Settling In and Exploring Cape Town

Studying abroad in South Africa is such a unique experience. On one hand, we are living in dorms, fed three meals a day, enjoying the social scene, shopping, and touring. On the other hand, however, we are exposed to such a different culture and quality of life.  We have been working with the people of  Khayelitsha for three days now, and the opportunity to teach them is invaluable.  While instructing the grown men and women on basic computer skills, we are able to talk, laugh, and learn about them and their background.  Today, for instance, I taught Sonele Berkumi how to create a resume. He was extremely intelligent and a very fast learner, and by the time we finished our session I knew all about his past, his favorite rugby teams, and what he wants to do with his life. He also taught me how to say “I love you” and “I’m hungry” in Xhosa!  

Every day the eight of us from William and Mary leave the township excited about what our friends have learned and what we can teach them in the days to come.  As we take the SHAWCO bus from the computer lab in Khayelitsha to the University of Cape Town, we so many shacks, homeless people, and litter.  I am quickly reminded of the difficult lives that Sonele and all our other friends lead outside of our class, and as I return to my dorm room, they must leave the computer lab to face hunger, disease, and grime.  It is truly devastating, but we are doing what we can.  Every little bit helps.  With this resume, it is possible for Sonele to get a job and perhaps move out of the township.  

Aside from the SHAWCO service-learning segment of our program, we have also been attending daily lectures from our W&M professor and other guest lecturers.  Topics range from capitalism to socialism to the development of the South African Economy and they are all very interesting and relevant to our experience in the townships and the city of Cape Town.  Having never taken a college-level Economics course, I have been focusing and trying my best to understand all the material.

On a more exciting note, we have been living it up in Cape Town every night—going out to different bars, pool halls, karaoke venues, restaurants, and clubs.  We have made friends with some of the locals here, and they have shown us their favorite venues in addition to what we have discovered on our own.  Last night we sat at a Tapas Bar for two hours, ordering appetizers, trying new cocktails, and laughing hysterically.  Sad to admit, I think we are living up to our reputation of the “crazy American college students in a foreign country” stereotype, but we are having a ridiculously great time while we are at it. The eight of us are so close already, I can imagine we are going to feel like family after a full month of experiences like the ones we have had already. 

My favorite activity we have done in Cape Town so far was our hike up to Lion’s Head—a peak near Table Mountain.  On Sunday morning, the eight of us packed into a taxi-van and took it to the base of Lion’s Head.  It took about 1 ½ hours to get to the top, and the hike involved walking uphill, climbing ladders, traversing the side of a mountain, climbing rocks, using chains to pull ourselves up, and quite a few breaks to catch our breath.  When we made it to the top, I felt so accomplished.  The view was absolutely breathtaking, with a 360-degree view of Cape Town, including UCT, the World Cup stadium, Table Mountain, and the beautiful sun setting over the ocean.  

Unfortunately, we are not allowed to upload pictures to social networking sites while on campus because of Africa’s limited bandwidth.  I will continue to post to this blog in paragraph form (words only), and I will upload pictures when I return to the States on July 23^rd.  Thank you to everyone who keeps reading!  According to Google Blogger Statistics, “Escape to the Cape” has over 1,000 views so far :)