one week down

It’s crazy that we’ve been here for only a week. It feels like so much longer, maybe because I left home more than a week ago or maybe because every day is so jam-packed with things to do. Let’s see, where did I leave off?

On Saturday we moved into our respective housing arrangements. Our house is adorable, not anything like what I had expected. It’s pretty weird having my own room for the first time since beginning college, I’m a fan though. We have a cozy common room and 3 bathrooms to share between the 9 of us, even a laundry room. A woman comes in to clean the public areas and we have a gardener for the grounds. Much more pampered than I’d expected.

The spit braai was at Liesbeeck Gardens, the dorm that some CIEE participants (includeing Mel) are staying in along with South African and other international students. People hung around the pool, played volleyball (it felt just like high school, rotations and all) or soccer, or just sat on the grass and talked. A braai is like a barbeque so a spit braai is when everything is cooked on a spit, pretty self-explanatory. It was fun and nice to just sit and relax together, especially since we’ve now split into dorms, houses, and home-stays. After the braai, our house went into Rondebosch to buy food and other supplies before it got too dark. We’re slowly making it more homey and livable.

Our first day of UCT orientation was Sunday and it was absolutely nothing like any orientation I’ve been to in the states. There’s around four or five hundred international students at UCT this semester and we all piled on to buses together for a trip down to the tip of Cape Point. We had tour guides telling us all about the various areas we were passing through Cape Town and on to Camps Bay, Boulders Beach (where we saw the jackass penguins), Oceanview Township (where we will return in March for our weekend home-stay), and on to the Cape Nature Reserve which was absolutely incredible. I took way too many pictures as we trekked up the 250 meters to the lighthouse at Cape Point and then walked the 45 minute trail to Cape of Good Hope where I took the traditionally touristy picture.

Our next day of orientation wasn’t quite as active but still very eventful. We heard from a lot of speakers and had to take a test that is similar to the idea of the SATs in that it’s mandatory to get into school and a standardized test. However the level of this test was something I haven’t seen since middle school. And the best part was that we were allowed to leave once we finished so after an hour I was done and had time to go to the rugby game before the drum circle. The game was against Stellenbosch and I found out later that even though UCT lost, it was a great game. I’ll have to get someone to explain the rules to me some day although it didn’t look like there are many.

The drum circle we had was so much fun; there were African drums at every seat so you can imagine how much noise we made. We learned a couple different beats, taking turns in playing the main part. It’s the second time I’ve been to a drum circle so I already knew how to use the drum and we got really into it. I spoke to the woman after who was so happy we had enjoyed it so much. I found out that she’s been drumming for 11 years! I think I might need to buy a drum and bring it home. ;) We ended the day with snacks/dinner, a marimba band, and dancing. I’m telling you, orientation unlike anything I’ve been to before.

Today was even more anti-climactic. I was tired so I skipped the beginning talks which I found out was a good idea since the only thing people took away from it was that they were way too descriptive in explaining how people get HIV and other STIs. I got to hear about registration which is on Friday and if I thought berg was behind the times in just getting online registration, well I just know I’ll have a lot to talk about after that experience at the end of the week. Just from the confusing talk I can tell it will be quite an adventure trying to get all my classes. I found out that UCT only allows up to 16 credits and I signed up for 18 which means I need to drop the one class I’m taking just for kicks (not for my major or minor). I’m kind of bummed since it sounded really interesting but it’ll give me more time to volunteer and gets some hands on learning about poverty, development, and globalization (the name of the class I’ll have to give up).

The rest of the day was really chill, we went to the mall, saw a movie (the girls went to Bride Wars, I went to Valkyre with the guys), and had dinner. We learned some more South African slang today and in particular at dinner, I found out that they call crepes, pancakes and pancakes, flapjacks. So I had a pancake filled with cheese and mushrooms which was very interesting. They had the option to put them on waffles too but I wouldn’t want to take away from my Waffle House memories haha.

That just about sums up the past few days and yet still doesn’t cover everything we’ve seen. I finally got to put some pictures on facebook even though it took, like, 500 megabites and I have to pay for internet by megabite usage. I’ve got more pictures from the drum circle and marimba band but those you’ll have to wait for. Hope all is well back home. And shout out to Beta Xi!! I came crazy close to wearing my letters today to rep the bro’s back home. Miss you all.

<3,
Sarah