Eye-openers, Adventures and Comradeship

April 14, 2005

By Richard Flockemann

The Rhodes University and South African experience has been one of fantastic adventure, eye-openers, and comradeship, for Boston College's Brendan Ruddy.

On the negative side, Brendan warns that any prospective American exchange student must be prepared to put up with some (occasional) anti-American sentiment, living in a small town, as well as dining hall food that "just takes some getting used to".

Brendan Ruddy is at Rhodes University on exchange from Boston College, in the United States. He is studying Philosophy 3 and Politics 302 and 304 while here at Rhodes.

Upon his arrival at Rhodes in February, Brendan was immediately struck by the vitality of the University's residences. He describes his take on the residence system as follows: "Rhodes is a residential campus and residential life immediately becomes central to any time spent at Rhodes. I think I had been in South Africa for all of 36 hours and I was already waking up with my fellow Graham House first year students at 6 a.m., wearing only boxer shorts and ties, going to the female residences to sing early morning serenades to the girls. Looking like fools, we did this everyday for a week and by the end had fully perfected our song, not to mention got to know all of each other's early morning idiosyncrasies. The comradeship that the residences have helps form some of the best friendships, and makes anyone feel much more at home. This continues throughout the semester with various inter-res sporting events, nights at the pub, and every meal at the dining hall. Living in residence makes any exchange student feel like a regular 'Rhodant'."

This sense of comradeship amongst students, says Brendan, is reinforced by the clubs and societies offered to Rhodes students, which he describes as "one of the most active groups of student clubs and societies I have ever seen at a University". He found the clubs on offer to be very diverse, accommodating to different cultures and ethnicities, catering for a great deal of different sorts of sporting and cultural tastes. Brendan has been a member of the debating, tennis, and mountain clubs, all of which he has greatly enjoyed. What made this experience so satisfying for Brendan, is that in these clubs he as an exchange student was made to feel fully included within the student community, as well as being given an opportunity to get a feel for the South African countryside outside of Grahamstown. He says: "These societies are fully open and available to any exchange student and not only provided me a great way to meet people, but helped me meet more of the Eastern Cape than just Grahamstown."

But the clubs provide only one of many opportunities that are available to exchange students to experience the South African countryside, which has been a definite highlight for Brendan. As he puts it: "Traveling throughout South Africa has easily been one of the most amazing and memorable aspects of studying here. I have gone on weekend trips on my own, with friends, with a group of exchange students, with a Rhodes club, or even with a local tour guide to some amazing locations within the Eastern Cape. Doing game drives and looking for wild rhinos, giraffes, buffalo, and elephants have been dreams come true. You really know you are in Africa when you are with a bunch of friends swimming in a reservoir not more than ten miles outside of town and someone calmly points out that a local rhinoceros has come to the water's edge for a drink. That only happens here."

It is important, Brendan cautions, that any future exchange student tempers his enthusiasm for adventure with a dose of responsibility. While the adventurous, outdoorsy aspects of South Africa are tremendously exciting, they can at times be dangerous too. "I have been dragged by riptides into rocks, had cars get stuck in knee-high mud, and even had a guide get rushed to the hospital after a boating accident," he explains. "So remember, this is a land of adventure and extremes, but you want to be able to enjoy every moment here and not in a hospital."

Brendan's experience of the contrast between the rich and the poor, between the first and third worlds, as is seen in Grahamstown itself, has been in many ways equally eye-opening, and worth experiencing. "The street children, the lines at the pension office, the people rummaging through the trash, all stand out and are unavoidable to my non-sensitized, foreign eyes," he says. However, it is this poverty contrasted with the opulence of the traditionally "white" areas of town that is most striking. Brendan says: "I see this contrast right from my window on the beautiful Rhodes campus. The view looks over the gardens, down past the heart of town, and directly at the township. This contrast of life is a bit startling, but very indicative of the reality of South Africa. I am personally very happy to be volunteering at a local AIDS clinic where I get to meet township residents and learn about what life is like for them, especially as they deal with AIDS."

As for the University itself, Brendan finds the courses offered at Rhodes to be of the same sort of standard that he had grown accustomed to at Boston University. He says he has "really enjoyed" his lectures, and has found his lecturers to be "very approachable and receptive to any and all students, especially exchange students". Taking courses like 'Modern South African Politics' in the Politics Department have been a highlight for Brendan, as "everything is so new and intriguing coming from such a foreign perspective."

One of the only negative aspects of his experience, Brendan notes, has been the anti-American sentiment voiced by some of the students at Rhodes. But this, he says, is much the same as can be expected in any foreign country, and that such talk is "easily ignored and rarely escalates". The quality of the food offered in the dining halls, and the small size of Grahamstown are the other factors that have been detrimental to Brendan's South African experience.

This does not seem to have affected him too severely, however, and his outlook on his time here remains upbeat. He sums up his experience as follows: "I have really been enjoying this semester and am falling in love with South Africa. The friendliness and generosity most South Africans show is amazing and I quickly began to feel at home here. Rhodes is a great university that has provided me with the challenges and comforts to help me embrace and understand the reality of South Africa."