804: A COMING HOME, PART 1

Missions:
5: Selling Tickets for Concert

My comments:
   The episode starts out with Shawn and Ayanna going to a meeting of the black shipmates to talk about the coming up stop at South Africa. During this meeting an African lady explains that the black students should not call themselves African American because they did not come from Africa they came America this makes Ayanna really upset, because she feels that she has a strong African background.
   Finally the ship arrives at Cape Town. The cast wonders around the market place and when the group gets together they find out that Pua got here nipples pierced. They was told that they were to join up with a former prisoner that knew Mandala and gives them an idea of why they were imprisoned and what made them stay true to why there were put in there in the first place. They were hen shown the prison and show where he lived for 18 years. After the tour he told they group that they were going to stay with three families. Shawn and Pawel went with a White family, Ayanna and Yes went with a Black family, Veronica and Pua went with a Muslim family. Everyone seemed to get along well with their families but Shawn seemed a little scared of what would happen in this house seeing that he was the first black to stay in their house.
   The next morning the groups got up and was shown around the city, Ayanna and Yes was shown the shacks that were around their houses and then was shown a school were a riot was put down. This mission seems to mean a lot to Ayanna, which it should because it is her heritage.

What Bunim-Murray had to say about the episode:
   South Africa: here comes the motherland. Ayanna bears the weight of generations on her shoulders to represent her people. She feels that she isn’t "African enough" and will be rejected by the people of Africa. Finally, she realizes she is indeed "home" in Africa.
   As Shawn nears South Africa, he changes from a playful, carefree man, unaware of his ancestral significance, to a very aware black man stepping into an Afrikaner home.
   Their mission is to learn about South African culture from 3 different perspectives: Black, Muslim, and Afrikaner. The Rulers split up into 3 groups of 2 and spend the night with these diverse families. After experiencing South African lifestyle firsthand, they return to the ship and present their information to their classmates. Yes questions, "How are we going to put these feelings into words?" Stayed tuned next week to find out what happens in this heartwarming two-part episode.

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