Dr Livingstone, I presume!

I may need a more original title but wanted to give people an update and notification that I shall be sans-internet (most likely) until Wednesday night. Why? Read on...

Things have been blessedly slow of late. I stood in a four-hour line to pre-register the other day (slow, maybe not so blessedly). Pre-registration is where international students are checked to make sure that they have insurance, a study permit, and fee payment. Essentially, it is a redux of the visa application process, only where the visa required mountains of paperwork, pre-reg just has you stand a lot. In the end, they scan your passport, take the photocopy of your passport and visa you brought, and give you a piece of paper saying you are now cleared to register. Due to load shedding (my family snickers, the rest of you should look up Eskom and their delightful sparring with the South African government over electrical infrastructure), the pre-reg line was reduced to two laptops running on battery. It bottlenecked things to say the least.

Different faculties (departments) hold their actual registrations independently on various dates. Many of the faculties held theirs on Friday. Mine? Next Thursday. Class starts the day after that (sort of, maybe, depending on who you ask), and then the semester kicks off in earnest (allegedly) the following Monday.

The orientation has essentially come to a close (I guess). The schedule just sort of tapered off into calendar blank spots. My buddy Paarth and I decided to capitalize on this dead time, taking the what-the-hell attitude that maybe we should go and see Victoria Falls.

"We might never be here again, we should do it..."

That sort of thing. So, we have spent the last couple days trying to conceive and book this little adventure to Zimbabwe. Included was obtaining yellow fever inoculation (lest we venture across the falls into Zambia which may or may not be at risk) and malaria pills; booking multiple flights (no one flies direct, and Africa has an assortment of small regional carriers for less), some online, some by phone; tracking down a hostel that provides a less frat party atmosphere; identifying activities; and likely forgetting loads of other important stuff.

For a while, it felt like nothing was working. This could have meant one of two things. It might be symptomatic of my first-world belief in a specific type of efficiency and convenience that Africa, for better or worse, is not able to accommodate. Otherwise, the universe might just be saying "No." I was becoming convinced of the latter but now believe it was the former, since suddenly everything came together. It has also been pointed out that Mercury Retrograde is a likely culprit.

While the other housemates are hosting a little pool party for friends, Paarth and I have been busy scuttling about to do laundry and prepare our knapsacks for the impending adventure.

That being said, I will not have much, if any, access to the internet for the next few days. Given that we appear to be in a land where the phones and the antelope roam, I may not have much cell coverage (heh, imagine Stanley heading into the heart of Africa wondering if his phone would have any reception). I should be getting to the finishing of my packing and then off to an early bed for the cab comes early. I will be back in Cape Town Wednesday night.

But before I go, some pictures...

First, a couple views of the mountain from our street and the back of our house.

We live two roads over from Middle Campus, which includes the main walkway to Upper Campus.

The view coming down Middle Campus

The view going up. A little to the left is a subway that goes under a highway and emerges in upper campus, just beyond the bright green tree on the left.

UCT hosts a Fresher's Braai (Fresher for freshman, Braai meaning a bbq) on its rugby field. It is quite an event. Our reward for enduring pre-reg was the ticket to the braai. It was one of the most organized components of the university (varsity, as they abbreviate it here). There even was a dedicated vegetarian and halal queue. There was a stage with a variety of bands and house music acts. Mostly, though, there was a beautiful day and a rugby field full of new students. We met up with some of our Norwegian friends for the braai and were then joined by some new students from Malawi. Monkey and I lay out on the lawn as people discussed soccer, inequalities in child care, and the multi-dimensional legacy of Cecil Rhodes.

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Then, Friday I was invited to join some folks for their weekly ramble through the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. With ages ranging from 20s-70s, the group of us entered the gardens (thanks to memberships held by participants, one of whom is actually an employee) and hiked straight up the east side of Table Mountain. We then leveled out on a trail along the mountain's side, with stunning views across the Cape Flats. The recent cloud covers had helped clean the air, and we could view the Hottentot-Holland (which served as the inspiration for Mordor to a young Tolkein who was raised here) and Cuckoo Mountains in the distance. Gigi, remaking herself as a botanist later in life, took me through some aspects of the Fynbos, the dry shrubland vegetation of the Cape. I wish I could retain better (and understand all the Latin names thrown around with a South African accent). We also came across a couple of juvenile owls that this group has been watching since they were eggs. The majestic creatures did not seem to mind our presence. One sat on the railing of a small bridge, and merely watched as we walked past. I was within 20cm of it.

This motley gang of nature lovers has a couple of interesting traditions. At one point on the mountain, there is a bridge. The foliage recedes to offer up one of the great views. Normally, the group stops for a sherry. Since one member had just been confirmed in her position at an important archaeological heritage agency in South Africa, the sherry was replaced with champagne. I politely held the plastic cup of bubbly and toasted the success, but then offered it to the new employee. I sure as hell did not need it, and I figure she deserved a second cup.

The other tradition is that after the walk, the group returns to the carpark to fetch bags out of their cars. They then return to the gardens (now closed, but employee privileges I guess) to have a little sunset picnic on the lawns. They shared food and stories and successes and a little bit of wine (they like their grape matter in these parts). It was a delight to be a stranger sitting in on this odd group's weekly rituals and to be invited back. I hope to make it as near a weekly thing as possible.

Silver sugarbush trees glow in the scrub

Protea flowers

That blue stripe is False Bay. Interesting story about that. Next Slide.

Sugarbird. The photo did not capture its long, almost ribbony tail.

One owl.

Second owl, watching as a bunch of humans prepare to cross its bridge.

Sunset in the gardens.

 

So, until I get back from Zim, be excellent to each other and everyone else. I shall return with tales of one of the seven wonders of the natural world, elephant back safaris, possible day trips into Zambia and Botswana, and who knows how much more.

We get back late Wednesday evening. Registration for classes is Thursday. Wheee!

Monkey Selfie!

Monkey selfie!

That Monkey has been enjoying Cape Town. He has even become quite popular. The OLs always ask where he is whenever they see me.

Suck-up!

Digging the scene at the Fresher's Braai

Orientation

Orientation has been an exercise in patience and trust. It is fairly disorganized here. While UCT admits a large number of international diploma students and semester study abroad students (SSA, of which I am one), they do not have the system down tight. Yes, there are nearly 700 of us, and yet the process has been somewhat baffling and frustrating.

We met in the Baxter Theatre, the campus arts theatre, which is truly gorgeous. We sat through several addresses by the head of IAPO (International Academic Programmes Office), various campus services, one of the heads of campus security, and a man discussing culture shock. There was a dance performance demonstrating the international and varied South African origins of our Orientation Leaders (OL's, or sometimes just O's).

Then, much to our horror, we were split into groups to create a fun, innovative, and informative presentation on a specific campus service. While I have done such things before, they were usually in a group of 5-8 people. Our group consisted of 18 individuals, with students from the United States, Norway, Netherlands, Germany, and France. Our task was to present the services of the Campus Disability Unit. Of course, this added the pressure that we present our fun, innovative, and informative presentation in a manner that is not offensive or belittling to anyone with any form of visible or invisible disability.

Our initial work as a group consisted of following our O who does not seem to understand that you need to speak up if addressing a large group of people. She also could use a tutorial in waiting for everyone to catch up before giving important details, at least if she wishes to avoid the frustration of repeating herself. We milled about campus, got lunch, walked to the rugby field to eat (apparently, she thought a field would be a shady place to sit...), then walked back to actually visit the Disability Services Unit.

Oh yeah, we had in total maybe 2 hours as a group of 18 to conceive of and prepare this presentation. On top of that, they added the pressure that the best group presentation would win a tour to go see the population of penguins that lives on the South African coast a little ways outside of Cape Town. Everyone, of course, wanted to see the penguins, and so it was VERY important to win, rather than just get through this task. Half of our household ditched out, and our group thinned somewhat as we progressed.

Fortunately, our international task force on disabilities managed to split into three subsets. One, of which I was a part, worked out an empathy building introduction. The second group converted the list of services to a call-and-response song set to a funky piece of music. We added some gospel-like flourishes in our brief practices. The third part of our group created a video (brilliantly done) showing the way from the theatre to the unit.

We then all attended a brief and thoroughly uninformative tour of the campus.

After that, all of the SSAs reconvened in Jammison Hall (that columnated temple-looking building at the centre of the UCT upper campus...do a google image search for UCT). We received an address by the vice chancellor and then a small talk delivered by the head of the student government (a portion of which was delivered in Xhosa).

Each of our chairs also had a small drum and a boomwhacker (a plastic tube that when struck against the hand created a distinctive note). What followed was an African drumming workshop.

This workshop was amazing. It was a load of fun, drumming along. The guys were true pros, working with a large group of mostly American and European to create a hall full of poly-rhythms. I have a really bitchin' blood blister on my hand where my ring (the one that was smashed and no longer can come off) pinched due to the drumming.

Following that, there was a reception of light finger food on the steps of Jameson Hall. While the view of the University is stunning, the view from the campus is no slouch either...

In the plaza there is a fountain with some i-ching symbols. I wonder what they mean.

The campus also has some fun graffiti.

The following day, our groups did their presentations on the campus services. I am pleased to report that our thoughtful, empathy- and community-building multimedia song and dance presentation on the campus disability services won us a trip to see the penguins. More importantly, in my opinion, a woman from that office was in the auditorium and came up to me afterwards to say how excited and pleased she was with our performance.

Today is more orientation, and we near our pre-registration and registration. Still not entirely certain about what all that entails. I will find out, I guess.

The Magic of Pre-Pay

I am messing up the blog chronologically, but there is something that has come up that is worth addressing for any student looking to study in Cape Town in the future (or anyone coming to visit for that matter).

In the States, a residence is set up with an electricity account on credit. Usage is billed monthly after the fact. Internet is paid for as a connectivity. While some businesses have usage limits, we on the whole blithely surf with minimal understanding of how much we are using.

That is not how it works in South Africa.

It turns out that our electricity metre works on units. This may or may not translate directly to kilowatt hours, something about which I (and I am willing to bet many students much younger than myself) am still pretty clueless. Our metre was flashing low, running out of credits. When you are out, the power just shuts off completely. Fortunately, our landlord happened to be here taking care of some issues (sweet sweet hot water in the shower from here on out!) and noticed. He could translate what that meant and help me get it resolved for our household before we spent the night in the dark. While two of us have lived without electricity before, the others are a bit more first world.

Internet is pay-as-you-go as well. There's nothing like anticipating how much internet one will use. Speaking of which, I may have to be more terse in my photo-posting to this blog going forward. But we shall see.

Things to be aware of...

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UPDATE: Naturally, the universe likes trends. In researching to which bank I will entrust my monetary reserves, I have discovered that there are actually pay-as-you-go bank accounts. Yup! It apparently works with the fact that they just charge you for every transaction you are possibly going to make to access or do anything with your money. Or you can pre-pay!

The Cape Tour

On Sunday, we strolled from our new digs over to the campus to board a small fleet of tour buses that took us on a tour of the Cape. We first took a quick spin through the city. Our guide pointed out the original water line (now Strand Street) several blocks inland, as a good portion of the city is built on reclaimed land. We drove around the old Malay quarter, with its colourful buildings and vibrant minstrel culture (there is the possibility of coming along to a performance with the guide's crew).

The Twelve Apostles towering over Clifton and Camps Bay

A castle built outside of Hout Bay

Housemates Mandolin and Sachi looking fierce

The road is sometimes carved into and under the mountains along the coast (without pillar supports)

Some people are hired to sit with binoculars and shark-spot for local surfers. There is a whole system for the flags.

Eventually, we pulled into the settlement of Ocean View. In the grand tradition of real estate scams, you cannot actually see the ocean from there. However, in a horrific twist, the community was a forced relocation of cape malay individuals during the period of apartheid. This settlement is incredibly remote. Workers from this area used to have to walk miles to catch the single bus into a nearby town to catch a train to the city to work.

Their local youth organization (run for over 20 years by a local transgender woman) aims to keep kids off the street by encouraging arts and performance. This organization put on a lunch for us in their community centre (delicious Cape Malay cooking), and the kids put on dance and song performances for us, culminating in a wide dance party.

The work done there to keep local youths out of gangs is incredibly inspiring. The generous spirit of these people has continued with us ever since.

Our buses then continued South into the park for the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point. There, we stood at the Southwestern-most point on the African Continent (there is another point that is slightly southier). The protea and plantlife were mystifying, although I was not able to get out to really enjoy them. We spotted ostrich and antelope from the bus. Despite the cautions, we did not get to see any baboons.

With housemate Paarth and fellow student Aiden

Housemates Alicia, Prianka, Jo, and fellow student Victoria

Monkey overlooks Cape of Good Hope

Monkey with Cape Point

While we did not see any baboons, we did take a monkey break

After the day of dramatic views, good fellowship, amazing food, and inspiring works, we loaded on the bus for the ride back to Cape Town. A truly awesome day. The next day orientation begins in earnest.

The Grotto

Saturday we moved from the temporary dormitory residences on UCT campus to our semester housing. Along with 6 other students, I moved to a house on Grotto Road, just off the middle campus here. Jessica, who works with Ida Cooper (the grande dame of international student accommodation in Cape Town), brought us over and was blown away herself by the beauty of the house.

Yes, that is a pool.

View of the house from my room, which is above the laundry room on a back building

There have been some issues with door locks, and my hot water heater is not functioning (fortunately, it is hot enough where a cold shower is rather refreshing, for now). However, I think this can be a good fit.

My housemates and I are all very pleased by the diversity we have in our household. Three students from Princeton. Three from UC Berkeley. Me from Irvine. African American, mixed race, Latino, Middle Eastern, South and East Asian. Men, Women, Queer. It is quite a mix. We have students studying economics, education, environmental science, politics.

AND, we have older, non-traditional students, including transfers. So...transfer students and older students CAN and DO study abroad...

Some quick pics of the author and his Travel Monkey

I am still navigating the world of the internet here (in addition to house-mating, personal safety in Cape Town, the magic of the fellowship, the expectations of our orientation, how to understand the myriad of South African accents that exist, and being mindful of currency exchange rates), and it can be difficult to get reliable internet.

I just returned home from an amazing day. Saw and experienced tons of awesomeness on our bus tour of the Cape. We saw ostriches and antelope. We were fed by the people of Ocean View before their community youth project put on performances for us. We went to the South-Westernmost point of the African continent. And stuff.

 Before I head out to a meeting in a couple minutes, I wanted to put up two of my favorite photos of the day, starring yours truly and Monkey. They were taken at an overlook across from the village of Hout Bay. The peak on the left of the land is called the Sentinel.

When bandwidth and time permits, more will follow...