Nomming on My Third Apple

During UCT orientation the director of my program gave a talk about culture shock, referencing three apples.

1. Apple Number One: Euphoria: Total excitement about being in Cape Town, loving every part of it, thinking the accents and African Time are great.

My first week or so I was so excited to be in South Africa.  Everything was beautiful and perfect.

2. Apple Number Two: Frustration: Annoyance with the cultural differences, homesickness

Bit this one hard when I headed over to LBG, where I experienced African disorganization at its finest on move-in day.  When I could finally move-in I found a squatter in my filthy flat and couldn’t lock my door.  Glimmer of hope: squatter moved out the next day, figured out how to lock my door.  That glimmer quickly dissipated with my real flatmates moved in.  I was able to take a break from all apple eating when I went on the Garden Route (perhaps returned to apple number one for a bit), but the couple days after I returned were very much apple number two. 

A few questions crossed my mind: Why do I have to padlock my bedroom door? Why are these boys from Lesotho in my flat yelling all the time? Why can’t I understand them? Why do they pound on the door constantly? Why is this campus so big? Why are there so many societies I can join? Why do I have to live in Mowbray? Why aren’t in in Sylvania and/or DC right now?

3. Apple Number Three: Adjustment: Feeling settled. 

I’m happy to say that I think I’m eating my third apple. That’s not to say that I don’t think I’ll feel little bits of homesick in the future or still have a lot of things I want to figure out about Cape Town (like how I can be surrounded by only white people in a certain area then quickly be the only white person in another), but I’m pretty comfortable here now.  Yes, I still have to padlock my bedroom door, listen to the boys from Lesotho yell, and attend 100 person lectures, but I don’t mind any of it anymore. It’s all part of the experience, right?

Overall, I’m beyond happy that I chose to be in South Africa for the semester.  I chose it for a reason, and right now, I’m thinkin’ that my reasoning was pretty darn good. It’s such an interesting country and I feel like I’ve picked the right place to learn and grow.

Cheers! 

Weekend Update

What’s that? You’d love to hear all about my little adventures around Cape Town? Here ya go.

Warning: this post is on the long side, but there are pictures so bear with me.

Before classes started I headed out to Muizenberg Beach a couple times.  Here, I was lathered in SPF 30, surround by some serious surfing action, and got to see these famous colorful beach houses.  Getting to the beach was an adventure in itself, as we have to take the train.  I have to say, I can navigate DC public transportation like a pro (and we all know my immense fondness toward Metro buses), but the Cape Town trains give me a whole new public transportation experience.  I’ve only taken the train a handful of times, but this is what I’ve gathered thus far: the schedule is iffy, they are so packed they overflow at rush hour, and it’s horrible idea to take them after dark BUT it is a pretty solid cultural experience. Also, where else can I see someone breastfeeding?

Who wants to rent one of these for me?

The weekend before classes started a few friends and I headed towards town to check out Old Biscuit Mill.  That’s right, it’s an old biscuit mill that is now market on weekends.  The mill was filled with tons of people and food stands, and there were quite a few little shops too.  There were all sorts of really good food, drinks, and free samples.  I’m not really sure what I ate, but it was wrap-like and delicious AND I had mango sorbet that was magical.

Why are all the people here white and extremely attractive?

Who needs one Valentine when you have four? Last Monday I finally checked out the touristy, commercialized Waterfront with those crazy kids I road tripped with.  We ate tasty seafood right on the water.  Seals even rudely interrupted our dinner.  Not only do they smell horrible, but also the two that were chillin’ directly below us barked at each other for a bit. RUDE. No worries, the night ended perfectly with ice cream and people-watching (two favorite pastimes).

Waterfront Ferris wheel aglow.

 

In addition to taking three UCT course, I’m also enrolled in a living and learning seminar through my program. You’re right, it does sound a little cheesy, but I get to go on really cool field trips.  The first one was Friday.  I actually had no idea what I was doing or where I was going (limited info is about all I get. TIA.), but it turned out to be awesome.  We first went a castle that is pretty much right in Cape Town, then across the street to the parade were Mandela first spoke once he was released from prison.  Following that, we went to the Slave Lodge, where the Dutch East India Company (VOC) housed their slaves.  It has since become a museum that was super interesting. They also had a Mandela exhibit that was awesome.  We didn’t have enough time to see it all, so I definitely want to go back.  Then we headed to the Company Gardens, a beautiful park right in the city that also had a great rose garden.

Check out the tablecloth on table mountain.

  Then off we went to Bo-Kaap, a predominately Muslim neighborhood known for it’s distinct, colorful houses.  Another interesting thing about Bo-Kaap is that the population, which is mostly coloured, was not forcibly removed during apartheid.  We finished off our field trip with a crazy tasty dinner.  We went to a women’s home for the meal, and she fed us traditional Cape Malay food.  There was a curry-chicken-wrap-thing.  I don’t even like curry very much and this was tasty.  The best part? Cape Malaysian food is similar to Indian food but much more mild. So my ears didn’t burn off!  Desert was a donut-like-thing, but much better than any donut I’ve ever eaten.  I’d call that a successful afternoon.

Fun fact: The roofs are flat because the city is so windy.

  On Sunday I headed to a soccer (football?) match with my program (Kaizer Chiefs v. Engen Santos).  It was lots o’ fun and yikes! there are some serious fans.  It would have been even better if I could speak isiXhosa and could have eavesdropped on the intense guys sitting next to me, but, hey, I can’t have everything. They also use their vuvuzelas like there’s no tomorrow.

I might be deaf from so many vuvuzelas.

 

LASTLY, I went to my first UCT rugby match Monday night! I still have to learn all the rules, but it’s so intense and fun to watch. Go Ikeys!

Next adventure: Jo’burg this weekend!

Sidenote: Yes, I realize I like to talk about food whenever possible, but it’s only because I’m eating lots of tasty things.

Nom, nom, nom

 Cheers!

"Fall is here, hear the yell, back to school, ring the bell"

It’s been a mere nine and half weeks since my last final of last semester and it’s finally time for my second fall semester of the year to start! Classes began yesterday, and I must admit that I’m pretty excited for them to get going.  I need a little structure in my life, and I’m pretty pumped for the classes I’m taking.

Well, since you asked, I’m taking the following:

1.     Southern African Hunters and Herders

2.     Gender, Sexuality, and Politics: Debates in Contemporary African Contexts

3.     Advanced South African Politics

Classes are structured a little differently here.  As you can see, one class is worth more credits than a standard class in the US.  Lectures are 3-4 times a week for 45 minutes each.  Every class also has a tutorial that meets once a week.  The bulk of my final grade will come from one final exam.  Transitioning from small classes once or twice a week will take some getting used to, but so far, so good.  I’m starting to adjust to the HUGE campus.  Sort of.  I feel a bit like I’m milling around a small town every time I get out of class. And when I say milling, I mean milling. My speed-walking self is struggling to get used to all this moseying.

Cheers!

Words of Wisdom

So I had the following conversation with my friend Stephanie today.

Steph: How was the pool?

Bridget: Kind of dirty, but good.

Steph: That could describe this whole trip.

Truer words have never been spoken.

The Garden Route: A Magical Experience

So it turns out that we had about a week off between orientation and the beginning of classes.  What’s a girl to do with a whole week? Rent a car with four friends (Ilana, Sydney, Dan and Jeff) and go on a five day trip of the Garden Route.

What’s the Garden Route, you ask? It’s a stretch of highway that runs along the coast from outside of Cape Town, through the Western Cape, into the Eastern Cape.  It’s known for it’s diverse ecology.  Basically, it’s crazy beautiful, and we got to see all sorts of nature.

 I could easily make this the longest blog post talking about how magical our trip was, but instead I’ll sum things up with some pictures.

Rented this little blue guy and squeezed in.

Smelled the rain far before we reached the rain.

Stopped in some cute towns.

Saw sunsets on the regular.

Went to an organic village. Bought biltong and the most amazing tomatoes I have ever eaten. No seriously, so tasty.

Played on the beach.

Climbed Castle Rock.

Went to the Garden of Eden. Hello, rain forest and giant trees.

Discovered the most amazing hostel, Wild Spirit. They’re all about sustainability, draw spring water from the top of their waterfall, and make delicious food.

Saw monkeys and lemurs. Stepped in monkey poo (photo not included).

Hiked through the Magic Forest. It was actually magical.

Bungee jumped from the world’s highest bungee jump at Bloukrans Bridge.  I can’t even describe how amazing it was to be swinging down, alone, in this huge valley with the ocean on one side.

Played on the beach again.

And again. This time in perfect weather.

Hiked on some volcanic rock.

Slept in a train on the beach.

Got stuck in traffic.

All in all, got to explore some pretty amazing stuff.

Cheers!


PS. Please appreciate this post. It took 4 separate occasions and a trillion MB to upload these pictures.

Peninsula Tour

On the first Sunday here UCT took all the Semester Study Abroad students on a bus tour to kick-off UCT orientation.  As touristy as a bus tour is, especially when there are about 12 buses, it was really cool and a great way to see a lot of the area.

 We drove up and down the coastlines and saw some sick views of the ocean. 

Checked out the awesome penguin colony and even saw fuzzy baby penguins.

Went to a township (where I’ll be doing a weekend homestay later in the semester), where they fed us a delish lunch and did a few dancing, singing, or Michael Jackson-impersonating performances.  It was a really cool community and a worthwhile thing to include in the tour.

 Went to Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. B-e-a-utiful.

Note: None the pictures I post are nearly as spectacular as the real thing.

Cheers!

TIA: This is Africa

Ok, Ok I get it. I’ve been a bit of a failure at blogging, but I’m about to make a comeback. (In my defense internet is scarce and/or expensive).

I’m going to give you a brief synopsis of random things from my African adventures thus far. I’ll have a couple longer posts to follow about cooler things (like my roadtrip!).

1. I moved into the res, Liesbeek Gardens. I have yet to find said gardens, but I have discovered that the building is similarly styled to a prison.  It’s also not the highest quality living situation. I have my own room and three flatmates, one from my program and two real-life UCT students. I get along really well with my American flatmate, but I can’t say I had as much luck with the other two. Hey, at least it’s better than the squatter who was originally in our flat. 

2. Things run on Africa Time. Less organized, less punctual, and a much more relaxed attitude.  Also, “now” does not actually mean now. It means something more along the lines of never or not anytime soon. “Now, now” means shortly. “Just now” means hours. Tricky? Just a bit.

3. Just because we all speak English doesn’t mean we can necessarily understand each other.

4. I’m really happy I decided to eat meat again.  They’re all about the Braais, or barbeques, and I have been handed a full plate of meat on multiple occasions.  Also, on the last day of CIEE orientation the whole program (about 160 American students) went to dinner in Stellenbosch, which is the wine country.  The food was crazy delicious and I ate springbok and antelope.

5. The UCT shuttle is called a Jammie and is less reliable than the AU shuttle. And that’s sayin’ something.

6. There are four distinct racial groups here: black, coloured, white, and Indian.

7. I’m still adjusting to safety concerns here. I’m used to being able to walk around or hop on a bus by myself at night and be perfectly safe. Here, that’s not quite the case.  The best way to get around after dark is to take a cab (which brings me to number 8…)

8. Cabs and taxis are not the same thing. Cabs are what we know as cabs: metered and safe to take at night. Taxis are mini buses that drive up and down major roads (honking and yelling), cost only 5 Rand, and do a great job at squeezing in as many people as possible in. I was once in one that had 22 people in it. Welcome to Africa.

Cheers!

This time for Africa

Say what?! I've been in Cape Town for a week? That's crazy talk.

My time here as been pretty awesome so far and I feel like I've done so much in only a week. Some highlights include hiking Table Mountain on my first day, not getting sunburned, eating springbok, and moving into a prison.

I also don't have internet yet, so I think my communication with the developed world is probably going to be limited.  When I do get internet it's going to be limited and it's unclear if it's even strong enough to Skype...?

Also, can anyone explain to me why building a university on the side of a mountain seemed like a good idea?