My Trip to Swaziland and Mozambique

Sawubona and Bom Dia! (‘hello’ in Swazi and Portuguese)

Life has been hectic since I returned from my magnificent trip to Swaziland and Mozambique a little over a week ago. Last week, I had tests in both Afrikaans and Xhosa, plus two term papers due. However, I have now finished all my assignments to be turned in at UCT – and finals don’t even start for me until June 3rd! I look forward to enjoying my last couple of weeks in Cape Town without having classes – lectures officially finish next Wednesday :-). But onto my trip since I am still trying to hang onto my memories of the beach in order to cope with the terrible weather that has moved into Cape Town (60s, rainy, windy, and foggy – lucky for me, I get summer AGAIN in a few weeks – hopefully I can hold onto my Mozambican tan until then!).

On April 25th, a couple hours before sunrise, Samantha, Cydnee, and I headed to Cape Town International Airport to catch an early flight to Johannesburg. Having gained a bit more sleep from the 2-hour flight, we arrived ready to embark on our adventure. After negotiating a price with an unofficial taxi driver at the airport, which made me a bit uneasy knowing the ‘dangers’ of Jo’burg, we were safely driven to Park Station to find a minibus headed to Swaziland. Reading the ‘Lonely Planet’ guide made me nervous about navigating through the busy and poorly-marked garages of the station – I hid my passport and money and prepared my wallet with a couple bucks in the event that we were mugged. Luckily we weren’t, and within minutes we were handing our passports to an old woman running the Swaziland-bound minibus operation from the back of a car. Soon we were shoved into the bus (literally). As I wiggled my way into the 4-inch space, I knew that surviving the 6-hour ride in a crowded, hot minibus would be a struggle – somehow, I managed to sleep for the majority of the ride. South Africa is fairly empty with kilometers and kilometers of farmland, and it wasn’t until we neared Swaziland that the rolling and mountainous terrain returned. “Welcome to the Kingdom of Swaziland” and pictures of King Mswati III greeted us at the border. We had to sit at the border for an hour while our bags got searched and while one man on our bus got detained for his cargo – we never really figured out what happened, just that we had to leave him and his carpets at the border. Everyone wanted to assist the three American girls traveling to their country. This proved extremely helpful, for when we got off the bus in the clutters of Manzini, taxi drivers swarmed us. Cydnee managed to find us the driver with the lowest price, and we headed off to our hostel without having any prior reservations or even the correct address. Luckily, everything worked out and we found shelter at the quiet and cozy Swaziland Backpackers in the Ezulweni Valley, the royal heartland of Swaziland.

The next day, we rented a car to take advantage of our only day in Swaziland. Swaziland is not an overly exciting place – it is rather quiet with many rural villages and a couple of small “cities.” The Ezulweni Valley was beautiful with its rolling hills stretching into the horizon. Mbanane (the capital) and Manzini were dirty with very few, if any attractions – we didn’t spend time in either place. Swaziland is extremely poor due to the greedy, and hence wealthy King, who has banned any opposition parties – unemployment is over 40% and the country now has the world’s highest AIDS rate at around 39%! We thoroughly enjoyed our day, which included attending a cultural tour and dance from a local village, eating lunch by a beautiful waterfall, spending hours at a craft market that extended for at least a mile (countless vendors with very few buyers), a disappointing trip to the ‘Hot Springs,’ which turned out to be a swimming pool, a traffic jam when Samantha tried to drive our stick-shift car into town, and finally a accidental drive into the busy minibus/bus rink in Manzini, where we were greeted with constant honking, gridlock, and a man on the hood of our car. At the hostel, we played games with the employees and had major fallout with the rent-a-car lady. After having worried about not having enough time in Swaziland, one day proved to be plenty...

And once again we found ourselves piled into a minibus heading for Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. Since we did not get our Mozambican visas ahead of time, we knew we needed to be as quick as possible at the border so that the minibus would not leave us (and take all of our belongings with it). Luckily, it waited – I imagine the other travelers were fairly annoyed for it took longer than expected for simply having to slap a sticker on a page. We arrived in Maputo in the afternoon (only 2 ½ hours after leaving Manzini), and we settled in at Fatima’s Backpackers (the only reservations we had and could make for the trip – thank goodness, since it was full!). Maputo appeared to be in ruins. For a brief history, when Portugal pulled out of Mozambique, it literally destroyed its entire infrastructure, and left the country to fight a terrible civil war for years. Maputo is clear evidence of that destruction. A little uneasy with the new surroundings, especially with the language barrier (everyone speaks Portuguese, very few speak English) and the policemen dressed as soldiers ready for combat, we took a taxi to the fish market, which a friend had recommended to me. This was our first view of a much nicer part of town with beautiful European-style buildings. When we got out of the car, sellers immediately bombarded us and we tried to get away as soon as possible by walking into the much-tinier-than-expected market with just a couple tables of fish covered in flies. However, the waitresses from the restaurants behind the market followed us everywhere, trying to get us into their restaurant, and not understanding that we had no clue what they were saying in Portuguese. The three of us were so confused and so overwhelmed, but eventually figured out that we had to pick from one of seven or so restaurants behind the market that would cook the fish we chose. We finally picked an extremely sweet (and patient) waitress who helped us buy our fish with the help of a translator. We had no idea what to expect as we didn’t specify how the fish was to be cooked – she simply took it from the market – and we hoped for the best. We sat outside in the market square enjoying being surrounded by locals eating dinner and live music. Here, in this very unassuming place, we had the best meal of our entire trip – possible of my entire life. That night, I had my first experience of sleeping under a mosquito net (which I found out was extremely necessary after trying to sleep without it a couple nights later and waking up with mosquito bites all over my face).

We left before sunrise the next morning for Tofo Beach – this time on a slightly more comfortable shuttle arranged by the hostel. However, since it did not fill up to capacity at the hostel, we found ourselves waiting (once again) for 2 hours at the taxi-rink until full. Despite this, our driver made remarkable time – I’m not sure how we didn’t kill a couple of children on the way, for when we passed through villages, the driver simply laid on the horn and sped by – also remarkable is the fact that we didn’t get a flat tire from the poor quality of roads. Anyhow, we arrived late afternoon, and literally ran off the bus to take a swim in the warm Indian Ocean! The temperature of the Indian Ocean was similar to that of bathwater and its saltiness made it really easy to float. We stayed in a private bungalow (somehow cheaper for the 3 of us than the dorm) on top of a dune overlooking the ocean at the Fatima’s branch in Tofo. For under $12 per night, it doesn’t get any better than this. The hostel was full of people on holiday, which made it particularly fun when we ran into other students we knew. Each day, I woke up at 5:45 am to watch the gorgeous sunrise over the Indian Ocean, which was followed by an early swim in the ocean, and breakfast in the sand above the water at the hostel bar. The rest of the day was spent swimming in the beautiful blue waters or lying on the white sand. By later in the day, boys between the ages of 9 and 15 would move onto the beach to try to sell the woven bracelets they made – one in particular, who called himself Johnny Cash after hearing the name on TV, managed to get me to buy a couple – kids should never be allowed to sell anything – it’s so hard to turn them down, plus they were actually brilliant salesmen! We enjoyed ourselves so much that we stayed a day longer than we had planned, which turned out to be the most beautiful day of the entire trip. My adventure-loving and thrill-seeking self thoroughly enjoyed my activity of choice at Tofo: snorkeling in the ocean with the Whale Sharks. It was absolutely incredible – here we were in middle of the Indian Ocean swimming alongside creatures in the wild that are 100x our size, and staying a distance of only a few meters – luckily, they don’t have any teeth! Excitement continued into our last night, as a major thunderstorm rolled into Tofo. I feared for my life as I sat with Cydnee in our bungalow at the highest point of the dune, 50-100 feet from the water, with continuous lightning flashes and a major puddle collecting under our door - our only plan of action being to seek shelter in the bottom bunk. We debated running down to the bathrooms, but the storm was so bad that I honestly feared we might get struck – after all, Swaziland has one of the highest rates of people being struck by lightning in the world, and it was close by. Luckily, we survived through the night.

After only an hour or two of sleep, we were back on the shuttle at 4am to Maputo. With only a half-day in the city, we were determined to see more of it than the first time passing through. We spent our afternoon walking around the streets, and concluded with a dinner along the water. I found Maputo particularly intriguing – maybe it is because everyone I talked to before leaving on this trip told me that they disliked it, and so I planned for the worst. Maybe it is because this was my first real look at a third world city. But I think it is because of its subtle charm. It is true that the sidewalks contained gapping holes that could do some serious damage, and that garbage piled up all over the streets, and that our hostel ran out of water and had to pump more, and that poverty was visible everywhere. But looking beyond those evident problems was a city with great potential – with interesting European architecture, and a beautiful coastline, Maputo has potential that isn’t able to be fulfilled due to the problems still surfacing from its past. Unfortunately, it is a frustrating, yet common aspect of life that affects the people and places of many African nations.

We spent our final day on a 9-hour Greyhound ride from Maputo to Jo’burg – the buses are actually comfy here, and the movie selection was, well, interesting (I had the pleasure of watching Hotel Rwanda and Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen... twice). This was followed by a flight back to Cape Town, where we arrived safely at home. I couldn’t believe how smoothly the trip worked out with such a lack of planning, but it left within me a burning desire to travel and see more of what Africa has to offer. Cheers!

Adventures in Cape Town

Molweni!

It has been awhile since I last wrote on my blog – my apologies! Life in Cape Town continues to be busy with classes, volunteering, surfing, and other sporadic activities. Speaking of which, I am leaving on a 9-day trip to Swaziland and Mozambique tomorrow with two other girls in CIEE – it should be quite the adventure as we do not have any of our plans set, aside from the airplane tickets to Johannesburg. I’ll write about it as soon as I get back to Cape Town, but for now I just want to quickly update about some of the activities I’ve been doing around here recently.

Volunteering is going really well! My favorite day is Tuesday because I get to play with the children at the Tuberculosis Hospital. There are approximately 25 children between the ages of 1 and 7 in the ward at which I spend my time. The place itself is a state hospital – they are understaffed and there are not even toys, games, or books for the kids to play with – the place itself is rather depressing, but the children have such high spirits. I have become very connected with a couple of the kids, particularly Antonia, who is a very smiley and very sweet 7-yr old – she always jumps into my arms the second she sees me. I wish that there wasn’t a language barrier, as the kids often do not understand that we have no idea what they are saying – however, we have all found ways to communicate with each other simply through games and high-fives and smiles. It is easy to forget that they are facing such a serious illness – I often wonder about their own personal stories. The life that these kids have known is one full of struggle, as many are orphans, many have been abandoned, and the rest do not get to see their parents during their time there. It’s so hard to comprehend how these children cope with their situation, but it is truly amazing to see how well they handle everything.

Life in Cape Town continues to be amazing. Everyone, including myself, is starting to complain about how cold it is getting – cold being in the upper 60s. However, most days it remains in the upper 70s, low 80s. While it is still nice, I am trying to take advantage of the outdoor activities (there is rumor that the rainy season is coming before we leave). I recently hiked to around the Twelve Apostles region of Table Mountain and to the top of Devil’s Peak, which is the mountain into which UCT’s campus is built. Each time I want to go on a hike, all I have to do is find a trail right behind the school! Last Sunday, I went on a 40 km (24 mile – almost a marathon!) hike with Mountain and Ski Club through the mountains of Cape Town down to the peninsula. We left from campus at 6am while it was still dark, and hiked for 11 hours! It was extremely tiring, but it was BEAUTIFUL and definitely worth the soreness for the next few days.

Every Friday after classes, I head down to Muizenberg for my surf lesson with UCT’s Surf Club (it is so cheap at $7 for 2 hours, including the wetsuit and the board!). I now get up on the board consistently, and this past week we were blessed with the best waves yet! Ahh, I love it! I also love just hanging out at the beach as much as I can – however, I don’t go as often as many people probably think I do. There’s just too much else to take advantage of!

CIEE has also taken us on two field trips recently. Two weeks ago, I got to go river rafting 2 hours away from Cape Town. We spent the entire day paddling our rafts down a beautiful river surrounded by the mountains (although I spent a majority of the day swimming alongside the boats). Many people complained about the distance we had to paddle (about 7-10 miles), but I really enjoyed the day of peace and quiet (aside from the times that Taylor and I fought about how to row our boat). I also got to go to Robben Island (finally!) this past weekend. This is where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for almost two decades, along with many other political prisoners from the Apartheid. On Saturday morning, we took the 15-minute ferry ride there, from which I got a beautiful view of Cape Town – it was so neat to be able to take a step back and just view the mountains and the city from afar – I can’t imagine what explorers thought when they first arrived! The island itself was much bigger than I expected, and there is even a town where people live (15 children will be enrolled in the primary school next year). Being at the prison was quite interesting, especially after having read Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, Long Walk To Freedom – I got to see his cell and I even saw the garden where he did the manuscript while in prison. Former political prisoners give the tours – our guide had been imprisoned for five years as a young man after the youth protests in Soweto. I hoped that he would share his past experiences with us more closely, but unfortunately that was not the case. I cannot imagine how difficult it would be to ‘relive’ the experience, and he briefly spoke about not wanting to take the job as a guide at first for that reason.

Well, I must go pack for my trip. Hopefully I will be nice and tan from the shores of Mozambique by the time I write next... cheers!

Spring Break 2008!

Dumela! (hello in Tswana, the official language of Botswana)

Last Sunday, I returned from an amazing Spring Break trip (I always get confused looks when I say Spring Break here because in reality it was Autumn Break) to Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe!!! I wish that I had the time to continue traveling around this part of the continent, but unfortunately I had to go back to school – but I guess I shouldn’t complain since this is still beautiful Cape Town. Anyhow, I’ve been so excited to share the adventures of my trip with everyone... I apologize in advance for such a lengthy post! Also, if you would like me to invite you to view my photo album from the trip, or just want to say hello, shoot me an email at bef2102@barnard.edu. Anyhow...

On Friday, the 21st of March, I left Cape Town with my housemate Taylor to embark on a 10-day tour through Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. We flew to Johannesburg, where we boarded onto our tour bus with 16 other (American) students, 2 student leaders from UCT, and a Zimbabwean cook. The bus was not your typical tour bus, for it looked more like a truck with huge windows that we had to keep open so as to not die from heat during the week. The first day was full of traveling, as we drove for a straight 12 hours through northern South Africa and Botswana. The drive wasn’t too exciting until we saw animals chillin’ on the side of the road as we approached the border of Botswana – the main attractions being warthogs and a giraffe! We reached the border around 7:30pm when it was already dark, and all of us were required to get out of the truck at the extremely sketchy South African border post to have our passports stamped. This was followed by a short 5-minute drive to the Botswana border post where we had to get out again and pass through its immigration. My first hours in Botswana were spent sleeping in the truck as we continued to drive to our first campsite. When we arrived at the sight, we all set up tents in the dark, ate dinner, and went to bed.

The next day, we continued our drive north through Botswana. This time I had lots of time to view the country, and for hours and hours, the scenery did not change. Botswana is extremely empty and flat, with miles and miles of tall grasses and trees – the most exciting scenery I saw was a plateau, a couple of rural villages (actually very interesting), oh, and some elephants on the side of the road (when we got out to go to the bathroom in the bush, we had to be quick so as to not have any dangerous encounters). In the late afternoon, we arrived in the city of Maun, which is not what I would classify as a city, as it was practically deserted and contained only a handful of shops on a main dirt road – compared to the rest of Botswana however, it is quite substantial. There, we were each required to buy a 5-liter bottle of water to take into the Okavango Delta the next day since we would not have sanitary water to drink while there. When we arrived at the camp, we packed our packs for the upcoming two days in the Delta, took a swim, ate a delicious meal, and went to bed by 9PM – we always were in bed early and up at the crack of dawn.

In the morning, we were picked up by a large safari truck, into which we packed our food, water, sleeping mats, tents, and bags for the next couple of days. On the hour drive to the Delta, I spent the time talking to our wonderful cook, Cosmas, through which I learned more about the current political and economic situation in Zimbabwe – I feel that we created a special bond throughout the trip, and I can only hope that he will take me up on my offer to stay with me when he visits America someday. Anyhow, when we got to the Okavango Delta, which is the largest inland delta in the world and which contains 95% of all surface water in Botswana, we were met by guides who had to take us for a 1 ½ hour ride in makoros, which are tiny dugout canoes that are pulled with giant poles, to get to our campsite. It was amazing to see how the guides knew their way through the small channels of the delta. As we were being pulled, we could hear the roars of the hippos, and as we arrived at our campsite, the hippos were sitting in the water staring at us, where they remained during our stay. When we got to the site, everyone set up camp, including the 10-15 guides from Botswana, who stayed with us during our time – this made for an awesome experience! Norman, who is originally from one of the rural villages around the delta, taught me how to pull and steer the makoro, which was so difficult! However, I was determined to get better and he eventually allowed me to pull him around the delta. Of course, he quickly became my favorite guide, and he even carved an elephant into a nut for me as a gift to take home.

During the day, the guides took us by makoro to a section of the delta where we could all swim together, and not be eaten by hippos. We were also taken on various nature walks, where we hoped to see lots of animals, but only managed to see a couple of baboon who came alongside our tents, and of course, more hippos (a new favorite animal of mine). At night, we sat around the campfire for a delicious dinner cooked by Cosmas and talked with one another. I enjoyed spending time with the guides, and even managed to learn a card game from them, which they called “Casino.” However, I definitely missed the part of the rules where you communicate with your partner because they spoke to each other in their native language – but it was fun nonetheless. The last night that we were there, the guides performed traditional dances and songs around the fire. After they finished, we did some of our own performances; we taught “The Chicken Dance,” “The Macerena,” and “The Hokey Pokey,” and sung songs such as “I Will Survive” and “Build Me Up Buttercup” (the boys even blessed us with their rendition of “I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys). I also performed a step dance routine, which became a big hit for the remainder of the trip – I started to teach routines during rest stops. We also took turns singing our own national anthems. At the end, we all played limbo together by using the makoro stick – I still haven’t lost my skills as I triumphed in the game. Our time in the Okavango Delta was absolutely amazing and one-of-a-kind. There were no distractions and no routines – just us, the guides, and nature. When we left, I looked forward to getting back to toilets, clean water, and showers, but I could have continued without...

On our way out of the Delta, our bus got stopped at two different security checkpoints, at which point everyone was required to get out of the bus and step onto a mat covered in disinfectant, which they seriously believe will stop the spread of Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease. I found this process hilarious (there is a picture in my album)! Our next stop, after a lot more driving and a night of camping in Nata, was Chobe National Park in Botswana. Here, we went on a sunset game cruise (I saw the most beautiful sunsets on the trip) and a morning game drive to see a variety of different animals throughout the park. I saw impalas, giraffes, elephants, kudo, jackals, lions, and even a buffalo about 12 feet from our safari vehicle! At our campsite outside of Chobe, I witnessed the most beautiful night sky that I have ever seen – just hundreds and hundreds of glittering stars covering the pitch black sky.

After Chobe, we proceeded to the border of Botswana and Zambia in order to visit one of the seven natural wonders of the world, Victoria Falls. When we got to the border, we had to drive our truck onto a ferry in order to take a 5-minute ride across the water to Zambia. In Zambia, everyone was required to get an expensive visa for entry, but it was worth it. When we arrived at our campsite, which was approximately a 10-minute drive from the Falls, we quickly set up camp so that we could get to the Falls in time to view the sunset. As I was setting up camp, I noticed that there were monkeys all around the campground – sitting on people’s tents, in the trees, running around (one even found its way onto our bus) – I figured they looked small and harmless so I went really close to take a picture, which turned out to be an awful idea as it started to bear its teeth at me. Pretty soon, we were all running away from the monkeys, and spent the remainder of our stay avoiding them (I found a number of different routes to get to the bathroom).

On our drive to the Falls, you could see the spray from miles away – they are so enormous that when the water hits the ground, it sprays back up higher than the Falls themselves! Thank goodness we wore our bathing suits underneath our clothes because we got absolutely soaked while walking around the paths above the Falls. It was so gorgeous and so much fun! We sat and watched the sunset from one of the banks right above one of the waterfalls. The next day, I got up bright and early to go bungee jumping with Allison. The bungee jump is located on the bridge above the Falls, which connects Zambia to Zimbabwe. Bungee jumping was amazing – the scenery was gorgeous as I dove right into a full rainbow circle outlining the water. I can’t even begin to capture my feelings in words – but I did take a video, which still cannot do the experience justice. After jumping, we proceeded to go to Zimbabwe, which was not part of the trip as it is on the U.S. State Department Travel Warnings list – despite warnings against it, we went there the day before the elections, and it was perfectly safe. The Falls from the Zimbabwe side were magnificent – there were rainbows everywhere and you could walk the entire kilometer that the Falls extend! We also went to a market in Zimbabwe – this is where we had our closest look at the effects of the current situation in the country. The market was empty, and all of the vendors spent time trying to bring us to their store (which all sold the same items). We could pay in any stable currency since their money has no value – my friend even bought a $10,000,000 bill from a guy for a bar of soap (the soap was definitely worth more). We were told to take items to barter – I traded some shirts, containers, candy, gum, pens, tampons (they were desperate to have anything and everything). It’s difficult because you want to help everyone, but you just can’t – it was incredibly overwhelming and I was exhausted by the time I was done. I did get to speak to a couple of the people about what they thought the turnout of the election would be – I was surprised by their optimism, but I guess in the face of the current situation, people need to keep alive the hope for change. It will be interesting to see what happens...

The final day of our trip, Allison and I went to the Gorge for more adventure activities, where we abseiled (bounced down a cliff with ropes and a harness), did the Flying Fox (a zipline that you fly Superman-style over the Gorge), and did a Gorge Swing. For the Gorge Swing, you freefall off of the cliff until the slack of the rope catches you, after which it rides like a swing. I did one fall tandem with Allison, where we held onto each other and fell backwards off of the platform (I almost flipped us over!), and one by myself where I simply stepped off of the cliff – definitely against all common sense, but it was thrilling! After the day of activities, we went back to the campsite where we got ready for our sunset booze cruise as a final hurrah. As I watched the sunset with my friends, we reminisced about all of the highlights of the trip – I was so fortunate to have this experience. I will never forget all of the wonderful memories... cheers!

Much to tell...

Goeiedag (‘good day’ in Afrikaans)! I have enjoyed myself immensely this past week in Cape Town – it is such a relief to feel right back on track after last week’s minor setback.

I finalized my plans for Spring Break, which is already less than a month away! I will be flying with a few friends to Johannesburg where we will depart on a 10-day tour through Botswana (safari!) up to Victoria Falls in Zambia (one of the 7 natural wonders of the world!). I cannot wait to see more of what Africa has to offer – and what a relief to know the trip will be planned out for me. If you can’t tell, I’m very excited!

As for Cape Town, the wonderful thing about this place is that it is incredibly easy to find something fun to do. You can hike the mountains, swim at the beaches (or lay in the sand), visit the museums (admission is usually under $2), go shopping on Long Street or at the markets, explore the sights, etc. This weekend, I decided to go hiking – without any particular plans, my friends and I simply walked behind UCT’s campus and picked a path. As we were walking, we stumbled upon the Cecil Rhodes Memorial, which gave us a beautiful view of our side of the mountain – I was hoping to see some zebra since there is a breeding ground nearby, but unfortunately they were nowhere in sight. Continuing to follow the path, we found ourselves to be walking around the mountain (still elevated above the city). To give an idea of the geography, UCT is on the inland-facing side of the mountain – I have to travel around the mountain to go to the beach and downtown (about a 10 minute drive from UCT). Well, we ended up hiking all the way to downtown in 2 ½ hours! It was such a spectacular sight to come around the bend of the mountain and see the sun sparkling on the blue-green water and the tablecloth of white clouds covering the top of Table Mountain. The weirdest part is that when we left UCT, the weather was gray and damp, but when we got to the other side, it was beautiful and sunny. This is very typical in Cape Town – the weather simply depends on which side of the mountain you are standing.

On Saturday, CIEE took everyone to Stellenbosch for wine-tasting, but unfortunately I didn’t get the opportunity to go because I was required attend a volunteer training for SHAWCO (more about this below). After training, I went with two friends to the Bo-Kaap Museum and to the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront (a popular tourist destination that I had not yet visited). The Waterfront was very exciting – a seal even jumped onto the docks while we were there! As I sat on the docks overlooking the water, I enjoyed the performances of such impressive African dancers and musicians in full costume. While watching, I suddenly felt so disappointment in the U.S. as I realized the lack of ‘culture’ back home. The people here have such pride in their cultural traditions – it is so fulfilling and fun to watch. I love learning about and witnessing these traditions, but each time I do, I find myself wishing more and more that I would no longer be an outsider to this way of life.

My cultural experience continued into Sunday as Thapz and Lindizwe brought their houses (24 of us squished into one minivan!) to a braii at Mazoli’s in the township of Guguletu. This was my first time visiting a township, as we are never supposed to go without someone who knows the area. I couldn’t believe how ‘full of life’ the township was – small businesses were open, people were out in the streets, music was playing, children were running around. Mazoli’s, which is outside, was packed with people jumping on the opportunity to find a table and chairs. Basically, you pick the type of meat you want and they cook it for you – we ordered over 10 pounds of chicken, lamb, and sausage for only 30 Rand ($4!) per person. While waiting to get our food, which took approximately 1 ½ hours, everyone walked down the street to the local liquor store to buy some beer to bring back to the table. While walking, I couldn’t help but stare at the shacks that surrounded the place. Despite the conditions that the people were living in, most people seemed relatively happy and there seemed to be a strong sense of community. The food itself was delicious! – the meat came to the table in a huge bowl and we all stood around the table inhaling it (we did not have any utensils or plates). The bowl was clean in 4 minutes! All of our hands and faces were covered in sauce – luckily we were given a communal wet rag to clean up. While waiting for the minibus to head back, I saw some children doing acrobatics in their driveway – their mother was selling fruit, so we decided to buy some just so we could play – I even walked on my hands for the kids. The mother also allowed us to look inside of her house, which was a relatively large compared to some of the worn-down shacks surrounding it, but for such a big family (I believe 6 kids, mom, dad, and grandma), it was tiny.

On Monday, I got to volunteer for the first time for SHAWCO, which is UCT’s student-run volunteer organization. I couldn’t wait to finally get involved. I am volunteering with the STEP project, an after-school Math and English program for grades 3-7 in Khayelitsha. Khayelitsha is South Africa’s second-largest township – when we drove into it on the SHAWCO bus, I astounded by its size – the sea of corrugated iron roofs stretched as far as my eyes could see. I couldn’t begin to estimate the amount of homes – the shacks are squashed together and the paths between them, aside from the few main paved roads, are incredibly narrow. These living conditions are appalling – it’s difficult to conceive that this is part of the beautiful and first-world Cape Town that I know. The school itself was in better condition than the homes – it was a small cement structure with classrooms that one entered from the outside. When we drove up to the school, I was shocked to see the kids all in uniform. I was assigned to a volunteer partner and a group of ten 5th graders, who we will teach every week – because of a lack of space, we had to share the classroom with another teaching group – that significantly makes it more difficult to keep the children’s attention. Nonetheless, considering all of the chaos, we managed well. I was quite worried about the language barrier – their first language is Xhosa and they don’t start learning English until 3rd grade, but they were fairly fluent! I found it embarrassing that these children are bilingual, and I am not – a major flaw in the U.S. education system in my opinion. However, I am so happy to be taking Xhosa this semester and even tried a few words with them, which only brought about heaps of laughter, especially when I tried to pronounce their names. While I was impressed with their language skills, I was saddened by their math skills as they struggled to complete a worksheet with double-digit addition and subtraction. Almost everyone still counted with their fingers, and answered 1210 for 65+65 – but they were not dumb children at all, for the minute I showed them how to properly ‘carry the one,’ most understood immediately. It is difficult to watch these bright children struggle with the math I was completing easily in first grade. It is frustrating to know that they are not receiving the education they deserve. It is the system, not their intelligence, which is limiting their ability to be as educated as their peers in other parts of the world. I can only hope that in the coming weeks I will be able to make a difference, whether big or small, in the education of the few children I feel so fortunate to teach – however, I fear that I may be the one who learns the most.

Cape Town: The Good and The Bad

Molo! It has been quite an eventful week in Cape Town to say the least.

I finally began classes on Friday – we haven’t really done much yet, but everything is going well. I am picking up some phrases in Afrikaans, and struggling in my pronunciation of Xhosa (the Xh in the beginning of that word makes a click – there are 18 different clicks sounds – c, q, and x have a different click, but then when combined with certain letters you get different sounds!). Luckily, my house res, Lindizwe, his best friend, Thapz, and our cleaning lady, Cleo all speak Xhosa, and so I have many people to tutor me (and to laugh at me). The sounds and clicks are just so difficult to make correctly! However, they are more than willing to help – especially because I am a white person trying to learn their language. Xhosa is a black South African language, and apparently very few white South Africans attempt to do so. On the other hand, they don’t really care about Afrikaans, which was the white language imposed on blacks during Apartheid, and is still seen on almost all signs, along with English, here today (yes, everything is still all about race). It is funny because the professor for each class fits into the stereotypical image of those who speak each language – my Afrikaans professor is an older white man who continually drills the class in grammar while my Xhosa professor is extremely chill and gentle older black man. Both classes will be hard work, but it’s worth it!

As for my recent activities: Last Wednesday, CIEE took us to our own private concert to see the popular South African pop band, Freshly Ground (I highly recommend checking out their music). The concert was a blast since they played in such an intimate venue where we could dance right alongside the band. The weekend started off very relaxing with a night spent home drinking wine and watching a movie with a couple of my housemates. On Saturday, I woke up to a proposal to go to the beach – my dream come true – within an hour I was lying on the sand watching the waves come to shore. The picture that I’ve posted is from a beach hut at Muizenburg. My skin is quite the mix of colors right now, ranging from bright red (ouch!) to dark brown – the sun is so intense that you even get burnt with high SPF sunscreen. It was such a relaxing day on the beach, but little did I know that Saturday would turn into quite the stressful night.

Late on Saturday night, my entire house ventured off to another CIEE house’s party – as always, it was a fun night spent talking to friends and meeting new people. When Lindizwe got back home before the rest of us, his girlfriend, Yanga, who had stayed at the house while we were gone mentioned to him that his friend KG was resting on the couch in the living room. When Lindizwe said that KG had never come to the house (as he was possibly going to), she said she saw someone who looked like KG open the bedroom door, mumble something, and close it again (she couldn’t see because she didn’t have her glasses on). When we got back to the house around 12:30am, everyone sat in the living room talking for a while and Lindizwe mentioned Yanga’s sighting and we all discussed whether or not we believed in the supernatural, as we passed it off as possibly being a spirit or a dream. Two hours later, everyone decided to call it a night – as I was brushing my teeth upstairs, I heard my housemate Andrew downstairs exclaim that all of his valuables were gone from his room – the man that Yanga saw must have been the robber. Luckily no one was hurt during the break-in, but it was a scary dose of the reality of the crime situation in Cape Town. I’ve never felt so vulnerable and so anxious. It is difficult to constantly be thinking about whether someone is watching the house looking for the opportunity to come back again. CIEE has been working non-stop to reassure us of our safety and to tighten security measures. With lots of support from friends here, I am doing much better as the week progresses. Many people have asked me if I still want to be in Cape Town after this incident – my answer is 100% yes – while I am still a bit shaken, I wouldn’t give up my experiences thus far to be anywhere else. This may have been a bump in the road, but I have many more exciting things to see and do here...
Cheers!

P.S. – I have posted photos on Snapfish, so if you would like me to invite you to view the albums, shoot me an email at bef2102@barnard.edu.

Life at UCT

Howzit? (the South African equivalent to “what’s up?” with the traditional response being “sharp sharp,” which I assume is equivalent to our “not much,” but is certainly up for interpretation). Life continues to be wonderful here, but I am ready to start a daily routine. Last Friday, we registered for classes at UCT – a very inefficient process in my opinion, although we were told to keep an open mind. It was a day full of waiting in various lines – about 5 or 6 in total (I think the school is in major need of online registering, but the administration doesn’t seem too keen on making that switch anytime soon – it really boggles my mind). Anyhow, we were prepared for the worst, having been told that the process would take the entire day – luckily, I was done in about 3 hours. It wasn’t terrible, but definitely inefficient and a waste of paper. We were fortunate enough to only have to register with other semester abroad students (all 20,000+ other UCT students will have to register on the same day – I can’t even imagine how long that will take!). On a positive note, the campus is gorgeous – there are beautiful buildings covered in ivy, which are set on the side of the mountain – I will definitely be in shape after this trip as the walks to campus are uphill and the campus is huge! I think that Columbia is beautiful, but it doesn’t even compare to this.

Classes will begin on Friday, when professors will hand out the syllabus and course readers. Actual lectures begin next week. Scheduling is a bit different here – there are 10 45-minute periods each day and classes meet either 3, 4, or 5 days a week. Therefore, you cannot have more than one class at the same period because lectures would overlap – I still cannot figure out how they make all of the classes fit into this timetable, but it must work. I think that I will find it much easier to sit through a 45-minute lecture, but I am dreading having classes on Fridays – Barnard has certainly spoiled me. Right now, I registered for Xhosa (a language spoken mainly by blacks, which uses different clicks), Afrikkans (a mainly white South African language), Natural Resource Economics, and The Making of the Modern World Economy. The classes I wanted to take fall in periods 1-4, which means that I will be done with classes everyday by noon (although I start at 8am daily)! I am planning on my afternoons being filled by volunteering and clubs (I’m hoping to participate in the Mountain and Ski Club, Surf Club, and Habitat for Humanity). I can’t wait to get involved and meet other African students!

The past couple days were rather quiet around here as a bunch of people left to travel for our long weekend before classes start. As I didn’t get my act together in time, I decided to use the time to explore more of Cape Town – I am beginning to know my way around the downtown area, which is about a 15-minute ride from my house. Public transportation is certainly not the best here as a result of Apartheid, and so the best method during the day is to catch a van along the main roads into which they squeeze (very, very tightly) about 20 people and which stops according to each person’s needs. The drivers, who are notorious for their crazy driving, hire a man (also crazy) who sits in the back and whistles out to people, making every attempt to pack as many people as possible into the vehicle– it is unlike anything I’ve ever witnessed before – but it is very cheap as we pay less than $2.00 roundtrip. I don’t think this method of transportation would pass in the States. Anyhow, this week I explored Company’s Gardens, a beautiful garden originally built by the Dutch in the heart of the city, the former Slave Lodge, the Planetarium and South African (Natural History) Museum (a disappointment as it seemed out of date), and the District Six Museum, which was my favorite for the week. District Six was once a thriving area of the city, which was demolished during the Apartheid when it was declared a Whites-Only neighborhood – the museum commemorates the families who were removed from their homes and forced into the townships – certainly a very interesting and moving exhibit. I ended the long weekend (which was actually Tuesday) with a relaxing day on the beautiful beach at Muizenburg – a beach known for its surfing, its “warm” water (the difference in water temperatures is so drastic on different sides of the peninsula), and for its rows of colorful beach huts lining the sand in brightly painted reds, yellows, greens, and blues. I am being so spoiled by the absolute beauty of my surroundings everywhere I go – speaking of which, I hope to post pictures for everyone this coming week! Cheers!

Molo! (“hello” in Xhosa – one of the 11 official languages in South Africa)

Greetings from the land of bright sunshine and blue skies! After almost 2 weeks, I am officially finished with both the CIEE and UCT orientations! Luckily, we have gotten to do so many fun things when not listening to repetitive speeches about academic policies and safety – my favorites of this week being a huge African Drum Circle for all of the UCT study abroad students, another Braii (BBQ) with free food (again my hopes of a cheeseburger were crushed), and a trip to visit possible volunteer opportunities (more about this later). Most people here think the fun truly begins at night – there never fails to be another house party or excursion to a bar or club – I’m always up for anything, day or night. The highlight of my nightlife this week was a trip to a club called Hemisphere, which is at the top of the ABSA (major South African bank) skyscraper downtown (amazing views, of course) – it is a very exclusive club, but luckily one of our SOLmates (orientation leaders) had a connection to the manager and we managed to get in for 30 rand ($4) – I cannot imagine what it would have cost in NYC! Needless to say, I am pretty exhausted after staying out past 2am every night and waking up every morning for orientation – still no complaints. Everyone seems to be taking advantage of the lower drinking age and the dirt-cheap alcohol that is available at the grocery stores. Drinking wine has become commonplace at my house after dinner. This certainly feels like a wonderful vacation!

While my experiences have been amazing so far, I know I have been sheltered in the CIEE and UCT “bubble” of fun and games for the majority of my trip so far. With highly comfortable living arrangements, a picturesque campus, and an endless supply of beautiful scenery, it is very easy to ignore the realities of this country. This week I had the opportunity to visit the various volunteering centers, in which most, if not all of us will choose to do our community service. As this excursion was not mandatory, many people opted to go to the beach instead, but I knew that it would give me a much better look outside of my bubble – and it certainly did just that, as it was an emotionally draining day. CIEE does a wonderful job of bringing in a handful of organizations through which we can volunteer during the week – I cannot wait to start! On Thursday, we visited the children’s ward of TB hospital, the Leap Math and Science School, an adult refugee center, and a religious support center. On Wednesday, I also visited the low-income colored community of Kensington, through which SHAWCO, a UCT organization (the second largest student-run NGO in Africa!), operates. Seeing so many people and places in need of help makes you want to do anything and everything – unfortunately time does not permit. Many of my friends will be volunteering at the TB hospital where dozens of adorable children ages 1-8 leapt into our arms as we walked through the gates to visit – they are no longer contagious, but must stay at the ward without their families from 3 months to a year. Personally, I want to volunteer at the Leap School, a recently started high school specializing in math and science, two subject areas that are in dire need of improvement in low-income schools in South Africa. I originally thought that I would prefer to volunteer in places where I could play with and comfort younger children, but after visiting each place, I am convinced that my time will be the most beneficial in an educational environment, especially after having been so fortunate to have received such a wonderful education myself. However, it is really hard to know where one’s time will be best used in helping a society in so much need.

All of the volunteer places that we visited on Thursday were located in or around the townships and low-income communities. While I had seen a glimpse of the townships on my way from the airport the first day here, I did not realize the extensiveness of them – we were surrounded by townships on the sides of the highway everywhere we drove (we were out for a good 3 hours) – just miles and miles, thousands and thousands of corrugated tin roofs and decaying cardboard and wood walls, making up houses the size of a small closet, smashed together into dusty, treeless areas. I couldn’t help but just stare out of the window – a mix of emotions built up inside: I felt helpless, I felt confused, I felt mad to have been born into such a privileged life, yet happy that I had, I felt such a strong desire to want to change what I saw, but frustrated that I couldn’t think of a possible solution. At home, I feel sorry and embarrassed to say that I often take what I have for granted even when I see our country’s own problems of poverty – but I know that my eyes will truly be opened to some of the harsh, and unnecessary realities of this world.

My first week of travel has been full of excitement, adventure, and discovery. I can’t believe that I actually ever had any doubts about coming here. This place is unbelievable – I am perpetually in awe of the sights around me. The thing about Cape Town is that you don’t have to travel anywhere in particular to see its natural beauty because you can always see the glimmering blue ocean or the majestic mountains no matter where you turn. Plus, with weather over 80 degrees daily and sunny (the intensity of the African sun has already burned my skin nicely) – who could ask for a more picture-perfect destination? While it is easy to get wrapped up in these magnificent sights, one doesn’t have to look too far to witness the problems that exist here. For one, safety is a major concern – traveling alone is something that should be avoided as much as possible, which is quite an adjustment for me. The orientation talks have made us all paranoid about our safety and so I never hesitate to find a group of people to go out with. I not only stand out for being the minority as a white person here, but I am immediately identified as an American the second I open my mouth to speak. We have been told time and time again that we are targets, and quite a few people have already been pickpocketed at the clubs and bars. For the most part, I have felt quite safe although I am extremely alert at all times and suspicious of anyone around me. The crime that occurs here is often connected with the 30-40% unemployment rate that exists! Cape Town has many characteristics of a first world city, but experiences many problems of the third world. An up and coming problem, which I have already experienced twice in the past 6 days since I arrived are the blackouts (last Friday, one lasted from 8pm to 2am!). The losses to the South African economy have already showed up in the sudden strengthening of my exchange rate (increase from 7.0 to 7.5 rand per dollar in a week!). This is certainly making everything cheaper for me.

As much as I want to tell only about the beautiful and exciting places that I saw in the past week, I believe that it is necessary to paint a true portrait of the city in which I am living. However, now I can’t wait to tell about my exciting experiences in Cape Town so far! Everything has been “downhill” since the first day of adjustment. I never really suffered any jetlag, and luckily I haven’t gotten sick with the food or drinking the tap water. Everyday has been packed with activities – it feels like I have been here much longer than I actually have been since the days seem endless with very little sleep. But I’m feeling great! I have met so many wonderful people on the program, and with over 100 of us, there are always new people to meet. I can’t believe the friends I have made in such a short period of time – we are bonded by this entirely new and foreign experience. The area around our hotel was so much fun to explore and was accompanied by nightly excursions to Long Street, which contained a strip of bars and clubs. While walking around, I stumbled upon an area called Bo-Kaap, in which all of the street blocks are filled with brightly painted houses in all shades of the rainbow. I cheered for South Africa’s team in a pub as we ate dinner (the most expenive yet at $7) and watched the soccer game against Senegal. I tried oxtail on an orientation trip to an authentic African restaurant – the blackout occurred while we were there and so we spent the night dancing to the drummers who played under the lights of candles. I finally got to move into my permanent house for the semester! – a cozy and homey place with nice rooms and wonderful housemates (there are 9 of us – 5 boys and 4 girls). On Saturday, CIEE threw us a poolside braii (BBQ) with lots of delicious food (although I still would have preferred the typical hotdogs and hamburgers). The weekend concluded with a beautiful daytrip around the peninsula with all other international students studying at the University of Cape Town (UCT). On this trip, we had the opportunity to stop in Ocean View, a colored township, to eat lunch (I have never eaten so much meat in one sitting) and enjoy some festivities. While I loved the experience, I was not comfortable about driving 13 huge tour buses full of privileged students (mostly American) into such an impoverished community. We continued all the way down to the very tip of the continent to explore Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope, where I was disappointed to find out that the Atlantic and Indian Oceans do not actually meet. However, my disappointment disappeared as soon as I began to hike up the glorious cliffs to look out over the endless ocean – the sights were out of this world. Finally, we ended the day with a trip to Boulders Beach to see the hundreds of penguins – yes, there are penguins in South Africa! UCT orientation began on Monday, but a bunch of my friends and I decided to take some time to go to the beach at Camps Bay. We spent the day playing a variety of sports and lying on the sand. Since the water is on the Atlantic side, it is absolutely freezing cold, and so I only stayed in long enough to ride two waves. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful day to hang out on the beach with a perfectly blue sky, bright blue-green water, and mountains painting the background. I can’t believe this is where I live!

Day One

Greetings from Cape Town, South Africa! Howzit?

I am finally here!!! After a never-ending 32 hours of travel time, I finally touched down in the beautiful city of Cape Town. I still cannot believe that I am actually living in Africa! From the plane, I was mesmerized by the colorful sunrise over the mountainous land of South Africa as I stared out the window as we prepared to land at 6:30am Wednesday morning. We pulled into Cape Town International Airport, and the workers wheeled over a set of stairs to the plane so that everyone could unload right to the outdoors. The intensity of the heat and the level of humidity struck me right away as I stepped off of the plane and was hurried onto a small bus, which drove us to passport control and customs. I waited in a huge line with a couple of CIEE students – the plane from London was packed with us, and soon found my way to baggage – only to find that my baggage had not arrived. This, of course, immediately freaked me out, but I was fortunate to find 3 other girls did not have their bags, and that British Airways was able to locate them on the next flight from London, which arrived 3 hours after ours. At the airport, we were greeted with cheers from CIEE – and I soon found myself on a UCT (University of Cape Town) bus (called a Jammie), with many other students to head to the orientation hotel – still without bags. As we left the airport, we were immediately greeted by the beautiful backdrop of Table Mountain overlooking all of Cape Town. Everyone stared out the window in amazement. However, we were also immediately greeted by reality as we drove alongside the townships of Cape Flats – the bus grew silent as we all stared at the endless rows of tin rooftops. As we drove around the base of the mountain away from the townships, I could finally see the blue water and a view of the city of Cape Town. Many people pointed out that it looked European in some regards, but to me it seemed so foreign and so far away from home. We pulled up to a small hotel and were given rooms in a rather chaotic fashion. We were given until 3pm to meet back at the hotel. I found a group of people I had met at the airport and we headed out to find some food and to walk around the immediate area. I could not manage eating after having eaten airplane meals for the past 2 days. I felt so jetlagged, exhausted, and sick that afternoon – and of course the homesickness immediately began – I missed the comforts of my family, TJ, close friends, and home – the thought of making this my home for the next few months was very overwhelming. All I wanted to do was sleep, but we were strongly advised against that so as to adjust more quickly to the time zone change. When orientation began, and I finally had my suitcases delivered to me and had showered (thank goodness!), we were informed that all 140+ of us would be taking the cable car up to the top of Table Mountain so that we could watch the sunset over South Africa. I cannot even begin to explain the beauty of the sights that I witnessed that first night – I took so many pictures to try to capture the scenery that surrounded me, but nothing can truly capture the magnificence I witnessed here. The scenery immediately put me at ease, and since then, I have not felt the slightest bit homesick. I believe that a common bond between everyone was formed on the mountain as we all shared our amazement – I met many wonderful people as while walking around the top for over 2 hours. I can’t believe I was fortunate enough to watch the beauty of the sunrise and sunset in my first day in South Africa. As I came back down the mountain, I felt prepared and determined to make this wonderful place my home for the next 4 and a half months – and to have a good night sleep. More to come about the first week later...