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.