New sunburns

Today I went on what was supposed to be a shark cage diving trip. The idea is, as this is one of the best places to view the Great White shark, you can see it up close via the cage that's attached to the boat. It's a good idea -- as our guide put it, more of a "reverse aquarium," since we're the ones in cages and they look on, befuddled -- but this of course rests upon the assumption that you're going to see a few sharks. The cage is fairly small and can fit about six people inside, so everyone has to take turns, though of course they're chomping at the bit trying to see the countless sharks swimming up to the cage.

There were no sharks today.

Well, I take that back -- there was a dorsal fin, a "shark ass" and another part of possibly the same shark. But it was a good four hours on that boat -- and most of the time I unwisely spent at the bow, in direct sunlight -- and nothing happened. R1800 poorer and feeling immensely defeated, I went to the fast food-y restaurant a few meters from my dorm and ordered a combo with a fried egg sandwich and a hamburger. The hamburger meat tasted suspect but the fried egg sandwich was pretty much delicious. Anyway, the moral of the story is, I failed to put on enough sunscreen so as a result I'm not burned more on my thighs, my feet, forehead and chin are bright red and I have a Connecticut-shaped mark on my neck (perhaps the result of abnormal sunscreen application? Perhaps God hates me? Both?). This is what I get for trying to be outdoorsy. Ugh.

This week was Jool Week, the orientation week for the first year students. Since the school year officially starts in January, this is kind of a big deal. Most of them will start school this Monday (the 2nd) but I am an English major and so I still have another week to burn. I don't start classes until the 9th, at least, if even then. Honestly, it's a little (ok, a lot) weird having literally nothing to do all day. Normally, even if there was no school to speak of, there was always Thresher stuff or meeting people for lunch or reading up for classes. Here, there's absolutely nothing (with the exception of my three-page-long Recommended Reading list for my history class) and my days lack any real structure. I'm lucky if, in a day, I make it to the pharmacy. In short, Africa has made me more lazy.

But yes: Jool Week (pronounced "Yool") is like O-Week, but about 100 times more humiliating. First years compete in Trollie Races, where they push shopping carts of fellow students around an obstacle course in front of an audience of several thousand alums, upperclassmen and townspeople. They blocked off the main street in town so the races could use that space, that's how much a college town this is. On Thursday night they had Vensters, which is a series of plays put on by different groups (they had about two weeks to learn the dialogue and choreography for the show) about different topics. All are sort of like really annoying musicals; they're poorly acted, all the actors are incredibly good looking (as I said earlier, this must be a school for models) and there are at least two to four popular songs the cast will dance to during that time, all while loosely following some sort of plot-imitation. Great fun. Although I heard they made fun of Mbeki at one point, so that's cute.

Jool is also sort of like rush: people are pressured into doing stupid things in a group. One group sang "Disturbia" every night and some group of first year boys (I saw them through my bedroom window) was doing some sort of dance together while being yelled at by some upperclassmen.

On the subject of race (come on, as if you're surprised), most of the students at the university are white. White, tan, blond and skinny. There are a few black kids, but as far as I've seen, they're greatly outnumbered by the white kids. Additionally, the service jobs in town (clerks for retail stores, cashiers for restaurants/grocery stores) overwhelmingly go to black people. For example, I have yet to see a single white person working at the Shop Rite grocery store in Eikestad Mall. Or, in fact, a white person working at Eikestad Mall in any capacity. I suppose it's natural to be in a new place and ready to criticize their social strata and all that, but it seems a little foreign to me. As someone mentioned to me, though, having socio-economic inequality more out in the open than in the U.S., where it might be more hidden, isn't necessarily worse. What is worse?

Stellenbosch is a very nice town and a lot of wealthy people live here; however, if you go to the hub of town, right where everyone goes (Eikestad Mall, where the groceries are, etc.) you'll inevitably run into a beggar. There's one guy who shows up with three young children each day; another, a blind woman asking for a few rands. So far, I haven't given them any money, though a few of my friends have. I feel conflicted -- if the guy/girl is legitimately in need of money, I'd feel terrible not giving it to him/her; at the same time, though, you could be duped. At our international student orientation, several people warned us never to give anyone money, for security reasons. The other day, a group of people went to the beach and one of the girls gave a little boy a R5 coin. The other children begging at the beach saw this kid and proceeded to beat him up for the money. Perhaps that's why they don't want us to give away money?

Mid-summer

So summer is in full swing, and if my scuba diving instructor is correct (let's assume he is), this will be a particularly long summer, stretching into March. I've never particularly enjoyed the phrase "sweating balls" (I was on swim team for a number of years and it never fails to remind me of speedos), but I think it (metaphorically) captures exactly the kind of weather we have here. I live in Academia (ironic, because the South African students I've seen seem to like partying a bit more than hitting the books), about ten minutes from the nearest academic building, and without fail, once you reach it, you're, erm, sweatin' balls. Also, air conditioning is few and far between, so that's why I walked the 30 minutes to the pool today. I think I'm going to lose weight here, whether I like it or not:

1. They love braais, the primary food at which is boerwoers (sausage) and other red meats. I'm not a huge fan of red meat.
   
2. I have to walk EVERYWHERE. I was thinking of shelling out R1300-ish for a bike, but walking every day means serious leg muscles. I've always wanted leg muscles!
3. All the girls and guys are really tan and skinny. It's like secretly a school for models. I know, I know, it's great for my self-esteem. Anyway, maybe by osmosis or something, I'll lose weight.
4. It's really hot.

Today me and my roomie, Alyssa (also an American; one of the 60 Americans [!] in my program) went to the Sasol Art Gallery on Reinveld Street and then the Stellenbosch Village Museum, where we saw some Dutch houses from the 1600s. I'm so glad we have toilets that flush. That's pretty much the historical significance I gleaned from that. Then it was off to the grocery store, where -- for whatever reason -- it was extremely crowded and we had to wait in line for 25 minutes. The grocery store, set in Eikestad Mall (if you've ever been to an American mall, this is the puniest mall ever; the main attraction is the grocery store on the ground floor), attracts a large variety of people: college kids, older Afrikaans-only speakers, beggars who ask you to please buy a loaf of bread for their dinner, white people, black people, tourists, susceptible Texans, blah blah. It's like your worst nightmare: picture a grocery store on Thanksgiving, only ten times worse. And that's how it was today. Awesome.

Pictures are forthcoming.

They have internet here?

Hey everyone! Greetings from intensely sunny Stellenbosch, South Africa, which has one of the highest incidences of skin cancer in the world. Ja! As per my myriad promises before I left, I've been wanting to keep a blog to document my travels. I wanted to say "adventures," but that makes me sound like a jerk. Anyway, on to the important stuff. I'm not sure how best to organize this, since it took me like a week to get internet in my flat, but I guess I'll just make subheads. Let's see how that goes.

The place

I'm in Stellenbosch, which is about 30 km outside Cape Town. Which means I'm about 30 minutes from a beach and about 15 minutes from a mountain. Also, wineries are kind of a big deal here, so (though I despise most wines) I'm determined to take a wine tour of the nearby wine estates (read: R30 for several wine tastings) before I leave in 4.5 months. We'll see. As far as Africa goes, it's probably the whitest Africa you've ever imagined. So, picture this guy--

--in about 500 different incarnations, and you've pretty much got the typical South African college kid. Tan, skinny, Abercrombie model-esque. Oddly-shaped six pack, nifty digital camera, whiny face for the mirror. Check.

Some shots of the town:




The sky also seems bluer here:


A view of Cape Town from Signal Hill:


A view of Stellenbosch from Stellenbosch Mountain:




At a grocery store:


The language barrier

So when I signed up for this program, I was under the impression that I'd be fine speaking English to everyone. While that's pretty much true, you apparently miss a lot. The Universiteit van Stellenbosch is a primarily Afrikaans-speaking institution (few classes are actually taught in English). Oh, and good luck finding your way around campus, since none of the signs are in English. It's been a learning experience. Though I now know "thank you" (dankie), "parking" (parkering) and "smoking forbidden" (voot verbode), so really, I'm ready to handle just about anything.

Yes, I'm taking an Afrikaans course at the university.


School

I should start in mid-February. Until then, time to work on my tan.

Sunburns

Okay, quick note: I got sunburned on my hands for the first time when I hiked last weekend. I have a theory about the sun being more intense here, especially since I've never had my earlobe (!) burned before. How does that even happen?