University of Cape Town probably has the most
beautiful campus; it is literally on a mountain. When I say this I am also
implying that to get to class I literally have to climb up a mountain everyday. The reason that University of Cape Town is on a mountain is because it is suppose to be a temple of learning that student have to make a pilgrimage to. Good thing they started the Jammie shuttle system up the mountain or I would never go to class. The first week of school was so crazy
because it was like the first week of freshman year all over again; I didn’t
know anyone and I was running around like a crazy person trying to make it to
class on time not knowing where any of the buildings were. I was one of those
people that had to ask a million times where each building was. It was so much
different than the small Southwestern bubble that I am use to. Luckily as
I go into my third week of class this week I feel like I have finally figured
out my schedule it just took a little while. This week we even have a public
holiday on Thursday, which means that no one will go to class on Friday so I
basically have a 4-day weekend and will get to have fun adventures this
weekend!!! Also I forgot to
mention that I got to see Manchester United play the Cape Town AJAX at the
world cup stadium!!
Homestay!!!!
Last weekend we had a homestay in the Gugulethu township, an eye-opening experience to say the least. Everyone in my program was put into groups and we were matched with a mama, my mom’s name was mama Noks. She had lived in Gugulethu for 14 years. When we got there we walked around Gugulethu a little and it is safe to say that this community was one of the most tightly knit communities I had been too. There was a big soccer game going on that same night and every time the team that everyone was routing for scored a goal there was a chorus of vuvuzelas followed by kids running into peoples houses and through the streets cheering. One house had a party going on for a little girl turning one and the party started before we arrived that night and ended when we left for church Sunday morning. The church service that I attended on Sunday morning was like no other church service I had ever been to But really there was no sermon only singing and dancing, it was called a “thanksgiving service”; which consisted of people giving thanks the whole time and concluded with a slideshow of everyone in the congregation. After church our guide took us to a famous restaurant called Mzoli’s, which is in Gugulethu as well. Mzoli’s is famous for its Braai BBQ, basically from my non-eating meat point of view it was a bucket full of meat. It was however despite the large quantities of meat a really fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon observing a traditional Braai and going to one of the most famous spots in Cape Town. Now I understand why all of the tourism books that I have read on Cape Town rave about this place! Another culinary experience that I had last weekend was Mexican food in South Africa. For my birthday a bunch of my friends from my program and I went to this “really good” Mexican place in the nearby neighborhood of observatory. It was an attempt at Mexican food to say the least, basically what I expected of Mexican food in a country that is so far away from Mexico. All in all my 20th birthday in Cape Town was pretty fun!!!!
Last weekend we had a homestay in the Gugulethu township, an eye-opening experience to say the least. Everyone in my program was put into groups and we were matched with a mama, my mom’s name was mama Noks. She had lived in Gugulethu for 14 years. When we got there we walked around Gugulethu a little and it is safe to say that this community was one of the most tightly knit communities I had been too. There was a big soccer game going on that same night and every time the team that everyone was routing for scored a goal there was a chorus of vuvuzelas followed by kids running into peoples houses and through the streets cheering. One house had a party going on for a little girl turning one and the party started before we arrived that night and ended when we left for church Sunday morning. The church service that I attended on Sunday morning was like no other church service I had ever been to But really there was no sermon only singing and dancing, it was called a “thanksgiving service”; which consisted of people giving thanks the whole time and concluded with a slideshow of everyone in the congregation. After church our guide took us to a famous restaurant called Mzoli’s, which is in Gugulethu as well. Mzoli’s is famous for its Braai BBQ, basically from my non-eating meat point of view it was a bucket full of meat. It was however despite the large quantities of meat a really fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon observing a traditional Braai and going to one of the most famous spots in Cape Town. Now I understand why all of the tourism books that I have read on Cape Town rave about this place! Another culinary experience that I had last weekend was Mexican food in South Africa. For my birthday a bunch of my friends from my program and I went to this “really good” Mexican place in the nearby neighborhood of observatory. It was an attempt at Mexican food to say the least, basically what I expected of Mexican food in a country that is so far away from Mexico. All in all my 20th birthday in Cape Town was pretty fun!!!!
Cheers,
Claire
