Well I am no longer a tourist! Classes have now started and reality is setting in, its not all fun and games! I am excited and a little nervous about my classes. My economics course is interesting but I found out today it is the hardest econ class at UCT so it will be quite challenging! My Xhosa class is so much fun, the teacher is great. We learned the different clicks today, the c, q, and x are different clicking sounds so I feel really cool learning a language where you click! It is going to take some practice to get it right! Getting to class in the morning is an interesting and frustrating process. There used to be a jammie (that’s what they call the UCT buses) stop right by my house that was so convenient and took me right to upper campus, which is where my classes are held. This morning, however, that changed and the jammie doesn’t pick up there until 9 and my class starts at 8! It is about an 8-minute walk to the lower campus jammie stop and you have to stand in line for about 20 minutes or more to get on the jammie! I will be leaving very early in the morning because my teacher for the 8:00 class said she will lock the doors at 8 and not let you in late (hopefully that isn’t true!). There is only three months of class but the classes meet every day and also have tutorials and labs you have to attend. This will be different than my classes back home but hopefully it will be good and help me learn the material. The UCT campus is absolutely beautiful and the buildings are so pretty with ivy growing on the outside. Cecil Rhodes donated the land to the university and required that every building have ivy growing on the side! He wanted it to look like an Oxford in Africa.
Today was the first home rugby match of the season and we won! I have decided I really like rugby! It’s a combination of football and wrestling which makes it really exciting and people are getting hurt all the time! The Super 14, which is the professional league’s big tournament, starts in a week and I’m hoping to go to quite a few of those games.
As an international student, IES encourages us to join clubs and societies on campus and in our tuition we have already paid to join three societies. I have chosen to join the gym, the investment society and the yacht club! I’m really excited about the yacht club because they teach us how to sail and kite surf! I have my first sailing lesson Saturday morning!
Last week the IES students went on the Garden Route tour which was a lot of fun. It was three days of traveling along the coast towards Port Elizabeth through the mountains and countryside. We did a lot of fun things like visit an ostrich farm, eat traditional Xhosa food (I have decided I like traditional Ugandan and Ethiopian foods better!), kayak, and hike. It was a fun time to get to know people on the program and do some touristy things before school started.
The pictures are of me feeding the ostriches which was actually scary and the beautiful sunset over the water!
yacht club! good that means you can just sail back to america, pick me up, and we can go adventuring together!
ReplyDeleteps kite surfing is SO hard but SO fun. did it in the keys and my body was in so much pain i thought i was gonna die. course my friend kinda just sent me out with no idea what i was doing and told me see you at the other side of the HUGE bay. i couldnt stop for fear of the 5000893489 sharks that i could SEE below me. and default i did NOT stop to rest...so word of advice dont go at it how i did, your body will thank you for listening.
I want to kite surf!!!!! i watched so many videos on it ahhhhhh so cool! you soiund like you are just having the best time! love you
ReplyDeletegoodness, you're just having the time of your life, huh. you're getting to do so many awesome things! probably gonna have to come join you hehe love and miss you audge!
ReplyDeleteHi Audrey! Remember when I ate that ostrich burger at Fuddruckers? It was good.
ReplyDeleteWe miss you!
Love, Dad