CT

Today was very fun and exhausting! We left this morning at about 8 to go walk around downtown CT (that’s how they write Cape Town here) and just got back at 6. It was really fun to see a bunch of different places around the city. I am truly amazed at how nice the city is. I would never know I was in Africa, it looks like somewhere in Europe. We went to a market this morning called the old biscuit mill that was awesome! It was like a farmers market where chefs come and cook on Saturday morning and sell their food really cheap! It had every kind of food you can imagine from every country around the world! I had a smoothie and croissant that were wonderful and also tried warthog which was actually really good! They also had trendy designer type shops. I’m going back next Saturday for sure! We also saw the library where Nelson Mandela made his first speech after being freed. Everywhere you look in the city it is beautiful because you either see the ocean or massive mountains! I had no idea there were so many gigantic mountains in and around CT. I was surprised that no one came up to me today asking for money and I saw very few homeless people where we were walking. It is really shocking to see a township and then 5 min away is a very modern and nice downtown area. I saw lots of families and kids walking around in the markets which was cute. We also went to the waterfront and there is a nice mall where we got Haagen-Dazs ice cream! We felt very touristy walking around in a group of 50 people, but now we know some places we can go on our own. Tomorrow we are going to a township and staying for a few hours and having a braai (barbeque) which should be really fun! We have had almost zero time to settle in and get things for our rooms, and the UCT orientation starts Monday and goes the entire week! It’s still hard to believe I will be living here for 5 months! I’m excited to figure things out in the city and not have to feel like a tourist! I am adding pictures that we took while walking around today and also pictures of the outside of our house, living room and kitchen, and my room!