things we write: They weren't lying; it really is this beautiful

I’m in my room finally, sitting next to an open, breezy window, looking out on a spike-lined wall while the shadows are just beginning to get long in the patio below me. Today was our first day in our new house (see above) after two hectic nights in the dorms and it’s good to relax by myself for a moment. That, by the way, is an extremely relevant, culturally aware statement. To South Africans, everything’s hectic. Especially if you're on any sort of schedule. If it’s moving faster than ‘Africa time’, it’s Hectic.

Take my plane ride, for example. Two flights from Minneapolis got me to JFK in new york, from which I hopped on the subway and took four trains to Brooklyn, saw my friend Katie for a total of one hour, sleep for roughly four hours on her blow-up mattress, woke up, hopped on a few more trains and caught my flight out of JFK heading to Johannesburg- nonstop for 14 sleepless hours. From there I flew to Cape Town, met other international students, ate dinner, and left promptly for the bars on Main Rd. Sleep? who needs it. We spent the next day exploring the city center in massive groups of 30 or so, drinking the occasional smoothie or fresh juice, trotting off to the shops near the UCT campus, sweating, squinting, getting sunburned. We spent the night on Long Street--a bar-lined avenue downtown that resembles bourbon street in New Orleans, drinking South Africa's own Black Label beer, mingling and trying to learn names. There are maybe 300 or so international students at the orientation week so things get confusing and conversations often get repeated before you realize you’ve met the person three times already.. Tip: don’t ask a South African what school they go to.That’s the equivalent of asking them which high school they currently attend. Your correct phrase should go something like, ‘Eh, bru, what varisty you attend, neh?’ You might get a reply like: ‘UCT, man. If you would like to ask them how it's going, just say howzit. If something's cool, it's lekker. Grapetiser soda, for example, is really lekker.

I still can’t believe this is where I’ll be for the next five months. We’re all pinching ourselves out of disbelief from the sheer physical beauty in which we’re living.

Here are some photos to keep you interested before I elaborate more once orientation starts:

my house is on the other this field, Rondebosch Common. The neighborhood of Rosebank climbs the slopes of Devil's Head. The UCT campus is the last row of red roofs at the top. Table Mountain is in the background.

Cape Town winds around the mountain. Downtown is out of view but this is the Waterfront on the Atlantic side, seen from Rhodes Memorial.

Cecil Rhodes (think mining/Rhodesia) donated land for and helped build the University of Cape Town. This memorial to him sits on the side of Devil's Peak.