Day 9 Updates

Hi!  So I figure I should update everyone one on Cape Town life!

Things are finally starting to settle in here (to some extent).  Today we officially finished our week and a half of orientation.  It's like being a freshman again!  But so much better.  We had a few days of CIEE (my abroad program) and UCT orientation so I've gotten to meet a lot of people from the US and internationally.  I'm definitely starting to look forward to classes even more though because I want to meet more South Africans!

I'm really enjoying where I live.  The location is great and it's a spacious and comfortable place.  Tomorrow I register for classes!  Although I register tomorrow, we don't actually start until Feb 11.  Things are a lot earlier for international students so we have a lot of time to kill before real classes.  So this Saturday, myself and 3 other friends are renting a car and going on a 5 day Garden Route tour!!  We're starting off by going to an outdoor music festival on a river!  It's called Up the Creek.  A lot of students will be there.  We'll be staying in a tent near our other CIEE/UCT friends Saturday night.  From there we're going to Oudtshoorn to see ostriches (I expect to ride yet another one of these wild birds and feed them just for funzies) and to see the Cango Caves.  We'll be going to the biggest bungy jump in the world the next day.  I just designated myself photographer because for those of you who don't know I am deathly afraid of heights.  Like the idea of not bungy jumping literally doesn't phase me.  A lot of other people are thinking they'd be really bummed if they don't and they'll regret it, etc.  I am so indifferent - I think I'd regret actually doing it haha.  So lucky for you dad, one more life threatening obstacle is avoided.  We're going on a game drive from there where we hope to see the "Big 5" aka the most dangerous animals in Africa - lion, elephant, buffalo, leopard, rhino.  Next we're planning to hike, enjoy the beaches, and go to Cape Agulhas, the southernmost tip of Africa.  We're getting really excited for our trip.  We can rent a GPS for our car from the car rental. Again, don't worry dad!!  We're going into Claremont tomorrow (a nicer area with a mall) to get the other essentials.  How appropriate that the friends I'm going with are super planners just like me!  It makes everything relatively stress free to plan.  Also, our family friend Ronell has been really helpful with the trip planning as well.

Anyhoo, just be expecting some exciting posts in the near future.  Tonight we're going to a braai (aka a South African bbq), then a lot of students are going to a club called Tiger Tiger.  We went last week and it was really fun.  It's in a really nice part of town (Ronell said she used to live there) and it was a really fun, young crowd.

I also found a place I want to volunteer at!  It's through an organization called SHAWCO that has educational facilities in local townships.  They bus us in and out.  It was started at UCT in 1948 so it's a pretty notable organization.  I'm hoping to work with students grades 1-7.  I was talking to one of the volunteers today about the volunteering there and it was a really interesting conversation (side note:  I didn't know I was capable of asking so many questions as I have this past week).   The government here requires students to wear uniforms so even when you're in a township, kids are all dressed very nicely in their uniforms.  In South Africa, uniforms are something that people take great pride in.  It's basically a statement of "I'm doing something to make my life better by getting an education."  Also, they uniforms are a big expense because they are not paid for by the government.  I asked if that created an issue with parents not sending a child to school because of the uniform expenses, but the guy I was talking to didn't really express that that was a big concern here.

We also learned that many of the education issues stem back to Apartheid (naturally).  When the country was divided by race, they also were divided by the quality of education they could receive.  Because children in black or coloured communities were not given a strong education, those children grew up to teach the schools even though they did not have the proper qualifications.  There is a huge focus on education here because of this.  I think it makes a lot of sense because I really strongly believe that an education empowers someone.  I have felt many times in my life that I am who I am and where I am because of my education and the incredible educational opportunities I have been given.  In a culture where violence, drugs, and gangs are so prevalent, I think that teaching children and raising a more educated generation could eventually lessen the serious issues in SA such as these (violence, etc.).  Obviously it's nothing that happens over night, but through a big effort, I'm sure there would be some type of change/improvement.

It's getting to be about braai time!  I'm off to eat (surprising, I know) then hang out with friends.  Tomorrow's registration so wish me luck!  I'm planning to register for South African History until 1900, African Dance, and General Geology (we apparently do field trips to the mountains to look at rocks).  I got into the Living and Learning in Cape Town seminar, which is a CIEE only class where we basically discuss some of the more prevalent issues in Cape Town and South Africa.  I'm really excited about that.  I'm also going to try to get into Intro to Marketing to fulfill one of my business minor requirements.  Credits are weird here so I'm 12 credits short with only the 3 classes (the CIEE class doesn't count toward my credits).  I wanted to only take 3 classes here so I can have more time to do other things, but realistically I have a ton more time here so I'm not too worried about it.  I wouldn't mind getting another class out of the way anyway because my senior year is looking to be pretty full.  That's all for now!  Peace.