The Run Down.

Well, I have been here for a little over a month. My perspective on things has been as dynamic as the cycles of nature; precipitating, collecting, raining, flowing, moving, morphing everything it touches and being morphed myself, in synchronicity.

Some conclusions: South Africa is a crazy place. One of my favorite words locals like to use to describe crazy mad intensely awesome times is ‘hectic.’ Everything is hectic here, but with the connotation of rocking out boundlessly. I like you see people walking around with bags of flour on their heads and people pushing shopping carts filled with wood on the highways and goats crossing the roads at the same time that you see skyscrapers and use the internet and watch current American movies and listen to electronic music with crazy pyrotechnics and light shows.

The way I’m going to structure this post is that I’m simply going to go through my written diary I’ve been keeping and pick out the gems worth mentioning.

Rocked out at the FIFA Fan Fest in Cape Town for the final match, went on a home stay in the Langa township, went on a tour of the Cape Peninsula and said oms on the mountain below the lighthouse and next to the ocean, started classes (Religion, Spirituality & Ecology, History of South Africa in the 20^th Century, South African Political Thought, Environmental Management and Sustainable Development) went to a jazz show at UCT, enthusiastically supported the Western Cape rugby team at a game, saw a documentary at the local cinema called Mugabe & the White African (about Zimbabwe and all the madness going on there), joined the capoeira club, saw Inception, met the love of my life (my perfect match), saw a local comedy show, started volunteering with high school students in a township with a group called Inkanyezi, took a tour of Hout Bay, went back to Langa for lunch, explored Muizenberg, explored Kalk Bay, went to the Old Biscuit Mill Market, experienced National Women’s Day by getting a free surf lesson in the Indian Ocean, going to a flea market and discovering some cool local spots, gave blood, played soccer, joined the yoga club, started hanging out with local kids, found my favorite trance dance spot, saw Sir Ian McKellen in Waiting for Godot, saw some live reggae, got a bicycle, met some great and serious cyclists, saw the Pitch Hikers at a trance party, went to Robben Island (466/64!), explored Camp’s Bay, became familiar with Obz, saw some suburbs, had an amazing time at Mzoli’s in the Guguletu township, received a Xhosa name (Nomatemba), discovered live music at Alma Café, some funky slap bass at Tagore’s, went to Lladondo, made some important connections, met some beautiful and stupendous friends and haven’t done the same thing twice.

For the first time in my life I can embrace what it means to be proud to be an American. I’m not generally an America-hater, but I do recognize the recklessness and greediness that have characterized the west’s treatment of the world. Still, though, now that I’m here, I can see that America has also given the world a lot of great culture that happens to be universally loved. There is so much diversity of culture here that I can’t help but think that it’s all just beautiful. One of the nicest moments was when I asked one person if he was of English descent and he shook his head and smiled and said, “We are all South Africans.” Very impressive.

So, I’ve done a lot. From here on out I think I will be writing more pointed essays etc. on how I’m finding things. Plus, pictures to follow tomorrow. (I must use the school computers, I’m already so low on internet!)

Cheers!

'YOU SHALL NOT PASS.'

Well goodness, there’s just so much to say!

Most awesomely, they celebrate a National Women’s Day here and they do it up just right (we get off school and everything). It was this past Monday, August 9^th. In honor of the ladies, this surf shop at a nearby beach town called Muizenberg offered women a free surf lesson with board and wet suit. So I danced with some waves! It was so totally awesome. I was pretty anxious in the beginning because the last time I went into the ocean (only a month and a half ago in California) it really hurt my ear drums. Plus, it is still winter here so it was rather cold and the ocean was rough. AND it started to rain before we went in. The whole thing looked foreboding and ominous, to me. But we were a nicely sized group of about 12 and there were three enthusiastic instructors and they took us through the whole drill while we were on the shore and then sent us out into the waves and it was really not very difficult at all. I caught the first wave I tried.

They were like, “Stand up, stand up!” and I didn’t even think I was riding it, but then I stood up and lo and behold, there I went. Really great feeling.

So basically I accomplished my number one goal for Cape Town. Ride a wave.

The rest of that day Sorcha, Cosmo, Erika and I spent wandering around Muizenberg. There is a lot more to that town than I first thought. Lots of little shops and antique stores and cafes. And a lot of surf stuff. We went to a weird little flea market by the beach. The best place was this spot called ‘The Melting Pot’ which is nice café/bar/fire pit/place for music where the locals gather and hang out. There weren’t too many people, maybe a dozen or so as the night went on, so we were able to become friends with them all.

Then Abe cooked the ladies dinner. Woo hoo Women’s Day!

So now I’m going to go all the way back to July 30^th and just mention a few events because really, I’ve done quite a lot.

July 30^th was a Friday and my Environmental class got to go on a field trip to this area called Hout Bay/Imizamo Yethu. This place is quite unique in that it is one of the absolute most impoverished areas in Cape Town right next to one of the wealthiest neighborhoods around. We got to go on a tour of the place, noting things like whether they had electricity or running water and what the air smelled like, whether there was any greenery etc.

It’s a pretty insane place. The poor area (Imizamo Yethu) is basically just a hillside of shacks. I think like 200,000 families or something like that. Each shack is just a bed and maybe a TV and a refrigerator and a stove. Tiny. And a whole family lives in each one. But you know, honestly, they are so wonderful. Just awesome and resilient people. There’s no way I feel pity for any of them, only respect. They’re living like this because they and their families before them were forcefully kicked off their land and their choice was basically put up a shack or don’t. It was interesting touring their area, taking a field trip through their homes. Everyone was very friendly and spirited though, as you might expect from people who spend their lives in a closely knit community where all you have is each other. One really sad thing was that in June there was a fire which destroyed tons of houses. They’re all connected, so if one catches fire, all of them are pretty much goners. Plus, there isn’t a decent running water supply so it must have been a nightmare to put out. They share one toilet for 50 families. What the heck!

The suburban area was really regular and I preferred the shacks. It’s in a gorgeous area of the Cape which is why the suburbanites live there. It’s just weird that included in their fantastic view is a big lump of poverty.

That night we went to a rugby game! It was really fun. Lots of hollering and some group of people got a pretty good wave going around the stadium. It was basically like being at a football game only with nonstop action.

Saturday we went to the waterfront and saw Inception – awesome movie. My dreams have been pretty vivid since then, I must say. I’ve been doing a really good job writing my dreams down for months. I had a crazy one this past week – it was about Hitler’s suicide. INTENSE.

Then Saturday night Will, Jamie and I went out with my original couch surfing friend Shane to this place called the Kimberley Hotel which was one of the first bars in Cape Town. That was super awesome because Shane is such a great guy and the four of us had lots of really good conversation. He is a good reflection of Cape Town for us Americans. The previous night we had gotten into many discussions in the courtyard that got kind of heated. Someone was saying that America was exploiting Mexico and Ireland for celebrating Cinco de Mayo and St. Patrick’s Day. Kind of a ridiculous claim, but you have to face those kinds of points of view sometimes.

Sunday not much happened, although I found a place with pretty phenomenal cheeses.

We had a potluck the following week for which I made peanut sauce which was a big hit. Hurray.

Tuesday, 3 Aug I went to my second Inkanyezi meeting. So I went into this township called Philipe and met with these year 11 students and did a little workshop with them. I like them so much! I can’t wait to keep going back! I almost want to do it twice a week, but as it is I am booked solid almost every day of the week and I cherish having free time because I have a lot of exploring to do.

Tuesday night we saw a really iiinteresting documentary called ‘Mugabe and the White African.’ If you don’t know what is happening in Zimbabwe, basically the dictator president (Mugabe) kicked all the white people off their land and made them leave the country. So the documentary is about this one white family that fought for their farm and eventually took it to international court and the court ruled they could keep their farm, but they got the crap beaten out of them and had to leave anyway. It was quite intense, but I couldn’t help leaving with the feeling that it’s so incredibly much less horrendous than anything that happened to the Africans in the past few centuries. I mean I know you don’t really compare tragedies like that, but it’s just that no one was around to make a documentary about the slaves who were lain down in shelved compartments and shipped off around the globe to have terrible lives until they died. So basically it just made me remember those people, which is a good thing, I guess. It’s just intense that the Zimbabwe thing is current. How interesting that this is how history is playing its course.

Last Friday Sam and Will and I hung out in Kalk Bay all evening. That was great!

I’ll take a moment to describe where I live in relation to other things. So there is the mountain, Table Mountain, and it is huge. My university is on one side and I live directly below it. A ways north is Cape Town and I can take the train there or a taxi or the school sponsored bus (the Jammie) or a mini bus (a big van that drives by and honks and hollers and is generally a pain to be around unless you need it). To the south is how you get to the beach and you take the train there and it’s about 20 minutes to the first beach stop (Muizenberg) and then every stop after that is beach for awhile, I believe.

So Kalk Bay comes after Muizenberg. It was an old fishing town and we learned from a woman that we met that it was one of few areas less affected by apartheid because the people living there weren’t relocated. Sam and Will and I went down there. There are two piers sticking out into the harbor perpendicular to one another and we went on those and watched the waves for a long time. I’ve never really seen waves like this or noticed waves in this way and I don’t really know how to explain it, but the Indian ocean seems to have many more small waves with a greater frequency and they build up to many large waves that are rather far apart. It was pretty phenomenal looking. Then the sun set. Experiencing the weather on the peninsula is a crazy experience because you can see exactly what is happening. As soon as the sun sets, the wind gusts and the clouds roll in over the mountain without missing a beat. When the wind blows from the northwest it is cold and rough, from the southeast warm and calmer.

We walked down the road in the cold grey wind for awhile. There were a lot of weird spots where you could take stairs down from the road and go through a tunnel and be on the rocky shore. And by some of the shores were big, white, concrete pools for some reason. I like the ocean when it’s windy and cold.

Then we went to this bar (it’s two connected bars and a restaurant) right on the shore. They built a huge (maybe 50 x 75 feet) concrete pool on the side by the ocean and there are big windows inside and the pool is filled with ocean water because the ocean crashes against the side of it and spills over. So you sit inside and watch the ocean crash against the restaurant, basically. It’s really awesome looking – it looks like the fountains outside the Bellagio, only natural so it’s way cooler.

We went there and met this older woman who looked like a good witch named Ingrid. Long face, pointy nose – but extremely intelligent and fascinating and we learned about all sorts of things. Things from what fruits and vegetables are in season to apartheid and many of the stories of her life. She put apartheid into a light I had never before considered – the Berlin wall. She said she was here and experiencing all the crap going on and then went to visit her family in Germany and her family had been accidentally split up the night the wall was erected, so they were stuck on either side. So she went to experience the crap going on there, too. South Africa and Germany both have such an interesting political history, but I had never really thought about them side-by-side. I’m glad we met her. She owns an antique shop down there, so we’ll have to go back sometime.

She recommended a place called the Lucky Fish by the harbor and we went there and had a phenomenally delicious sea food platter. So fresh. It was weird eating the fish because while there was still daylight when we walked down the harbor the fishermen were there with all their dozens and dozens of fish hanging on lines and laid out on the ground. Fresh fish is pretty tasty though, I feel like I have to eat it before the fish population dies out so they don’t die in vain.

Then we went to the other bar connected to the first bar we went to (the upper part was the more adult area, and the part we went to after eating the fish was more for young people) which was a good hang out place. It was really big and you could sit by the windows and watch the surf and there were lots of picnic tables and then in the middle on a lower level was the bar and dance floor. We hung out there for awhile and then took a taxi home (you can’t take trains at night.)

Saturday I woke up early and went to this local public market called the Old Biscuit Mill Market in an area called Woodstock. We had quite a time getting there, but once we did, ohhh man! So many things! There’s one big huge area with hundreds of vendors selling scrumptious food all giving out free samples. I can’t stop going on about how crazy good the food is here. I am getting to the point where I have to actively control my eating habits or I will just eat all the time.

We had to leave early to facilitate the fumigation of our apartments because some people brought home bed bugs from our township home stay.

But after that we walked to this cool area called Observatory, or Obz, for short. It’s like the poor hip kids neighborhood with cool cafes and bars and shops. We wandered around all the streets and eventually went to this place called Obz Café. This was the beginning of a night of proper synchronicities and things working out well. I was walking along and there were three South African kids on the corner and they said hi and I said hi and they said where you going, and I said Obz Café and they said it was good and to ask for Marcel to wait on us because he was one of the girls’ brothers. So we went in and sat down and then I asked if one kid was Marcel (because he was the only white guy I saw and she had been white) but he wasn’t, he was Matthew, then we met our waiter named Siya, and then finally saw Marcel. So we ate food and this kid I had previously met at Stones named Landry met us there and was very nice and polite – it’s just a shame because he speaks French and very little English! It’s kind of hard to get to know a fellow that way. But he’s a really cute black guy from Congo.

Then we left and went home and hung out for awhile. That night I really wanted to go to the Rhino Room (the psytrance place on Long St. downtown) but it took everyone ages to get ready so I had to wait around for awhile – which actually ended up being a good thing because when I arrived there were only three people on the dance floor anyhow. So I went there and all my friends went to go do the bar hop thing on Long Street. The djs were awesome! This one guy named Gandalf played my favorite set and the last people called Plus Minus were really good too. I met a few cool people. The place has an awesome vibe and everyone in it looks cool and positive. On the one side there is the dj booth and the dance floor and lots of colored lights and a big fluorescent rhino head sticking out of the wall, and in the middle is the bar and on the other side there are couches and chairs and a pool table.

At one point I walked outside and there were Siya and Matthew from earlier! This was very good because I wanted to stay and dance for a long time and I knew my friends wanted to go home. So I went and said hi to the rest of the group and they left and Sorcha and my roommate Amy stayed and hung out with Siya and Matthew various places and I spent the rest of my night going in and out of the Rhino Room to meet up with them and then go back and dance. At around 4 they gave us a ride home and I was very satisfied to be able to stay until the end of all the sets. This weekend there are two good trance parties and I guess I’ll just have to go to both of them because one is a big party up the coast and I’m going to have to miss the first outdoor party, so this will be my consolation for that. And that other one, the one tomorrow, has these guys called Pitch Hikers playing and I’ve been listening to them for years now, so I can’t miss their set either. But really, this is a great thing.

So then Sunday was pretty nice. Amy and I went into the Langa township to go have lunch at her home stay family’s house. They made us nice food. It was funny standing there at the gas station when we arrived because it was like, who are these white girls in the middle of our township? Haha. It was interesting eating with them because there are three generations living in the house. The youngest generation just wanted to sit and eat and watch TV and the older folks wanted us to sit at the table and talk. Naturally. I mean I don’t like TV so I wanted to sit and talk too, which is what we did, but it’s just funny to see that it happens everywhere.

Then we left and that night we went back to Observatory to watch some stand up comedy at the Obz Theatre. SO FUNNY. There was this tall, skinny, wacky old British guy who just heckled the audience and got every single person just cracking up a storm. It was great. He was the guy announcing every one of the other 6 acts. The other acts had some good jokes, but the British guy (Martin Davis) was the best. It was a nice venue, very personal and just how I would imagine a proper comedy club to be.

So now we are to this week and I already talked about Monday, Women’s Day.

Tuesday, I gave blood. Never thought I’d give blood in Africa, hey?

Oh, that’s another thing. You know in Hawai’i they end sentences with ‘yea?’ and in Canada they say ‘eh?’ etc? Well in South Africa it’s ‘hey.’ I’ve picked up on it pretty well and I like it.

So I gave blood… and then played soccer. Ha. There is a little park by our flats and we got a good little game going, pretty nice. Then we all made food together and ate it.

Tuesday night Lilya brought me to a small kickback party at a friend’s that she met (Renier). They were one black and three white South Africans who went to school in Botswana and now are back. One of them was a Serbian dude, originally. It was pretty funny, I definitely enjoy hanging out with people who live here (as opposed to Americans) most. Conversation just goes all over the place and there are some American things that it’s fun to explain to Africans.

Wednesday entailed probably one of the most excellent things I’ve done here so far – I saw Sir Ian McKellen in a production of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot downtown! Ahhh it was outstanding. If you don’t know the play, it’s basically just two old ratty men having absurd conversations the whole time with a few other characters that wander across the stage a couple times. They are waiting. For Godot. Ian McKellen was Gogo and he was so perfect, I swear he and his character are one and the same. We got to see him do all sorts of goofy things! Spit, chew a carrot and a parsnip, drop his pants, dance like an old vaudeville guy, stick his tongue out, fall over, get his butt smacked, stick his butt in another guy’s face, kick somebody in the balls and just be a generally wacky old man. Soooo funny. Will and Abe and I were quoting his voice forever before and after, pretending like he was the one of the minibus guys who just shout “Cape Town! Wynberg!” Anything is funny in an Ian McKellen voice. Even when he sighed and mumbled and breathed heavily it was still so apparently Ian McKellen. Such a glorious thing to experience.

Then we walked to the Jammie stop and eventually got home and I went to sleep and now it is Thursday!

Today my environmental class went to the Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden. It’s quite a spectacular place because this region is big on fynbos which is a type of floral beauty – 80% of the species that exist here only exist here. The Cape area is in and of itself an entire floral kingdom!

Tonight we are going to check out a reggae place in Obz called Trenchtown.

Tomorrow I am hoping to get a cheap bicycle.

Speaking of cheap, I didn’t realize how little money people made here. There are 7 rand to the dollar and yet in the news I heard that teachers are lobbying for paychecks of 11,000 rand a year. What?!?! That’s nothing, that’s like $1,500! Insanity. I can’t imagine a South African ever venturing over to the states, their money would be practically worthless. I’m fortunate for it to be this way. All my meals work out to be like $3 a piece or less. I’m trying not to think in terms of dollars and to think in terms of rand, but at the end of the day, what costs nothing to me is a fortune to everyone else.

Well, I guess that’s about all. Classes are good, I’m learning a lot about South Africa in the early 20^th century in two classes and a lot of theories about the world in my other class – ecofeminism, ecotheology and the like.

The world is in a crazy time! I can’t believe Greenland broke in half the other day. If things aren’t figured out soon, Cape Town will be underwater in the near future so I’ve got to live it up while it lasts.

Cheers!

circles, spirals and color.

Just got finished with my first class with the UCT capoeira club.

I couldn’t be happier. They are all reeeeally really really really good and super fit. It will definitely be a challenge for me, but I am incredibly thankful for Carcará’s superior training at the U of R. Even though almost everyone is better than me, I know that that actually just doesn’t matter at all. I’m going to be so good when I get back to Rochester. Back flip by December? Maybe…

Plus, I went to a free jazz show yesterday at the college of music. Just an alto sax and piano. If I could reduce life to two things, it would be capoeira and jazz, so yeah, my ears and body are both thanking me for pleasuring them so.

Not very many people wear tie dye here. I wore my brightest rainbow tie dye shirt to Stones last night and got a lot of really amusing positive attention for it. “Oh hey man, sporting the hippie vibe, cool!” It’s kind of goofy, but I met some pretty cool people as a result.

I had my first IES class today, the Environmental Management and Sustainable Development course. It is a pretty good group of people. It’s also kind of depressing, though. Devastating, actually. (learning about ecology and the ravaging of the environment, that is.) It’s okay though, that’s why we’re studying it as a subject and not just musing about it.

Two more things:

My favorite piece of South African lingo is definitely that they say, ‘Is it?’ for everything. It’s like in place of, ‘Is that so?’

“I lost my phone.”

“Is it?”

haha.

And lastly – if I die here, it’s going to be because I get hit by a car. I’m fairly optimistic that this won’t occur, but the scariest part of my day is absolutely crossing the street. The cross walks never turn ‘go’ and people drive somewhat maniacally.

On that note, going dancing is definitely in order for me soon. I can’t wait until it warms up more so I can do more outdoors things, too.

Here’s a quote from one of my readings:

“No one should have their creative or spiritual potential limited by expectations to conformity.” – Olive Schreiner

Cheers, vaya con dios.

Nkosi sikelel iAfrika

I guess I’ll start with the sonnet I wrote in Langa the other night.

O afrika, god bless your people’s land.

from heart to limb, effuse your spirit now.

to you we owe the long lives we have spanned;

for history, it’s you who takes the bow.

One Sunlight hovers in a golden glow,

One Love dwells lively in the whole of space.

combined, the earthly being starts to grow,

revealing self and other, time and place.

in Afrika, diversity is real;

(it takes two turns to catch up with your eyes)

the Voices are what make your insides feel

the harmony beneath all else which lies.

Sing, Afrika, Sing and you will be heard –

The People need the truth that’s in your word.

School started yesterday.

Here is a brief description of my classes:

Religion, Spirituality & Ecology.

It’s about the equilibrium of all things. How we messed it up and how we’re going to formulate a new globo-cultural ethos to fix it. World saving stuff, you know.

I’m so impressed with this class even though there have only been two lectures so far. It’s genius and it’s absurd that this sort of thing isn’t the main focus of all discussions everywhere. Everyone in it seems to be quite well spoken and to have valuable insight on the issue. The professor is also a funky Norwegian lady with a lot of knowledge.

History of South Africa in the 20^th century.

Since high school, I haven’t taken a class strictly about history. Religion and politics, sure, but this is just history. Nice. The lecturer seems great and I am excited to learn about gold.

South African Political Thought.

Studying the development of the way a culture thinks is awfully interesting. We’ve started with Rhodes… Wow! I can’t believe I’ve never learned this stuff before. South Africans know American history, why don’t we know any single thing about Africa? I really like the professor of this class, he is very earnest and open to whatever we care to bring to his table.

Environmental Management and Sustainable Development.

This is my IES class and I haven’t taken it yet, but basically it’s like the science version of my first class. The teacher of this class gave an awesome presentation which enticed me to sign up:

“How old are you? How long do you want to live? What’s the world going to like then? We’re changing our planet and we can no longer do it as haphazardly as has been done in the past. Let’s study it.” Something like that only a lot more powerful.

This past weekend I spent in a homestay in the township called Langa. (here are the pics. I'm trying to include them in the blog but I think the connection is perhaps too slow.) Townships are basically designated zones into which black people were forced when the white people started taking over. They still exist today. What do you think of when you think of a township?

I guess I expected mostly poverty, but it’s not necessarily that way. There is rich and poor in the townships as there is everywhere else. My family’s house was quite plain and small with no decorations or art save a single tall standing vase in the living room. There was a kitchen and a few rooms. Nevertheless, they had a Samsung television and a Sony sound system. My mother’s name was Viola and with her lives her 17-year-old daughter named Lilitha. They speak Xhosa – it’s a click language! Whoever thought I would be learning words with clicks in them.

Our group arrived in Langa in several 10-seater minibuses on Friday night, each of us going to our own individual houses (although some people were paired up to be together.) Langa is considered to be a fairly small township, although 200,000 people seems like an awfully large population of a community that is ‘small,’ if you ask me. There are many different sections to it. The first section I recall had roofs mostly of tin and houses that were all in one conjunct kind of fashion, separated by walls with their front yards spilling into the roads. Kids were everywhere.

I wouldn’t say that I personally fancy township lifestyle, however there is definitely something to be said for such a cohesive community of people. When I say kids were everywhere, I mean they were running around joyously in the streets, playing soccer, riding on little playmobil-type tricycles, chasing each other, laughing, dancing, running into the arms of these strange young foreigners coming to tour their home. They know each other. More importantly, they know themselves. They know themselves and their families and their friends’ families and they know where to go and what to do all the time. That’s pretty awesome.

Friday night I spent mostly in a chair in the corner of Viola’s kitchen, watching these and those goings on. There were a lot of knocks on the door of visitors and neighbors coming in for a chat. They were all quite friendly and stopped to introduce themselves to me before carrying on their business in Xhosa.

I’m definitely a fan of sitting and listening to people speak another language. It’s quite nice. There’s no pressure because I am in no way responsible for the content of their conversation – I just sit there and let the cadence of their speech lull me into quite a meditative and contemplative state. I would describe Xhosa as spiraling upward and back while still carrying on in a forward-moving linear fashion. The tones are open and full, like the sound of a trombone. Your whole jaw is involved in forming the chamber of your mouth which will allow the words to resonate properly. ‘Ingooooooooosi,’ that’s how you say thank you. And to say, ‘I like the moon,’ is, ‘da-ee-tan-da nnnnniaaannga.’ But be careful, because judging by the reactions I got from the Xhosi to whom I said these things, the word for ‘the moon’ and ‘this place’ are one and the same. Kind of cool, in an existential way.

Friday night not a lot else happened. I guess they enjoy watching tv. Although I generally repudiate mental saturation by television, it seemed somehow cultural to watch Predator and Bad Company and goofy African soap operas in the company of Viola and their family friend.

Saturday morning we got a tour of Langa. This day I got to see that some people in Langa aren’t living so badly at all. One family had a BMW and a huge house with a beautiful sun room. We went to the Catholic church, which was the central force for infrastructure at the time of Langa’s establishment, creating schools and medical facilities and whatnot. We saw the sports center, which was several big rugby and soccer fields, and they told us about how sports is a huge factor in uniting South Africans. We know this from Invictus and the world cup, of course.

We also saw the cultural center, where musicians and artists gather to do awesome things together. A man put on a short play for us (just a long monologue, really) and we watched this group of kids in a marimba ensemble perform. They just blew my mind, really, they were so young! David Burchi would love their spirit, not to mention their rhythm. Way more genuine and enthusiastic than any percussion ensemble in the states. Plus, the songs were beautiful.

We saw the Amy Biehl memorial and the site of the gunning down of the Guguletu 7. That was pretty weird. I remember watching that Amy Biehl documentary in Mrs. Wolf’s class sophomore year and groaning about it and of course never considering that I might actually be in the very spot where she was killed.

Our tour guides were great. One of them wrote a poem about the Guguletu 7 that won a national prize and recited it to us on location. Melesesue, Mike and Sabu. Sabu’s family owned a restaurant and many of us in our group spent the night there hanging out on the roof talking to locals and getting to know everyone around us.

That night was probably my favorite part.

It’s just this:

Africans are so freaking intelligent. I think they’re just really motivated to learn, and that’s awesome. Politics, economics, history, religion – they can school any American in any debate about anything. That makes talking to them super cool, because they also have a genuine understanding of who they are and even who we are and what it’s like for everyone to just be themselves but to coalesce in society, in modernity. Venus was on one side and the moon was on the other and we had many amazing conversations about life, Africa, water, the future, music, the past and so on.

At some point Will, Sam, Abe, Melesesue and I walked down to the corner where there was a big fire and people cooking chicken burgers – which is basically a huge drumstick between two pieces of bread. We walked around just a little bit together and then made it back to the restaurant and eventually back to our houses.

Sunday I was dead on my feet. I was pretty intensely affected by the energy of the whole experience. Something Melesesue said to me:

Africans are the most powerful people because they have maintained a strong and cohesive connection to their ancestry, to who they really are and where they are coming from, despite all else. They’ve got it. They’re all in this together and they know so. When it comes time for them to rise up, it’ll be something the world has never before seen.

So that was the home stay in the township.

I’ll think I’ll probably be able to go back there because I am going to be volunteering with a group called Ubunye. I’ll go to a township once weekly and have a class of ten or so 11^th graders and I’ll go and do things like goal-setting workshops (using a curriculum provided for me by the Ubunye people.) This I am excited for.

The week prior to the township consisted mainly of UCT orientation and logistical things. I went to the beach one day – the Indian Ocean! Amazing. The sand is the kind of sand that is nicely packed down with a powdery surface on top. Beneath the surface, the sand is moist enough that castles and towers made from it will easily hold shape. The sand closer to the water is the kind that you can squeeze with your fist and allow it to drip into drippy castles and towers that harden with an underwater fairytale sort of look.

So here I am, it’s been two days of classes. I’m really psyched for all the school stuff that is to come. I’m going to learn a bunch and be really smart. That’s the goal.

I never thought UCT would be too cool for me, though, and it just might be. Everyone looks super sharp all the time. Funky hair and well-put-together outfits and man, there are just so many people! I am thankful I did my undergrad at a fairly small institution, although this is definitely exciting and fun. The food is good, though, and I’m beginning to get to know my way around pretty well. Plus, I see people in my group often enough. I don’t want to see them too much because it’s hard to make friends when you’re with people you know, but luckily we are all pretty much on the same page in that respect. I met one girl in my religion class this morning whom I liked a lot. Her name is Naram, maybe? She is doing her masters in African studies and perhaps has inspired me to look into doing the same thing.

Last night was a full moon and we did the full moon ritual. (Bag me, bag me, bag me!) Next time it will be on the top of Lion’s Head, a nearby peak next to Table Mountain.

Afrika, man. Everything here is so profound.

I’m feeling the love, I can’t really help it.

om.

Oh yeah, and I just finished my book, The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay. If you want to dig the South African mentality, or even if you just want to read a really awesome novel, I strongly recommend this one. Peekay is the man. (and thanks to Gary Butler for loaning it to me)

Photo batch uno:

here are my pictures from south africa besides those from the world cup:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/anisvea/sets/72157624521729278/

there are more not in the set. I also need to make a batch of 'going out' pics.

Today Lilya and I explored town! I got just what a wanted out of the day. A nice lunch, a few purchases (purse & sunglasses), some water, some city, the wheel of excellence (ferris wheel), the market and a lot of walking and train riding. Joy!

This weekend I will be going on a homestay in a township. (!!!)

hurray!

minor adventure overview

The most noteworthy are:

1. I hopped onto a moving train

2. One of the 'girls' in my program turns out to be 32.

3. A bunch of mace was sprayed in the bar I was in last night.

4. I met my perfect match (but so far he's disappeared on me)

Our orientation for the University of Cape Town has begun. Last night there were around 300 of us in a room, each with a djembe, and a group of drummers from West Africa led us in a bunch of songs for almost an hour.

The last few days have been rather tame, but I think that is somewhat necessary. After all, it's winter.

I'll go into a little bit more detail soon. Things are definitely interesting.

Let it begin

Today marks a week since I left for Cape Town!

The experience thus far is a bit difficult to word process, but to say that this will be the best five months of my life is certainly no hyperbole.

I think I’ll start with how thankful I am to be with such an inclusive and fun loving community of people. There are 21 of us on this program – we are here with IES, or the International Education of Students. It is a group diverse in character and rich in spirit. There are four boys…Most people are from the coasts (although there is one girl from Kansas) and most people didn’t previously know each other, although there are five of us from my home institution, the University of Rochester.

This week has been orientation and it definitely reminds me of the kind of wild nights that are supposed to be had during college orientation, the ones that set the tone for the year with a proper amount of enthusiasm. We’ve been doing everything all together and hey, it turns out that we love each other. (sweet)

I’m used to having a 24/7 hangout lounge and it’s kind of hard to not have one place where everyone is centrally located (although most of us are connected because we live in the same apartment complex) but luckily two of the boys have an apartment with a living room with couches and a sound system and they love having people over. That has been the nightly gathering spot; the watering hole, if you will.

Anyway, everyone I’m with is really cool. Not a moment to waste.

Okay, so now I’ll start at the beginning.

I got in at 11pm. The airport was sparsely populated and it didn’t take long to get my things together. I was to be picked up by my couch surfing host, a guy named Shane Smart who turned out to be one of the most considerate, generous and humble people I’ve ever met. A good person to give you your first impression of Cape Town. He took me driving around a little bit, through the city and up to the top of this hill with a view that overlooks the Atlantic, the new stadium, the whole of Cape Town and the beautiful and majestic Table Mountain. The mountain was lit up with big spot lights at the base of it. I guess they do that sometimes, in this case for the World Cup, which was to end the following day.

This is a good place to marvel at the mountain for a moment, which is kind of hard to do since breathtaking life doesn’t transfer onto the typed page very well. It’s breathtaking. Every time I round a corner and see the grandiose mountain it trivializes everything I’m thinking about or doing completely. The words ‘wow’ and ‘ah!’ and ‘awe!’ and all those other exclamations are born from this very sort of thing. And you can see it from everywhere (including my balcony). Yes. A positive affirmation of everything that is.

Shane had another couch surfer staying with him when I got there, a lovely Argentinean woman named Corina. On Sunday, (the following day) the three of us went all over together. Shane took us around the Cape peninsula. Holy crap, man, I think I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves as far as the scenery goes. It’s unbelievable. Ridiculous. My reaction to it emotionally resides some place in that gray area where fury and passion and awe mingle to stir your inner mysterium tremendum, if you will.

The towns and little bay areas we stopped at were all cool and cute and there were many independently owned shops with beautiful and interesting things. Each place reminded me of a small oceanside town along the Pacific Coast… Except these places were along the Indian Ocean.

That’s right, the Indian Ocean. I can’t believe I’m seeing it. Que bueno, no?

We saw the penguins and the southernmost tip of the Cape. We saw a lot of greenery, a lot of ocean and a lot of sky. Shane took us to a lot of beaches to check out the surf because he is a water surfer in addition to the couch kind. I liked seeing lots of beach spots. I can’t believe the juxtaposition of ocean and mountain. Thank you thank you thank you, what a grace. The weather is totally fine, considering that it’s winter. It’s extremely variable. Yesterday I was wearing a short sleeve shirt and jeans and other days I have had to wear at least 5 layers. So basically it is like late March in Rochester… which is completely alright with me because every day it is only going to get better and better and better and better and better exponentially.

After we drove around the Cape we went into the city to get into the Fan Fest for the final match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. One of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had.

Mmmm….Ooooo……Mmmmmm…..Oooooo…..Mmmmmmmmmmmm…. yeah.

I’m not a very good estimate, but there must have been close to 25,000 people there. And yes, you could see perfectly – the screen was huge! There were vendors and food and drinks et cetera. The spirit of the crowd was super high and excited. It was very internationally represented, although most people seemed to be South African.

‘South Africans.’ Talk about diversity. I mean, America is a melting pot or whatever…but not really. People surely interact with people of cultural backgrounds than their own, but here there is what you might call proportional representation everywhere you go. Thank God. I think it is because they consciously did away with segregation in such a modern era. Obviously things take time to change, but people are shamelessly forthcoming about race and really everything and I love it.

So the World Cup was really fun. I met a lot of people because everyone was friendly and nice. Shane’s friend Mark was there and he was a really funny happy guy in a red aloha shirt. Spain won. You could see the mountain and Venus.

Venus is here! I’m so surprised. Venus and I became well acquainted during my time in Phoenix because I would go outside and look at her every night. I guess she is over the equator so she is visible from both hemispheres. Man, the first time I went outside and saw the stars was an exciting moment, indeed. I think I saw the other half of the Milky Way! WOWOWOWOW!!!!!

Venus, the mountain, the people, the football… We had gotten there four and a half hours early, too. There were bands and stuff in the time preceding the game. Ayoba, ayoba, that’s what you say here. It’s kind of like a South African version of sababa, maybe. It can mean whatever you want, but basically the gist of it…well, I don’t want to swear, but sometimes all you can say is ‘fuck yeah.’ (Shout out to Cait Munro right here)

I guess that’s pretty much the reader’s digest condensed version (Mr. Kelly) of Sunday, July 11^th.

Monday was my day to move in. Corina and I spent the morning walking around Shane’s neighborhood. He lives in a place that is hard to pronounce but is on the north side of the bay. Which is SWEET because while it is extra rad to be nested at the base of the mountain, I think the mountain view from across the bay is a necessary and equally glorious supplement.

Corina and I walked to the mall and I got a cell phone. Nokia, nice. We ate pizza! It was pretty good. Everything is spiced here. Philip, whom I sat next to on the airplane, told me I would think of him when I ate the food because he told me how much more flavor it has than American food, how everything has many spices and is just generally more complex. Well, he was right. And the food is mucho ayoba. I haven’t had a bad meal yet. It’s basically just a lot of dishes, many of them contained all sorts of prepared meat with sauces and texture.

We then went back to the apartment and Shane picked me up and took me to my very own apartment just below the university. (It is on a mountain, remember.)

What a cool apartment it is! Today I decorated it with rainbow colored tissue paper. I am in the process of making a Photosynth of my room but the internet is very slow here.

That’s one thing that is interesting – the Cape Tonians are super modern in some areas and extremely undeveloped in others. I consider that very positive because it means there is a huge potential for a positively booming market here.

In fact, mark my words – Cape Town will be the headquarters of the new world order. They have their problems right now, but the solutions that will come about to make everything all better are going to make this place the sort of heavenly abode that the world will naturally have to follow because it will perfectly harmonious. I’m so serious and it is possible (yes it is). Boom shankar.

I have a big room, big bed, big desk, a BALCONY and a couch! Yaaaaaaaay. My roommate is Amy and she is lovely and easy going and a good person with whom to share a flat.

Monday night our group met for the first time. I’m not going to lie, I was somewhat hesitant at first. I took on a very receptive mode and played myself with subtlety. My reaction was pretty much, ‘Half of these people I might normally spend my time with, the other half probably not.’ That might still be true, but I am nevertheless terribly overjoyed that we are all forced to one. It’s like a family. It’s like Phi Sig.

Our directors introduced themselves and boy are they the kindest and most lovely and caring people. Maxine, Naomi & Portia. We got cell phones and internet, ate a gatsby (like a garbage plate with spices and in a sandwich!) and were on our merry way for the night.

Monday night was the perfect blast off. We spent the whole time at a place on Long Street (the center of Cape Town’s nightlife) called the Dubliner. There was a dj who was playing a variety of nineties hits, Eurotek music and modern music and he was personally singing all the lyrics! Very amusing. I saw a woman pee in the sink in the bathroom. Everyone who went out had a blast, I think there were 11 of us that night. Also, my new friends Will and Ben and I took a ride with some girls who gave us an extensive explanation of all the places on Long Street that night which I will have to remember for the future. Hooray!

Tuesday we started orientation at noon. Sorcha (a friend with whom I worked teaching preschoolers back in Rochester this past year) and I went and bought groceries in the morning. There is a little neighborhood (kind of reminds me of Columbia City but slightly larger) down the street a little ways with shops and cafes and probably everything we’ll need. Rondebosch is what it is called.

Orientation was swell. Just filled with details we have to know.

Tuesday night we went to a place in Rondebosch called Side Bar where we met another group of American students studying abroad, CIEE. I must say… not to be boastful, but our program seems to be far superior. They are aren’t allowed to move into their residences until tomorrow (tomorrow is Saturday), they didn’t have cell phones yet, and after being in Cape Town for two days they still hadn’t met with their whole group. There are also around 130 of them. IES was a good choice.

Wednesday night we started at a place near us called Stones. It is a big place with maybe 18-22 pool tables. Okay, one weird thing – the billiard balls here are small and light! It made for a very difficult and long game at Side Bar the previous night. I’m no pool shark but I know it wasn’t just my skill.

Aaron Weissman, my friend from the U of R, studied abroad here last semester and is still here now! So he came to Stones with us (with his friend, also) and afterward we all went to Long Street together. We went to a place called the Waiting Room and cruised around to a few other spots as well. It was super cool to see Aaron, a nice little dose of home to verify my experience.

Yesterday ‘Mystery Sam’ finally showed up. He is the fourth boy who was absent from ZA for the first few days of our program. We were all kind of curious about him and now that he’s here it’s kind of exciting. We all ate at the Baxter theatre, a place very near our apartments (which are in an area called Rosebank).

Afterward all the U of R students minus Sorcha (Susie and Leigh and Charlie/Charlene) plus this charming and bright-faced girl from Chicago named Lilya and I walked down the main street and went in lots of stores. We walked all the way to a mall about a half an hour away. It was big and looked like a mall in the US. I was super tired after that and went home and napped for awhile.

Last night was probably my favorite night. We went to this place called Zula’s to see this dj spin some old school funk and r & b. The dancing is awesome here, I feel totally free and energized. Aaron and his friend Jackson came out with us again. It was quite enjoyable.

Today was the last day of orientation and this afternoon I decorated my room and worked on uploading things. This whole documentation thing is awfully hard, but I know it’s worth it. It’s also kind of fun.

So basically I’m in love and things couldn’t be better. Om namah sivaya, praise the Lord. (Shout out to Jessalyn)

Some terminology for the FYI element of life –

Black, white and colored. Colored people are the people who are not black and white, like Indians and Hispanics. It is not racially offensive. Good. I’ve always thought that if we use the word black we might as well use the word colored. I get that it’s about the stigma, but I think it’s time to get over that. So black, white and colored. And it’s not weird to talk about. Like I said, people are forthcoming.

Now, now now, and just now. Cape Town is another one of those places that chills with the clock. Now is sometime soon, just now is some time soon but with a lot of room for the future, and now now is somewhere in the range in between.

Okay. CAPE TOWN. Update number one.

Hope it wasn’t boring for anyone, I know that it’s pretty long. Pretty darn long. If I stop updating ever someone should email me and encourage me to continue because I don’t want to lose track of all this lovely life.

Rainbow nation indeed. Pictures soon to follow! For now I only have ones of the World Cup, but the ones of nature and friends are doubly spectacular.

World Cup Pics

paz y luz

jessie