Viva Italia!

Buongiorno! 

Last Saturday Rhodes University hosted its annual International Parade. Thousands of people from the university and the community took part in celebrating countries from across the globe. Res and societies are all assigned a country to represent during the parade.

This year, since we have an Italian exchange student in Beit House this year, we picked Italy to support. Start a week in advance we starting making decorations. We spent a few hours each evening painting flags and banner, while Elena, our resident Italian, played Italian music and taught us some basic Italian phrases. Discussion of Dante, Ferrari, Nutella and the Pope followed. She told us about her home and about the different dialects they spoke there and about all her favourite parts of the country.

At 9am on Saturday a group of Beit girls gathered in our Common Room to blow up green and white balloons and to paint our faces with the Italian flag, which, by that time, we were already very familiar with. Armed with a huge flag and numerous banners we set to the Bot Gardens- the start of our Parade.

Walking down we mingled with other res and their flags. The good-looking boys ahead of us proudly held up their Brazilian flag. Slowly, but surely more and more people started gathering and we surrounded by many other countries. By then the mood was very festive. People were singing and speaking different languages. I was taught a few Italian, French and German phrases, which I can now awkwardly attempt.

We walked through the streets of Grahamstown with our flags flying high. Little children ran past us with flags over shoulders. There was singing and laughing. I felt proud to be at a University who takes part in an event like this. Diversity is celebrated and we open ourselves to learning about another country. After walking around town we turned and walked back to the Great Field, where songs and dances were performed and all the countries gathered in a line with their flags.

 Thank you Rhodes for once again showing me how lucky I am to be here. How lucky I am to have to opportunity to experience diversity personally rather than just hear about. It’s a shame that many people did not take this opportunity to learn something about another country. Sure our world has many problems and some of those were evident during the parade, but at least it’s a step in the right direction. Viva Italia! And Viva Rhodes University.

For now all I can say is: Ciao