Arrival in Cape Town and First Day at V & A Waterfront

We arrived in CT at our houses a little after 9:00 PM Monday night. Everyone was very excited to be here and see where we will be living for the next three weeks. The houses are right across the street from each other on Welgelegen Road in the suburb of Mowbray. The houses are absolutely nicer than any of the houses we stay in while studying in Minneapolis. part of me feels uncomfortable staying in a neigborhood and a house such as this, when the majority of people we will be working with here lives in something a fourth of the size of this and definitely not as appealing. However, I am very content with the living situations and am excited to see more once we we get into the "meat" of our class.

In the morning we woke up to an eneregetic group of people. We started the day on the campus of the University of Cape Town, which is just below Table Mountain. The mountain looks over the whole city and can be seen form everywhere. We had orientation with the Interstudy staff and then were guided on a tour of the campus. A diverse group of people make up the student population. As we walked through campus we received looks from everybody who was able to easily pick us out as Americans.

Campus is absolutely gorgeous and is currently being invaded by students doing last minute studying for final exams. Walking through a campus such as UCT was interesting, as students are similar to us at the U of M in Minneapolis, but also so different as well. I feel that the students have a much more unique story as to how they ended up studying at UCT than what the general story behind a student attending the U of M does.

After the campus tour, we went to downtown Cape Town to eat lunch at Primi on the V & A Waterfront. Primi had delicious food and overlooked the ocean. The one thing that I felt the most, even more than anything you notice while in a foreign country, was the sun. I couldn't get over how good it felt. For me personally, being in the bright, warm, and welcoming African sun was the one of the most amazing things I've felt in awhile.

Over the past year, I have become intrigued with Africa as a whole. And finally feeling the warm rays of the sun on this continent was very relaxing yet energizing; I can't even describe it. However, the Waterfront is not what you think of when you think of Africa. Being the first place I saw since arriving, save campus, I did not feel like I was in Africa. This place is the ritzy part of town; enough said. The Waterfront kind of looks a little bit like Europe, maybe London, or maybe even Miami.

While shopping in one of the stores at the extravagant mall, we were talking to some of the shopworkers who asked what we will be doing. We told them that we will be in the Township, which is essentially the ghetto. They said, "Ooohh man, the townships eh? You gotta be careful in the Township." I was taken aback. I realized that the people who live in Cape Town have basically the same perspective of the Township as we, as Americans do, if not a worse one. In America, we will probably never hear of a place called Gugulethu. As people living in Cape Town, not willing to step outside of their comfort zones, hear about Gugs, but only the worst of the worst. My classmates and I are able to go in with an open mind and no expectations; partly because we have minimal amounts of information about Gugs. This was very interesting to me. Essentially, I learned about perception and reality today.

Me, Brian, and TJ made it a point it to shoot (photograph) the sunset. It was setting right over the water with Table Mountain iright behind us, looming over us like a gentle giant. Absolutely gorgeous. The sun, about ten minutes before it faded away, was coming through the Cape clouds magnificently. Great shots. Hopefully pictures up soon. Again, for me personally, it was amazing to feel the African sun on my skin. It is something I have wanted to do for awhile and hope to do on other parts of the continent. There is something about Africa that intrigues to the nth degree. I absolutely have a great amount of compassion for the people and the land here. It very messy in town, lots of litter, even in the green parts of town. It saddens me.

I cannot express to you enough of how excited I am to go into the Africa we hear about. I don't know if excited is the right word, maybe just plain ready to see it and experience it--coincidentally allowing myself to grow and learn from the the things I see and do.

More from under the African sun soon.

Thanks for reading. Peace and love.

JB