Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Monday 28 January, 2008
So yesterday I found Nico (German), Amre (Swedish/Egyptian), and Alex (Ghanaian), when I was walking around and we all went into town for lunch at McDonalds. It was interesting going into such an American establishment and having the international crowd I was with know the menu so well. I personally chose to bypass real food and got a cone and some fries (the fries/chips are awful here). Afterward we walked in the heat to find the swimming pool. From this experience I learned that it will be a workout getting to the gym area! About ¾ of the way there Nico got a call from an American girl (Bethany) who invited us to the beach. After much time and debate we opted to go for 70 rand each (about 10 USD).
The beach we went to was Strand Beach, as suggested by the driver who we rented. He was very nice (Carlo) and really helpful in understanding the roads between Stellenbosch and the beach. I think that we will use him again! As for the beach, it was terribly windy and kind of dirty. This sounds racist, but it is a colored beach and because of that it wasn't very well kept up with and had rocks and trash in some parts. You can tell the difference from this part of the coast to the one we stopped at on the Cape Town tour which was pristine and predominately white. The more I'm here the more I can tell the segregation is still here.
We all had dinner at a nice little place called Seaside Terrace where we got a great deal of buy one pizza get the second free! So, full and slightly burnt we all packed back into the van to return to campus. Once back I was completely content to shower and call it a night. I have found that going out is really easy, but at the same time I do love sleep. So I will be selective in what nights I go out so that I survive the semester.
Today was a day of ques (lines). I had to wait to get my student ID photo taken, and then wait in line to pick it up in another building, and then wait to get the card activated in another area. The system they have is not very good, but I went with it and got it all finished. After that I found Alex and Nico and went shopping downtown for little things like bathmats and a cell phone. Yes, I bought a cell phone. I tried to fight it, but honestly there is no way to get connected to go out without it.So I got one for 299 Rand (41 USD) and will use it to find things to do around campus. For calling home though I will stick with Skype once I get it to work.
Realization from the day: If I work for $6.25 in the states (like I did with my library job) then I can buy 3 cups of coffee here are one hour of working. If Nico works in Germany for 12 Euro an hour then he can buy 2 ½ cups of coffee here in Stellenbosch. But, if Alex works here at 8 Rand an hour then he can only but 1/3 a cup of coffee after an hour. Basically, working in South Africa does not pay enough to get along here, while coming form the outside we consider everything here to be inexpensive on our standard. On top of that about 50% of the population in South Africa is unemployed! No wonder there is a lot of crime!!
January 29, 2008
Last night was basically amazing and insane! So I went a flat below me to talk to some American girls to see what they were getting into, and I ended up talking to these four guys (Stanley- Zambian, Aaryn- Namibian, Drew- South African, and Scott- English). Well we got to talking about the African Cup of Nations and decided that we should go watch Namibia vs. Guinea at the pub in town. So we all took the 15 min. walk to an Irish pub called Brazen Head. Then we all just sat around and had some beers and some chips (fries) and talked about everything from education systems to who was going to win the African Cup.
Observations from the evening: race lines are a subject of most jokes. Everyone got nicknames for the night (mine being- fluorescent) which had racial connotations. They were just very open about talking about "I'm black, I'll stab you" and then laughing about it. At the same time I was never uncomfortable with it, because of how much it made them all laugh. Anyways, they are all really cool guys and while I may not join in on the joke making anytime soon, I respect it as a part of their culture. And honestly the only way to take the stark differences here is to joke about it.
Well, after a round of beers and making an older white couple next to us uncomfortable to sitting at a mix raced table we decided to try and meet up with some Americans who had been calling me. It took some searching and a couple of bars but we ended up finding them at a place called Mystic. The DJ played techno and 80s music ("girls just wanna have fun") but we tried to dance as well as we could. This means we played who should dance like they are playing some sport and stick to the beat the best. It was hysterical and a game I obviously lost at. We also found many intl. students I knew there but the Americans were all drunk and the Germans were getting tired and ready to go home. So we danced till about 1 in the morning and then called it a night.
Political note: The next president is going to be Zuma who is currently going to courts for corruption charges. In addition, he has about 7 wives and countless children, and had sex with a girl who has AIDS but said that he was ok because he took a shower afterwards.But he is the ANC candidate which means that he already has 70% of the country's votes and thus is going to win short of a miracle.
- comments