The Events That Transpire Between Monday and Friday

<--- Jameson Hall

It pains me to say, but it is still July and my summer is over. School started this week, which has caused a serious drop to my fun levels and had rudely reminded me that I am not here on vacation. I am only taking three classes this semester and I feel a little bit lame for it, but they are all upper level courses so I’m sure I will still be plenty busy. My first class everyday is Geographic Information Systems II. Believe me, it’s about at interesting as it sounds… unless you think it sounds interesting, which it is not. Afterwards, I have Contemporary Urban Challenges in by far the largest class I have ever been in. Everything is really interesting, but I am definitely going to have to get used to the “big school” experience. Then, I go to Culture, Identity, and Globalization in Africa, by far the best of all my classes. Firstly, we actually get to talk and have discussions in class, unlike all the other lecture classes. Secondly, it is really interesting to learn about the history of SA and Africa as a whole, and thirdly, I really like hearing South African classmate’s perspectives on the topics. All in all, a great class.

Now, it’s Friday and I am done with classes for the day… and week! I was a little disappointed that I had class on Fridays (missin’ DU), but about half my class didn’t show for my first lecture and the other one was cancelled. Great day. And tonight I’m going to the Western Province rugby match with some peeps, so it should be a good evening ahead. Cheers!

(Everyone in SA says ‘cheers’ after everything…. And I hate it)

X-Games Training

Due to my personal lack of extremeness since I have arrived in Cape Town, I decided to go all out this weekend with a series of crazy stunts and activities. Rest assured, no one was seriously injured in the making of this super-extreme weekend.

The weekend began like any other, with a sunrise and a fight or something outside the apartment between our loud neighbors (not InterStudy affiliated). Yet, despite the inconvenience that it caused to my sleep, it guaranteed that I wouldn’t sleep through my alarm and miss the first, and most ultimate, adventure of the weekend. This is after all my last weekend of summer before school starts on Monday.

Rising early, I made my way to CocoaWahWah… essentially the American embassy in our neighborhood. Today was no different with about 80 obviously American students getting coffee and breakfast before starting the trek. Soon enough, the whole group of us made our way up the street towards campus (high on the hillside) and nearer to the summit of Devil’s Peak. You see, in the center of the Cape Town urban area are Table Mountain, Devil’s Peak, and Lion’s Head, all soaring high above the city… we were attempting to climb the most ominously named. It started off easily enough but eventually the trail turned into some small cliffs that we had to scale up, and the small cliffs turned into large cliffs that we had to avoid, and those large cliffs that we had to avoid eventually led us to the top. There were parts of the trail that were literally a few feet wide with hundred foot drops off the side… it was a truly epic quest to even live to tell the story. At the summit, high above the city, it was much colder and really windy but the view was spectacular! And, as if our legs weren’t tired enough, we began the descent, which if you’re not a big hiking person is really rough on the knees and ankles, and body in general. We still managed to find our way to the bottom of the mountain with many injuries and few casualties.

The following morning, the body was not feeling to great from the hike, but the weekend had to continue. The next adventure led Grace The Carpenter, Natalie, Taylor, and myself to Muizenberg to surf for the first time evahhhh! The train takes about 30-40 minutes and drops you off literally meters from the white sands of the beach and the crisp waters of the Indian Ocean. We hired a lesson from a local surf shop in addition to some wet suits and longboards, and we were ready to rip. First, we had to learn how to rip, which was no doubt a fun thing for the locals to watch. Soon enough however, we had the four of us riding waves and dodging the suckers on boogie boards! More realistically, we were probably still pretty hilarious to watch. Still, by the end of the lesson each of us had stood up and had an above water tweak session at least once, and we were all ready to come back and improve ASAP.

Well, that’s just about at epic as things get… until next time!!!

Life Between the Tweakends

Not much to write about for Monday and Tuesday… we had UCT orientation both days. On Monday we had a massive drumming session taught by some professional drumming troupe, which was fun but really tiring after a long day. Then, on Tuesday everyone had to take an entrance exam that took three hours!!! It is like taking the ACT or SAT but easier. Rough day regardless…

Wednesday was MUCH better. I went to an information session for a student organization called SHAWCO (Student Heath and Something Something Something Organization) that does work in the Cape Town townships with student volunteers. They offer afterschool tutoring, mentoring, and athletics in really poor, minority communities. We went a school in Menenberg that was surrounded by thousands of small houses that looked more like a refugee camp than anything else. Still, the school was packed full of kids from nearby areas, all in dark and warn classrooms. Some rooms had computers, but the standard class had at least 40 rowdy children and one teacher. They were all really nice and thought our names were hilarious for some reason. The kids also applauded after each introduction and seemed so surprised that we were all so old (19-21). But, the real excitement came when one of the guys in our group introduced himself… he looks like the pro-wrestler Bautista, and the kids LOVED him. It was really memorable and inspired me to get involved in the townships while I am here.

I had the day off on Thursday and a bunch of us decided to go to the beach in Muizenberg. The beach was really nice, with white sand and super clean water, but it was also a bit windy and the water was COLD! That of course didn’t stop me from taking a swim, along with a few brave homies. There was also a few seals that were enjoying the beach and we spotted them playing in the waves just offshore. We also walked around the town a bit and got pizza and ice cream at a nearby restaurant before taking the train back home.

Friday was registration day, which for many is the longest day ever… UCT does nothing online, so we do all the registration with paper and talking to people about getting into classes. I was lucky to be in the Sciences Faculty because the Humanities Faculty had a really long line and took at least a few hours longer than my registration process. 

Penguins and Peninsulas

I had to wake up really early on Sunday for a tour of the Cape of Good Hope Peninsula. The entire group walked up to middle campus where we met all the other international students and we got on big red tour busses. The busses took us into the city center and past all the major tourist destinations of Cape Town. There was a huge Dutch windmill, the old City Hall, Green Point Stadium (World Cup host cite), the Waterfront area, and the nearby beaches.

As we exited the central city, we took a twisty and narrow road along the shore and past all the expensive beach houses of Cape Town. Some of the homes we passed where massive and the most expensive in the country… maybe the continent. One interesting fact is that none of the actual beaches are private, so anyone may still visit these beaches even though they are surrounded by really nice homes. Soon after we arrived at an African Penguin reserve beach, which was private… for the penguins only. They were much smaller than penguins from Antarctica; most likely they just don’t need all the fat to stay warm since these penguins just stood in the sun, on the beach! On a side note: they also smelled really bad!

Back on the busses, we drove to the community of Oceanview near Simon’s Town. This was one of the towns where Coloured people were relocated to during Apartheid. As a result, this township was very poor and had no diversity outside of the Coloured group. We went to a local community centre where the town put together a lunch and show for our group. We had a traditional meat and rice dish; it was mysterious but good. Then, the local youth displayed their musical, vocal, and dance talents including the best break-dancing I have ever seen and a little boy who looked like Michael Jackson…. Who could dance just as well as MJ!!! It was probably one of the craziest things I have ever seen!!!

Finally, we made our way to the Cape of Good Hope (The South-western most point of Africa) and hiked to the lighthouse at the tip where we got an AMAZING view of the coastline and the ocean.

Back in Cape Town we did a group dinner along the Waterfront where we had sushi and wine at a REALLY nice restaurant… and the meal cost less than $20!!! South Africa is truly amazing and inexpensive! Afterwards, we walked along the World Cup fan walk to Long Street. This is the main tourist street in town and resembled New Orleans’ French Quarter. Some of us went to The Dubliner, an Irish pub, where there was karaoke and dancing. It’s amazing how much we were able to do in one day!!!

...About the Weekend

After spending the first couple of days getting to know the neighborhood, the University of Cape Town, and how to get around the city, things are starting to feel more familiar. Our mentors have show me where to get groceries, rent movies, do laundry, use the ATM, catch a bus or train, etc.

The weekend also started off with a bang, but not in a good way… The group decided to go out to a local club called Tin Roof after hanging out at Julia’s, our mentor. The club was really sketchy, but we all managed to have fun until I fell on some broken glass on the dance floor. At first it didn’t seem very bad, but we couldn’t get the cut to stop bleeding so we went to the hospital nearby. There, I got four loose stitches in a clean, but not state-of-the-art emergency room. Fortunately, Grace, Hannah, and Miriam (mentor) were with me and helped with the paperwork. It only cost about $200 US, which just shows how little healthcare could cost!

The next day we went to a rugby match at Newlands Stadium to support the local Western Province team against Durban. It was a really confusing experience, but still a lot of fun! Our team won 44-0 and almost scored another try as time expired, but fell short.

First Post

I have been in Cape Town for about a week already, but this is my first blog posting. It has been crazy busy already with getting used to our neighborhood and how to get around the city.

I arrived in Cape Town with the rest of the Interstudy group on Monday night, to be greeted by VERY enthusiastic orientation leaders we call 'mentors.' The apartments we live in are just a few minutes away through the dark city streets... it's strange driving on the left side of the road for sure.

The apartments are freeeeeeezing cold because there is no heating in any buildings here apparently. I have my own room with a desk, dresser, wardrobe (not Narnia-like unfortunately), chair, bed, and random artwork. And, I share a living room, kitchen, and bathroom with Ben from Minnesota and Andrew from Villanova. Both pretty lame... haha!

We have already been working on learning local slang from the mentors. One of the phrases is "Fully Bru" which is a SA surfer way of saying, "Totally Bro." Thus, the name of the blog.