T.I.A.

I’m in Africa!!! Sorry for the delay in letting you all know that I’m here safe and sound but there’s just been so much going on and so much to adjust to already. I’m going to do my best to sum up the past few days. But quickly before I forget, thank you so much to everyone who wished me a happy birthday. It wasn’t quite like how most people imagine celebrating their 21st but at least it’s one I’ll never forget. And I ordered my first alcoholic drink on the plane, a 2007 South African Cabernet Sauvignon. Happy?

The flights were pretty good, the 12 hour one from London to Cape Town was loooong but I attempted to sleep most of the way even though it wasn’t very restful. We arrived in Cape Town International around 6:15am (local time) which means we were in transit for 29 hours. We were greeted by our SOLmates (Student Orientation Leaders who are all UCT students) and when they found out it was my birthday, well let’s just say that the entire terminal knew. We took a “Jammie” to the hotel where I kept having a mini heart attack every time a car got too close to the right side and where I got my first view of Table Mountain. It really is as beautiful as everyone says.

When we had left the airport I wouldn’t have guessed that we were in South Africa but on the drive to the hotel we passed by the many townships that are seemingly endless stretches of tiny shacks. It’s going to be very interesting as we discuss this combination of a first and third world country, especially as many of the service opportunities will take us into the townships.

Most of the day was very relaxed since participants were gradually arriving. We went to the waterfront for lunch where we saw a number of street performers (my favorite being an all male a capella group…typical I know). We went to Long Street for dinner and walk around a bit but everyone was exhausted/jet-lagged so it was a pretty early night. Everyone kept asking if I was going out for my birthday but since they said it with a yawn, they weren’t entirely surprised when I insisted that we can celebrate next week-ish.

Thursday was serious orientation business; we spent a good portion of the day in the hotel going over a lot of technical stuff. I found out that I’m going to be living in a house only a few blocks from Lower Campus with 7 other students and our RA, Faith. She’s from Durban and a fourth year at UCT. A fourth year is the Honors year, kind of like doing a Masters degree. By the way Mom, don’t worry, the house is very well protected; there’s a fence, an alarm system, a security guard at night, and keys to the gate, front door, and our personal rooms. We’re moving in tomorrow morning before the braai (BBQ) over at the dorms to end CIEE Orientation. That night we had dinner at the waterfront before going to a club called Hemisphere which was a ton of fun, they had pretty good music too.

Today we went to campus so we could start getting our bearings; it is gorgeous and built into the mountain which does make it a bit steep to walk up but it’ll be good exercise haha. We got to hear from a number of the community service organizations we will get to work for, learned more about what registration will be like next week, among other things. It was a bit overwhelming and so different from what I’m used to at the berg but I’m looking forward to figuring out a routine for myself in the next few weeks.

There’s so much more I could say but I think I’ll just end it with explaining what T.I.A. means. African time is different from time as we’re used to it. There’s “now now” which means now. There’s “now” which means in the next few minutes. And there’s “just now” which means between 15 minutes to 6 hours from now. As we toil with getting used to the many quirks of being here, our SOLmates just remind us, T.I.A. This Is Africa.

Who else?
Sarah