Today I found out that I don’t have class (yet) on Mondays! Unfortunately I found this out after I had already showered and gone to school at 9 am. At UCT we don’t know when/where our classes are until the first week, so I had to go to all of the different faculties to find out this information. UCT was crazy busy today with everyone standing around talking with and greeting their friends. The campus is like a “college campus” in movies. Everyone dresses nice, hangs out on the front steps with their friends, and the buildings are overgrown with ivy. It was beautiful (as expected) but a little bit daunting. It reminded me of a glorified high school in that everyone seemed to know each other and the day is divided into periods. I have four classes tomorrow, so I’ll get the full UCT experience then, and let you know what lectures are like.
After my eventful day on campus with no classes I went for a run. I ran up some hills and found myself taking a complete circle and eventually ended up running on a track for a few miles. But nonetheless the exercise felt good. I’m excited because tomorrow I’m going to go play some volleyball with the UCT women’s club :)
After running, my roomies and I decided to check out the local mall and try to find some boots. We took a minivan taxi to get to the mall. Minivan taxis are quite an experience. They drive around with the taxi assistant hanging out the window and the taxi honking, trying to get people to ride it. They are privately owned, sketchy vans that only cost 50 cents to take basically anywhere in Cape Town. We are warned to only take them in the daytime and with a group. My roomie, Liz, calls them “rape taxis.” (Don’t worry mom, they are safe as long as you take them with a group) They were notoriously only taken by the black South Africans during apartheid, but now are also utilized a bit by college students. The conversation in the van was very interesting. A crazy local guy was having a racially charged conversation with himself. The ride to the mall was quite an experience, needless to say. I will definitely take the minibuses again, as long as I’m with a group. (My roommate Kate said that it took her 7 months to get up the guts to take one, it only took me 7 days, I must be adventurous, lol.)
And that was about everything that I did today. I’m excited for classes tomorrow, especially for African Dance…is that nerdy?
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