lion's head at full moon

Chilled out at Clifton Beach #4 for the first time. Each of the Clifton beaches have their own character, i.e. #4 is the most beautiful but also the most famous and therefore crowded, #3 is known to be populated by gay men, and #2 is the model beach (don’t know what #1 is supposed to be like). Water was freezing but it was such a hot day that I was able to dip in a few times.

Then hiked Lion’s Head with Anna. It was a full moon so it was super crowded; there were lines of people walking up and then down. But we found a quiet spot amid the masses. To the left we watched the moonrise over the city with a purple sky, and to the right we watched the sunset over the water with an orange and pink sky. As we walked down the mountain—with only the moon to light our way—the sky darkened to black and was spotted with stars, and the city lights gradually flickered on and came to life. Breathtaking experience.

soweto

Returned to Old Biscuit Mill (a Saturday tradition). Then ventured to a great neighborhood to go shopping, called the Gardens. Continued onto the Soweto Gospel Choir at the Kirtsenbauch gardens. They wore the most beautiful, colorful clothing. Started off traditionally somber and composed, then they added some swaying, and then added on a drum and tons of African dancing. They sang in all different South African languages. Built up the performance the entire time. I hard-core danced up front, right at the stage. Was sung to a couple of times. When I returned to my friends they said it looked like I treated it like a work out. I did. The nicest woman sitting behind us fed us Indian food and then a brownie to “soak up the wine.” She got us craving, so we had dinner at the perfect Indian restaurant. Anna’s cousin, Sarah, said it was the best Indian food she’s ever had. Ended up at a club called 91. Good, long, self-indulgent day.

Highlight: seeing our friend, Micley (a very tall, Jewish American that definitely does not blend into the crowd) know every single word of the Soweto Gospel Choir’s songs. Props.

Chosa

I decided to volunteer at the place I really always wanted to, but thought it would conflict with classes. I’m in charge of teaching a group of eight six-year-olds who live in a children’s home in a township called Khayelitsha at a childrens home called Baphumele.

I’m working with my friend Talya (who can be seen as the second girl from the right in the wine-tasting-picture below). We decide on our own curriculum and have a lot of freedom to do whatever we want to, which is great, but also pretty overwhelming.

We met with the kids for the first time last week. The first class was a little rocky (i.e. one of the children held up her hand and told the other to “read between the lines” in Xhosa). I quickly realized that it was going to be much more difficult than I expected in many ways. The children come to Baph for a variety of reasons that spur from adversity, like being abandoned or orphaned or having parent(s) who have elected to send their children to a home that might better care for them. In addition to this background, our group also does not speak English and are all new to Baph so they have never had a school experience before. Getting them to sit quietly and follow directions is a great challenge in and of itself. However, the children have so much joy and fun and are really just normal kids—and should be treated as such.

I think today’s class went much better than the last. For the first 45 minutes or so we just play with all of the Baph kids. I was swarmed a couple of times and Talya literally had to pick children off of me. We went over some shapes in class, made drawings using the shapes they learned, then drew them on the ground outside with chalk and had them run around to each of the shapes we would shout out. This worked productively for all of about 2 minutes, which is about the length of their general attention span. Then we taught them the baby-shark song (for anyone that doesn’t know it, I’m sorry because you apparently did not have a childhood—or at least go to a camp in the last 15 years, which is slightly more likely). At the end of the hour they sat in their seats quietly, ready to learn more. Overall success. But it sounds like there are going to be a lot of ups and downs and it’s going to be very day-dependent. Really looking forward to what comes and to develop more meaningful, individual relationships with all of them. Pictures are forbidden for the first few weeks, but get excited because these kids are freaking adorable.

pasta salad with a side of rugby

Went to a rugby game! Nevin: thought about you the whole time. These players are beasts—in the absolute best way. Much respect.

Following day: sunset picnic potluck on Single Hill with the entire house (30 people). Amazing views of the entire city. Made the best pasta salad with Anna (included: penne, sundried tomatoes, red and yellow bell peppers, black olives, garlic, olive oil, basil, feta, and tomatoes. YUM.)

small confrontations

We went to a club last night and I was talking to some white South Africans outside. One of them began to talk about how there were “good blacks” and “bad blacks,” but most are bad. When pressed to elaborate, he said that the bad blacks steal and mug and have worse morals. When I asked him something along the lines of, “don’t you think there are historical and social contexts that have led to that kind of survival behavior that is more tied to poverty than to their inherited race”, he quickly dismissed it with “no, it’s because they’re black.”

It’s not that I didn’t think this kind of opinion existed, even in America, but in the States that kind of racism is considered so politically incorrect that you will be hard-pressed to find such thoughts spoken out loud (at least in New York). But in urban Cape Town, this man voiced this opinion openly--moreover--with the assumption that there was a good chance I’d agree. Outside of reiterating my thoughts for a bit, I realized there really wasn’t much I could say or do. Maybe I’m just liberally biased, but I’ve found people who think in such ways rarely use rational thought in coming to their belief systems, and thus rational thought isn’t much of a combatant. After becoming pretty frustrated, I excused myself from the conversation and plan on avoiding this club in the future. Unfortunately, however, I’m nervous that if I maintain such a practice I’ll have a minefield of places all over the city to avoid.

wine tasting

Woke up really early, rented a taxi to drive us around and did some wine and cheese tastings. Great Valentines Day activity. I still don't understand how wine made entirely of grapes can have undertones of plum, cherries, flowers, etc. Amid these wine descriptions, we had the pleasure and privilege of trying a white wine that tastes like "a gypsy's kiss." Then went to an outdoor concert at the botanical garden. Brought picnic supplies, took a much needed nap listening to music, held a boa constrictor--a la Britney Spears (but wearing slightly more clothes)--and hung out in a gazebo. So much traffic on the way back, which meant I had time to climb a rock and watch the sunset as the bus creeped alongside.

old biscuit mill

Most amazing market. Bright and open and airy with a view of Table Mountain in the background (surprise, surprise). Boutique style clothes. Super gourmet, but affordable, delicious food. Best iced coffee (any iced coffee is a relatively rare find here). Mom—get ready. Two people’s birthday’s in the house so the house had a day party, AKA “darty” (as Emma refers to it). With four kegs and two beer pong tables, we had no problem bringing the America to Africa.

poolside mango

Ate the best mango of my entire life by my friend Howie’s pool. Later, danced the night away. African dance class has given me some enviable moves. And that was a school night. Hoping this lifestyle can be maintained.

classes

So school finally (somewhat unfortunately) started this week. Love how diverse my lecturers are. Here's an updated list of classes I'm taking:

- Gender, Sex, Religion - love the professor. She's an incredibly smart Muslim woman who looks like a Bollywood star. She warmly smiles while lecturing, calls Marx her "main man," and when the projector broke on her yesterday, she humbly exclaimed, "this shit always happens to me."

- Theories, Politics, and Action - another beautiful woman of color who is hilarious and challenging and stresses the application of feminist thought and action into our own everyday lives. When anyone in class speaks she brings her hands to her face, pensively scrounges her brow, nods and says "mmmhmmmm."

- Religion and Society - a Jewish professor who wears a kipa, is very demanding, and has a somewhat rambling teaching style. He really expects his students to engage in the same scholarly level as him; this is the class I'm the most ambivalent about, considering that it stresses philosophy, which I have absolutely no grasp of. [[dropped the class, and switched into History of World Cinema, which is great because I'm one of two non-South Africans in a class of 150 or so]]

- African Dance - taught by a beautiful black dancer, who "makes himself light" when he dances; he's really great, but the motion is extremely foreign to me and I just am hoping my body is following along the slightest bit. There's apparently a recital at the end of the semester, which I am NOT looking forward to. Especially since I'm nervous I have a better chance of being put up front because I'm so small. I've already warned my friends that I'm lying about its date. But I'm staying in the class due to the fact that I'm confident I'm not THE worst one (because of this, it is also a great source of amusement).

super bowl

Stayed up all night for the Superbowl (started at around 1:30am). Originally decided to go mostly for the commercials, but to my disappointment, there were none on the channel here. If anyone has any favoirites, please tell me which ones to youtube. Internet is pretty expensive here, but I would dish out the dough for some solid 30 second entertainment.

road trip - day 3

Walked around Monkey Land, which is a contained forest filled with monkeys. They feed the monkeys non-stop and no one's allowed to touch them and there are people constantly touring, so their reactions to humans are pretty indifferent and they run all over around you. Monkeys would literally be fighting/playing one inch away from my feet. So cool.

Then I jumped off of THE HIGHEST bungee jump IN THE WORLD. The third highest jump is after you bounce back from the first drop! I literally jumped off of a bridge and free-fell for seven seconds. Absolutely amazing. The craziest thing I've ever done in my life. There's a video of it I bought in which I am laughing and dancing the entire time. Of course.

We returned to the Starling Hostel where we hung out with other people from the program. Gustavo blessed us with another dance.

road trip - day 2

After stopping at a farm museum in Worchester, South Africa (upon the request of Howie, who is from Worchester, Mass, and Max, who goes to Clark University), we continued on our trip and landed in Oudstoorn, a town that's entire economy is based on ostriches. After a great dinner that included ostrich pate, ostrich steak, and ostrich carpaccio, we woke up in a hostel and made our own ostrich scrambled eggs (much fluffier than chicken eggs). Then we went to an ostrich farm where we had a tour of all of the farm, watched a man make an ostrich feather duster, stood on an ostrich egg, watched and bet on two jockeys riding ostriches, and then rode them ourselves. Don't know if I'll ever be ostriched-out.
 After the ostriches we went to these cool caves, though we immediately regretted not doing the "adventure-tour." Followed by a waterfall with a nice walk in the forest. The day ended at a great hostel, with the most hospitable, warm owners. In the common area was a fire-pit, a pool table, a bar, free wifi, movies, and lots of seating space. Gustavo, a Brazilian on his first day who barely spoke any English, was a source of constant entertainment (including a clothed dance on a stripper's pole).

first road trip - day 1

Drove through mountains in a tiny 5 person car. As the only girl on the trip and by far the smallest, of course I sat in the middle the whole time. So much beautiful scenery. Driving in Africa is nuts. People pull over all of the time into the shoulder so that you can pass them (exciting), and there are a stream of trucks you see with 10 pairs of feet sticking out the back and little kids mimicking gang signs seen on tv. We absolutely needed to stop more than once to check out all of the views.