Imagine a neighborhood of old chicken coops... or something like this:
There were hundreds of these shacks lined up. And this is normal.
I chose to be in the group that painted the houses. Once the little kids saw the clearly American crowd roll up, they were so excited and fascinated, they did anything to get attention and participate in our work. Some would grab brushes out of our hands and go over completed walls just to feel they were a part of something too. Getting their pictures taken and later reviewing the photos on a digital screen was a huge hit.
After resting from working in the (actually hot) sun, most abroad kids went to Stones, a classic bar on a Wednesday night.
Observatory, locally known as "Obs" is a little hipster-esk pocket with only a handful of destinations, Stones being one of them. I went out with a friend who goes to Berkeley but in a different program; Finally a Californian. Since my ambition is to hang out with the locals, we tried to branch out from the other American kids which ended up leading us to hanging out with a pack of Danish girls and Norwegian men. The amount of "oh yas" and "ya knows" that were exchanged made me feel right at home.
They asked me where I was from, and assuming they would have no idea where Minneapolis was, I said the United States. They gave me a weird look and said well obviously, but where are you from? I couldn't believe how well Europeans know American geography. And they all spoke great English. I felt pretty cool the next day at pre registration knowing all the attractive Scandinavians.
Other things I've noticed about this culture / being American:
1) No one here wears North Face anything. Good thing I own about five North Face jackets (happened to only bring two) and a backpack so I'll certainly be identifiably American on campus.
2) There is no storage or electrical outlets in the bathrooms. Maybe this is just my house, but I find it entirely weird.
3) No one has a night stand
4) No one uses laundry bags here. Instead plastic baskets are used. So not efficient. So my dirty clothes are in a pile under my desk. Lovely.
5) Desk storage? My desk is a counter built into the wall.
Yesterday two guys in my program got mugged at gun point. Apparently they went to the back to get some currency exchanged and were followed on their way back. 3 against 2, they forfeited their cash, passport, watches, the works. Fortunately CIEE has been really good about helping them communicate with the embassy and the police and getting everything taken care of. The route they walked was a path I went on alone just two hours later, not knowing what had happened.
Today was registration day for classes. What a scene. After a lot of correspondence with multiple departments at Santa Clara and the CIEE academic advisor, I scored. At UCT you have to take between 72-90 units. I'm taking 60, and somehow I got approval. Classes will be hard, especially those in the Commerce Faculty (business ie Economics). I ended up registering for Religions in Africa, to fulfill my SCU Religion 2 requirement, Intermediate Macro (equiv to Econ 115) and Cooperation and Competition, also known as Game Theory, for an econ elective. Three classes 4 days a week with "labs" on Fridays. Not too bad. Start at 10AM, out at 1PM. Like I said, I scored.
It's pouring rain outside, so not exactly a good day to explore town though I literally have nothing to do. So instead I'm enjoying having the house to myself and probably venture out when things get rowdy - not a rare occasion here at Malleson.
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