free falling

sorry sorry sorry for the lack of writing lately. however, i (surprise surprise) have a lot of reading and essay writing to be doing now, so of course i'm taking a break to finally update you on my life.

first and foremost - i went SKYDIVING today! skydiving has honestly something i've wanted to do for as long as i can remember, and i'm so glad i can cross it off my list. also, i want to do it again. it was so incredible. first off, the view was amazing - the skydiving place was located about forty minutes up the northern coast from cape town, so the view included table mountain, the city from a distance, and the entire coast for miles and miles. somehow, i wasn't scared or nervous at all, even during the twenty minutes it took the tiny plane to ascend 9,000 feet before we actually jumped. then, they opened the side door and i (strapped to the instructor) inched towards the door, until he was sitting on the edge and my entire body was hanging out of the open plane door (the scariest part, i think). next thing i knew, we were falling towards the ground. it was insane. i couldn't stop smiling the entire time. we free fell for about 30 seconds, and then the parachute opened and we floated down for about four minutes. it was such a high, and i absolutely loved it.

yesterday we had an interstudy excursion all day. we started out going to the district six museum - district six is an area in cape town that used to be filled with houses, but during apartheid, the houses were literally bulldozed down (because blacks and colored people lived there) and the people were forcibly removed from their houses and moved into townships. the area remains mainly desolate today, as most of the people who used to live there haven't returned. the museum was beautifully put together and interesting, but we only had a half an hour there so i didn't get to see as much as i'd like to, and i'd like to go back.

next, we went to langa township, where we took a tour led by our tour guide who is from langa. it was really eye-opening, as it was my first time in a township. as a whole, it wasn't in as poor of shape as you might expect, but it is still in stark contrast to anywhere else i've seen. most of the buildings are pretty run down, and the families live in pretty close quarters. our interstudy leader, ouma, gave us candy to give to the kids of the township. it is unbelievable how exciting this was for them, and how aggressive most of them were when it came to getting candy. they literally swarmed. the kids were so adorable, but it was really hard for me to look at them without flashing forward to their future, and what it might or might not hold for them. their experiences are so completely different from anything i've ever had to deal with. the whole setup of the township warrants a double-take, but then when you step back and think about why the township actually arose in the first place, it's almost unfathomable. many of the people who were forced to move there in previous decades were moved by the government because they were thought to be harboring contagious illnesses. 

the government is now building a series of "better" homes in the township, in the area along the highway. they hope to have them completed by 2010 so that when swarms of tourists come to the country for the world cup, that's what they'll see. despite the poor conditions, and the sad history, the township somehow wasn't as devastating as i thought it would be. as poor as some of them are, the people are resourceful and most seem happy. many of them have been given chances to move out of the townships, but they want to stay because they've developed a strong sense of community there. the kids that play in the streets are watched over by everybody, and because of the small sizes of the houses, people are outside talking to each other all the time. 

we left the township and proceeded on to robben island, an island about 12 kilometers off the shore of cape town that houses the prison where nelson mandela and other political prisoners were held during apartheid. our tour was led by an ex-political prisoner who spent seven years of his life at robben island. it was pretty amazing, and surreal to see it all - for example, there is a limestone quarry on the island where the prisoners were forced to dig rocks out and move them from place to place. after years of work, the limestone dust accumulated in their lungs, and the brightness of the light reflecting off the rocks led most of the prisoners to have permanent eye damage (flash photography isn't allowed to be used when nelson mandela speaks, for this reason). despite this, the prisoners secretly taught each other to read during their years toiling under the sun. to look at that quarry and try to grasp that nelson mandela himself had stood in that spot and secretly taught other political prisoners to read while performing manual labor for years on end was unbelievable.

it was a long day, but it was one of the most worthwhile days i've had here in a while. it was good to get out and actually see some things of historical and cultural significance. there is so much more i want to see and do here. and that is where my love of list-making comes into play.

mowbray mansions

here are some pictures of where i live:

the view from outside our door

our glorious entryway

my room

our main room

my room again

our kitchen

bathroom

my room take three

nothing special, but it works. and now you can all stop conjuring up images of the palace that i live in.

procrastination exists, even here

i'm sitting at cocoa wah-wah (our favorite restaurant/cafe, in case you have forgotten) with the intention of starting one of my two papers that are due next week, but have decided to procrastinate a bit. i love that the only time i really feel an urge to write in this is when i should be doing something school-related.

this morning a few of us went to a farmers market nearby. we went last week as well, and it is amazing. it's a very white, upper-middle class, birkenstock-wearing, dads-carrying-babies-in-frontpacks, organic vibe, full of people who regularly eat oysters and brie. so it's not at all an "african market," but i love it. there are millions of samples, and you can also get great food (i got a falafel sandwich today), and things are relatively inexpensive. there are also a lot of cute boutiques and other overpriced stores right next to the market that we went into today, all of which i love. i'm a sucker for farmers markets, and plan to go pretty much every saturday to restock on couscous, cheese, fruit (today i got figs and strawberries), etc.

the girls here are, in my opinion, unbelievably gorgeous and i am fascinated by them. there is definitely a type of south african white girl here: skinny, blonde, tan, fresh-faced, wearing an adorable belted dress and gladiator sandals. there are obviously many types of people here, and i find it difficult to read or accomplish anything on campus because i get so wrapped-up in people watching and eavesdropping on others' conversations. even now, writing this, i look up and around me after every sentence. hence the difficulty doing homework.

last night we went to an awesome bar called assembly, which is in an old warehouse in the city. from the outside it looks like an abandoned industrial building, but it's really fun inside. thursday night we went to hemisphere, which is a bar on the top floor of the ABSA (the south african bank) building downtown. since it's on the top floor, you can see the entire city and the ocean (hence the name hemisphere) from the windows that line every wall of the bar. there are so many places to go out here, and while it's fun to find certain places to fall back on, i really am enjoying trying out new places.

with that in mind, i'm kind of itching to do some more traveling. it's sort of difficult here, because there aren't really good trains to take, and driving to other major cities (durban, johannesburg, port elizabeth) takes a while. but i'm hoping to take a long weekend sometime soon and go somewhere else for a few days. 

my friend katelyn is having two friends from home here for a week, starting today, and i'm extremely jealous. we were talking about how surreal it is that people from her other life at home are suddenly going to be part of her life here for a little while, and those two lives are so completely separate and different, but now they're going to be bridged. it makes the world feel a lot smaller.

lately we've been making fun of where we live (mowbray) quite a bit. as much as i like our apartments, and generally don't feel unsafe, it's really funny when you step back and look at what we've gotten used to: the flattened rat that has been plastered to the middle of the road for about a week now; the pair of underwear on the sidewalk; the cracked-out man sleeping in the middle of the sidewalk this afternoon; the constant yelling from the minibus workers; the homeless woman who daily pours an entire bag of breadcrumbs on the sidewalk for the annoying pigeons; the cat, dubbed "street kitten," who lives somewhere on the premises, has a possessed look in its eyes, and is constantly covered in dirt; the elusive techno music that is always, always wafting into my open windows from somewhere; the fact that i witness and am not fazed by any of this on my way to the 7-11, which, by the way, is our saving grace, as i go there at least once a day for something or another. the 7-11 isn't supposed to sell alcohol after 5 pm or on sundays, but during these off-hours, they'll oh-so-sneakily put the wine in a bag for you, and then it's okay. i love it.

i can never think of a good title

this afternoon a few girls and i went to kirstenbosch botanical gardens, about ten minutes where we live, because each sunday night they have a concert there. it was absolutely gorgeous; the gardens are nestled into the side of the mountain, and there are huge trees everywhere - i felt like i was in the domes or something, it just seemed unreal. we had a picnic and sat on our blankets listening to the cape philharmonic orchestra. there were an unbelievable amount of people there, and it was a great place for people-watching. i definitely want to go back and walk around the actual gardens sometime soon.

on friday i was sitting outside on campus waiting for my next class to start, and started talking to some south african boys. highlights from the convo: they feel that america is the land of opportunity, and would love to live there someday -  "i want to move to california, because if the terminator can be governor, then i can be whatever i want there." also, he wanted to move to new york city and find himself a family like the darlings on "dirty sexy money" (the tv show). they were really nice, and it's funny to hear the talk that south africans launch into once they know that you're from america. i told the boys that if they go to america, all the girls will love their accents and in turn love them; they were really surprised and excited by this information. but i said it because it's true.

i don't really have a lot of news to report. i'm enjoying a lazy sunday night. here's one of the top ten most e-mailed articles on the new york times website right now: bagging bargains in cape town, south africa.

finally putting the "study" in "study abroad"

i finally started classes today! i know, what have i been doing for the past month? vacation, that's what. i realize this is unfair, but now i am finally beginning the studying part of my study abroad experience.

my classes:

- religions past and present

- making of the modern middle east

- africa: making of a continent to 1800

- the new millenium in historical perspective

i had all four of them today, and although it was just the introductory, handing-out-the-syllabi day, they all seemed really interesting and i'm eager to start getting into the material. i think i'm excited mostly because they are all classes unlike any i have taken in college, since i take primarily science classes at home. it kind of makes me wonder, because although i love my nutrition major, i'm so interested in so many other areas... which i guess is good, but i always feel like there's some other path i'd like to take as well.

today in each of my classes i noticed how aware everybody is of the united states. what i mean by that is that my professors mention the united states frequently, either because they're talking about certain universities, or policies, or presidents, or historical/current events. the US just comes up in conversation quite frequently here. it struck me that because i'm from the US, people all over the world are familiar with the issues going on in my home country, but the reverse is generally not true. i then tried to imagine what it would be like to be from a more obscure country and study in a more developed country; even if a south african came to the united states, it would be rare for them to be in an american class in which an american professor frequently brought up south african issues, unless the class dealt specifically with africa.

it made me feel kind of selfish, kind of narrow-minded, kind of spoiled, because no matter where i go, people are familiar with my country. on the flip side, i (unfortunately) know very little about current south african politics or other issues, and that makes me feel like a stereotypical american, one who expects everyone else to know about them but doesn't know anything about anybody else. this is basically one of the primary reasons i wanted so badly to study in another country, to learn more about other parts of the world and get a different perspective on life in general. 

i'm not worried about me, because i know that the time i spend here is going to inevitably give me a more well-rounded perspective on certain things. the most fascinating thing to me is to look at america from this angle; to see what others see, how america affects other countries all the time, and how we, as US citizens, don't even realize it. this is a very preliminary observation, i realize, and maybe my opinions on this will change, but it's really struck me so far.

on the last page of the syllabus for my "making of the modern middle east" class is a picture of bush ducking when the shoe was thrown at him.

the garden route: it's out of season

ahh, where to begin.

our road trip down the garden route was unbelievably fun. we left early sunday morning, figured out how to drive, got on the N2 highway, and drov

e. the entire trip was down N2, which made things incredibly easy. the first night we stayed in knysna, which is a small town but a popular destination on the water. we were told repeatedly throughout our trip that we were visiting in the off-season, so many things were much quieter than they would have been a month ago, which is the peak of summer and the travel season. so knysna was pretty quiet. we stayed in an awesome hostel called highfield backpackers, and the five of us girls shared a big room. after we got into our room, we asked the owner of the hostel what to do, and ended up going down to this secluded and amazing beach on the indian ocean... there were green mountains behind us, the water was warm in front of us, the sand was unbelievably soft, and there were small castles nestled into the mountainside. it was great. we went to dinner later, and then came back and sat around a bonfire at the hostel. we talked to a young couple from wales who quit their jobs and are spending a year traveling - a month in south africa, then new zealand and australia, india, malaysia, thailand, japan, etc... it sounded incredible. i can't overemphasize how much i admire people who do things like that.

the next morning we kayaked down the knysna river, where we were supposed to see animals, but of course the animals were out of season as well. actually, i think it was more because of the weather, but we only saw a few birds. oh, and some cows. but it was really pretty and relaxing nonetheless.

after that, we got back in the car and headed to tsitsikamma, where we ziplined through the forests and over waterfalls - well, there were supposed to be waterfalls, but those were dried up and out of season as well. after ziplining, we headed to our own private chalet in the mountains. for $10 a night, we stayed in this incredible chalet with two bathrooms, plenty of beds, a TV that actually received channels, a large kitchen, and a back deck that looked out on the mountains. it was great. we showered, changed, and proceeded to sit outside and relax all night with our guacamole, cheese, and nutella. it was quiet and wonderful.

the next morning we drove a little over an hour to jeffrey's bay, which is the surfing capital of the world; the billabong pro, a huge surfing competition, is held there each year. our hostel there, called island vibe, was packed with incredibly awesome surfers. it was my favorite hostel, right on the indian ocean, and we had two rooms between the five of us. we did some shopping in town and got lunch, and then katelyn and jill had a surfing lesson. naima, nicole and i intended to head down to the beach to watch them and take pictures of them being awesome, but we somehow never made it past the bar in the hostel... we sat down to have a beer, and ended up talking to the tubular bartenders for a while, and one beer turned into three... you know how it goes. it was an incredibly chill place to hang out for an afternoon.

after our afternoon at the bar, we got ready and headed to meet the boys for dinner. the five guys who we had initially planned on going on this trip with were in jeffrey's bay as well, so we met them at a fantastic seafood restaurant. we had a great meal, went to another bar for a while, and then went back to the condo they were staying at. they were on their own private beach, so we walked down through the sand dunes onto the beach and made a bonfire. it was absolutely perfect. the moon was out over the ocean, the waves were crashing onto the beach, and we just sat around the fire... until it started to rain, which prompted us to head inside.

the next day, things started unraveling. our intention was to stay another night in jeffrey's bay and go to addo elephant park, but we woke up to heavy rain (our first real experience with rain in south africa... great timing). we called the park, and they told us that people hadn't been seeing animals on the tours that had already gone out that day. so, unfortunately, we decided that it wasn't worth the hour and a half drive to the park. by this time we were all kind of tired and the weather was cramping our style, so, after much indecisiveness, we decided to head home a day early.

on the way home we stopped at knysna elephant park, which was much less authentic than addo would have been, but was neat nonetheless. knysna was the the original location of  one of the few elephant herds in south africa, and it's now a sort of sanctuary for orphaned and other elephants. i've decided that elephant trunks are incredibly bizarre body parts. feeding the elephants was cool, but messy. after feeding we just kind of hung out with them - the park was really beautiful, and it was so amazing to see elephants up close because i really think they're one of my favorite animals. even though i do want to slather lotion all over them.

we found ourselves surprisingly excited to get back home to mowbray on wednesday night. it felt good to be back. we had an incredible trip; even though it didn't go exactly as planned, i laughed harder than i have in a very long time, and dozens of new inside jokes were formed. it was good to have a vacation from our vacation.

TIA

chaos erupted this morning. my life here has been extremely peaceful and vacation-like, but today was intensely different. let me back up.

since we have a few days off before classes start on the 13th, a lot of people are going on trips. we decided to go on the garden route, which is a scenic drive along the southern coast of south africa; there are a lot of things to do along the way, such as elephant parks, nature reserves, bungee jumping, shark diving, etc. long story short, we thought that we reserved two rental cars last night, but i realized late last night that the rental place wasn't open on the weekends, so the request didn't go through. i woke up at eight this morning in a panic, knowing that nine of us were supposed to go on a road trip tomorrow but we had no cars. 

five of us girls spent literally six hours today frantically calling every car rental place we could google, to no avail. apparently parliament opened yesterday (what does that mean? i don't know.) and that means that there are no rental cars to be found in cape town. not only that, but most of the cars here are manual and none of us girls can drive manual, and also many places require you to be 23 years old to rent a car. all of these obstacles lead to us calling literally dozens and dozens of places, begging for an automatic car that we could pick up tomorrow. i can't even explain the chaotic scene of my flat today - we rolled out of bed and spent the day with our laptops cemented to our laps, cellphones in hand, using up all of our prepaid cell phone minutes and internet to try to find a way to go on a road trip. we eventually found a place, and are going to pick up the car and leave at eight in the morning tomorrow from the airport. moral of the story: plan ahead.

i just realized that this is the worst story ever, but i can't put into words the franticness of the day, and i'm still exhausted and have to pack. we're going to be gone for four nights, and i'm so excited. it's just five of us girls going now, as the boys decided to go a different route (drama ensued, but i won't get into that).  i'm really looking forward to seeing some new areas, and we're staying in some hostels and inns that look really cool (and cheap).

a large majority of our program has become pretty close in the past weeks, and i'm loving it. we don't necessarily know each person really well (there hasn't been time yet), but we all hang out pretty regularly. i feel really comfortable around almost everybody in our program, and i love it. a couple of days ago we spent the entire day sitting in the dirt courtyard outside of the apartment building across the street, talking and eating and laughing. it was a perfect day - we weren't rushing around or spending money or anything that we usually do. others in interstudy would walk past, and come and hang out for a while; people came and went, and it was perfect. two nights ago we sat around drinking wine in our sweatpants and pajamas, and that was also perfect. 

i absolutely love the setup of our living situation here; i can't imagine living in a flat by myself or secluded from others. whenever i want to know what's going on, i just stick my head over the fence or walk around to other flats, and people are always around. at the same time though, i enjoy the privacy of having my own room and a flat with only two other roommates.

techno music is always playing here. seriously. at nine in the morning i wake up to someone blaring it out in the streets; it's on in restaurants, and it's on right now in our south african neighbors' yard. it's kind of a running joke among us, that no matter where you are, techno music will play at some point. i don't get it.

in the movie "blood diamond," leonardo dicaprio says "T.I.A.," meaning This Is Africa, several times throughout the movie. someone said it here at the beginning of the trip, and it's totally caught on; we say it now several times a day when something happens that is particularly african, usually something that we're not used to and that would only happen here. 

examples of TIA:

- techno music playing all the time

- cars not yielding to pedestrians whatsoever

- the fact that you never get water served to you at restaurants, and if you ask for water, you'll get a tiny glass of it after about a half an hour of waiting

- the fact that servers at restaurants take an extraordinarily long time to serve anything in general

- the fact that we have to open four locks in order to get into our flats

- despite this, laptops still get stolen out of windows

- when my friend alec pointed out to the landlord a particular location at which someone could easily jump over the fence into our yard, the landlord told him that there is a plant in africa that is "particularly unpleasant" to touch and that he will put that plant in that place so that people will be discouraged from jumping over the fence

- the insane driving of the minibus taxis and their blatant disregard for other traffic or pedestrians

i will no doubt add to this list as my trip goes on. i'm off to go figure out how we get from the airport to the highway, and figure out who's going to start off driving, which terrifies me, since it's on the other side of the road and none of us have any idea how to get around the city. back in five days!