Things I’ll miss…

I’ve been home for almost two weeks now, and while I don’t feel like I’ve experienced “reverse” culture shock, it seems as if my time in South Africa almost never happened.  It’s almost as if I’ve re-integrated myself back into my summer-at-home life TOO well.  Of course plenty of people have been excited to hear about my adventures and I’ve been just as excited to recount them, but there’s no way I can impart to them the full experience.  No picture I show will do justice to the beauty of Table Mountain at sunset.  No story I tell them will fully capture our wild spring break travels.  Oh well, time to stop moping and start saving up money to go back.  With that I present a list in no particular order of everything I’ve missed so far about Cape Town and South Africa.

  • Kruger National Park
  • Fat Cactus
  • Table Mountain
  • Clifton, Camp’s Bay, Muizenburg
  • Mini-buses
  • Free laundry at Forest Hill
  • Listening to native Xhosa speakers
  • The Audi A4
  • Cadbury chocolate
  • Coconut donuts, curry with roti, and samosas
  • Marimba and steel drum bands
  • Weekly swing dancing at Que Pasa
  • Roxy’s chilli poppers
  • Bargaining for souvenirs at Green Market Square and the Women’s Craft Market
  • Lion’s Head on a full moon

We had some good times, you and I, Cape Town.  We’ll meet again someday.

I totally just aced my Xhosa oral exam a couple days ago.  I aced it so hard I wish I could have talked with the examiners for longer.  Here’s a great music video of a white boy singing in Xhosa.  Lyrics below.  Now I just have to find someone in California I can speak with.

INTRO: Mamelani - Listen up y’all!

CHORUS:
Ndisafunda isiXhosa (Im still learning Xhosa)
Ndithetha kancinci. (I speak a little only)
So Khawuzekelele (So Please talk slowly)
xa uthetha nami (when you speak with me) X 2

VERSE 1:
Ndithetha kancinci kuba ndingumlungu*
I talk a little xhosa because I’m a white ou.
Ngikhuluma kancane kuba ndingumlungu
I talk a little zulu because I’m a white ou.
Andikwazi ukujiva kuba ndingumlungu
I don’t know how to dance because I’m a white ou.
Andikwazi ukucula kuba ndingumlungu
I don’t know how to sing because I’m a white ou.

REPEAT CHORUS

VERSE 2:
Andithathi iteksi x2 kuba ndingumlungu
I don’t take taxis because I’m a white ou.
Ndiqhuba Mercedes x2 kuba ndingumlungu
I drive a Mercedes because I’m a white ou.
Andikwazi ukushela kuba ndingumlungu
I don’t pick up girls because I’m a white ou.
Ndithanda ukukempa kuba ndingumlungu
I love to camp because I’m a white ou.
Ndinxiba ishortsi kuba ndingumlungu
I wear shorts because I’m a white ou.

REPEAT CHORUS

VERSE 3:
Andiqondi, andikuva
I don’t understand, I don’t get you.

REPEAT CHORUS X2

Ewe - Yes in Xhosa
Yebo - Yes in Zulu
Hayibo - gosh!
Eita - Yo (slang)!

Makhosi - The Lords, the Chiefs, the Kings and Queens, the Ancestors. Makhosi!

“Sorry, ndingumlungu mna” Sorry, I’m a whitey mos.

Last weekend I was fortunate enough to celebrate my birthday in Cape Town!  On Friday night about 20 friends and I went out to dinner at the Royale Eatery, a famous burger restaurant in downtown Cape Town with a quirky (but fun) decor.  I had the “Hawaiian Piggy”, a thick burger with guacamole, bacon, and pineapple, but I’ll definitely be going back to try the other 49 burgers they offer…  It was really great just to be surrounded by many of the good friends I’ve made since being here.  The next morning I went with a couple of friends to the Old Biscuit Mill, a kind of artisan-food market surrounded by a few specialty gift shops.  This place is dangerous: surrounded by so much fresh, delicious food, I have to make sure I only bring a little bit of cash so that I don’t blow my entire budget on crepes, bagels, sweets, bread, honey, etc.  Man.  I’m getting hungry just looking at these pictures.

Cookies

  • Chelsea, Nadia, and Jenessa helped me make some no-bake cookies. Unfortunately, they had to leave before the cookies were ready. This is their conversation on the way back to the dorms that night:
  • Chelsea: Do you think Ben is still awake? I want some cookies.
  • Nadia: I don't know. Maybe.
  • Chelsea: Call him.
  • Nadia: No, you call him! I don't want to wake him up
  • Chelsea: Nooo you call him. its only midnight, hes not a baby.
  • Nadia: You call him.
  • Chelsea: You won't go to Joburg with me this weekend! you call him!
  • Nadia: Don't try to guilt me into calling him.
  • Chelsea: Jenessa, you call him.
  • Jenessa: Wait, what? Why me? He doesn't even have my phone number, it would be unknown.
  • Chelsea: Nose goes.
  • Nadia: I'm not calling him, I feel bad.
  • Chelsea: Never mind, I'm hungry. I'm going to make pasta
  • Jenessa: You guys suck!

Intro to South Africa, Part 2

DRUMS.  That will forever be one of my memories of Orientation Week, or O-Week, at the University of Cape Town (it was actually more like O-weeks, but whatever).  The very first activity UCT put on for us Semester Study Abroad students was a drum workshop.  These guys were good enough to somehow get almost 600 students with drums to actually sound like we knew what we were doing.

The other fun part of O-Week was the few days that all the student clubs (called societies here).  Like most universities, UCT has a diverse range of social, religious, sporty, cultural, and political clubs, ranging from the Wine and Cultural Society to the Cape Legion of Adventurers and War Gamers to a Capoeira club.  The best part is that UCT pays the subscription fees for up to three societies for study abroad students, so I’m going to join Engineers Without Borders, the Ballroom and Latin Dancing Society, and fencing.

Unfortunately, O-Week is also when everyone registers for classes, and several factors combine to make registration a frustratingly painful process.  First, the entire process is not electronic—it is all paper registration, meaning you have to get a form, get it signed by the right people, take it to another person to get another form which you will then have to take somewhere else, etc., etc.  While this has the useful side effect of familiarizing students with UCT’s campus, it seems like a pretty inefficient system to a lot of us who are coming from schools where everything is done online.  The second frustration involved specifically with the Faculty (or department) of Engineering is that they don’t publish the timetables of the classes until a couple days before our registration date.  The resulting chaos that ensued after I found out that 3 of the 5 classes I had originally planned on taking were at the same time was not pretty to say the least.  I finally got everything sorted out though, and am taking Mechanics of Solids, Dynamics, an introductory astronomy class, and Xhosa (an African language, more on that in the future).

As much fun as it was to have a 3-week-long vacation in Cape Town, I have to say I’m actually excited for school!  I’m ready to finally do what I came here to do—learn!  My engineering classes will definitely not be easy (especially with the finals counting for 60-75% of my final grade…) but with astronomy and Xhosa I think everything will balance out.  TEACH ME, UCT.

Intro to South Africa, Part 1

I have arrived in the Mother City!  Actually, I arrived in Cape Town over two weeks ago, but due to various reasons (namely, the fact that this blog didn’t exist until several days ago), I am only now just beginning to record everything that’s been going through my mind.

I was definitely not looking forward to the 30 hours of traveling it was going to take to get from Granada, Spain, to Cape Town, but I have to commend Quatar Airways: surprisingly decent airplane food, comfortable seats, and, most importantly, each plane had about a bazillion bathrooms on board.   I finally landed at Cape Town just in time to see the sun set over the “tablecloth” of clouds rolling over Table Mountain.

Cape Town is sort of like Northern California on steroids.  Lots of vineyards, giant mountains, dramatic sunsets, pristine beaches, and enormous botanical gardens and parks all combine to make this one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.

Almost 200 students from all over the U.S. came to study in Cape Town through CIEE, the third-party organization that makes sure our home schools and the University of Cape Town play nice together.  Our first week here was CIEE orientation, meant to familiarize us with UCT and Cape Town.  As UCT is located on the side of a freaking MOUNTAIN, the campus is practically vertical, with hundreds (if not thousands) of steps separating the lowest building from the highest, which we found out the hard way during an Amazing Race-style scavenger hunt.  We got to explore central Cape Town as well as visit several townships nearby, and of course we had a couple braais (BBQs).  The highlight of that week was definitely taking the cable car up to the very top of Table Mountain to watch the sun set and have dinner (ostrich burger!) at the restaurant on top of the mountain.  Pictures (of which I took a lot) don’t even come close to showing how stunning the city, bay, and mountain range are.   I AM OFFICIALLY IN THE COOLEST CITY EVER.

A bus tour of the Cape Peninsula ended our CIEE orientation and kicked off the next week of UCT orientation.  As we drove around the beautiful cape coast we got to meet some of the other 600 study abroad students, as well as see wild ostriches, baboons, whales, and PENGUINS!  The scenery was stunning, the animals were incredible, and the very last leg of the tour was a hike out to Cape Point, the most south-western point of the African continent.  Yes, life is good.  Stay tuned for pictures and more about UCT O-week!