traveling beyond Kaapstad

My original holiday plans fell through last minute, two of the girls decided they weren’t up for it anymore and expenses ran too high without them. We had planned to drive up into Namibia and drive far enough north to see the Namib Desert and a bit of the coast. Needless to say, I was very disappointed and the news landed me in a bit of a rut. I had three weeks until finals and not only was it was too late to plan a new trip, but everyone else already had finalized plans. Most of my roommates had already left and the house was quiet, and boring, for the first time all semester. Luckily my friend Kate was still willing to plan something last minute and we were able to salvage a shortened version of our original itinerary. The two of us rented a car and drove about 8 or so hours to the Namibian border and a few more to the town of Grünau. We spent two nights and one full day in Namibia getting a chance to go to Fish River Canyon National Park and hike around the second largest canyon in the world. Day three we woke up early and drove about 3-4 hours, crossing back into South Africa, to a city called Uppington in the Northern Cape province. Uppington is on the Orange River and is a really nice town with a well-developed tourism sector – it was a nice change from the long stretches of desert road that had defined our previous few days. We even managed to get a wine tasting in before dinner! Thursday we got an early start and headed back in the direction of Cape Town, stopping at Augrabies National Park on the way back to see the gorgeous water falls.

I would say that my trip certainly led me to rethink my idea of the term ‘rural’. There is only one main road heading directly north from Cape Town and most others branching off are not paved. Once we left the city all we saw was farms for hours with the occasional group of houses. Eventually the lush green gave way to desolate arid expanses of uninhabited land. We knew we were headed for the desert, so I don’t know what we expected. Every so often we would come across a small settlement that somewhat resembled a town, but each one was extremely isolated and from a distance looked completely abandoned. The number of other cars on the road grew slimmer and slimmer until we no longer pondered the threat of oncoming traffic when swerving onto the other side of the road to pass the occasional truck. Once the sun set and the sliver of the moon rose to just above the horizon line it was impossible to differentiate the sky from the land. We joked that we didn’t actually see Namibia until the morning since the landscape could have been rolling sand dunes or NYC high rises for all we could see. Surprisingly there was a fair amount of individuals walking along the side of the road at various points; I was tempted to pull over, just once, and ask how long the person had been walking and where he or she was headed. Closer to the towns we passed a lot of hitchhikers but otherwise it seemed that these people must be accustomed to measuring distance in terms of days on foot. My friend is a public health major and she commented on how SA’s policy is that all citizens should be within some degree of walking distance from a clinic that administers HIV/AIDS and TB treatment. Sometimes it seemed as if there were not even dirt roads leading from the main road to some of the houses that were barely visible rising out of the barren land. I cannot imagine these people had access to any sort of health clinics.

Kate and I had a great trip overall, a lot of driving but we got to see a great deal. Some of my friends are still traveling but most of the crew is back in Cape Town making the most of our last week here. One of my housemates and two of my other friends left today because they were all done with finals and have to get back home. Last night we all went out to celebrate and although we all had a good time, the night had a somber feel. We all feel as though this is our life now and it is hard to comprehend that when we leave, that will be it. I know in a week I will be going ‘home,’ but for 6 months I have had a new home, one that I have grown to love more that I ever thought I could. My friends here have become best friends and I can’t imagine not seeing them all everyday. They know me better than anyone; I have been able to be honest about everything in my life for the first time in a long time. Okay, I am going to save a long sentimental post for another day because I really need to be studying before our house potluck – I made what has come to be known as my famous apple crisp! I have two finals, Monday and Wednesday, and then I’m d-o-n-e done. That, I am definitely looking forward to.

a little reflection on a Tuesday morning

This time a month from now I will be back in America. In attempt to make up for 5 months without bagels or iced coffee, I probably will have already been to Dunkin Donuts at least five times. My phone will most likely be next to me, however I will be terrified by the touchscreen technology and how often it buzzes and rings. I might even miss my R200 1999 Nokia. There will be no mountains to gaze at, no more watching the sun set over African trees from my window. I will probably look the wrong way as I cross the street for at least a week. Not having to walk 15 minutes to purchase good food will be amazing, but paying triple for what I purchase will most likely cause me to avoid supermarkets for a while. My legs are going to miss hiking up 1000 stairs to get from one class to another, and my stomach is going to miss $2 'Mexicana' sandwiches from Souper Sandwich on campus. I have not stepped onto a scale, or into a gym, since January. I can now cook Chicken Tikka Masala from scratch and, believe it or not, have acquired a taste for Hake and Mussels. I put hot sauce on most of my food now. My hair has grown at least three inches, I am convinced. I have several new scars on my knees from hiking, and one from tripping on a side walk downtown.

Living in South Africa has provided me with a chance to experience a lifestyle very different from the one I have grown accustomed to. Over the past several months I have been living with Americans from all over the U.S and made friends from all over the world. The state of this country post-apartheid breaks my heart, but the people that call this country home have at the same time renewed my faith in humanity. I have attended a party in the most beautiful house I have ever seen and then returned home walking past the seven or so people that sleep on cardboard on my street. Walking from bar to bar there are little children pulling at your dress for money and then on campus kids spend R100 printing out articles. The buses charge R4 for a distance that a taxi would charge R40, and the patronage of each is divided purely by race. The disparities of wealth are alarming. Everyday my experiences sharpen my understanding of the social dynamics that make this country so unique. One afternoon, my friend got mugged and a homeless man that lives next to our house chased the culprit down and got her wallet back for her. A week prior the security guards responsible for securing our houses were found guilty of breaking and stealing everything of value from one of the residences while we were all gone on semester break. Things are much more complicated here than they appear.

Once realization I have come to is that here I am not as ashamed to be American as I am ashamed to be white. The Dutch Afrikaaner population is unbelievably racist and they assume we share their sentiments just because we share the color of their skin. Our colored friends even question us for taking interest in the culture of the black population - they wonder why we make traditional black dishes at our barbecues when we can afford more sophisticated meals. My host sister in Langa Township had never really had a white friend before, and cried when I left because she assumed I would never want to see her again.

It is true, in a month I will leave and return to a place where the problems of African nations are reduced to the occasional news article or report on channel 5. However, all of these things I speak of, all of this has become part of who I am. True, I can choose not to think about how the past five months have changed my life, but I cannot forget. I have grown considerably as an individual since boarding my British Airways flight out of Logan, but I feel more lost than ever. There are so many wrongs that need to be made right in this world and my inability to change much of anything has been made glaringly apparent. At the same time, it is so easy to make a big difference in the lives of people here. What we would consider an insignificant donation could supply shoes and blankets to children in an entire community. The money an American family spends on a weeks worth of groceries could feed my home stay family for at least a month. My time here has given me a lot to think about; including how I want to live the rest of my life and what my priorities are as a privileged individual.

Please, if anyone feels moved to make a donation to help improve the lives of people I have met here in any way, all you have to do is ask me how. Whether it be to support the organization I intern for, the community of Langa, the various social development projects I have been involved with etc., really, just let me know.

I plan to spend my last few weeks here traveling around and spending time with the people here that I will miss an unquantifiable amount. Most of you probably know I am an embarrassingly sentimental person and this is the biggest thing I have ever had to leave and will ever have to miss. I cannot wait to hug everyone at home and enjoy everything I have been without this semester, don't get me wrong, but I know it will be a very hard transition. I have one more day of classes, a week of driving around Namibia, two finals and a few days in the UK left before I return home. Dunkin Donuts here I come?

another day at Cocoa wah wah

It is a beautiful, warm day and I am sitting at my favorite little cafe restaurant in Rondebosch. They have the most delicious food here - the omelettes, sandwiches, salads, and their carrot cake is to die for. They also give out free internet vouchers for dining patrons! So that brings me to where I am now, full from carrot cake, sitting on the patio, blogging away for free.

Last Saturday I went to a professional rugby game, it was Cape Town against New Zealand. We lost horribly, but hey, it wasn't like we knew the rules of the game anyway. We went to a braai at a friend's house before hand and he had a balcony that overlooked the city; you could see the mountains, downtown and the ocean from his backyard pool. Watching rugby was fun, I've definitely been missing my spectator sports. On Sunday five of us were extras in a music video being produced by UCT students. It was an experience to say the least...a long, long unorganized day but overall an entertaining way to spend a Sunday. This past week was rather uneventful, school work is dying down as we are all supposed to be preparing for finals. We did all go to see one of our friends play in the UCT symphony orchestra, she plays the trumpet and has been taking intensive lessons here at the music school. We all got dressed up for our night at Baxter Theater to support our friend and it was quite the enjoyable evening.

I am loving my internship here, I can't remember if I've mentioned it previously. I am interning at Global Development for Peace and Leadership (GDPL), an NGO in Cape Town . I go to their office twice a week and it has proved to be a really great job. I am doing research for some cool projects working with different schools and organizations; GDPL has some great networking connections and is well established in the Western Cape. I might even be able to spend a morning in church and then get breakfast with Archbishop Desmond Tutu (kind of like getting to meet MLK Jr. back in the day)! It is a small organization and they are located in an old, unrestored church that used to be home to a community arts program - there are old murals all over the walls in the courtyard depicting scenes from South Africa during the apartheid. I am learning a great deal about the organization, the workings of NGOs in South Africa, human rights efforts in South Africa, and the different initiatives working to reform a relatively broken social structure.

Last night my friends and I went to a concert that was a fund raiser for Africa Burns- the African version of Burning Man. It exceeded our expectations in every way, it was such a fun night! The first artist was a one-man show, creating his own background music and then singing and playing the harmonica over the track. He has never recorded and thus had no CDs to give us, a huge disappointment but refreshing at the same time; he was one of the more talented individuals I have seen in a while with a voice that rivaled many of the classic male singers in the States and was just all about playing live for people to dance to. The second was a band called the Rudimentals playing reggae and African dance music. Then a crazy DJ took the stage and everyone danced to the early hours of the morning...don't worry, we got tired eventually and went home. Seeing live music here is great, it reveals a part of South African culture that we do not get to see everyday.

Time is ticking away! I really can't imagine being back in the States in less than 2 months, everything is so different here...I really think the culture shock is going to be much harder going back than it was coming. My friend was studying abroad in Mexico and had to evacuate because of the swine flu. Having to go home early, she said her feelings were bittersweet- she was excited to go home but leaving was rough. It really got me thinking about how much I have learned and how I have grown here- what I will leave behind and what I will bring back. The next few weeks are going to be interesting as we all come to terms with the fact that we will all be back in America soon and this whole term will become a fading memory. I just keep telling myself that I will make it back here sometime. And yes, I will be dragging all of you with me when it happens. Oh, and if you want a postcard, email me your address!

April showers bring...May showers

Today I went on a 5-6 hour hike up Table Mountain with the SIT Cape Town abroad program. A friend from Lafayette is on the program and currently living downtown, it has been fun getting to know all of her friends and having a new social network here. We left at 7:30am and hiked up a path called Skeleton Gorge to the top, stopping to take pictures and admire the view. From the top you can see all Cape Town and every coast, spinning around 360 degrees allows you to see all of the Western Cape and beyond. It was a clear day out as well, which was great. I took some panoramic style photos from bay to bay…I plan on printing them when I get home and recreating Cape Town in my room next year, albeit a birds eye view of it. I don’t think I mentioned it, but a few of us went sea kayaking one afternoon a few weeks ago and went all around a few of the beaches. It is cool seeing Cape Town from different perspectives. On Wednesday I think I am going skydiving! I am also trying to coordinate a trip to go sand boarding. Now that we are well past the halfway point we are beginning the scramble to fit everything in that we have been talking about all semester.

It has been a few weeks since semester break and the second term is underway. There have been several public holidays lately making for short school weeks, which has been nice. Unfortunately summer is basically over and our 3 month streak of warm, sunny days appears to have come to an end as well. It has been raining more often and getting cooler, but the rain generally passes in and out and there have been some nice days in between. Apparently winter here is just nonstop cold rain, luckily it is technically not winter until June so at least we leave towards the beginning of it. I am looking forward to getting summer all over again when I get home!

Speaking of home, most of my friends on study abroad programs are heading back to the States within the next few weeks. It is exciting and a little strange to think I still have around 2 months left. Time has flown by; 2 months seems so short, yet when I think of everyone else making it back in time to watch seniors graduate I feel like I am going to be gone forever. The weather also doesn’t help…I miss when everyday was a beach day! The good part is, classes end May 20^th and my first final isn’t until June 8^th. Most people are trying to get one last big trip in during the time period before finals, and I have a decent amount of time to work with. A few of my housemates have already planned a trip to the Wild Coast, backpacking and hiking along the coast of South Africa for a week or so. Personally, I would love to travel out of the country and see more of southern Africa. A lot of people used the time period after our group semester break trip to travel – friends of mine went to Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Swaziland. Traveling gets really expensive with flights, accommodations, activities, ground travel etc. and it makes planning big trips hard. I am going to try and plan a trip either to Victoria Falls and Zimbabwe or to Namibia/Botswana. It is so difficult to plan trips when most countries do not have the degree of infrastructure needed to organize long distance travel to multiple places. The countries in Africa are so large and yet it is challenging and dangerous to travel across them, which limits our ability to get from place to plan on a limited budget. On the other hand, there is so much untouched beautiful land in these countries that it is hard to complain. I don’t think I would trade it in. If anyone has any friends in any of the aforementioned places, let me know!

I’ve also heard that the US media is reporting on a lot of tensions in South Africa right now because of the elections that took place on April 22^nd. I mean, obviously there were and are tensions, but overall the day was a huge success. We all had school off, which was a plus, and there was a voting station at UCT. The Western Cape, where I live, is the only area where the ANC was seriously challenged – woo political activism! Here are two articles on the election that I found that may be of interests (much better than CNN):

• http://www.southafrica.info/about/democracy/election-winner.htm
• http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/25/south-africa-election-anc-result

It is really interesting to learn about proportional voting systems and the workings of a parliamentary government in a country that not only uses such a system, but also is in the midst of electing a new president. My friends and I went to a few educational voter workshops to better understand how elections in SA work and the different parties vying for power. Getting to hear Zuma and a leader of the PAC speak in Langa was exciting as well – political action is such a huge part of this country given the fact that democracy is so young and the country is so eager to break free of the legacy left by the National Party. The election was less about the main national issues and more about the different parties ability to convince the black majority that they will continue the fight for equality and nondiscrimination. Many feel that the ANC has dropped the ball, so to speak, on many of the promises they made upon gaining power in 1994. Here age is a huge dividing factor within the black population; the older generations that lived through apartheid have lost faith in the ANC and politicians in general after the lack of progress and unfulfilled promises. The younger generations, however, still see the ANC as the liberation party. It is very interesting to hear different South Africans speak of the political situation. All I know is that South Africa is a very complicated place.

Tomorrow morning I am waking up super early and taking a practice LSAT, my first one. I realize I should probably take the test this fall, and should probably start studying this summer…taking a diagnostic before I start studying will help me figure out what I need to spend time on. I’m hoping I do okay and can relax a little, as doing horribly would definitely make me wish I waited until I was home to even touch a LSAT book. Especially since job prospects for this summer are looking slim. Getting back to the States late June definitely limits options; all of us here realized we are essentially screwed and a lot of people are just staying in Africa doing various things. At least I will have lots of time to study, and keep your eyes open for catering jobs in the Boston area!

a lot of things

I have always been criticized for being unable to summarize, most of you that know me have most likely discovered any story I tell is going to be a long one. I have struggled to keep these blog posts as short as I can, but so much of what I experience is new - the recent history of this country has impacted every aspect of current society and it is hard to understand to what extent this is true unless you live here. I have been trying to give a bit of a context to bridge this gap, and hopefully I have succeeded to some extent. Over the past few weeks I have been traveling all over South Africa, and despite the risk of failing miserably, I am going to try and summarize the different stops along the way with just the right amount of context:
(1) Durban- My friend Kate and I took an extended weekend trip to Durban, a city about a 2 hour flight down the east coast from Cape Town. Unlike Cape Town, the black population is Zulu and not Xhosa and the majority of the population is actually Indian. Durban has a warmer, more humid climate and we were excited for the warm waters of the Indian Ocean. We stayed with Kate's friends that had an apartment on the beach, it was a perfect location. Durban is much more industrial than Cape Town, and the city life is much more bustling. We had a beach day, and aquarium day, a perusing day and got a decent taste of the night life. I even managed to learn how to stand up on a surf board! Overall, we both decided that Cape Town was a much more beautiful city and we were happy to return home.
(2) Spring Break- After returning from Durban I had less than a week to finish an overwhelming amount of work before spring break. I got it done, and on Saturday morning at 6am all 30 IES Abroad students headed for the Cape Town airport. We spent one night at a backpackers lodge about an hour away from the park and then had a 2 day long Safari spending 2 nights in little huts at a camp on the grounds. We then traveled to Soweto, the largest black township in all of South Africa and the home to the famous 1976 Soweto Uprising. We stayed 2 nights in a backpackers in the township, taking a 4 hour biking tour one day and having time to explore nearby Johannesburg the next. The trip was absolutely amazing. Waking up to begin our Safari at 5am each day and spending all day searching the bush for animals was awesome; I saw cheetahs, a leopard, elephants, giraffes, rhinos, zebras, hippos, lions, impalas, monkeys, mongooses, crocodiles etc. etc. As soon as I get pictures online I will make sure to post a link to the album - I got some great shots that I can't wait to decorate my room with next year. The animals were beautiful, the weather was great and it was a blast. On the way to Soweto we stopped at several different points in the Drakensburg Mountain range and saw grand waterfalls, mountains and the largest growing canyon. Staying in Soweto was quite the moving experience and we learned a lot to add to our growing understanding of South African history. Everything from our accommodations, the bike riding, playing soccer with children all afternoon, venturing to Jo-burg...everything was perfect.
Check out the story behind Lebo's Backpackers here: http://www.sowetobackpackers.com/

Now I am back home and ready to slow down my pace a little. Since IES planned the entire spring break trip, we had very limited responsibility the whole time but we were definitely kept busy. Spring break does not end for another 4 days, however, and we plan on making the most of it. Tomorrow I am going to an amusement park about 25 minutes away for the day, and this weekend a few of us are road-tripping to a music festival! I am still loving it here, spring break was a much needed break from school work and I feel like I will go into second term with a much lighter mind than how I ended the first. We have all also discussed how happy we are to be living in Cape Town of all cities, nothing compares to the diverse array of awesomeness that is Cape Town.

Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes, I had an amazing 21st in Kruger Park with all my friends; we had an extremely lucky animal siting day, had a fun lunch and celebrated that night as well. I got to see a cheetah sprint across a road, jump in a tree, snatch a monkey, and run off! Much better than a night on the town in Easton, PA.
Pictures soon, miss you all.

Langa Township homestay weekend

This past weekend I lived with a family in Langa Township. During the apartheid a major initiative of the National Party was to confine the blacks and coloreds to designated areas and restrict their travel to urban areas and white suburbs. Bantu-stands, or townships, were created where thousands of blacks would live in shacks or cement houses in close proximity on a particular plot of land set by the government. Although they are now free, most blacks cannot afford to move out of the townships into the suburbs and their quality of life remains relatively unchanged considering the apartheid was abolished almost 15 years ago. Langa was formed in 1934 and many of the people living there have lived in the township their whole lives and do not have any intention of moving elsewhere. The living conditions range from literal shacks to houses with several furnished rooms. Community living is the best term to describe the way of life- everyone is constantly outside walking the streets, grilling food, doing laundry, children running around etc.

The family I lived with consisted of a grandmother (called a ‘mekhulu’ in Xhosa), her daughter Sibulelo, Sibul's two daughters, Hlumelo and Ntsika, and mekhulu's 22 year old granddaughter named Vuyokazi. The house was very old and stood alone, unlike most houses in the township that are all connected. There were three bedrooms, a kitchen, and a living room. There was a toilet-seat-less toilet but no bathroom – everyone bathed in little plastic tubs, similar to the ones they washed the dishes in. Mekhulu said she was in the process of fixing up the house and building a real bathroom, however I am not sure if anyone in Langa has a shower due to water expenses. I shared a bed with my friend Samantha who stayed in the same house so all the others did not have to share one room.

We had an absolutely amazing weekend- with a risk of sounding cliche, it was such an eye-opening experience! On Saturday morning we woke up early and went to a morning service at their Seventh Day Adventist Church then took a long walk around the township meeting all sorts of people. After a big lunch we got in mekhulu’s car and drove all around to see different townships and a few colored areas. As we were leaving Langa, we stumbled upon a big ANC rally and were just in time to hear Jacob Zuma speak! It was kind of like hearing Obama except with a, um, wee shadow of rape and corruption charges hanging over his head. It was Human Rights Day in South Africa on Saturday and Langa is famous for its activist role during the apartheid; we were very lucky to be there for such a monumental day and be able to hear Zuma address the people of Langa about human rights. After our road trip we returned home and went to a PAC rally in the town hall, although we left after about 15 minutes when they started shouting for an “all black South Africa” while Sam and I were the only two white people in the hall. Mekhulu’s next-door neighbor is this old, old lady (as they call her) that was displaced to Langa in 1934 and she shared with us many personal stories about growing up during the apartheid. She was able to tell us what it was like to have to carry a pass book around in order to avoid arrest when traveling in the streets and how horrible it was to see school children shot down for no reason during the aftermath of the Soweto Rebellion in 1976.

Saturday night we went to a huge fish braii with a few others from my program for dinner, but they didn't even start grilling until 10pm. It was a lot of fun and it gave us a chance to meet a lot of people our age from Langa. Sam and I were exhausted from our day, as was Vuyokazi, and we went straight to sleep that night when we got home. Sunday morning Sam and I woke up early and made fresh raisin bread with mekhulu and then helped her prepare lunch for everyone. The whole weekend we got to play with Hlumelo and Ntsike, ages 3 and 4, who didn’t speak a word of English but were adorable and loved to jump all over us. Mostly all blacks speak Xhosa and learn English if/when they attend a white school or just from watching television and movies. I was given a Xhosa name by a few of the boys at the braii- it is Qaqambe, which means ‘shine’. The Q’s are both pronounced as a click, which makes it hard for non-Xhosa speakers to say…they said they chose a beautiful name but I think they must have not liked me very much. Luckily most of us are getting the hang of the whole clicking syllable thing, it is pretty awesome to learn a new language completely outside the romance languages. Most of us are getting the hang of it, I can say several conversational phrases now and I’m thinking of getting a book to study and learn more on my own. Afrikaans is the language that developed out of the apartheid but most blacks in Cape Town continue to speak Xhosa. My family said they would help me learn if I helped them practice their English and welcomed me back anytime.

I could go on forever talking about my experience, but I will have to stop there. Now I have a few days to get some research papers done before I head off to Durban for another weekend away! Then I get to spend my 21^st birthday in Krugar National Park which should be pretty awesome. I don’t have the internet credits to upload pictures right now, but I promise I will as soon as I am able!

St. Patrick's Day fire
(click to see the full photo)


I don't know if anyone heard about the huge fire in Cape Town last night that engulfed a large part of the mountainside, but I thought I would post and say that my house is still standing. It was the mountain that I just climbed a few weeks ago, the one that has the UCT campus at its base - luckily they were able to keep the fire from spreading to campus. It was amazing and terrifying to watch; we were all mostly in awe, I don't think anyone had seen such a large scale forest fire up close before. They think it was the work of an arsonist who started the fire by the Rhodes Memorial (see picture in previous post). Today there have been helicopters flying all over the area with huge buckets hanging from them, there is a reservoir on campus that they have been swooping low to dip in and refill the buckets. The fire is mostly out, but the land is still smoldering and they are just dumping as much water as they can to squash the remaining embers. There is a great deal of smoke and the once green and growing mountainside is now completely scorched. The scene from my window has changed quite a bit. When we were driving into the city today you could see how the fire went right up to the highway! Type "Table Mountain fire 2009" into google if you want to read the news reports on it.

I had my first Student Society of Law and Social Justice (SSLSJ) meeting on Thursday and I am really looking forward to getting involved with what they have planned for the semester. They seem really passionate about making sure the law curriculum at UCT is supplemented with education on social justice issues. The society formed in 2007 as an act of rebellion, in a sense, against the law department; many students felt they were becoming bogged down with the technicalities of law and losing sight of why they wanted to study law in the first place. I met some interesting people and I think my involvement will help me make the most of my time here and gain a lot of knowledge and experience to bring back with me to the States. They are having several events regarding the upcoming presidential election in April and I am eager to learn more about the issues and candidates.

The bugs are gone, the heat has subsided and all is well in Cape Town. Last weekend I had an amazing time in Stellenbosch. A small group of us arrived Saturday morning and after lunch in town four of us decided to go check out a Cheetah education facility where we were able to play with a baby cheetah! Saturday night we went to an amazing restaurant called Moyo that is like a giant tree house. They have buffet style eating with many different types of meat and traditional African dishes. Throughout the night they have various singing groups, dancers and musicians play and a woman travels to all the tables painting each diners face with a white design. It was a blast, to say the least! Sunday we went on a bike riding tour of 4 different wineries. The bike ride wasn't too difficult but the heat made it more strenuous - it was definitely a full day of exercise. After the first wine stop I think we were all doubting how drinking and riding was going to pan out, but in the end we all had a great time; our lunch stop at one of the wineries had a welcomed sobering effect. The landscape was absolutely beautiful and each vineyard had a different feel to it. I drank a lot of wine and even learned a little along the way!

This week I have been working on a case comment for International Law that is 20% of my grade. Talk about stress! I am working really hard on it and hopefully my effort pays off. Without the legal background most of the other students attained in their first year of legal studies I am already a step behind. I met with my professor today and he was really helpful and nice, he realizes my position and is more than willing to give me advice. After my meeting I went to the pool and swam laps for a bit before returning home to find some fresh guacamole waiting for me! I am really loving living with so many people, everyone is so interesting and brings something different to the table. We are all so open with each other and with all our security and bug issues nobody ever fights!

It is pretty strange being a minority everywhere I go. In the suburb that I live in here, being white sets me apart. On campus there is a decent mix of races, however the second I open my mouth I am immediately looked at a certain way. Most professors use examples of American society and politics in a negative manner and we are told that most South Africans view us as arrogant and fairly ignorant about the world. I have finally gained the confidence to speak up in my tutorials however I feel like I am under a harsher scrutiny when my classmates recognize my accent. Overall students are nice and welcoming, though. They immediately ask where in the States I am from and I usually end up talking about how different the US education system is from theirs. To get into university here you just have to have a certain number of credits from high school (which is just called 'school'), and to get into a school like UCT you just have to have earned beyond the average amount - no long applications, no competition, it is all a standard process. Sweet life, huh.

Happy spring break to all of you back in the States, I still have another month to go before I get time off here. By the way, feel free to share my blog with whomever you wish and also don't hesitate to send me an email at alexandra.edelstein@gmail.com - it might take me a while to respond, but I will eventually! I don't want to post my mailing address on the internet, but if anyone is interesting in sending me a letter I am happy to email you my house address. Oh, and check out the pictures I added to my last post!

The Cecil Rhodes Memorial that is part way up the mountain behind campus


You all might be cursing winter at this point with all the snow that has been hitting the East coast, but trust me, living in 100 degree heat for a week is no fun either. It has been so hot here the past few days all of our stomachs have been hurting. Luckily it is still beautiful out everyday so we can seek refuge at the pool. I am getting creepily tan, by the time I get home I will look like I belong back in Africa.

Last week four of us decided to spend Friday hiking up one of the large mountains that overlooks the Western Cape. The sandstone mountain range has several peaks and we were aiming to get to the top of Devil's Peak which stands 1000 meters (3281 ft) high. Table mountain is a hundred or so meters higher but is more of a tourist attraction as it is part of Table Mountain National Park. It was a cloudy morning when we set out and at a certain point we hit the clouds and just kept rock climbing upwards without a real sense of where we were headed. The different paths upward are not marked so it is a guessing game to get to the peak. It was a relatively steep hike and there were a few points where we were climbing up vertical stretches of rock (my fear of heights was definitely kicking in, luckily the clouds made the height less noticeable). The top was still amazing even though we couldn't see the entire Cape peninsula that is visible on clear days. I have not uploaded my pictures yet but when I do I will add them to this entry.

This weekend I am traveling with a group of people to the wine lands in Stellenbosch. We are leaving Saturday morning, staying in a hostel that night, and taking a Bike and Wine tour all day Sunday. We will be biking about 20 miles total and going to 4 different wineries. Drinking and bike riding in the heat is going to be an adventure for sure! Our house is being fumigated for bugs while we are gone so hopefully we will be greeted by a bug-less house upon arriving home. A group of people from my program are going to Durban this weekend; Durban is a large city in South Africa that is farther west and only takes a few hours by plane to travel to. One of my friends has a friend living there and we are planning to fly there at the end of March for a long weekend and stay in her apartment.

Classes are going well, I turned in my first paper on Thursday. I am starting to get a handle on how courses work here and am fairly caught up on reading. Only having class three days a week is great. Right now I am procrastinating writing a history paper that is due on Monday. The heat makes it hard to focus, as does having lots of people around that are procrastinating also. A bunch of us set up camp outside in the backyard with our laptops to get a little breeze.

My ear healed quickly and has not been an issue for a few weeks now and my money situation is finally mostly sorted out. I bought a new phone on the street for $20 US, it is an old school Nokia that nobody has used for at least 10 years - but hey, it works! I also bought a new wallet at the 5 Rand store, which is the SA equivalent to the dollar store...except 5 Rand is equal to .50 US. The wallet features a lovely photo of the Jonas Brothers and I put a sticker of an elephant on it; I am a little embarrased to use it in public so I might have to get an upgrade soon.

Back to the grind! Enjoy the cold, my endless summer almost makes me long for the need to wear a scarf and hat...almost.

a few pictures!

Click on them to see the full picture, I think it crops what you can see in the blog. The colorful beach picture is of St. James Beach. The picture of me and a few of my friends in the water is where we ate lunch on our history field trip. The other two are both from the field trip as well - the fossil park and the rock art trail. Enjoy!

Today I went to the pool at UCT and it was amazing! There is an outdoor pool open to all students and it seems like people go to swim, play polo, tan, or just read. The water is cold but refreshing, today was so hot! The past week has been a really crazy one, and I apologize for neglecting to post about everything that has been happening. There have been a few unfortunate events as of late, but overall I am still doing fine. My wallet (that has my phone inside of it) was taken from my house this past weekend and we are still trying to figure out how the breach in security could possibly have occurred- it is very strange but only a temporary inconvenience as I am starting the process of getting replacements for what I lost. On the up side, I have finally settled all my administrative business with the university that has felt endless the past few weeks.

My International Law course seems really hard and I am studying along with law students working towards their law degree. Who knew I would be getting such a strong taste of law school so early! I am hoping I can hold my own, it will be a lot of work for sure. My Political Economy class does not seem as challenging and the professor (or course convener as they would say here) is a laid back guy that seems really interested in what he teaches. Our South African history course is not so exciting and the lecturer is not the most organized man I have ever met but we only meet once a week. My fourth course is on the Social and Economic Development in SA and I actually missed the first meeting due to a little ear incident that required a little trip to the doctor.* From what I have heard, however, the course seems amazing. We have 5 required hours of community service a week with an organization we are placed with based off of our personal interests; hopefully I get to work with the country-wide Amnesty International initiative or another human rights effort.

So much has been going on, it is hard to remember the important things to share. Last week Thursday-Friday we took a field trip for my history course several hours north of Cape Town. On Thursday we woke up very early and set out in several vans (mine was not air-conditioned unfortunately). We visited a famous fossil park, got lunch at the most beautiful beach side restaurant I have ever seen, and eventually arrived at a hot springs lodge resort. The resort was small and we all stayed in little chalets surrounded by mountains- it was amazing. After spending the night swimming in the hot springs we packed up and shipped out bright and early to begin our daylong hike in the bush at the Sevilla Rock Art Park. We were lead by two guides along a trail to view several different rock art sites and learn about the landscape. The art painted at the different sites was fascinating and it was interesting to learn about the rich history of the peoples that lived off the land and created the images hundreds of years ago. Most scenes depicted animals or people and we were told that the Shamans did much of the painting when they were in heightened states of meditation. After a long day in the 100-degree heat we got a snack in the historical town of Klanwilliam and headed back home. It was a nice trip overall and it was great to see a different part of the country that is less developed – when we were driving for hours on dirt roads I felt like it was straight out of the Lion King!

Saturday night I went with two of my friends to this party a few UCT students invited us to in Constantia, the richest suburb of Cape Town. It was definitely a different experience than what we were used to thus far – the house looked like it belonged in Beverly Hills. I am really looking forward to my Socio-Econ Development course to learn about the great disparity of wealth here. The friends that brought us to the party commented on how the government is trying to build more, smaller houses in Constantia but it will never happen because the property value will decline so rapidly that it will never make economic sense. Due to the land separation acts during the apartheid much of South Africa is still extremely racially segregated. Although there are no legal restrictions, social and economic issues remain that prevent integration and encourage racism.

It has been great reading your comments and getting emails – I really enjoy hearing from everyone back home! I am trying to appreciate every moment I have here so there is little time to miss home, although every now and again I miss some of the comforts I left behind. Walking what feels like a hundred miles a day is starting to wear me out although until I get in a regular routine with the gym I appreciate the exercise. Upper campus, as I may have mentioned, is literally higher up the mountain UCT is situated on. Getting from my law course to my history course requires bracing myself for a trek up an unbelievably daunting amount of steps. I always feel a little sense of achievement after making it up them all however everyone tends to arrive to class looking like they jumped out of a pool.

Congratulations if you read all of that! I will try to keep it shorter next time, it takes a while to write all this and I tend to write entries over a few days. Let me know if there is anything specific you want to hear about!


*Don't worry, I'm fine. They always say to be careful with Q-tips and I certainly learned the hard way. I punctured my ear canal but it is healing well...just a lot of unsettling blood. I have medication for pain and swelling and it is not much of a bother.

We're famous!

I am leaving for campus soon to start my first day of classes, but I just wanted to share this link with you all! My study abroad program is featured on the front page of the UCT website:

http://www.uct.ac.za/dailynews/?id=6941

Check it out! You can also look around the university website and see how amazing UCT is - I have already joined several clubs and organizations that I am really excited about getting involved in.

I went on my first run this morning in the African heat! I woke up finally feeling rested and decided I should start getting into a more normal daily routine. Campus is all hills, but eventually I will find a good route. It is extremely windy here today, the breeze is more than welcome.

This week we have 3 hours of intense South African History each day and next week I will be starting my UCT courses; I am taking an International Law course and Intro. to Political Economy. I am really looking forward to all my classes. I am starting to really feel like I live here and am not just on vacation. I did my first load of laundry yesterday, however it was quite unsuccessful. I accidentally put a new pink tank top in with all my white and, as one would expect, I now have zero white clothes and lots of pink ones. I am going to get some bleach and try to re-whiten a few things, but needless to say I will not make that mistake again! I did make a very delicious dinner for myself last night - a pasta dish with roasted veggies. Later that night we explored this bar walking distance from our house and had a low-key evening. I am finding that even in Africa the six degrees of separation theory is proving true. I feel like everyone I meet from the States knows someone I know or has some odd connection. I have even run into a few South Africans I randomly met out at a club several times since. It is nice seeing familiar faces as I start to learn the area.

I have been to several beaches so far, we have been going a lot this past week. My friend had a little run in with an ocean kayak and had to get 7 stitches in his back! These beaches are world renowned for three things: their beauty, the surfing, and sharks. Apparently the shark watching system is so sharp, however, that there is also the lowest incident of attack. The beaches are gorgeous and the water is warm so it is easy to push the fear of a shark attack out of my head.

I am having the time of my life so far! We saw an outdoor concert at Kirstenbosch gardens the other night and I can honestly say these botanical gardens were the most beautiful things I have ever seen. Between the green fields, the flowers, the mountains and the live music - it was probably one of the nicer things we have done since arriving here. Now I am showered and dressed (in my now pink shorts) and will probably hike up to campus to grab a sandwich before class. There is this little stand called Souper Sandwich that doesn't sell soup...but their sandwiches are amazing. The food here overall is not particularly "African" due to all the mixes of cultures. The African BBQ, called a Braai, does not have hamburgers and hotdogs which we were all a little disappointed to find. They instead have grilled chicken and various sausages, something I think we are all a little sick of already. In town I have already found my favorite cafe- they serve mango-mint smoothies that are absolutely to die for!

Speaking of food, I'm off to lunch! All is well in Cape Town, I hope you are all not too cold back in the northern hemisphere!

I'm a little sunburned!

Today was the last day of UCT orientation and I am glad to be done with this period of endless days and long lectures! Tomorrow we just have a meeting about research projects in the afternoon but the rest of the day is free. Registration for the university is on Friday and then I will officially be a UCT student! I'm so excited to spend the semester here, the campus is absolutely gorgeous and the faculty seems really helpful.

Everything is still great on the home front; we are finally settling in and are starting to make communal meals etc. We built a large fire pit in the backyard and have bonfires every night! I am starting to really get to know all the people on my program and making some good friends, everyone is laid back and outgoing so most of us get along well. We have started to explore the area and we have had a lot of fun together.

Today I went to the beach with four other people for the afternoon, however we picked an extremely windy day and reconciled to come back a different day to spend a longer time. We did get to explore the train system and the different beach stops, so it was definitely a worthwhile trip. Tonight we are heading in to town, as in the downtown Cape Town area, to get a feel for the nightlife in the city. Each house has one RA that is basically there to settle us in and help us get to know Cape Town throughout the semester. They have been so helpful from everything to finding a good restaurant to getting tips for getting around campus. As students of UCT themselves, they are a good resource for information about student life and are more than happy to show us around and take us out at night to fun, but safe, places.

They spent a while drilling in security information and we all felt a little nervous at first, however now I realize that as long as I take their cautions into consideration and stay aware I have little to worry about. South African culture is different but exciting, and the more I learn the less I am afraid as I now feel more confident than when I arrived. The train ride to the beach was really interesting listening to all the different languages being spoken. Around campus I am with a lot of other Americans and there are a lot of white South Africans, however in town and on the train I am very aware that I am a minority in this country. I am learning how to make the clicking noise used in many of the 11 recognized official languages in South Africa and have also begun to learn a few words in Afrikaans. I want to try and sit in on a few language classes while I am on campus over the semester so I can pick up some conversational phrases. Our security guards have been slowly introducing some terms in Afrikaans and tell us they are slowly getting used to our accents (although they still claim we speak too fast).

Next week our intensive IES South African history class starts and the following week we begin UCT courses. I still need school supplies but luckily all the shops we could ever need are walking distance. I have also expanded my view of walking distance; all the walking around is great but the walk to the closest shops feels longer each day. The exchange rate is incredibly in our favor, and while I know the weak state of the South African economy is a bad thing, spending less than $20 US on an average grocery trip is nice. Eventually the novelty will wear off, but it is hard to eat in when you can get a nice meal and several bottles of wine at an average restaurant at the cost of one McDonalds trip in the States. The weather is still great, minus the wind today, and I am really excited about future beach trips and more outdoor activity. We are constantly outside walking somewhere and my tan is getting better by the day!

Okay, time for dinner! Tomorrow we get to sleep in, something we are all looking forward to. I will write more about the different places I have seen hopefully along with some pictures in the near future, so keep a look out!

Day three!

I feel like I have been here for a week - our days have been jam packed so far with various orientation activities. Everything is really interesting, but waking up at 6am and getting to bed after midnight is getting exhausting! Luckily tomorrow we can sleep in a few more hours!

I am living in a house in the suburb of Mowbray with 11 other students from my program, and there is an 8 person house attached with more of us. Our two houses are secured inside a gate with a 24 hour security guard and we also have four different keys to get in the house and our own individual bedrooms! It is great living with so many people, there is always a group of people hanging out and we all have single rooms when we want to be alone. My room has the best view, when I figure out the best way to get pictures online you will be able to see what I get to see every morning! Today we visited the Langa Township, the oldest township in Cape Town. We got to walk around guided by a few men that grew up and still live in the township; we saw houses, churches, schools, art centers, shops, and overall the day was a great window into how the "blacks" of Cape Town live. There are three races that have official labels used by everyone including the government, there are blacks, coloreds, and whites. Each has its own unique history and culture and although the terms would seem to imply a racist undertone, they are used as simple classifications that everyone accepts.

This weekend our orientation for the University of Cape Town starts with all 500 international students that will be there this spring. I am looking forward to meeting people outside my program and spending more time on campus. I saw some Zebras today in the distance as we drove along and I had a, "Wow, I'm really in Africa!" moment- while we are with mostly Americans wandering around such a small part of Cape Town it is easy to forget where exactly we are. I am already planning trips to surrounding countries, everyone is so eager to travel it's great!

So far so good, hope all is well with all of you!

Travel beginnings!

As I write this I am in London, it is about 1am here and my cousins are still awake busy about the house! I am writing this in a Word document and will post it as soon as I get to South Africa- when you read this it means not only have I arrived safe but I have found a way on to the internet! England has been amazing and I want to write everything down while it is still fresh in mind, even if I cannot share it right away.

I arrived ahead of schedule but the line to get checked at the UK border took a painfully long time. Jennifer and Norman, my cousins, were right there to greet me as soon as I passed through customs. It was bright and early in the morning for them, but it was nearly time to sleep according to my body. I managed to nap for an hour or two and then prepared for a family filled afternoon. I got to see lots and lots of British relatives and specifically lots of little British cousins! Everyone is doing just great and for those of you that know the lot, they send their love. That evening I got a fabulous driving tour of London with Jennifer, Rochelle and Adele. With no traffic to slow us down we hit all the major sights and then some, albeit in the dark, but it was amazing. I was exhausted by the time we were through and promptly fell asleep when we got back around 10pm. Today Jennifer and I made our way back into London, this time on foot, and walked and walked and walked. I saw Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar’s Square, The National Gallery, Covent’s Garden and more! We even managed to snag tickets to see Dirty Dancing at the theater for the evening- a fabulous show. You all might find it hard to believe but I managed to only purchase one article of clothing and it was on sale for ₤9.

Tomorrow I will wake up early to say bye to Paul as he stops by on his way to work and Norman before he leaves as well. Jen and I are planning lunch with Paul’s wife Nicky and I hopefully will get to see their babies again- they have two twin 4 year old boys, Joshua and Alfie, and then two twin baby girls, Amber and Saskia. Then it is back to Heathrow, boarding an 11 ½ hour flight, and traveling to yet another continent. This will be the last time I see family for quite some time. No homesickness yet, but I am starting to grasp just what I am getting myself into. It will be a long while until I see traffic driving on the correct side of the road again!

Cheerio loves!

P.S. I arrived in Cape Town very early this morning and have had quite the exciting day! Tomorrow once I have started orientation and find a way to charge my laptop I will let you know all about it! I am safe, happy, and overall very excited about the next five months – I wish you all could be here enjoying this warm beautiful evening with me. My bedroom has a perfect view of Table Mountain and Devil’s Peak!

Pre-departure information

I am not sure how soon I will be able to post once I begin traveling about, so here is a little overview of what I will be doing for the next five months.

I am leaving on Saturday, January 24th for London where I will arrive around 5am and spend the next few days with my British relatives. It has been ages since I have seen them all, and I am more than excited to rendezvous across the ocean for a bit. Not to mention it will break up the traveling- I will still have 11 hours of plane time to get to Cape Town!
On the evening of the 27th I will board my British Airways flight part II and get into Cape Town the next morning, hopefully stepping off the plane to find a lovely IES abroad representative waiting for me. From there your guess is just as good as mine, I assume I will meet the other participants and make my way to my apartment. We are all placed in apartments 5-30 minutes traveling time from the University of Cape Town. I have no roommate info yet, but I am optimistic and looking forward to living in a new city!
Classes do not actually start until Feb 11th, but I have a packed few weeks of first program and then university orientation including tours, field trips, barbecues and I assume lots and lots of information. Then the learning begins! My schedule is unknown as of yet, but I am counting on getting some cool classes so my senior year isn't a (complete) scramble for credits. I fly into Boston around June 13th, assuming my plans do not change!