We had our first class session
(dashing the touristy feeling, despite the fact we had to read a whole book
about South African history before the start of the program, and the other day
write a response to a question). The instructor for the first three weeks of
the core course is Dianna Shandy, a professor from Macalester College who has
done extensive research in various countries in Africa and has taught this
course for two years now. Today’s lecture was a fast introduction to different
ways to think about globalization. I already have lots of reading in a new book
to do! Next, we got a tour of the large campus ... so many buildings, and lots
of stairs as UCT is situated on the side of Devils Peak.
This afternoon, a group of us
took the Jamie (free UCT shuttle) from near our house to Cavendish Square Mall.
There are lots of great stores there, as well as more selection of groceries
than the stores that are a 15-minute walk from the house.
I also went on a nice run up through the campus and into Newlands Forest today. Cape Town gets a good amount of wind which helps compensate for the heat. Four other girls and I have formed a cooking group, so we will share groceries (primarily dinner) and take turns cooking and doing the dishes. Tonight we all chipped in, and the collaborative effort was fun. One of the girls in our group is from South Africa, so she had some good tips.
