5,4,3,2,1 BUNGEEEE

I finally got the pics... check it out: 

Thrills and Thoughts

Despite my 3 day weekend schedule, there is never enough time to do what I want. School is picking up and I have essays due every week. I feel like I am constantly writing them, and once I print one and close out of it, there is another one to start. It is only Monday and so far I have written 2 assignments and have 2 more to go. But enough complaining. It is called study abroad… although I feel like many times I hear of people not studying. I have had some fun time in the past week though, and I’m sure that interests you more than my essays.

On Thursday night, everyone went out since it was a holiday the next day and everyone had school off. Instead of going with all Americans, though, I brought only Kathleen and Steph along with me and went out with a South African friend I had met in class. We all went to Tiger Tiger, a bar/club in the middle of a mall. I wasn’t exactly expecting that, especially since the club is known for being pretty posh and you have to dress up for it. We seemed to be the only Americans there that I saw so it was nice to be around more locals. I saw some other people I recognized from class and we danced all night. The special was 2 for 1 drinks, so we had fun.

On Friday we woke up to SUN! I wanted to go to the beach but we had a braai to attend. Shana’s friends from high school all came over to celebrate Heritage Day/National Braai Day. We played pool, chatted and grilled a lot of meat! There were 10 of us total. I could tell, though, that Shana had grown up more than her friends. Her friends exhibited many of the same things I saw in the township, mainly drinking and smoking a lot. It seems to be a common trend. Fter our braai, we went to get fro yo in Rondebosch. I think all of us needed a small break from Shana’s friends. The boys were nice and friendly, but Shana quickly realized she didn’t have much in common with the girls anymore. We were all kind of glad when they left and it was just the 4 of us again.  

On Saturday we went to Ratanga Junction, a theme park located by Canal Walk, the biggest mall in Southern Africa. The mall was big… and it was beautiful! It had a canal right by it and it looked like Florida. I was impressed. The theme park was also a lot of fun. We rode the cobra (the biggest roller coaster there… where you go upside down, twist, etc), we went on crocodile gorge, which is a water rafting ride, we went on congo queen, a version of the spinning teacups, and we went on diamond devil. Overall, it was a lot of fun hanging out with Shana and Lindell outside of the flat. I met Lindell’s twin sister and Sasha, her niece. It was a thrilling day, but I had a major adrenaline crash that night so I ended up making dinner and going to bed early.

On Sunday our hiking plans went down the drain when we saw the cloudy sky, and especially when it started to POUR on me when I was walking outside!!! That was unfortunate. Instead, I did work all day. I wrote essays, did reading, got stuff done, and did a lot of facebooking as a distraction. After dinner, I decided I was done for the day or else I would have gone crazy. So, Shana and Lindell, Kathleen and I piled into Shana’s room to watch the Time Traveler’s Wife, eat popcorn, and play snakes and ladders. I won this time after being dominated the last night we played. Even though I had seen the movie before and I read the book (it is one of my ultimate favorites… read it if you haven’t and even if you have seen the movie still read it!) I still cried. Of course. And I was the only one. It is ok though… Lindell was ready with the tissues! 

So, that’s it for the weekend. There isn’t much else to report otherwise. In classes we have switched to learning about gender violence in South Africa and how this affects mental health. My psych class and one of my sociology classes is currently covering this. In my other sociology class, we just finished a movie on the gang culture of SA and how it plays into crime. It is very interesting that so many people get involved in gangs here. It is sad, really, because it affects not only their lives but their families’ as well. One of the men in the movie had brought a cocked gun home and his 2 yr old son found it. It went off and the son died. People here have such hard lives and it is made even worse by the fact that they are driven into gangs as a result of needing to belong or in needing a space to dominate. So many of the marginalized populations exercise their anger through acting out on someone else. Crime is heavily racialized, as is everything else in the country. A student in my psych class today said that those divides, which were set by the apartheid government, are “here to stay for a while, that’s the way it is” and that “people should get used to it”. It is true that they may be deeply ingrained because of the system, but why should people accept it? Why doesn’t everyone fight for change? The legislation has been repealed and no longer dictates where people can or cannot live, go to school, who someone can marry, etc… so what is the real reason that nothing has really progressed? Has there not been enough time? Are attitudes still too strong? Or is it that those with the power to make a difference are not willing to sacrifice their lifestyle in order to help the population and promote change? Whatever it is, I do not think that people should just accept things as they are, especially the young population like the students of UCT. Those are the new leaders and thinkers of SA, and in the coming years it will be their responsibility to make decisions. Where will SA be if they are not willing to believe that it can change?  

Weekend News

This weekend I stayed in a township not far from Cape Town. I was in Ocean View, which is on the other side of Table Mountain from here I am at school. It is right by the beach, and it is quite nice as far as townships go. Everyone has built their own house, but there are no self-made shacks like in the poorest areas. All of the houses are clean, safe, and welcoming. I stayed with a family of 5, but there were some other kids that were always around. Crystal was the mom, Cedric was the dad… and their three kids were Carl (20), Brandon (16) and Bridget (12). Carl had a son named Alex, who was about 1, and then the family had adopted their niece’s son Jason (3) because his mother was murdered in Ocean View earlier that year. Although Ocean View is a nice township and pretty safe for the locals that live there, there is a large problem with “tik,” which is their name for meth. Even one of the brothers, Carl, had only been released from rehab a week prior.

When we firs arrived on Friday night, all of the families had a couple members present to greet us. Crystal and Bridget were there for me and Julia. Julia is another CIEE student that I stayed with. We talked to Crystal and Bridget and gave them our presents (I got cookies and a cook book) and had dinner. The served us cakes, a paella type rice dish, fruit and juice. It was similar to the meal they cooked all the exchange students at the beginning of the year when we stopped in Ocean View on the peninsula tour. We then saw some of their local talent… singing, dancing and guitar playing. They were all incredibly good. Especially the break dancing and the Michael Jackson tribute dance. After dinner, we went to the house and met the rest of the family. Everyone was very welcoming and hospitable. I thought it was a bit funny that the first thing I was offered was alcohol. The house was homey and I liked the African décor a lot. Some other family members came over to hang out with us. Many of Crystal’s family lives in Ocean View (she has 9 other siblings, though 2 are deceased) and many of them also hosted students. That night, we just sat around the common room and watched Ninja Warrior (crazy TV show) and talked.

In the morning, we got up late and watched more TV. We watched Camp Rock with Bridget (which is the new High School Musical kind of movie). We then took a walk around Ocean View to visit the family members. We saw the most adorable two twins and hung out with the kids of all the families. I talked a little to Crystal about living in Ocean View. She was a small kid when her parents were removed from Simon’s Town and forced to live in Ocean View. Many of the people here can still remember how their families were affected. However, now that people are able to live where they choose, it seems that no one has any plans to move away from Ocean View now. This might be because they can’t due to financial circumstances, or because they don’t want to. Everyone knows everyone there, and being close to family is very important to them. I am not sure of the answer to that and didn’t want to ask.

That night, we had a huge braai at Uncle Jeremy’s house. The cooking started at about 5 pm, and we ended up eating at 9pm. They made smoked fish, chicken, lamb, sausage, pasta, salad, potatoes, rice, and beans. I tried every single thing and it all was amazing. They really do know how to cook here! It was better than any meals at restaurants that I have been to. By the time we ate, most people were feeling pretty happy and in the mood to party. The whole family plus friends were there… probably around 30 people in total. We taught them how to play beer pong, and they set up a karaoke machine. There was lots of dancing involved as well. We ended up going to bed at about 2.

After sleeping in the next morning, we got up and ate cereal in front of the TV. Crystal came back from church and immediately started cooking again. Every Sunday, they make a huge lunch for the family. She made chicken, beef, cauliflower baked in cheese sauce, sweet corn in squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, fried potatoes, and macaroni and cheese. Again I tried everything and was not disappointed. It was amazing. She loved to cook so I think she really liked the cookbook I gave her. She said her curry won in a competition, but I sadly did not get to try it. After lunch, we had to head out. We rode in the back of the truck through Ocean View to our bus and said our goodbyes. I got their contact info and they invited me back so maybe I will see them again. I think they all enjoy having students. Many of them do it every year.

So, it was back to LBG and homework. I had my own boring food for dinner.. but later that night we played games with Shana and Lindell. They made popcorn and it was back to being the four of us again, which was nice. I also realized I have hit the two months left mark. Wow time can fly! As much as I miss home and the people I love there, I am definitely going to miss it here as well. Someday I will be back.

Other news from this week includes finally doing laundry (I was down to my last pair of underwear so that was a MUST), getting my psych test back (definitely did better than expected) and having a three day weekend. I have another three day weekend next weekend, and another one after that. LOVE IT.      

Feel free to stalk!

So all my photos are up on facebook... here are a few highlights though:

BEAUTIFUL VIEWS

CANGO CAVES

OSTRICH RIDING

SA SUNSET

BEACH

RURAL TRANSKEI: the xhosa homelands

My Trip

Well here you all are: a recap of my trip! And so begins a novel...

We left Friday afternoon after picking up our car (a cute little 4 seater that was packed full of people, bags and food) and headed out. Shana and Lindell came down to say goodbye to us and we said bye to our favourite security guards as well. We hit some traffic, but I kept the radio going and we entertained ourselves. Kathleen was a good driver, especially being in a manual car and driving on the other side of the road. Not much happened on that first long leg of driving although we did get stopped at some kind of traffic patrol station. I don’t know what they were looking for. We learned the rules of the road- which were pretty easy. People here are very curtious about passing. If you are being passed, you pull over a little to the left so the car has more room. Then, in response, the person passing puts on his flashers as a small thank you. I got so used to it that when someone did not flash his lights I thought it was rude.

We also saw some beautiful views and saw the most beautiful batch of stars under an open sky. I looked for some constellations that I recognized but couldn’t find any. I guess everything is different here. We stopped in a really random, sketchy town to grab a bite to eat and then headed onwards on the homestretch to Mossel Bay. When we arrived, we tried to find the hostel but we were sort of lost, so I called the owner asking where to go from our present position. The problem was that all the signs were in Afrikaans, so I had NO IDEA how to pronounce our location or any of the surroundings. Luckily, he understood one of my butchered names (out of the 4 I listed) and we were able to go from there. The hostel was right by the beach, very quiet and we were the only ones there.

In the morning on Saturday we visited the beach and then said thanks and headed to Oudtshoorn. On the way, we had our first gas scare. We were running on fumes about 10 km from the town and the gas light had

been on for about half an hour. We drove slowly and used manual as much as possible, and finally made it. I think we were all holding our breath a little bit. Funniest thing was that when we pulled into the gas station, there was another group pushing their car up to the nozzle. We all looked at each other thinking “thank goodness that is not us!”.

We visited the Cango Caves first which were CRAZY. We did the adventure tour which was advertised as “for lean people only”. We went through small cracks and places named the letter box, the coffin, and Devil’s chimney. We had to crawl, climb and slide! It was amazing though... I can’t really describe it so check my facebook for pictures. Afterwards, we went to an ostrich farm. Those things are seriously hideous and weird looking. We fed them, learned about them and rode them! Ostrich eyes are bigger than their brains sadly enough and they also eat rocks to help them digest. However, their small brains cannot tell the difference between hard things so if they don’t have stones available, they eat spark plugs, batteries and all other things. The one I fed tried to take my ring!

After dinner in George, we went to Wilderness. When we walked in, I was expecting to see the lady I had corresponded with, but instead there were three young guys at reception... one being possibly the best looking guy I have seen here. All of the girls’ jaws dropped I am sure. We sat by the bonfire with them and learned that they were college drop outs (making them slightly less attractive... but still nice to look at.) Wilderness is a vacation spot, but it feels like you are in the middle of nowhere. Our spot was a bit primitive. There were only some showers with hot water and one of them had a scorpion in it. So we had to take care of that situation but otherwise it was fine. On Sunday we went hiking and canoeing along a small river. We layed out in the sun after a picnic lunch, which was so nice and relaxing! After getting back and making dinner (many of our hostels were self catering so we were able to cook a bit) we wanted to make s’mores by the

bonfire. I guess South Africans only roast marshmallows because we had to find a substitute for graham crackers and when we told them what we were making they looked at us like “WTF is that!??” When we made them try one they were super impressed.

Next was Knysna. Not much to report here because it was rainy and we didn’t do much. We shopped a bit and spent time in a coffee shop deciding our plan. We decided to change our itinerary a bit and get to Durban (called Durbs here) a night earlier. We met a tour guide who gave us some tips on what we should do. Otherwise, we didn’t really enjoy our hostel. The owners weren’t too friendly, we met some annoying Americans, and we shared the too-small room with too many BIG people. Thats what you get for cheap hostels. The only interesting thing we did was see a Rastafari community in a nearby township. We

talked to some of the elders and learned a bit about their way of life. It was very interesting and informative, but I am not really that interested in trying it anytime soon. I was especially surprised to learn their view of marijuana as a way to become one with nature. Their whole view on the drug is very interesting and I was shocked at how young the kids are when they start smoking. That night we went to hear the Rastafari band play. The music was good, but the venue was full of other Americans. We didn’t really enjoy that part. I did however have my first Springbok shot... which I thoroughly enjoyed. I remember when I first came here and a bartender asked me if I wanted one... I declined because I had no idea what it was and I make it a point to know what I am drinking.

Next was Plettenberg Bay. I AM RETIRING HERE! It is absolutely gorgeous. After dropping our stuff in the morning we headed off to the Bloukrans Bridge. (aka highest point you can jump off of with a bungee at your feet in the WORLD). I was able to jump by myself, but I screamed on the way down. I have a DVD and pics... so look out for them, they will be coming soon. It was an amazing experience... all I could think on the free fall was OMG OMGOMGOMG. Haha. But on the bounce up and the rest of the time my mind was blank and all I could see was the beauty that surrounded me. When you are on the bridge they play loud pump up music, but down there I could hear nothing. When I stopped bouncing and was just hanging I could not stop laughing. It was an odd feeling. Afterwards we were all still on an adrenalin high so we went into Tsitsikamma Park to see Storms River Mouth. We walked a nice suspension bridge and took a lot of pictures of everything we saw. South Africa has to be the most beautiful place on earth. It is not just centered in one area either. Everywhere we go we see amazing things. My camera cannot do any of it justice.

Anyways, we loved the hostel and the beach. The water was cool and the beach was empty. We caught the sunset and I loved how the pink of the sky reflected off the wet sand. Again, my camera tried and failed at capturing the real beauty of it. We roomed with two English guys and a South African from Durban. The SA came out to dinner with us (and bought us two rounds of yeager on his company’s card?) and then the brits joined us later when we went out. We went to a small bar (night life was kinda quiet) and kinda stuck to ourselves... there were two old men that would not stop staring at Kathleen and I so I was a little creeped out. There weren’t too many interesting people and mostly we just laughed at the SA and his odd dance moves that he named “rubber legs”.

Okay wow my hands are tired. This is a lot. But I’ll keep going. The next morning at the gas station, we were told one of our tires looked a little flat. We ended up having to have it patched because there was a puncture in it. Good thing we caught it early! We went to Nature’s Valley in the morning for a short hike and saw some monkeys... but there wasn’t much there. We then drove to Port Elizabeth, stopped for a snack, and then drove more to East London. The drive was quiet, Jeremy and Steph slept in the back while I stayed up to navigate, play DJ and keep Kathleen entertained. The one interesting thing we saw was a squatter camp getting broken up by the police. East London was an odd place. Our hostel was very surfer-like and right on the beach. We basically had dinner (curry) and then went to bed because we had another long day of driving the next morning.

The next day of driving was more of the same, but you could tell we were in a new place. The scenery changed, signs changed from Afrikaans to Xhosa, and the population changed from mixed races to only blacks. Our car got a lot of stares wherever we stopped. I do not know if this is because we were travelling with three white girls and one black guy, or for some reason unrelated to race. You never know here. All the towns were kind of run down, and you could tell it was a more rural area inhabited by less well-off people. This drive was through what is known as the “rural Transkaeii” – or the homelands of the Xhosa people. There were a lot of traditional huts on the landscape and livestock ran wild. We took a detour to Coffee Bay which proved to be waaaaay longer than anticipated. The road to Coffee Bay was full of potholes and cattle/sheep/goats/dogs/cats/pigs/chickens/any other kind of animal you can think of crossing the road. They had the right of way, of course. Kathleen got a little tense trying to save the car from the large holes in the road, and I was a little concerned about our car tire. But we made it there and back so it was okay.

We had lunch and saw some small shops. I tried chocolate covered honey comb, which was new (it was good), and we tried to communicate with locals. I know about 4 words in Xhosa and they knew about 20 in English. So the conversation didn’t get too far. The rest of the day was for driving to Durbs. We got in pretty late and just crashed. The hostel we were staying at was really intense though. They had fingerprint scanning on their front door and cameras everywhere. The lady that was one of the owners was also kinda scary and not nice.

So- Durban. The first day we went to the Temple of Understanding. We talked to a worshipper who was a little preachy for my taste but maybe he was just very passionate about what he believed in. Again, like the Rastafari encounter, I learned a lot about Hinduism and their life, beliefs and history. Talbot talked of karma, reincarnation, and their view on diet, drinking and sex. He was very informative although I am not thinking about becoming Hindu either. We then had an amazing lunch (of curry) and went to the beach to hang out. It was a little windy but we ended up watching the surfers... and this one guy who wasn’t surfing but just doing weird martial art exercises on the beach. After that we went back, had dinner and hung out with Germans who were also in the hostel. I never made it out cause I was so tired, but we hung out with them in their room just talking.

Next morning we went to a market where you can buy goat heads! YUMMMM (not.) I bought a lot of gifts, etc. I’m still  no better at bartering though. We got lunch (again, curry... I'm so tired of curry now) and said goodbye to Steph. The rest of the day we were all feeling kinda blah... so we played cards and then made dinner. The Germans hung out with us again and we played Kings that night. It was a very noisy, funny round!!! I laughed so hard. Actually, I don’t think I ever really stopped laughing the entire trip.

So the last morning the Germans made us eggs in the morning! They said they would and came through on their promise! Again, I was laughing the whole time. They were just such funny people. Afterwards we went to a flea market and then a small apartheid museum. Not much new to report there, but it focused on the use of beerhalls during apartheid to keep workers drunk and artificially happy as well as take their money. Such a horrible system.

It was then off to the airport and back to CPT! Sufiso said he “missed his girlfriend” (aka me)... and it was good to see Shana again. It is nice to be home. That is what CPT is now... home. And it actually feels like it.

Just a small thought... I saw a lot of the country and I thought it was interesting to compare the rich parts of the garden route to the poorer area of the rural villages. It reminded me of the first world vs. third world aspects of Cape Town and the townships... just not right next to each other. It seems like that is a large theme seen throughout the country.

Okay... I am dead from that. I hope that gives you a good idea of my travels and how much I enjoyed myself. More pics to come on facebook and more updates later on in the week! LOVE YOU ALL!

Im alive

Hi everyone! I know you are all waiting for a recap of my trip. And I'm sorry to keep you waiting. I didn't have my computer for 10 days and it will take a while to type it all up. I also have a 2 papers and a test this week so I have a couple priorities to take care of. But don't worry, I'LL GET TO IT SOON!!!


Anyways, if you wanted something to read then check out this article: 
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/09/world/africa/09safrica.html?_r=3&ref=celia_w_dugger


It is about the school that I volunteer at here. Cool huh?

Before I leave

I thought I would give you a quick update on things before I leave. I have been drowned in work for the past week but I am officially on break as of half an hour ago. I had my first long paper to turn in and my first test. Getting to used to schooling here is more of a change than I thought it would be. Papers you turn into the department with a plagiarism declaration signed and attached. You do not hand it in to teachers or tutors. I think at home, there is a certain satisfaction in turning a hard copy over to another person and making it their responsibility to take care of. Here, you put it in a slot and wait for it to be picked up whenever they open the box. There is less closure, which I don't really like. That's random, I know.

Tests here are also much different. I studies pretty well and revised my noted multiple times in order to understand the overarching concepts, themes and arguments for my clinical psych 2 class. If you asked how the DSM is culturally limited, or arguments for both sides of the debate on the validity of PTSD as a diagnosis, I would be able to tell you an answer. I knew how things fit together, and what was important in the grand scheme of things. I thought that this was what would be on the test... WRONG! Instead, the questions were short answer that you answered in bullet point form and they were very specific in their question. Instead of concepts, the questions asked for slides. Memorized lists of bullet points from a slide. Instead of understanding, they wanted regurgitation.. which is what Penn teachers usually do not want. I do not know how I did on that test, but I wasn't prepared to list off specific traits that people percieve as being socially valued, or one specific theory from one guy that existed 200 years ago. I was prepared to argue whether the DSM has any validity in diagnosing personality disorders and other contested "mental illnesses". Whatever. It is break now and I just want to forget about it. I am going to go to the beach, have fun and jump off my first bridge ever (harness attached- don't worry).

Spring Break!

Tomorrow I leave for my spring break. Here is the basic plan: 

Friday Afternoon

Drive to Mossel Bay and spend the night 

Saturday

Go to Oudtshoorn to see Cango Caves and Ostriches

Drive to Wilderness and spend night

Sunday

Spend day and night in Wilderness National Park

Monday

Drive to Kysna and explore

Spend night in Kysna

Tuesday

Drive to Plettenberg Bay 

Bungee Jumping!!!

Spend night in Plett Bay

Wednesday

Go to Tsitikamma National Park to go ziplining, tubing and see Storms River Mouth

Drive to Port Elizabeth and spend night

Thursday

       Explore Port Elizabeth or go to Addo Elephant Park (45 miles N of town)

 Spend night in East London

Friday

Drive to Durban (can see Zulu village along the way)

Saturday

Durban 

Sunday

Fly back from Durban

   

We are renting a car, a manual, and my flatmate Kathleen has volunteered to drive all the way. There are four of us in our car, but another car is going as well. It will be interesting driving on the other side of the road and seeing what the hostels are like. I won't have a computer so I'll take good notes and update you when I am back! I planned it all myself so hopefully it works out well.