My trip started Thursday, June 23, 2011 at 6 am. The first hiccup was at check-in at the airport where they insisted that my carry on was too big, even though it was a standard carry on sized wheeled suitcase, and that I should check it. Now, considering I had a $500 camera and a $1500 lens in there, I was not about to do that! After lots of rearranging I figured it out, but ended up having to check 2 bags and have 2 carry ons! When I got to the airport I had one bag to check and two carry ons. I made it work, though and headed upstairs. Frustratingly, half the people waiting to get on my flight had the exact same carry on! I got over it, though, because after all I was on my way to South Africa, which helped distract me from my frustrations. The flight from Sacramento to Washington, DC was an easy one. From Washington, DC we got on South African Airlines to Dakar and then on to Johannesburg. What I didn't realize was that rather than having a little lay-over in Dakar, we sat and refueled for an hour and were not allowed to get off. So, we flew 8 hours to Dakar, sat for one hour and then flew another 8 hours to Johannesburg! It sounds long, but it was actually not SO terrible. I think that I was just so excited to be on my way that what lay ahead made it not so bad. I sat next to a very nice lady from Missouri. Little did I know, she and her husband were on their way to Africa to go on a hunting trip. When I finally found this out (about halfway through the 17 hour flight), she proudly told me they were "working on the Big 5 right now!" Now, for anyone who does not know what the Big 5 of Africa are, they are: Lions, Elephants, Buffaloes, Leopards and Rhinos. She also boasted how they had made a sacrifice by taking a female, rather than a male lion. I have to say it made me feel slightly sick to be sitting next to them and I did not have much to say to them after that. When we finally reached Johannesburg, we had a few hours before our final stretch to Cape Town. I was happy to have a little time to walk around the airport, though, because my legs had gotten mighty stiff on the long flight from the U.S. We arrived in Cape Town and had no problems finding our ride. We got a ride to the dorms at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and were very happy to finally have a bed to lie in! My room has a view that overlooks all of Cape Town, which is beautiful day and night! I slept through the night no problem and was eager to start my stay in Cape Town the next morning! I don't think I realized until the morning that there was absolutely NO heat in my room (or anyone else's for that matter) and that there would be no heat for the next few weeks while I stay here at UCT. It is winter here in Cape Town (winters here are similar to Davis) and the windows are not double paned, so it has been something I have had to get used to. I sleep with 2 pairs of pants, 2 pairs of socks, a sweatshirt and sometimes even a scarf at night. At least the showers in the morning are nice and HOT!!
Saturday was a pretty mellow day. We woke up and went exploring around campus. I hadn't realized this before, but UCT is right on the base of Table Mountain. We walked up and around the campus and were all happy to be out and about. More students arrived throughout the day. I was able to briefly get online in the afternoon and was looking forward to getting a tour of Rondebosch, the district at the base of campus where one can go shopping for necessities. However, by noon on Saturday, I felt sick and just went back to bed. I slept (and threw up twice) until about 6 pm and felt much better after eating some dinner. By 6 pm it was dark already and I was frustrated that I had slept all day, because it threw me off my schedule. Up until then I had pretty much beaten jet lag, but it knocked me off balance a little bit. I read a bit after dinner and was in bed by 11 pm, freezing under my covers!
Sunday came and I started my day with a nice hot shower! I don't think I would be able to handle it if I couldn't get that shower in in the morning! For lunch on Sunday, we hiked up to the Rhodes Memorial, maybe 10 minutes up the hill, which overlooks all of Cape Town and even lets you see a little bit of the ocean! One thing I hadn't realized was the amount of mountains around. There are mountains all along the northern side of Cape Town, which makes for a beautiful sunrise! Behind Rhodes Memorial is a little hidden cafe, which was very tasty and also very inexpensive. We returned and read until our class meeting in the evening. I thought that maybe the common room would be a little warmer than our rooms, but alas, it was not. After our meeting we walked down to Rondebosch to a place that specialized in wild hog ribs. I was not sure I could finish a whole rack, so I ordered a burger instead. The burger was a burger, nothing special, but the hog ribs were amazing! I tried a bite and they were very good. (I have decided to allow myself to eat meat on this trip, as the meat industry here is much better than what we have back home). We headed back to our dorms, just wanting to get inside where it was warm, but again, that did not happen. I think at times our rooms are as cold as it is outside. I get cold in my house when the heater is on at home, so this is just QUITE an adjustment for me!
Monday was the first day of class and I decided that I needed hot coffee in the morning. I took my Starbucks double walled stainless steel mug with to breakfast and filled it with coffee and was a happy girl all morning! We had a long discussion about history in class. We are assigned 100 or so pages of reading per night, which is hard to get through, because sitting in the cold and reading is just not very appealing. However, I'm making it work and embracing this as part of the culture. After all, these are the dorms that the UCT students usually live in (they are currently on winter holiday). After class on Monday, we got set up with our student cards and then met to head to the train station and into downtown Cape Town. They briefed us during class on how important it is to be aware of our surroundings at all times and that if someone tries to rob you, to just give them what they want or you might end up in the hospital or worse. While it was scary, it is a part of life here in South Africa, that you have to be aware of what is going on around you. I generally try not to bring a bag with me at all, just keep exactly what I need in my zipper pockets and nothing more. Cape Town was an interesting experience. There is a lot of poverty and a lot of people begging for money. We were in a large group of 25, which gave us away as tourists right away. We saw most of downtown and went up Rose Street which is where all the colored houses are. It was very pretty, but I was "aware" all the time of who was watching us and where we were. Table Mountain is visible from just about anywhere in the area. The landscape around the city is just beautiful! We ended our tour at a restaurant where we had "Cape Malay" food, a food from Cape Town with Malaysian influence. It was very good, but very filling! When we headed back, our drivers had two vans. Capacity: 15 people. We loaded in 16 (I'll post a pic as soon as I can). It was a funny sight, but it's Africa, so it's all fine!
This brings us to Tuesday, today. I got up early and ran to the library before class to get online. I know it's pathetic, but I miss technology and being connected to everyone so very much! This afternoon we will head into Rondebosch and then will be watching a South African film as part of class. That's all for now, will update again soon! Miss you all!
