Talking politics... oops.

I must preface this with saying that as Rotary scholars, we are advised to avoid such topics as politics and race if it is possible. We are here, after all, to promote understanding and goodwill, not become involved in decisive political debates and such.

However, after being in South Africa for about 1.5 seconds, I realized that avoiding either of those topics would not be possible, as politics and race are the 2 most talked about topics in the country (or so it seems after my entire 3 days of living here). After about half an hour of trying to avoid the topics, I indulgently gave in and have been relishing ever since in the deliciousness of South African opinions about their president (very controversial), race relations (discussed surprisingly openly), our president (not their favorite person), our presidential candidates (they are FASCINATED with Obama and can't get enough of him - "Why do the American people like him? Is it because he is running against a woman? What IS it about him they like so much? And so on.) And so on and so forth.

I love it. I can't get enough of it. Every little opinion and eye roll that they give while filling me in on the political situation from the South African perspective is like a little puzzle piece to the enigma of this fantastic and complex country. Moreover, people WANT to talk about it, I never ask, they just offer, and I soak up everything I can.

In a strange twist of events two nights ago, my friend, roommate and fellow Rotary Scholar, Jeannie, ended up having dinner with a well known filmmaker and his friend, who is one of the more controversial authors in South Africa. The author friend recently wrote a book Fit to Govern, a biography about current South African president Mbeki. At some point during the evening, the filmmaker and the author got in a lively debate over current South African politics.

Jeannie and I spent hours that evening squealing like schoolgirls over every detail of the encounter, with me salivating over the details like they were steamy descriptions of a first date.... or something. We found out that the author has had a real live editorial cartoon drawn of him... !