Namibia

Orange and blue, sand and sky. Namibia is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. Being in the car and driving to our destinations was half of the adventure! The group that I traveled with was Conor, two of his housemates Ali and Lis, and their friend Matt. It was really a great group to travel with, we got along really well and I think the majority of our trip we spent laughing and having fun. In a six day trip, we started in Cape Town, drove up to Swakopmund via Windhoek, down to Sossusvlei, and back to Cape Town. This meant a lot of driving, but was well worth it. After a flat tire and running out of gas, we arrived in Swakopmund, our first real stop. Swakopmund is kind of an eerie little town, with a lot of adventure activities and German influence. It reminded me a little bit of a college town, with long streets filled with all kinds of shops, cafés, and restaurants. The eerie part was that it was pretty deserted and quiet at night, but at least we felt very safe. We definitely made the most of our time in Swakop. In one day, I went both sandboarding and skydiving! SO MUCH FUN. I have never been snowboarding before, but I tried sandboarding on the dunes, which was really exciting. You are equipped with all of the gear that you would need for snowboarding including snowboard and snowboarding boots (and a very attractive black helmet). My main problem was not knowing how to stop, which wasn’t as bad as you might think it would be because falling on the sand doesn’t hurt at all. Gliding (and continuously falling) down the dunes was a lot of fun, but the trek back up to the top was a little rough, and by the end we were all quite exhausted. Good thing that only minutes after our 9AM-1PM sandboarding adventure, Conor, Matt and I were dropped off at Swakopmund Skydivers! Skydiving was both terrifying and exhilarating, and was definitely a once in a lifetime experience. I was scared out of my mind being in the little rickety plane and driving to 1,000 feet above ground level. Because I was the most scared, I had to jump first. The worst part was when they opened up the door and you could feel the air and realize that you are actually jumping out of a plane…terrifying (I think I cried a little bit). The first 5 seconds are the hardest; your body is actually just free falling out of an airplane. Soon the sensation changes a bit and although you are still free-falling, you feel a little different, perhaps little more calm, and all you can do is smile. Halfway down the parachute opens and you glide down to the ground. I got to steer the parachute and glide around and it was extremely fun. Underneath me was the contrast of the orange dunes of the Namib Desert against the blue of the ocean and the city of Swakopmund tucked in a little section. Beautiful. After our time in Swakop, we made our way down to Sossusvlei, where the highest sand dunes in the world are. The drive was incredible, with all kinds of strange hill and mountain formations that I had never seen before. Parts of it felt like we were inside a Dr. Seuss book. Sossusvlei was stunning. We camped and woke up early to be on the dunes for sunrise. The dunes in Sossusvlei are much larger than those in Swakop, and also they are much more orange. We climbed one of the dunes and watched the sunrise, which was stunning. We also go to see Dead Vlei, which is an area of Sossusvlei with trees that have been dead for over 900 years. Even though they are dead, they stand upright in an area of clay, surrounded by the orange dunes. It was a very interesting area to see, and quite beautiful. Namibia was unlike anything I had ever seen before, and the best way to describe it is through what I said earlier…orange and blue, sand and sky.

Orange Inspiration

travel, explore
have drinks with friends
have drinks with strangers
listen to music that moves you
...move
take in your surroundings, collect these images in your memory
be interested
let your experiences make you interesting
share
appreciate
open your mind
and your heart
live a life that loves to be lived

Last Day of Lectures

Today was my last day of school at UCT. I still have exams, but they are spread over a three week period of time. It went by so fast! I would say my classes at UCT were comparable to my UW classes, but I definitely had much more work load at Wisconsin. The thing I disliked to most about UCT was the grading scale. When I first read the conversions, I couldn't believe that a 75% was an A. Then I started getting used to receiving a 65% on a paper that would have earned me at least a 90% at Wisconsin. It is very strange here, it is unheard of to get a 90% or even grades in the upper 80's. Students are pleased with 60%'s. Also, for the majority of my UCT classes, we had very few assignments. For example, in my Sacred Art course, we had one 1,000 word essay, one 2,500 word essay, one 750 word in class essay, and a weekly reading. We haven't had a single test in that class, and the final will be worth 50% of my grade. That is how the majority of the classes are set up, where you have sparse course work and then the final is worth 50-60% of your grade. I'm not complaining, it was very nice only having to write a few essays and do readings for my classes each week but it puts a lot of stress on finals. With that said, I probably should be studying this week, but instead I am going to Namibia! I'm (hopefully) leaving tomorrow morning and as long as the border crossing goes smoothly, we will be in Namibia tomorrow afternoon!

World of Birds

I know, I know, the name sounds somewhat lame, but World of Birds is actually a really cool thing to check out in Cape Town! I had been begging my roommate Ryan to come with me for about a month, so he finally gave in and we decided to give it a go. Situated in Hout Bay, World of Birds is a strange little place located on a semi-eerie street with dog breeders, farms, and horse stables.

What it is, is essentially a zoo, but one where many of the animals aren’t enclosed in a cage. There are all kinds of birds wandering around in the open, including peacocks, swans, ducks, etc. You also go through sanctuaries where vultures, owls, and other more dangerous birds are free to fly around. We came during the “Birds of Prey” feeding time which meant we got to watch the vultures rip apart dead chicken heads from less than 3 feet away, delightful. There are also some very strange things at World of Birds, including a big open area where guinea pigs run around and one with rabbits. The coolest thing by far was an area where you could interact with squirrel monkeys. It was so fun! The minute we got in there one of the monkeys jumped on my shoulder and, without my knowledge, took out one of my earrings and ran away. (No worries, I ended up retrieving the earring!) The monkeys are so cute! They run up your arm, peak in all of your pockets, touch your hand, grab your hair, jump on your back, and sit on your head. Never thought I would get to play with monkeys but I did and I would definitely do it again!

Marimba Festival

On Saturday night, Joe, Nira, Andy, Ryan and I went to Baxter Theater (which is on the UCT campus) for a Marimba Festival. We weren’t really sure what to expect, but I think we all left feeling happy that we had gone. Several local high schools and colleges performed a couple songs each, as well as a few professional marimba bands. There were performers of all ages, from about eight years old to at least sixty. Marimba is sort of like a xylophone, but bigger and made out of wood. They played some traditional African songs as well as contemporary songs such as Akon and Coldplay. The audience really got into it and everyone was clapping along and cheering. It was interesting to compare this organized, professional event with the performances at SHAWCO’s Open Day, which had gone on earlier in the day. It was fun to go to an event on UCT’s campus, and I’m really glad I went.

SHAWCO Open Day

Yesterday we had SHAWCO Open Day, a celebration and showcase of all that this semester’s Manenberg SHAWCO Arts project had done. It was a really great day, it felt really good to be there and enjoy it with the kids. They had worked hard all semester and it was a fun way to show off what we had done! Conor came with, and we arrived at Manenberg around 11:30AM. Rainy and cold, the weather was not what we were hoping for, so we had to move everything indoors. We started by putting a lot of the semester’s artworks up for display: paintings, drawings, and collages. The main focuses were display of artwork, a fashion show, and dance battles. The fashion show was a great success-the girls were so cute! They had outfits made of construction paper, macaroni and straw necklaces, taped on tissue paper, etc. They did cute little model walks across the stage and giggled the whole time. Between models, pairs of boys did dance offs. Let me tell you, some of these kids know how to dance! It was so amusing watching them battle off in dance, and they were all really getting into it. After the fashion/dance show, some older groups performed dances and sang songs. Everyone was clapping along and cheering, it was a really good experience. In a second room, they set up a large bouncy jumping castle for the little kids to play on, and they absolutely loved that! In the back of the room, we had a face painting station, where I painted faces for about an hour. I now know exactly how to draw and color the South African flag, as I painted it on at least 20 kid’s faces. There were small stands with food for sale, (doughnuts, drinks, sweets, and samoosas- one of my favorite South African foods, a filo dough wrapped pastry with meat/veggies on the inside). I was definitely expecting more parents to come, there were very few. Although a lot of the kids brought their cousins, sisters, brothers, neighbors, etc. which was fun because they were so excited to have me meet them! I think the kids really enjoyed themselves. It is hard to believe that I only have one afternoon left with these kids. I’ve really gotten to know a lot of them, and I’m so sad to leave them. I hope I have made some small difference in their lives, and I do think that I have. I wish you could see the way their faces brighten up when our bus arrives, and how they all run to the gates to wait for us to step off the bus. They all want to hold your hand and be picked up and tell you about their day. I really hope that they benefited from this experience as much as I did, it really meant a lot to me and is something I will never forget.

Addis in Cape

Last night Brad, Alex, Ryan and I ate at an Ethiopian restaurant called Addis in Cape. ( http://www.addisincape.co.za )The food was great, things I have never tried before! The best part was the experience and the setting. We sat at a small round table with only enough room for the main plate. Side tables sat between each of us as a place to set down our beverage. Before our meal, the waiter came around and poured water from a silver kettle on our hands so we could wash them before our meal. This reminded me of my mom and dad always washing their hands before every meal! Our appetizer was a huge piece of crispy flat rice bread with a homemade spicy butter on it and two dipping sauces, one out of olives and one out of chickpeas. No utensils were necessary at this restaurant, as you just break off portions of the bread, which is served on a large central plate, and dip into the sauces. It was very, very good. Secondly, our main meals came out which were served, again, on a massive piece of bread which was the unbaked version of our appetizer. It wasn’t really bread, Alex and I thought it kind of resembled gauze and was spongy in texture. Again, no utensils, but rather you would rip off pieces of the rice pancake and dip it or grab the food (which was dumped on top of the pancake). There were prawns in a spicy red sauce, seasoned fish, cabbage, spinach, lamb, lentils, and chicken. An extra serving of pancakes was necessary to scoop up all of the food. It was a pretty strange experience to be scooping up prawns with your fingers and having spicy red sauce dripping down your hands. Afterwards, our plate looked…well, I won’t describe. After dinner, our waiter brought around warm wash cloths to wipe our hands with. We also got to have a delicious dessert of baklava and berries with vanilla ice cream, paired with really great Ethiopian coffee served in tiny little espresso cups. The food was different and delicious, but the dining experience was unlike anything I’d ever done before.

Stellenbosch

A few days after Table Mountain, I checked another big thing off the Cape Town to-do list. Stellenbosch! Wine Country was so fun! We got picked up around 9AM and drove about 40 minutes away to Stellenbosch. The surroundings were absolutely beautiful, with rolling grassy fields, vineyards full of grapes, and beautiful mountains. We toured four different wineries and got to sample a lot of different wine! The first winery we went to was called Spier, and they not only had a winery but also a cheetah sanctuary so we got to see cheetahs. We tasted six different wines, my favorites always being the reds and the dessert wines. Second, we went to a place called Neethlingshof, and they by far had the best dessert wine! So delicious, it tasted like peach marmalade and honey. I forget the name of the third place, but there we got to sit down at a big table and were served wine. After winery number 3, we went to an EXCELLENT place for lunch. A little expensive, btu well worth it. I had a calamari dish on top of couscous with raisins. This place had an incredible view. After lunch we went to our fourth and final winery, Asara. Pretty classy, with a really nice outdoor seating area with live music. I got serenaded by the main singer, quite an experience. After, we got dropped of at our hostel—Stumble Inn—quite appropriate. After a short nap and taking some Advil to cure my throbbing wine headache, we got ready for dinner and going out! Stellenbosch is also a college town, so we went out to some of the student bars and had a really fun night! The following morning we hopped on the train and made it back to Cape Town before noon. Great way to spend part of a weekend.

I climbed Table Mountain!

3 months in and the task is complete. I actually did this on April 22nd but my blog has been so delayed that it has taken some time to write about it. You would probably expect me to start raving about how exhilarating, exciting, beautiful, breathtaking, and pleasant climbing Table Mountain was, but in actuality it was…torturous? Maybe that is a little too harsh, it wasn’t THAT bad, but let me tell you, that two and half hour hike is not easy! I went with my roommates Andy, Joe, and a friend of ours, Thimo. I think we must have stopped at least 20 times along the way, just for a “little break.” The first thing we would say to anyone passing us going down would be “Almost there, right?” And after every response “No, no. You’ve still got at least an hour and a half…and it get’s harder,” we would reply “An hour and half? We can do it in 45.” And then an hour and forty five minutes later we would still be climbing. Now, I’m kind of making this sound like it was a bad experience…which it wasn’t! Not at all! The feeling of getting to the top, knowing that we had hiked up all the way from where we saw those little tiny ant sized cars and those dots that were people. Additionally, we had done it! Who can come to Cape Town and leave without ever having climbed Table Mountain? In a way, it is what Cape Town is known for, and we had finally accomplished it. It was an ongoing joke in my house that we would “do it next weekend…” and that we would eventually all leave without ever having done the big Cape Town things…Table Mountain, Stellenbosh, Robben Island, Distric Six Museum…(Still haven’t done the last two!) My roommate Joe and I formulated a list of some of the things we had to do, and we took the initiative to make sure at least a couple got crossed off on some of the days that we had off school! The view from the top of Table Mountain is unbelievable, and it really is amazing how after hiking completely vertically for 2 and a half hours, you at once come to a completely flat walking ground. You imagine yourself walking along that horizon that you see every day, and that is pretty incredible. Nira met us at the top via cable car, which was a brilliant invention. Needless to say, we took the cable car down (which took about one minute and made us feel silly about our long trek). With that said, hiking Table Mountain is something that I had to do, I did it, and I will never do it again.

I glide across a gorge, we check out the Zambian markets, and I get us stuck on the pot hole road

As our trip was coming to an end, Joanna and I decided to do something adventurous, so we did something called a “flying fox” across a gorge near the falls. It is pretty similar to zip lining, but you get a full running start and leap off the edge of a cliff and glide, suspended by your back, across a super high gorge. It was so exhilarating, and not as scary as you would think. We spent the rest of our day in Zambia at the markets, where I bought a really cool artwork. For this, I traded my flip flops, a hair tie, a small hair brush, and some kuacha (Zambian currency). Well worth it! The rest of our trip essentially consisted of retracing our path. This meant: driving on the bad roads, eating at the delicious restaurant, and elephant sightings. While driving on that horrible road I spoke of earlier, I accidentally got us stuck in the shoulder…whoops! Not my fault, well, maybe a little. We had to wait for two other cars to come and tow us out with a rope connected to a truck. But we made it!

Victoria Falls from the Zim side, trading hair ties and shirts for bowls and masks, full moon, and drinks with the deputy mayor of Livingstone

The next day, half of us went to the Zimbabwe side of Victoria Falls. Just as beautiful the second time. This side has really nice views and you don’t get as wet. We also went to a market, where you could trade anything! I brought a white undershirt to trade, and also gave up my hair ties and a pen that was in my purse. In exchange for this and a few US dollars, I got a really cool carved wooden bowl as well as a couple wooden masks. One really crazy thing about Zimbabwe is that they don’t accept their own currency because it is so worthless. You can buy a three trillion Zimbabwe dollar bill for about 20 cents. They would rather trade you for anything you have rather than take Zim dollars. That night, I got to see one of the coolest sights I will probably ever see. There was a full moon, and we went back to the Zambia side of Victoria Falls to look at it. Because of the light of the moon, reflected on the waterfall, a huge rainbow formed over the Falls. So strange and so beautiful to see a rainbow in the middle of the night over such an incredible waterfall! Later that night, a few of us went to get food and drinks at a Zambian bar near our hostel. There we had drinks with the deputy mayor of Livingstone—pretty cool!

Chaos at the Border and we experience one of the 7 natural wonders of the world

The border crossing between Botswana and Zambia was definitely the most hectic of the three. When we arrived, there were about 200 taxi drivers, bus drivers, drivers, people, etc. who were approaching us to ask if we needed transportation. They were shouting prices at us, telling us they were the best, telling us those “other guys” we were talking to were crooks, telling us we would be robbed if we went with them, showing us their license, etc. CHAOS. All I could do was sit back and just laugh as I watched 20 different drivers approach the eight of us and each of us having a different opinion and trusting one guy more than the other. We let Joe take charge, and settled on two regular cabs for a pretty good price. They drove us for about 45 minutes to our hostel, Jollyboys Backpackers. This was by far my favorite hostel we stayed at on the whole trip. Lots of young people, good food, outdoor bar, travel books, swimming pool, camping, rooms, a the best part, a massive central “chill zone” which consisted of large pillows all over square seating area where you could just lay down and unwind. Our first day in Zambia, we situated ourselves at the hostel and took a mini bus to Victoria Falls. Our mini bus experience was pretty comical, as we got off followed by an old man who continued to repeat the 3 phrases “Let’s talk about Barack Obama!” “Let’s talk about global crisis!” and “Let’s talk about Nelson Mandela!” (He wouldn’t actually continue conversation on any of these topics, but rather just continuously say them over and over again.) Victoria Falls was INCREDIBLE. Impossible to explain in words, but essentially a massive, powerful waterfall that got you drenched! We were literally soaking wet, just as if we had jumped into a pool. Good thing we had gotten advice about not bringing our cameras to the Zambia side and putting our money in double zip lock baggies. There are baboons ALL OVER Victoria Falls. And you would think they would just be little cuties, but when you walk by 10 baboons who are eying you up and down and start walking after you…it’s a little scary! We did a really amazing hike down to the boiling point, which was like a crazy expedition through a jungle. Under vines, over rocks, fording through water, all while surrounded by a lush tropical paradise.

We eat, go on a safari, and boat cruise

Kasane is situated right next to Chobe National Park, a huge game reserve in northern Botswana. Kasane is a pretty touristy city, with lots of upper-end resorts and tourists wearing safari hats in Land Rovers. We arrived in Kasane mid afternoon, and after having to patch a tire and a day of stressful driving, we decided to treat ourselves to a nice dinner. Such a good decision! We ate at a beautiful resort called the Chobe River Lodge with a full buffet from 7PM-9:30PM. The food was excellent! I tried impala, warthog, kudu, and ostrich, not to mention the delicious mussels, stir fry, and butternut soup. There were so many options, and all of it was great (especially the dessert). We had a great view onto the Chobe Riverfront, although the waiter did tell us that there were often times crocodiles in the water. The next day, we woke up early (I saw more sunrises on this trip than I ever have in my life) to go on a 5:45AM safari. The game drive was great, we saw lots of hippos, elephants, impala, water buffalo, jackals, kudu, warthogs, anteaters, and more. Then, on the drive back to the hostel we passed three huge elephants right on the side of the road, which just felt like a continuation of the safari! We spent the day relaxing by the pool, until our 3PM boat cruise. The cruise was extremely relaxing, and we got to see a lot of animals on the banks of the water. We saw many of the same animals as in the morning, but also a baby crocodile and eagles. By the end of the day, we were all quite exhausted and ready for Zambia the next day!

We drive amidst potholes and elephants

Potholes and elephants, story of our Spring Break. The road between Nata and Kasane was by far, the WORST road I have ever driven on. Huge, deep potholes dispersed throughout the entire drive. There were about 10 km of road that was horrible, we almost thought we wouldn't make it! It resembled swiss cheese, with much more holes than cheese. At some points we had to drive on the unpaved shoulder of the road, which later proved to be a problem. And just when we would hit a stretch of nicely paved road, with smooth driving, we would approach a massive pothole that took up the entirety of the road and we would have to swing around into the shoulder. As an added delight, our presence would sometimes be graced by elephants. To be honest, at our first elephant sighting, I felt like we were in Jurassic Park. Elephants are HUGE! And when you're less than 10 feet away from them in a small car, it can be a little scary. One of the craziest things I've ever seen was along this drive, a massive dead elephant being eaten by vultures. Followed by a dead hyena in the middle of the road moments later. The drive was pretty surreal, and having driven part of it I felt very accomplished!

We drive for 12 hours, I get a necklace made of waterlillies, and we run over a hippo in a boat

Driving for 12 hours is not that fun. It entails waking up before the sun is up, quickly packing away anything you took out the night before, eating a diet of crackers and cookies for the entire day, and constantly wondering just where in Botswana we are. Driving from Gaborone to Maun was pretty uneventful, but arriving was exciting! Maun is situated right on the banks of the Okavango Delta, which is essentially a huge swamp with water canals, marshes, and wildlife. We spent our next day basking in the sun while enjoying the sights of the Delta, one of the trip highlights. We woke up early (reoccurring theme of the trip), and were driven by a speedboat to an area where the mokoros (dug out wooden canoes) were. One guide and two of us to a mokoro, we sat back and enjoyed our six hour tour of the Delta and its sights. Surrounded by waterlillies, in perfectly still water that reflected the clouds, I was in bliss. This was by far one of the most relaxing and beautiful ways I have spent a day. I sat with Nira, and our guide Dayz, was quite insightful about the Delta. He even picked us waterlillies from the Delta and made us necklaces to wear! Favorite comments include: Me: “So, do the hippos ever attack the canoes?” Dayz: “Yes, but only sometimes” Me: “But do hippos eat humans?” Dayz: “They eat everything.” Amusing. But here I am today, meaning no wild hippo attacks. We did see quite a few hippos but they generally just peered at us through the water. Well, except for the time when we were heading back from the mokoros, after being picked up by a guide from our hostel, who found it amusing to speed over a hippo we had just seen go underwater. Me: “How fast do the hippos swim?” Guide: “Faster than this boat.” Pretty scary, but I trust that the guides know what they are doing, although that hippo did look pretty angry. It was a pretty funny conversation between Nira and I when we compared how this situation would be different if it were in the United States. We concluded that the hippos would be in secured areas, we would be wearing life jackets, no waterlilly necklaces would be possible because signs would be posted about not disturbing the wildlife, and we would absolutely have to sign a 5 page wavier about the dangers of the Delta. Not in Africa!

Maya’s luggage gets lost, I drive on the left hand side of the road, and we almost lose the other half of our group

NOTE:
Due to two busy weekS of school, my Spring Break entries will be delayed and broken into shorter stories! It might take a little while, but I promise to have them up as soon as I can!

So, not the most exciting way to start a trip but it was a start. One of the girls going on the trip with us had her luggage lost on the flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg, which pretty much just meant she had a very limited clothing selection for the rest of the trip. Renting our cars was exciting, we really had no idea what to expect. I still can’t pronounce the make of our car, but it pretty much looked a like a mini version of a Honda Element. She treated us very well though, so no complaints! Driving on the left side of the road, with the steering wheel on the left side of the car, in South Africa, then crossing over into Botswana was surprisingly not as difficult as it may sound! I caught on quickly, after only a few small fender benders (kidding!) It really is very easy, just always remember STAY LEFT! I actually really, really enjoyed driving. Listening to music, chatting with friends…The roads from SA to Botswana were wide open with beautiful scenery (you will soon learn this is NOT the case throughout all of Southern Africa). We felt so accomplished after having crossed the border into Botswana, although it looked the exact same as South Africa. Somewhere along the drive, we realized the other group of four (who did not have a GPS) were no longer behind us. Oh, and we were in Botswana where our cell phones don’t work. Perfect beginning to the road trip. After arriving at our hostel, spending over an hour preparing for the worst case scenario, deciding if we would continue the trip without them and what our best options were, they showed up! Such a relief!! Lesson learned: stick together and buy Botswana SIM cards to put in our phones!

Mzoli's

On Sunday I went to Mzoli’s, a well known braai (barbeque) in the township (you should know the definition by now) of Guguleta. I don’t ever think I’ve seen so much meat! For about $2 per person, your table is served with a massive bowl of marinated steak, chicken, and sausage, pap (white porridge), salad, etc. Silverware, plates, napkins are not included which amounts to messy faces and dripping hands devouring hot food fresh of the grill. Very delicious. One downfall was that we arrived around 12:30PM and waited until 4PM for our food. We were told this was because Andrew, our landlord’s helper for lack of better terms to describe his position, didn’t give the cooks a big enough tip. Mzoli’s is only on Sundays, and what it is essentially is a celebration, a time for drinking, eating, and socializing. You are situated outside at big picnic tables with people sitting, standing, dancing, and walking around. Although most liquor stores are closed on Sundays in South Africa, the liquor stores in the township are open and you can buy beer, wine, etc. and enjoy before the food is served. There are people of all ages and races, from families with babies to grandparents to international students to locals. Many people were dressed up because they had just come from Sunday church service. It was explained to me that this was a celebration to look forward to after being forgiven of your sins and cleansed at church. One man at the table next to us asked if we would stand up and take a picture with him, because he wanted to be in a picture with white people-no joke. The food was tasty, the people were friendly and the atmosphere was great.

Spring Break Planning

One week until UCT’s 10 day “vacation,” or as we call it Spring Break! We are in the midst of planning our wonderful trip. So far, we have booked round trip tickets from Cape Town into Johannesburg departing on Thursday, April 2nd and arriving back in Cape Town on Monday, April 13th. I am going with 8 other students, some from my house, some from Wisconsin, and some that I have met here. Once in Jo’Burg, we are planning on renting two 4 x 4 vehicles and driving from Johannesburg, through Botswana, to the Ocavango Delta, then Chobe National Park, then Victoria Falls. I can't believe I get to see one of the seven wonders of the world! I am EXTREMELY excited for this trip. It will definitely be an adventure.

Completely, absolutely unrelated short story: Earlier this week I was on a train going to the beach, when a quite unusual incident occurred. A smiling old man boarded the train with a walking stick and dark glasses. He found his way to a seat, got out his donations box, and started playing the guitar and singing. He actually had a pretty good voice, but it was his rendition of Amazing Grace that left me with a real memory. Just imagine… sitting on a train, listening to a very happy, blind old man sing in a South African accent“…was blind, but now I see!”

Hout Bay

Last week, Conor, Ryan and I made a trip out to Hout Bay. The day was dreary and kind of cold (meaning high 60s-Oh, how I miss you Madison) and we didn’t really know what we were getting ourselves into (This seems to be a reoccurring theme). We hopped on the Haut Bay mini bus from City Central, expecting to be taken to a beach or something of the like. The drive was much different than any of the other mini bus drives that take us to Camp’s Bay, Sea Point, Clifton, etc. We drove through the township Constantia, where we stopped and let many passengers off. At one of the stops, I noticed a sign posted on a store front that read “White people are the seed of all evil. They raped our women. They stole our country and our lives.” This was a little disturbing seeing as the three of us were the only white people within sight. It just goes to show that racism in South Africa comes from both sides. Although at times unnoticed, there is definitely a sense of division between black or colored (meaning mixed here) South Africans and white South Africans. There is also a clash between black South Africans and colored South Africans. I wouldn’t say I have had any specific experiences here that show this division, but when you observe your surroundings it becomes much more apparent. I am almost always one of the only white people on the train and on the mini bus. The derby I went to during my first weekend here was a prime example of this division of wealth. Certain restaurants and stores also show the divide. That aside, Hout Bay ended up being very cool. We ate fish and chips and calamari at a recommended restaurant called Fish on the Rock. The restaurant was a no frills, order at the counter, sit on benches outside type place that sat right on the ocean, and the food was fresh and delicious. We then walked from that restaurant towards town through the marina. We saw seals in the water and the scenery was beautiful. In a way, the chilly, windy, cloudy day added to the whole fisherman’s wharf experience. We stopped and got drinks at a café, and made our way to the Mariner’s Wharf, a large fishery, winery, and store. Ryan and I ate fresh oysters for 80 cents each. We bought mussel meat, fish, and crackers, and made our way back to Cape Town. What started as a potentially sketchy day ended up being a nice adventure!

Luck of the Irish

Unfortunately, this week I had my first encounter with Cape Town crime. In celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, I went out on Long Street to an Irish bar called Dubliners. I was having a really fun night, most of my roommates were there, the bar had live music, there was a ton of people there… that is, until I felt someone zip open my clutch (which was around my wrist). I instantly noticed that my phone and change purse (which held my UCT ID, debit card, and cash) were missing from my open clutch. I scanned the crowd around me but the bar was so crowded that it was impossible to tell who had taken my things. I looked around on the floor, reported it to the bouncers, cried to my roommate (yes, it was sad) and left the bar. When I got home, I immediately called my mom, told her what had happened, and had her cancel my debit card. (Thank you, Mama!) I was so upset that night because I felt that there wasn’t much I could have done to prevent this, I was just unlucky. I had my clutch around my wrist, I physically felt it being opened, and there was nothing I could do. It all happened so quickly, I really wonder how skilled this person was at robbing people. While I was standing outside of the bar before going home, a girl approached me and told me that she had had her things stolen from her twice and both times they had taken the money and emptied the rest in the bathroom. For this reason, I decided to call Dubliner the next day to see if any of my things had been recovered. I was shocked when they asked me if I was an American student and if I had lost my phone. My roommate Brad took a cab with me to recover my things. When I got there, they told me that someone had tried to use my debit card at the bar, and for two reasons they had known it was not him. This person was an idiot. My debit card has my picture on it, and my name is Marina, an obviously feminine name. In addition, Dubliner has a policy where in order to use a credit card that doesn’t require you to enter your PIN, you must provide additional proof of identification. When the bartender realized that this wasn’t me, he confiscated the card and somehow managed to get my phone and change purse back from him as well. Overall, I lost about $25 and a UCT ID valued at around $6. Without a doubt, this is not something that happens often, I was extremely lucky. I know this form of petty crime can happen anywhere, from Madison, Wisconsin to Cape Town, South Africa. To be honest, this is my absolute first experience with any form of “crime” or “danger” in Africa, and I would say that two months in, it is a pretty good place to be.

Surfing

I learned how to surf! Maybe not exactly “how to surf,” but I did learn the basics and I got up a few times! South Africa has some of the best beaches for surfing, so it was the perfect opportunity to learn. So on Friday, I went to Muizenberg Beach with Conor and a few of his roommates and took a surfing lesson. Wet suit and all, the five of us attempted surfing for the first time. Our hour and a half long lesson began by learning the three hazards: your own surfboard, other surfers, and sharks. Sharks love to feed on shiny, black seals which, in our tight black wetsuits, we closely resemble. Great confidence booster for the first time out. (Mama, stop worrying, I’m not going to be eaten by a shark). First of all, wetsuits are incredible! To the bare touch, the majority of the ocean water in South Africa is ice cold, yet we managed to spend hours in it without feeling even slightly chilly. Secondly, I have a newfound appreciation for professional surfers, or actually anyone who can surf well. Surfing is exhausting! It takes an immense amount of balance, upper body strength, timing, and concentration. And then you have to think about direction, speed, other surfers/people, the strength and size of the wave, and (maybe) sharks (and jellyfish?) That aside, surfing is very fun. There’s something very cool and different about gliding above the ocean water and experiencing that perspective. I would definitely give it another try.

Lion's Head Full Moon Hike

This past Wednesday was a full moon, and my some of my roommates and I went on a really cool night hike. We left our house around 6PM and drove to the base of Lion’s Head. Hiking Lion’s Head when there is a full moon is a pretty big Cape Town event, so there were a lot of people doing the same thing as we were. From the base, we hiked about halfway up and stopped to watch the sunset over the water. It was absolutely gorgeous. The sky was all different shades of pink and orange and yellow and the reflection on the water was incredible. We continued the hike to the top of the mountain, the entire upwards hike lasting about one hour. I wouldn’t say it was difficult, but walking uphill and over rocks for an hour with the sun beating down on you for half of it isn’t exactly relaxing. As we climbed to the top, the full moon grew brighter and brighter and the sky a deeper shade of blue. It was such a cool sight. The mountains in the background, the full moon in the center, and the ocean and brightly lit city below. Definitely one of the best sunset/moon sightings I have ever seen. At the top of the mountain, we sat on rocks and looked out onto the city while eating and sharing a bottle of wine. So many people were up there, all with food and music and drinks. The walk down the mountain proved to be a little more difficult, since we didn’t have the help of the sunlight. I don’t know how we did it, but we climbed down the rocks and through paths and down ladders with just one flashlight to share among the four of us. It was a great experience and gave a good feeling of accomplishment and enjoyment.

On an entirely different and irrelevant note: During my time here, I have on three separate occasions, been bit by a mosquito on my eyelid. Not cool.

Simon's Town

I’ve found my favorite beach. Wednesday after class, Conor and I took the train to Simon’s Town, about 45 minutes away. In Simon’s Town is a perfect little place called Boulder’s Beach, home of the African Penguins. We visited Boulder’s Beach during orientation week, but didn’t get to spend much time there. The beaches are peaceful little patches of white sand divided by huge boulders. On some of them you can find about 50 people enjoying the sun and playing in the water while others areas are only large enough to fit a few people- and many penguins of course. Getting from one beach to another proved to be a little tricky, having to climb over and under huge boulders. We basked in the sun, only about 5 feet away from dozens of adorable penguins. The best part was when they would get up, waddle to the water, and dive right in, so you were literally swimming along with them! The water was cold and refreshing, the day was hot and beautiful, and the company of penguins a real treat.

SHAWCO

I’ve briefly mentioned my involvement in SHAWCO, the Students' Health and Welfare Centres Organisation so I thought I’d write a little bit about what it is and what I do. SHAWCO is a large organization on campus, so large that this semester they had to turn away many students even though it is a volunteer organization. (Visit http://www.shawco.org for more information.) As a part of SHAWCO, you visit the townships in and around Cape Town once a week for about 3 hours and help out. You can become involved in tutoring, sports, arts, life skills, etc.I am a part of the arts program, which is composed of fine arts, drama, and music. Today was my second visit out to Matenburg, the township we volunteer at. We volunteer at something that is similar to a school/community center. It is a one story building divided up into classrooms, surrounded by a grass field. I go on Tuesdays from 2-5PM with about 20 other UCT students. When we arrive at Matenburg, there are always kids waiting outside, waving and giving us high fives as we step off. We are given a lesson plan for the day and broken up into groups, the children ranging from grades R-2nd, 3-5th, and 6th and 7th. Both times I have worked with the 3rd-5th graders, who I think have more energy than the other two combined. Last time we made a collage of fruits and vegetables, cut out from different colors in a magazine. (My favorite was the kid who drew a low-rider car and wrote Eugene in bubble letters below it, completely missing the point of the activity, but loving his artwork!) I think the kids thought this was a little boring, and a funny thing was that they knew many fruits and vegetables that I had never heard of before. They were asking me how to spell fruits that I didn’t even know existed. Today we were given a story to read to them, and they were supposed to illustrate their favorite scene and then create a chronological story wall with their pictures. Well, the story was about black humans and white humans and grey humans and “The Angel of Colour” and it was just—boring. And honestly, the vocabulary was far too challenging for the majority of the students. Some of them barely speak English, they have grown up only speaking Afrikaans. So, I completely changed the story as I went and made it something about a colorful fish, and then I drew a fish. And then I had to draw a fish for Maxcine, and one for Marjorie, and one for John, and one for every single kid at the table I was sitting at. I added a star next to my fish and seconds later, sure enough, I was drawing stars on 8 different papers. So then I decided to teach them how to draw a fish, and I simplified my version and gave them a lesson on how to draw a fish. And at the end of the day when the classroom put up their drawings of gray humans and black humans and white humans, my group put up identical pictures of colorful fish and stars. (Ours were the best, and we had the most fun!) I think these children are very grateful to have SHAWCO visitors. You can tell by the smiles on their faces when the buses arrive and the way they grab your hand the minute you set foot onto the field, they are very happy we are there. Every time I would get up to get a new colored pencil for the table, one of the kids would exclaim “But I thought you were staying until half past four!!” We are free to create our own lesson plans, so if anybody has any suggestions for inexpensive (preferably free) art projects to do with children grades 3-5…please let me know!

Great Weekend

I had such a nice weekend, a perfect combination of sightseeing, sun, relaxation and fun. Friday after class I joined a few of my roommates in checking out Long Street, filled with cafés, restaurants, shops, and bars, and the nearby Green Market. Shopping on Long Street is great, there are many unique little stores and boutiques with cute clothing, it’s just a little pricey. While we were walking along, we saw a commercial being shot with a model in a bright pink dress and a skateboarder who cuts in front of her. On Saturday, my roommates and I went to back to Long Street for some museum visits and sightseeing. We got there around 11AM and had lunch at a cute coffee and lunch café. After eating, we walked to Company Gardens, which is a large outdoor garden area where there are many museums. We first went to the South African National Art Gallery, which was great. There were many contemporary works as well as some old, but I liked the newer exhibitions much more. There were several video installations that were interesting, as well as a collection of Andy Verster’s work, a South African artist I had never heard of before but really enjoyed his work. Another one of my favorites was a large piece drawn in candle smoke (soot) composed of many eerie, dreamlike faces called “Smoke Portraits.” If you're interested, I put their website links on my blog so you can check out their work. After the art gallery, we took a little break and relaxed in the gardens before making our way to a second museum, the Slave Lodge. The Slave Lodge is the building, now converted in to museum, where many of South Africa’s slaves were housed. It was very informative about slavery, in particular the history of slavery in South Africa. My favorite part was a room that was a replication of the sleeping/living area on the slave ships. Essentialy, it was a slab of wood that went about halfway up the wall, and slaves would be packed in tightly and tied underneath it and on top of it. They had a recording of a woman’s voice telling her thoughts on the slave ship journeys and I really liked it; It was a good exhibit. They also had a very large exhibit on the life of Steve Biko which was interesting. After our museum visits, we went to the Green Market, a huge collection of African art, clothing, masks, tapestries, jewelry, dishes, etc. I bought a rug/tapestry that I really like, I’m going to hang it on my wall. Saturday night I went to dinner with Conor at a café in Obs called Café Ganesh, very cute décor and I had excellent spicy calamari. Sunday was HOT. Very, very hot. Probably somewhere in the low 90’s, but remember, no air conditioning. I went to a coffee shop in Rondebosch with my roommate Aviva, and had the first iced coffee I’ve ordered here that wasn’t made with ice cream! (Not that I’m complaining about the ones made with ice cream; They’re very good) We did some reading and homework at the coffee shop and then went to the UCT pool to swim and lay out. At night, some of my roommates and I went to a restaurant called “A Touch of Madness,” an old Victorian house converted into a restaurant. We sat outside and while we enjoyed our food (I had stuffed portabella mushrooms)we listened to a live band play bluegrass and jazz. What a perfect ending to a perfect weekend.

First Week of Classes

As I mentioned earlier, things are a little less organized in Cape Town. And by a little, I mean A LOT. I don’t think we were ever informed of many things, a few of these being 1) In addition to all of the classes you signed up for, you must also sign up for a tutorial, or “tut” in the majority of the classes, 2) “Tuts” do not meet the first week. 3)Vula, the online resources for classes 4)UCT email (I still haven’t figured out how to use mine-do I even have one? Who knows), 5)Peoplesoft (What is that? I don’t know, but I have a 7digit number and I type it in somewhere and it tells me what classes I’m registered for-first used this feature yesterday.) 6)If you register for a club or activity that does not mean you are automatically in it. No, no, in fact, it does not even mean that you are added to their contact list. You must contact them. And the contact numbers are in the IAPO Office…or maybe the SOO office, no, wait, the 5th floor of Steve Biko…but that’s only open from 14 to 16 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. And the list goes on… So the first day of class, I had no idea where I was going (because of course the internet in our house was down the night before). I literally knew nothing about where any of my classes were. Luckily, one of my housemates was in my first class so that worked out fine, Beattie 115; We got there right at 9AM. We got out of class early, and I searched the campus for 45 minutes looking for my next class, Business Law 1. Could it be in Leslie Science, where many first year classes are held? No. Okay, so the Leslie Commerce Building, since it from the Commerce Department? No. Okay, so it must be in the Kramer Law Building (on the opposite side of campus by the way). No. Oh, it just happened to be in Beattie 114, less than 5 feet away from where my first course had been. I got to class 20 minutes late and it got out about 25 minutes in. Excellent. By the way, ALL of my classes are in Beattie 115 and Beattie 114. And they’re not even related subject matter! Art History and Business Law? Unorganized. On the first day of my Art and Theory class, another teacher had booked the same room, so all 30 of us roamed the halls of the Beattie Building (I could practically give tours of this building now), looking for an empty classroom and ended up, 15 minutes later, in a room too small to hold all of us. This summarizes the expression “T.I.A., This is Africa.” When situations like this arise, there is no point in getting frustrated…this is Africa. Apart from the chaos, my first week of class went very well. It takes me about a half hour to get to class; I take the Jammie Shuttle. Campus is BEAUTIFUL!. I really enjoy both of my Art History courses (Sacred Art and Art and Theory), and to be honest, my Business Law course isn’t as horrible as I thought it was going to be. We learn about South African law, and what rights you have, courts, the judicial system here, etc. (To be fair, I did get out of Finance as fast as I could when on the first day he started rambling about accounting and interest rates and needing a financial calculator.) My classes vary in size, from a lecture hall of about 150 to a small class of about 25. My schedule is excellent; I start at 9AM or 10AM every day and end by 11AM, 12PM, or 1PM. One thing I really like about how they teach here is that most of my classes have 2 or 3 professors. One teaches the first part, then another comes in, and another. It is a nice variety and gives you different perspectives on the subject matter. I think my classes will be comparable to UW’s in difficulty, or maybe a little easier since I’m only taking 3. Hey,that's fine by me!

Mozambique

Last week, Conor, Sydney and I went to Mozambique. Although our trip was a little unplanned, it was an incredible experience. Our trip started with a two hour flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg. We spent the night at a hostel near the airport, and while it wasn’t the greatest accommodations, we got the chance to meet a really cool guy. Dennis was a beer delivery man from Holland, who had recently quit his job to drive a truck with a house attached to the back of it from Holland to South Africa. His three and a half month trip was a volunteer trip to help rebuild in needy areas. He told us many stories of his travels throughout Africa and showed us pictures. Very interesting and amusing. We woke up early the next day to catch a bus from Jo’Burg to Maputo, Mozambique. Luckily, we made it across the border with no problems (We just had to buy a visitor’s visa for Mozambique). Along the drive, I saw a herd of elephants just hanging out less than 30 feet away from the road! We arrived in Maputo fairly late so we didn’t have much of a chance to explore the city. 3 major differences: language barrier, everyone speaks Portuguese! This made it very difficult to ask for directions, get information, read menus, etc. Another was the currency, instead of rand, they use meticals, which are about 25mets to 1USD, (a little trickier to convert than the 10rand to 1USD). Also, you can’t drink the water! This was surprisingly difficult, especially at night when you weren’t able to purchase a water bottle or needed to brush your teeth. On the first night in Maputo, we ate at a small restaurant across the street from our hostel and called it a night. The next morning we woke up very early and ran (literally) through the streets of Maputo with our backpacks on to catch the bus to Tofo Beach that left at 5AM. We missed it. LUCKILY and unusually, there was one that left at 6AM. We boarded the bus, which was more like a jam-packed, rickety mini bus with blaring music. Along our 6 hour drive, we stopped a couple of times each hour in different settlements where the inhabitants would run up to our bus and try to sell us anything ranging from fruit, vegetables, sweet rolls, bread, drinks, etc. I tried a couple of the bread/muffins—very good and extremely inexpensive (less than a quarter for a muffin). When we arrived in Tofo Beach, we realized how worth it our trip was. A beautiful, white stretch of sand with clear, warm, azure water. Accommodation at our hostel, Fatima’s Nest, was adorable little thatched beach huts. That night we went to a market which is very close to our hostel and met a lot of the locals. We had dinner there that night-delicious calamari and rice and vegetables at a very low price. It was great getting to know all of the locals, and much better than just spending our time at the hostel. We also made friends with a group of guys from Australia who were traveling around in Africa. We went back to the market several times over our two days in Tofo Beach, and bought cool handmade artwork, absolutely delicious skewers of beef and chicken, tapestries, etc. At night, the stars in Tofo were the best I have ever seen. It’s such a small town and right on the Indian Ocean so no lights were in the way of the skies—beautiful. Also at night, when we would walk along the beach hundreds of little sand crabs would be digging in and out of the sand and running back and forth between the water and the shore. We had to depart Tofo at 4AM to catch the bus that took us back to Maputo. I liked Maputo much more the second time around. The first time we didn’t really have much time to experience anything, we just kind of stayed there overnight. This time, we had a great lunch, saw more of the city, stayed at a much better hostel, and just had an overall better experience. Maputo is an extremely poor city, many of the buildings are run down and abandoned and at night the streets are filled with homeless people and beggars. Not once did I feel threatened or scared in Maputo, and found the people overall to be very kind and honest. Even when you were making trades with the vendors that would run up to your car, if you gave them 5 cents extra by mistake, they would hand it right back to you, or give you an additional item. Another side comment about Mozambique-the women there can carry literally ANYTHING on their heads. A bag of coconuts, a huge plant stalk, water jugs, anything and everything. Much like the second time in Maputo, I enjoyed Johannesburg a lot better the second time around. The first time all I saw was a dirty, dreary, industrial, dangerous city. The second time we stayed in a better neighborhood, a friendlier hostel, and saw a completely different side. Almost like we were in an entirely different place, with a mall full of high-end stores and luxury cars. Our last night in Jo’Burg and an early morning flight back to Cape Town concluded our beautiful, busy, insightful vacation.

Before School Starts!

The last several days have been so busy! University of Cape Town registration is much different than University of Wisconsin registration. I’ve never appreciated the UW timetable so much. In Cape Town, you have to be preapproved for all of your courses, unless they are a 100 level course. This means that you have to stand in long lines in 85 degree weather and wait for the approval of the head of the department, and then wait in the same long line for approval at registration. Luckily, I was preapproved for courses through Wisconsin so I didn’t have that much waiting to do but it was still overwhelming! Not to mention the enormous campus and my lack of directional skills. Everything is done physically, by actually talking to the professors and head of the department instead of just clicking your mouse. I am taking a couple courses that I am excited about, and a couple that I am not so excited about. Business Law=not exciting at all, Intro to Finance=equally not exciting, Sacred Art and Image=exciting, and Theories of Art=exciting but I’m nervous because it’s a 300 level course the grading system here is very different than in the States (almost impossible to get an A). Other than registration, I’ve gotten to do some very cool things. We took a trip to the townships, which are essentially South Africa’s ghettos. There is a large volunteer organization here called SHAWCO that works with UCT students and children in the townships. My experience was touching, to say the least. We arrived at the township (I forget the name)which was composed of huts, shacks, people, trash, run down apartments, clothes lines, chickens, and abandoned buildings. The community center we stopped at was essentially a one story building situated on a field. From the minute we got off the bus, we were greeted with high fives by smiling children ages 4-12. We had a brief introduction to the township and the program, and were given some time to play with the children. Sydney, my roommate Alex and I made our way over to a shyer group of kids sitting toward the back corner of the field. Within moments, the girls were holding our hands, asking our names, touching our hair, asking to be picked up, showing off their cartwheels and handstands and begging to play Duck Duck Goose. We were only there for about 20 minutes, but it was an incredible experience. These children literally have nothing, they live in single room homes and the highlight of their day is coming to the “school.” Yet the shocking thing was this was the happiest, liveliest bunch of children I have ever met, curious, smiley, appreciative, and in need of attention. One girl just continuously raised her arms to me to have me pick her up. When we left they ran after us and waved us down on the bus asking “Will you be back tomorrow?” I am definitely going to become involved in SHAWCO. My roommates and I also made a train trip out to Muizenberg, which has a great beach. The train is very inexpensive, it costs about $1USD for a round trip ticket to Muizenberg, which is about 40 minutes away. The beach was very beautiful, yet extremely windy. I came home with pounds of sand in my ears, eyes, swimsuit, hair, etc. We walked a little ways along the beach and there was a swimsuit model posing on the beach-cool! The beach is on the Atlantic Ocean so the water was so cold! We didn’t really swim much, just sat around on the beach and walked around the shops. School doesn’t officially start until the 16th, so I’ve got some time to travel and explore. My next adventure is coming up tomorrow, with a trip planned to Maputo, Mozambique. Wish me luck!

Orientation

I’ve seen and done so much in the last few days, it’s hard to believe that I’ve only been here for less than a week. On Saturday, I went to the Horse Derby at the MET, which is a huge event in Cape Town, similar to the Kentucky Derby. About 50,000 people were there. It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. The theme was “Glitz and Glammer” and all I can say is that I have NEVER seen that many beautiful people, both men and women, in my entire life. Everyone was fit, tan, dressed up in their nicest dresses, huge hats, high heels…crazy. The women all looked like Charlize Theron and the men were incredibly handsome. It fully demonstrated the huge division of wealth in Cape Town. Sunday was the first day of orientation, where we went for a bus ride and walking tour of the Camps Bay, the Cape of Good Hope, Simon’s Town, and False Bay. Absolutely the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. It’s indescribable in words but the views were breathtaking. I saw the penguins in Simon’s Town and baboons and ostrich along the side of the road. We had lunch in a township and watched break dancers (some only 8 or 9 years old), singers, and fire juggler. These were all people that had grown up in the townships and were involved in the community center who were showing off their talents. The break dancers were the best, especially the little boys! On Monday we had orientation during the day, learning about classes and preparing for registration. Orientation here is a week long events filled with field trips, performances, food, braais (African barbeques/get togethers—very popular), and advice. Last night was my housemate Aviva’s birthday. 9 of the 10 housemates went to dinner at an amazing Thai place and had great food and wine and then went to a pool bar on Long Street afterwards. Great night.

First Impressions

First impression of Cape Town: I love it, I love it, I love it! Unreal. Cultural. Amazing. Warm! (80 degrees F and sunny, but I should probably learn how to convert that into Celsius) I live in Obz, the farthest neighborhood away from campus, but from what I can tell, the best. My house isn’t fancy by any means, but its perfect for the time being. We don’t really have a dining room, and when I moved in there was no toilet paper! But the house is bright orange and in a good location, and I have my own room which is spacious and has a lot of windows. I am so excited for the experience of living with 9 other roommates! Only one of them is here now. Her name is Maria and she lives next door to me. She is from Norway but her parents are from Norway and Tanzania-very cool! I’ve already met so many people and I’ve only really been here one day! Maria from DC, Nyani from Eastern Cape, Wise, a Cape Town local, Seeya, another Cape Town local, Mick from the Netherlands, and Maria, my roommate. The prices here are unreal! Mangos for $.60, cartons of fresh juice for $.80, bottles of beer (from South Africa and a lot of Dutch beers, Amstel, etc.) for under $1, wine under $2! And I don’t mean a glass of wine. Sydney and I shared a pizza yesterday, excellent. No cheese, thin bread, feta, broccoli, rosemary, basil, tomatoes, mushrooms, etc. for about 49 rand, which comes out to around $4.90. So for under $5 each, we had a good sized portion of great pizza, and a drink! It seems as though it will be very easy to eat healthy here. All I can say is that my first impression of Cape Town is everything I could have ever wanted it to be—and more.I have already shared laughs, hugs, stories, and opinions with many, and it’s only day 1!

I'm studying abroad spring semester in Cape Town, South Africa. I'm hoping to track my journeys through this blog!