Thursdays are by-far my favorite day of the week. Going to Youngsfield might be one of my favorite parts of South Africa thus far; I just wish I was going more than once a week. Last week I realized when I asked Abdi to write his name that he didn’t understand lower-case letters, and he had confused letters that looked alike like “b” and “d”. I taught him how to spell his name, and encouraged him to say each letter out loud as he wrote, hoping this would help him remember the difference between the two. Well yesterday he was so excited to show me that he remembered how to write his name! I know it’s just a little bit of progress but I was really excited. I tried to teach him the rest of the alphabet but I’m unsure how much he’ll remember for next week. I’ve been brainstorming good ways to teach him because I have no idea where to start…I was under the impression that I’d be tutoring kids who were a little older and completely forgot that there would be a language barrier to combat as well. If anyone has any ideas let me know, I think I’m going to make flashcards for next week with letters of the alphabet?
Classes are proving to be pretty interesting. We’re finally learning about Zimbabwe in my history class! And my TA for that class is actually from Zim, so he’s going to co-teach the next few lectures. I’m such a nerd, we got our readings for the week and of course, they’re all about Zim, and I was really excited I read them all yesterday. In my religions class I have to write a paper on a religious conflict, so I decided I’d do something with Cyprus seeing as how I have all this research in that area already…and have traveled there it seemed kind of convenient. Anyway, we had to talk about our topics yesterday and my professor definitely has no idea what’s going on in Cyprus, which is surprising because he seems to know a lot about a ton of different places, and the conflict would definitely fall under his studies. Regardless, he wrote my topic as “Cypress” on the board, I think he’s going to learn a little when I hand in my paper, starting with the spelling…And my African Studies class is just awesome. It’s focused on South Africa (mainly Cape Town) today and we really just about the inequalities and racial tensions that still exist. The class is only with international students so it’s nice not to feel subconscious when talking about the more depressing issues in South Africa.
And it’s the weekend!!! Tomorrow we’re doing a wine-tasting and then going to the Soweto Gospel Choir concert at Kirstenboch Gardens (it’s something UCT organized). So it should be a really fun day, I’m pretty excited!
Cheers!
February 26, 2010
February 24, 2010
one week later...
So much for updating more often, but things seem pretty normal here, it’s been a month (already?) so I’ve kind of forgotten about documenting things that are new.
I started my volunteering stuff last week so I should probably start by describing those. Thursday, I went to Youngsfield Refugee Camp, which is at a military base only a few miles from campus. I went with a group of 7 or 8 students, and our volunteer leader (who is also a student). The car I rode in arrived a good ten minutes before my leader, so we parked next to this huge tent, which serves as the refugee camp. We sat in the car for maybe 30 seconds before being spotted; a group of five kids ran over and started running in circles around the car, yelling and laughing. One of the girls tried to open the door but it was locked so our driver rolled the window down and she begged us to come out and play. We had to wait for our leader though because we had no idea what we were doing so we just sat there and laughed with the kids until our leader arrived. The camp was really cool, there’s only about thirty people left, but there used to be a couple hundred. The people living there fled Cape Town during xenophobic attacks just three years ago. Originally, the refugees came from a variety of different African nations (DRC, Rwanda, Zimbabwe…ect) but the only families left today are Somali.
We started off our afternoon by playing some games with the kids so they would get to know us a little. Next we were matched with the child we’re going to be tutoring for the semester, and talked to them a little. Then we gave them a snack and split up again to actually start tutoring. I’m teaching a 6 year old boy, Abdi, English…and anything else that goes along with that. He seems like a great kid, a little shy at first but who wouldn’t be? He taught me how to say elephant in Somali, and I laughed and said I was glad we were going to teach other for the next few months and he seemed to like that. It’s definitely going to be tough though, the organization I’m volunteering through (a few UCT students) are the only people that educate these kids…and we only visit the camp 3 days a week, so I don’t know how much progress we’ll make. Ideally, we’re trying to get these kids to the level where they can enter into the public school system, and attend actual classes, but schools are overcrowded so it’s going to be rough. Teaching English to a child is really difficult (not that I though it wouldn’t be) but still I’m really determined to try and teach Abdi something so he can go to school.
My other volunteering project is with CHOSA, which I think I described a little in my previous post. I’m basically working with high school students at an orphanage but I’m not really teaching them anything it’s more of a cross-cultural exchange. The organization I’m working with usually only works with younger kids, and there was no one left to help with high school, since I’m only going once a week I volunteered to work with them. The kids in my group don’t really need help with school (although I’m definitely there to act as a tutor or help with homework if necessary) so instead of teaching, we just hangout for an hour and talk. I’m going to try and do some leadership/team-building activities with them, but we spent last Monday listening to hip hop and talking about song lyrics. It sounds pretty lame, but I was shocked at the artists these kids listened too, maybe I shouldn’t have assumed American hip-hop didn’t reach the townships, still I was surprised. They really like Nas, so my partner and I had them listen to “I know I can…” and compared it to a popular hip-hop song today and we discussed the inspiration meaning behind the song and whatnot, it was pretty cool. So I’m not sure exactly what I’m doing with these kids but they’re pretty excited about hanging out with some American college kids every week ☺
This weekend, I went to my first rugby match! It was really fun although I still don’t understand anything about the game…but I don’t think I ever will. After the game my friends and I went to this bar, Gandolffs. We heard it was a goth bar but weren’t sure what that meant…well let me tell you, we walked in and everyone was in black, had piercings and wore dark make-up, it was crazy! Drinks were really cheap though and the music was really entertaining (everyone was head-banging) so we stayed for a while, it was really fun. Next time we go there we need to wear darker clothes though so we blend in a little…
Oh and I have to write about the bar I went to Friday. So Friday, one of the RA’s from CIEE (the organization I’m studying abroad through) had a birthday party at a karaoke bar. So a bunch of us all went to that and then afterwards a small group of us (4 girls) walked to a bar across the street that looked really fun. We walked through the entrance and were stopped by two huge guys, confused I pulled out my ID to show I was of age but they just shook their heads…they actually needed to scan me for weapons. Confused, we walked up the stairs to the bar, which was packed! While my friend ordered drinks, a guy walked up to me and showed me a message on his phone reading, ‘please be careful, watch your bags and your cell phone and just be careful!’ I nodded and said thanks and he walked away. Meanwhile people were walking by us, grabbing our backs and whatnot, I’d spin around and give a dirty look and the usual response was, ‘whoa…I’m just trying to say hi!” Basically all of these occurrences should have been enough to tell us to leave. Instead we walk out to a balcony with our drinks determined to have fun at this crazy place. My friend and I sit at a table and were immediately swarmed by people talking to us…meanwhile my other two friends are talking to this huge guy dressed in all black. Turns out this guy was the security guard of the bar, and he was explaining that he was going to follow us around for the night for protection…and before we knew it a fight also broke out between one of the guys I was talking to and some random people. We got scared and ran back inside and decided to dance. Well, dancing was quite funny. The security guard followed us and ensured nobody came remotely close to us. We finished our drinks and told him we were ready to leave. The manager of the bar walked us downstairs, wished us a great night and then explained the security guard was going to walk us to our next bar to ensure we weren’t being followed. He explained he would much rather have us be safe and have a good time, regardless of security measures, than have something get stolen, or someone get hurt…and told us we were welcome to come back whenever we want.
I know by this point you’re probably rolling your eyes and thinking, okay what the heck was a doing at a sketchy bar, I really should know better, especially in South Africa. But, even with the danger, it was still really fun. The stereotypes here really suck. Basically because I was with three white girls, we drew attention to ourselves as soon as we entered the bar. Everyone saw us as either Afrikaans (no explanation needed…) or wealthy tourists. The people that actually approached us realized we were Americans and wanted to talk to us and hear about our lives and why we came to Cape Town, but there will always be those who don’t bother to get to know you…and instead are interested in what’s in your wallet. Still, I’m really glad we stumbled into the place. If I wasn’t studying abroad in such a touristy city these types of incidences would be typical for a night. I’m sure we won’t actually go back to this place because I know it was not safe but nothing happened and we were lucky. Plus, it’s experiences like this that one can learn from, and although, we’re constantly thinking about the inequality issues in South Africa, when my friends and I are out having fun on a Friday night we don’t really pay attention to the poverty and crime, and maybe it was good something like this happened to serve as a reminder.
I promise I’m being safe though, please don’t worry…it’s all a learning experience and I’m loving every minute.
Cheers!
Oh and it was 93 degrees here on Saturday, jealous? I thought so hahaha
And I introduced my roommate to Lady Gaga, success.
I started my volunteering stuff last week so I should probably start by describing those. Thursday, I went to Youngsfield Refugee Camp, which is at a military base only a few miles from campus. I went with a group of 7 or 8 students, and our volunteer leader (who is also a student). The car I rode in arrived a good ten minutes before my leader, so we parked next to this huge tent, which serves as the refugee camp. We sat in the car for maybe 30 seconds before being spotted; a group of five kids ran over and started running in circles around the car, yelling and laughing. One of the girls tried to open the door but it was locked so our driver rolled the window down and she begged us to come out and play. We had to wait for our leader though because we had no idea what we were doing so we just sat there and laughed with the kids until our leader arrived. The camp was really cool, there’s only about thirty people left, but there used to be a couple hundred. The people living there fled Cape Town during xenophobic attacks just three years ago. Originally, the refugees came from a variety of different African nations (DRC, Rwanda, Zimbabwe…ect) but the only families left today are Somali.
We started off our afternoon by playing some games with the kids so they would get to know us a little. Next we were matched with the child we’re going to be tutoring for the semester, and talked to them a little. Then we gave them a snack and split up again to actually start tutoring. I’m teaching a 6 year old boy, Abdi, English…and anything else that goes along with that. He seems like a great kid, a little shy at first but who wouldn’t be? He taught me how to say elephant in Somali, and I laughed and said I was glad we were going to teach other for the next few months and he seemed to like that. It’s definitely going to be tough though, the organization I’m volunteering through (a few UCT students) are the only people that educate these kids…and we only visit the camp 3 days a week, so I don’t know how much progress we’ll make. Ideally, we’re trying to get these kids to the level where they can enter into the public school system, and attend actual classes, but schools are overcrowded so it’s going to be rough. Teaching English to a child is really difficult (not that I though it wouldn’t be) but still I’m really determined to try and teach Abdi something so he can go to school.
My other volunteering project is with CHOSA, which I think I described a little in my previous post. I’m basically working with high school students at an orphanage but I’m not really teaching them anything it’s more of a cross-cultural exchange. The organization I’m working with usually only works with younger kids, and there was no one left to help with high school, since I’m only going once a week I volunteered to work with them. The kids in my group don’t really need help with school (although I’m definitely there to act as a tutor or help with homework if necessary) so instead of teaching, we just hangout for an hour and talk. I’m going to try and do some leadership/team-building activities with them, but we spent last Monday listening to hip hop and talking about song lyrics. It sounds pretty lame, but I was shocked at the artists these kids listened too, maybe I shouldn’t have assumed American hip-hop didn’t reach the townships, still I was surprised. They really like Nas, so my partner and I had them listen to “I know I can…” and compared it to a popular hip-hop song today and we discussed the inspiration meaning behind the song and whatnot, it was pretty cool. So I’m not sure exactly what I’m doing with these kids but they’re pretty excited about hanging out with some American college kids every week ☺
This weekend, I went to my first rugby match! It was really fun although I still don’t understand anything about the game…but I don’t think I ever will. After the game my friends and I went to this bar, Gandolffs. We heard it was a goth bar but weren’t sure what that meant…well let me tell you, we walked in and everyone was in black, had piercings and wore dark make-up, it was crazy! Drinks were really cheap though and the music was really entertaining (everyone was head-banging) so we stayed for a while, it was really fun. Next time we go there we need to wear darker clothes though so we blend in a little…
Oh and I have to write about the bar I went to Friday. So Friday, one of the RA’s from CIEE (the organization I’m studying abroad through) had a birthday party at a karaoke bar. So a bunch of us all went to that and then afterwards a small group of us (4 girls) walked to a bar across the street that looked really fun. We walked through the entrance and were stopped by two huge guys, confused I pulled out my ID to show I was of age but they just shook their heads…they actually needed to scan me for weapons. Confused, we walked up the stairs to the bar, which was packed! While my friend ordered drinks, a guy walked up to me and showed me a message on his phone reading, ‘please be careful, watch your bags and your cell phone and just be careful!’ I nodded and said thanks and he walked away. Meanwhile people were walking by us, grabbing our backs and whatnot, I’d spin around and give a dirty look and the usual response was, ‘whoa…I’m just trying to say hi!” Basically all of these occurrences should have been enough to tell us to leave. Instead we walk out to a balcony with our drinks determined to have fun at this crazy place. My friend and I sit at a table and were immediately swarmed by people talking to us…meanwhile my other two friends are talking to this huge guy dressed in all black. Turns out this guy was the security guard of the bar, and he was explaining that he was going to follow us around for the night for protection…and before we knew it a fight also broke out between one of the guys I was talking to and some random people. We got scared and ran back inside and decided to dance. Well, dancing was quite funny. The security guard followed us and ensured nobody came remotely close to us. We finished our drinks and told him we were ready to leave. The manager of the bar walked us downstairs, wished us a great night and then explained the security guard was going to walk us to our next bar to ensure we weren’t being followed. He explained he would much rather have us be safe and have a good time, regardless of security measures, than have something get stolen, or someone get hurt…and told us we were welcome to come back whenever we want.
I know by this point you’re probably rolling your eyes and thinking, okay what the heck was a doing at a sketchy bar, I really should know better, especially in South Africa. But, even with the danger, it was still really fun. The stereotypes here really suck. Basically because I was with three white girls, we drew attention to ourselves as soon as we entered the bar. Everyone saw us as either Afrikaans (no explanation needed…) or wealthy tourists. The people that actually approached us realized we were Americans and wanted to talk to us and hear about our lives and why we came to Cape Town, but there will always be those who don’t bother to get to know you…and instead are interested in what’s in your wallet. Still, I’m really glad we stumbled into the place. If I wasn’t studying abroad in such a touristy city these types of incidences would be typical for a night. I’m sure we won’t actually go back to this place because I know it was not safe but nothing happened and we were lucky. Plus, it’s experiences like this that one can learn from, and although, we’re constantly thinking about the inequality issues in South Africa, when my friends and I are out having fun on a Friday night we don’t really pay attention to the poverty and crime, and maybe it was good something like this happened to serve as a reminder.
I promise I’m being safe though, please don’t worry…it’s all a learning experience and I’m loving every minute.
Cheers!
Oh and it was 93 degrees here on Saturday, jealous? I thought so hahaha
And I introduced my roommate to Lady Gaga, success.
February 17, 2010
Sorry it's really long..
Here's a re-cap of the week, sorry it's long I'm going to start posting more often, maybe?
Friday: I did a township tour with one of my classes (it’s a living and learning seminar I’m taking with other American students). We went to Langa, which is only a 5 minute drive from UCT and our tour guides were two guys (mid-twenties) who grew up in the township and still live there. We went to a community center there, which is a place where people can use computers, sell local arts/crafts, and kids can hangout after school and participate in theatre, dance, music and sports programs. There’s also a program that works with kids out of high school who aren’t attending university but want to learn certain trades in a workshop or with ceramics…etc. There was a group of kids there who performed for us by playing African instruments and singing (it was pretty cool!) After that, we walked to this place called “Love Life”, its an NGO set up to educate youth about HIV/AIDS and offers support for family planning…as well as acts as a place for youth to hang out (there’s pool tables, video games, a play ground and really small soccer field). Next we walked through the township (it’s pretty small) and our guides showed us the different districts, there was “Beverly hills” which were small houses with actual fences and satellite dishes! Then there was an area where migrant workers worked, and finally we saw the shantytown, which are the typical, incredibly poor shack areas. At the shantytown we wandered around a few people’s shops (selling jewelry, crafts, pictures…clothing) and then went to a “healer’s hut” which is basically where a woman makes beer. The beer was just 2% alcohol and we all tried it…we actually passed around a pail and took a sip or two…it tasted really different, it was warm and sweet. Our tour guide explained people can’t get drunk off the beer but its more of a social event, and when people travel into town or get together at night, they’ll make a fire and then sit around and tell stories and pass the bucket around, kind of like a bonfire? While we were walking through the township random kids joined our group and walked with us, and we played games with them and held their hands, it was really cute, I guess kids get out of school early on Friday’s so they had nothing to do and it was uncommon for a huge group of Americans to be walking through the area so they wanted to follow. Some of the kids knew English so they tried to talk to us and guess our age and asked us to take their pictures or dance with them, it was really fun.
There were some things about Langa that were really frustrating, like the fact that the township depends/or at least makes a significant income on tourism. In America, there aren’t tours of poor neighborhoods? Instead those areas are kind of taboo, left alone and kept out-of-bounds? It was also strange to see the different levels of wealth even within the township. It was pretty old, it was established in the 1920’s (where as kaylesha was est in 1980’s!) so there really was a strong sense of community and belonging, and although there was a shantytown, there were also permanent buildings and roads, which can be uncommon. It was also strange how close this area was to UCT, Langa was literally a few miles from center city, yet many people will never even drive through it let alone walk through and interact with people…
After the tour we went to Mzoli’s, (the same restaurant we ate at last weekend with the Zim guys) and this time my teacher had organized a meal for us vegetarians! Yay so I had some pop (similar to mashed potatoes) squash, and then small sish-ka-bobs with veggie burger “meat” and peppers, it was pretty good…and the perfect ending to the day. I love Mzoli’s I think its one of my favorite places in Cape Town.
Saturday my friends and I went to old biscuit mill, which is a huge market with clothing, shoes, jewelry, furniture and a huge organic foods market that has a great variety of stuff to eat ☺ One of our friends from the rez I live in took us to the market and since he’s a local, we were able to take a taxi van instead of a cab! Taxis are a lot cheaper but tough to take as a tourist, but they’re fun if you know you’re safe… That night I saw this movie at a tiny theatre that was about America’s role in ending apartheid it was called “Have You Heard the News in Johannesburg” and it was really good, I didn’t know much about US involvement besides imposing sanctions, but college students had a lot to do with pushing for a policy against apartheid so it was interesting and yes-i-hate-to-say-it inspirational! But really, this was only a little over a decade ago and it was really cool to see how college students united to push for a policy towards an injustice halfway across the world, and yes, students do this today too but no to the same extent? Also, the former US ambassador to SA was there and we met him after, and when he learned that 3 of us were from AU, he introduced us to his wife who was an alum! So we talked to them for a little and they told us some stuff we should definitely do while we’re still in South Africa.
Sunday, we went to a concert at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. The concert was an all-day thing, so a few of us all cooked a picnic to take with and then we basically camped out in the gardens with a ton of other students and hung out all afternoon, it was the perfect ending to a busy weekend.
I also started classes last week and so far I really like them. I’m taking “The Liberation of Southern Africa”, and although my professor isn’t my favorite, the topics really interest me and we also have a lot of guest speakers for the class so it will definitely pick up. I’m also taking “Religion, Conflict and Violence”, and I really like it so far. My last class is “Race, Culture, and Identity in South Africa” and although it only meets once a week, it lasts two hours so we’ve had some great discussions already and it’s only just started. I’m pretty sure that class will end up being my favorite. I’m also taking a class through CIEE, it’s a “Living and Learning” seminar, and acts as a class to talk to other students about study abroad and dissect what we’re learning or observing this semester. I really like this class too because it’s providing an outlet for confusing and frustrating, but also creates a stage for all of this stuff to be analyzed and then changed into a positive learning experience. It’s hard to explain but I’m grateful I’m taking it.
I also started both my volunteering projects but haven’t actually done anything yet so I’ll comment on those in my next post. This weekend we’re going to see the Stormer’s rugby team play against a team from Australia…and I’m really excited, apparently there are some Springbok players on the Stormer’s team, and it should be a really fun event. I’ve also never seen a real rugby game so it should be quite entertaining.
Oh and how could I forget I GOT WORLD CUP TICKETS!!! Or I at least applied for them in a lottery system and was assured that I would, in fact, receive tickets so my friends and I are anxiously waiting to hear if we really got them! And if I do have a ticket it means I have to figure out a new way to get home in mid-June which is proving really difficult, but also completely worth it!
Until next time…Cheers!
Oh and I forgot to write this in my first post but there’s some things that are tough to write about on a blog or at least fully describe so to whoever reads this, if you ever have questions about stuff I’ve done, or some random comment I’ve made, feel free to email me and I’d love to talk about it in better detail or at least hear what you have to say…thanks!
Friday: I did a township tour with one of my classes (it’s a living and learning seminar I’m taking with other American students). We went to Langa, which is only a 5 minute drive from UCT and our tour guides were two guys (mid-twenties) who grew up in the township and still live there. We went to a community center there, which is a place where people can use computers, sell local arts/crafts, and kids can hangout after school and participate in theatre, dance, music and sports programs. There’s also a program that works with kids out of high school who aren’t attending university but want to learn certain trades in a workshop or with ceramics…etc. There was a group of kids there who performed for us by playing African instruments and singing (it was pretty cool!) After that, we walked to this place called “Love Life”, its an NGO set up to educate youth about HIV/AIDS and offers support for family planning…as well as acts as a place for youth to hang out (there’s pool tables, video games, a play ground and really small soccer field). Next we walked through the township (it’s pretty small) and our guides showed us the different districts, there was “Beverly hills” which were small houses with actual fences and satellite dishes! Then there was an area where migrant workers worked, and finally we saw the shantytown, which are the typical, incredibly poor shack areas. At the shantytown we wandered around a few people’s shops (selling jewelry, crafts, pictures…clothing) and then went to a “healer’s hut” which is basically where a woman makes beer. The beer was just 2% alcohol and we all tried it…we actually passed around a pail and took a sip or two…it tasted really different, it was warm and sweet. Our tour guide explained people can’t get drunk off the beer but its more of a social event, and when people travel into town or get together at night, they’ll make a fire and then sit around and tell stories and pass the bucket around, kind of like a bonfire? While we were walking through the township random kids joined our group and walked with us, and we played games with them and held their hands, it was really cute, I guess kids get out of school early on Friday’s so they had nothing to do and it was uncommon for a huge group of Americans to be walking through the area so they wanted to follow. Some of the kids knew English so they tried to talk to us and guess our age and asked us to take their pictures or dance with them, it was really fun.
There were some things about Langa that were really frustrating, like the fact that the township depends/or at least makes a significant income on tourism. In America, there aren’t tours of poor neighborhoods? Instead those areas are kind of taboo, left alone and kept out-of-bounds? It was also strange to see the different levels of wealth even within the township. It was pretty old, it was established in the 1920’s (where as kaylesha was est in 1980’s!) so there really was a strong sense of community and belonging, and although there was a shantytown, there were also permanent buildings and roads, which can be uncommon. It was also strange how close this area was to UCT, Langa was literally a few miles from center city, yet many people will never even drive through it let alone walk through and interact with people…
After the tour we went to Mzoli’s, (the same restaurant we ate at last weekend with the Zim guys) and this time my teacher had organized a meal for us vegetarians! Yay so I had some pop (similar to mashed potatoes) squash, and then small sish-ka-bobs with veggie burger “meat” and peppers, it was pretty good…and the perfect ending to the day. I love Mzoli’s I think its one of my favorite places in Cape Town.
Saturday my friends and I went to old biscuit mill, which is a huge market with clothing, shoes, jewelry, furniture and a huge organic foods market that has a great variety of stuff to eat ☺ One of our friends from the rez I live in took us to the market and since he’s a local, we were able to take a taxi van instead of a cab! Taxis are a lot cheaper but tough to take as a tourist, but they’re fun if you know you’re safe… That night I saw this movie at a tiny theatre that was about America’s role in ending apartheid it was called “Have You Heard the News in Johannesburg” and it was really good, I didn’t know much about US involvement besides imposing sanctions, but college students had a lot to do with pushing for a policy against apartheid so it was interesting and yes-i-hate-to-say-it inspirational! But really, this was only a little over a decade ago and it was really cool to see how college students united to push for a policy towards an injustice halfway across the world, and yes, students do this today too but no to the same extent? Also, the former US ambassador to SA was there and we met him after, and when he learned that 3 of us were from AU, he introduced us to his wife who was an alum! So we talked to them for a little and they told us some stuff we should definitely do while we’re still in South Africa.
Sunday, we went to a concert at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. The concert was an all-day thing, so a few of us all cooked a picnic to take with and then we basically camped out in the gardens with a ton of other students and hung out all afternoon, it was the perfect ending to a busy weekend.
I also started classes last week and so far I really like them. I’m taking “The Liberation of Southern Africa”, and although my professor isn’t my favorite, the topics really interest me and we also have a lot of guest speakers for the class so it will definitely pick up. I’m also taking “Religion, Conflict and Violence”, and I really like it so far. My last class is “Race, Culture, and Identity in South Africa” and although it only meets once a week, it lasts two hours so we’ve had some great discussions already and it’s only just started. I’m pretty sure that class will end up being my favorite. I’m also taking a class through CIEE, it’s a “Living and Learning” seminar, and acts as a class to talk to other students about study abroad and dissect what we’re learning or observing this semester. I really like this class too because it’s providing an outlet for confusing and frustrating, but also creates a stage for all of this stuff to be analyzed and then changed into a positive learning experience. It’s hard to explain but I’m grateful I’m taking it.
I also started both my volunteering projects but haven’t actually done anything yet so I’ll comment on those in my next post. This weekend we’re going to see the Stormer’s rugby team play against a team from Australia…and I’m really excited, apparently there are some Springbok players on the Stormer’s team, and it should be a really fun event. I’ve also never seen a real rugby game so it should be quite entertaining.
Oh and how could I forget I GOT WORLD CUP TICKETS!!! Or I at least applied for them in a lottery system and was assured that I would, in fact, receive tickets so my friends and I are anxiously waiting to hear if we really got them! And if I do have a ticket it means I have to figure out a new way to get home in mid-June which is proving really difficult, but also completely worth it!
Until next time…Cheers!
Oh and I forgot to write this in my first post but there’s some things that are tough to write about on a blog or at least fully describe so to whoever reads this, if you ever have questions about stuff I’ve done, or some random comment I’ve made, feel free to email me and I’d love to talk about it in better detail or at least hear what you have to say…thanks!
February 8, 2010
one day as a tourist and another attempt at blending in...
Howzit?
(That means what’s up here…)
Today was the first day of real class!!! But I actually only had one class and it only lasted 30 minutes so that was kind of disappointing, and tomorrow I only have one class again too! Next week we’ll start tutorials (classes taught by Teacher’s assistant’s) as well as having regular class so I should get a little busier.
So during the first week my roommate met some guys from Zimbabwe and her and some other girls started hanging out with them at bars and going back to chill at their house. I was reluctant at first to tag along because I was hesitant about trusting locals, let alone guys (who are all a year older) but after talking to a few of them, and running into them multiple times around Rondebosch and on campus I started to change my mind. Yesterday, a few of them took us to this place called Mzoli’s, they told us this was a place we had to go to while we were here so we all decided to take a chance and just let them take us and it was awesome! Mzoli’s is this restaurant, if you will, in Gugulethu (one of the townships in Cape Town) and it’s absolutely crazy. We took a taxi van there, which was an experience in itself, and when we got to Mzoli’s it was kind of unreal. It’s this kitchen (or butchery?) with an outdoor seating area that’s filled with picnic tables and it’s set on a corner so people tend to flood the street and dance and basically go crazy. We got there too late to eat at the restaurant so we ordered our food then waited at our friends car, which was parked on the street with everyone elses. It reminded me of tale-gating a football game, except there was no game to get excited for (maybe the Superbowl but not here? Haha). We basically just stood at the car all day, chatting and meeting other people, and eventually our meat platter was ready (no vegetarian options here) and everyone just kind of tore into it. I even had a few bites of the different meat because apparently it’s the best meat in the world, and I’ll admit it was pretty good, and I won’t be temped to eat again for awhile. After eating we all piled into one of his friends car (our taxi never came back, go figure) and drove back to campus.
I hate to be the typical American, or tourist, but there was something so special about Gogulethu that I have to comment on it. There was such a strong sense of community there, it was unreal. During the day, the townships are a great place, or at least they seem that way. Each township is a completely different world compared to the actual city of Cape Town, but because people are isolated from the rest of the city there is such strong community ties. On Sunday’s most families, if they can afford it, will go to places like Mzoli’s and sit around all day, waiting for their meat, and catching up with neighbors and friends. Of course there were some depressing images that reminded us of the povery in the area, i.e. the two little kids that came around collecting our bottles so they could make a small about of money for recycling them, or the random stray dogs that waited around our car hoping for scaps. Sadly, we coulnd’t play with them but I did name them, and we made friends with the kids too. This was also an area where none of us could exactly wander off, we went together to get drinks down the street from the restaurant and went in pairs to the very distinctly third-world bathroom (sorry I had to say it)! Overall, it was really fun and I’m pretty sure we’ll be going back to Mzoli’s again this semester.
I also had the chance to talk to some of the Zim guys, and they were really honest about why they wanted to befriend us. The conversations made me feel so much better about being in Cape Town; I wanted to meet some locals and now I’ve actually made some friends who I know I can trust…and have already promised to help us out with any trouble we might run into while we’re here.
It was an excellent day even though I didn’t stay up to watch the Superbowl, I’m sorry but by 1:30 AM I was way too tired to watch football!
I’m about to go to a UTC rugby game, one of our Zim friends is on the team and we promised we’d go, and I’m pretty excited, I’ve never watched rugby before so it should be fairly entertaining.
Cheers!
oooh and saturday i went to the aquarium (hence the title) it was cool we got there in time to see the preditors be fed, and the rest of the aquarium was really neat! I'm still debating shark-cage diving while I'm here, I feel like it's something I have to do but i also heard that they smear blood on the cage so that the Great Whites actually attack the cage, soooo scary. We'll see I've got plenty of time to decide!
And Saturday night i went to this bar/club called Tin Roof and it was sooo much fun. It reminded me of high school; everyone was dancing and none of us went to the bar it was just awesome, innocent fun...and the music the DJ played was so random but a lot of American 90's stuff and then recent hip hop and pop, it was really great. Definitely one of my favorite nights here so far was Saturday.
(That means what’s up here…)
Today was the first day of real class!!! But I actually only had one class and it only lasted 30 minutes so that was kind of disappointing, and tomorrow I only have one class again too! Next week we’ll start tutorials (classes taught by Teacher’s assistant’s) as well as having regular class so I should get a little busier.
So during the first week my roommate met some guys from Zimbabwe and her and some other girls started hanging out with them at bars and going back to chill at their house. I was reluctant at first to tag along because I was hesitant about trusting locals, let alone guys (who are all a year older) but after talking to a few of them, and running into them multiple times around Rondebosch and on campus I started to change my mind. Yesterday, a few of them took us to this place called Mzoli’s, they told us this was a place we had to go to while we were here so we all decided to take a chance and just let them take us and it was awesome! Mzoli’s is this restaurant, if you will, in Gugulethu (one of the townships in Cape Town) and it’s absolutely crazy. We took a taxi van there, which was an experience in itself, and when we got to Mzoli’s it was kind of unreal. It’s this kitchen (or butchery?) with an outdoor seating area that’s filled with picnic tables and it’s set on a corner so people tend to flood the street and dance and basically go crazy. We got there too late to eat at the restaurant so we ordered our food then waited at our friends car, which was parked on the street with everyone elses. It reminded me of tale-gating a football game, except there was no game to get excited for (maybe the Superbowl but not here? Haha). We basically just stood at the car all day, chatting and meeting other people, and eventually our meat platter was ready (no vegetarian options here) and everyone just kind of tore into it. I even had a few bites of the different meat because apparently it’s the best meat in the world, and I’ll admit it was pretty good, and I won’t be temped to eat again for awhile. After eating we all piled into one of his friends car (our taxi never came back, go figure) and drove back to campus.
I hate to be the typical American, or tourist, but there was something so special about Gogulethu that I have to comment on it. There was such a strong sense of community there, it was unreal. During the day, the townships are a great place, or at least they seem that way. Each township is a completely different world compared to the actual city of Cape Town, but because people are isolated from the rest of the city there is such strong community ties. On Sunday’s most families, if they can afford it, will go to places like Mzoli’s and sit around all day, waiting for their meat, and catching up with neighbors and friends. Of course there were some depressing images that reminded us of the povery in the area, i.e. the two little kids that came around collecting our bottles so they could make a small about of money for recycling them, or the random stray dogs that waited around our car hoping for scaps. Sadly, we coulnd’t play with them but I did name them, and we made friends with the kids too. This was also an area where none of us could exactly wander off, we went together to get drinks down the street from the restaurant and went in pairs to the very distinctly third-world bathroom (sorry I had to say it)! Overall, it was really fun and I’m pretty sure we’ll be going back to Mzoli’s again this semester.
I also had the chance to talk to some of the Zim guys, and they were really honest about why they wanted to befriend us. The conversations made me feel so much better about being in Cape Town; I wanted to meet some locals and now I’ve actually made some friends who I know I can trust…and have already promised to help us out with any trouble we might run into while we’re here.
It was an excellent day even though I didn’t stay up to watch the Superbowl, I’m sorry but by 1:30 AM I was way too tired to watch football!
I’m about to go to a UTC rugby game, one of our Zim friends is on the team and we promised we’d go, and I’m pretty excited, I’ve never watched rugby before so it should be fairly entertaining.
Cheers!
oooh and saturday i went to the aquarium (hence the title) it was cool we got there in time to see the preditors be fed, and the rest of the aquarium was really neat! I'm still debating shark-cage diving while I'm here, I feel like it's something I have to do but i also heard that they smear blood on the cage so that the Great Whites actually attack the cage, soooo scary. We'll see I've got plenty of time to decide!
And Saturday night i went to this bar/club called Tin Roof and it was sooo much fun. It reminded me of high school; everyone was dancing and none of us went to the bar it was just awesome, innocent fun...and the music the DJ played was so random but a lot of American 90's stuff and then recent hip hop and pop, it was really great. Definitely one of my favorite nights here so far was Saturday.
February 5, 2010
"there is only one solution the world's problems, you and everybody around you" --take from district 6 :)
2/05/10
Confession. I though studying abroad was going to be a lot easier but this week has proven the rollercoaster of emotions anyone could feel when they’re away from home. I really though that after ending last semester with such mixed feelings I could basically escape to Africa and start over completey but I kind of hit rock-bottom if you will and really really missed my friends and DC in general. Still after talking to a good friend I realized that’s all part of the transition to study abroad. There’s no way you can prepare for culture shock and missing your best friends but with a great support system it makes the transition a lot easier, and I’ve already made some great friends here so that really helps. I bounced back pretty quickly, it sounds ridiculous but I was really only upset for a day and once I admitted that Cape Town wasn’t the GREATEST PLACE IN THE WORLD and that I wasn’t 100% happy it made it so much easier to move one and get excited about life here anyway. I’m also conviced that once classes really start up and I’m volunteering and active in some clubs (running club, hiking and some type of cultural society)…I’ll have a regular schedule, meet more interesting people and actually start to build a life here.
On a completely different note…
Our road trip fell through for this week (apparently you have to be 21 to rent a car in South Africa, and none of are yet…) but it might have been for the better, instead of trying to frantically plan another trip we decided to stay in Cape Town and do a lot of the touristy things we’ve taken for granted. On Tuesday we went to the district 6 museum, which commemorates a neighborhood that was historically black and colored, but forcibly removed during apartheid. The museum was really cool, instead of only educating its audience about the gentrification, it acted as a memorial to the actual community, educating about the small shops, businesses, sports teams…etc that thrived within the community. It’s especially depressing because after district 6 was cleared, there was so much controversy that nothing was ever re-established there, and today its just a barren open field, basically there was no reason to remove all the people that once lived there. Then Tuesday night we went to a karaoke bar on the beach, which was really fun.
Wednesday, we went to the slave lodge museum, which acts as a memorial to those who passed through the actual building during the slave trade. The museum was huge and really educational. It was interesting to learn about the slave trade across the Indian Ocean to South Africa-these were slaves who for the most part never made it to America, but stayed in the African colonies. Life wasn’t any better for these slaves but it was neat to compare/contrast with what I’ve learned about America’s slave trade and the middle passage. After the museum we wondered through Green Market, a huge open-air market of various African jelwely, art, music, clothing…etc, and then made our way to Long Street and window-shopped through various vintage stores and boutiques. When we finally got home we all cooked dinner together and stayed in to watch a movie.
Thursday we went to Clifton beach all day! The weather was fantastic and it was the perfect ending to the week, and also ensured that we were all rested for classes today.
So I was really really excited for class to start today but then realized I actually didn’t have any classes. Classes today ran on a Tuesday schedule, and I only have one class on Tuesdays but it didn’t meet today so I still had another day off. I had an interview for one of my potential volunteering projects and then ran errands all day.
Tonight we’re going to “The Big Bash”, it’s a festival thrown by UTC to kick-off the new school year (here it’s the fall semester). I hate not being about to take my camera anywhere because I’d love to take pictures of this event, there’s supposed to be a ton of different famous DJs there and it’s just going to be a really fun party but low and behold totally unsafe for me to take my camera too.
Okay I think I wrote plenty (parents you should be happy haha) until next week, cheers!
Confession. I though studying abroad was going to be a lot easier but this week has proven the rollercoaster of emotions anyone could feel when they’re away from home. I really though that after ending last semester with such mixed feelings I could basically escape to Africa and start over completey but I kind of hit rock-bottom if you will and really really missed my friends and DC in general. Still after talking to a good friend I realized that’s all part of the transition to study abroad. There’s no way you can prepare for culture shock and missing your best friends but with a great support system it makes the transition a lot easier, and I’ve already made some great friends here so that really helps. I bounced back pretty quickly, it sounds ridiculous but I was really only upset for a day and once I admitted that Cape Town wasn’t the GREATEST PLACE IN THE WORLD and that I wasn’t 100% happy it made it so much easier to move one and get excited about life here anyway. I’m also conviced that once classes really start up and I’m volunteering and active in some clubs (running club, hiking and some type of cultural society)…I’ll have a regular schedule, meet more interesting people and actually start to build a life here.
On a completely different note…
Our road trip fell through for this week (apparently you have to be 21 to rent a car in South Africa, and none of are yet…) but it might have been for the better, instead of trying to frantically plan another trip we decided to stay in Cape Town and do a lot of the touristy things we’ve taken for granted. On Tuesday we went to the district 6 museum, which commemorates a neighborhood that was historically black and colored, but forcibly removed during apartheid. The museum was really cool, instead of only educating its audience about the gentrification, it acted as a memorial to the actual community, educating about the small shops, businesses, sports teams…etc that thrived within the community. It’s especially depressing because after district 6 was cleared, there was so much controversy that nothing was ever re-established there, and today its just a barren open field, basically there was no reason to remove all the people that once lived there. Then Tuesday night we went to a karaoke bar on the beach, which was really fun.
Wednesday, we went to the slave lodge museum, which acts as a memorial to those who passed through the actual building during the slave trade. The museum was huge and really educational. It was interesting to learn about the slave trade across the Indian Ocean to South Africa-these were slaves who for the most part never made it to America, but stayed in the African colonies. Life wasn’t any better for these slaves but it was neat to compare/contrast with what I’ve learned about America’s slave trade and the middle passage. After the museum we wondered through Green Market, a huge open-air market of various African jelwely, art, music, clothing…etc, and then made our way to Long Street and window-shopped through various vintage stores and boutiques. When we finally got home we all cooked dinner together and stayed in to watch a movie.
Thursday we went to Clifton beach all day! The weather was fantastic and it was the perfect ending to the week, and also ensured that we were all rested for classes today.
So I was really really excited for class to start today but then realized I actually didn’t have any classes. Classes today ran on a Tuesday schedule, and I only have one class on Tuesdays but it didn’t meet today so I still had another day off. I had an interview for one of my potential volunteering projects and then ran errands all day.
Tonight we’re going to “The Big Bash”, it’s a festival thrown by UTC to kick-off the new school year (here it’s the fall semester). I hate not being about to take my camera anywhere because I’d love to take pictures of this event, there’s supposed to be a ton of different famous DJs there and it’s just going to be a really fun party but low and behold totally unsafe for me to take my camera too.
Okay I think I wrote plenty (parents you should be happy haha) until next week, cheers!
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