In case that picture didn't do it, I can also explain some things. Cape Town, South Africa is amazing/confusing/complicated/awesome/depressing/delicious/hot/windy and a thousand other things. For one, the most notable thing is how beautiful the landscape is. The entire city is built around this breath taking mountain range, and is on the Atlantic Ocean. The University of Cape Town campus (where I am living) is right beneath Table Mountain, which is a really flat, one of those mountains, which I have an awesome view of from the balcony of my dorm. Speaking of my dorm, I live in a single in a four person suite with a kitchen and bathroom. One of my roommates is American, from Cincinnati, the other is from Swaziland, and the other is from Northern Cape, South Africa. They are all the nicest people! The South African one is a freshman, and is a Gender Studies major as well, so I will have a few classes with her!
Anyway, back to the scenery. So at all times there is either a gorgeous mountain, or a gorgeous beach in the background of anything you are looking at. It is very hot here, but the wind is like nothing I have ever experienced, so the heat is not unbearable, and the evenings are actually kind of chilly. The food is Delicious, but I can't really describe it, because there is no one kind of South African food. It's a lot of stews/saucy things I guess, and there's a lot of Indian food around or Indian influence, and a lot of fresh vegetables and fruits, and avocado is in everything.
We've done and seen a lot of cool things! At this point, it's hard to remember them all, so I'm just gonna list the highlights:
Visited Boulders Beach, which is famous for its South African penguins!!!
Took a cable car up to the top of Table Mountain on our first day here (I was wayy too jet lagged to fully take this in)
Today we hiked up this mountain, which was the hardest hike I have ever done in my life. I honestly can't walk right now. The entire hike up and down took over four hours. It was brutal. But soo worth it. More pictures of that to come!
Earlier this week we registered at UCT, which was an experience in and of itself, maneuvering a huge foreign university's bureaucracy. So fun!
We also went on a picnic to Kirstenbosch Gardens with a group of UCT students from our dorm, which was gorgeous and super fun. Also more pics of that to come!
We visited Cape Point, which is the tip of the Cape Peninsula, but, contrary to popular belief, NOT where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet! It was gorgeous though!
We watched the Super Bowl at a local bar with tons of Americans and South Africans (who arbitrarily chose a team to support) from 1:30 am to 4 am. Needless to say, I was pissed I stayed up for it after it was all over...
Despite all the fun times, South Africa has a lot of issues, due to the legacy of colonialism and Apartheid. It doesn't quite feel right enjoying some of the fun activities we've had, knowing this country has such extreme amounts of poverty and inequality, and that we have access to such great things because of our privileged status as Americans. There was one day, early on, when we visited a township (the shanty towns that black South Africans were forced into when Apartheid was enacted) during the day, and at night took buses to Stellenbosch (which is wine country) and had this amazing delicious meal with live music. A bunch of my friends and I sat around trying to make sense of it all and if we're supposed to be sobered, or enjoying ourselves. Because the wealth gap is so extreme here, and falls along racial lines, it is difficult to enjoy some of what South Africa has to offer knowing that many of its own citizens don't even have access to these things. The unemployment rate here is astronomical, particularly for South Africans of color, and especially those in townships, where unemployment rates can be over 80%. This is also why crime rates are so high here. South Africa is sort of paradoxical, because it is a very developed nation with the issues of a developing nation.
Anyway, those are my thoughts/experiences so far (for the most part), and I'm sure I will continue seeing and doing a lot. I will try to keep this blog updated, thanks for reading this far if you've made it! Miss you all!
Your face on the hike down is priceless! It is a really beautiful place. I understand that right now you are trying to find a deeper purpose for this study opportunity.I hope that as it progresses you are able to share with South Africa some of the compassion and open mindedness that makes you such an incredible person. Blog on!
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