Learn about our Speakeasy team members and teachers in our new interview series!
Today, meet our hilariously cool:
PALESA MATHIBE – ENROLLMENT ADVISOR
- Where are you from?
Johannesburg, South Africa – the cradle of mankind. Well, maybe not Johannesburg actually.
- How would you describe the place in one sentence to someone who has never been before?
One sentence is tricky. Probably a chaotic clash of (Palesa frantically makes hand gestures) two worlds coming together; an Afro-centric place with a futuristic twist; a vibrant, creative world where young people are finding new solutions…it’s also quite scary how fast everything is changing.
- What’s your greatest childhood memory?
Recently I have felt very nostalgic about fruit in South Africa. It probably has to be visiting my aunt’s house, climbing trees and picking mangoes and avocados – the fruit is so much better than here. Yeah, stealing fruit from people’s gardens.
- What has been your most exciting adventure?
Moving to Germany and surviving. I lived in a bunch of different places before falling in love with Frankfurt. I guess it’s the closest city to Johannesburg. Surviving these winters!
- If you could time travel, when would you go?
The future. A 100 years from now. I would like to see the near future, to see what impact we, as a species have made. How we’ve dealt with climate change, and whether we’ve colonised a new planet or not. I hope we haven’t, I don’t think we deserve one…but it would certainly be interesting to see.
- What is your favourite word?
I am going to pick a German one. “Weltschmerz”. It directly translates as “world pain”. I guess the closest translation in English would be “World weary”.