busy busy in cape town

Obviously being in a foreign country hasn't changed my habits of putting things off until the last minute....aka I am not doing a very good job at being up to date with my blog entries. My days here have been jam-packed with sightseeing activities as I try to acclimate myself to such a different place.

On Friday, we climbed table mountain, South Africa's most well-known natural symbol. We picked a trail that had a sign at the bottom which basically read "you will die if you climb this." It was full of ladders and rocks which you had to pull yourself onto and was sososo much fun. It is something I plan on repeating multiple times. At night we had a delicious dinner in Observatory, which is an area pretty close to our flat, with cute restaurants bars that are a little more laid back from the ones on Long street.

Yesterday, we decided to explore Boulder Beach, known for its beautiful views and very cute penguins. We were told that the best way to get there was by train. This was an unforgettable experience. We were shuffled onto a train that was WAY too crowded to be legal. As we stood, holding tightly to the handles high above our head, we noticed that we were the only white people on the train. After 20 minutes, I snagged a seat and the women next to me noticed my ticket. she notified us that we were ripped off basically. We thought R17 for a round trip train ticket was an excellent price. Apparently, the ticket is only supposed cost R8 (equal to about $1) Not only that, but we had also apparently paid for "metro plus" which is the trains equivalent of a first class ticket. We found it mortifying that the patron saw a group of white-middle class 20somethings and just assumed we wouldn't be able to "hack" it in economy. When a drugged-up schizophrenic man got on the train and started wailing at us, we figured the woman had assumed correctly. Needless to say, we were sure to find the the "metro plus" car upon our return, which was a much more pleasant experience.

I never thought about how much more comfortable I feel around people that are like me. It's pathetic to think about how much better I felt surrounded by more people of my race and socio-economic background. I finally realized what it is like to be of the minority (well, technically being Jewish puts me in the minority, but I certainly never feel like this at home).

The beach itself was BEAUTIFUL...we first ventured to Boulder National Park to visit the African penguins. I was surprised at how small they were in person, and how still they could stay! Then we ate a yummmmyy seafood lunch overlooking the water and took a nice nap on the beach. Before, of course, the tide came and made my towel soaking wet. Good times. That was a sign that it was time to leave.

Today we did some much needed shopping in Victoria Warf, an upscale mall by the waterfront. I was surprised at the number of American brands and stores featured, and also by the number of South African brands that were comparable to the ones I know and love at home. We ended our day by taking a cable car up to the top of Table Mountain and eating dinner at the restaurant at the top. This view was still unreal despite the fact that we were literally in a cloud and were told that the sights were nothing compared to what they would be like on a clear day. I have a feeling I'll be back there.

"africa is soooo cool"

This is a direct quote from my roommate Gillian, who has managed to leave her blackberry at the airport and run out of money because she forgot to call her banks before she left. I am the responsible one! For now at least.

After a night out on Long Street, we woke up early for a trip to Robben Island. We took a tour around the prison and got to see Nelson Mandela's prison cell. I could not get over the ireality of Apartheid and still can not get over how recent it happened. It wasn't until 1994 that the last prisoners were released. It is scary to think about such a huge human rights victory was happening as I was going about my business, making trouble in Kindergarten. All of the tour guides on Robben Island are former prisoners. It is almost funny to think about because although Robben Island was a prison where many political activist were sent, such as President Mandela as well as our tour guide, it was still a prison; meaning it still held burglars, murderers, rapists etc., some of which are now tour guides. Freaky.

When we got back to Cape Town, we took a nice, long walk around the waterfront and headed into various stores and markets. I will definitely be making some trips back there. Part of me is stressed out about taking advantage of every single opportunity here (tough life, I know). I want to see and do every part of this place. I sometimes forget that I will be here until June! I find myself trying to fit as much as I can in every day. But at least I know I'm doing it.

my new friend jeff

I still can't get over how beautiful this place is. Everywhere I look, I see something new. On Monday, we headed towards "High Africa" for some program bonding. We slept in cabins, participated in a high-ropes course and just hung around with each other. At night, we pretty much cleared out the tiny cash bar that was there and headed out to Stellenbocsh the next afternoon.

In Stellenbocsh, we made out way to Spier winery where we got in a cage with a cheetah, had our faces painted with traditional African designs and ate dinner at an incredible restaurant called Moyo, which was a all you can eat buffet that served about 30 types of meat and fish. It was seriously delish. I had never seen anything like it. We sat at huge round tables in a circus-like tent and watched African drummers.

We got home around 10 and got ready for our first night on the town....first to watch the soccer game at a local bar and then down the street to the PIG and Swizzle-a questionable establishment that apparently is not meant for international students. We'll keep that in mind for next time.

The next morning I met Jeff. Jeff is a South African man who lives down the street above the book store and cleans our entryway during the week. I bumped into him on my run the other day and he seems like a stand up guy. Gillian had never met him. That is, until she accidentally buzzed him in without checking. She ran to my room freaking out about the supposed stranger standing outside of our door. Naturally, I hid in the closet. Realizing I couldn't use that for protection, I asked again who it was and it was Jeff. Oops!

45 minutes later I knew everything about Jeff. His most interesting fact is his that he collects popsicle sticks that he finds on the street and makes decorative containers out of them. He kept offering them to us and I thought, "Wow! he is so generous!" Before I knew it, I was up to my neck in popsicle-stick towers (literally) and told him I would think about which ones we wanted. At the time, I didn't realize that he expected compensation and that he makes part of his salary off of these. He stopped by later that afternoon to say hi and I told him which towers we would like, and jokingly offered him 100 American dollars. Apparently Jeff doesn't understand sarcasm. He assumed I meant 100 Rand (South African currency). Because I haven't been her very long, I was having trouble realizing how much money I was spending on something I probably made for free at age 7. I said "okay, great". I didn't know what to do besides run to my room and get my wallet.....I think i need a lesson in bartering.

That night, we headed out on the town to Long Street. Long street is a very famous long strip of cool bars and clubs. It was so interesting to see the other groups of American students traveling in HUGE groups of the 20 people. I am sososooo glad that my program is smaller so that when we go out in groups, we don't make a scene and fall into the stereotype of being impolite and selfish...All in all I had a great night..

36 hours spent by myself...

...and I had to find my own entertainment

I had just completed my first international flight alone and was exhausted. At 6:17 am EST I entered the Heathrow airport. All I was looking for was a place to literally pass out for my entire 10 hour layover. For the first time in hours, I was too tired to think about how nervous I was. I literally did not know what to expect when I arrived.

I found a less crowded section of seats and noticed that 2 rows were pushed together, calling my name. As I sat down and put my feet up, two little Indian women stood in front of my, grunting. I assumed they wanted to pass by me, so I put my feet on the floor. How wrong I was.

The women sat on either side of me. Of all the seats in the entire section, they decided to make a Jewish-white-girl sandwich of me. I began to panic. I couldn't get up, because that would be rude. But how could I stay there? While working through my ethical dilemma, 2 more little Indians approached, sitting across from the other two. That's right. We were like the Indian version of the spice girls, all huddled together. And all they did was glare at me. I thought I was being Punk'd at this point. So, I made some obscene gesture with my watch and muttered to myself about missing my flight (which was 9.5 hours away mind you). I walked as fast as I could to another section, where I took about 7 naps and 10 trips to the bathroom. and 24 hours later I was here!

Greeted by Our program director, Alan Jensen, I was introduced to 6 girls who had come in around the same time as me and we piled in a van, enroute to our respective houses/flats. The drive there was amazing. I then realized how beautiful this city was. Table Mountain and a clear blue sky provided the perfect backdrop to a colorful city. I was dropped of at Rosebridge, a complex in Rondebosch, which is a suburban section of the city, about a 10 minute walk from the university. I wasn't greeted by anybody! My roommates that had already arrived and had left for a walk. So, I peeled of my clothes that I had been wearing for 2 days (gross) and started to unpack.

My room is like a giant white prison cell. It is huge, with 4 white walls, one of which is made of closets and a huge vanity. There is a big giant window looking out to the street that has major metal poles over it....curtains are a must. I heard voices and realized they were coming from my roommates! They seem really great. In my apartment there is me (obviously), another girl and a boy. We each have our own room and we share a kitchen and bathroom.....which has a tub but but no shower so that should be interesting. There are another 2 girls and a boy living right above us and our balconies connect which is nice because you have to be really intense about locking doors here. Maybe I'll finally learn....

After catching up with my new roomies for a couple of minutes, we were whisked away for a tour of the UCT campus. There, we met up with the rest of the program. There are 45 of us and everyone seems really fun. The campus itself is perfect. All of the buildings are covered in ivy and the backdrop of Table Mountain makes it by far the prettiest school I've ever seen. From UCT, we all piled in a bus and took a drive along Cape Bay....we saw the world cup stadium and some of the most impressive houses and condiminiums.....The mountains were on one side and the beautiful houses overlooking the 3rd best beach in the world (!!!!) were on the other....we stopped at the end of the beach to dip our feet in the water and have an early dinner of fish and chips.

The bus ride home was silent...all of us were dead asleep rightfully so! Although not the most exciting first night, I feel so happy and fortunate to be in such a beautiful place with what seems to be a great group of people!