The American Experience 4

Baylor University

Nchimunya "Chipo" Hamukoma went on exchange to Baylor University (Texas, USA) in the first semester of 2009.

I left for Exchange on the 6 January 2009 and returned on the 4 July 2009. My experience was amazing and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Exchange was so cool! I went to Baylor University in Waco Texas. Baylor is the largest Baptist University in the world, with a student body of around 12000; it’s pretty awesome and a little intense. I arrived and had this massive culture shock because we went to a restaurant called McAllister’s for lunch and the Sweet Tea (a Southern Specialty) came in a 996ml cup. How we managed to drink almost a litre of cold tea in half an hour, I’m still not sure…

Chipo and Araceli

Texas is one of those places that’s so distinctly itself that it’s almost impossible to describe in relation to anything else, but I’ll try. It’s like a rural Afrikaans town where everybody is friendly and smiles and loves you just because, whilst still being nearly half the size of South Africa. There’s this awesome sense of cordiality so as a girl you basically never have to open the door for yourself and are called “Darlin’” with charming frequency. It’s this mish match of traditional Texan culture along with the Mexican culture so almost everyone you meet is Texican. Spanish is a language that’s spoken in the same way that Afrikaans is in Krugersdorp, with most people having a basic grasp and it being a language that you hear in the air.

The food in Texas is sooooooooo good. I’m not really a fan of Tex- Mex, but Mexican food is awesome and something that you get in abundance in Texas. It’s spicy, flavourful and amazing. That’s probably what I’m missing the most now, a good plate of chips (tortilla pronounced tortiya chips), salsa guacamole, a burrito and agua fresca (freshly squeezed fruit juice). The res food was pretty awesome too, we had four different cafeterias to choose from and each one had around six different food stations where you could eat as much as you liked of pretty much what ever you liked. The best part being the ice cream bar that had 8 different flavours to choose from per meal period. So good.

My favourite part of being an exchange student was being foreign and therefore, exciting. I’d introduce myself to people and say, “Hi, my name is Chipo and I’m foreign,” and then they’d say, “You’re foreign?” and I’d end up being the life of the party just because I was South African.

As an exchange student, I got to travel a lot, to places I’d probably never go in real life. Like Odessa Texas and Lindale and the National American Rose Gardens. I also got to go to places that I’d always dreamed of going like New Orleans and Memphis. During Spring Break, I was able to take part in the Baylor Civil Rights tour which was this awesome 9 day tour of instrumental places, during the American Civil Rights movement. It was life-changing. I got to see that our history of racial segregation wasn’t as unique as I thought it was, as well as what would happen to us if we failed to deal with the issues of apartheid. It was an amazing experience.

I made good friends in Texas and some friendships that I’m sure will last a life time. My experience as a participant in the Rhodes Student Exchange Programme is something that I’ll never forget and something that I’d encourage everyone to do.