So I know I haven’t written on this blog for a while but I have been really busy. Anyways lets start with after spring break which was like a month ago lol. It rained a lot in September including one day of me getting completely soaked and having to buy sweatpants at the UCT campus store so I could have dry pants, well sort of dry, for the rest of the day. I have been writing a lot of papers and doing lots of work but having fun too. The second weekend in September we went to a beach called Muizenberg where we hung out all day in the beautiful sun. Since i’m that dangerous type, my friend Mike and I jumped into the freezing cold ocean of South Africa just to get wet but then was dry in a matter of 10 mins after I got out of the water!! But then it was nice so me, Mike and my friend Lindsay from the service learning program made a sandcastle J but it wasn’t very good because we didn’t have any buckets so us girls decorated it with pretty shells instead!! Then we spent all day sitting back and watching the little kids walk past our masterpiece to make sure that they didn’t step on it!!! Luckily no one did but a dog did pee on it lol.
Seminar Experience
I am taking a seminar through CIEE on Wednesday afternoons called Living and Learning in Cape Town. It’s a group of 20 American students and we talk about a lot of issues in South Africa and things that come up here and in classes like race, the presidency of South Africa and general differences. Some of the conversations get pretty intense but most of the time they are very good. In the beginning of October we drove to the University of Western Cape to listen to a lecturer speak about South African politics. Most of the information was over my head but still interesting to hear about.
African Dance
Another exciting part of my semester has been African Dance Class. It’s a really fun class and I enjoy the workout twice a week. So even though i’m not registered for the actual class, I can still go and take the class for free. Anyways, on Friday September 19th, all the international students/semester abroad students performed at the school of dance during lunch time. We were all really nervous but thought it would be fun to do. Now some of you may know that I don’t like performing in front of my peers especially if I can see their faces when I perform. So we figured no one what come but sure enough the bleachers in the studio were filled with at least 150-200 people most of them which I knew. It was a really fun show and everyone liked it but it was still embarrassing at times.
South African experiences/adventures
Other exciting things we have done on the weekend was going to Hermanus to see the whales and go sea kayaking to the whales!!! We actually saw more whales standing on the rocks outside of the water but it was still fun to go in the kayaks. We also had a great sushi lunch before we went kayaking which was amazing. One weekend I went out to dinner with some of my girlfriends and their friends from the Semester at Sea program that had docked in Cape Town for a couple days. Sounds like a pretty cool program but couldn’t get into the culture as much because you are only in one place for a week at the most. Then a couple of weekends ago we went to the West Coast to the see the flowers which really weren’t that pretty but the scenery of the ocean was beautiful. Then we went to a seafood braai on the beach and ate a 10 course seafood meal with all kinds of fish, mussels, veggies, and crayfish (aka smaller lobster). After the seminar people plus a couple others went to this small town called Darling where we had dinner and watched a satire performance of South African presidency.
Church
I have been going to Jubilee Community Church every week which has been interesting and I have been trying to bring my friends each week. Sometimes I really like the sermon but other times I don’t agree with it at all. But it really has let me think more about my life and my Christian faith. I also went to a township church a couple weeks ago which was similar to Jubilee but more family orientated. There were lots of kids who stood on the side and sang and danced to the music…so cute!!! Glad that I have found this church and really happy that I can go every week.
Recent News
So now that I have updated you with all the past events I can tell you about this weekend. Since my work is coming to an end, well sort of, before finals, this weekend was definitely more fun then work. On Friday I went with my friends Poetry, Ravi, and Lauren to Long Street to go shopping and get our cameras fixed. But of course i'm a space cadet and forgot my camera so ill go back later this week. So we got lunch at this really good burger place called Royale and then Poetry and I went shopping since the exchange rate was $9.50!! Then we came home, changed, and went out to dinner at an Indian restaurant with a bunch of our friends. Saturday we spent the day at that Old Mill Market which has a bunch of cute little shops and an open air food market (dad you would love this!). it was basically a huge market where you could taste and try as much food as you want for free. We did end up buying some food for lunch but it was better to just taste! Then at night we went to our friend Ravi’s house to watch a movie but half way through their water mane broke which caused a slight delay. Then today 5 of my friends were running the half marathon in town (ya I know they’re crazy!!) so me and two of my friends went down to the finish to say congrats on running like 15 miles!!! After me, Sarah and Ravi went to the market to buy gifts and other fun things. The market is such a cool place but also bad cause I just want one of everything lol. Overall, it was a great weekend!!
South African fact: Even though the economy in America is doing poorly, us study abroad students in south africa are loving it. as i said before, last weekend the exchange rate was $9.50 but get this on wednesday night it was $10.50!!! i think its time to go shopping again :)
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