Climbing mountains

On Sunday morning we woke up bright and early at 5:30 to climb Table Mountain via the Platteklip Gorge. The mountain is over 1000m high and the views from the top were spectacular. Getting there, however, was certainly difficult, as the route is very steep and long, and although I found the way down to be much easier, that was not the group consensus. Overall hiking time was just under 4 hours.

On Tuesday night, 6 of us decided to check out Lion's Head, another hike most commonly visited on the full moon. This mountain was about 6000m but the climb was significantly shorter and more enjoyable, even including some rock climbing.

Lions Head

View of Table Mountain

At the top

Table Mountain pictures:

Kevin and I at the top, finally!

The dassie, Dutch for badger, the nearest descendent to the elephant

The climbers!

Above the city

First day of school

On Monday morning Allison, Molly and I left for our first day of school at 8 am. We had morning classes and would be joined later in the afternoon. When we got to campus, we managed to find the International Relations office and ask a few questions before trying to get student IDs. We found the line easy enough, but it was already over a hundred people deep and the process hadn’t started yet. After sitting for a while, Allison and I headed to class after tracking down a couple buildings. We found the room at sat down in some good seats. The class began with an explanation of tutorials, which we had all been wondering about (kind of like a discussion session). Next the prof. started talking about cases. Immediately I started questioning whether or not this was gender and the body, and maybe he meant case studies? Allison passed me a note asking if it was the right class, which I was beginning to question. She asked the girl next to us who informed us that we were in Constitutional Law. By this time the prof. had already started to ask questions, so we had to get out of there fast! We laughed our way back to the International office before the less than humorous announcement that it wasn’t that we had gone to the wrong class room, the class we were both enrolled in is only offered second semester (July-Nov) despite the fact that it was listed in every schedule as a semester one class. After getting lost a few times trying to get answers about the schedule, we returned to the ID line for 1.5 hours to finally get cards (the printing quality left much to be desired). Finally we joined the afternoon students for our next class, which we (and about 80 out of the 100 other students) managed to show up an hour late to despite the original schedule. TIA (This is Africa).

Maybe it was the sunburn that most of our group is suffering from or the fact that UWC is a historically black and colored institution (In SA colored is an politically correct term for mixed South Africans), or how lost we got and how mixed up everything was, but spending the day at the university made me feel acutely white. It pushed me out of my comfort zone, which I am thankful for, and I look forward to the experience to continually challenge and shape me.

The highlight of the day was my Women and Gender studies class titled Gender and Development (the one we showed up an hour late to). Everyone in the class was eager to participate, throwing out responses to every question the prof. posed. It was so interesting to listen to their responses, based on where they have come from. I am excited for the rest of the semester!

Robben Island, the ocean, V&A Waterfront

I have been a little behind on blogging. With 21 people on one internet connection its near impossible to upload photos unless you go to the cafe or get up early which I actually have been, thanks to our skylight. On Friday after meeting with Judy Mayotte, the founder of the program and a Mundelein alum, we went to the beach off the Muizenberg stop, a 10 R train ride away. Swimming in the huge waves was a new experience for me. The following day, we went to Robben Island. I was thankful I had finished reading Long Walk to Freedom and was fascinated to see the prison scenes I read about. It was certainly a moving experience. The island also offered a great view of the main land. When we returned, we spend the afternoon at the waterfront, including a seafood lunch and visiting a soccer stadium (the outside at least). 

This one's for you dad!

 

Seafood platter for one, Charlie's lunch

Nelson Mandela's cell

The lime quarry, including a pile of stones built up by Mandela and other political prisoners. In the far left is the cave where the political prisoners would teach each other in small groups while working

The view from Robben Island

Mandela's garden where the original manuscripts for Long Walk to Freedom were buried

The tennis courts that the prisoners played on

On the boat out to the island. The way back was a little more sea-sick inducing

Anne, Judy Mayotte and me

Train to the ocean

First view of the beach

Shark warning!

More activities

Also on Thursday we visited more service sites, including mine. It was so exciting to see my site and hear about what I am doing. The director told us that they usually service 400-600 women a month, but in January they have served over 900. She also told us that high times for them are New Years, Valentine’s Day, and Mother’s day. The center offers legal services, counseling, resident facilities, long term housing, child care, job placement, computer skills classes and other workshops. I will mostly be working in the crèche with the children but also with all of the other services. We also visited St. Anne’s and Zimasa school, which some of the pictures are from.

We also took a nice walk around Obs, and enjoyed the heat and the scenery. 

The school by our house's garden

Near the townships, government built housing for migrant mining workers during apartheid

Zimbasa

Cat!

Food and drink

On Thursday, our academic advisor Steve invited the whole group over for a braai at his house. Steve, his wife Lori, and his 3 kids, 10^th graders Lydia and Sarah and 6^th grader Simon are also living here for the semester, and live a quick walk away. A braai is essentially a grill-out, complete with braai sauce and ostrich sausages! Later, we went out for drinks. In South Africa, cider is a really common drink, almost like a lighter beer, although some varieties are quite sweet. So far the food has been really good, and pretty familiar. It usually has a nice spice kick to it as well. The grocery store (Pick’N’Pay) offers most everything we need, except I cannot find black beans (baked beans, however, are in abundance). The trick is that you must get your fruit weighed before you check out.

We’ve become regulars at Cocoa Cha Chi’s for the internet, which is fast enough to upload pictures which is too hard to do at the house. For 25 rand (just over $3 USD) you can get a delicious croissant sandwich with eggs and rocket (which is like arugula) or a mango mint iced drink. We’ve made friends with our waitress, Vimbai, who is probably around our age and lives in Obz as well.

The grill

Ostrich sausage

Yellow watermelon

Ciders and Castle

Cocoa Cha Chi's!

A 21st to remember

Clear morning

Edge of the townships

Birthday lunch!

Although I was less than ecstatic that my 21 fell on the second day of my trip, my day turned out to be pretty amazing. After our routine breakfast at Cocoa Cha Chi (utilized for the wifi and delicious breakfasts), my day began with visits to different service sites. It was breathtaking to take in the scenery and see the townships from the drive. We stopped at three sites (Charlie’s, Devin’s and Kate’s) and were able to tour them and hear all about their mission. It energized me and got me even more excited for my site. When we returned, we were finally united with four more program participants, who had spent the last days traveling to New York, Paris and Amsterdam. The last 4 will join us tomorrow after spending the night in Johannesburg airport. We then were treated to lunch for which I got sea food pasta, which lived up to my high expectations of Cape Town’s marine cuisine (considering the proximity to the water). We returned for some down time before heading out for birthday margaritas. I was so happy to be accompanied by the whole group for celebratory “legal” drinks (a little silly considering we also went out for beers the night before). By the end of the day, I had also enjoyed a birthday cake from Pick’N’Pay (think combination of cocoa powder, pound cake and something else), complimentary drinks, and 2 rounds of happy birthday. Birthdays are so sentimental but this one was definitely one of the most memorable and left me with a really good feeling.