Exploring Cape Town!

This will be a short post, but there are a few things I wanted to say before I forget them. Today we had some more orientation meetings to give us advice about cultural differences etc. Aunt Cindy, you will really appreciate this one (and others as well obviously). One man was giving us advice and he said to make sure we "flow like Obama and don't sting like Bush!".... It was hilarious. Another funny line was when he was telling us how you can always tell who is American, before they even speak; Americans always carry water bottles. And then we looked around the room and of course at least every third person had a water bottle.

Another interesting concept that I have picked up on is the paradoxical nature of UCT and South Africa in general (at least the part we are in).... It is a 1st world institution and country in areas such as downtown Cape Town but at the same time, it is a 3rd world country; some things at UCT are very backwards, and obviously there are major issues with poverty in several areas. I don't really know how to put this into words, so forgive me if it is not as eloquent as it is meant to be.

A bunch of my friends and I decided to spend much of the afternoon and evening going into downtown Cape Town. It was BEAUTIFUL! We first went to the Long Street area, which is known for its big bar and club scene. Near Long Street was a traditional market with all kinds of vendors. I got to practice BARGAINING! Since you all know me, you probably know that this is not something that I would be good at, but I was able to do it, much to my surprise! Then I decided not to buy anything anyway because I didn't feel like spending money so it was anticlimactic, but still satisfying.

Last night I went to my first bar with everyone in my program. I met a boy who lives in South Africa and actually goes to Trinity! How weird is that? And I also met a kid from Stanford, and we started talking and I name-dropped because a boy from my high school, Darren goes there, and it turns out that Darren is studying in Cape Town for the semester! So we are probably going to get together with Stanford kids tonight. Seriously, what a small world. It's so crazy!

I miss you all, so I have to include some pictures so you can all see some of what I am experiencing!

 Here is my apartment- the top picture is my common room/TV area. Isn't it cute? And notice the back patio/porch area. The bottom picture is my bedroom. (I'm really roughing it, huh?)

 This sign was by the waterfront. Boston is the closest thing to home on it... See how far away we are from each other? Even though I look happy in this picture and it may not show, I really miss you and hate being this far away!

 Here is a picture of part of the waterfront with Table Mountain in the background.

This is Lion's Head and Table Mountain at night.

Downtown was really great, but very touristy. We'll definitely be going back there because of the scenery, and there is also a soccer stadium there that I didn't get to see yet. I enjoyed it a lot, but I think I will like the beaches and other areas even more.

Well, this post ended up being longer than I expected! It's actually fun to reflect on things that happened during the day, even though there is so much more I could say. But I am in a rush because everyone in my program is going out again (tough life I live, I know). Love you all!