Feb 21st – Canoeing & More South African Slang

We went canoeing today! The UCT canoe club met on campus and people with cars gave lifts to Muizenberg vlei, where the club stores all their boats and there is a club house they share with the UCT yacht club and other people who store their boats there. In South Africa, ‘canoe’ and ‘kayak’ mean pretty much the same thing.

I had never been on a boat so skinny and unstable before! They take a lot of balance and core strength to not tip over, and in order to stay up right, you need to keep momentum. Most of the boats were doubles, but there were a few singles and one triple. The front person has foot pedals to steer the rudder, so both people on the boat keep the same steady stroke and the rudder turns the boat.

The experienced guys took the novices out in doubles. I got to try steering, which was a lot of fun I also tried getting in a single, but I could not even get one paddle stroke in before tipping over... need some more practice on the doubles! There was a braai and music playing, and everyone there was very friendly. Everyone was South African except for one girl from Montana. There is a race next Saturday which I might do. I will see how training goes this week.

Some other South African slang to share…they say ‘keen’ a lot. For example, “I’d be keen to do that.” They also say ‘sure’ in place of when Americans would say ‘yeah’. Joining clubs and interacting with new people is a blast!

I am excited for tomorrow... playing in a beach volleyball tournament at Camps Bay with the UCT volleyball club! Can’t wait!

Feb 20th – Rock Climbing!

I went rock climbing today! Lakeside pinnacle had a gorgeous view of Table Mountain and Muizenberg beach. I brought my harness and shoes, but for people who don’t own their own gear, the MSC has stuff that people borrow. There was one really experienced UCT climber with us and one other girl from Chicago who could lead climb, so they set up the routes (we had three ropes). There were about 16 of us in total and we all jammed into two cars somehow. I shockingly was one of the more experienced climbers, so I ended up belaying people a lot which was fine.

Surprisingly a lot of the people who showed up were Americans, and a good portion of them were from California (like me). UCT’s student population is made up of 20% international students, so I guess I should not be too surprised. There were some great routes at Lakeside Pinnacle, and I hope to go back sometime. Cape Town has so many locations to check out!

I had a fun evening with the housemates. We played 30 Seconds, which is South Africa’s equivalent to America’s Taboo (word guessing game). Some of the cards have South African references we simply do not know, but we played with some of Lillian’s friends and learned things along the way.

Feb 19th – Activities on the Main Quad

Every Thursday, the main quad on campus has a fun event around lunchtime where they give away free stuff and such. This week, they set up BMX and skateboard ramps and pros were doing stunts. It was sponsored by Mountain Dew and they were giving out free drinks. Earlier in the week, Coca-Cola was on campus and giving away free coke in a fun way: you told them your name and a phrase you wanted, and then the machine spitted out two cans of coke with what you said. Fun stuff like this simply doesn’t happen at small liberal arts schools, so I am enjoying all these perks!

I went to the men’s volleyball practice tonight along with a few other girls. It was fun to play with the guys, and the coach had a lot of good energy.

 

Feb 18th – UCT’s Climbing Wall

David set up a meeting for us at the Civic Centre to meet some of the city engineers who work for TCT (Transportation for Cape Town) and who were involved with the bus depot we are interested in. The meeting went really well, gained some good overall insight, and they gave us the civil engineering plans for the site. The next step is a site visit, and setting up meetings with consultants the city hired for the project which will have much more specific information.

I went to UCT’s climbing wall, which is essentially a room with bouldering routes, for the second time. I have done some outdoor climbing, and love it, but do not have that much practice nor climbing strength. Hopefully, I will hit this climbing wall a few times a week to get better. I an excited to go outdoor climbing on Friday with MSC and to go canoeing on Saturday!

Feb 17th – Honors EGS Course

Today is Tuesday so I have my honors EGS course, Water Resource Management. Professor Kevin Winter gave a nice introduction into the course. There are about 17 students. Most of them are honors students (including the two South Africans living with us) and a few masters students (Eek what did I get myself into!?), and one of the other American students in my program. This class involves some field trips/field work, but there is not a designated time slot for this.

Unfortunately I am missing the first trip because they are doing it when I have my surveying practical. I am super bummed, as they are hiking up Table Mountain, checking out some dams and gathering GIS data. I really wish I could go!

I set up a dropbox with David, Kirsty and I so that they could give me background literature to read concerning my research project. There are many articles, and yet I need to do some of my own literature hunting as well. Let the craziness begin!

Feb 16th – Volleyball Practice and a New Class Begins

This was my first day of class, which is my surveying course. A brief introduction to the class ensued. This class is sort of split into two classes, the CEM (Construction Engineering Management) students (which includes me) and the geomatics students. We attend the same lectures but we have different practicals (labs).

I met David Ellis, the graduate student who is researching the same site as I am (along with 15 other sustainable drainage systems). He has been really helpful in finding out who we need to contact and set up meetings with.

I went to the volleyball team’s first practice and was disappointed. A few girls there had never touched a volleyball before. There were a few decent players. Ironically enough, a defensive specialist from Claremont McKenna was there and we hit it off.

The coach arrives next week, so I might go back to see if it gets any better. The coach is supposedly going to be organizing beach training on the weekends. All I really want to do is play beach!

Feb 15th – Last Day at the Farm House

 

 

Slept in incredibly late, felt very good and relaxed this whole weekend. Mareli and I went on a short walk with the dogs. I kept trying to think of how I would describe this landscape and the word I came up with is “raw.” The rock formations around the valley are absolutely stunning and the views are incredible.

Mareli gave me some really good travel tips and places to try and see while I am here in South Africa. She is expecting her twins to come mid-March, so in one month, and I hope to come back out to see them again after she has had the babies. It was really nice to get away for the weekend, catch up with Mareli, to see a new beautiful area, and to see how their farm and their lives work.

 

Feb 14th – Valentine’s Day

A pretty relaxing Valentine’s Day, did not really feel like Valentine’s Day at all which was nice! I slept in, and then Jan’s dad and Mareli showed me how the workers pick the apples. Jan’s dad talked about the science behind how you know when it is time to harvest. The farm grows various types of apples, pears, and onions, and exports about 70% of their produce internationally.

After seeing a bit of how the farm works, we drove to where Jan would finish cycling that day. The venue was super fun with lots of food and drinks and even fruit to take for free. We spent a good part of the afternoon there enjoying the music and watching the bikers come in.

 

When we got home, Mareli was pretty tired and needed a nap (she is pregnant with twins!) so I took their two big dogs (a great dane and a bull terrier) on a walk through the orchards. Jan and Mareli showed me a bit more of their place. They have a stream on their property with a gorgeous waterfall, I could spend a whole day there. They also have a dam for their farm. Apparently, most farms do as they need to get their own water because the government does not in most areas.

Jan told me about the whole process of growing onions which was really interesting, we drove past where they were being dried in piles before having their stems chopped off.

That night, Jan braaied fish, so tasty. Then Mareli and I watched a movie.

Feb 13th – Water Sensitive Urban Design Lecture

 

I went to a really interesting WSUD (Water Sensitive Urban Design) lecture given by Ana Deletic, a guest speaker from the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Water Sensitive Cities in Australia. Ana is a world leader in integrated urban water management, and her research focuses on stormwater management and the removal of pollutants from urban runoff.

This talk was really stimulating, and it was very interesting to hear what Australia, a very dry country, is doing for water security. Questions after the talk tried to grasp how Australia’s techniques could be applied to South Africa, and while ideas can be borrowed, it seems as some original engineering is going to be required as South Africa’s water is dirtier and every place is different.

I was invited to this lecture by Kirsty, and I am very glad I went. During the lecture it started pouring rain, and Anna (from my program) was nice enough to give me a lift home.

In the afternoon, I went on a ride to visit Mareli and Jan picked me up along with Simon and Makayla and a friend of theirs. They were going camping for the weekend on Jan’s property, so it worked out perfectly for them to give me a ride.

Traffic was very bad as we pulled out during rush hour, so instead of 2.5 hours, it took about double that amount of time. But we made it!

Mareli and Jan live on a farm between Ceres and Citrusdale, so you can drive from either direction (on the way there we drove the Citrusdale way and on the way back through Ceres). It was so nice arriving at their farm house. The house is very spacious, as it used to be Jan’s parents house. They built it with enough bedrooms for their four kids. We had some dinner and then Jan went to bed, as he was one day into a three-day mountain bike race and needed to sleep. Mareli and I stayed up quite a bit later chatting and enjoying each others company

 

Feb 12th - Finishing the 24-Hour Final Exam

Finished the exhausting 24-hour exam today! I wrote about 14 pages. It felt good to go on a nice long run afterwards. My friends and I treated ourselves to some iced mocha drinks at Cocoa Wah Wah, a nice little restaurant in walking distance in Rondebausch.

Feb 11th – Cooking Roti and a 24-Hour Final Exam

Today was a long day. We started our 24-hour final exam for the core course, from 10 am today until 10 am the next day. We had to write one essay for Diana and two for Peter. My cooking group did not want to cook tonight so we got roti - this place by our house that makes the most amazing Indian style wrap thing for takeout that is huge and dirt cheap. I can only eat half and then I save the rest for later.

Unfortunately, my stomach did not agree very well with my roti later that night, which was really annoying while I was trying to write my essays. I am bummed because they are so yummy! I do not know if I will eat the second half of mine this time.

Feb 10th- UCT Society Fair!

This Monday through Wednesday, the main stretch on UCT’s campus is packed full of societies (clubs) booths as they recruit new members. The atmosphere was lively and fun, with live music and performances and a fro-yo truck. Most societies have a fee to join, but foreign exchange students get to join 3 societies for free.

I knew before I even came to Cape Town that I would join the Mountain and Ski Club (MSC). They go rock climbing every Friday and on the weekends. They also sometimes go on hikes and other excursions during the week. They do some community projects too, such as getting rid of invasive alien plants.

Another club I am planning on joining is the volleyball club. They practice indoors twice a week, and on the weekends, they play beach and train too. I also want to try something new while I am here, so I am going to join the canoe club. They mainly do river paddling, and a lot of their members are really good and do races. I’ll just join for fun. They practice twice during the week and on Saturdays.

So my weekends are going to be very full, and I will probably have a hard time deciding what to do! But I like to keep myself busy and active. I might also join a social club that has certain events, but not sure about that yet, as the sport clubs also do their own social things.

Feb 9th – Field Trip With Peter!

Today I went on a field trip with Peter, and we saw some new places today. We drove through Stellenbosch, which is the town referred to as South Africa's prettiest city (if you can call it a city).

It has Stellenbosch University and then lots of cool old Dutch architecture with cafes, shops, and homes. This area is also known for its wine.

Then we stopped at Berg River Dam; we saw about four dams in total on this field trip. The city of Cape Town is in desperate need of urban water. By the Water Act, every dam is required to allow 10 percent of the river to keep flowing. This is vital for agriculture and ecosystems.

Our next stop was Groendal at the informal settlements. They have electricity and dishes to be able to watch TV, but most shacks do not have running water or sewage. Apparently getting some channels from the dish is relatively cheap, but the situation does seem odd.

Peter posed a deep question to us...should the government focus on getting services put into these homes (water, sewage etc.) or should they focus on building more homes for the millions of homeless? The state at which these people live in is very unsanitary, and walking around seeing sewage going out into the gutters by the side of the road was not pleasant. We walked into a community center built by an NGO, but it was in bad shape.

We also drove through the town of Fanschoek. It is a gorgeous area, and some of the best wines come from here. We stopped at a lookout over the Berg River Basin, and Petter summed up the three environmental problems of the Berg River: (1) water, (2) informal settlements, conversion of land from agriculture, and (3) alien trees - escaped pine trees from plantations spread everywhere. They are located far up on the mountain sides, and they take immense amounts of water out of the soil.

We stopped for lunch at a babbling brooke. It made me appreciate being a part of this program and having locals show us the cool spots they know. After driving around a bit more, we stopped at a nice place with cakes, scones, tarts, bread, dried fruit, spices etc.

Peter let us all get a treat and a drink. I got a Rooibos tea latte and an apple tart. It was so good! I also bought a huge box of fresh figs (I am weird and I have a weakness for figs). I even had fig jam.

We passed by Steenbras Dam, a dam owned by the city; it has an upper dam that supplies irrigation water and a lower one that supplies drinking water. There is also an interesting pumping mechanism that harnesses hydroelectric power between them. We passed by a whole troop of baboons on the side of the road, and the babies were so cute!

Next up was a township called Philippi East. In case you do not know the terminology, townships are areas with low cost homes that are sometimes subsidized by the government (also where they forced South African black people to live during apartheid), and informal settlements are areas where people just set up shacks. They don't own where they live.

There are thousands of people living in these conditions in South Africa, and the areas are primarily South African black people, a lasting effect of apartheid. The township is where Peter's housemaid lives. He took us to her house, a house that he helped her get and that has a lot of his old stuff. It is the biggest one around.

We went inside, and one of the daughters and a baby grandchild were home along with her son who told us about his work as a cartoonist. He is the only one in the family with a chance of a better life, and the other children do not have enough schooling.

Peter's housemaid takes care of her kids, as well as grandchildren that some of her daughters abandoned. Even though this house was the biggest around, it would completely fit inside my living room area. The crime rate is very high here, and the daughter said you can't walk around outside past 8 p.m. 

We passed multiple stands where meat was being sold on a table. It is open to the air with flies buzzing around, and it sits there all day long.

A cow was running around on the loose and no one seemed to care. Live chickens were being sold in crates along the side of the road. That way you could kill it and eat it fresh when you wanted. You can buy a house bit by bit and one wall at a time until you had four walls. They are primarily corrugated steel with wood bracings. A roof, floor, doors, etc. are extra.

This township was right by a nature preserve of wetlands with lots of birds. This stood out to me, as we have been taking in class about how you reconcile conserving land for biodiversity. Meanwhile, millions of people are without homes and need land.

We also drove through the Philippi urban agriculture area. One of the lecturers who came and spoke to our class gave a presentation about the area and how it has survived as a large agricultural area in the middle of the city. One of the major reasons is that there is sand that they extract for concrete and other materials.

This area provides vegetables to the major supermarkets like Pick-n-Pay and Spur, and the not so good looking produce goes to the local people in the townships. This area is vital for the city, yet there are still people who want to use the land for housing. It was sad to see a lot of trash in the fields.

Feb 8th – Freshlyground!!!!

We saw Freshlyground play this afternoon at Kirstenbosch Gardens (we went there before to see Parlotones play, and it's a beautiful venue). You may know of Freshlyground but not know you did. They are the group that sings with Shakira in her song "Waka Waka" for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. 

They are hugely popular in South Africa, and the concert today was sold out. Everyone was up and dancing halfway through the concert. I had a blast!

Earlier today I accompanied Olivia Z to the store to buy communal things for the house, like toilet paper, hand soap, olive oil, etc. I was put in charge of collecting money from everyone, which is just sharing some of the joys of living in a house of 12 people.

Feb. 7th – Hiking to the Top of Table Mountain!

Nine of us woke up early this morning and hiked to the top of Table Mountain! It is the mountain that looks like a table that this is in a lot of photos of Cape Town. I have never seen views so spectacular in my life before!

The trail consisted of rocky stairs straight up. There are so many other trails, but we took this one so that whoever wanted to could take the cable car down. About half of our group did that, and just me and the four boys hiked down.

I hope to hike to the top of Table Mountain many more times. I have now done Lions Head and Table Mountain, and next up is Devils Peak!

In the evening, we watched another movie as a group on the projector; it is great how we all like to do things together.

Feb. 6th – My Independent Research Project & Shopping for Summer Clothes

My independent research project is off to a good start. Essentially, I am going to be analyzing the water recycling system at a BRT station in Cape Town which was put in two years ago. The project will entail system description, baseline assessment, and water balance.

The UCT civil engineering department is eager to learn about how the system works. The BRT station has green roofs, permeable pavement, etc. and the system collects rainfall and recycles it to wash the buses. So I will be doing some detective work, then analyzing the system and looking for areas of improvement, and doing some water quality testing at various stages of the system.

My project supervisor is Professor Neil Armitage. Kirsty Carden, a project manager, is also helping, along with David Ellis, a graduate student.

I met with Kristy briefly today regarding the ethics form clearance I have to do. She has been great about getting contacts for me, and her, David and I are going to to on a site visit soon. I am excited for this project!

In the afternoon, I went to Cavendish Mall in Claremont with Sara and Mercer, my cooking group, and we bought dinner groceries for the week. It has become a weekly ritual to go to this mall because the grocery stores are nicer than the ones by our house, so getting produce and meat is much safer.

Then I did a little shopping. I did not bring enough dresses and summer clothes to Cape Town!

Later in the evening, we had a super fun pizza night. One girl organized the whole thing and bought all the ingredients and we paid her back. Everyone chipped in helping make the dough, getting the toppings ready, putting the pizzas together, and of course eating.

We did it in the house next door where two of the students live because they have two ovens and our main house has one. We experienced load shedding from 6:00-8:30, so we got everything ready. While we were waiting to throw the pizzas in the oven, we had a group meeting about house cleanliness and other things along those lines.

We are trying to organize a trip for the end of the week to Addo Elephant Park in Eastern Cape. The drive is along the Garden Route, one of the most scenic roads ever! We would be renting cars, and I might be driving on the left side of the road for the first time of my life!

We will see if we get our act together, but I hope we go! If we do not go, I will visit Mareli and Jan at their farm. If we do go, then I will visit Mareli the next weekend.

Feb 5th – Registering for Classes

I registered for classes today!  I am taking a second year surveying course in the Architecture/Geomatics Department of Engineering. This is a good foundation course for civil engineers. I did a bit of surveying in my civil engineering internship last summer, so I am excited to learn how to do it.

This class meets every day from Monday through Friday and has a practical (laboratory) too. My other course is an honors level EGS (Environmental and Georgraphical Science) course called Water Resource Management. I am really excited for this in-depth material; honors courses meet once a week and are structured like a graduate course.

Undergraduate degrees at UCT are three years, and if you want to do honors (fourth), you have to reapply. So I will be in a small class setting and hope to gain a lot from this. Some of the material might tie in nicely to my research project.

In the evening, we went to First Thursdays - on the first Thursday of the month in Cape Town, there are a bunch of art galleries open for free and live music on the streets. It was fun walking around in such an upbeat atmosphere, and we found some great restaurants.

Feb 4th – My Presentation About Globalization, the Environment & Me

Today was the last regular class session for the core class. Each of us had to prepare a five-slide presentation, roughly 10 minutes long, about "Globalization, the Environment, and Me." It was really interesting hearing everyone's take on the topic and what they had to share.

For my presentation, I summed up the parts of the course that stood out to me and how I could apply them to civil engineering. I also talked about how I can see my career being shaped by this course.

Feb 3rd – Table View

We had class in the morning, and Peter gave a really nice last presentation about climate change.

We then went to Table View in the evening; gorgeous area right on the water. This is also a popular area for surfing and kitesurfing.

Feb 2nd – Class and House Drama

We had class today with an interesting speaker. There was some house drama, which was the first we have experienced.

It is still remarkable we have made it a month in a house with 12 people without any drama, but today there was plenty. I am glad the storm has passed.

Feb 1st – Spending the Day With Mareli and Jan

I had a wonderful day today! Mareli, my old au pair from South Africa who lives about two hours from Cape Town on a farm, and her husband Jan, took me out to lunch. They were in Cape Town for a party the night before. 

Mareli and Jan took me on a scenic drive from my house in Mowbray to Hout Bay, past the rich scenic Llandudno, and then through Camps Bay and Clifton Bays. Jan and I walked for a bit on Clifton 4th beach (Mareli is very pregnant and did not want to go down the stairs to the beach).

Then we ate at this amazing restaurant by the water with a great view. I had some delicious seared tuna.

Afterwards, we drove a little further to Seapoint for some gelato by the beach. Mareli and Jan were so friendly, and it instantly felt like being with family with them. I have not seen Mareli since I was six, so it is really special to still have this relationship. They gave me a big box of apples they picked for me to share with my housemates as we departed. I am planning on visiting them on their farm next weekend!

The rest of the day was spent finishing an essay due the next morning.

Jan 31st - J&B Met!

J&B Met is a huge horse race and one of the most popular events in Cape Town; everyone gets really dressed up, celebrities come, and there's music and lots of food trucks. I have never been to a horse race before, but this was really fun!

Anna picked us up around noon and we went to her house for some snacks with her friends. People watching was the highlight, and I have never been in a place with so many food trucks before. I had some Amarula/coffee soft serve which was amazing. There were multiple races going on throughout the day, but the main one was at 4:45.

Jan 30th - Class and Shopping

There was nothing too exciting today. After having class in the morning, we went to Claremont to shop for a bit in the afternoon.

Anna showed us a few of her favorite stores, and we stocked up on groceries for the week.

Jan 29th - A New Restaurant

This Thursday, my three-person group led discussion in class and it went pretty well. We went to Long Street in the evening and had dinner at Timbukto, a quirky Ethiopian restaurant with a nice balcony, ethnic decorations and seating on sofas.

Ethiopian food is meant to be eaten with your hands, and I had some amazing meat.

Jan 28th - Mayor's Portfolio of Urban

I have been reading a lot of articles. An Environmental Resource Management person came in and told us about the Mayor’s Portfolio of Urban Sustainability for Cape Town. There were some really innovative projects in there, and they used this interesting spider diagram to evaluate them.

After class, a few of us went and bought tickets for the J&B Met (a big horse race, more on that later). I spent the evening preparing for my group presentation tomorrow.

January 27th - Another Day of Exploring

No class today, so I got to sleep in. I first went for a swim at the UCT pool. Two other girls and I walked to the neighborhood Observatory to the post office to send some mail (Mom and Dad, I sent you a tester one to see if it arrives). Then we walked along Lower Main Street where there are some cute cafes, although the area is bit grungy.

Afterwards, we caught the Jammie Shuttle to go to Claremont where there is a big mall and side streets with nice shops and restaurants. Olivia Z took us to this great cake and tea place called Cassis. I had not bought any dessert here yet, so it was a treat.

January 26th - Classes, South African Lingo and More

Today we had our first class session with Peter. He lectured for about two hours, we had a lunch break, and then a woman named Pheobe came in and gave a really cool presentation. She is a conservation biologist at SANBI and has done some really cool work. Her presentation was about biodiversity, poverty, and national development in South Africa. She emphasized how ecological health plays a huge role in global economic health, and touched on the topics of ecological connectivity, ecological systems, where we should build homes and smarter ways to design cities.

In addition, she spoke about how negative impacts on ecosystems are often positive for human well-being and economic development or GDP as well as the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment she helped with, which is the largest assessment of the health of Earth’s ecosystems. South Africa is one of the leading nations in biodiversity planning. She concluded with stating that a major paradigm shift is needed in economics and land value (i.e. we need to change the way people think and have ecosystems on everyone’s mind).

After Phoebe’s presentation we had another group discussion led by two students about some articles we had to read comparing biodiversity versus ecosystem function. Overall the day was really informative, and I can tell that this class is having a huge impact on me and what I am going to do with my career.

There is some funny South African lingo I have been meaning to share. They like to use the terms ‘now’, ‘just now’, and ‘now now,’ which each roughly correspond to a different time scale. ‘Now’ means later, ‘just now’ means soon like around 10 minutes, and ‘now now’ actually means to do currently. Takes a little getting used to. They also say ‘shame’ and ‘yo’ quite a bit.

I have also been meaning to share some information about my program mates. The two South Africans, Lillian and Olivia Z, are great. Lillian has this rolling laugh that you can pick out anywhere, and Olivia Z has a very cute accent. They are both honors students in the EGS department.

There are two boys from Macalester, Evan and Phalgun. Evan is majoring in geology and Phalgun is majoring in chemistry and anthropology. They are both really fun guys. There is also a guy from Pomona, Skyler, and two girls, Sydney and Chihiro.

Sydney is my roommate and we get along great; she is a philosophy major. Skyler and Chihiro are both environmental analysis majors. Chihiro is an international student from Japan and shares some cool stories. Skyler is a really good, sweet guy. Then there is one girl from Bryn Mawr named Maddie. She is super nice and into food justice.

From Swarthmore there is one boy, Daniel, and five girls, Sara, Mercer, Sophie, Olivia O, and me. Four of us are engineers (Daniel, Sara, Mercer and I). Sophie is a biology major and Olivia O is a math major and very involved in environmental groups especially food groups. Sara, Sophie, and Lillian all play ultimate frisbee. Daniel plays lacrosse at Swarthmore, and Mercer used to swim. Everyone gets along great, and we like doing things as a group.

As I am typing this, the power and wifi are both out. Eskom, the monopolistic electrical company in South Africa, is cutting off power for hours at a time in different areas called 'load shedding' because there is not enough to go around. There is a schedule online, and it looks like we will be having power cut off every day for a few weeks. We had a nice evening and watched a movie again on Sara's projector.

January 25th - Goldfish Concert

Today I got to sleep, which was nice. I did a lot of reading, went for a swim in the afternoon, and the UCT fitness center which is a five-minute walk from my house. Then the whole group of us went to the Waterfront to this sushi place that had half price sushi, dim sum, and cocktails before 6 p.m. on Sundays. I will definitely be going back there, it was excellent.

Afterwards, about six of us plus Anna (a girl who did the program a few years ago and came along on our field trip) and her friend went to see a DJ concert. Goldfish was the main group. Shimmy Club, the venue, was amazing! It is right on the water's edge with the viewing area as sane, so almost everyone took off their shoes. It was really fun to people watch. There were so many beautiful and nice dressed people!

January 24th - Hiking Lion's Head

Nine of us woke up early to hike Lion's Head on Saturday morning. It was a steep uphill trail, but the trek was worth it for the stunning views of Table Mountain and the Atlantic Ocean. I hope to hike up Table Mountain soon.

I then had a relaxing afternoon, albeit trying to read an entire book over the weekend. We went to Long Street in the evening and had a great time.

January 23rd - Last Class Session With Diana

This Friday we had our last class session with Diana. She is going back to teach at Macalester, and Peter will be in charge of our classes for the next two and a half weeks. Today we had to read aloud a non-fictional narrative we wrote based on a conversation we had that tells a tale about South Africa. Everyone was a bit anxious about going out of their comfort zones to talk to people here, but more so about having to read it aloud in class. However, the class readings did turn out nicely.

My story was based around a conversation I had with a South African couple who were living in the Tankwa Karoo; they had their own meaning of adventure and of living out in a remote place. I was appalled to learn from them that there are test wells for fracking in the area.

One of the students brought a projector screen, and we all enjoyed watching a movie together tonight. We are going to try to make it a weekly tradition. Other than that, I don't see myself watching any other TV. You can't stream movies or shows here because it takes up too much bandwidth.