I woke up around 9am and it was bright and sunny. Some days here its like socal, where you have to wait until the afternoon for the clouds to burn off and the sun to really come out. The sun already out at 9am meant, clearly, that I just had to go to the beach.
After some texting (I'm sorry, SMS-ing, which takes so much longer to say), Lindsay and I met up at the super market, bought a French roll and some sun dried tomato dip for lunch and headed to the train station. We arrived at Muizenberg where we'd (attempted) surfing before. Last time there were tons of other surfers in the water, but this time almost no one. Knowing little about what make for "good" surfing, we decided to sit in the sand for a bit and watch. It was way windier than we expected, but it was warm whenever the wind calmed down for a minute.
Covered in sand and a little cold and a little hungry, after a while we got up and decide to go find a good seafood place. We walked around a little bit and mostly struck out. Then I suggested jumping back on the train and going further down the coast. We planned on going to Fish Hoek (fish in the name, sounds promising, right?). On the way, though, at Kalk Bay there was a three level seafood restaurant that was attached to the train station platform and boasted "ocean views" and "renouned seafood". Sounded like what we were looking for.
The first floor was the "nice" restaurant, that I assume wasn't open until dinner. We somewhat tip toed through, and then down some stairs found a casual restaurant that had live oysters in a tank at the entrance. Good sign. The restaurant was practically situated in the water, as if the restaurant itself were a pier. From where we sat along one of the edges I got (lightly) splashed twice. It was also an extremely rocky beach, with little sand, and a cement wall at the end above which the train tracks sat. The waves were bigger than at Muizenberg and a number of brave surfers were bobbing along. They'd catch a wave and ride it for a bit, but for obvious reasons turn off before too long they'd crash into rocks.
Ended up getting really good mussels, and I had calamari cajun style and Lindsay had the tuna of the day. They actually had creme brulee on the dessert menu, which I haven't seen here, so I was convinced to try it and was happy with that decision. There have been a number of places in Cape Town so far that I've been to, expecting good seafood and ended up with about three options, two of which were fried. All the food that day totally hit the spot.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
LEAP Camp
I've been volunteering in a mentoring program at a math & science magnet school called LEAP. On Thursday, I started learning about a camp some of the kids were going to for the weekend. The camp is for students who have been taking extra tutoring in the eight grade in hopes of getting into LEAP. It is run by current 10th and 11th graders, so they can hone their leadership skills. They go to this camp place in Franschoek in the winelands / mountains and spend half the time on leadership and team building games and the other half on science experiments. Only some of the kids who are invited to the camp will get into the school.
I had some adventures trying to get to the bus on time, so instead I went with one of the teachers who was not heading out until after school ends at 5:15pm (the kids are there something like 8am to 5:15pm M-F and there's optional tutoring on Saturdays and lots of students usually show up). I ended up spending a lot of time with the teachers, three who teach at LEAP and three or four who teach at the Learning Centers for the middle schoolers preparing to get into LEAP. This group consisted of a white South African, a black South African from Langa where the students are from as well, two coloured Muslims, a Zimbabwean, two from Democratic Republic of the Congo and one from Mauritania, if I remember correctly. Throw in the two Afrikaaners who run the place and we had a good mix. Between us we spoke English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Xhosa, Afrikaans, Swahili, Zulu, and Shona, at a minimum.
When we got there Friday night (though lovely mountain twisty roads at sunset, which was nice) they were working on an experiment and then it was basically time for dinner. The kids were sent down to firepits with chopped wood, a pot and hamburger patties and made their own dinners. I'm not sure I could do that in eighth grade, even with someone older helping me. Brahm, one of the guys running the camp, cooked for us, and something in the seasoning of the burgers was absolutely amazing.
The second day included experiments with bubbles (always fun) and a team building game I've never seen (and I've seen a lot) that involved one team mate in a blind fold, one who can talk but not see the blind folded person, and the rest of the team being able to see but not talk. Then there were hidden balls or something that the blind folded person had to find with the help of the rest of the team.
... and jumping off some rocks into (very very cold) water! Yay! I wasn't going to go swimming, but I can't resist freshwater and streams and all that. The river at this point almost looked like a man-made swimming pool / spa in some rich person's back yard or an overpriced hot springs.
That night the kids had a talent show. (I'm also trying to upload some video, stay posted maybe.) These kids sing, dance, do spoken word, skits, sometimes all at the same time. There's this really cool dance that they do with big rain boots, clapping and stomping that's great to watch. The choirs (boys, girls and mixed) always dance when they're singing. It was way fun.
The last day was another experiment (paper airplanes) awards ceremony and good byes. Then home and a nap for me.
My mentee, Lungiswa:
I had some adventures trying to get to the bus on time, so instead I went with one of the teachers who was not heading out until after school ends at 5:15pm (the kids are there something like 8am to 5:15pm M-F and there's optional tutoring on Saturdays and lots of students usually show up). I ended up spending a lot of time with the teachers, three who teach at LEAP and three or four who teach at the Learning Centers for the middle schoolers preparing to get into LEAP. This group consisted of a white South African, a black South African from Langa where the students are from as well, two coloured Muslims, a Zimbabwean, two from Democratic Republic of the Congo and one from Mauritania, if I remember correctly. Throw in the two Afrikaaners who run the place and we had a good mix. Between us we spoke English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Xhosa, Afrikaans, Swahili, Zulu, and Shona, at a minimum.
When we got there Friday night (though lovely mountain twisty roads at sunset, which was nice) they were working on an experiment and then it was basically time for dinner. The kids were sent down to firepits with chopped wood, a pot and hamburger patties and made their own dinners. I'm not sure I could do that in eighth grade, even with someone older helping me. Brahm, one of the guys running the camp, cooked for us, and something in the seasoning of the burgers was absolutely amazing.
The second day included experiments with bubbles (always fun) and a team building game I've never seen (and I've seen a lot) that involved one team mate in a blind fold, one who can talk but not see the blind folded person, and the rest of the team being able to see but not talk. Then there were hidden balls or something that the blind folded person had to find with the help of the rest of the team.
... and jumping off some rocks into (very very cold) water! Yay! I wasn't going to go swimming, but I can't resist freshwater and streams and all that. The river at this point almost looked like a man-made swimming pool / spa in some rich person's back yard or an overpriced hot springs.
That night the kids had a talent show. (I'm also trying to upload some video, stay posted maybe.) These kids sing, dance, do spoken word, skits, sometimes all at the same time. There's this really cool dance that they do with big rain boots, clapping and stomping that's great to watch. The choirs (boys, girls and mixed) always dance when they're singing. It was way fun.
The last day was another experiment (paper airplanes) awards ceremony and good byes. Then home and a nap for me.
My mentee, Lungiswa:
Thursday, August 30, 2007
And more...
Dear colleagues and students
I write to you on a most serious matter. You will recall my last communication to you on Monday, 27 August 2007, when I expressed my deep concern and the position relating to the protest action by certain taxi associations around the Jammie Shuttle service.
It is with regret that I report to you that the situation has worsened. Despite our best intentions and close monitoring of this situation I was forced last night to make the decision to suspend the Jammie Shuttle service operating on Main Road, Claremont route, until further notice.
The taxi association is insisting that UCT is operating outside the parameters agreed between Sibanya (the transport company contracted to operate Jammie Shuttle Service) and the Operating Licensing Board. We know that we are operating in terms of fully compliant licenses and within the clear stipulations of the permits. The taxi association has a particular issue with the Main Road, Claremont Route.
Although we were particularly concerned with the threats of violence made in the public media by the representatives of the taxi associations on Monday, we were determined to operate our service as we are legally entitled to.
However, yesterday afternoon a minibus taxi stopped next to a Jammie Shuttle. An occupant of the taxi produced a firearm and threatened the driver of the Jammie Shuttle. The driver was forced to run a red light to get away. Mercifully, none of the students and staff traveling in the bus was hurt. We have reported the incident to the South African Police Services and a charge has been laid.
The situation is untenable. I simply will not take a chance with the safety of our students and staff. This is my first priority. It is unfortunate that many students and staff will be inconvenienced. Please make alternative arrangements for your transport until further notice.
Be assured that we are treating this matter with the utmost urgency. We are engaged in discussions on various fronts and will do all we can to resolve this matter. I am grateful for your patience and understanding.
Yours sincerely.
Prof Njabulo S Ndebele
Certain acts of violence here are just hard to understand.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
From the Front Lines...
Dear colleagues and students
We have had reports that some taxi associations will stage a protest action today in Main Road. This is taking place as we speak. The South African Police Service is on the scene and monitoring the situation. The Associations are objecting - among other things - to the Jammie Shuttle using the Claremont Route.
UCT and Sibanye (the transport company contracted to operate Jammie Shuttle Service) have the necessary legal licences and permits to operate the service. We comply with all the conditions in the licensing agreement.
We are monitoring the situation closely and we are deeply concerned about the threats made publicly by the taxi associations. We have alerted the South African Police Services, The Traffic Authorities, the Metro Police and we are taking added safety precautions. Whilst the Jammie Shuttle will remain operative it might be best to make use of alternative transport if at all possible and as a precaution.
You may rest assured that the matter is receiving immediate and urgent attention at the highest level.
Prof Njabulo S Ndebele
Vice-Chancellor & Principal
Oooo!!! We'll have to see how this goes down! The Jammie is the shuttle service that runs on and around campus to areas of student housing and Claremont is a little further away so I'm guessing that's what the taxis are pouty about, but I don't know of any legal justification for a protest. Because of the extent to which people try to avoid walking around at night, calling cabs is really common, sometimes even for fairly short trips. But I'm not even positive the Jammie runs out to Claremont at night, so again, I'm not sure what the protest is about.
Interesting, nonetheless.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Stairs & Rain
Its not so much that getting used to the weather as cold or wet or sunny is difficult... its hard getting used to all of those within the same hour. On the flip side, I think I've seen more rainbows in the past month than previously in my life.
I find stairs to be the most dominating feature of UCT's campus. It is built into the sloping base of the mountain, and while on the campus map they gave us at orientation, it looks like a nice, simple campus, the elevation throws you for a loop. If you enter a building from the back, you might be as high as the fourth floor. I have class in one building where the odd numbered floors are on one side of the stairs and the even ones are on the other, so you only walk half a flight of stairs to each floor. This confusion starts to come in handy, though, when you start using back doors to dodge the rain.
I went on campus and took pictures, but I dont have them with me right now.
Lastly, I need to tell you about my cab driver friends.
Here, you can call a cab company and get some random driver, but drivers will also give you their card with their own contact on it. This works out because you get to know them, and which guys are reliable and which ones will take 40 minutes to show up. Also, some of the cab companies will charge you for how long it takes from them to leave downtown to come pick you up and then to wherever youre going, so if you have the numbers for drivers who are more local you save money.
This one driver, Archie, someone found and we've been calling him a lot when we need a ride. He gives us advice on where ever we're going or where we should go next time, and then tells us stories about his other job as an EMT. Another driver I've called more than once was really useful this past Thursday. It was National Women's Day, a public holiday, and we knew there were events going on in one area of town, but could not find details anywhere. He asked us where exactly in that area did we want to go, and when we asked him where he though events would be going on, he completely elaborated on all the activities that should be going on and where.
Basically, I've found easy reliable transport, and since we've called them more than once, they're pretty flexible on their pricing, which is nice, too.
I find stairs to be the most dominating feature of UCT's campus. It is built into the sloping base of the mountain, and while on the campus map they gave us at orientation, it looks like a nice, simple campus, the elevation throws you for a loop. If you enter a building from the back, you might be as high as the fourth floor. I have class in one building where the odd numbered floors are on one side of the stairs and the even ones are on the other, so you only walk half a flight of stairs to each floor. This confusion starts to come in handy, though, when you start using back doors to dodge the rain.
I went on campus and took pictures, but I dont have them with me right now.
Lastly, I need to tell you about my cab driver friends.
Here, you can call a cab company and get some random driver, but drivers will also give you their card with their own contact on it. This works out because you get to know them, and which guys are reliable and which ones will take 40 minutes to show up. Also, some of the cab companies will charge you for how long it takes from them to leave downtown to come pick you up and then to wherever youre going, so if you have the numbers for drivers who are more local you save money.
This one driver, Archie, someone found and we've been calling him a lot when we need a ride. He gives us advice on where ever we're going or where we should go next time, and then tells us stories about his other job as an EMT. Another driver I've called more than once was really useful this past Thursday. It was National Women's Day, a public holiday, and we knew there were events going on in one area of town, but could not find details anywhere. He asked us where exactly in that area did we want to go, and when we asked him where he though events would be going on, he completely elaborated on all the activities that should be going on and where.
Basically, I've found easy reliable transport, and since we've called them more than once, they're pretty flexible on their pricing, which is nice, too.
Friday, August 3, 2007
I've really got to do these updates more often
So I'll just tell a quick bit of whats been up.
I'm taking a class on Urban Geography and its fabulous so far. I'm overwhelmed both by how much I'm about to learn, and how much I don't know that I'm scrambling to find out, because I'm in a class of people who have been in Cape Town for at least three years if not their whole lives. Still, very very exciting.
On Wednesday, for the first time, we went to the site where we will researching. Vahalla Park is a township. As families grew larger as the generations carried on, but without more space or money, people were living in cramped conditions and/or moving into the backyards of their parents houses. A group of people set off and set up an informal settlement of shacks on land that had previously been a park, but now was being used as a dumping ground and area full of crime. Then the city came in and called the situation a land invasion and told them they had to evacuate.
The civic organization we're working with, called The United Front, along with some lawyers, brought a case against the city. In South Africa there is a constitutional right to housing, so the members said they were merely using that right, and the city claimed they were jumping the queue in front of other people who also needed housing and therefore could not just take the land. Surprisingly, the judge actually called a couple day recess and traveled to the settlement, and declared that it fit within the emergency situation exemption to land invasion and they won the right to stay there.
The class I am in has been working with the civic for the past four years. At some point, they mapped what the houses and the shacks were like and how many people were living in each and the civic was able to use that data as evidence in the court case, so the research that has been done with UCT students has been of use to the civic.
Following the court decision, the civic has had to fight more battles to get infrastructure of water and power and toilets to the settlement, and then later to a second, larger settlement of shacks.
We met with some members of United Front and they told us about what they've been going through. There was a point when there was not water in in the informal settlement. The civic leaders went to meetings with the city and very nicely said yes, we will wait, yes we will wait, and the city kept telling them 'soon, soon'. Then the city told them they did not have the money to run the water out to them, and they suspected the city was lying. They found a room in the city building in Vahalla Park that had water faucets. They told everyone in the town that they could to come down, bring the buckets, have your kids bring buckets, bring your laundry, we're going to go down and use their water. One woman told us that she told the women, "bring your panties, I dont care if they're dirty or clean, bring them," and they all did laundry outside of this city building, and then hung it all to dry around the building. As cars went by they all hooted their horns in solidarity.
The security guard told them they would have to leave, and they insisted that this is a city building and if it belongs to the city then it belongs to the city residents and they were going to stay there until they would get water.
They got water the next day.
They told us they had to ramp the fight up, because two babies had been born that day, and they were all hauling water all over to try to help the mothers and they decided that was the line.
They told us that the civic is "the mother, and the father" for the community. They are the activists, the soup kitchen, the police force, the community entertainment organizers.
And they're all of low education and little to no employment. And no one taught them to how to do this, how to do community organizing. They are the epitome of community activism coming from community members. The sense of action with the city that they have should shame everyone in better situations to stop whining and start writing or acting or something. I feel like I have sat in poli sci and urban classes before and talked about "how do we get people to do this?" "how do we convince people to organize?" "how do we help people organize themselves?" and here's this community where they just did it all themselves, just figured it out. They make it seem so obvious, so a part of human nature.
Its incredible, I have so much to learn from them.
Our project is going to involve interviewing families in the settlement about their lives -- where they lived before, and what is has been like living here. The settlement is going to be updated by the city, so we're basically researching and documenting the settlement so what happened can be preserved as part of the history of the township.
Whew, that's all for now, I'll try to write more often and post when I can...
I'm taking a class on Urban Geography and its fabulous so far. I'm overwhelmed both by how much I'm about to learn, and how much I don't know that I'm scrambling to find out, because I'm in a class of people who have been in Cape Town for at least three years if not their whole lives. Still, very very exciting.
On Wednesday, for the first time, we went to the site where we will researching. Vahalla Park is a township. As families grew larger as the generations carried on, but without more space or money, people were living in cramped conditions and/or moving into the backyards of their parents houses. A group of people set off and set up an informal settlement of shacks on land that had previously been a park, but now was being used as a dumping ground and area full of crime. Then the city came in and called the situation a land invasion and told them they had to evacuate.
The civic organization we're working with, called The United Front, along with some lawyers, brought a case against the city. In South Africa there is a constitutional right to housing, so the members said they were merely using that right, and the city claimed they were jumping the queue in front of other people who also needed housing and therefore could not just take the land. Surprisingly, the judge actually called a couple day recess and traveled to the settlement, and declared that it fit within the emergency situation exemption to land invasion and they won the right to stay there.
The class I am in has been working with the civic for the past four years. At some point, they mapped what the houses and the shacks were like and how many people were living in each and the civic was able to use that data as evidence in the court case, so the research that has been done with UCT students has been of use to the civic.
Following the court decision, the civic has had to fight more battles to get infrastructure of water and power and toilets to the settlement, and then later to a second, larger settlement of shacks.
We met with some members of United Front and they told us about what they've been going through. There was a point when there was not water in in the informal settlement. The civic leaders went to meetings with the city and very nicely said yes, we will wait, yes we will wait, and the city kept telling them 'soon, soon'. Then the city told them they did not have the money to run the water out to them, and they suspected the city was lying. They found a room in the city building in Vahalla Park that had water faucets. They told everyone in the town that they could to come down, bring the buckets, have your kids bring buckets, bring your laundry, we're going to go down and use their water. One woman told us that she told the women, "bring your panties, I dont care if they're dirty or clean, bring them," and they all did laundry outside of this city building, and then hung it all to dry around the building. As cars went by they all hooted their horns in solidarity.
The security guard told them they would have to leave, and they insisted that this is a city building and if it belongs to the city then it belongs to the city residents and they were going to stay there until they would get water.
They got water the next day.
They told us they had to ramp the fight up, because two babies had been born that day, and they were all hauling water all over to try to help the mothers and they decided that was the line.
They told us that the civic is "the mother, and the father" for the community. They are the activists, the soup kitchen, the police force, the community entertainment organizers.
And they're all of low education and little to no employment. And no one taught them to how to do this, how to do community organizing. They are the epitome of community activism coming from community members. The sense of action with the city that they have should shame everyone in better situations to stop whining and start writing or acting or something. I feel like I have sat in poli sci and urban classes before and talked about "how do we get people to do this?" "how do we convince people to organize?" "how do we help people organize themselves?" and here's this community where they just did it all themselves, just figured it out. They make it seem so obvious, so a part of human nature.
Its incredible, I have so much to learn from them.
Our project is going to involve interviewing families in the settlement about their lives -- where they lived before, and what is has been like living here. The settlement is going to be updated by the city, so we're basically researching and documenting the settlement so what happened can be preserved as part of the history of the township.
Whew, that's all for now, I'll try to write more often and post when I can...
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Some Posts of Backlog
So I think I will have enough connection, on and off, to get the whole blog of my travels thing going, but first I'm just going to repost my mass email.
I made it to Cape Town safe and sound, moved in, and start class on Monday, which I thought meant it was time for the obligatory long study abroad email. If this is too long, feel free to skim or just look at the pretty pictures, but email me back and let me know what you're up to!
For the final dinner of CIEE orientation we went to a restaurant called Marco's African Place, which apparently is legendary for good African food and music. Between the end of entrees and the beginning of the dessert the live band really began to kick it up, and we slowly started standing up and dancing a little bit. As they kept playing it became a full on dance party, moving tables out of the way, and more people coming in from other sections of the restaurant. The whole place of maybe a couple hundred people dancing like crazy to this great live music. And we were in the center, open area, so we could see all around. It was a very cool experience.
On the first day of university orientation, as opposed to CIEE program orientation, they took us on an all day, 8am to 6pm tour of the Cape Peninsula, from the downtown of Cape Town to the Cape of Good Hope.
First we drove through down town Cape Town while our tour guide pointed out some cool stuff. Theres a building that used to be used as a slave lodge, and is now a museum, theres a big garden that used to be owned by the East Dutch Trading Company, and old buildings with cool architecture, and lots of place to walk around.
Then we drove through the 'really nice' area of Cape Town. I think its about the equivalent of Malibu in LA because its houses built up on the hill looking over really dramatic views of the coast, with ridiculous contrations to take the residents from their driveways to their houses and from their houses down to the beach. Around there we stopped to walk around, and it was just a beautiful beach. They actually build into the beaches little concrete walls in some places that trap the water to form small pools for swimming in, so that you don't have to battle big waves and rocks. Pretty creative solution, it seems.
Our drive continued around this windy road along the coast that was both pretty and nerve wracking.
We stopped for lunch in one of the townships along the way. The townships are left over from apartheid. The one we stopped in was called Ocean View. A couple decades ago, all the residents lived in another area called Simons Town, and were forced to evacuate because the white rulers had decided that God told them that land was only for white people. So we had lunch in their community center, and they had some of the kids who hang out there perform for us. A few of them were amazing break dancers, which went over really well. They eat a lot of meat here, so we had chicken and lamb in two different kinds of stew/curry-like sauces.
Then we finally went to the Cape of Good Hope. It is the most south-westernly tip of Africa. First we climbed up a path along the craggy coast up to the light house, where you can see off the coast of Africa, and they have a cool sign post telling you how far away different cities are. For example, Beijing and New York City were about equadistant away, and the South Pole was half as far away. Then we walked back down and along the other side of the cape, where we were basically walking along the top of cliffs overlooking the beach. There were these really long steep steps that went down to the beach, but I didn't have time to explore. Part of the path was wood planks lined with plans, which made me think of the dunes on the Jersey shore holding the beach in.
We slowly wandered back, and drove through a town that has a ton of penguins (yes! penguins in Africa!). We were supposed to stop and see the penguins, but we ran out of time, so we're supposed to go back another time. We did, however, see baboons, and we saw ostriches... on the beach.
Today, I had the honor of experiencing UCT bureacracy. Registering for classes is a multiday experience. On Wednesday, we 'pre-registered', which entailed standing in a number of lines (I'm sorry, queues), to ensure that yes, you had paid your fee, and yes, you indeed have a study visa, etc, and waiting for two people, on slow computers, to enter your data into their system (this point becomes important later in the story).
Today (Friday) was actual registration. First I woke up an hour and a half before my registration time in order to get signatures to pass out of pre-reqs. We were warned this would be difficult, but despite not finding the Head of Department, because he decided not to come in today, I was able to easily substitute the signature of two of my potential professors, who were actually quite nice.
Then you stand in yet another queue to fill out your paperwork and then sit down with an advisor. Lucky yet again, this 'advisor' turns out to be the professor for another one of my classes, and also quite nice. Its a class on Film & History and I told him some of us were thinking about going to catch part of the film festival (www.encounters.co.za) tonight, so I think I'm on his good side already.
So I think I'm doing excellently. Then I go stand to have someone enter my data into the computer and hit a wall, because I'm not in the system. This now means I have to go to the Humanities Department, suck up to the secretaries, and then watch as they close the window because theyre on lunch, even though they have all my paper work and hope it doesnt get lost. I then decided to head down to the international office to see if I could rush anything along, and apparently, the woman who theoretically entered my information into the system on Wednesday actually signed my forms without hitting 'send' or 'enter' or whatever, which was remedied.
I had to stop by my residence, and Felicity, the Asst. Director for my program was about to head over there, so she gave me a ride, but this included many stops and errands along the way. Long afternoon later, the woman in Humanities tells me I should be in the system and to just check back on Monday. So I'm crossing my fingers.
I've been starting to meet the regular UCT students who live in the dorm with me but so far theyre not all back from winter break yet. So far so good, though.
Lastly, the weather... It's not so much that I'm not used to cold or to rain or even to today's hail, because despite running away from seasons for three years, I still remember... Its that the weather changes every twenty minutes. Sunshine in the morning does not mean there will not be vertical rain later in the day. Last night looked like a hurricane, because theres a palm tree outside my door, and it looked exactly like the shots the weather channel shows of Florida. On the plus side, though, the frequent switch between sunshine and rain results in lots of rainbows. I think Ive seen more this week than previously in my life.
Now, tell me what's going on back home! Apparently everyone thinks that since I'm gone, only Africa is interesting, but I want to know what's going on back home, too. (And if you want to give me any crib notes on the news, that would be appreciated, too).
So long! Good wishes to everyone!
- Lauren
Album thus far, and should be updated as possible... facebook album
PS Im checking USC & Gmail, but soon I'll have a UCT email, and that's easiest, though I'll be fwd-ing USC & gmail to UCT. Should have internet in my room in a week or two.
I made it to Cape Town safe and sound, moved in, and start class on Monday, which I thought meant it was time for the obligatory long study abroad email. If this is too long, feel free to skim or just look at the pretty pictures, but email me back and let me know what you're up to!
For the final dinner of CIEE orientation we went to a restaurant called Marco's African Place, which apparently is legendary for good African food and music. Between the end of entrees and the beginning of the dessert the live band really began to kick it up, and we slowly started standing up and dancing a little bit. As they kept playing it became a full on dance party, moving tables out of the way, and more people coming in from other sections of the restaurant. The whole place of maybe a couple hundred people dancing like crazy to this great live music. And we were in the center, open area, so we could see all around. It was a very cool experience.
On the first day of university orientation, as opposed to CIEE program orientation, they took us on an all day, 8am to 6pm tour of the Cape Peninsula, from the downtown of Cape Town to the Cape of Good Hope.
First we drove through down town Cape Town while our tour guide pointed out some cool stuff. Theres a building that used to be used as a slave lodge, and is now a museum, theres a big garden that used to be owned by the East Dutch Trading Company, and old buildings with cool architecture, and lots of place to walk around.
Then we drove through the 'really nice' area of Cape Town. I think its about the equivalent of Malibu in LA because its houses built up on the hill looking over really dramatic views of the coast, with ridiculous contrations to take the residents from their driveways to their houses and from their houses down to the beach. Around there we stopped to walk around, and it was just a beautiful beach. They actually build into the beaches little concrete walls in some places that trap the water to form small pools for swimming in, so that you don't have to battle big waves and rocks. Pretty creative solution, it seems.
Our drive continued around this windy road along the coast that was both pretty and nerve wracking.
We stopped for lunch in one of the townships along the way. The townships are left over from apartheid. The one we stopped in was called Ocean View. A couple decades ago, all the residents lived in another area called Simons Town, and were forced to evacuate because the white rulers had decided that God told them that land was only for white people. So we had lunch in their community center, and they had some of the kids who hang out there perform for us. A few of them were amazing break dancers, which went over really well. They eat a lot of meat here, so we had chicken and lamb in two different kinds of stew/curry-like sauces.
Then we finally went to the Cape of Good Hope. It is the most south-westernly tip of Africa. First we climbed up a path along the craggy coast up to the light house, where you can see off the coast of Africa, and they have a cool sign post telling you how far away different cities are. For example, Beijing and New York City were about equadistant away, and the South Pole was half as far away. Then we walked back down and along the other side of the cape, where we were basically walking along the top of cliffs overlooking the beach. There were these really long steep steps that went down to the beach, but I didn't have time to explore. Part of the path was wood planks lined with plans, which made me think of the dunes on the Jersey shore holding the beach in.
We slowly wandered back, and drove through a town that has a ton of penguins (yes! penguins in Africa!). We were supposed to stop and see the penguins, but we ran out of time, so we're supposed to go back another time. We did, however, see baboons, and we saw ostriches... on the beach.
Today, I had the honor of experiencing UCT bureacracy. Registering for classes is a multiday experience. On Wednesday, we 'pre-registered', which entailed standing in a number of lines (I'm sorry, queues), to ensure that yes, you had paid your fee, and yes, you indeed have a study visa, etc, and waiting for two people, on slow computers, to enter your data into their system (this point becomes important later in the story).
Today (Friday) was actual registration. First I woke up an hour and a half before my registration time in order to get signatures to pass out of pre-reqs. We were warned this would be difficult, but despite not finding the Head of Department, because he decided not to come in today, I was able to easily substitute the signature of two of my potential professors, who were actually quite nice.
Then you stand in yet another queue to fill out your paperwork and then sit down with an advisor. Lucky yet again, this 'advisor' turns out to be the professor for another one of my classes, and also quite nice. Its a class on Film & History and I told him some of us were thinking about going to catch part of the film festival (www.encounters.co.za) tonight, so I think I'm on his good side already.
So I think I'm doing excellently. Then I go stand to have someone enter my data into the computer and hit a wall, because I'm not in the system. This now means I have to go to the Humanities Department, suck up to the secretaries, and then watch as they close the window because theyre on lunch, even though they have all my paper work and hope it doesnt get lost. I then decided to head down to the international office to see if I could rush anything along, and apparently, the woman who theoretically entered my information into the system on Wednesday actually signed my forms without hitting 'send' or 'enter' or whatever, which was remedied.
I had to stop by my residence, and Felicity, the Asst. Director for my program was about to head over there, so she gave me a ride, but this included many stops and errands along the way. Long afternoon later, the woman in Humanities tells me I should be in the system and to just check back on Monday. So I'm crossing my fingers.
I've been starting to meet the regular UCT students who live in the dorm with me but so far theyre not all back from winter break yet. So far so good, though.
Lastly, the weather... It's not so much that I'm not used to cold or to rain or even to today's hail, because despite running away from seasons for three years, I still remember... Its that the weather changes every twenty minutes. Sunshine in the morning does not mean there will not be vertical rain later in the day. Last night looked like a hurricane, because theres a palm tree outside my door, and it looked exactly like the shots the weather channel shows of Florida. On the plus side, though, the frequent switch between sunshine and rain results in lots of rainbows. I think Ive seen more this week than previously in my life.
Now, tell me what's going on back home! Apparently everyone thinks that since I'm gone, only Africa is interesting, but I want to know what's going on back home, too. (And if you want to give me any crib notes on the news, that would be appreciated, too).
So long! Good wishes to everyone!
- Lauren
Album thus far, and should be updated as possible... facebook album
PS Im checking USC & Gmail, but soon I'll have a UCT email, and that's easiest, though I'll be fwd-ing USC & gmail to UCT. Should have internet in my room in a week or two.
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