March 2012
13 posts
Sibling Shenanigans
Ben’s trip to Cape Town started as you would expect. I ran to hug him as soon as I saw him outside of baggage claim, he insisted I didn’t recognize him immediately, I told him I couldn’t see as far as he could, and he blamed me for my poor vision that he was lucky enough to never have had the opportunity to inherit from our mother. Once that was out of the way, we were back in action like Mario...
Infecting the City
Infecting the City is a Public Arts Festival presented by The Africa Centre in Cape Town. It takes place over the course of five days in the streets of Cape Town, using the most unlikely spaces for unbelievable artistic performances. I was advised by my African Studies professor to check it out, and so I went on March 9 to follow the “orange route,” which began at a concourse in the...
“Public art has always been part of who we are on this continent and in this...”
– The Africa Centre
February 2012
31 posts
Homestay in Ocean View
The weekend of February 24-26, we had homestays in Ocean View, the “colored” community that we had visited on our first tour of Cape Town. I stayed with a Muslim family that had two adorable young daughters, and we spent the weekend hanging out, coloring, watching movies, and singing karaoke for what must have been a record breaking number of hours. Beyond the interesting conversations...
Robben Island
On Sunday, our house took a trip to Robben Island, the famous prison that held political activists, such as Nelson Mandela, during the apartheid. After taking a ferry to the island, we explored the jail under the guidance of a former prisoner. He described to us the environment of the Robben Island prison, which seemed unique because it housed only political prisoners rather than criminal...
Call Me Clark Kent
There’s something about studying abroad that makes you feel a bit like Superman. Whether it’s learning a new sport, a new language, or a new skill, there is something about this experience on another continent that makes you feel like you can do anything. And if you think you can’t, then your friends will peer pressure you enough to make you try anyway. My guess is that it has to do...
Skool
This post is for everyone out there who thinks I’m in South Africa for five months just to bungee jump and sand board and go on safari. Contrary to everything I’ve blogged thus far, I actually go to school here. I take real classes (granted, only three), I have a real UCT student ID card, and I even purchased books this weekend. So maybe I only had class on Monday and Tuesday of this...
A Hectic Holiday
We left the festival on Sunday and traveled the rest of the way to Mossel Bay, where we stayed in the Santos Express Lodge, an old train that was converted into a hostel. All 15 of us stayed on bunk beds in train car 7, and therefore referred to ourselves as Bunk 7 for the rest of the trip. We didn’t do much in Mossel Bay that night because being the alternative study abroad students that we...
Up The Creek
Friday marked the end of our UCT orientation, and the beginning of our week-long holiday before classes began. Although we had just settled in, we were encouraged to use this time to travel on the Garden Route, a scenic drive along the Southern coast of South Africa that runs from Mossel Bay to Port Elizabeth. We had a group of 15 students who wanted to make this trip, and so that Friday...
Getting to know Cape Town
Sunday was our orientation to Cape Town with all the international students at the University of Cape Town. It was an exhausting but unbelievable tour, just a short glimpse into the extensive landscapes and unique cultures of this city. We started out by driving through Bo-Kaap, a neighborhood made up of rows of colorful houses and buildings. We learned that this area was settled by freed slaves...
January 2012
5 posts
Saturday was the day we had all been waiting for, when we could finally settle into our houses for the semester. I was assigned to the Penrose house, which in my completely objective opinion is the best house you can get on this program. It’s a huge Victorian close to campus with a church on one side and a grocery store on the other. I live with 19 other people including my roommate Esther...
Orientation Week
HOWZIT! It’s been four days into the program, and this is the first time I’ve had a chance to get on my computer, which says a lot about how busy they’ve been keeping us during this orientation week. I arrived on Tuesday, flying on South African Air from DC to Senegal to Johannesburg and finally to Cape Town which took about 20 hours in total. The most significant part of the trip over had to be...
