This has got to be the good life.

I think I'm going to ditch school forever and head to the mountains….

My housemate (Maria) and I at the peak in the Wemmershoek Mountains about an hour North East from Cape Town.

I have a Lit exam tomorrow so this post is going to be brief, but I went hiking in the Stellenbosch area and it was absolutely breathtaking (no pun intended). After climbing for an hour or so we rounded a corner an saw this mountain which had clouds flowing over the top like a waterfall.

This week is crazy busy with school but my mom comes to Africa on Friday… super psyched! She asked me what I wanted her to bring and the only thing on my list is something I can't live without: 70+ sunscreen. I brought it on the hike and these South African boys just laughed at me. But don't worry, I had the last laugh when we finished the hike and they were sunburnt.

Quite Hectic

I handed in my first paper this week and have my first exam in a couple of days, so my denial of school is finally getting a reality check. In my literature class we have been reading a series of articles about the development of Cape Town which I have found enormously helpful in understanding what I have been seeing the past two months. Interestingly, the article that I read last night discussed the importance of the convention center, which is this amazingly beautiful building that held the design expo I went to a couple of weeks ago. The convention center is huge, well designed and very posh. I remember when I entered the building it just felt so strange because it was the nicest expo center I had ever been to and it stuck out like a sore thumb in the midst of the surroundings with the dirty and smelly minibus station a mere 20 feet down the road. Anyways the article mentioned this convention center as an example of the ways in which Cape Town is trying to become part of the world economy by building up distinct areas for business. And yet in trying to establish its foothold as a “global city” the resources and funds do not spread to those people in places like the Cape Flats who desperately need money. Thus, anti-poverty movements are being pushed aside to by this globalization desire.

Today I had so much fun because I went rock climbing with the Mountain club at UCT. The club had everything we needed to hike including the ropes, carabineers, harnesses and shoes. There were around 10 people on the trip and aside from the two South African leaders, the majority of the students were study abroad kids. Nevertheless, I had a fabulous time and forgot just how much I love to rock climb. The climb was in an old quarry on the side of Table Mountain that used to be used way back when to get granite and such. The first route I climbed was not bad at all but then the second was much harder and I realized how much work I need to do at the bouldering wall at the gym in UCT before I can conquer it. My forearms burned by the end and I think I will sleep well tonight. Plus it was really great to get to spend time with South Africa students. They have a whole new way of using some words. For example after someone came down from climbing the leader of the trip said, “Bru that was quite hectic” meaning, “Man, that was quite hard”. The word hectic comes up ALL the time and its beginning to grow on me.

Tomorrow I am going to Old Biscuit Mill which is a really nice farmers market and then on Sunday I am going with the Mountain Club to climb a peak near Franshoek. Hopefully I’ll be able to bring my camera to grab some snapshots!

I'm melting

So a giant heatwave has hit Cape Town and its HOT. So hot, in fact that I am up at 3:30 am and sitting on the couch downstairs with a cold jelly jar on my head…. true misery. I've read a couple of online articles, and they estimated the temp to have reached as high as 40 c which is 104 by US measurement. One article even mentioned that the police were called to help a dog that was walking around foaming at the mouth because of the heat-- poor dog.

I realize that its not very nice of me to complain about the weather while the rest of you enjoy winter. I'm thankful for the beautiful days here-nearly everyone is the perfect summer day, but this extreme heat has got to stop because putting cold glass bottles of jam on your head is not a fun way to spend the night.

Hang Ten

Today I went surfing! (read: today I put on a wet suit and got battered by the waves). No really, it was super fun and I am going again next week. The beach is about a 30 minute train ride and you can the board there. I went with two friends who had been before so they showed me some of the techniques and then I just gave it a whirl. I mostly just stayed on the board and attempted to stand without much luck. Surfing is really exhausting and it was tough to get beyond the breaking point of the waves without getting thrown back to shore. By the time I got back on the train going home I felt like a bag of sand, it’s almost like the feeling after a long day of skiing when you finally get to take off your boots and sit by the fire. Next week there are lessons with an instructor so I think I will do that. It felt so great to be in the ocean and it was the Indian Ocean which is pretty cool.

fake it till you make it

Yesterday was a very tiring day. After classes I went to the township to help teach 3^rd graders in math, lit and “life orientation”. The township is about 30 minutes away by bus and from the moment you get off the bus there are kids everywhere, running around, screaming and causing general uproar. I worked with 5 kids as they did a workbook filled with little short stories and questions as well as some math problems. I quickly discovered however, that the kids were far from 3^rd grade standards in the US and had a very difficult reading short sentences- although their math abilities were much stronger. At first I was really friendly when they wouldn’t follow directions, or would stand up onto their chairs and start distracting the other kids and would politely ask if they would sit down and get back to work. My politeness wasn’t working and instantly I felt like the substitute teacher who is the victim of all the kids’ crap. I will always remembering sitting in classes with a substitute and just laughing because they seemed so incapable of handling the kids who had transformed into little terrors.

So I took a deep breath, shut my eyes, gave myself a brief pump up talk and tried desperately to look like I knew what I was doing. Fake it until you make it, right? One technique to get the attention of little kids is to call them by their names so instead of saying “hey you, sit down” you can say “hey SAM sit down”—the only trouble was that the names were in Xhosa and absolutely impossible to pronounce, so that wouldn't work. Slowly but surely however I gained greater control and mixed games in between the workbook exercises. One of the games they insisted on playing was something I had never heard before. It was similar to the crock-a-dilee oh my hand game but instead of chanting about cute little frogs, the topic was about guns and the person whose hand was hit at the end of the game got to choose who to shoot. Yikes.

The lesson went by really quickly and before I knew it, it was time to get back on the bus and head home. As we were packing up, the other teacher who was working close by asked me how my first day went. I said I thought it went ok and was about to say that I felt like I had been put through the wringer but before I had the chance she said, ‘yah every time I glanced over it looked like you had things under control.’ HA. … looks can be deceiving.

Milk crates

So this past summer I googled/you tubed (yes those words are both verbs now) South African music to get ready for my trip. After listening to a bunch of songs, I came across the Soweto gospel choir and fell in love. As my roommates can attest, I think I listened to the same songs on repeat for weeks on end. One of my favorite songs is Shosholoza, which in Zulu means “to go forward or make way for the next man”. The song was originally sung by mine workers in a call and response manner. After listening to the song all summer, I was really excited when I went to see Invictus (a movie about SA rugby) and lo and behold the song was playing in the opening act as the camera scanned scenes of Table Mountain and downtown Cape Town. After seeing the movie, the flames of my addiction were rekindled and I played their music nonstop for the last couple of days before I left. Oddly enough however, I haven’t listened to their songs while in Africa because my old music is not yet downloaded onto my new computer. But fear not—I am going to see Soweto gospel choir IN CONCERT tomorrow. They are playing at Kirstenbosch gardens which is a famous park area/botanical reserve, and I cannot wait to picnic and see them perform live.

Today we went to a textile exhibition in downtown Cape Town and walked around marveling at pretty fabrics and beautiful jewelry. Although I wasn’t carrying enough cash to buy anything significant, I have decided that before I leave SA I am going to treat myself to a beaded bracelet with the SA colors. I wish I had brought my camera because there was a runway show happening in one part of the convention center. The outfits were outrageous and the flashing of huge cameras never ceased. At one point seats in the front row opened up and I thought my friends and I should jump in but then I looked at my dirty jeans and crinkled shirt and thought we might be a bit out of place.

Speaking of cameras, do you ever wish you could take a picture with your eyes? It's an odd question, I know, but there have been many occasions during this trip where I have really wanted to take a picture of something, but would have felt really awkward taking out my camera. Everyday when I walk to the bus station, I pass a group of people selling clothes which look like they have been donated from goodwill. The clothes are hung on barred doors or scattered on the ground, and women sit on milk crates watching the clothes. The women set up early in the morning and are there when I am walking home at dusk, day in and day out. The expressions on their face are worn and tired and I so desperately wish I could document it.

Other than the concert on Saturday, I think I am just going to lay low and catch up on some much needed sleep/reading for school. On Monday, I am going to Khayelitsha for my first time to teach 3^rd graders in an afterschool program. Khayelitsha is the largest township in South Africa and was formed in 1985 during forced removal. 40% of the population is under the age of 19. I am going through a society (or club) called SHAWCO at UCT, and they provide buses from campus to the township. Here is the website for SHAWCO if you are so inclined.

I am a bit nervous/excited and intimidated. Me... teaching? watch out.

This can't be February...

I took this screenshot from my computer the other day when I went to "check the weather".