)

South African sunset

My dear friend Shannon Dooley found the Cape Town version of Chili’s molten chocolate cake at the hotel restaurant. It may or may not be the best thing I’ve eaten so far. In the words of my favorite South African friend, Gavin, the past three days have been lank kief (very fun)! The Internet connection was down last night, which is why this post is so overdue. I’m hoping to write another one tonight to tell y’all about the incredible organization we learned about and experienced today. It definitely requires its own blog post. Prepare yourselves!

“To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life.” – Robert Louis Stevenson