As you can all tell from the pictures (that my dear brother took the time to post for me), I have been busy exploring the beauty that Cape Town has to offer. Last week, I climbed Lionshead, which is a mountain peak that is part of the Table Mountain range, but that kind of sits off by itself. It was supposed to be a "light walk" up, but I don't consider having to use my hands to scramble up rock faces to be a light walk by any means. The view was incredible though - we were climbing as the sun was setting and there were some incredible views of paragliders against the backdrop of the sunset.
Friday was my first AIDS seminar and it made me cry, it was so amazing. It really made me realize the value of coming here to study something like that because the lectures are presented in a context that has a lot of emotional background to it. These people have lived and are living through a crisis and you can't replace that with what you may read in a textbook in a classroom in North America. For example, one of the "coloured" women in my class (they can't decide on the politically correct terms to use here), was a schoolgirl during the infamous Soweto school incident. We were learning about that incident as part of our South African history lecture here and she was able to tell us from a firsthand perspective what it was like to be a coloured girl and be pulled out of class by young white male soldiers and hosed down. Many of her friends were murdered during that time. As well, many "African South African" (again, a stupid attempt at PC terms here) women in my class experienced the horrors of apartheid and are experiencing the horrors of AIDS in their own communities. Therefore, there is an opportunity to learn about the AIDS crisis in South Africa in a more connected way by being here. It's amazing and it's inspiring and on Friday it brought me to tears cuz I could actually FEEL the problems of this country.
Last week I also visited an adult education centre in a poor township with the Rotary Club of Hout Bay. It was the age-old story of how one man with little resources but a lot of heart was able to inspire the creation of an entire adult education centre in a township that desperately needed it. Very cool.
On the weekend, my roommates were all at a conference, but I hung out with a Canadian guy for the day. We drove down the cape coast to the most southwesterly point in Africa, which is called Cape Point. We saw African penguins waddling around on the beach, we saw baboons run down a cliff face and attack people's cars, we saw ostriches, we saw gorgeous empty white sand beaches, we saw so much beauty. I have tried to show pictures, but they just don't do the place justice. Beauty is all around here and people need to come here to understand what I am talking about.
More adventures to come so stay tuned!!
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
animals stop and pose for cameras here
south africa is all about the water sports
some sick kiteboarding moves...i must try this but i fear that i may lack the upper body strength and will therefore likely be swept off to sea to become the dinner of a great white shark...
gorgeous empty white sand beaches
the water is colder than it looks...do not be deceived!!
view from the lighthouse at cape point (the most southwesterly point in africa)
a pack of baboons ran down the cliffside and onto and INTO people's cars...they appear to be both dumb and vicious animals
special for you Trev!
African penguins
view from the cliffside drive down the cape
view of table mountain from camps bay beach (nicest beach ever!)Friday, February 23, 2007
Sunday, February 18, 2007
I Likes To Party Here...
Really amazing weekend in Cape Town...
Friday night I was invited to attend a "school party" with the Zambian guys I met earlier in the week. My flatmate, Ilya, and another Rotary scholar, Emily K., came along as well. We went to a residence on campus where we waited with hundreds of drunk freshers to buy tickets for some place called Ratanga Junction, which we knew nothing about. They piled us all on buses and drove us some 30 minutes to the Northern Suburbs I think. Our bus was really rowdy...the local South African boys were singing freedom songs and stomping and banging. When we arrived we were really impressed with the place. It was like a giant outdoor theme park area with a big indoor complex that housed at least a dozen venues playing different types of music. We ended up in a hip hop venue and broke it down a little bit for the locals. Haha. They played amazing music though - much like at clubs in Canada. Nelly Furtado was played frequently so there was some Canadian pride there. Drinks were only 8 rand, which is like $1.50 Canadian, so that was a bonus too. Really good times there.
Saturday morning we all got up and took the train out to Muizenberg beach (first class this time)! The beach was hosting a surfing competition and the waves were wicked. Lots of kiteboarding going on too. So we tanned our bodies for a bit and then grabbed lunch and hung out with some homeless people in a local park. Good times.
Saturday night I rounded the troops again (as the local social convenor) and headed out to a place called Cool Runnings. It's a local hit with students and backpackers. It is an indoor/outdoor bar with sand and Christmas lights strung up all over the place. Scoped out the hot surfer boy scene there...haha. Met up with some other girls who we knew there as well, two of whom were South African and who insisted that we go to a house club called "All Nations" down the street. House music is very big with black South Africans here. Emily A., Emily K., Ally and I were the only non-black people in the place and that caused some tension at first. A super creepy black South African man tried to pick me up. I refused and the girls pulled me away from him, but he kept coming back. I learned that men are super persistent here. Security literally had to intervene and even then he was screaming at security about how he wanted to talk to me. It was slightly unnerving. Lots of cool dance offs going on in the place though. Very tribal looking dance moves. I ended up in the middle of a dance off circle and panicked when I realized I didn't have the hips for any of the dance moves! Hahaha.
Sunday morning our flatmates all assembled again to go to a Rotary/Rotaract/Interact event that was put on for underpriveleged black children from the townships. We helped facilitate the games and had an amazing day giving back a little bit to the community. We all plan to do a lot more community service activities with the local Rotary and Rotaract Clubs.
Friday night I was invited to attend a "school party" with the Zambian guys I met earlier in the week. My flatmate, Ilya, and another Rotary scholar, Emily K., came along as well. We went to a residence on campus where we waited with hundreds of drunk freshers to buy tickets for some place called Ratanga Junction, which we knew nothing about. They piled us all on buses and drove us some 30 minutes to the Northern Suburbs I think. Our bus was really rowdy...the local South African boys were singing freedom songs and stomping and banging. When we arrived we were really impressed with the place. It was like a giant outdoor theme park area with a big indoor complex that housed at least a dozen venues playing different types of music. We ended up in a hip hop venue and broke it down a little bit for the locals. Haha. They played amazing music though - much like at clubs in Canada. Nelly Furtado was played frequently so there was some Canadian pride there. Drinks were only 8 rand, which is like $1.50 Canadian, so that was a bonus too. Really good times there.
Saturday morning we all got up and took the train out to Muizenberg beach (first class this time)! The beach was hosting a surfing competition and the waves were wicked. Lots of kiteboarding going on too. So we tanned our bodies for a bit and then grabbed lunch and hung out with some homeless people in a local park. Good times.
Saturday night I rounded the troops again (as the local social convenor) and headed out to a place called Cool Runnings. It's a local hit with students and backpackers. It is an indoor/outdoor bar with sand and Christmas lights strung up all over the place. Scoped out the hot surfer boy scene there...haha. Met up with some other girls who we knew there as well, two of whom were South African and who insisted that we go to a house club called "All Nations" down the street. House music is very big with black South Africans here. Emily A., Emily K., Ally and I were the only non-black people in the place and that caused some tension at first. A super creepy black South African man tried to pick me up. I refused and the girls pulled me away from him, but he kept coming back. I learned that men are super persistent here. Security literally had to intervene and even then he was screaming at security about how he wanted to talk to me. It was slightly unnerving. Lots of cool dance offs going on in the place though. Very tribal looking dance moves. I ended up in the middle of a dance off circle and panicked when I realized I didn't have the hips for any of the dance moves! Hahaha.
Sunday morning our flatmates all assembled again to go to a Rotary/Rotaract/Interact event that was put on for underpriveleged black children from the townships. We helped facilitate the games and had an amazing day giving back a little bit to the community. We all plan to do a lot more community service activities with the local Rotary and Rotaract Clubs.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Canadian Mojo
Over the past week, I have been to campus every single day to work out registration. It's not like Canadian universities where you do it all online with a few clicks of your mouse. This is days and days of standing around in long queues and running around to obtain signatures from anyone remotely associated with every course one is taking. For me this meant running around to multiple campuses, which wasn't fun. The good news is that Canadian charm works wonders here! I managed to bypass a lot of lines and a lot of signatures by using good ol' Canadian mojo on the course convenors and the dean!
I still have to get the internet and banking set up. Both take forever here. Patience is something I must learn. We were originally told internet set up would take 12 weeks. More Canadian mojo had to come into play to get that cut down to only a few weeks.
I have met many amazing people from around the world here. There have been a lot of orientations and social events for international postgrads and we have all gelled really well. I have met people from Zambia, Zimbabwe, Scotland, Switzerland...It's a really cool experience.
My roommates and I all have serious political conversations every night before we go to bed. It's really interesting to have that kind of stimulating exchange between people from vastly different backgrounds. All of the roommates have now moved in. The other Canadian girl and I actually know mutual people from Ontario, which is really cool.
So sadly, nothing too exciting has been going on yet. Tomorrow my diggsmates and I are all going to Muizenberg beach (it's like 30 degrees here!) and then next week school starts up. I am planning on doing a sundowner (drink beer and watch the sun go down) up Lionshead (mountain peak) next week. And then believe it or not, I think I am going on a camping trip next weekend. I don't know if my high maintenance tendencies will jive with camping in Africa, but I'll let you all know! Haha.
Peace out!
I still have to get the internet and banking set up. Both take forever here. Patience is something I must learn. We were originally told internet set up would take 12 weeks. More Canadian mojo had to come into play to get that cut down to only a few weeks.
I have met many amazing people from around the world here. There have been a lot of orientations and social events for international postgrads and we have all gelled really well. I have met people from Zambia, Zimbabwe, Scotland, Switzerland...It's a really cool experience.
My roommates and I all have serious political conversations every night before we go to bed. It's really interesting to have that kind of stimulating exchange between people from vastly different backgrounds. All of the roommates have now moved in. The other Canadian girl and I actually know mutual people from Ontario, which is really cool.
So sadly, nothing too exciting has been going on yet. Tomorrow my diggsmates and I are all going to Muizenberg beach (it's like 30 degrees here!) and then next week school starts up. I am planning on doing a sundowner (drink beer and watch the sun go down) up Lionshead (mountain peak) next week. And then believe it or not, I think I am going on a camping trip next weekend. I don't know if my high maintenance tendencies will jive with camping in Africa, but I'll let you all know! Haha.
Peace out!
Monday, February 12, 2007
In South Africa!!
Hi Guys!!
This is my very first visit to an internet cafe and it will be difficult for me to be up on internet for awhile since we have no DSL connected yet (that may take quite awhile) and I'm not registered to use campus internet yet.
My roommates are very nice. We have two other scholars crashing with us til the remaining two roommates arrive. Emily, Ilya and I are looking into getting a car. unfortunately it is impossible to get around without one here. Example: yesterday Emily and I went into the City Bowl by train (not recommended) and we ended up riding third class (DEFINITELY not recommended). We couldn't buy train tickets cuz it was a Sunday so we had no choice but it was terrifying. We were the only non black people on board and everyone was really poor and dodgy looking. I DID NOT want to do this, but Emily seemed confident that it was fine. Won't be doing it again though. We rode a double decker tour bus all around Cape Town and it was awesome. Saw District 6, went up the mountain to where the cable car runs (beautiful view from up there), drove past the wealthy areas along the beach (one American just bought the most expensive place in africa for 46 million rand which is like a little less than 10 million dollars canadian which is a hell fo a lot for Africa!). It's a hop on hop off bus but we decided we just wanted to ride it around instead of getting off places. We ended up in the V&A Waterfront which is where you can definitely let your guard down. Kinda like Pier 39 in San Fran only more posh according to Emily. We shopped around, watched some operformers and took in the sights of really wealthy white south africans - talk about witnessing the duality of Cape Town in one day! Some new friends met us for dinner on the pier and drove us home afterwards cuz it was too late for us to take public transportation.
Today I did preregistration and everything went smoothly. Went to a social sci postgrad students orientation and met a bunch of people from my programme. There are a few of us canadians in it. Learned that it is a super competitive programme apparently. 20 people in it. Have six books I have to read before next Fri. Tomorrow is course registration. Have to run around campus getting signatures from all the lecturers and then get paper signed by the course convenor so that will be super frustrating. Met a girl who told me to take an economics course called Economics of AIDS in Africa. Apart from that and the core course and my research courses, I think my other elective will be witht he faculty of Public Health. That means I have to go to another campus nearby but I want diversity of disciplines since the course is interdisciplinary afterall. The campus is GORGEOUS!!!!!!!! Qutie the workout to walk up since it is all on an incline, but the buildings are gorgeous and the view from the top of the steps out into the southern suberbs is awesome. Then of course the moutnain in the background. Joined the mountain club and the surf club as intended.
We are very close to everything we need in terms of shopping, internet cafes, groceries and just about anythign really. Close walk and I think safe enough to do alone during peak hours, but have mostly gone with others except this morning when I went to get a cellphone.
Catherine is really nice - the party we went to at her house was nice cuz we got to mingle with soem other grad students. Had a wicked conversation with a young couple from Stellenbosch (the wine region). They have invited me out to their home for a Sunday dinner at some point cuz they like talkign politics and policy with me! Haha.
That's all for now, hopefully I will be getting DSL soon so I will be able to update this more.
Mel...
This is my very first visit to an internet cafe and it will be difficult for me to be up on internet for awhile since we have no DSL connected yet (that may take quite awhile) and I'm not registered to use campus internet yet.
My roommates are very nice. We have two other scholars crashing with us til the remaining two roommates arrive. Emily, Ilya and I are looking into getting a car. unfortunately it is impossible to get around without one here. Example: yesterday Emily and I went into the City Bowl by train (not recommended) and we ended up riding third class (DEFINITELY not recommended). We couldn't buy train tickets cuz it was a Sunday so we had no choice but it was terrifying. We were the only non black people on board and everyone was really poor and dodgy looking. I DID NOT want to do this, but Emily seemed confident that it was fine. Won't be doing it again though. We rode a double decker tour bus all around Cape Town and it was awesome. Saw District 6, went up the mountain to where the cable car runs (beautiful view from up there), drove past the wealthy areas along the beach (one American just bought the most expensive place in africa for 46 million rand which is like a little less than 10 million dollars canadian which is a hell fo a lot for Africa!). It's a hop on hop off bus but we decided we just wanted to ride it around instead of getting off places. We ended up in the V&A Waterfront which is where you can definitely let your guard down. Kinda like Pier 39 in San Fran only more posh according to Emily. We shopped around, watched some operformers and took in the sights of really wealthy white south africans - talk about witnessing the duality of Cape Town in one day! Some new friends met us for dinner on the pier and drove us home afterwards cuz it was too late for us to take public transportation.
Today I did preregistration and everything went smoothly. Went to a social sci postgrad students orientation and met a bunch of people from my programme. There are a few of us canadians in it. Learned that it is a super competitive programme apparently. 20 people in it. Have six books I have to read before next Fri. Tomorrow is course registration. Have to run around campus getting signatures from all the lecturers and then get paper signed by the course convenor so that will be super frustrating. Met a girl who told me to take an economics course called Economics of AIDS in Africa. Apart from that and the core course and my research courses, I think my other elective will be witht he faculty of Public Health. That means I have to go to another campus nearby but I want diversity of disciplines since the course is interdisciplinary afterall. The campus is GORGEOUS!!!!!!!! Qutie the workout to walk up since it is all on an incline, but the buildings are gorgeous and the view from the top of the steps out into the southern suberbs is awesome. Then of course the moutnain in the background. Joined the mountain club and the surf club as intended.
We are very close to everything we need in terms of shopping, internet cafes, groceries and just about anythign really. Close walk and I think safe enough to do alone during peak hours, but have mostly gone with others except this morning when I went to get a cellphone.
Catherine is really nice - the party we went to at her house was nice cuz we got to mingle with soem other grad students. Had a wicked conversation with a young couple from Stellenbosch (the wine region). They have invited me out to their home for a Sunday dinner at some point cuz they like talkign politics and policy with me! Haha.
That's all for now, hopefully I will be getting DSL soon so I will be able to update this more.
Mel...
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