Peninsula Tour

As part of our orientation to University of Cape Town, they take the international students on a peninsula tour. The peninsula is part of cape town, and the tour included Camps Bay, Simon’s Town, Ocean View, Cape Point, and Cape of Good Hope. Just when I thought it couldn’t get more beautiful, I was proved wrong.

    Camps Bay was the first stop, and although I had already gone to that beach, we got to view from above and it was gorgeous to see the contrast of the white sand against the light blue ocean. We didn’t stay there long, and moved on the Simon’s Town, which has a beach reserved for African Penguins. The penguins are really cute and small, about the size of a seagull. The beach was full of them standing there sunbathing. I would like to go back another time when it was less crowded. There are about 450 international students and so it was quite the group. I did enjoy it though, and driving through the town it looked really nice so I would definitely like to return. We then drove to Ocean View, which was where many Black’s we moved to during apartheid. They talked about their town, the history and what they hoped for the future. We had a nice buffet lunch and then the young people in the town put on a show. It was spectacular and I was really impressed by all the performances. One girl, I believe her name was Lucille, was an incredible singer and was about 14 and sang solo infront of all of us, and had such a strong and mature voice. It was so incredible that it gave me goose bumps. Then many boys put on these hilarious dances/skits and were really talented. I got some of it on video, and I’m sure if they were in America they would be on So You Think You Can Dance or something of the sort. The performance was really creative, they put together a bunch of clips from different songs and noises and danced and acted for us. They were called the Unknown Crew and they wore masks, they didn’t even look like they were in high school. They were flipping and break dancing and moving in incredible ways. The superintendent then came and did ballroom dancing with his wife, which was spectacular, as he is the coach of the South African Ballroom Dancing team, which is 7th in the world. I got most of it on video. There was a guy who looked a little older who sang two original songs, and some more impressive break dancing, and the best was a Michael Jackson impression. The kid couldn’t have been that old, and he moved just like MJ. He compiled a bunch of different MJ songs and danced for a few minutes to each one. Everyone was cheering and clapping the whole time, it was fantastic, these kids really had talent.
    After some pictures with the groups we left and headed for Cape Point. It is a lighthouse on top a hill or small mountain, and we walked to the top and then walked along the coast to Cape of Good Hope, where I saw the Indian Ocean for the first time. The walk was unbelievabley beautiful. We were right on the edge of the cliff with a steep drop to a beach, and we saw these cute little groundhog type animals. I actually got pretty close to a few, and saw a larger animal in the distance but I wasn’t sure what it was. I got a picture, and tomorrow hopefully I’ll get to the coffee shop to upload pictures. The walk took a little while but was definitely worth it. Cape of Good Hope is the southern most point in South Africa and divides the Indian and Atlantic ocean. It was so beautiful, and was a cliff straight out of the water. The walk down was pretty treacherous but it was so worth seeing such a beautiful view. On the way back we saw baboons! They were just casually walking through the road. Unfortunately I didn’t get a picture with all the excitement but my friends did so I will have them send it. I preceded to sleep on the ride home after such a long day. It was so beautiful and impressive that I would recommend to tour to anyone who comes to visit Cape Town, (and I strongly encourage visiting).

Langa, Robben Island, Camps Bay

Thursday was the trip to Langa and Robben Island. They were really interesting, but Langa was something that is impossible to experience any other place. I was exposed to the extreme poverty of South Africa, for miles and miles there were shacks made out of metal or any other material they found. Each shack, which is the size of an average bathroom, houses an entire family. Those who don’t live in shacks have houses or apartments and each bedroom fits two families. The adults share twin beds and the children sleep on the floor, which was made out of concrete. It was dirty, cramped, and falling apart. They cook the food in the bedrooms on tiny stoves. There were stores, coffee shops, and restaurants along the streets, also out of shacks or crates. The barber shop was in a place similar to a Pod (the things used for storage), and the bar had a bucket of beer. I didnt get to see the bar, but the other group did. The group I was in spent some time at a daycare in the township playing with the kids. They were so much fun and were so excited to have us. They sang and danced for us and we really good, one girl even played the drums and I was really impressed with the performance, considering their young age. I feel that they were more mature than most children in America. After they sang some songs in Xhosa (I think that was the language) we sang the Itsy Bitsy Spider. After we got to say hi to them and they immediately started crawling all over us, jumping on our backs and wanting to take pictures and try on our sunglasses. They didn’t speak much english but it was so much fun. I will try to post pictures sometime soon, the internet is slow and expensive so it’s hard. It’s amazing how everything is prepaid here, even electricity, which can be bought at the corner store. Everything is really cheap, but since communication is prepaid by the minute or gigabyte, as opposed to our unlimited plans, it will likely be much more expensive than what I am used to.
Update: heres a pic

Doesn't do it justice, but this a view of Langa

After Langa we went to the V & A waterfront, which is in actual Cape Town. We stay in Mowbray which is a suburb, but very much a city. The contrast was amazing.

Nelson Mandela's Cell

We left the waterfront on a ferry to go to Robben Island, which is right off the coast. It is named for being the island of seals but I only saw penguins. The island held a prison for years, and Nelson Mandela was held there for political crimes. We got a tour from a previous inmate which was pretty neat. It was the first prison I’ve seen so I dont have much to compare it to, but learning about the history was really interesting. It’s amazing how recently it got shut down, the political criminals were released, and the apartheid ended. I can’t imagine any of this coming from the states and its neat to be able to live in an important part of their history.
At night a bunch of us went to a club called Tiger Tiger that was mostly white South Africans. They didn’t like Americans as much, but the club was a lot of fun.

View of Camps Bay

Yesterday I went to a beautiful beach called Camps Bay. The water was so blue and the city was really pretty and there was a strip of shops, restaurants, and clubs right by the beach. I got really sunburnt even though I kept reapplying sunscreen, I guess my skin isn’t meant for the intense sun here. At night we went to explore Long Street, which I imagine is comparable to Bourbon Street in New Orleans. It was so busy and the street was lined with different bars and clubs. The dancing here is different, and everyone is really good at it. I just watched and enjoyed the good beer and good company.

Tomorrow we’re doing a peninsula tour which I’m really looking forward to. I’ll be sure to post more after.

Brief update:

Today we basically had a bunch of orientation, which was pretty boring. A lot of travel companies came to talk to us about safari’s and other adventures and tours. They are incredibly cheap, but I want to do everything! I’ll make a plan soon for my traveling.
We had a big traditional dinner tonight. They serve A LOT of meat. They are experts at barbeque, but they call it braai. Technically I haven’t had a real braai, its a big event that is centered around drinking and cooking mass quantities of delicious meat. They cook everything-ostrich, chicken, bison, cow, and probably other things I haven’t even seen yet. Fish is also really popular, and so far has been delicious.
Tomorrow we’re going to Lanka, a township nearby, and to Robben Island. Lanka is an impoverished village of tin houses, but I’m going with a tour group so it’s safe. They allow tours because it brings in jobs and the children love Americans. Robben Island is historically significant since Nelson Mandela was held there in prison for almost 30 years ( I believe). I’ll post pictures and blog after.

Yesterday was my first day off, we went to a shopping mall in the morning and the beach afterwards. To get to the shopping mall we took a minibus which is almost like a taxi. They are minivans that drive down the road and yell where they are going out the window. If someone needs a ride they pull over and pick them up. They squeeze atleast 10 people in them, but are a popular means of transportation, safe during the day, and cheap. It’s 6.5 Rand to get a few towns over, which is less than a dollar.

We took a train to get to the beach. I went with a few kids who had been here for a week, and they had met a boy from Zimbabwe who know how to get around and where things are. The train is very close to my apartment, and was fast and inexpensive. It was very interesting though. A homeless man knew we were American and gave one of the kids a book on Cape Town since he loves our country so much. He then proceeded to sing and dance American songs for the entire train ride. He even did gymnastics from the bars hanging from the ceiling. It wasn’t for money, I think he just really liked Americans. The beach was amazing though. It was Muizenberg Beach, and is basically full of hippies and surfers. A lot of people just came up to talk to us and were really friendly. The beach was beautiful and surrounded by mountains on three sides. I have never seen anything like it.

Okay well thats my update, I never thought I would blog this much but I really enjoy it. Internet costs money and is slow, but there is a place down the street where 100 MB are free so when I go there I’ll upload pictures.

Orientation

So I’ll probably be writing a lot in the beginning while everything is still really new to me. We had our first day of orientation today! A lot of it was them talking to us, but it was good information. They gave us tips on the culture and how to get around and how to stay safe. A police officer was also there to talk to us about safety. We also found out that we get our apartment professionally cleaned twice a week, which is an incredible luxury, but they made it seem standard. We also set up our bank accounts (or atleast most of us) which was a much longer process than necessary but I suppose that’s what comes with living in a third world country.
    Some of the orientation is split up into small groups, and our mentor took my group on a tour of University of Cape Town. The campus was absolutely stunning. The building were gorgeous, mostly stone with ivy growing around it, and surrounded by palm trees and beautiful flora. The campus was much bigger than UVM, and the school has about twice the amount of students. I was told that a lot of the UCT students are snobby and wear semi-formal clothing to class, like dress pants and jackets, but there are also a lot of laid back South Africans and students from all over the world. The city is incredibly diverse in race, religion, culture, socioeconomic status, and language. I’m looking forward to starting school so I can get to know more South Africans. I love all the mentors/leaders so far, they are really helpful and friendly and enjoy showing us the city. There are two of them that are living in the neighborhood and will take us out and watch over us throughout the semester. The accents here are really interesting. It’s almost a mix between Australian and French, and a little bit of everything else.
    My luggage still hasn’t come yet. They can’t seem to locate it, and they failed to give me a luggage tag which is making it even harder to track. Emily, who flew from Boston with me, also lost her luggage and it turns out it never left Boston. Ouma, who runs the program, is trying to locate it for me. It’s kind of a pain not having all my clothes, shoes, and toiletries, but I packed enough in my carry on to live for a few days.
    My internet is broken until tomorrow so this is actually written on the 23rd, just so you know. I’ll probably write again tomorrow.

Made it to Cape Town!

I finally made it to Cape Town! This city is beautiful, it feels like a tropical island, and has the backdrop of Table Mountain.
It was interesting getting here...first off they lost the luggage in the transfer from Logan to JFK, so that was a bit of a hassle trying to deal with in Johannesburg when we realized it wasn't there. Jo'burg was kind of a strange place. Flying over it you could see the ghetto's and slums, and in the airport people were incredibly pushy trying to grab our bags and boarding passes and heckling us for money. We made it to the gate safe though. Cape Town was much different. Everyone is incredibly friendly and the city is amazing. All the houses are so colorful, especially in some the suburbs we drove through. One house will be painted 4 different colors, and not just light colors, but bright blues and greens and pinks. It was kind of funny to see, there was just a line right down the middle, not even on a corner.My apartment is much more than I expected. It's larger than my apt in Vermont and came fully furnished. They even bought some basic groceries for us. The program is pretty personal, I think there will only be about 40 of us and I already met about 5 or 6 leaders/RA's/mentors, not really sure of the difference yet. They are really into their jobs and seem to be looking forward to showing us around the city. They gave us cell phones today, which im pretty sure were the first phones invented. I might get a bit of a nicer phone just so its easier to use.
My roommates are really sweet. Alicia goes to Bates and Alix goes to Tufts.

Alicia, Me, and Alix

We all went out to dinner tonight with some other kids from the program. The food was pretty good but it took a few hours. I also had my first legal drink!! It was called a Caipiranho or something. It was kind of lemony and sweet.
I have an orientation in the next few days so I'll keep you guys posted and probably have some pictures.

On the way

Written from the plane:

So I’ve finally begun my journey. I am currently about halfway across the Atlantic Ocean headed toward Johannesburg. After (over)packing for days, googling everything possible about South Africa, and about four months of waiting, I boarded the plane just in time, around 7:20 this morning. It was the first time I really felt nervous, but I still just as excited. I will miss my friends and family back home, but I know that this semester will be the time of my life.
    When I got on the plane from Boston to New York, I immediately recognized another student, Emily, who I knew was on all the same flights as me. Once we landed in New York we made our way across the airport to the international terminal. I’m glad there was two of us--JFK is an enormous airport. There are many more students on this flight, all just as excited as I am. When we get there we are supposed to stay awake until a normal sleeping hour. I’m not sure how that will work out. I will arrive a little after 1 PM, South Africa time, which is about 7 AM EST. Thats pretty much a full 24 hours of flying. The flight is comfortable though, so hopefully I’ll end up getting some sleep. The flights not booked, so I have an empty seat to spread out on, and I was pleasantly surprised by the food. Airplane food never tends to be good, but it was actually pretty decent.
    I’m sure everyone could do without the airport story, but I have to start the story somewhere. I still have about 10.5 hours left in this flight, and then another short one. I’ll keep everyone posted when I arrive in Cape Town.
Thanks for reading :)