Just some more pictures to keep you interested...

On the walk down to Cape of Good Hope

Some of the girls on top of Cape Point, next to the Light House

Touching the water at the tip of Africa...

Picture at the beach with the fog rolling over the mountains in the background

You Learn Something New Everyday

Because we had gone through an extensive orientation with our Interstudy program, we were told that the UCT (University of Cape Town) orientation activities were optional. So today we decided to skip out on the tedious meetings that only reiterated information that we have already been given. Instead, we opted for a relaxing day without traveling to the beach or dealing with the hassle of getting downtown and back. A few friends and I used the morning time to go grocery shopping and get some of the essentials for our kitchen. For me essentials are not too tricky. All I need are my avocados and some pasta. But what good is a plate of pasta without a delicious sauce to really satisfy the taste buds? That is where I came into some trouble. No, the supermarket unfortunately did not have my absolute favorite vodka sauce, or even my backup fra diavolo, but I was eventually able to come up with some sort of sundried tomato sauce after searching through three different stores. After buying a couple more staple items, we were finished with our shopping and allowed to move on to more interesting, less money wasting things.

            Late in the afternoon we decided to actually attend one of the events listed on the orientation schedule: the drum workshop. Not really knowing what to expect, we came into the main hall of the student center with an open mind and our hands ready to play. One hour later, we found ourselves transformed from drummer novices into people who might actually be paid to play at a local theater. Well that’s a bit of an exaggeration but we did become quite comfortable playing the African drum as we practiced playing in all sorts of forms. Whether it was mixing up different beats, memorizing a whole set, or even adding in snaps and claps to add a little extra, we were able to find ways to make it work. While I am now somewhat confident in my drumming abilities, I have to be honest, I do not think that I am cut out for the job because after a mere hour of playing, my hands have already shown signs of blisters. So props to all of you budding musicians out there, I don’t know how you do it.

            After a wonderful reception with all sorts of appetizers and fancy desserts (which I ate a few too many of), we headed back to our apartment for an unexpected hang out with our residence staff. Charles and Gee live across the street from my flat and are students in their early twenties, just like us. The only differences between them and us are that they were raised in Africa, are faculty of the program, and happen to be a few shades darker than most…but that’s all. Anyway, we have been spending a lot of time with these two men as they have taken us on tours, joined us at dinner, and gone out with us at night. However tonight we got to see a different side of them. Somehow when we were all just hanging out in the living room, conversation about marriage in Africa came about. Now I have heard stories and seen movies that have talked about marital exchanges between the families of the two spouses, or certain traditions that are involved in the process of getting married, but I have never really known what is true and what is more of a myth.

After speaking to Charles and Gee, I learned a lot about the African culture that really surprised me and gave me a deeper understanding about both what traditions are maintained and why the people of Africa hold on to these customs so tightly. For instance, if a man and woman want to marry, the woman must take the man to her home to have him introduced to her family. During this visit, the man must pay to not only come to the woman’s home but also to talk to each and every family member. Depending on the village, the man might have to pay at each door he steps through or several times throughout one conversation. Another tradition holds that once the decision of marriage has been made, there is a process that lasts a few days in which the man proves himself to be a real man and the woman proves herself to be a worthy woman. In essence, the two are tested to make sure that they “fit the bill” and will make a suitable spouse for their partner.

            In order to prove himself appropriate, the man must hunt and have to kill to show that he can provide for the family. Also, the family of the woman always asks for a certain number of cows (which are worth about 5,000 rand each) from the man in order for the marital process to continue. The man must herd whatever number the family requests, or come up with the equivalent money value, and bring it to the woman’s home. Another component to the cow stage is that the man must take an axe to the head of one cow, killing it, and using it as meat for the bride’s family. As a bit of a side note, a similar procedure occurs when a woman gets pregnant when a man has to return his wife to her family for the last month of her pregnancy, only the cow is replaced with a goat for the family to eat. As for the number of cows before marriage, it can vary immensely based on the woman’s education level, occupation, or whether or not she is a virgin. Charles made note that virgins are worth at least 100 cows based on that fact alone.

            The women also have to go through a series of tests to prove that they are worthy of being a supportive, functioning wife. Of course her tasks are not as brutal as those of her partner, but she must demonstrate that she could cook and clean as you know, any reasonably good woman should (with the exception of my mother..Dad, you should have run some tests). While I more or less expected these types of tests, there was one that left me a bit surprised and confused. We were told that at one point during the few day period, the woman would have to sit down with all of the men in the man’s family and learn each of their names. She would have a talk with each one and do some sort of kneeling while clapping to show a sign of respect. Then, at the end of the meal she would have to prove that she could remember each man or else she could not move forward with the wedding.

            All of these rules and customs seem so crazy to me. It’s incredible the amount of time and money that go into fulfilling this strict guidelines just to get married. What I found most interesting was that while explaining all of these traditions, Charles and Gee were chuckling and making fun of all of the crazy things people have to go through in order to be married. However, when I asked them whether or not they were going to carry on the tradition and later pass them along to their own children, they said of course. They explained how important it is to take something that has been a part of their culture, a part of their family, for so long and allow it to sustain its values over the course of time. While the reasoning behind the traditions might have changed from generation to generation, it is important for them to have respect for what these customs mean to their people and make sure that they are carried on to the generations of people to come. I really enjoyed having this time to talk to local people about their own culture. It is one thing to learn about a given group of people through books or movies, but it can really sink in when you are witnessing it first hand and hearing it “from the horse’s mouth” so to speak. It’s a bit funny that sometimes you find the most valuable experiences when you least expect it. No I didn’t climb any mountains or visit any beaches, but today I was allowed to see an entirely different side of Africa from a friendly source.

Here are some pictures from today's adventures...hope you enjoy!

Sorry I couldn't upload nearly as many as I would like due to WiFi limitations but hope these paint a good picture!!!

Overlooking the cliff drop at Cape Point

On some rocks at Cifton Bay with the mountains in the background

Some penguins at Boulder Beach

View of the Cape of Good Hope from top of Cape Point (sorry for blur)

Atop Cape Point

On the hike to Cape of Good Hope

On the tip of Africa

Girls going out for dinner after a long day of hiking

Breathtaking. In every sense of the word.

I would just like to open this post up by saying that today may or may not have been the most amazing thing I have ever seen. Now that I have gotten that out of the way, even though I’m sure it will be repeated numerous times, I can begin. So the past week we have been going through orientation with my Interstudy program, but today our orientation with the actual University of Cape Town started. And what better for a kickoff of orientation than a free bus tour around the entire peninsula of the Cape? Nothing. We began the day at the University by mounting buses and being served free breakfast. Then we started off through the city of Cape Town, getting a chance to see City Hall and the buildings of Parliament. We also drove through and learned about a section of the city called District 6. This is the place that I believe the movie, District Nine, we based off of but I am not positive. Anyway, there is nothing beautiful about this historical section of town. In fact, much of the area is just plain glass and abandoned land because it was once the place where blacks were forced to move out of their homes in order to put whites into the space. Now I am not going to bore you to death with a history lesson and all that I have learned, but if you’re interested it is really a fascinating story that I suggest you look into. Moving on.

Our next destination was Boulder Beach, home of the South African penguin colony. Along the way to Boulder Beach, we drove along a windy, hillside road that lined a number of breathtaking beaches. It was simply amazing to look out one window of the bus and see an array of white sands and then turn and look the other way, only to see an endless display of mountains all down the peninsula. I cannot even begin to argue which side of the bus I would have preferred to be seated on because both views had so much to offer. The road that we traveled on reminded me of those movies that you see a ridiculous convertible cruising along the beach and down the coastline. This road, we learned, was actually the site of two huge car commercials that ended up in a large lawsuit between BMW and Mercedes Benz. Yup, cool fun fact. Once we arrived at Boulder Beach, we dismounted the bus and made our way down a path to an opening where we found hundreds of penguins. These small birds are unique to South Africa and one of the only other places, aside from Antarctica, where penguins could be found. We stood watching the little guys do all sorts of things from diving into the water, wobbling around, and even kissing, or at least I think that’s what it looked like. Although I’m not quite sure because these penguins are supposed to be monogamous and I’m almost certain that I saw one in particular that went from friend to friend locking lips…who knows. You know men. I was pretty excited about the penguin outing and did not think that the day could get much better, but you will soon see that I could not be more wrong.

For lunch we stopped at an interesting little arts center in a nearby township. Here we were provided with food, as well as live entertainment by the local arts program. Let me start with the food. Now for some of you that know me pretty well, you might know that I do not eat red meat. Sad to say it’s nothing about the animals. No moral reasons. To be honest, I just get schkeeved out (pardon my spelling). Though since I have arrived in Africa, I have tried to nix that mentality and try a few things a little bit out of my comfort zone. But this meal, I would have to say, took things to a whole new level. The chicken was good. The pasta was fine. But after I indulged myself with the different components of my plate, I found leftover a neon pink sausage. Now I don’t know much about sausage because like I said, I don’t eat much meat. But I know that any sausage I have ever seen has not been the same color as the flip-flops I wear to the beach. Not only was the color a complete turn off, but when prompted by a friend to give it a touch I found that the slimy, slippery consistency just reaffirmed my initial decision to stay away, far away. Enough on the topic of food as I the feelings of nausea are beginning to return.

While the food left much to be desired, the entertainment was a completely different story. The show consisted of a variety of acts from a dance resembling a Britney Spears’ music videos by little girls, a standup comedy act, a young boy doing just about the best dance moves that I have ever seen to an awesome mash-up mix, and even a transvestite lip-syncing to “Let’s Dance.” Needless to say it was not the most conventional show that I have ever attended, but it did not lack flare. It was great to see such talented performers coming from a small, underprivileged area being able to show off their abilities to a large crowd. The excitement on the children’s faces after they had performed was enough to make me forget about that traumatizing sausage and enjoy the rest of my stay at the center.

Now to the good stuff. I am going to skip all of the details about the  ride because I know this is getting lengthy and also because I just cannot wait to talk about the rest of the day. Our next stop was Cape Point, the most southwesterly tip of Africa. Here we took the most breathtaking hike up to a lighthouse on the tip of Africa. Now I know I keep using the word breathtaking, but here it is completely necessary not only because of the amount of beauty at Cape Point, but also because I have not worked out in a while and honestly, I did lose my breath quite a few times. Along the way to the top we stopped several times to take pictures. One time was followed this sneaky little path labeled “cliff drop” which brought us above the most gorgeous cliff going straight down into the water. Yes, I feared for my life because I happen to have inherited my father’s intensely pathetic fear of heights. But yes, it was worth it. Once we got to the very top there was the lighthouse and of course the omnipresent pole with all of the arrows pointing towards famous cities and showing their distances. I have already found this pole at two spots in Cape Town, but the picture pointing to the arrow for New York or Boston never seems to get old.

After viewing our surroundings from the top of Cape Point, we decided to take the hike down to the Cape of Good Hope. Another little tidbit is that this is the place where the currents of both the Atlantic and Indian oceans clash. Once we got down there, I made sure to stick my hand in the water, providing evidence that I had touched water that belonged to each of the opposing currents at once. The hike down to the Cape of Good Hope was impossibly more impressive than that of Cape Point. The entire time we looked over cliffs down into the ocean and at the secluded beach that falls between the two capes. As corny as it sounds, I really don’t even have words to describe the feeling or the sights that I experienced. Not only was I amazed by everything that I found around me, but when I actually got to take a chance to think about where I was, I was astounded. At the tip of Africa. Wow. I have never been a lover of sightseeing and going to museums. Although I can appreciate the effort, time, and talent that goes into building historical structures, I have always been more amazed by natural beauties. I am always taken back by the mountains, the oceans, and the wildlife that has been in existence forever, on its own. This trip today was the epitome of what I have been talking about. We were surrounded by the mountains and the beaches and the wildlife all at once. I don’t know how it could get any better than that. 

Just Your Typical Saturday in Cape Town...

On Saturday morning we woke up around 10:00 and headed off to the Old Biscuit Mill. This is where a large farmer’s market takes place every Saturday. Because of all the talk around town about the market and all of its wonderful food, we went into the day with pretty high expectations. Once again, we were blown away. We were taken back by the number of stations and vendors at the market. However it was not the number of options, but rather the quality of the food that really impressed. Each station had its own variation of food, all so fresh and beautifully displayed. It took us three times around the entire marketplace to decide which vendor would be lucky enough to serve us lunch. When we finally decided on chicken with tomato pesto paninis on fresh ciabatta bread accompanied by mixed berry smoothies, we took our food outside to sit in the sun. Some girls took home bread or sauces or fish for later that night. Next time I plan on trying the ostrich burger and drinking out of a coconut but I had to make sure I was comfortable with a dish a bit closer to home first.

            Later that day we decided to take advantage of our free time and the wonderful weather by, once again, going to the beach. This time we decided to try a nearby beach that was accessible by train. Much to our surprise, we made it on the train and to the beach free of charge (this seems to be a place that we will frequent). Undoubtedly we were quite pleased by this beach, just like we had been the day before. Now it was not as beautiful or touristy as Camps Bay, for it lacked the beachside restaurants and lounges. However, it was nice to attend a beach of which many locals used. When we finished our time at the beach, we were found that we were just in time to make the next train back home. Unfortunately this is where we had to experience our first scare of this trip. Upon boarding the train, we noticed that car after car was packed with people taking up every inch of room possible. Not wanting to pay for a cab back home, we decided to give it a go and make moves into the train. As we all piled in with great difficulty, one of the girls was pushed out of the car and had the doors shut on her. Because we all freaked out and made a scene, the train was stopped and she was able to board on another car and forced to take the ride alone. Now that made us think twice about ever again taking the train on a busy weekend from the beach. This experience was not only a bit scary, but also did not help us blend in one bit. We already stuck out as blonde white girls in colorful beach attire…we did not need any more help gaining attention.

            At night we were taken into town to explore the nightlife of Cape Town. Our mentors showed us many great places and we hopped from spot to spot as we got a feel for which place we might go to on a regular basis. My friend Molly and I took advantage of our early meeting with Crispy and met up with him at a place called Dubliners. Here we listened to a local band playing cover songs for the likes of Bob Marley and Bruce Springsteen. It was nice to get to meet a few additional local people and talk more with Crispy about future plans. I was extremely impressed by the diversity of Long Street (the main road downtown) and all of the options it had to offer. That’s about all I am going to say regarding the nightlife. We made it back to our apartments safe and sound and went to bed soon after in order to prepare for an exciting day to follow.

Here is the middle of the University of Cape Town with Devil's Peak in the background.

This is one of the buildings on the way to the Waterfront.

Here is the bridge connecting to the Waterfront with Table Mountain in the background.

Ferris wheel on the Waterfront.

Camps Bay Beach (sorry it came out blurry)

Welcome to Cape Town

Okay so I will admit that I have always thought of blogs as pretty nerdy and made for people who have next to nothing to do all day (sorry avid bloggers). However, with a great deal of peer pressure as well as the desire to document my semester-long trip, I have succumbed to the idea that making a blog will not be a complete waste of my time and energy. With that said, I am not sure why any of you would want to sit there and read about what I am doing with my life…so hopefully my mom can pay at least a few people enough money to fake an interest in my endeavors.

So it is now Saturday of my first week in Africa and needless to say, it has already surpassed my relatively high expectations. When we first arrived to Cape Town, we were given keys to our apartments and information about our housing. While others competed for the best room in their flat, I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that my roommate had taken the later flight which meant that I could get situated in whichever room I so desired. It did not take long for me to choose the bedroom with the television, couch, and outdoor patio as it blew away the other room with just a bed and desk (sorry Theresa). So that was it. The first night was pretty typical as far as meeting and greetings tend to go, so I’m not going to waste time with all of that. Oh one little side note…the weather was sunny and about 84 degrees when I arrived. Sorry to hear about all of the snow.

            Okay so my first full day in Cape Town. The Interstudy (my program) staff clearly couldn’t let a bunch of 20-year-old Americans wander the streets of the city without some safety precautions and lectures being addressed. So we had to go to various meetings about safety, culture shock, blah, blah, blah. The only question I wanted answered was, “Where is the beach?” I guess I could have pulled a Snookie, but I figured it was in my best interest to sit back and take in as much information as the staff had to offer. Once the tedious meetings had finally ended we got to go on a tour of our school, the University of Cape Town. Now one could argue that this tour was a mirror of any college tour in the States, with the walkthrough of the library, the introduction of various academic buildings, and the inevitable trip to the campus store where students could buy any old thing with UCT branded on the front. Sure this tour was the same, besides the fact that it was being held in January with temperatures in the 80s. Or that the backdrop of the center of campus is a mountain called Devil’s Peak. Also important to note is that the three beautiful rugby fields and the outdoor pool overlook the city of Cape Town. Without these minor details, yeah the tour was just your average college visit.

            Later that night a group of us girls decided to have dinner and sit out on our patios to get to know each other a little better. It was a really great time and I have already made a solid group of friends that I’m hoping will last throughout my trip. A lot of the girls seem really friendly but I have made sure to be wary of what I like to call the “first week friendlies” when everyone is just looking to make friends and feel comfortable regardless of whether there is a true connection or not. It’s a girl thing. Guess only time will tell.

            Okay on to Wednesday. On the Wednesday morning was my first encounter with “Africa time.” We took a trip to the bank that was supposed to take about an hour, which slowly turned into 2, then 3, and then well you can see the trend. Here in Africa time is not exactly of great importance. In fact, this concept is even demonstrated in the daily discourse used by South Africans. When using the word “now” South Africans can mean a number of things, none of which actually mean “at this present time.” For example, if someone were to say that they were coming “just now” they would mean that they were coming not immediately, but rather sometime when they get around to it. “Now now” is a bit more punctual, but still is not what we are used to. This instead means that they would be coming pretty soon. This jargon is all a bit new and confusing to me as I am not only trying to adjust to the different use of language, but also the different lifestyle that comes with being a South African resident. I am sure that I will find the relaxed and laidback standards of this country to be quite enjoyable, but it sure takes some getting used to.

            Later that night our mentors took us to a local place called Stones where we got the chance to meet several other American students, as well as some locals if you were brave enough. I was lucky enough to find a bit of both in one person. By sheer luck I ran into a fellow Trinity student who had grown up in Cape Town, moved to Florida, and is currently a sophomore at Trinity but taking the year off to study elephants in Botswana and other animals in Cape Town. After we exchanged numbers, he promised to show my friends and me various Cape Town sites and to keep us clued in on what was going on around town. His name is Cripsy. Yes, like chicken.

            On Thursday we finally got to go into downtown Cape Town. After taking a minibus in (which is an experience on its own), we walked through the street markets and hopped from shop to shop looking at all of what Cape Town had to offer. Then we took a walk to the famous V&A Waterfront, which was absolutely breathtaking. The harbour was filled with boutiques and outdoor restaurants. Fabulous boats positioned themselves in the water as the mountains filled the background as far as you could see. I cannot even describe how beautiful the place looked with all of the pretty buildings backed up by the incredible landscape. Of course we had to take full advantage of the lovely restaurants that provided outside seating during the sunset (sorry mom and dad). So we decided to treat ourselves to a Welcome to Cape Town dinner on the water. I have been so excited since finding out that avocados seem to be a part of every restaurant’s menu in some way, shape, or form. I love avocados more than anything and have had them in every meal so far. That and smoothies, which are also at the top of my list.

            On Friday we had the pleasure of taking rugby lessons with the University of Cape Town’s varsity rugby coach. I have to admit it was hard to listen to the rules of the game as I was frequently distracted by the beauty of the rugby fields and the view of the city that they provide. However, I tried to listen as closely as possible because we are going to a game between the Cape Town and Johannesburg city rivals in late February. After the lessons we actually got to play a game of touch rugby. Of course it amounted to complete chaos due to the lack of knowledge and to be honest, lack of athleticism, of many of the kids in my program. It was a lot of fun and I was able to get a lot of good laughs as I managed to fall flat on my butt trying to catch a ball in a simple drill, but also got a chance to recover by scoring a touchdown (I cannot remember the correct terminology) late in the game.

            After rugby a group of us went to Camps Bay beach, which was absolutely stunning. I have never before seen such a wonderful beach that is so beautiful on its own with the water and the sand, but also incorporates the array of mountains surrounding Cape Town into its landscape. As we all took out our cameras and picked up our jaws after they had dropped to the ground (oh we blended in with the locals really well), we took a spot on the beach to soak in the sun. Throughout the rest of the day I had to take a moment every so often to stop and look at the place around me. I’m not sure what I did to deserve seeing all of this, but I’m not about to speculate. Just go with the flow.

            I’m actually getting pretty tired and we have a tour of the peninsula and beach with the penguins tomorrow so I want to be on my “A” game, but I will talk about the rest of my weekend later. I know this was a bit lengthy and I found even my own eyes getting heavy while writing it, but hopefully you enjoyed getting to hear about all that I have done so far. If anyone can plow out of their driveway and go get me some sunscreen, I would be very appreciative and maybe even send you a postcard through snail mail. Hope all is well in the states and I miss everyone!