"How is it being a white person?" - Elen Karagulian

It’s been about two weeks since we’ve landed here in Africa. It’s insane when I think about how I’m on a completely different continent and 7,806 miles away from my home in New York City.

So far, it’s been an incredible experience, but everything in the beginning was nerve-wracking; meeting new people, settling in new areas, new food (the stomach aches are expected), however, now its routine and it’s one of my favorite routines I’ve ever had. To others the city seemed a bit like a culture shock but coming from one of the most diverse cities in the country, I adjusted quickly and well. Yes, the poverty is very apparent and extreme but after spending many days working in a primary school this whole week in a township near Cape Town, I’ve gotten to know many of the kids who live in this extreme poverty and their goofiness and kindness is shown constantly.

One girl in particular came up to me, about 10 years old, and asked me a question that was curious to her; “Can I touch your hair?” I laughed to myself at the odd question and kneeled down to her eye level. She stroked and squeezed my thick curly brown hair and said, “It’s so soft. I like it. How is it being a white person?”

At first, I was taken aback, I was surprised that a girl so small, could ask a question so big. I wanted to reassure her that having a lighter skin tone is the same as being a person of color, but in this day and age and especially in the US, I know that this isn’t true. I mentioned to her that we have easier hair maintenance, and that we boil in the African sun. On the bus ride home, while staring out the window and listening to my Spotify music playlist (yes, I know, what a cliché), I reflected on my day and thought about what a completely different, yet so similar, world this girl lives in compared to me. South Africa has made strides in their efforts to overcome the Apartheid time and the US is still struggling to do so. But, overall, my time in Cape Town has been so worth everything and the experience has truly been one of a kind.