My First Week in Africa

The Airplane
So i didnt know what to expect for the plane ride to london and then to south africa. i wasnt really positive about it at first because it was late and therefore we missed out layover in london so i didnt get to go downtown londonn, but the plane ride to london was amazing. First of all, the plane was like half empty so we got to sit all by each other and had space to spread out. Then they had personalized televisions with movies, music and tv shows and guess what show they had, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, my favorite cartoon. I think i was the only adult watching cartoons on the tv, but they had a ton of movies to watch and tons of different tv shows, although they only had one episode for each show. well on top of that the flight attendents are sooooo friendly. we became friends with this flight attendent who was from england and because he is an FA he gets to go all over the place and he told us all about cape town and the cool places to go. Next we got the most addorable little meals, where there were like 3 courses, but like miniature size, plus you got coffee or tea at the end of each meal. Alcohol was also free, which the other girls we super excited about, it seems to be a necessity for europeans and africans. We also got this little tube of toothpaste, a mini toothbrush, and socks in case you want to take off your shoes. The second flight was more crowded but we had the coolest flight attendent, he was soo nice and he always said cheers after he served you. they all really talked awesome! Neways we finally made it into cape town after a 7-8hour flight to london and a 12 hour flight to cape town.
Kimberley House and Obs
After arriving in cape town we went straight to observatory, or as we call it obs, which is the town we live in. It is sooooo cute. There are a bunch of little shops, art shops, book shops, coffee shops, dress shops, and african shops. it kinda reminds we of a little street in purdue where they had really cute shops, but it is definity a city town. i, like many other americans, thought that it would have dirt roads and be further from the city, but its right next to the city and looks like a mini city in itself. the best part of obs is the coffee shops. we went to this coffee shop, mini's, one morning to get breakfast and guess what they had there, tea and crumpets! i didnt even need to go downtown london! anyways the coffee is unbelievable! i had this white hot chocolate latte that was to die for! plus the greatest thing about cape town is everything is cheap. you will here it in my blogs alot about how i had amazing food for really cheap. Neways, we live on kimberley street so our house is called kimberley house and it is adorable. we each have a roomate, there is a kicten, a dining room with a huge table, a living room, 5 bathrooms, and a nice size backyard. the best thing is we have hardwood floors!Im sharing a room with one of the girls named mallory and we have the huge wardrobe and guess what, i can burn incense in my room!
Welcome party and the black out
So the first friday we were here we had a blockparty to welcome us to the neighborhood and get to know the neighborhood. only some of our neighbors showed up but they were really nice. also these girls we met at school, UWC, came over and they are both from Zambia, a country a little north of south africa. They were really nice and we played cards together, they really liked to play spoons! but then at like 8 we got a blackout. it was kinda weird not having any lights but we decided to tell scary stories and we talked about the different ghosts they have in american and south africa. then we started talking about dancing and the girls decided to show us some of the dancing they have to learn when they grow up, and they were amazing. its so cool how they can move and control their bodies. i dont think i could ever move like that. but there is only so much you can do in a blackout so they had to leave, overall though it was a really cool night and i learned alot about the traditions in south africa and zambia.
UWC
My new school! We went to UWC on wed to register but they werent ready for us so we justed picked out our classes and then took a tour around the campus. its really nice, like any other campus in the states. they have an olympic sized swimming pool because i guess the south african swimmers practice there. they also have playing fields for rugby, cricket, and football(our soccer, unfortunately football isnt popular here but soccer is). There student union is my favorite part of campus. its huge inside and they always have music playing, they really like american music here but like older american music so its nice to hear some songs i havent listened to in a while, and in this place they have a bunch of places to eat. they sell fruit on campus. they also have a lot of different stands we they sell jewelry and cell phones and other cool stuff. UWC is pretty far from campus so they need to have alot of stuff on campus for the students. They also have this chinese resturant that some of their foreign students created and run where you can get an entire plate of chinese food for less than a dollar!! Food is really cheap on campus and i love it! As lovely as campus is there scheduling system is really weird. i had class for the first time today and it turns out that the times for both my classes completely changed. it was really frustrating, but im going to have to work it out. it wouldnt be as bad but i have to take all my classes in 2 days. overall though i love the campus. cheap food and a lot of green area to sit and tan or sleep.
The Township
Friday we went to one of the girls service learning sites which was in a township, the cities where they moved the blacks during the aparatid. it was really sad but kinda cool. it was sad because to see the living conditions these people were forced to live in is horrible, but it was really cool because we got to here alot about the culture in the townships. Family is super important. also having guests over is a big thing. whenever someone has a guest over, no matter how poor they are they will have something to offer there guest. Thats one thing i noticed alot about people in south africa, they are really concerned with being polite to their guests and think of others before themselves. they also have alot of traditional events, braais(barbacue) and dances. i cant wait till we can go into the township for one of those. the place we went had art work and crafts from people in the township to raise money for the HIV/AIDS problem. it was really cool how they were using their skills to help their neighbors. neways they feed us and the food was amazing! i really like their braai chicken!
Robben Island and Muizenberg beach
Robben Island is the location of the prision where Nelson Mandela was held as a political prisioner for 18 years. This was a really moving experience to learn about the prision. First we did a bus tour and saw the island and learned about the placed where they made the prisioners work. it was upsetting to learn that they would make them work for ten hours a day and only give them a glass of salt water. Many people died while working. We also learned about one of the less known prisioners and the man who starteds to revolution against the aparatid, Robert Sobukwe. He was forced to live in this tiny little yard. he couldnt leave the yard and they made he not talk to anyone, not even the guards for six years. when he was finally allowed to talk to someone he couldnt because his vocal chords were damaged. to make it worse he was being held there after he had already completed his sentence at a jail in jo-berg. in the end, since he didnt get to speak for six years he got throat cancer and died. Thats his story in a nutshell there is more to the torture he went through, but he was an unbelievable man and you should read up on him on your own. Our tour guide was a grad student who did tours on weekends because he was proud of his country and what the people in it have accomplished, peace and reconciliation, but the coolest thing he said was that not one country, not one race, but human kind unitying as one can save this world.He said it alot better than i did but it was really moving. After we finished the bus tour we went into the jail for a tour. our tour guide was an ex- political prisioner. he showed us the room he stayed in with 80 other men, it was tiny. then we got to see Nelson Mandela's room, which was a 2 by 2 cell, the dogs there had a 3 by 3 cage. i couldnt imagine staying in such a small space. plus prisioners were only allowed to see their loved ones at first every six months and then if they were good once every month, but there were contact and none contact visit. i couldnt imagine going 18 years and only being able to hold my wifes hands at most once a month and sometimes only getting to see her through glass. Neways there is alot more to what went on in the prision, how these men were treated all to stand up for the freedom of other black south africans. our tour guide was tortured before he got to prision, and the worst was that they mutilated his privates so bad that we though he would never have kids, they wanted to take aways his manhood, his ability to have children which having a family is really important in south africa. Neways there is alot more we learned but you will have to read up on it on your own.
Kirstenbosch sunset concert
So yesterday night we went to a concert in the gardens, kirstenbosch, which is absolutley beautiful, you will have to see my pics to get an idea of the beauty. neways the concert was on a hill overlooking the mountains and it was this native african singing in what i believe was half french and then mostly his native language. neways people brought little pinics and ate and listened to the music but by the end everyone was up and dancing. it was really good music! and lots of fun! i think we are going to go back every sunday because its only 35 rand, $5, to go. it was amazing. look at my pictures and you will see why