(I Would Walk) 500 Miles- and better be prepared to

So, today is Monday, January 31. I cannot believe that the first month of 2011 has already come and gone. I’ve taken to writing these blogs in a word document. Internet availability in my residence is hit or miss and I don’t want to cart my computer around with me all day- it’s hot and carrying a backpack makes it worse and, also, if I have it with me all the time there is more of a chance that it will get stolen.

Today we started our UCT orientation. I won’t lie to you- I only attended a small part of it. Today was particularly uninteresting. I stuck around for the talks on safety, but left when the leaders had us start massaging each other… My friend Ilana (who goes to Barnard College and is from the Maryland-DC area) and I went to Main Road- which consists of restaurants and grocery stores- to get some needed supplies. Main Road is down the hill from school (this school is literally built on a mountain) and up the hill from where we live. It was this spontaneous shopping trip that started my adventure for the day.

Rewind a few hours and you would find me on campus with some other students attempting to figure out how to get halfway up the mountain onto Middle Campus (there is a Lower, a Middle, and an Upper). Yesterday, one of the RA’s, Ferai, had told me to take the Jammie (shuttle) and hop off on middle campus. When we got to the Jammie, a shuttle operator told us that we couldn’t take the Jammie and would have to walk. Looking at the map, it looked as if it would take me all afternoon to get to Kramer Law Building. It wouldn’t have been a problem except we have been walking several miles a day since being here and since most of those miles have been uphill my shin splints are killing me. Usually I can put up with them, but I’ve had no reprieve since my arrival here. I ended up walking a different route to the building by myself- I didn’t want anyone to feel they had to wait for me if I was a little bit slower. I was ready to cry just thinking about it. Eventually I got there and it wasn’t so bad. That map is deceiving and I took a route that wasn’t up a very steep incline.

Despite what you might be thinking, that was not my adventure for the day. The actual adventure started when Ilana and I left the Pick n Pay- this country’s version of a skankier Target. We were going to wait for the Jammie to pick us up and take us back to Lisbeek Gardens (LBG- the dorm where I live), but after awhile it seemed liked it wasn’t going to come. So we started walking. The mistake we made was that we went out the back of the Pick instead of the front onto a road we were more familiar with. Ilana was able to get us back to her house, but I still had no idea where I lived. We walked from her house back up to Main Road where I then parted with Ilana. This morning I was able to get from LBG to campus, which includes going past Main Road, so I thought I knew where I was going. I got a little turned around on a side road and ended up in the courtyard of another residence. Everything is this country is blocked off by either a wall or a fence- both of which have barbed wire on their tops. Apart from looking like an ignorant American walking somewhere and then turning around, I was scared. There were plenty of hours of daylight left and I know the area where I live is fairly safe, but being in a foreign country and lost is quite terrifying. I did get home- so, now worries. And I’m positive now where I live- I know what the building looks like and what streets surround it. I am also recognizing the importance of only going home a way you know and not looking for a shortcut.

I have walked more in the 5 days I’ve been here than I did in the past 3 months at home. And I knew that that would be the reality of where I am living. I had just hoped that my injury wouldn’t bother me this early on. I did get some aspirin today at the pharmacy so hopefully that will help. Once I get a routine figured out that includes classes and daily life searching for internet access I hope that I will be able to find a way around that doesn’t make me feel miserable.

Yesterday, we went a tour of the Cape Peninsula. We saw the penguins (!), went to the southern-most point of Africa at Cape Point, saw the area where the Indian Ocean meets the Atlantic Ocean, went to the Oceanview community (people who were forced to reside in that area during the apartheid government) and saw baboons on top of people’s cars. There are some utterly charming pictures of me at these places included in this post.

All in all my experience in Cape Town has still been amazing. I continue to be absolutely struck by the beauty and diversity of this country. The history is absolutely incredible. I am very anxious for classes to get started. I want to get into a routine. Most of us feel like we have been here for several weeks at this point even though it has been less than one! Once things calm down and the orientation organizers get off our backs I think time will move at a more normal pace.

I am determined to get on the internet tomorrow afternoon. So if I don’t get on tonight- which is becoming more and more unlikely as it is now 8:30 and almost time for bed- I will post a couple of blogs and some pictures tomorrow.

I’m also hoping to talk to my mommy soon. J

As Ferai (my RA) keeps telling me- TIA.

This is Africa,

B.