Cultural Diversity

For the past few days, I have been walking around UCT campus, going to class and experiencing Cape Town at its finest. I never really stopped to think about all the different people and things that were going on around me until just yesterday. Diversity is all around me. As I walk to school, as I walk around campus, as I sit in class. There are all different types of people surrounding me. Different races, different ages, different ethnicities, and different backgrounds that are all sharing the same country and city of Cape Town, South Africa. Now this may not seem so shocking for other people but for me, this is life changing. Lebanon and Merrimack are not diverse places by any means so Cape Town is definitly a culture shock for this small town girl. So today as I sat on the Jammenson steps of the campus I felt out of place but the same time surrounded by diversity. There I was sitting all by myself surrounded by hundreds maybe even thousands of students who were busy talking amongst one another about who knows what. Now usually I would be in that group talking with all my friends but today i sat there all alone just watching and trying to listen to all the people around me. I have found that in order to be able to talk to people and be part of that mass of "in" people, i have to learn to open up and become more culturally aware and diverse. But i know this is going to be a very hard task.

Luckly I am already on my way to becoming more diverse through a class im taking called Race, Class, and Gender and a CIEE seminar called Living and Learning in South Africa. Hopefully each of these things will help me open up and be able to make south african friends in addition to learning more about the culture. So first this seminar is a new program started this year by CIEE and its a group of about 20 study abroad students who are interested in learning and talking more about Cape Town and its culture. In addition we will also be taking field trips to various places around the city! YAY!! Then there is this class that I am taking. So the class is broken up into 3 sessions: one on race, one on class and one on gender, which are each being taught by three different lecturers. For the first 4 weeks the class is race taught by a black male. So the first day I left thinking hes not very good and i dont really like this class but today was a different story. Today I went to class after sitting on the steps and seeing all the diverse people on the campus and wasnt feeling too excited to be there but i went anyways. So he first started off talking about the evolution of race which wasnt very exciting but i listened anyways. Then for the second part of the class we talked about xenophobia. If you look around the lecture hall to the people in my class you will see plenty of diversity. You have Americans, Europeans, White South Africans, Black South Africans, "colored" people which are people of mixed race, and other Africans who come from other parts of Africa. So as you can guess the topic of race brought some tension into the room. The discussion started with the lecturer asking what we thought xenophobia was and there was some debate about whether it was a belief or an act but nothing too bad. Then he asked if there was a hierarchy of foreigners. This got people all irritated. There were plenty of discussions across the room talking about how the police treat foreigners, how people treat south africans differently and how people are still living with the apartheid. So coming from a small non-diverse town, this was a little uncomfortable for me but hopefully as the sememster goes on, i will be able to participate in the discussions and open myself up to race and talking about it instead of letting everything work itself out.
So in the end, cultural diversity has found me and i can only embrace it and learn from it for here on out.

South African fact: South Africa only became a free country in 1994!

Starting school in July?? I should be on the beach getting a tan!!!

After surviving registration, I have successfully been to all four of my classes for this semester. But before we get into school let me update you on the events of my weekend. Like mentioned in my previous post, this past weekend we went to the Manchester United vs. South Africa Kaser Chiefs soccer game. It was very loud and fun to watch but it did end a 1-1 tie which us Americans don't understand due to our extremely competitive sports and personalities. Besides watching the game of course, the girls and I kept ourselves entertained by watching the vendors who, get this, were selling donuts and hot chocolate in the stands. We thought it was rather odd but the donuts were decent (christina bought one). After the game we all walked back to the Nursery house and hung out with the girls until it was time to leave for dinner. We were gonna go out to sushi but instead we went to a seafood place called Jimmy's Killer Prawns. Amelia and I split a Carbiean something Platter that had calamari, hake, prawns and rice. It was very good good but there were eyes still on the prawns so that was a little werid. Sunday we got up and went to breakfast at Coca Wah Wah and then went shopping and ran errands before returning to our homes for our big first day of school.

So overall classes are quite different here in Cape Town than in the US. My first class monday morning was Southern Africa in the 20th century. It seems to be an interesting class but we dont have any required books which is weird to me. After class Ali and I went down to the IAPO/CIEE office to sign up for the play and then hiked back up the hill to go to the bookstore before my next class. My second class was Contemporary Art and Visual culture which has a really young cute lecturer so i hope it will be good. After classes I went back home and got ready for the play. CIEE took us to Cissie at the Baxter Theather which was more historical then entertaining but still pretty good.

My second day of class was a little bit longer but not too bad. I didnt have a lecture till noon but i went up to campus early so I could go to ITS to fix my wireless. I then proceeded to sit in the ITS office for an hour and a half while a man named Douglas took various things off my computer and messed around with things until finally i was able to get on merrimack websites. I then went to my art lecture that i had yesterday and then grabbed some lunch. At 2 I had my Democracy, Social change and development class which was very unorganized at first when we had to sign up for our tutorials. The professor seems nice so i hope that it will be a good class. then i had my race, class, and gender class which is apparently 3 different sections taught but three different professors which should be interesting i guess. Over the past two days i have found that things are done a little differently here but i guess im gonna have to get used to it. Well i have some reading to do before my tutorial tomorrow so i g2g but ill try to write tomorrow xoxo

South African facts: People here abbreviate a lot so tut is really tutorial so... "I better go read for my tut tomorrow!"

Registration day

So I made it through what was supposed to be my worst experience at UCT. Registration. We were told that the cues (aka lines) would be ridiculously long and we would have to wait for hours to register for classes. See the thing is, Cape Town and especially UCT is not technologically advanced. All work for registration and anything else you can think of is done all on paper!! Computers are used for email and research but rarely for the easier things such as registration. Edward had told me that he waited in the cues for 3 hours when he first registered so i was definitly not looking forward to it. Fortunatly for us, all full time students register for all the classes at the beginning of the year so we didnt have to wait long at all. After about 2 hours, I had registered for my classes both on paper and then on the computer (go figure), gotten my lovely UCT student ID card, and got my new password for the network. Not bad at all. After everyone was done with registration, most of the CIEE students went on a tour of some of the volunteer sites offered. We visited The Arch, which is a homeless shelter, school, and drug rehab center, a TB hospital, and a school program called LEAP. I think I am going to do The Arch and LEAP if everything works out. The Arch was Christian based which I liked and very well organized which was also a plus. The TB hospital was very well taken care of and successful but I don't think I would volunteer there. Then LEAP is a math and science program that includes volunteer mentors and tutors for kids in high school. This program seemed great and I would really love to become a mentor as long as the times work out. Ill definitly keep you all updated on how everything works out.

Weekend plans: Today at 1.30 all CIEE students are meeting to go to a soccer game around the Cape Town area. My host family was very jealous when I said I was going but of course I forgot the names of the teams playing so ill let you know when i find out. Then Laurens birthday is monday so we are going out tonight to celebrate. I think the plan is sushi and then dancing. Tomorrow we are going to a crafts market which is apparently filled with artsy things and african treasures. Then monday is the beginning of classes!!! miss and love you all xoxoxo

South African Fact: Robots are traffic lights

Townships

Today we had a couple of talks in the morning about various campus things such as computer labs, registration and a volunteer program called SHAWCO. This program is completely student run and has been a big success. After the speakers introduced the program we got to go on a tour of the townships that we would be volunteering in. My bus went to a township called Khayelitsha which is one of the biggest ones in the area with over 1 million people living in these HORRIBLE conditions. Unfortunatley i was unable to get a picture of the township from the bus but i did get some pictures of the SHAWCO building and school and of course the adorable kids!!!


I have worked out my class schedule and found out that I will hopefully be able to go to the schools on monday afternoons or saturday mornings. After the tour we went down to the Waterfront mall to do some shopping. I didnt get anything good yet but we will do some shopping soon!!! :)

So people have been asking about the food and i must say that i have been eating VERY well!! When i first got here, we went to an indian restaurant, an african restaurant and another place i cant remember. At my homestay, Margaret has cooked pasta with meat sauce, roasted chicken, veggies, potatos, and many other yummy things. Tonight we are having pizza but its ok lol. Anyways gotta run but ill try to post again tomorrow about my registration experience!!

South Africa Fact: tomorrow July 18, 2008 or 18.7.2008 is Nelson Mendelas 90th birthday and while in the mall today, we heard that a company is going to wear black and white all day tomorrow to support/symbolize his birthday. the explaination was that Nelson made the country a "rainbow country" when he became president but then this lady thought that would be too logical to wear bright colors so they are wearing black and white! go figure huh :)

PENGUIN DAY!!!

Today was a fabulous day because we got to see the PENGUINS!!!! But first lets start at the beginning of the day when I woke up at 7am, when it was still dark out, walked out into the kitchen and stepped in dog poop/puke!!! then i tried to pick it up but i couldnt find the trash bags so margaret took care of it. Then myself and the other homestay students proceeded to walk up one of the many hills to middle campus for the start of our UCT orientation. We then got on buses and took a tour of Cape Town and Cape Point. We stopped at various places along the way including beaches, drove through the townships, Boulder Beach with the penguins, Cape Hope and Cape Point. The penguins were absolutely adorable and i took many pictures dont worry!!! (contact my mom or kevin if u want the email with the pics) Then we went to the south-western most part of Africa and proceed to go on ANOTHER hike up and down some mountains. (ps my legs hurt A LOT right now lol). After we drove back into town and had lunch at a local african place with live entertainment. So all and all it was a very exciting day with beautiful weather but tomorrow is supposed to rain :( but we'll see if it actually happens!!! love and miss you all


South African fact: We drove past Roben Island today which holds the prison that Nelson Mendela spent 8? years of his life.

sorry about the delay

It has been awhile but I am now on the internet at my homestay!! They have limited time so I will not be on all the time but will try to get on somewhat frequently. So the past days have been very exciting. Friday night we went to an African restaurant where we ate great food and danced the night away!! Saturday we left the hotel and went to our various places of residence for the semester. I personally was picked up by my host mother Margaret in her son Edwards (21 and UCT student) car. She then proceeded to drive me to her house where herself, Edward, and the dog Toby live. Margaret also has a daughter Kimberly who is 24 but lives in Australia. Then there is Timothy who i think is the boyfriend but im not quite sure. the house is very lovely and has bright walls and tall ceilings. it also has a gate out front which is pretty cool to operate. The dog Toby is absolutely adorable and looks exactly like Uncle Buddy's dog Knock out. Anyways I have had many cups of tea with both Margaret and Sue, who is housing another CIEE student. The house also doesnt have a dryer which is different but everything is airdried outside which seems to work fine.

So now that I have told you all about my wonderful homestay, I want to mention my great accomplishment of the trip!! I climbed TABLE MOUNTAIN!! it was very long and tiring but I did it. Pictures were taken and will be sent out sometime. Unfortunatly i have to go, dinner is ready but i will try to post again tomorrow!! love and miss you all

south african fact: "o my hat" means o my goodness

Day 2

Its day 2 and we have gotten a lot of information. today was basically the academic oreintation and volunteering. we also went to UCT campus which is HUGE compaired to Merrimack. O and it has like a MILLION steps so my legs are going to be great by the time i get back lol. anyways there were a lot of great volunteer opportunities we heard about such as a Christian homeless shelter, helping in a hospital with TB patients, a little league baseball team (ill go to the games lol), a childrens home and school, a refugee organization and Leap Science and Math School. All of these programs sound like a great time and are only some of the volunteer stuff UCT and CIEE offers. I will most likely sign up for the homeless shelter, the childrens home and school and maybe the refugee organization but we'll see how everything works out. We also found out some info about credits and the classes which is extra confusing. next week is our UCT orientation so we will find out way more then. well thats all for now (my time is running out!!). Tomorrow i am moving in to my HOME STAY so hopefully i will be able to hook up my laptop and stuff there! anyways miss you all and take to you soon.

Random fact: Amandla means "power or power to the people"

I MADE IT!

After two VERY long flights, I have arrived in Cape Town, South Africa!! I actually arrived on yesterday but close enough! The flights were very long but I managed to keep myself somewhat busy the whole time; even though I only slept for about an hour!! Anyways, Cape Town is absolutely beautiful but pretty cold. When we arrived, we were greeted by Quinton, our Resident Director, and brought to the hotel where we will be staying until saturday morning. This morning we met as a large group and got to know each other and got lots of information, some informative while other pieces were not really.... I found out that I am living with a family (YAY!!) except all I know is that the moms name is Margaret and that the house is somewhat close to campus. We then got our cell phones which was very confusing but all worked out in the end. My number is the following but it will probably cost you a fortune to call me unless you have some kind of international plan or card...0823845103 but if you are calling from the US, i think you have to dial 27823845103 but im not positive!!! Well thats it for now, miss you all but ill try to write again soon!!!


Random South Africa fact/finding: There are people that hand out newspapers during red lights to cars...i thought it was odd but maybe not. Also they drive on the left side of the road!!

Test run

so i just created this blog so now im making sure it works lol. im leaving for south africa on tuesday so look for new postings after.