Well, I'm still trying to figure this whole blog thing but I hope I get it soon. Also the internet is rather slow so it takes time to put up pictures and everything. Yesterday, Sunday, was incredible. We took a tour from campus all the way to the Cape of Good Hope which is in the Table Mountain National Park. We drove all the way down to Cape Point which is, for tourist purposes, the "southern most tip of Africa" (Cape Agulhas is actually more to the South). Here is a picture of Cape Point.


Before we got there though, we made a stop in Simon's Town where we saw the famous South African penguins.

After that we continued down south to Ocean View where we had lunch. This is a neighborhood where mainly Coloured people live. During the Apartheid regime, under the Group Areas Act (which split the population into 4 different groups-white, black, asian, coloured), people were forced to move into places according to the their “racial classification”. This community of about 25,000 people has hence been created by Apartheid law which forced those designated as "coloured" to be rehoused after many were removed from the prescribed "white" communities of Fish Hoek, Simonstown and Noordhoek. It was interesting to be in a community like this and to learn a little bit about it. Obviously, sitting in the bus and going in and out to have lunch was not the bestm ideal way to learn about Ocean View and its people, but at least we had a local community developer talk to us and some kids presented some amazing break dancing (they are part of one of the main projects going on in the area which intends to motivate young people).

The whole ride down to Cape Town was absolutely amazing. Some scenaries and beaches like no other. There were also some huge mansions in the most crazy beaches which was, really, extreme. Apparently many people live in these suburbs and go into Cape Town to work everyday.

In general Orientation for International Study Abroad students has been fine. I have met a lot of people from many countries which, as you know, I enjoy a lot…They also have us entertained with some things. For example, today we had an African drum workshop and it was soo cool. Imagine, some 200-300 drums being played at the same time. After that a local band played and some dancing started which was fun. I shall come back with more updates soon. I'm really new to this blog thing so I don't really know what to share...but, if you want to know more..just let me know. This is so weird...

Monday February 2nd

Finally...in South Africa

Wow. It is the first time I'm sitting in front of my computer since I left the States on Jan. 27. The flight went smoothly and it was via Dakar, Senegal which was cool because I can now say that I have been to Senegal...The flight was very long but I slept through most of it so it was not bad. Flying into Cape Town was one of the most amazing things...the view from the plane was just crazy - it was precisely like the pictures I had seen...In the plane there were a lot of CIEE students (CIEE is the program that organizes the whole study abroad thing) so when we got there a couple of people from the CIEE staff were waiting for us.
From there, straigh to the hotel which was right next to the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront (V&A Waterfront) which is one of the most visited tourist points in the Cape - actually, it is South Africa's most visited tourist attraction. There are a lot of stores and restaurants. We went out for dinner in the mall..yeah, I didn't really feel like I was in South Africa..it felt like any other place really.
But one thing that I found absolutely amazing is the diversity of the people. Cape Town's population of about 3.5 million is composed, according to Wikipedia (..) by: Coloured people whichaccount for 48.13% of the population, followed by Black Africans at 31%, Whites at 18.75%, and Asians at 1.43%.This diversity is beatiful and is very visible - I find Coloured people particularly interesting - it is difficult to tell which kind of descendence some people have since it can vary between substantial ancestry from Europe, Indonesia, India, Madagascar, Malaya, Mozambique, Mauritius, St. Helena and Southern Africa. About 40% or more speak Afrikaans at home while 28% speak Xhosa, and then 28% speak English and others speak Sotho, Zulu or Tswana (South Africa has 11 official languages!)
At orientation the man in charge told us that throughout this semester we will be "navigating between two worlds" - one that seems is industrialized, developed, rich and another that is completely the opposite. So far, I have only seen the first one (except for the blocks and blocks of shacks right outside the airport (the gov't is currently carryiong out a rellocation plan or sth. like that to make the city prettier for the World Cup. I heard that people living in that area are being rellocated to other place..I'll find out later on what the situation is like)). We have been taken to the nicest place - it's incredibly beatiful. Table Mountain is really amazing and it gives the city a very particular feeling.
On the first day they took us out to eat to a Coloured neighborhood, I don't remember the name but we experience our first local food. We had "gatsbys" which are, basically, huge sandwiches which chicken,sausage, or meat, with tomatoes, lettuces, and curried fries. Interesting, I must say. They also took us out for dinner to a very touristy place. Everyone there was white averaging 60 years old, yeah...but at least I got to experience some real local food. First, I tried some snails (caracol) which was not bad because it had a lot of garlic. But then, I tried a worm. Can you imagine, me, eating that? I almost throw up. I could not swallow the thing. It was a very bad experience, but hey, now I can say that I tried it. Just thinking about it is making me feel sick again. So let's change subjects.
I have also been out every night, yey! You know me, I love to go out to dance. The first night we went to a place called "hemisphere". It was very exclusive as it was in the last floor of a building right in downtown Cape Town and it overlooked the whole city. The next night we went to Long Street which is one of the most famost streets in the country. Many restaurants, bars and clubs. Yesterday we went to a place near campus which was interesting as well. I have been meeting people from all over Southern Africa which is pretty cool.
Now I'm already at the University of Cape Town. I'm staying in a small house with other students in my program, there are 7 of us in this house and the other 9 in the group are in the house next door. Each house has a SolMate, who are like RAs who It is pretty nice and the surroundings are beautiful. UCT has an amazing campus, I don't think I have ever been in a campus like this. It's out of control.
Today was an amazing day. But i'm very tired so I will continue tomorrow.