They were full of smiles and apologies as they could not find the keys to the front gate. I remember one in particular feeling almost embarrassed and repeating that 'her group' wasn't here yet and that someone else was responsible for us.
Eventually, they managed to let us in through the car park. As we went upstairs to the second floor, I noticed something bizarre, there was no ground floor... I would later realise that this is an American feature that with the exception of some old buildings existed everywhere. The ground floor in American buildings is referred to as the first floor.
Eventually, they managed to let us in through the car park. As we went upstairs to the second floor, I noticed something bizarre, there was no ground floor... I would later realise that this is an American feature that with the exception of some old buildings existed everywhere. The ground floor in American buildings is referred to as the first floor.
We waited in one of the flats until more instructions were given out as to where we would be living for the next six weeks and with whom...and that's when it began
'Ethiopian'? Asked a fellow whom at the time I did not know the name of.
No, I'm from Sudan.
Silence. It seemed that suddenly, the sleepy fellows were no longer very sleepy, and my race became a topic of interest to nearly everyone in the room
'Sudan! How? Sudanese are very black people'
'Ummm... I'm from the North...'
'So there are other Sudanese who look like you?'
'Yes, many, we are mixed with Arabs'
'Right!' they exclaimed, as if that was the missing piece of the puzzle.
My race was questioned so often during the trip that I began to question why people knew so much about South Sudan and so little about Sudan. And then it came to me; everything we knew about everyone who is not from 'our race' is fed to us from a Eurocentric media
(Read here: http://hindsblog.blogspot.com/2015/08/sandra-bland-dangers-of-normalizing.html)
After our flats were allocated and a great nights sleep. I woke up and went to our very first 'lecture' where the program leader spoke to us in a way that would haunt the rest of our stay in America.
"Make sure you shower, you have no idea, every year someone comes to me complaining about so-and-so smells... and also, the plumbing in the united states is much better than the plumbing in 'Africa'" he paused to chuckle sarcastically,
"so when you use the bathroom, you should put your tissues in the TOILET, NOT the BIN" he made sure to emphasize his words, because of course coming from Africa meant we had language comprehension difficulties as well as being primitive.
I couldn't believe that the professor assigned to be the head of the program and known as a professor of African American studies could receive this title yet know so little about Africa.
I began to question the American system - was this really the person I came all the way from Sudan to learn from? Is he even qualified? What can he possibly teach us?
Will he attempt to teach us how to read and write next?
By this point, it was fair to say that all the excitement and motivation I had about the experience was deflated. I felt disappointed and began to reconsider the entire experience.
"I came here to learn about the American experience of democracy, to see if aspects of it will benefit Sudan... I wanted to access their strategies, methodologies, comprehend the results from an inside perspective and generally make a fair assessment of the country with the worlds largest economy. I didn't come here because I want to replicate America ... I came here precisely to find out what its weaknesses and strengths were... Why are these people so sure that I want to be like them? And how on earth is it acceptable in this culture for an academic to parade such stupidity?"
I remember thinking for a long time that evening, as I lay in my very high bed...I learned a hard lesson that night. America, like Africa, is very different from the image it's own media portrays globally. I would later learn that as a very young nation, their economic development proceeds their social development by a very long time.
Determined not to let him represent 'Americans', I checked the program agenda for the coming days, completed around half of that evenings reading material and went to sleep.
(Read here: http://hindsblog.blogspot.com/2015/08/sandra-bland-dangers-of-normalizing.html)
After our flats were allocated and a great nights sleep. I woke up and went to our very first 'lecture' where the program leader spoke to us in a way that would haunt the rest of our stay in America.
"Make sure you shower, you have no idea, every year someone comes to me complaining about so-and-so smells... and also, the plumbing in the united states is much better than the plumbing in 'Africa'" he paused to chuckle sarcastically,
"so when you use the bathroom, you should put your tissues in the TOILET, NOT the BIN" he made sure to emphasize his words, because of course coming from Africa meant we had language comprehension difficulties as well as being primitive.
I couldn't believe that the professor assigned to be the head of the program and known as a professor of African American studies could receive this title yet know so little about Africa.
I began to question the American system - was this really the person I came all the way from Sudan to learn from? Is he even qualified? What can he possibly teach us?
Will he attempt to teach us how to read and write next?
By this point, it was fair to say that all the excitement and motivation I had about the experience was deflated. I felt disappointed and began to reconsider the entire experience.
"I came here to learn about the American experience of democracy, to see if aspects of it will benefit Sudan... I wanted to access their strategies, methodologies, comprehend the results from an inside perspective and generally make a fair assessment of the country with the worlds largest economy. I didn't come here because I want to replicate America ... I came here precisely to find out what its weaknesses and strengths were... Why are these people so sure that I want to be like them? And how on earth is it acceptable in this culture for an academic to parade such stupidity?"
I remember thinking for a long time that evening, as I lay in my very high bed...I learned a hard lesson that night. America, like Africa, is very different from the image it's own media portrays globally. I would later learn that as a very young nation, their economic development proceeds their social development by a very long time.
Determined not to let him represent 'Americans', I checked the program agenda for the coming days, completed around half of that evenings reading material and went to sleep.
