Not so Lekker

Today at lunch I found my favorite food spot on campus. It's a little joint called "Chicken Burger." Don't let the name misguide you...they serve Greek food. I purchased the best falafel I've ever tasted for R15 ($2). So so so good mmm :)

Unfortunately, this afternoon was not as lekker as the falafel. My roommate, Janina, and I went with our landlord to the FNB (First National Bank) in Rondebosch in hopes of opening bank accounts and paying our rent. After my experience there, I have decided that Wachovia can no longer be called "Walk-all-over-ya." That title now belongs to South African banks. For a student account: it costs R 19,50 per month (just to have an account), R 32 to withdraw money in a branch, a minimum of R 100 to deposit money from another account and R 32 to deposit cash. Janina and I sat there hashing out the costs for nearly two hours. We finally decided it was not worth the cost nor the hastle.

On the way home from the bank, we devoured one whole box of chocolate cookies. What an afternoon!

I'm excited about the weekend - Saturday morning, we have orientation and training for SHAWCO, the tutoring volunteer organization. Read more here: http://www.shawco.org/

Five Letter Word!!!

Queue! Queue! Oh queue!

IAPO (the International Academic and Programs Office) warned us last week during orientation that there would be queues, but I scoffed at the idea. Boy did I learn my lesson yesterday and today! There were a few changes that needed to be made to my registration to sort out transfer of credit and, well I think I waited in line a total of 6 or 7 hours between yesterday and today. If it doesn't teach you patience to wait 45 min. to an hour only to hear that so-and-so can't help you, go to the line five buildings over, then I don't know what will.

I feel like tarzan having just conquered the great ape. My registration is complete and I have a rather nice schedule:

1. Applied International Trade Bargaining (6hrs)
   
2. Finance I (4 hrs)
   
3. Macroeconomics II (4 hrs)
4. Africa: Culture, Identity & Gender (3 hrs)

Now...let the flow of homework begin! I purchased my textbooks today and was quite surprised at the savings over book purchases back home. Two new business books were R 1014 or $131 - NEW! Last semester, I spent $220 on accounting alone. Everything is sunshiney here, except the rain that is supposed to come tomorrow.

Exploring Cape Town/Long Street

Today was our day off from orientation, so I decided to do a bit of exploring in the city. The main tourist area in Cape Town is along Long Street. To get there from Mowbray (my suburb), I take a shuttle to upper campus and another shuttle to the Hiddingh art campus. I was lucky to sit next to a local student from the art school and he gave me tips of things to check out. The first area I explored was the Company Garden. It is a botanical garden that originated as a crop company established by the English when they first colonized the area.

Walking further into the city, I found a funny Cuban bar called the Che Bar. It was decorated with Andy Warhol Campbell's Soup style pictures of the dictator. They had a great cappuccino.
I had a lot of fun exploring the area. There are tons of beautiful buildings and new skyscrapers (well they are tall for Africa). The city is surrounded by the cape mountains and brightly colored houses rise above the city in the suburbs. I visited markets with hand-made crafts bartered by people from all over Africa. One man, who goes by the name Phillip, was selling radios crafted out of soda cans. I really liked those and think I might go back to purchase one later.

My last roommate moved in this evening. We now have a complete house, with 2 girls and 3 boys. The others are all German speaking (3 Germans & 1 Austrian), so maybe I can improve my German skills while in Cape Town :)

Orientation

This post will be short on writing and heavy on photos as it pertains mostly to orientation.

Sunday was absolutely the best day of orientation! We spent the entire day taking a tour of the peninsula. The highlights included: beautiful beach exploration, fishing town, African penguins, local community center visit with youth dance and music performances, and a hike along the Cape of Good Hope. See pictures below.



Monday, we capped off a long info-sesh day with a good drum circle. It was a great energy release with quirky beats and songs. Each of us received a drum for a participatory 500+ person drum circle. A buffet hors d'oeuvres dinner followed with continued music and dancing - Africa style!

Burrr!!! It is pretty cold at night. South Africa has not had a winter (yes winter, we're on the opposite side of the hemisphere) this cold on record in over 100 years. The oldest houses in Cape Town are 100 years old and less. Guess what this means....no central heating. I am lucky to have a space heater that I turn on for about an hour before going to bed so I don't freeze all night.


I've been exploring campus a bit more and getting to know the buildings where my classes are. Campus is separated into three sections: Upper (where classes are), Middle (admin/ organization buildings), and lower (residence halls and more admin). To the left is a picture of the main building on Upper Campus - this building is also used in the university symbol.

Through googling a bit, I found some vegetarian and vegan restaurants. I'm pretty excited to try one out on Thursday, our day off during orientation :)

1st Few Days & Move-in

The big journey began on Wednesday, July 14, when I arrived at JFK airport after spending the night in my less than satisfactory Days Inn king-bed matchbox. In the airport, I met several girls on my same exchange program. We bonded almost instantly and stepped excitedly through the gate to our flight with South African Air. I arrived Thursday, in a pseudo-hyper-state induced by sleep deprivation from the 18-hour plane ride and a 6 movie in-flight entertainment marathon. Customs in Johannesburg was virtually non-existent with nothing to declare, and I breezed through the airport to the connecting gate. The International Academic Programs Office (IAPO, pronounced i-ah-po), arranged for us to be picked up at the airport and taken to campus. We were given a brief "orientation" and shown to our temporary two-day dorms. Those of us not on a special program were basically given a key and told to be ready to move in to our apartments on Saturday. Arriving with my new-found American friends, we clumped together and attempted to explore our surroundings.

We spent Thursday and Friday exploring the communities near campus, feasting on cheap, delicious local foods, and figuring out the "cell phone and Internet thing" (this being our primary concern as products of the 21st century American culture). Most of our time was spent in the area called Rondebosch (for those of you familiar with Greensboro, think Tate St.). On Friday we ventured a little further south toward Mowbray (this has a Lee St. vibe). In Mowbray, I learned that vegetarian food does not always mean vegetarian. In Andy's, a restaurant that advertises itself as a home-cooking venue, I ordered what looked like a delicious bowl of bean curry with rice and a side of chips (fried plantains). To my surprise, there was a huge lamb bone nestled below the beany surface. I remedied the mix up by sharing my bean curry family style and mixing butter and salt into my rice - yumm carb-tastic. This lesson taught me to be more specific in asking about "vegetarian" dishes.

Saturday, I moved into my home away from home for the semester. It is a beautiful pink and white-accented English 1900s colonial home, complete with a rose garden and back courtyard. All homes in South Africa utilize a system of bars and gates to deter crime. The house is owned by a perky woman in her late 50s named Janice. Janice has recently started taking professional coaching courses at a local college, and she employed her newly learned "team management skills" in administering our paperwork and leases. I couldn't help but smile at her chirpy style. My house accommodates five students in all. It is co-ed and I am set to have a German-speaking "family" as everyone comes from either Germany or Austria. We are soon to be 3 boys and 2 girls - the third boy moved in Wed and the other girl is coming this week. I have a large room with a once-working marble fireplace, curio, double-bed, desk, armchair and bookshelf. The room is stylish and well decorated (though I quickly tacked up my own photographs from home). Our kitchen is rather large and I share a bathroom with the house.

I had a hard time adjusting in the beginning to my new house. Just like in my previous study abroad, my culture shock period came within the first few days. Luckily, our house has wifi and I could Skype home as much as I wanted. This connection with home and meeting more people over the course of the week at orientation helped ease me into my new surroundings. I think I am ready to fall in love with a new place on this beautiful earth!

Table Mountain - the mountain around which Cape Town is situated.

Background

This first post serves to explain a few need-to-know things when it comes to South Africa and specifically my studies at the University of Cape Town (UCT).

1. The Internet is expanding in South Africa, which is one of the most technologically-resourced countries on the African continent. However, the Internet is distributed by a national telecoms monopoly, Telkom. Internet in South Africa is offered in varying packages, all priced by MB (bandwidth). This means it costs a lot to upload and download photos/video/music and the Internet is SLOW at times. (Please be patient about seeing my photos. I'm working on finding a way to do this easily and cost-effectively.)
2. This semester July-Nov. 2009, there are roughly 500 exchange students here at UCT. 80% are American and I have only met 2 from North Carolina so far.
   
3. South Africa is undergoing great social changes. Up until 1994, the country was ruled by an Apartheid government, which sought to "socially cleanse" the people by forcibly separating whites, coloureds and blacks. Nelson Mandela, the name you may know when it comes to South African politics, along with the people's movement rose to power, tearing down the Apartheid regime. Although it has been 15 years, there is still a great divide in the quality of life of people. There is much need in most of the country; there are whole communities of shanties surrounding every major city and empoverished rural areas. This causes people to become "creative." Theft and pickpocketing are frequent but avoidable with smart daily practices. I do not go out at night alone and have made a few hundred new friends to walk with after sunset.
4. There are 19 official languages in South Africa. 17 African, Afrikaans (Dutch/English-based), and English.
5. All religions are accepted. It is not like the United States, where there may be some unease about sharing religious beliefs. People of all backgrounds speak and exist more religiously free (i.e. Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindus can all be seen and heard frequently in politics and public places and schools).
6. Coffee here is amazing!
   
7. Phrases: Eggy Toast = French Toast, Howzit = Hey/How are you?, Braai = Cookout/BBQ, Bru = Bro (friend)