Only about four busy weeks before departure for the southernmost tip of Africa, the Cape of Good Hope. Before winging in -- on January 10th -- to arguably the world's most beautiful city, Cape Town, our group of twenty-two will have met four times to learn, share, and plan for the reality of being in South Africa. Nestled on the water's edge at the foot of famous Table Mountain, Cape Town makes a spectacular entre to Africa.

For me this journey is a home-coming. Born and raised in South Africa, I am excited to share with students some of the changes South Africa has made since Apartheid days. As a professor in the English department at PLU for nearly 17 years, my teaching has often focused on South African literatures, and our study away course, "Communities Promoting Peace: the Schools, the Arts, the Church, and the Courts," is unique and varied. Students have demonstrated their intense interest in the course by completing much of the reading before Christmas; I'm delighted to be traveling with such a dedicated group of learners.

We will have the chance to meet people from a variety of communities and all walks of life. We start our journey staying at an environmental center where we interact with school principals and students at risk; we visit the University of Stellenbosch to learn how theater continues to function as a healing experience among different ethnicities; and we stay at a monastery outside Grahamstown (the city of schools and churches) to witness the Brothers working for peace in the rural community. This is but a hint of our program. Of course, we have scheduled in some "must see" items, like Addo Elephant park, Robben Island where Mandela was jailed, and a day or two on the golden beaches of the warm Indian ocean. Don't forget the swimsuits everyone! Stay tuned to hear more about what we're learning along the way.