Day 39

My life as a UCT student....

If I have learned one thing, it's that I made a really good choice not going to a big school. For those of you reading this and know my habits, you'd know that I am the type of person that likes to do... everything. I've really had to take a step back and reconfigure myself as a student so literally everything I do related to UCT is books. No clubs, no on-campus job, no day time collegiate activities. It's weird. I've never felt so unsuccessful as a student. But I did find a tutor for one of my classes so I'm hoping that will help. I should not be requiring a tutor due to difficult academics while studying abroad... that's for sure.

My house here is falling apart. On Tuesday our electricity was patching in and out all day, then we lost internet and didn't get it reconfigured for two days, all of our faucets leak, and there is a tree that could fall on top of us on the next windy day.

The other night I went out to Boogies, hands down one of my favorite places to go out here. In conversation with a few of my friends and a local, he asked us where we were from. We all said the U.S, but apparently I'm from Canada. He kept saying, "you are from the U.S, but you, you are from Canada." This guy would not have it that I wasn't Canadian. Explaining the fact that Minnesota is close to Canada was not going to help this conversation, so I left it at, yah, ya know I'm Canadian.

In preparation to travel to Botswana for spring break in two weeks, I had to get a yellow fever vaccination. I went to this travel clinic which at first I thought was completely sketch, but I survived so all is well. I ended up talking to the doctor though for quite some time as he decided to give me his personal perspective of Cape Town which goes as follows:
Illegal immigrants are flocking in to Cape Town. Destroying the standard of living, begging for money, and increasing the crime rate because of drugs.
The government doesn't do anything but turn a blind eye under the ideal of equal opportunities for black people.
Most crime done here, is for drugs.
In twenty years, Cape Town, Western Cape, or even South Africa won't be nearly as nice as it is today just because it is the most economically thriving place in Africa and is being taken advantage and not protected.
Oh, and apparently Africa thought we were going to save them because our president is "black."America: always disappointing the rest of the world.

Meanwhile, in local news, there has been a lot of hype about the shootings at the miners protest in JoBurg. Honestly, I don't know much about it and it's far from here. But, there is protesting going on in a local township and we have been instructed to not go there. But that's something I don't know much about either. All I know is that South African police are idiots, as I saw one make a U-turn and take out a motorcyclist last night.

For my fifth consecutive day, I went to the gym yesterday and signed up for a class looking for a lighter workout. Not so much. Once I got in the class and people started taking out multiple sizes of barbells, I knew I was going to die. Probably one of the hardest strengthening challenges I've had. I would like to consider myself a somewhat strong female - the other women in this class gave me a huge run for my money. Today, definitely not going to the gym. Hopefully a nice hike or something outside because it is finally not raining and a beautiful day!

I am so sick of winter. It rains at least once a week. And it is cold and windy every day. I want spring!

Day 34

Any time a local asks me what stands out the most in terms of cultural differences, the first thing that comes to mind is transportation.

The safest option is, of course, to get a cab. Not a taxi, a cab, because taxis are something else apparently. Then there are the nicer cab companies that go by the meter, and the sketchy cabs with randos driving and making up their own rates. Then there are the occasional drunk cab drivers, which I have witnessed first hand.

Taxis are a bit different. Along main road, which gets you from downtown Cape Town to about 5 suburbs out, you can hear the yelling "Claremont / Wynberg!" "Cape Towwwn!" followed by excessive whistling and harassment. It is probably the most annoying thing a pedestrian has to encounter. Once the door operator of the van, the one doing all the yelling, directs the driver to stop, you and the rest of the people in the van sit impatiently while they try to round up more people for extra profit. The strategy, I will never understand, because it seems to me they waste more time parked and trying to get passengers then driving to destinations for new clients. You get inside, its crammed, its gross, and regardless of what kind of music is playing the bass is unreasonably heavy. Inside the vehicle is marked that it's permitted to hold 16 passengers... even though people are practically sitting on top of each other, they make sure they get it up to 16. The appeal? For R6.50 (so like $.80) I can get pretty much anywhere along the road. However if you get in a minibus after the sun sets, you just might get killed.

City busses I have no idea. But apparently they're most undesirable.

The train. Always an experience. There are two approaches to the train, take first class and though you think you're safe and sheltered, you're also safe and sheltered from anyone witnessing any potential mugging or harassment. Then there is economy class, where peddlers walk through the cars, blind people are singing with their mugs for coins exposed, and you never know what kind of person you're next to.

The cars here, I love. Most models, regardless of make, are far different than those in the U.S. A-class Mercedes? It's like a mini, almost Toyota Venza looking M-class. Today I saw a two door Mitsubishi SUV and a Toyota that looked like a cross between a Lexus GX and a RAV-4. Then there is my personal favorite, the Toyota Fortuner. It's the attempt at a 4Runner, except its shape is almost better. They're the best. Absolutely no Fords here. Surprisingly see a few Jeeps, but rare. Range Rovers are definitely the luxury vehicle, as BMWs and Mercedes are pretty common. No one here has car insurance, it's just not a thing. So everyone drives like there is no tomorrow. The minibus I was in today almost took out a BMW... I was freaking out.

As a pedestrian, I've probably almost gotten hit by a car more times then I can count on one hand. "Walk" lights last probably 5 seconds. Yielding to pedestrians is a rarity, so basically you pick your time, look both ways, making sure you know what way cars are coming from because it's backwards, and make a run for it. That I've actually gotten good at.

Day 31

Discovery of the day: chocolate chip peanut butter

I have a really big sweet tooth. I love cookies almost more than anything along with cheesecake and bread. But, because there are no familiar brands of almost any tasty treat, I just don't buy sweets all together. Then it's late at night, I want something sweet, and I have nothing! I have found a solution. chocolate chip peanut butter. A little spread on some banana bread (which I also located today), mmmm delicious.

At least I'm not binge eating Mint Milanos which I had a serious problem with when I was 9....

Day 30

It's been a rough week.

Unsolved housing drama has really taken a toll, but I'm hoping in a matter of time I can make some adjustments and things will get better.

On a different note, cultural differences I've noticed:

Traffic lights are called robots.
Chalkboard eraser is called a duster.
People here don't always know where Canada is in relation to the US.
The name "Danielle" is not recognized by South Africans. So here I go by Daniella.

A newly developed strategy for meeting locals:

Since there are zero places to sit and hang out on upper campus (where most under graduate classes are held), I have discovered that venturing to middle campus has some extreme benefits. First of all, there is a dank little cafe with actually comfortable chairs and good study tables. The added bonus along side of the greatest chi latte, middle campus is where the grad school economics program is as well as the law school. Hello successful South African men. We'll see how long this strategy lives up to my projections.

Day 26

Yesterday I got a much needed break from the house. I asked my RA of a safe place where I could go explore for the day, he suggested a small town called Kalk Bay. Hopped on the train for the first time, and took the 30 minute ride. It was an absolutely lovely place: Small little beach town with boutiques and antique stores. I walked around the main stretch only to realize that was pretty much all there was to see in the town. So, after about 3 hours, I headed home.

Shortly after, I met up with Olivia and some people she had met along her journeys for dinner in Town.  Everything, the food, the company, etc, was really great, but really interesting. Definitely a crowd life probably otherwise wouldn't have set me up with. Because dinner wasn't unusual for me enough, we then went to a movie for the Cape Town Gay & Lesbian film festival. Beautifully well made film, but my gosh I have never felt so uncomfortable sitting in a movie theatre in my life. Plot was as follows: A gay African comes to the United States to make a documentary about the lives of gay people, he starts dating this publisher from New York, who turns out to be addicted to cocaine, and the whole movie is about their messed up relationship, cheating on each other, rehab, and his time trying to make this documentary. Then throw in some porn.

Low key day today, probably find some coffee shop in town to crank out the homework for the week.

All for now.

Day 24

SCU vs. UCT

I always thought Santa Clara was an extremely unorganized university. SCU has nothing on UCT's organizational level. When I registered for classes, I did it on paper. Paper. Biggest problem, as classes fill up, there is no way of knowing until after someone has gone through the paper stack. I learned this the hard way. On my online student account, one of my classes wasn't showing up. I was passed around from department to department, until I finally got answers. The class I had registered for, and received approval, was apparently full. A week and a half into the semester, the Economics Department tells me that my form is still in the stack of papers and they didn't know if there would be room in the class for me. I would then just be randomly put into another econ class. No way was I going to let that fly. A little arguing and dropping the phrase "I'm an international student through CIEE". They somehow made room for me. Absolutely ridiculous.

The grading scale here honors a 75% as an A. One would think it'd be a joke, not so much. School is hard. Apparently no one gets As. I learned that the hard way when I got a 65% on my first homework assignment. Quite discouraging, but at least a typically failing percentage is actually a B.

All the random seating areas at SCU, I am finally appreciate of. There are no places to hang out on campus. If you want to sit and socialize, you're on a bench or staircase. People watching however is primal. 

There is also no where warm. Once you're cold, it's not getting any better. No buildings are heated and they're also mostly open air. Pidgins like to roam through Leslie Social Sciences. If needing something to generate heat, the chi lattes are absolutely bomb. 

Americans are generally perceived as being rude people. Come to Cape Town. People are so pushy it's unreal. Getting onto the Jammie shuttle is a war zone, no one moves aside for anyone, no one says excuse me, and the whole "ladies first" thing, not at all acknowledged in this culture. 

The Jammie shuttle is a must. But it's great. Free transportation to and from campus stopping at many hubs all around town. 

UCTs campus is divided into three sections, Upper, Middle, and Lower. Upper Campus alone is about 2x the size of SCU campus. Once you're in one sector, stay there. Otherwise you're getting your workout in by climbing a million stairs. 

In the spirit of Santa Clara, five of the seven broncos here reconnected at dinner the other night. I think we all could agree the little sense of home was extremely comforting and much needed in the midst of all the commotion. I volunteered to call the cab for our transportation, a responsibility I should never again assume. I called Cab-driver Mark, whom to our discovery was Blacked-out Mark. Pretty convinced our cab driver was hammered. Close calls on multiple car accidents, he didn't remember me telling him to reset the meter from the beginning of the ride so our fare was super cheap, and he talked about the Black Mamba snake for the entire ride.

Thursday night consisted of a typical Blinky's Throwback-Thursday, except one hundred times better. Nightclub / bar-ish joint playing all songs from the 80s (or songs the DJ thought were from the 80s) intercepted by a couple more current tunes. It was awesome. This of course was after a lovely dinner with about 10 other girls, where I ordered cheesecake and promised the chef I wanted it for my wedding. Maybe a long shot, but best cheesecake I've ever had. 

Now that the school year is well underway, there are many things I miss about The Clara; seeing familiar faces all the time on campus, five minute walks to class, Lucas hall, (yes, I miss the Bronco), a non-intimidating library, classes of less than 300 people, but overall UCT is quite the place. Beautiful campus and excellent chi. Good to go. 

Go Broncos!

Day 23

In an effort to dodge Jean Pierre, the personal trainer who now thinks it's appropriate to send me sexual text messages, I bolted into any open fitness class starting at 1600 (or 4PM, since everything here is on military time, thanks Media Services for teaching me). Not having a clue what I was going to get, I wound up in a step class that combined a lot of weight lifting with the basic step moves. To my fellow Bronco's, if you're thinking of Cardio Sculpt with Jeanne in Malley, you're close, but no where near this caliber. Once the 80's jams started bumping; South African covers of "Gloria", "Hey Mickey", "Love Shack" and so many other 80s favorites, the enormous, questionably gay, black man lofted onto the stage, commanding the moves. Definitely my new favorite fitness class at Virgin Active.