9/6/2017. UW in Cape Town (September 4, 5, 6)

Molweni:

It’s about 11 pm on Wednesday here in Cape Town (about 2 in the afternoon in California).

My travelogue is woefully behind.. and I’m going to try to catch up — somewhat — now… and then hopefully move into the current. But things are happening so fast, it is truly hard to even remember what happens each day.

First a little more about the DACA student.

We had one young woman who was determined to come on this trip even though she knew it would be difficult. As many of you know it is very complicated for DACA students to leave the country and to re-enter. Given the fact that there had been rumors for some time about what Trump was considering, this student was concerned but still determined… so she got her “early parole papers” approved (terrible term – embarrassing as a nation that we use these words!) which cost her $600 regardless of whether she was approved or not – to have permission to re-enter the US after being abroad. She was ecstatic when she was approved, although she always knew there was a risk.

Anyway, about 20 hours after her arrival, it was announced that Trump would make his decision about DACA just 48 hours later. This led to sleepless nights for her (and for Chris and me)… Although we counseled her as best we could, we also explained that it was her decision and that we would support her in whatever she decided. The University weighed in throughout the next 24 or 30 hours with calls and emails to me and to Chris. Clearly they felt she would be safer in the US, if she could get back before the official announcement. But it was a hard and personal decision for her – with family, friends, and boyfriend all weighing in with what appeared to be different opinions. Stay. Leave. Take the risk, it’s your one chance to be in South Africa. Leave immediately to ensure you’ll see your family. Get married… and so it went.

Finally, at about 3 am she decided the right decision was to leave and head back so that she lands prior to the official announcement. And then began the complicated process (actually a mess, not a process) of trying to change her ticket. Turned out she had purchased the ticket from an online travel agency, so the ticket had virtually no value; the agency never answered the phone even though it rang for more than 35 minutes three separate times. So we just moved to purchase a new ticket.. one that could go direct to the states so that she didn’t need to deal with visas which she didn’t have. It took a while and some money, but we got her on a flight to NY. But of course paying for the ticket got very messy. The university supplied a credit card number but it didn’t go through as it was seen as fraud. Then I used my card and that seemed to work, but then when we called to confirm, we were told the ticket had been canceled. Then Chris tried and he was assured all was well… the ticket was reserved but not yet paid for and all we needed to do was give them a valid credit card. The next morning (well, actually that same morning) we called to give the credit card, and again they said the ticket was canceled (although they had promised to hold the ticket until 2 pm. I started again, and this time even I felt it all sounded fraudulent. Initially I was purchasing a ticket for someone else to fly to the US, using a third party’s credit card and I’m doing it from South Africa. And while I had all the info, I didn’t know what bank issued the credit card (it was a card number the university office of global affairs gave me), so that didn’t go well. So, then I just used my card number (since I had all the details) and it seemed to work. The university will reimburse me (hopefully).

We decided to take the student on a fast tour of Cape Town en route to the airport. We drove to the top of Signal Hill where you can get a great view of the whole city and the ocean… and then on to the waterfront for lunch and then to Langa one of the townships near the airport. Once we got to the waterfront, I decided I should call one last time to guarantee the ticket was really issued because I hadn’t gotten any email confirmation. And, as you might expect — ticket canceled again. This time they said they needed to see her passport. So we dashed out from the waterfront directly to the airport – where we went to the Gold Desk (using my status) and they started from scratch and made a successful booking. Gee that only took about 16 hours. The South African Airways ticket person – after hearing our tale of woe – said… “You should always come to the airport to buy a ticket. It never works online or on the phone!!”

Checking in was quite sobering. They asked for a passport which the student provided (Mexican passport), and then they asked some questions… her place of residence: easy; and then nationality?… She struggled.. and I needed to nudge her.. She so felt that her nationality was American. Anyway, that first step went well. And we prompted her about how to change planes in Johannesburg and about boarding the flight all the way to NY.. and how she’d need to go through customs and immigration in NY, including having her bags inspected and then rebooked to Seattle. She was in a fog; she had never traveled this far until just 48 or so hours before; she had never traveled alone. She’s lived in Tacoma all her life since she was one year old. She has no family in Mexico; she’s never been there. And yet, with or without Trump’s order, her reentry into the US would be at the “whim” of an immigration officer in NY. Frankly, I felt that entering through NY would be the best – a truly immigrant city(and my home town) where I believed there might be some heart.

The next 20 hours were stressful all around. She texted from each location. She was pulled over for questioning before she boarded the flight to NY and her bag was re-examined. But all went well. She landed in NY about an hour late making her connection very tight — assuming she would get through immigration. She was definitely scared. Pulled out for further questioning in NY and bag re-examined.. but she made it through. Next panic was that she would miss the flight to Seattle… We told her to go to the gate anyway and that the plane might be late… which it was.. So all good ending – with boyfriend at the Seattle Airport. Of course now she faces the reality of her future.

One crisis averted – partially. Tomorrow I will catch you up on events, students, and most important all the great food and people.

Best –

Fern