Return from Spring Break Part I and Anticipation for Part II

While it has been far too long since my last post, I can honestly say that I have not had a single free moment to sit down and blog. I just returned from a week-long journey with my parents, which was quite possibly the most meaningful experience I have shared with them. The week began in Cape Town, where I was able to put my knowledge of the city to the test by showing them around. Well, I was stymied a little bit by the fact that there was a tour guide that accompanied my parents the entire time they were in Cape Town. The guide said it himself, travel agents in the US sell fear and portray South Africa as a land ridden with ills, so American tourists don't feel comfortable traveling here without supervision. But after spending nearly two months here (wow, time flies!), I can attest to the fact that South Africa is perfectly safe when one understands what it means to be vigilant at all times. I think it is unfortunate that the guide only exposed my parents to the privileged Capetonian lifestyle. Were I in control of touring my parents around the city, I would have ensured that they at least visit the nearby townships so that they could have a fuller understanding of Cape Town and its inhabitants.

While the weather in Cape town was often cold and rainy during my parents' visit, there was always enough of a clearing that they were able to experience all of the most popualar tourist attractions, especially the cable car up Table Mountain and the tour of Robben Island. I was quite moved by Robben Island, and I will save an explanation of my thoughts and feelings regarding the tour for a later post.

After leaving Cape Town, my parents and I did some wine tastings out in the Francschoek/Stellenbosch/Paarl area. Of course, it was very fun (read: drunk). We left the winelands on Monday morning on a relatively small plane to a town called Nelspruit, which is located near Kruger National Park in the northeastern part of the country near the South Africa/Mozambique border. Then we took a light plane from the airport to an airstrip made of dirt in the middle of the Manuleti (the provincial area adjacent to Kruger proper). The two days my family spent on safari were filled with game drives, bush walks, and relaxation at the beautiful tented camp that boasts absolutely no connection with the world - a truly memorable experience! I left my parents on Wednesday morning to return to Cape Town, where I have been for only one fully day. Now you know why I haven't posted!

As I write this post, I am preparing to embark on the most exciting, but also one of the most terrifying journeys of my life thus far. I have been writing about my imminent Mt. Kilimanjaro climb for some time, and now it has finally arrived. I am looking forward to pushing myself a little bit (Mom, I said "a little bit," so don't worry!), but I also know that this reaching the summit is a huge accomplishment that not every climber who attempts it can achieve. That said, I feel that however far I make it up the mountain will be an accomplishment for me. I'll be sure to write all about the experience when I return. For now, wish me luck!

Apple #2

I remember a presentation made to all of the international students during our orientation in which I learned of the three apples that metaphorically comprise one's study abroad experience in South Africa. As it was explained it to us, there are three different kinds of apples that one might come into contact with throughout the semester at UCT. Apple #1 is commonly experienced by the majority of study abroad students when they first arrive. In essence, this is the apple that represents the "honeymoon" stage in which all is new and exciting. With time, however, apple #1 begins to transform/evolve into apple #2. Study abroad students usually experience this apple after having spent a month or two in South Africa, at which point nothing is as amazing as it was when they first arrived. (Remember this apple, because it will pop up in a moment.) Finally, apple #3 is the most desirable apple in that it represents the period in which a study abroad student feels entirely integrated into South African life and culture. It should be every study abroad student's goal to experience the taste of this apple. While this metaphor may seem unnecessary, I now understand its value and accuracy. It is very difficult for me to express certain emotions regarding my study abroad experience thus far, so creating a metaphor to do so is extremely useful.

Now that you understand the apples, I can explain to you why I have been experiencing an apple #2 period recently. While I am still completely in love with this place, there are times when I feel as though I made a mistake leaving the States and Tufts for an entire year. Undoubtedly, living abroad is an experience that I would never pass up, but now that everyone at home is going back to school, I feel as though I am missing out. I had a ton of work this past week, which would be fine but for the fact that I hate spending my time abroad doing work, especially because I can't seem to forget that it's August and I would normally still be on summer break. What makes focusing on school even more difficult, though, is that  I am still new to this city, there is still so much that I want to do, and time seems to be flying by! I think it is important that I realize that I am here for another four months and will have plenty of time to do all that I want to do before I leave.

Despite these apple #2 feelings, this weekend was another great one. On Friday, I went out to Century City, a newly developed edge city (a term I learned in one of my Sociology classes - it describes self-sufficient cities located outside of a major metropolitan area) with a high-end mall and a wealthy demographic to match. It is hard for me to believe that an enclave of such great wealth is located just a stone's throw away from numerous poverty-stricken townships in the area. As always, it was so nice to explore the city (and its surroundings) on my own for the day. That night I went with two other interstudy students to a wine tasting hosted by the Wine and Culture Society, of which we are all members. While the wine we tasted was not the best, it was still nice to spend time around South Africans who share our interests. I love the fact that wine is such an integral part of Capetonian student life - quite a change from the drinking that occurs among college students in the States!

The rest of my weekend was spent outside thanks to the amazing weather that the city has been experiencing lately. My roommate and I walked along the water in Green Point and Sea Point on Saturday. I stopped to try a human maze there, which, according to its owner is a metaphor for life and love. The towns along the water (of which there are many) are beautiful, and there is so much to see and do in them! Once the weather gets even nicer, I hope to spend a lot of time exploring them all.

In addition to the water, the mountains are everywhere. As part of my Kilimanjaro training, I climbed Devil's Peak today with two of my friends. We stopped at Rhodes Memorial, which is nestled into the mountain behind the UCT campus. Then we continued hiking for about four hours, stopping along the way to eat lunch and to soak up the 360 degree views of the city and suburbs. Even after the Kili climb, I hope to make climbing a Sunday tradition. There is no better way to see the area, get exercise, and bond with people than to spend a day in the mountains - and the trail options are limitless!

The weekend ended with an afternoon swim at a friends' house in Camps Bay, another beautiful area on the coastline. It was so refreshing to jump in a pool after climbing all day - and the food they served was much appreciated as well! The afternoon was made even better, though, when I received a call from my parents to say that they arrived safely in Johannesburg. They are spending the next few days in Zambia at Victoria Falls, and they will be in Cape Town on Wednesday. I hope that my apple #2 days are behind me so that I can enjoy the next few weeks with my parents before the vac (read: Spring Break!).

As I said, I am beginning to miss home a little, so you should all send me updates! I hope all is well...

A Weekend to Remember

I am writing in the wake of the most exciting weekend I have spent in Cape Town thus far. The weekend began on Friday, most of which I spent shopping for climbing gear for my Kilimanjaro trek. While I am really psyched about all of the stuff I bought (especially the high-tech hiking boots made especially for Kilimanjaro climbs), I am having a hard time finding all that I need in one store, so I have been running from store to store. Of course, my main priority as I buy my gear is safety, so I am not cutting any corners. I even went as far as to purchase my own mutlitool (pocket knife with all the bells and whistles) so that I will be well-equipped in the off-chance that I find myself without my guide, who will, I imagine, have all the necessary tools (Mom, I promise this will not happen!). After shopping, I spent the evening at the flat and watched a movie so that I could be well-rested for the busy weekend that was ahead of me.

The entire interstudy group woke up early on Saturday morning to embark on what we thought would be a day-long tour of the District Six Museum, Langa, and Robben Island. Unfortunately, we learned early in the day that we would not be able to go to Robben Island, as the water was too choppy for the ferry to travel. While this was a let-down, we were still able to enjoy the District Six Musuem (although I would have liked to stay there a little longer, so I will have to go back once my parents arrive in Cape Town). The museum was really interesting - the best I've experienced in Cape Town thus far!

After visiting the museum, we traveled out of town to Langa, a nearby black township. We were lucky enough to be able to watch an amazing youth dance troupe perform at the Langa Community Center, which was really impressive considering the young ages of the performers. We explored the township for awhile, and along the way we met all of the children that live in the area. Whenever tourists pass through these townships, the children get very excited, especially because they get to take pictures of themselves on the tourists' digital cameras. For many of these children, it is the only time they are able to see what they look like - hard to imagine, eh? Of all the townships I have visited thus far, Langa has been my favorite. I think that my positive reaction can be attributed to the friendliness of the township's residents. Having the opportunity to tour some of the shanties there, as well as to try their local beer (not very appetizing), was an unforgettable experience. I was excited to learn that Langa is located very close to the high school at which I teach journalism every Monday (more about that later!). As I said in an earlier post, I would like to do a weekend-long homestay in a township, and I think I might choose to do it in Langa.

Because we were unable to visit Robben Island, my roommates and I spent the afternoon in Simonstown, which is located about an hour from Cape Town along the coast. We took the commuter rail to get there, and the views along the way of the ocean and of Table Mountain were breathtaking. I saw quite a few other towns that I would like to visit before I leave here, which is always an exciting discovery. We returned home completely exhausted, but I still mustered up enough energy to go to a braai (BBQ) at a friends' house and to go out to a nightclub where local bands were playing live music. While this was an amazing day, Sunday was even better...

A few of my friends (including the two others that are climbing Kilimanjaro with me) and I woke up early for the second day in a row so that we could begin our climb of Table Mountain. The climb, which is considered the hardest of the innumerable climbs in the area, is ideal because it offers the most spectacular views from the top. I, along with two others, wanted to get a strenuous workout during the climb, so we pushed ourselves the entire way up the mountain, getting to the top an entire hour quicker than we had anticipated - it only took us two hours! Once the others had reached the top, we enjoyed the views over a much-needed lunch. I felt really good about the climb, especially in the sense that it built my confidence regarding Kilimanjaro. The other two climbers did not get up as quickly as I did, but nevertheless I trust that they will be in good shape for the big climb in a few weeks. The descent took about the same amount of time as the ascent, which is great, considering that it often takes people longer to come down. My legs were feeling pretty tired on the way down, but I figure that I was getting tired after having been moving for so long. On top of feeling great about the climb itself, the views from the mountain were out of this world. I am looking forward to my next Sunday climb up Devil's Peak. As you can see, the training is well under way...

The day ended with a celebratory dinner at the comedienne's house. We had a typical Jewish food - bagels, cream cheese, and schnoek, which tasted like whitefish salad. The meal was delicious, and as always, it felt great to be around my surrogate South African family. I hope that my parents will have the opportunity to meet them all for Tracy's birthday, which falls on the Friday that my parents will be here. It is so nice to have a network of South African friends that want to include me in their lives here. I can't think of a better way to end such a memorable weekend.

I will finish by giving a quick summary of my experience with the Media School, the journalism program I will be working with for the semester. Essentially, the program sends UCT volunteers to four different high schools (grades 11 and 12) in some nearby townships. As volunteers, we are responsible for teaching the students a curriculum that eventually culminates in the creation of a full newspaper publication, complete with text and photos. I went into the classroom for the first time yesterday afternoon, and was shocked to find an amazingly high level of interest and devotion on the part of nearly all the students. While many of the students are at grade school reading levels, have never held a camera before, and cannot afford to purchase a newspaper, they are nevertheless interested in media and seem so anxious to learn how to become involved in it. I am sure there will be more to say about the Media School in future posts, so look out for that.

This felt like a long post, so thanks for reading! I hope all is well at home. Enjoy the nice weather! It's getting warmer here, too, but I'm sure not as warm in the States. Hopefully that will change soon!

Glad to be Back Home (Away from Home)

Sorry for the delay in this post, but the internet has been acting up again! I thought the glitches had been worked out, but apparently not. Regardless, it works now, so here goes...

Arriving back in Cape Town was quite a relief after spending the weekend in Durban. While my friends and I had an awesome time exploring the rest of South Africa, we all agreed that Cape Town is a far more vibrant city than Durban is. Unfortunately, the weather in KwaZulu-Natal was not nearly as nice we had anticipated - definitely not beach weather! My roommate, Mark, and I arrived a day earlier than the two others (they missed their morning flight and took an evening one instead), so we spent the day exploring Durban. One of the highlights of the weekend was our visit to uShaka Marine World, one of the best aquariums I have ever been to (other than the one in Monterey, CA). The rest of that day went downhill when we were led astray by our guidebook to a dilapidated town called Berea, which has absolutely nothing to offer other than a couple bad malls. Once our friends arrived and we met Roger, a Brazilian guy from London who spent the rest of the weekend with us, everything became more exciting. I especially liked our trip to Umlanga, a town in the northern suburbs of Durban. While the strip of beaches along the Golden Mile in Durban is world-renowned, the beach in Umlanga was far more beautiful. The lighthouse and the piers along the rocky beach were comparable to what you see on postcards! Even better, though, was the Gateway mall. While this sounds touristy and lame, it was actually awesome because it has the largest standing wave in the world. For those of you who are not familiar with standing waves (I certainly wasn't before this weekend), they are structures built in the shape of waves with water flowing rapidly over them. The water pressure and current allow people to surf on them. It was such a good time! Other than that, though, Durban was not much to write home about.

With that said, it was very exciting to get back to Cape Town. Thankfully I chose to study here as opposed to in Durban! This week went by pretty quickly, despite the fact that I was extremely busy planning my Kilimanjaro climb. My friends and I have paid, and are officially leaving for Tanzania on August 30th! I spent the afternoon today buying some of the gear I will need for the climb. Needless to say, this is going to be pretty intense! I've been making an effort to train as much as I can in the next month before I leave, though. Spinning classes at the gym have been my workout of choice because they give me both cardio and leg muscle exercise. What worries me even more than fitness, though, is the threat of altitude sickness, which is the primary reason that people don't summit. I hope that our slow ascent will sufficiently ease me into the altitude change. While my roommate says he will feel like a failure if he doesn't make it to the top, I know that I will be psyched to make to the mountain at all. I think this will be the first time that I push myself physically to such a great extent, so I am really excited about it!

On another note, I am looking forward to this weekend, as interstudy is taking us to Robben Island, the prison in which Nelson Mandela was kept for 18 years, the District 6 Museum, which is located in the Bo-Kaap area of Cape Town that was evacuated of its Muslim residents during the apartheid, and finally Langa, a township nearby. On Sunday, I, along with the two others climbing Kilimanjaro, am going to climb up and down Table Mountain, a six-hour climb, as part of our training. While I know it will be tough, I would have done regardless of the Kili climb, as it is something that everyone does while they are here for the semester. We will celebrate the completion of the climb on Sunday night at the Jewish comedienne's house, where we will eat bagels and soup - my first South African bagel!

As always, I am thoroughly enjoying every day here. Even when classes are frustrating, I still manage to stay positive about this place. I feel like I am learning  how to cope with the differences between South Africa and the States more and more each day. While I have been here over a month now and I know time will continue to fly, I am glad that I am already feeling so comfortable here - now I can enjoy it!

Here is the link to my newest photo album, which I posted on facebook. Please let me know if you have a problem viewing the pictures! 

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2005718&l=c0860&id=1085820031