school, sweat and culture shock

School has officially begun, which means the reality of living abroad has officially sunk in. There are lots of new things. I've never been patrolled in the library to make sure I'm only doing research. I've never had to lock my closet doors when I leave in the mornings. I’ve never sweat this much before. Temperatures are in the high eighties every day. yikes! I try my best to be savvy…I wear shorts and sandals and tank-tops, take the Jammie shuttle up the mountain to minimize the walk from lower to upper campus, I wear sunscreen, carry water but regardless, I’m always dripping by the time I sit down, casually wiping sweat into my hair and hoping my shirt isn’t sticking to my back. It’s a real art. It doesn’t help that the Jammie schedule is extra confusing. There are multiple routes and several different stops, including three on upper campus. It’s pretty impossible to know where you're going to end up, if it's stopping at all, so for now I just hop on, cross my fingers that it’s going the right way, and hope I don’t smell too bad.

UCT is an interesting place. It was designed by Rhodes to be Africa’s own Ivy League—the buildings were designed especially to grow ivy, like Oxford. It’s really beautiful. So are the students. 20% of us are international…over 700 of us are semester study abroad students and the rest from other countries in Africa. Most of the Africans I’ve met are from Zimbabwe, but the university maintains a 50/50 white/black ratio in its student body, according the website. Students are well-dressed; it might be 90 degrees out but, yes, those knee-high leather boots do look fabulous with your mini skirt and that handbag might not hold your books but at least it matches your sunglasses. I wear Birkenstocks with my skirts, walk to campus and don’t have an Iphone or a Mercedes, so before I even open my mouth it’s apparent I’m not South African. That’s alright—there are over 21,000 students here so I’ll blend in somehow.

I’ve signed up for three classes for a total of 16 credit hours: Sustainability and the Environment, Principles of Ecology and Race, Identity and Culture in post-Apartheid South Africa. It’s been a long haul to finally register but I’m satisfied where I’m at for now if my classes ever show up on my record. I think they should soon… My camera is still in the shop getting repaired; thanks mates for the photos!

Shark flags went up while we were swimming at Muizenberg. They have helicopters and people in the cliffs above hired as shark spotters. Great Whites are a huge problem...someone was "taken" from this beach two weeks before we got here! woah. i stared at the water for hours but didn't see one. shucks.

yes, more braai. we grill out at least three times a week. mmm. those big sausages are boerworst, a spicy South African brat. (i ate the eggplant...)

Table Mountain, Upper Campus, sunshine.

The top photo was taking on the other side of table mountain on a hike above False Bay. It was fantastic. :)