Tuesday evening, we attended a show that taught us a little about South African culture. Just as a reminder that the dancers are paid for a reason, they had volunteers attempt some of their dance moves. Oh boy.
Wednesday continued orientation. I will tell you about some of the things I have learned later on. We spent 4 hours at the bank setting up South African accounts. I am starting to see a pattern of slow moving, slightly disorganized service here. It is not terrible by any means, but online documentation and efficient customer support are not a top priority at the moment. Thus, registering as an American student, pursae, involves volumes of paperwork and bulletin board postings as opposed to a quick and easy blackboard account. Not to worry, though. The lack of a sense of urgency is actually quite refreshing. I find myself enjoying the slow transition time simply because that is how it is and impatience will do nothing but heighten my risk of heart disease (if you’re at all interested in this and you go to Tufts, take Stress, Emotions and Health by Heather Urry….fascinating). We have a group of South African students, mostly 3rd or 4th years—“freshman, sophomore…etc mean nothing to t
hem here”—acting as our student mentors. They are each outgoing, engaging, and such a perfect connection to the culture. “G”, as we call him, and Charles live with us in the apartments. Machello
, or “Mac”, is my mentor. He calls us his “children” and he our mother. He claims that I am abusive to him because, in an attempt to enthusiastically describe my studies to him, I accidentally hit his arm with my oversized plastic water bottle. Since then, he calls me Bryan when I’m a bad child. We have some great laughs together. G and Charles hang out with us as though they are friends on the program. The difference is, they don’t look the wrong direction when waiting for traffic to cross the street (and other small details like that). J
Wednesday, after G and Praise, another mentor, took us shopping at the mall. Everything here is so cheap compared to America (they don’t call it “the states” like Europeans do). The program encourages us to try to think in terms of the rand rather than the dollar because we need to know how much things are here, not simply that they are less expensive than they would be at home. But, I can’t help but smile when I get a chicken wrap for dinner for the equivalent of $4.5
0.
Wednesday I went for a run with some friends. The weather is beautiful in the evening. There is a big marathon in Cape Town in April, so I know there are many places to run, but I have not a clue where they are at this point. So, I’ve set out to find other runners and ask them. I ran on, solo on Wednesday, trying to explore and followed a runner’s directions to what is called Rondebosch Commons, a 3k loop around a plain with a perfect view of UCT and Table Mountain. Even better, I found out that a running club has a 5k time trial there every Wednesday at 6 pm, and everyone is welcome. So that is where I will start. Perhaps I will join a running club and sign up for the marathon! Why not, right?
Wednesday night we went to a pool bar where we met many other American students and
other Cape Town locals. The bouncer there, Patrick, is friends with Charles and apparently
likes to “jog”. When I asked him about running routes he offered that we should run together! So my n
ew running buddy could very well be a 250 lb black man with dreads. I will keep you in touch with that one.
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