what can you do in 100 days?

Um isn't it crazy that 100 days ago I boarded a plane to come here to South Africa? I can't wrap my head around it...anyway.

So beyond doing a few things during the weekends, the past few weeks have been pretty typical for an end of the semester. I have a lot of papers, projects, and exams in the next two weeks before the end of lectures (finally) and then we have 3 weeks for finals. Some of the work I have left to do has actually been pretty fun since I’m a nerd like that but there has also been work I haven’t been enjoying and those are the things I’ve been putting off, obviously. There’s a lot I could ramble on about in terms of classes and such but rather than do that, I’ll go with the (for you) more preferable route and fill you in on the few interesting things I’ve done although after climbing Table Mountain nothing quite measures up.

The rest of the week was pretty calm; everyone was looking forward to the next week because there were public holidays on both Monday and Friday so we only had 3 days of class. That weekend it rained a lot on Saturday so we stayed in but we woke up Sunday and the sun was shining so most of our house decided to go to the beach. I’ve only been to Muizenberg so far so I wanted to go along as they wanted to check out Clifton Beach 4 and Camps Bay, both I had heard were really nice. Clifton is split into 4 beaches and the one we were going to was the sort of family one, unlike the gay, nude, and preppy other beaches and Camps Bay is the kind of high class one.

We caught a mini bus to Cape Town and then continued on in the same bus toward the beach. As we drove to the other side of Signal Hill though, we could see a layer of fog/mist ahead which was, of course, directly where we were headed. We got out at Clifton and as the bus drove away we all looked around with a bit of trepidation. It had been pretty hot when we left the house but now that we were surrounded by mist and couldn’t see the sun, it was pretty cold. I suggested we go down to the beach where there might not be as much mist and everyone agreed. It was better once we got to the shore level (the road leading there was higher than where the beach was, we had to walk down many steps to get to the sand) but the mist still covered the sun and the source of heat. Still, we sat down where we could somewhat see the water (we had our choice of where to go since nobody else was there) and walked to the edge of the waves to see how cold the water was. Stupid Atlantic, it was freezing of course. We kept pushing the boys to go in and boys being boys they were eventually convinced. Luckily, it wasn’t too long after that when the mist started clearing away and eventually the sun came through and quickly warmed us up and once it was nicer, other people started showing up.

As it started to get a bit later, we made our way back up to the road and walked to Camps Bay which is right next to Clifton just separated by a rocky part of the shore. This area was much busier on the main road which went down to the beach level and had tons of restaurants, stores, and street vendors. We picked out a nice restaurant for dinner and got to enjoy watching the sunset (which was phenomenal considering how the horizon hadn’t existed when we first got to the beach). It was wonderfully relaxing and I’m glad we got to go; with the temperamental weather getting more wintery, there are fewer and fewer beach days. So that was what I did Sunday while berg was at Relay =/ which I was very jealous of. But we raised over $50,000 =) fabulous.

On Monday I wanted to check out some museums because, since it was a holiday, some of them had free admission. I went with one of my housemates into Cape Town and we walked around a lot trying to find some of them. A lot of the museums here are pretty small and they don’t have really obvious signs. Eventually we found the bo-kaap which looks at the history of the Muslim population in South Africa/Cape Town. Interracial dynamics have always fascinated me so it was really interesting to see what life was like for them. The funniest thing though was that as we left, we heard the call to prayer from the mosque down the street. We tried a couple other museums and places but they were closed. So we went to the Castle of Good Hope, an old fortress/castle kinda deal. There was a lot of historical stuff and then even after the exhibits closed, we were still allowed to walk around. We went up to the roof where we could walk around and see the moat and everything around us. It occurred to me that a game of hide-and-go-seek or sardines would be absolutely perfect there so we might have to make that happen before we leave. There are so many little hiding places and such so it would be a lot of fun.

The short week was pretty uneventful. During choir on Wednesday we finally started the songs we’re singing for our joint concert with the UCT Choir in a few weeks so that was fun. Who knows how I’m going to remember all those words in Xhosa, Zulu, and who knows what other languages. I think I’ll have to ask Faith to translate it all for me so at least I’ll know what I’m singing. Anyway, it’s really cool, a very new experience, and I’m glad I did it.

Workers day was the public holiday on Friday so I went into Cape Town again with two people to check out the District Six Museum (finally). When Mel and I had first tried to go, we even asked a few cops and no one knew what we were talking about. It was the strangest thing especially because everyone I’ve spoken to says that if I had to go to one museum in Cape Town it would be District Six. And after going there, I can understand why they all say that.

A quick history. As Cape Town was undergoing colonization, the area was split up into many districts. District Six was pretty close to the dock area of Cape Town, from where the waterfront is now to the base of the mountain. The people there were mostly coloureds and the living conditions weren’t that great with the overpopulation and crime, it was still a close and pretty happy community. During Apartheid though, the government forcibly removed all of its inhabitants from the district to townships organized around the Cape Flats, most of them named for various streets in District Six. Once everyone had been removed, the entire area was bulldozed. Those are the highlights that I can remember but there’s so much more to it so, hang on, ok look here or ooo here for more detail.

In terms of my take on the museum, well there was obviously a LOT of information. It was a bit overwhelming at first because I was just trying to take everything in and understand what had happened since I went in knowing very little about District Six. As I walked around reading all the history, there were a few things that really struck me. Just in terms of the exhibit, one of the best things (for me) were all these sheets they had around the museum. There were sheets designated for ex-residents and sheets for visitors but it were the former that I thought were incredible. Some of them just had the name of a family and an address but others had short stories with memories and thanks for retelling the history of what had happened. I read later on that there is a group of people who spend their free time embroidering what has been written on the sheets so that even when the ink fades, the words won’t. It was so incredible when people said things about their childhood that they remember from the district but even more incredible was how the messages didn’t seem to harbor any kind of resentment; they were simply reminiscent and grateful for the existence of the museum.

Another thing that I found extremely interesting was how the white/non-white relations were so similar to that in the history of America. From benches and stores that were just for whites or non-whites to riots and depriving people of various rights just because of their skin color. It was hard to go through it and not see every little relation that can be compared to what every kid learns in basic grade school history. I almost kept expecting to see a picture of Martin Luther King, Jr. instead I saw ones of Nelson Mandela.

One last thing that I couldn’t help but think about as I walked around was how I was slightly reminded of the Holocaust. From the inferior treatment of the non-whites to the eventual displacement into the townships from their homes where living conditions were absolutely awful, I had little reminders popping up everywhere. Granted, there’s a significant difference between the two situations. During the Holocaust, people were displaced from their homes into ghettos and then removed again to the concentration camps, a death sentence. With District Six, they were only displaced that one time (not to make light of the displacement, it was just as painful, wrong, and unnecessary regardless of how many times it happened) but they were moved into houses with 100 year leases so they’re all still living there now. This world we live in amazes me. There are incredible works of nature like Table Mountain (which I climbed =) just in case you forgot) and amazing people who are working tirelessly to make the world a better place which is amazing. Yet there are also events in history and still going on today that are so inhumane and disgusting that I am amazed too, amazed that things like this can happen. I’m so glad I got to go to the museum, it was definitely worth it.

Moving on. Saturday I went to the mall with Rachael to walk around a bit and get out of the house. On the way back to my house a friend asked me if I wanted to go to a rugby game that night which I jumped at, of course. Who would’ve expected me to like rugby when I don’t really like watching football? Anyway, it was the Stormers vs New Zealand Chiefs. Unfortunately they kicked our butt but it was a great game and I was with a really fun group of people. And it luckily wasn’t really cold either so we were able to really enjoy it. I need to get back to another soccer game now before we leave.

I think that’s about all that’s actually important. I got a hug from Mel yesterday who was really excited that facebook said it was hug a half Asian day which was funny. And yeah, now that’s all that’s important. Oh, last thing, the ANC obviously won the election by a landslide. Zuma’s inauguration is this weekend in Pretoria. Is it ironic that on that same day I’ll be on a tour of Robben Island, where Mandela (SA’s first black president) was imprisoned for 17 years or something?

Much love,
Sarah