survived my first week of school

So I survived my first week of classes! It wasn’t too painful and I didn’t really manage to get lost at all! At one point a girl approached me and asked me for directions and I think as I opened my mouth to point her in the direction of the building, she realized I wasn’t even from here and I probably wasn’t the best person to be asking for directions. However studying my campus map the night before paid off as I actually knew how to direct her to the right place!

So every Friday in my film class we watch a movie. The first week we watched Pans Labyrinth. It’s funny because I remember the first time I heard of this movie was 2 Christmas’s ago when the family was in New Jersey and it first came out to select theaters and JT had looked up the reviews on rotten tomatoes and it had apparently gotten great reviews. When I thought of this as I was sitting in the lecture theater waiting for the movie to start, I also remember the time Mom, Dad and I borrowed the movie from Mr. Gonzalez but we couldn’t figure out how to get the sound to work. Then dad made the joke that because it was a Spanish film with subtitles we technically didn’t need an sound… however, it felt too awkward sitting in the living room in complete silence reading the subtitles.

Anywho- after getting out of the film I had 2 hours to kill before I was supposed to meet up with the other students who are participating in the Seminar. We had met on Wed. and discussed what exactly we wanted to do this quarter in terms to extra-cultural activities. We agreed on going to different museums, learning to play cricket, and having a day out in the city possibly doing a scavenger hunt type thing, and all agreed how excited we were that we joined this as CIEE will be paying for the majority of our activities!

So on Friday evening we were meeting first to take this “cultural immersion” type survey (Quinton, one of the CIEE directors, kept calling it a test… however I never shared this with you that on our first day of the UCT orientation, all 300 of us international students were broken into different lecture halls and had to take a standardized test… I’m not even kidding you. It was about different craft making/trades in South Africa and it was supposed to do something for the country or something… as we were all freaking out on whether it was an entrance exam to UCT, one of the orientation leaders reassured us that, in fact, UCT wanted us to pass it as they want our money. And apparently we never find out our results. But that test was 2.5 hours and even had an essay part. I seriously felt like I was back in high school taking that damn test called the SAT.

But anyways- Quinton kept calling this “cultural immersion” survey a test, so I asked him politely that because it was only 50 questions and there was no written part on this “test” that we could change it to a “survey”. He laughed and knew how we all felt about taking that stupid test- this was apparently the first year they made the students do it ( SAT out of 2400, anyone??... geeze my year is the guinea pig year!)

So we met to take this survey- it took maybe 15 minutes and then we all left and went to dinner in the Bo-Kaap at this delicious Malay restaurant. The Bo-Kaap is where the Malay slaves were forced to live many years ago- and it sits right up on a hill that has a gorgeous view of the city. It was a clear night so it was so nice to see the city all lit up!

view of the city!

yummy food!

Dinner was delicious! And it was nice to be able to get to the other director, Felicity, a bit better as well. Friday night after dinner I was dropped back off at home and spent the evening with Margot and Andrew watching another James Bond movie!

Saturday I was able to wake up at 9 and went for a nice run around the Commons. It had stormed early Saturday morning so it was still a bit cool, but then I came back and Margot had made a delicious egg-toast breakfast. Last week we had 2 Italian veterinarians staying with us. This was their 2nd year visiting and they volunteer their time working in a pet clinic in one of the townships. So they left on Saturday morning and Saturday evening we were expecting another vet from Britain to arrive. So Saturday mid-morning we were helping around the house trying to get things all organized and put together. Then at around 130 a group of about 10 of us explored out to the beach using the public train. Although I would never use the train alone- it’s a bit sketchy even during the day time- we were with a South African from Jo’burg who is staying at the house of one of the other homestay students. So Derick, from Jo’burg, made sure we were all taken care of and that people wouldn’t bother us. It took a bit longer to get to the beach than we had thought- and although the sun had begun to shine through before we left- by the time we got to the beach it had already begun to cloud over.

We decided to stop for lunch at a seafood place right on the beach in Vish Hoek (pronounced Fish-hoe-k) I decided to try the Calamari….. BAD IDEA. It wasn’t until a few hours later that I began having the worst stomach pains of my life. I know you are thinking I’m exaggerating- but I have a high pain tolerance, and I can’t even describe how excruciating the pains were.

Vish Hoek

Sarah Jeffcoat (yay! for santa clarans in Cape Town!)

hanging out in Vish Hoek

crazy sign!

We made our way back on the train- I was still pain free here- and we had a great time taking pictures and goofing off on the trip back. Unfortunately Derick has to head back to Jo’burg on the 31st to have heart surgery- so his up-beat personality will surely be missed!

By the time we got back to Mowbray, it was already getting dark- so Sarah and I headed back to my house so I could change and get ready for a friends birthday dinner. Margot was nice to drive us down to the res. Hall where Sarah was able to get ready and we were able to meet up with 3 others to take a taxi downtown to an Indian restaurant.

By this time the cramps had begun and Sarah was feeling a bit woozy too- so we both decided that we weren’t in the mood to upset our stomachs even more- and had to decline eating what looked like delicious Indian food.

As we were leaving the birthday boy recognized the guy sitting at the table next to us to be a huge Bollywood star. Although he wasn’t completely positive- he went up and asked and sure enough it was Sanjay Dut himself! Later on I was told that Mr. Dut is like the Brad Pitt or George Clooney of Bollywood- I’m still unsure if that is true because 1. Mr. Dut wasn’t the friendliest looking fellow and 2. he definitely did not have the LOOKS of Mr. Pitt of Mr. Clooney!

haha at the Indian place

But nonetheless it made Ravi’s (the bday boy) night-

After dinner we were planning on going back to Ravi’s place to meet up with other students to have cake before going out to a bar- however, I honestly felt like someone was tying my stomach in knots and wringing it out- it hurt so bad. So the taxi was able to drop me off and I was able to relax a bit, meet the British girl, Sarah, have some tea and be in bed by 10pm….

Unfortunately my stomach started hurting again around 2am- and I seemed to be awake for a couple hours tossing and turning- trying to find a comfortable position to sleep.

I slept in until 11am on Sunday and was able to have breakfast with Sarah and get a chance to know her better. I was able to get a little bit of homework done but then as the morning haze began to burn off, the sun began to shine through and because Sarah is also here working in the same clinic the Italians were here working in, she is given a car to get around in. So we decided that it was a nice afternoon that we would go out for a bit and do a little sightseeing. We first drove down by the beach and stopped at Camps Bay to walk along the sand and shops. It was such a gorgeous afternoon with kids making sandcastles and dogs running along the beach. Then

we headed a bit more south to Hout Bay and walked a bit along the harbour- seeing the fishing boats.

Sarah & I at a random spot on the road

Camps Bay

Camps Bay

Hout Bay

This boat has seen better days!

driving along the Atlantic coast!

My stomach seemed to be doing better… I had woken up with a sore throat but my stomach felt much better from the night before. We stopped at one of the many places to get “fish & chips” and Sarah and I were able to sip hot coco, share some fish and get to know each other better. (She’s 23 and just recently graduated from vet school- lives right outside of Bristol, England)

Anyways we had an adventure getting home- well to be honest, it seems like whenever we go out together now we have an adventure! But we made it safely home and shortly after getting home Terry & Tamara came over to join us for dinner! It turned out to be a great evening!

Then by 9pm my stomach began cramping up again, so I called it a night soon after- however I once again woke up in the middle of the night to the same pain.

Monday during the day I was feeling a bit woozy- but made sure I drank enough water and what not. It was a tough day to get through- I had my first psychology tutorial (TUT) and I felt like it was a complete waste of time. Good thing it only meets every other week! However I already have big assignments due in my classes so I’ll have to begin researching and writing soon!

At lunch I was able to go down to middle campus to sign up for the Spring Break trip to Botswana and Zambia. Although I was talking to some friends about doing a road trip during break, I decided that this is a once in a life-time opportunity to go and experience something like this. I had 2 weeks after my program ends and I’ve heard something about a bus that takes you along the coast and it’s a “jump on when u want, jump off when u want” type thing- which can be very convenient when you’re not really in much of a rush. And besides- I figure if I do that in November, the weather will be a lot nicer!

So after signing up for the trip, I decided to sit out in the sun and do some reading until my class at 3. After class I was still feeling crappy- my throat was still raspy and I was beginning to lose my voice- so I made my way home.

i arrived home at around 430 and Sarah got back around 5:15 and Margot and Andrew at around 5:30pm. Andrew had a chess lesson tonight, so Margot whipped up dinner (delicious chicken noodle soup, salad, macaroni and cheese) and they were back out the door before we even knew it. Sarah and I had dinner together and then decided to take a little adventure to the Pick-N-Pay supermarket! (can you tell I am definitely taking advantage of having a friend who has a car!) We got to the market and had some trouble finding parking as the whole area is under construction- but were able to find a spot eventually.

I’m going to be honest right now when I say this- but if you want to meet a hot South African guy- go to the Rondebosch Pick-N-Pay on a Monday evening and you will have your fair share of hotties! Haha I know it’s a little more information than you want to know- but Sarah and I were having a field day just browsing around trying to find what we were looking for with a little extra eye-candy as distraction!

We made it home just as Andrew & Margot were coming back from chess and I was able to pick up more of our favorite tea and Sarah bought some cookies and we were able to have some tea and cookies for dessert!

But it wasn’t soon after my nightly cup of tea that my throat and stomach began hurting again and I knew it was time for bed.

I think it’s finally hit me that I am back in school. I was organizing my planner and I realized, CRAP I have a paper due in 2 weeks. Granted its 2 weeks away- but really? It’s almost August and here I am in Cape Town- going to school!

Each day I recognize how fortunate I am to be here, to have such a supportive & loving group of family and friends, and how privileged I am to have experienced so much in my short life.

I hope that you are able to live vicariously through my adventures that I post on here & I can’t not wait to be able to show you pictures and give you a big hug and thank you in person for helping me to become the person I am today.

I can not thank you all enough for your endless love.

Until next time,
Peace & love