First Week of Classes- Big update!

Monday was our first day of classes. As of Monday (the significance of this will be made clear soon), my week officially started on Tuesdays. However, my friend Brigid is taking intensive Xhosa (a local language common among Black South Africans), and I figured I’d tag along for the first class. It was a lot of international students, which was to be expected for two reasons. First, most people who grow up in South Africa have friends who speak Xhosa, and almost no one would start at beginners’ level if they were to study it. Also, it is a ‘beginners A’ course, and, since it is the second semester, most languages are offered only in part B. Xhosa is offered in part A both semesters mostly because it is so popular with study abroad students. However, there were also several people who spoke other African languages (I’m quite embarrassed to say that even in a full two years of African based coursework, I hadn’t heard of ANY of their languages) and wanted to use their knowledge of the structure to learn Xhosa as well. The professor was adorable, and, interestingly, she did not learn Xhosa growing up, but had studied it in school. I was surprised that though many professors at UCT are native Xhosa speakers, they use a non-native professor for beginners Xhosa (not to say she isn’t qualified, she’s been teaching for ages and described things perfectly).

I also chose to attend the Philosophy of the Mind course that I had already decided I had to drop (it conflicted with Gender and Violence), just to give it a once-over (and also because everyone else was in class anyway). But before I even headed to philosophy, I found that my Gender and Violence had been moved from Weds 2-4 to Thurs 9-11. It’s a post-graduate class, so it’s quite small and most of the students are taking only 1 class (or 2) since they’re doing their honors or masters thesis. But still. How many classes back home would change meeting times during the first week of class? Huzzah! I thought. Philosophy lives again! Once I managed to find Philosophy in the electrical engineering building (bizarrely assigned classrooms? There’s something similar to home! Minus the having engineers bit), I saw that there is indeed a universal Philosophy Majors Look. Really. Any Philosophy class anywhere in the world, I wager, would look essentially identical. Only the accents are different.

Monday night began a lovely trend of having pot-luck dinners at my apartment with some other US students in our program. The apartments here don’t have common spaces or a kitchen table, but that’s compensated for by huge rooms, and we eat picnic style on a big blanket with a Moroccan table on my floor. We did this last night too, and are getting better and better at it.

Tuesday I began my most anticipated course: History of Medicine in the Making of Modern South Africa. It’s about 20 people, and, quite unfortunately, about 16 Americans. I hoped that the real all-US classes would be more general (ie. History of South Africa in the 20^th Century), but alas, we all seem to have very similar taste. I was very disappointed by this Tuesday (lecture day, officially), but Wednesday (tutorial day), in getting to hear a bit more from the professor, I was again feeling excited about the content of the class. It seems that it will even include field trips to medical museums, including the site of the first ever heart transplant (which occurred conveniently just down the street). Philosophy ran again, and I embarrassed myself in my efforts to buy the book. It rang up for $180, not too different from GU prices, and I grumbled considerably. It wasn’t until I got home that I remembered that’s about $20USD. Oops.

Also, Wednesday night I started with the Hip Hop group on campus. Very pop/lock based, which is not my forte, but I was assured that it was new to most of the group and they try to vary styles every semester. People love US hip hop here, and we’re learning choreography to It’s Tricky by Bloodhound Gang. I was also excited about meeting people in dance, since this is the only thing I’m doing where I’m without other US students to turn to in down time/awkward moments. The ‘real’ UCT students in hip hop were really welcoming, and even told me about some cool dance things going on in the city for Women’s Day (a real holiday here!).

Here I am heading to Upper Campus- it was so cloudy Weds that it looks like the mountain is wearing a hat!

Today was a bit more chaotic (‘hectic’). My Gender and Violence class, officially 9-11, met at 10 just to convene and do a get-to-know-you. Though the women in the class already know each other (all in the same masters program), they were very inclusive and really neat to talk to. Two of them are actually Americans who came to UCT to do their masters through the African Gender Institute (an appealing plan perhaps...). However, the class was being moved back to Weds 2-4 (actually, adding an hour to make it 2-5 and finishing in September). Philosophy, once resurrected, is now surely dead. Oh well. I didn’t come here to discuss Descartes.

But I did have a panic, since I’d already dropped African Dance I to make room to get back in Philosophy, and I would need another class to add to History of Medicine and Gender and Violence. I did a lap around Leslie (something like the ICC), just walking by all the departments, and decided to add into Religion in Africa. I got a reading packet, which I started this afternoon, and it seems really interesting.

Done by 11, Sara and I walked down to Observatory (3 towns over, we were originally going to stay closer but we just kept going) and had lunch at a wonderful cafe. To keep with the pattern of my eating, I had a ‘French kiss’ (French toast with chocolate and almonds) for 29R ($3.50USD). We caught a group taxi back. Even though I know they’re safe if they aren’t empty and it’s during the day, those taxis always make me a bit nervous. They just go up and down the main road, and they cram a ton of people in (there’s probably an equivalent everywhere in the developing world). They’re only R5 (less than a dollar), and they can save you half an hour’s walk, but I always bang my knee and feel a little claustrophobic.

Finally, wrapping it up, tonight a group of us went back up to campus to see the Historical and Current Affairs Society’s showing of Milk (with free pizza! Like a whole pizza for each person). After seeing the awesome movie (twice), it was strange to watch with a different audience. There was definitely a lot more nervous laughter at gay mannerisms or intimacy. One of the women I talked to in Gender and Violence (who was originally American) is doing her thesis on the impact of the Civil Unions Act here and is interviewing gay couples who have since received the unions. She said that, in terms of legal debate, the question asked regarding gay issues is always “could this be discrimination?” Everything is based on the importance of civil rights, since the memory of mass disenfranchisement is very recent. However, people don’t seem very comfortable with homosexuality and cultural tolerance for homosexuality seems to lag a bit, even in urban areas. Next Friday, there is a march in the city for a woman who was killed three years ago in Khayelitsha, Cape Town’s largest township, for being a lesbian. The trial of her killers has been delayed 27 times, and they’re still free.

Tomorrow I’m finally going to see Robben Island, and Saturday we’re going to the Stellenbosch Wine Festival- hopefully I’ll keep up blogging better and will be able to avoid these huge ramble-y updates!

Last pre-class weekend

This weekend was our first without orientations of any sort! Though that was a necessary reward for the chaos of registration on Friday. UCT (and every South African University minus one, I hear) uses in person, queue based registration as opposed to the online systems we know and tolerate back home. This actually wouldn't have been a problem at all, if I had been enrolled in UCT. But apparently, I was not. This prompted several trips to several offices to talk to several people all as confused as I was. Ultimately sorted out (apparently IAPO missed me somehow in their tech input), but exhausting none the less.

We rewarded ourselves with a trip to Baxter Theater, home of UCT's fine art productions. UCT actually has a huge fine arts program, and the performances are really top notch. We saw "Noah of Cape Town," an a capella musical with environmentalist notes. I think Cape Townians have more appreciation/concern for ecosystems than urbanites back home, but that's easy to understand when you see the gorgeous views and wildlife here.

Saturday, we went to a market in Woodstock. Definitely not what we expected (mostly because all the other international students had found out about it too, so we made up 40% of the crowd- dagnabbit!). But the food was AMAZING. Dare I say, better (and cheaper!) than Eastern Market. No crafts though, which was disappointing, but we'll find those another day.

After the market, we took the train into City Centre to see the District Six Museum. The district has become a major rallying point for post-apartheid reparation and reconstruction, and it really epitomizes the effect of the Group Areas Act that the Apartheid government was famous for.

Headlines on the wall

Me with art of the street signs of the old district six.

Today, I went to His People in the morning (a very boisterous, all-worship service) and Christ Church this evening (youth targeted/contemporary). Though the congregations were totally different demographics, they had some major commonalities that surprised me. Both really emphasized 'asking for spiritual hunger,' which was interesting, since most churches I've been to back home ask for the fulfillment of one's spiritual hunger. There were some other things but they're escaping me now due to utter exhaustion. I'll see if I can think of them tomorrow for when I blog about the first day of classes.

Drumming!

Just a quick shot of Bridget, Michael, Me, and Sean at an African Drumming Workshop! We got to drum after lunch at a great Tapas bar in the V&A Waterfront.

Settling In

After a week of orientation, I am officially moved into my UCT residence! Because of Cape Town’s climate, residence halls aren’t set up the same as back home. There’s a huge courtyard in the middle of the building, and the apartments are lined up motel-style around the courtyard. Each apartment has four singles, two bathrooms (one with a shower and one with a bathtub), and a kitchen. My room is huge, about the size of a Village B common room, and it has a balcony. Apparently, grilling is really popular, so hopefully we’ll be able to find a cheap grill. It’s a bit of a trek from campus, but a Jammie shuttle runs to lower and upper campus.

This is Michael and I by the art in the tunnel that leads from the rugby fields to upper campus. No surprise who the heroes are.

Friday night we went to Marco's African Place for 'authentic African food and music.' The picture isn't great-but I loved these African dancers. Make learning that a new goal for the semester.

Marie Claire South Africa

So far it seems I could really get used to the South African versions of my usual guilty pleasure magazines- mainly Marie Claire and Cosmo, since those are the ones I've seen thus far. Firstly, the cover price is about a quarter of what it is back home, making it a much more affordable habit.

There are some neat crossovers between magazine contents and South African staples. For one, instead of demanding that women raid kitchens to make face masks out of avocado, honey, and egg white (like these things come cheaply enough to go splattering them on your face), South African Marie Claire uses herbology (mostly herbs I haven't even heard of) for everything. I may not be any more likely to concoct their recipes, but it's a very cool observation as I head into courses on traditional medicine. The use of herbs and plants spans into commercially popularized pursuits.

Also, this may be more of a stretch, but I've never seen so many horoscopes. It's really hard to say whether these are features that South African readers take somewhat seriously or not. Actually, I have no idea, so I suppose I shouldn't comment much. But it was interesting.

Also, though it would be unfair to accuse the magazine of omitting black models all together, photos were disproportionately of lovely white women (the cover of FHM in the convenience store also proclaimed South Africa's Sexiest Woman to be a white, blond calendar model). I'm wondering about how much the image of beauty in pop culture has remained white. There's been a Black Consciousness movement, but has there been a Black is Beautiful movement? An aggressive rejection of skin bleaching and hair straightening? Or do Blacks and Whites just consume totally different media?

Food Poisoning

Both of us. Traced to pesto. But the cats love us.

Adventures at the Southern Tip

Today was definitely our fullest day yet (perhaps aided by a final triumph over jetlag with a 9AM alarm). We rented a car, cursing the fact that neither of us can drive stick (manual cars run 150R, about $18 a day, while automatics are R550, more like $50). Sean bravely navigated mountain terrain from the right side of the car and the left side of the road. Not even one almost-head-on collision!



We visited Boulder Beach, with a colony of rare jackass penguins (more PC-ly, or maybe less PC-ly, African penguins) . For 60R, they've set up a boardwalk where you can walk through and visit with the penguins without disturbing them. See adorable evidence below.

Penguins mate for life! These two are pre-feather teens all snuggley by the beach.

Us and a penguin couple. The penguins put us to shame.

Here is a penguin by its bed. They all had numbers, so I think they all have an assigned cubby they return to each night.



A Penguin Parade

After the penguins we headed to Cape Point Nature Reserve. At two points on the drive (once right after the restaurant we stopped at and on the drive up to the actual Cape Point.

A troupe started approaching our car, the leading one trying to eat a giant plastic tarp. That car coming from the other direction let their kids hang halfway out the window taking pictures with shiny cameras, so we felt very smart in comparison.

This one was carrying a baby under its belly.
Oh, and wild ostriches also ran along the car at some points. We passed a shop selling Ostrich leather purses and wallets on the way out, which was a bit awkward.

The drive/destination themselves were beyond gorgeous. I wish the pictures could show how massive the mountain ranges and rock beaches were. Here's the best I can do

On the Atlantic side of Cape Point, there are dozens of deserted beaches.


The Atlantic Ocean is the green one, since it's 15 degrees cooler than the Indian Ocean at the spot (here!) where they meet! I always thought the divisions between oceans on maps was fairly arbitrary, but I guess it's not since you can actually SEE the line. Very neat.


Cape Point is marketed as the most southern tip in Africa. It's actually the second most southern point, but the real most southern point isn't accessible to man. Though the oceans don't meet here, so I still think Cape Point came out on top.

Almost over jet lag?

Here's a beach at the end of the train- Simons Town-and definitely the neatest stop we've been to yet. You can see behind me, the mountain ranges sort of form 'm's, the legs of which serve as dividing lines between the towns. Each town has its own shorefront beach, with its train stop behind it (train tickets are about 60 cents). We saw lots of fellows in navy uniforms today, and ate fresh mussles on the harbor.


We also took a boat cruise to Seal Island! The boat went at breakneck speeds over huge waves, sending us periodically flying into the air, which was quite cool. Seals were leaping out of the water with fish right next to us, and herrings were diving all over the place. Here's Sean in one of the nifty life jackets!
Here's the island- it's about the size of Copley Lawn with 70,000 seals living there (also saw a couple waddling penguins and a great white shark a few meters off). That's about NJ population density, right? See below

Day Two - Observations/Update

Observations

Grocery stores: Yesterday we hit a Pick and Pay for some breakfast things and one dinner's worth of food. Even with the so-so exchange rate, food is actually 1/2 the price that it is in DC. The two main grocery stores are located in the same mall, and many people (of varying races and wealth but especially children) shop barefoot.

Apartheid: People here seem eager to talk about their memories and perceptions of apartheid (which is great, since it seems like a strange thing for an American to ask about). Our driver from the airport talked about living in a colored township growing up and told us he had gotten to meet Nelson Mandela three times because his classmates kept dying in protests. Malcolm, who is white, described a complete lack of awareness growing up of the violence and living conditions even 5 km away from his house. He said the media was so controlled, he didn't know anything about any of the anti-apartheid movement (and the deaths involved) until after 1994. Amanda's sister, who's the youngest of her family, actually told me quite directly that she thinks the absurd rate of rape in South Africa is a consequence of apartheid. Malcolm and Amanda (and her family) are definitely quite liberal, so I haven't seen any racism among white South Africans yet.

Michael Jackson: Last night in the pub, the Michael Jackson funeral was on E! on TV. Our waiter told us Michael Jackson hadn't died yet since nobody's seen his body. Clearly, he's going to be the next Elvis, but it reminded me that Michael Jackson's racial ambiguity makes him SUPER popular here.

Update

Today, after massively oversleeping (must. beat. jetlag.) we headed out to Kalk Baii, a fishing town next to Fish Hoek. Lots of neat bohemian shops- the hipster thing has definitely caught on down here. Some of the shirts were totally bonkers- a mock vacation ad for Robben Island (where anti-apartheid activists were held as prisoners) was a little twisted. Sitting on the beach we got nuzzled by a scraggley dog (from behind, which triggered a momentary panic while we figured out what was going on). This dog LOVED seaweed. Loved it. He was chopping through a huge piece and refused to move on with his master. Also, grabbed a snack-here they put scoops of ice cream INSIDE crepes which is delectable.

Tomorrow, we're heading up to Simons Town, a naval town, to poke around, and we're perhaps going on a baboon trip. If you've got a minute, check out the site of Baboon Matters: Sustainable Solutions for Managing Baboons. It's an absolute riot.

Here is the peak we climbed by the house. Find Sean!

First Day

Here we are with our respective traveling gnomes (mine, Sven Gnomelessburger, and Sean's, Scooby Doo) at the beginning of our 17 hour flight from Washington to Jo'burg. We had an hour layover in Dakar, which I managed to sleep through-at some very weird angles mind you. SA Airways must have not gotten the recession message because they fed us four times, showed unlimited movies (our choices: He's Just Not That Into You, Seventeen Again, and The Day After Tomorrow), and gave us little airplane bags with toothbrushes and socks.

Here I am on Malcolm's balcony. You can see the Indian Ocean, Table Mountain, and Seal Island from his picture window! Apparently, the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet at a place called 'Cape of Good Hope,' and it looks really cool since the Indian Ocean is about 15 degrees warmer than the Atlantic- it's like blue and green water meet and fight. We're going to the nature reserve with that point later this week.

Here's Sean out on the balcony. Malcolm lives in a beach town called 'Fish Hoek.' It's next to Kalk Bay, which has a big harbor of fishing boats. We're going to one of the seafood places up there tomorrow-they're supposed to be some of the freshest in the world!

Our lovely place of residence for the week.

Topics for tomorrow: Michael Jackson, apartheid memories, world cup, grocery stores, and township perceptions in South Africa