reflections on orientation

it's been tough finding the time to simply sit down and write... i keep on wanting to pen out a long, detailed recount of what i've been up to, but i think that will best be kept for views of the pictures i've posted on facebook.

south africa has been, by far, the most unique experience of mine, ever. uct international students' orientation came and went, which proved to be rather frustrating on account of the university's lack of dependence on computers. that's right, i went through the same registration process your grandparents did, long lines and all. i guess that, if nothing else, being here been a serious lesson in patience. between the aforementioned registration, waiting forever to catch the shuttle to/from campus (uct is way too mountainous to tackle on foot on an everyday basis!), and having to take cabs everywhere when going out at night (since it's too dangerous to walk or take public transportation at night), cape town has required every iota of my patience... which, to be fair, there wasn't a lot of in the first place. being here by myself (no friends or family to be found) makes it all the more difficult.

that all being said, i'm nonetheless having a wonderful time here. one week ago today, my fellow international students and i went down the peninsula, during which we visited a colony of jackass penguins (so cute!!!!) as well as table mountain national park, including cape point and the cape of good hope. in essence, they're 2 severely steep cliffs at extreme southwestern africa, but they're amazing! i dangled my feet off the cliff at cape point, and it was the most nervewracking experience i could've imagined. i'm glad i did, though... it was invigorating as well!

my day-to-day life has gone by increasingly well, save for the couple of days at the tail end of this past week in which i was sick (it was either the zebra i ate, or my combined stress and exhaustion). i'm finally starting to get a feel for the lay of the land, and i actually felt comfortable enough today walking around the neighborhood for a bit after church. it's a relatively safe area, but as in all of cape town, you've got to remain on your guard. indeed, i'm not in thousand oaks anymore. my residence hall (liesbeek gardens) is actually a little off from the main campus, in a neighborhood ("suburb") named mowbray. i can get to the main campus (in rondebosch) via uct shuttle ("jammie") or a 20-30 minute walk (in the daytime, of course). my dorm is different than the ones found in america: we've basically got no common space, just a hallway, leading into a kitchen, 2 separate bathrooms, and 4 separate bedrooms (which are considerably large... including mine! not only is it bigger than my room at home, but i've got access to our suite's balcony as well!). it's a tad shabby in parts, but otherwise posh for student housing.

more so than anything else, my experience in south africa thus far merely feels like a redo of freshman year, in which there is the shuffle to find friends out of fear of being alone, so you latch on to anybody you can. i guess that, just like at gwu, it will take me a little longer to discover who my true friends are. luckily, i have the knowledge of having already done freshman year as the ace up my sleeve, so my plan is that, until i can figure that out, i'm just going to soak in south african culture and society as much as i can. if nothing else, this place is beautiful!!

that's it for now. i start classes tomorrow, so this will be an early night for me. just a couple more things before i go off:
1. i got an internship! it's with this pro-free market ngo named the enterprise forum. after corresponding via e-mail with one of their individuals (garreth), i finally met with him on wednesday, and later on he e-mailed me to ask if i'd be his intern. i am so excited to be part of this worthy cause down here in south africa!
2. i bought a diesel knockoff watch yesterday at a street fair for 80 rand (about $11). sadly, it's already broken. :(
3. also yesterday, i went to check out the district six museum, which is a museum about apartheid history. while the museum as an institution in itself wasn't entirely impressive, i'm glad i went, because i certainly learned a lot about apartheid and the historical implications of the zone entitled "district six".