I’ve decided to generate a list of people who I knew would be great at guest posting. Chantelle Berman, my first guest blogger, was the Israel Chair on the JSU Student Board last year and a fellow member of the Senior class. I asked her to write a little about her most recent adventure she went on
during second semester of her Junior year. She studied abroad in South Africa and from the photos I saw on Facebook, it looked as though she had the time of her life! Here’s her story.
“I spent this past spring semester studying abroad in Cape Town, South Africa. Making the choice to leave College of Charleston (and the US!) for five months was not an easy one by any means, but it is something I am unbelievably grateful I chose to do. I was born in Johannesburg, South Africa but hadn’t had the opportunity to return since leaving in 1994. Part of what made my experience so special was being able to connect with where I was born and to see my family (my grandmother, aunts, uncle, and cousins) for the first time in almost 15 years. I connected with an important piece of my identity I didn’t truly even realize I had been missing. In addition to forming these special connections, I did things I never thought I’d have the opportunity to do in my life: I dove with Great White Sharks, made it to the top of Table Mountain, pet cheetahs and lions, drove along the scenic Garden Route, and immersed myself in authentic African cultures. But besides the experiential things, I took several important things away from my time in Cape Town. The first is that I experienced so much personal growth. I don’t know how to write about it without sounding cliché, but I truly feel so much like an adult since returning home. I know that living in a foreign country virtually on your own is likely to result in such things, but being abroad has forced me to grow up and to realize that I am a completely competent and capable young woman. I no longer feel like a child who needs her parents to do everything.I’ve discovered an inner strength in myself that I never thought I possessed. Secondly, I’ve learned to appreciate simplicity in profound ways. Things that ordinarily would have gotten me all worked up now don’t even feature as a concern. I feel such an inner sense of calm and simplicity. It takes very little for me to be happy: as long as I have my good health, my loving family, and my wonderful friends, I am happy. As long as I can find joy in every single day, I’m happy. If I can laugh, that’s happiness. Something about living in South Africa for five months showed me that.
In terms of my Judaism, I never felt disconnected with it while I was away. In fact, there were several instances where I felt incredibly connected to it. I witnessed a lot of anti-semitism and anti-Israel sentiment on the University of Cape Town campus in the form of protests, fairs, etc. It was so unlike our “quiet” campus here at College of Charleston. However, I can’t explain the feeling I got when I saw the UCT Jewish Student Union countering the slander simply by playing the guitar, dancing and singing, and waving Israeli flags just a few feet away. Watching the positive way in which they responded made me burst with pride. Additionally, I met quite a few Jewish students studying on the same program as me with whom I was able to connect with. It’s comforting to know that I can travel 10,000 miles away for five months and still stay in touch with Judaism.
Studying abroad was the single greatest time of my life, and it is something I wish all my peers had the opportunity to experience. “
Mazel of the Moment 