Mid-semester Update

So, let me just start off by saying sorry to all of you who have been looking forward to my posts, only to be disappointed by my lack of updates. But, worry no more, for I have finally decided to shape up and write a summative update of my semester so far.

Well, as I was reminiscing today about my arrival in South Africa, I realized that those blissful days seem like they were ages ago. It really is crazy how much can happen in two months. I’ve seen penguins, parades, presidential motorcades, private concerts of popular Afro-pop bands, and professional rugby matches played in Cape Town. I’ve been on top of mountains, seen sharks up close and personal, and been on more wine tours than I can count. These things have all been part of my experience here so far, but they are by no means all of it.

I’ve also had the chance to connect with South Africans, to serve them and hear what their needs are. My classes have really given me a unique perspective to see my time here. My core class, Service Learning in Community Development, is focused on both the service and the learning aspects of community development projects. It has allowed me to learn a great deal inside and outside the classroom, which in my opinion is the best way to learn. As part of the course, we are all assigned to volunteer six hours per week at a local social-welfare organization. This gives us the chance to apply in the field the theoretical concepts we learn in the classroom, and also take our field experience back to the classroom for reflection.

My site placement is at a place called Horizon House, which is a residential and therapeutic care center for the mentally-disabled. It is located in a suburb of Stellenbosch, and has 108 residents ages 19-68 with all different types of mental, physical and psychological disabilities. While I work with adults, the intellectual age of all the residents is between 6-10 years old.

I have been blessed with the chance to work most of my time one-on-one with one of the residents who suffers from bi-polar depression disorder. We have been assigned various jobs to do outdoors, with the ultimate goal of planting a vegetable garden and making a compost pile. Working with Rudi has taught me a lot about working with people different from myself, as I am confronted with language, cultural, and developmental obstacles, only to name a few. As we’ve started to become good friends, I can see that sometimes a community’s needs aren’t necessarily materially-based, but relational and represent abstract needs such as affection and dignity. And to break down the communication barrier, Rudi and I have made a sweet deal: he teaches me words in Afrikaans, and in exchange, I teach him how to woo women in both French and German.

This class has also given me a slightly different outlook on what my role is here as a student on study abroad. Being engaged in community service, and studying theories of community development, poverty alleviation, and transitional empowerment approaches has allowed me to learn, apply, and also observe the reality of the situation around me. It is my firm belief that South Africa, in a way, represents a microcosm of the world and all of the problems it is facing in a 21st century context. There is incredible cultural diversity, the clash between the developed and developing worlds, racism, violence, crime, corruption, environmental degradation, economic exploitation, massive inequality, and pandemic diseases all in one country. It certainly does not make life boring, being in the midst of it all.

Realizing that I’m also a little behind on telling stories about things I’ve been doing recently, I thought I’d now take the time to talk about my recent trip to the Karoo. The Karoo is South Africa’s dry, arid, deserty area with rolling mountains, almost no trees, and lots of ghost towns. It’s pretty much their version of Arizona, minus the golf courses and retirement communities. Well, we (as the CIEE group) had the opportunity to spend the weekend there two weeks ago on an old farm. We stayed in these very quaint, homey farm houses that had no electricity, but had oil lamps and antique raindrop shower heads. Needless to say, it was a very slow, relaxing and calm weekend away from the city. The farm we stayed on grew mostly figs, but had other fruits and some animals, too. It was a five hour drive from Stellenbosch, and was located in a beautiful valley with a river running through it. The nearest “town” was a 45-minute drive over a rough, unpaved, hilly road through the country. We ate HUGE farm-sized meals (all of which contained figs in some form), and lounged around all day. It was a much needed break from hectic student life, and even made me think that living on a farm wouldn’t be too bad. We went on a game tour and saw some antelope, zebras, and little deer-like creatures called “duikers.” Our last evening there we went on top of a hill and took in the (stormy) sunset while drinking our “sundowners.”



(Left) The CIEE dudes with a stormy Karoo sunset
(Right) A few antelope and zebras we found on our game tour

(Left) "Hey Carl!" *click*
(Below) The mid-westerners import Euchre to the Karoo




(Left) Here's the full CIEE Stellenbosch group, with Bradley, our most awesome director, on the far left (p.s. I don't know what I'm doing)
(Below) As part of our group bonding we all got fake tatoos. I got a pitbull on my wrist.

(Left) This pretty much sums up what we did the whole weekend.

Having complete isolation from civilization, lots of delicious food, beautiful scenery, rustic but homey living conditions, and game animals is pretty much my idea of a good vacation.

And as I finish describing my last vacation experience, I will now start telling you about my upcoming adventure for Fall Break (a.k.a. Spring Break for you northern-hemispherers). I will be going to Reunion Island for one week to stay with a family friend from France who now lives and works there. This is going to be a dream vacation, in every sense of the word: a beautiful French-speaking tropical island, with volcanoes, palm trees and coral beaches. And despite the airfare costing a price that only monopolies can charge, at least I’ll have a nice place to stay for free, and a local to show me around. My plans for the week are: 1) be a beach bum, 2) fit some time in to relax when I’m not beach-bumming , 3) take lots of hikes up the volcanoes (yes, more hikes!), 4) take lots of awesome pictures, and 5) more beach-bumming.

T-minus six hours until I depart on the trip of a lifetime… and don’t worry I’ll let you all know how it goes. Bye for now!

Doesn't Carl Do Anything Other Than Hike?

The answer to the above question would obviously be no. After going on my third, and by far most enjoyable/exhausting hike, I thought it merited at least a brief post. So, this one will try to feature more wonderful pictures for you all to look at.

Well, on Sunday I decided to go back up Mt. Stellenbosch with three other friends; only this time, we would try to go up all the way to the top. So after gathering at Seven Eleven (yes, they have those here only it is more like a small grocery store) to pick up some food and water, we set out at 8:00 am from campus. We wandered around for a bit and eventually found the right trail head. It wasn't at all hot yet, so leaving early seemed to have worked out well for us.

Once on the actual trail up the mountain, the most grueling stretch of rocky incline lay before us, at the top of which was the ridge that we had decided to make our stopping point last time. It was obviously not "easy going," but I think the combination of the cool morning weather, and mental preparation made the climb up to "The Lion King Ridge" a little easier to handle.

"Look, Simba. Everything the light touches is our kingdom."

From that point, the trail transformed into a much more winding, and gently rising route through fynbos (shrubbery) and over large boulders. Although it was a long way up to the top, and it was getting quite hot as the day approached noon, this was by far some of the most enjoyable hike I’ve been on yet. We were jumping from boulder to boulder, leaping over crevices, skirting along cliffs, and generally feeling like hardcore mountain men (slash woman). Eventually the trail completely disappeared and you just have to keep going up any way you can. This allows for one to be creative and innovative in choosing how to surmount obstacles such as rock outcroppings, cliff faces and the like.

Here is a shot of a crevice that we jumped over. If our attempt had not been successful, we would have become quite intimate with the thorn bush thirty feet below us.

We got to the top, completely exhausted, and had nothing but spectacular views and thin air all around us. After eating lunch, which consisted of smashed sandwiches and granola energy bars, we took some pictures and then started the dreaded descent.

You see, what had been so enjoyable to go up, was not so much fun going down. It is much easier to scramble up rocks versus sliding down them. Also, as there was not much of a trail, we did wander a little too far off course and found ourselves in some especially thick and prickly fynbos. It was slow going through that, and not so much fun.


Anyways, long story short (only not really that short), we got down off the mountain and headed home, coming in at about 6:00 pm. So obviously, after a 10 hour endeavor, we were pretty much pooped. Dirty, sweaty, dehydrated, sunburned (despite four applications of sunscreen), cut up, and hungry, we settled down in Metanoia, ordered some pizza and put on some Arrested Development. It was a nice ending to a pretty tiring day. I also noticed that we got so high, my empty water bottles that I had closed when we were on top of the mountain had compressed and were being crushed by the change in air pressure once I was down. I don’t know about you, but I found that pretty cool. There is a lot of word play I could do right now with the phrase “getting high,” but I won’t. So let me just tell you that today, one day after this formidable undertaking, my legs are just about as dead/sore as can get. But it was SO worth it.

Ok, well that does it for my latest hiking adventure. I promise it will be the last hiking-related post for at least a month. I’ll try and find something else to write about that has equally fun pictures and stories.

Some Points About South Africa: Language Edition

So for my language edition, I thought I'd include a few anecdotes from my time here so far. Although this country has eleven (yes 11) official languages, the ones most spoken around these parts are Afrikaans, English and isiXhosa. By the way, to say the last one you have to say it as "Kosa" but make a click sound with your tongue when pronouncing the "k." It is obviously not an easy language to speak. But it does sound incredibly cool. It's like tongue gymnastics every time I hear someone speaking it and it just leaves me blown away that someone could make all those sounds with their mouth.

Anyways, getting back to the matter at hand, I've had quite a few interesting experiences with the language barrier so far. Not only must we struggle with the obstacle Afrikaans poses for our daily lives, but South African English is not always completely intelligible either (the accent is very charming and I can see why girls dig South African guys).

To give an example, I went into town the other day to do some shopping and when I was at the till (checkout counter) and the attendant said something to me (presumably in Afrikaans). I told her I didn't understand, so she said it again, only this time it was equally impossible to understand. So I asked if she spoke English by any chance. "I AM SPEAKING ENGLISH!!" she responded. Wooooops. Sorry. So yeah, that just goes to show that even though it's all English, American and South African are sometimes two different languages.

Some of my favorite words I've learned so far in South African are "chunder" and "over share." Chundering is the process of blowing chunks, upchucking, or saying hi to your friend Ralph. It's pretty hilarious to hear South Africans describing their wild escapades around town and hearing things like, "Well, the night was going pretty well until I chundered all over the police car." Needless to say, the accent makes it way better, but the word itself is quite spectacular on it's own as well. OH, and this brings me to my next point. South Africans, almost universally, will say the phrase "as well" as more of an "AS well". The emphasis on the "as" not the "well." It might not make sense unless you hear it, but picking it up all the time in people's everyday parlance is a constant reminder that we're not in Kansas anymore, Todo. Another phrase that I've had fun with is "over share". I stumbled upon it one day talking with my South African friend, Joe, who was telling me a story. At one point, he shared a little more than I was interested in hearing, so I said "TMI dude!" Having been around enough Americans, he understood what that meant, but explained to me that in South Africa, they don't say TMI (for too much information), they say "over share." I don't know why but I thought that was hilarious. So yeah, over share = TMI.

Moving on to my experience with Afrikaans, which has been pretty limited since I've only been taking language classes for two weeks now, I just thought I'd share a funny story. The other day in class I was introduced to the longest word I've ever seen: "grondboontjiebottertoebroodjie." HA! Are you serious? Yes, I am. Well, unfortunately that is the word for "peanut butter sandwich," which is sad only for the fact that I eat so many I'm going to have learn that word down pat pretty quick. But apparently, I was already complimented on my pronunciation, so maybe it's the Dutch blood in me helping me out. Oh, and that also reminds me, even though my name is already as Dutch (or Afrikaans for that matter) as they come, I was given a new Afrikaans name for my language class: Gert Gerber. What is funny is that the "g" sound in Afrikaans is probably the most repulsive and guttural sound of any language, so my name having two of them is just ridiculous.

Alright well that's all I can remember for now. I'm sure there are more things I'm forgetting that will have to be worked in to future posts. I hope you all can forgive me for the lack of posts recently (and pictureless post this week). Thanks for reading, and until next time!




And for your YouTubing enjoyment:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNJVMJH5OhI

“I didn’t know we were climbing up a f****** river!”

Today I climbed up a river.

Up a mountain, on a trail that was hardly a trail at all. It was supposed to be a nice day-hike, but it turned out to be a sopping wet, hand over hand struggle up a trail that gushed water and mud. By the end, we were climbing much more so than hiking. As we scrambled over slippery wet rocks, we wondered how we had gotten ourselves into this. Well, let me tell you.

(For reference, here is a shot of Botmanskop, the leftmost peak of the Jonkershoek Range. I took this on my hike up Mt. Stellenbosch last week.)


It was a hike organized by the International Office of the University to go up Botmanskop. I had heard it was a good hike with great views, so I decided to go. Seeing that the weather was overcast today only further convinced me that it was a good day for a hike since the temperature was 15 degrees cooler than it had been recently. As I was packing my things this morning for the hike, the thought occurred to me, “Should I bring my rain jacket? Nah! It probably won’t even rain today. I can see some blue sky through the clouds anyways. And even if it does get rainy, I would rather get a little wet than get all sweaty in this humid weather with my jacket on.” Ohhhh how I would later regret that decision…

We set off this morning, and this time I thought I was well prepared. At least much more so than last time. I had lots of water, sunscreen, and food for lunch, so I was gonna be all set, right?

Even though it started to drizzle about an hour into our hike, right as we were reaching the base of the mountain, I didn’t think much of it since I don’t mind the rain. In fact, it was welcomed as it made for much cooler hiking up the steep slope. As the weather started to get a little more “moist” (I’m only throwing that word in because I know how much people love the way it sounds), I thought it would be smart to put my camera and cell phone in the plastic bag I had brought along in my backpack. See? All prepared like the Boy Scout-dropout I am.

We got a little higher, though, and started going through the clouds. It’s a pretty exhilarating experience to find oneself in the middle of a cloud that is passing through, around, and over you. At a little break point, we had some nice views of the area around Stellenbosch that the rain (which had started to let up) was nice enough to let me photograph.

Pressing onward and upward, at this point a couple hours into the hike, none of the fifty people with us wanted to turn back. Eventually though, as we passed through and exited the forest of eucalyptus trees, we found ourselves on a steep and narrow trail that looked totally engulfed in the “fynbos.” For those of you who don’t know what fynbos is, it means “fine bush” in Afrikaans, and is basically the low-lying shrubbery and bush that is common (and unique) to the Cape region. It is dry, prickly, thorn-covered, occasionally poisonous, and generally unpleasant to be in. And THAT is what we had to go through now.

It was also at this point that the leader of the hike informed us that there was this certain plant that we should be especially careful not to touch, as it had spines that if they got in your skin, would cause swelling and itchy irritation for a week. The only problem was that he was so vague explaining which plant it was (and I was so far back in the line of people) that I had no idea what he was talking about. Probably not a good thing to be confused about, but he just kept going, so I thought whatever.

So as we hiked up this steep, prickly trail, the rain continued to fall and increase in intensity. As we neared the summit, which was a huge outcropping of exposed rock, the venture quickly turned from a “hike” to more of a “climb.” And as I climbed hand over hand up the staircase of jagged, wet rocks, I thought, “Hmm, this is probably not safe. But that is what makes it fun, after all.” The last thirty minutes of our 3 ½ hour ascent to the top was pretty agonizing, but the thought of getting to the summit kept us going. The relief of finally getting there, though, was short-lived.

The summit of Botmanskop is pretty spectacular, or at least it would have been had it not been completely shrouded in fog and mist. Basically, we were all thinking “Boy, this view would be incredible if we could actually see anything.” The visibility was about nil (except for the five seconds during which I took the above photos). To add to that, the rain soon turned from a gentle mist to a torrential downpour. The heavens had opened up and were literally drenching us to our bones. The wind, rain, and fog made the experience less than enjoyable (especially after hiking up a mountain for hours), and our one-hour break at the summit had to be cut short because soon lightning and thunder entered the scene and increased the danger level even more. So as the group stood on this exposed rock, at the summit of a mountain, in the rain and fog, with the roll of thunder in the distance, someone still had the sense of humor to say, “Don’t stand next to the tall people.” Everyone immediately stepped back from me. Gee, that was a good feeling, to know that I am pretty much a human lightning rod at the top of this mountain. Wunderbar.





The decision to go down was quickly made, and we started our decent after only a short rest. The way down, however, did not lend us the same “ease” that we had had on the way up. The trail, which before had simply been wet, was now transformed into a gushing river of mud and rainwater that flowed down the mountain and over the rocks creating waterfalls and muddy slopes galore. “This probably wasn’t a good idea, in hindsight” said the hike leader, laughing to himself. And as miserable and tired as everyone was deep down, a sense of humor still was present, at least on the surface. Suddenly, someone shouted, “Sh*#, I didn’t know I’d be climbing up a f****** river!” To which everyone responded with uproarious laughter. Maybe it was because the exhaustion and sheer ridiculousness of the circumstances had made everyone delirious, but the whole way down, people were cracking jokes and at least trying to find amusement in what was, in all senses, a pretty awful situation.

BUT, I must say I did have a lot of fun. And it is definitely these kinds of experiences that one fondly remembers years later. So all in all, I wouldn’t say it was a bad day for anyone. Except maybe for the guy who, as we were hiking down the fynbos part of the trail, decided to just run because “it would be easier and quicker,” and to everyone’s enjoyment (except his own, most likely) could not stop his momentum and ended up flying head first into a huge pile of thorny, prickly, and painful-looking bushes. And as we found out as we helped him get out, it was this bush that our guide had previously warned us not to touch. So much for that. That dude is NOT gonna have a pleasant week ahead of him, that’s for sure.

Well, I hoped you enjoyed the story. It’s probably much more enjoyable to hear about than to experience firsthand, but even if I had been told beforehand what was going to happen (although I would have brought the rain jacket) I wouldn’t have opted out. That’s life, and you gotta live with what it throws at you. And that is my cliché moral for today.

Meet Stellenbosch

I realize that up to this point, I haven't included much about where I am. Therefore, per my grandfather's request, this post will attempt to introduce you to the town of Stellenbosch, the University, and the general area.



First off, my impression of Stellenbosch is that it has somewhat of a "California" feel, with many differences of course. What I mean by this, is that while similarities might include the climate, the vegetation, the "beach" culture and general laid back attitude of the people, one cannot help but be reminded of the town's distinct South Africanness. South Africa is a very diverse nation (coined "the Rainbow Nation" by Archbishop Desmond Tutu) and Stellenbosch reflects that diversity quite vividly. One can walk down the oak-lined streets with their posh boutiques and upscale cafes and some might forget they are in Africa. This is not because Stellenbosch is "un-African," but because most people have a very narrow concept of what counts as African. Yes, this part of the Cape region does have lots of European influence, much more than other parts of the country and definitely more than other African countries, but that doesn't make it un-African.




Going back to the idea of diversity, Stellenbosch encapsulates many themes that are present throughout South Africa in just a small area. There are native Africans, or blacks as they are called, Coloureds (the South African term for people of mixed-race or other unclassifiable racial backgrounds), whites of European descent (both English and Afrikaner) and Indians (brought to South Africa as slave labor). While many think of Stellenbosch as a "white" area, it is in fact majority Coloured. Because Coloureds and most whites speak Afrikaans, this area is a very much influenced by that language and has been thought of as the center of Afrikaner culture. But even though I've only been here for two weeks, I can already sense that this place is in the midst of huge changes as the power dynamics slowly shift to empower the previously disadvantaged segments of the population.




Just as a note, however, I have NEVER been in or seen a place with such great disparity between rich and poor. South Africa holds the unfortunate claim of having the highest income disparity (along with Brazil). As a testament to this, one can walk 15 minutes from the afore-mentioned upscale oak-lined street and find oneself in the midst of the township of Kiyamandi. This "squatter community" is made up of tens of thousands of people living in sheer poverty. It is a virtual slum with houses made of scraps of metal, limited electricity and plumbing, and street children running around with no money, no parents, and very little to be happy about in life. While their situation may seem bleak to us Americans, though, it does not mean they are sad people, as I've met some truly joyful individuals who make me wonder what it really takes to be happy in life. I am excited for the lessons I will be learning as I engage with the people in these communities through my Service Learning in Community Development class.




Dang! I have to say that I did not envision this post being so much writing, but I guess there was a lot that I wanted to say. I hope I didn't bore you. It'll be getting better, I promise. I'll now talk about my room. I live in a residence hall called "Metanoia" with 500 other South Africans. This will indeed be a major part of my "immersion" experience while I am here as I have already made friends with a good number of South Africans who have been teaching me a lot about South African culture. The residential life system here is much different than in the States, and has a lot of fun traditions and a community vibe that I don't think a lot of other big schools in the US come close to matching. I have a single room with simple furnishings in a relatively quiet part of the dorm, which I like a lot, because it can get pretty hectic (they love using that word for just about everything that has a negative sense).






Here is a picture of my room with my dresser to the left, bed, desk, shelves, etc. It's pretty boring, really, but I'm sure there are many who have not seen it yet.



Next, I thought it would be nice and informative if I posted stuff about the hike up Stellenbosch Mountain that I took last week. First off, let me just inform everyone that it is NOT a good idea to go up a mountain in 100 degree heat, blazing midday sun, and with only a single water bottle. Yeah, there's one lesson I've definitely learned so far. So basically we set out to hike up the picturesque Mt. Stellenbosch completely unprepared in just about every way. Not only did we not bring enough 1) water, 2) sunscreen, 3) proper clothing, but we also had a lack of 4) directions (both how to get to the trail, and what trail to take to get up the mountain), and 5) general sense of how long the hike was. One might think such a hike would prove disastrous and likely end in the death of one or more of our group members. You would, however, be quite wrong, my friend.




Here is a shot of Mt. Stellenbosch with the trail we hiked up and the ridge we stopped at mid-way up. It looks a lot less impressive from this angle, but let me tell you it was brutal. But no matter how hectic it is, I still want do the hike to the top again sometime soon.



We eventually found our way, realized we were stupid for thinking we could go all the way up with so little water, and just hiked up to a nice ridge where we got a great view of Stellenbosch and the whole region. As you can see, the payoff we got was well worth the grueling hike in hectic conditions and scorching heat. Atop the ridge, we could see False Bay to the south along with the Cape Peninsula, the Cape Flats, and Table Mountain to the west. The rolling hills of Stellenbosch were laid out before us, and it was quite a sight to behold. The university, with its characteristic red-tiled roofs, was also easily distinguishable, along with my dorm Metanoia (which for those of you who are looking for it, is of an uncharacteristic white color and odd shape: it looks like a figure 8 with an arm jutting off the side).















Here is an attempt at a panoramic picture, but I have to split it up to fit. It goes from looking west towards Cape Town, to north with Stellenbosch in view, to east with the Simonsberg Mountains.




Here is my hiking companion Jeremy. He's also on CIEE with me and lives just down the hall in Metanoia. His hiking expertise is probably what saved us (if he'd listened to me we'd still be on the mountain).

Here is a shot of the Stellenbosch campus, with all the main buildings distinguishable by the red tile roofs. My res, Metanoia, is visible in the center. It's the bright white building that sticks out and is oddly shaped. If you can make it out, I live at the end of the arm that sticks out to the left.

Here's Jen perched up on a sweet cliff. I kind of wish I had scampered over there too, but whatever, it just means I'll have to go up again sometime soon (preferably when it's not hotter than the inside of the sun).

Here's a video I took from the ridge halfway up Mt. Stellenbosch. It's a little windy, but gives a good view of everything from the Cape mountains, to Stellenbosch, to the Simonsberg Mountains. Beautiful rolling wine country.

After a good rest on the ridge, we made our way back down in order to escape the heat and sun that had been cooking us like a sausage over a braai. We found a little river and decided to cool off for a bit before heading home. There was this sweet suspension bridge over it for people to walk without getting wet (although that was quite the opposite of what we wanted). After getting a lot of strange looks from passers by, who most likely were wondering what a bunch of sweaty Americans were doing in the disgusting sewage-like water that no body ever swims in, we finally headed home. Upon reentering civilization, I immediately downed a 1.5 litre bottle of water and crashed down on my bed from sheer exhaustion. All in all, though, it was a very good day, all potential catastrophes were successfully averted, and we got some great views.

Here are some pictures of the group. First we have Justin, the only hardcore hiker of the group who was moderately prepared to do the hike to the top. Then we have a shot of the group cooling off. All AIFS or CIEE students (Americans). Lindsay (on the far right) along with Jeremy are the two other CIEE kids. Then we have the flippin sweet bridge that I mentioned earlier.



Well, there we are for now. Hopefully you're all slightly more acquainted with the area (as was the hope in this post, although I'm not sure how successful I was). As classes are just getting under way, I'm thinking that the time I can devote to blogging will most definitely be going down, so if posts become less frequent, just be patient. Thanks everyone, and happy Super Tuesday! Go Barack!






**Edited for typos**

Penguins in Africa!! (and some Capes)

First, yes, they do have penguins in Africa in case you were unaware. One of the benefits of living so far south in the Southern Hemisphere. That and the toilets flush the other way (but come to think of it, I've never thought to check when I flush, I just assume it's the wrong way...)


And secondly, no, not capes as in this. We're talking the capes of the geographical variety. Specifically, this one.


Okay, enough fancy hyperlink-studded preludes. Basically, this post is just to catch up on everything that I've done so far in South Africa starting with our trip a week ago to the Cape Peninsula. We drove into Cape Town and had beautiful views of the city bowl (downtown) as well as Table Mountain (the most famous natural landmark of the city).



After that we continued south towards the Cape, stopping through some very upscale suburbs of Cape Town that many relate to the "South African" Riviera both in their styllishness and snobiness. Our lunch stop in Hout Bay was truly stunning, however, and to give a sense of it I've included this video clip.






So yeah, if any of you had been wondering what I had meant by the incredible natural beauty of South Africa, it is this. Taking in a scenic view of the ocean with the wind on your face and the sun on your back. Can life get better? I submit that Brian Regan knows the answer.


Also, in case you were wondering, those people in the clip are all my program mates from CIEE Stellenbosch (there are 10 of us in total) with Joe, our South African social liason and "orientation advisor" sitting on the ground to the far right. Really that title is just a fancy way of saying he gets paid to take us around and show us a good time. Pretty sweet job if you ask me.


Moving on, we then proceeded to go see the penguins at Boulder Beach. For having never seen penguins "in the wild" it was quite a thrilling experience. Most of the thrill, however, didn't come from the penguins, which were simply fun to look at, but the grains of sand that continued to pelt us in the face at 100 miles per hour. Not fun. But still worth it for getting to see penguins in South freakin Africa!

After we got over the awesome penguins, we finally headed to the most southern point of the Cape Peninsula, and the most south-western point of the African Continitent, Cape Point. Along the way, we also stopped at the historically famous Cape of Good Hope. And to just drop in a history lesson for all of you, the Portuguese had orginially named the cape the Cape of Storms but since trying to enlist sailors to make the voyage to India by telling them they'd be sailing around the Cape of Storms was bad marketing, they decided to change the name. Pretty smart if you ask me. Right up there with Leif Eriksson naming Greenland "Greenland" and not "Forsaken Wasteland of Ice" like it probably should be called.

Anways, back to the Cape, it turned out that we had to take a nice little drive through the Table Mountain National Park to get to Cape Point. It was very interesting noting the completely windswept and treeless plains. In fact, it gets so windy there that no plants bigger than small shrubs and bushes can grow there. The vegetation is unique to the Western Cape region of South Africa, growing no where else in the world, and is named fynbos (fine bush).

If you can't already tell, I'm somewhat of a nerd for talking about the vegetation of South Africa. I would talk about the baboons, ostriches, and springbok that also live in the park, except we didn't see very many (other than a few baboons beside the road).

After the nice car ride, we finally made it to Cape Point where we had some of the most amazing views of the rugged coastline meeting the freezing Atlantic Ocean. Since words can't really describe it, and I've already written enough for a dissertation, I'll put in some more visuals.

Not only were the views incredible, but the winds created swirling clouds that flew just over our heads at intense speeds. If you weren't careful, the wind could swipe your sunglasses (or "sunnies" as Joe calls them) right off your face. I've also never been in a place were we could actually watch as clouds were created by the wind currents hitting the sheer cliff and lifting themselves over the edge high above the water. I'm no meteorologist, but it was pretty cool to see.

All in all, it was a great trip and really gave us a chance to see more of the beautiful landscape and seascape of South Africa. The geography nerd in me was also greatly satisfied with the trip to the Cape.

So yeah, I have now accomplished my goal of getting out all these pictures and videos for the world to see and can start making progress on getting over the backlog of things I need to post. Hope you enjoyed all the imagery! See you later!

Some Points About South Africa: Food Edition

** First, a note of explanation to tell everyone who's been asking for new posts: I haven't had much internet for the last two weeks, but am now set up on my own laptop, so more frequent posts will be coming in the future. In fact, I'm a little backlogged right now, so there may even be several very shortly. Enjoy! **

I decided that I need to explain what has been a big part of my experience to this point: food. So here are a few tidbits that might explain a little more about what I've been eating (and drinking).


In one sentence: there is too much juice, meat, cheese, and this beast of a thing called “marmite”.


First, I am pretty sure I’ve drank about 18 gallons of various kinds of juice since I’ve been here. You may think that’s an exaggeration, and it most likely is, but still, being served juice with breakfast, lunch, dinner, and at various points throughout the day has made my life resemble that of a 2nd grader.

Second, meat is the staple food in South Africa. Some societies eat bread, some eat rice, but South Africans are crazy about meat, specifically barbecue or “braai.” Here the saying would go, “have a braai, and the people will come.” The notion of “too much braai” is a foreign concept in these parts, as the fact that one can find braais going on every night demonstrates. Braai is such a cultural institution, that it is literally built INTO the structure of buildings. Most dorms on campus have built-in barbecues all around. And when I say barbecues, I'm not talking about those flimsy ones in parks, but full-on wood burning broilers that you could grill a whole cow on and still have room to throw on a few sausages. So yeah, it's been meat meat meat, usually in sausage form.

Thirdly, the problem with all the cheese isn’t so much the quantities or even the frequency of when it is served, instead I would say that South Africans see cheese as being able to go with anything, at any point in the day, even by itself. A croissant for breakfast? Sprinkle some cheddar on there. Want a sandwich for lunch? How about a baguette with cheddar. That’s it. Nothing else. That’s all we have. Cheddar. Grated or sliced. With anything. All the time. Not only would being vegetarian be completely impossible, but vegans would most likely get run out of town as people hurled sausages and blocks of cheese at them.

Lastly, the bit about marmite goes specifically to Mom, who taught me that it’s good to try new things. What follows is a cautionary tale. So a South African friend one day was raving about how he can eat marmite with anything. He was going on and on about how great it was, that I thought, well hey, why not? So I gave the jar a quick whiff. Being utterly disgusted with the result, I began to have second thoughts. Joe, however, insisted that it is simply heavenly on a piece of toast. So I spread the tar-like substance on some toast, and with great trepidation took a bite. It literally took ALL of my powers of self control not to immediately spew the foul concoction onto my plate.
“What the crap is this stuff, Joe?”
“Oh, it’s made from concentrated vegetable extract.”
“I don’t even know what that means.”
“Don’t worry, they love it in England.”
That’s reassuring.

So in a few words, that has been 5% of my experience so far in South Africa. More will definitely keep coming. Potentially very soon. As in I am now going to start writing my next post.