Waterford Kamhlaba - UWC Day 2014

Today was Waterford's annual UWC Day here on campus! So, since we're such a diverse school and everything, a lot of the times we forget exactly how diverse we are. I mean, I sit between a Tanzanian/Rwandan and a Swazi in maths class, and live across the hall from a Zimbabwean, so it's pretty obvious that "diversity" is kind of an everyday thing for us here.

So, once a year, we have UWC Day, which is our big international festival. Oversimplified, we dress up like ridiculous patriots and traditional people from our respective countries and cultures, make lots of traditional food, and then watch each other singing and dancing traditional pieces.

The great question every year is "what do you wear for a national costume if you're _____?" In my case, what the heck was I supposed to wear as an American? Last year, because I did Indian dancing (my lovely Indian friend in the blue above did it again this year), I avoided the question. But, this year, as the Russian choir I was singing in didn't have a set outfit, I was left to dress like an American - here is what I came up with.

Overall, the day was definitely a success. I performed with the Russian choir, and then spent essentially the rest of the day hanging out, watching different performances (I'm going to attempt to post some videos later today), and eating lots of different kinds of food. Some of my favorites were the banana creme pie from the Britain stall, and the burfee from the south Asian stall, and of course, the caterpillars from the Lesotho stall. There was a specific name for the caterpillar, but I was too busy making this face as I ate it to remember...

Let me tell you - that was not a small caterpillar. Strangely enough, once I got over the fact that I had just ingested a two-inch long insect larvae, the taste wasn't all that bad. Kind of spicy, actually.

At the end of the day - I'm tired, thirsty (from eating Zambian salty snacks) and with aching feet, but I'm also smiling and chilling. Just as I think the "UWC Day" is over, my friend from South Africa walks into my room, and I realize that it's not over, at least until we graduate. And then a Zimbabwean comes in and asks if I've seen her phone, and I hear a Tanzanian laughing in the corridor. Thing is, I haven't thought of anyone by their nationality in a long time. I guess it's just today, and tomorrow, I'll forget we're all from different places, and we'll all just go back to complaining about teachers and homework (some things are the same everywhere).