Part of Your World

“Look at this trove

Treasures untold

How many wonders can one cavern hold?”

I’ve had some serious trouble keeping up this blog for the last week. In an ideal world, I’d be able to update every day, giving everyone the intimate details of my day-to-day life. In all honesty, I would appreciate that even for myself, because each and every experience I have in Cape Town is something that I want to cherish for the rest of my life. Whether it be yelling “Wynburg!” (anyone whose been to Cape Town knows how the gaichis in the minibus taxes yell constantly at you to take their cab) to just a fun day spent at the beach walking along the water with a friend and laughing as a man stomps in the water and splashes us with the coldest water we’ve ever felt, everything in Cape Town is a memory. However, I’m living this, and am living it so fully that I never want to separate myself from these experiences. Thus, I’ve arrived at a place like today, where I have to describe all the incredible things I’ve done over the last couple days in the most synopsized way possible. If I could say one thing about this week, though, it would be that I’ve found the place I want to be forever. I want to be a part of this world.

Last week was our first week of classes. Class at UCT is definitely different than at GW. Any of my VIPs will tell you that the teacher/student ratio at GW is 13:1, with an average class size of 28. Not UCT. The smallest of my classes at UCT has about 50 students, with the largest being somewhere in the 200 student range. I’m going to have to learn really quickly how to deal with these large class sizes, to be sure that I get the most out of my educational experience. I actually had a major scare earlier this week about credit transference, because I wasn’t sure if I would end up being billed more by GW than I would normally be, because the credit amounts here are very different than at GW. I’m taking 4 24-credit classes, and they are: 1) Social and Cultural Life in the 21^st Century, 2) Crime and Deviance in South African Cities, 3) War and Society, and 4) African Dance for Semester Study Abroad students. I’m also taking a Living and Learning Seminar with my student abroad provider (CIEE), which is actually going to be bringing us to Johannesburg in about 2 weeks! Each of these classes actually promises to be really interesting. The only problem with motivation is that 1) you have to climb Table Mountain (partially) to get to class, and 2) the classes meet about 4 times a week each for 45 minutes, so I’m spending a lot more time in class than I’m used to. Luckily, I have at least 1 friend in every class, so I will have someone to study with and things like that once the workload really starts to pick up.

My social life has definitely remained at about the same place that it has been for the last couple of weeks since I’ve been here. Devonshire is maintaining our reputation for being the house that always goes out together (which is great, because everyone in this house is such a character and contributes so much to the overall chill vibe that we have), but also of being one of the most fun groups of people here. In fact, our security guard, John, who also works at another house, told us that he likes us more, because the other house (Cristow) is really quiet, whereas Devonshire is the opposite of quiet. I went out a bunch of nights this week, and each night had a very different vibe. Whether it be our trip to The Waiting Room for the second time, where I met a South African who described herself as the “Queen of Cape Town”, as well as 3 of the funniest South African guys I’d met thus far in Cape Town, to our great Ikhaya Day House party at Tiger Tiger (where we waited for about a half hour to get our 3 free drinks), every night is a blast. It was also Kayla’s 21^st birthday this Sunday (keeping up the string of 21^sts that Devonshire has had), so we went out to a club called Bronx on Saturday night, where we were potentially the only people under 35 there. The nightlife in Cape Town has been so incredible, but I’m glad to finally be putting on the breaks and taking it easy here, because school is probably going to pick up a bit soon.

Culturally, I have done 3 incredible things worth noting. First, on Friday afternoon, the members of the CIEE Seminar were brought on a tour of Downtown Cape Town historic sites. We first went to the Castle, commissioned by Jan van Riebeek, the man from the VOC who founded the city of Cape Town. We didn’t get to go inside, but were able to see outside, and I plan on going back there as soon as possible. We then walked across the Grand Parade to City Hall, where on the day Mandela was released he came to make a speech (which I had read about in Long Walk to Freedom). To see this area, knowing that only 15 years ago it was jam-packed with South Africans finally knowing that freedom was on the horizon was a pretty powerful moment. From there, we walked to the Slave Lodge, a building that bears the truth of its name. It was a place where slaves, who were mainly brought from the Far East to work for Cape settlers, were forced to stay. We saw the original tree stump upon which the slaves were sold, as well as the horrible conditions in which they were forced to live. From there, we walked through the Gardens, which afforded yet another beautiful view of Table Mountain (I have to count the number of pictures I have of Table Mountain – it’s far too many, but also every time I go somewhere new I see yet another view of the mountain and am still so impressed). From there, we went to Bo-Kaap, a neighborhood of vibrantly colored buildings and Cape Malay culture (slaves lived there after the neighborhood was cleared of whites). In Bo-Kaap, we went to the home of a woman who made us the most delicious Cape Malay cuisine, and my house is actually going back there to take a cooking class and learn how to make this stuff! I absolutely can’t wait. After that we came back home, and I realized how much of Cape Town history I have yet to see, and can’t wait to experience all of it!

On Sunday, we were brought to see a soccer game at Athlone stadium. I instantly became a Kaiser Chiefs fan, solely because the woman next to me told me that everyone there was a Chiefs fan. Apparently, there are two major South African football clubs, the Chiefs, and the Orlando Pirates. We were watching the Chiefs play Engen Santos, whom they ended up tying. Everyone was surprised to see just how into the game I got, but they hadn’t seen me at an organized sporting event yet, and didn’t know how competitive I can be. I also had gone to Cybar before the match with my friend Alex, where we had split a pitcher, and after singing happy birthday to Kayla who we saw on the street, helped her finish her fishbowl, along with some other friends. That made the soccer game infinitely more fun! I can’t even describe how much fun a South African soccer game is; soccer culture is incredible here! People don’t get violent or upset or anything, they just love the game, and want to see their team do well. There may be rivalries, but everyone just appreciates the game.

Today, after class, my friends and I decided to go to the UCT Rugby game, as they took on Nelson Mandela Memorial University. I don’t know a single thing about rugby, but the game was so much fun. I bought a shirt to support the team, and hopefully am starting to blend in with the South Africans around me. To see the school spirit here was awesome, knowing how lacking it is at GW. I can’t wait to go back on March 7^th, as UCT takes on their main rival, Stellenbosch, at home for the first time in a couple of years. That game promises to be incredible.

Perhaps now would be a good time to start my homework? Something like that. All I know is, in the time I’ve spent writing this, as great as it is to record my thoughts, my FOMO has been out of control, and I want to go back and hang out with my friends!