Hello from Cape Town!
First off let me just say that this city is absolutely GORGEOUS! No matter where you are you always have breathtaking views of the mountains; and the ocean isn’t far away either. The scenery alone is unbelievable.
Okay so now that I’ve gotten that off my chest I’ll recap a little bit. The plane ride from NYC to Johannesburg wasn’t bad, considering its length that is. I slept for most of it (probably with my mouth wide open looking so attractive), watched movies, and witnessed an uncomfortable, to say the least, altercation between a white American, a black South African, and a white South African. That last little bit is worth its own entry so I’ll write more about that later. After that I hopped on my flight to Cape Town, was picked up at the airport with two other girls from MSU and taken to our hostel, where we stayed for most of the rest of yesterday (Tuesday).
The hostel is where I fought my first of what I’m sure will be many battles with the sub-par internet service provider used all over the place in SA. (That being said, if any employees of Skyrove Telecommunications are reading this per chance, YOU SUCK. YOUR INTERNET IS THE ABSOLUTE WORST ATROCITY TO BEFALL MANKIND. MY MAC SAYS I HAVE FULL SERVICE AND I DON’T AND IT MAKES ME VERY MAD.) The first few days were pretty crazy though; we were tired, groggy, hungry, and tired for most of it but we still made time for fun. On Thursday we moved into our amazing apartments and got settled in before a trip to the Pick n Pay (aka Meijer, but much smaller and more crowded. It’s a headache in the form of a store).
Friday I had my first day at work at Equal Education and it went really well. The people were all so nice and very accommodating, even though I had to have everyone repeat their name at least twice before I could understand. I’ll be interning in the Youth Department for the summer/winter so I’ll have more on what that will entail when I know. Friday night a bunch of us grilled out at the braai (barbeque) on the roof under the stars and Saturday morning we left bright and early for Robertson Valley for the Wacky Wine Festival.
Overall the first week has been exhausting and amazing and so surreal. I love this city/country so far and everyone I’ve met has been so friendly, too! I’m definitely having the time of my life here.
So I’ll conclude this with a little list of things that are different here in South Africa:
1. -Everything is so literal here. What’s ‘butter’ in the US is ‘fat spread’ here (and it is AMAZING.).
2. -Everything, well almost, is smaller here. The Pick n Pay is nowhere near as big as any grocery stores back home and they don’t sell anything in bulk, except maybe wine.
3. -Speaking of wine, there is tons and tons of wine here. There’s a whole section in the grocery store dedicated to it and it has all been delicious.
4. -65-degree weather is cold in Cape Town. Everyone is bundled up like it’s the middle of winter in Michigan while we’re walking around in jeans and maybe sweatshirts. That might be how everyone knows we’re foreigners right away.
5. -On that note, the last thing I’ve noticed that still catches me off guard a lot is the fact that I’m an outsider in South Africa. It’s so strange to be somewhere where you’re different from everyone else. At times it’s frustrating, but it’s always pretty grounding.
Okay that’s all for now. I have tons of other stuff about which I want to write, but I’ll have to get to it later.
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