I’m writing this first post from my third floor apartment in downtown Cape Town. It has one bedroom, one bathroom, a small kitchen, and (ladies, take note) is located above a shopping mall. I literally have to walk through a jungle of commercial real estate to get to my room. Within a three-minute walk are two grocery stores, three cafes, and about five quality restaurants; I don’t think I’m going to starve. That being said, I have to imagine the whole “mall scene” will get old, fast. Because of these living situations it doesn’t really seem like I’m South Africa yet, although I’m sure that will change when I start working. On that topic, I begin my internship tomorrow. I’m still not entirely sure what I’m doing but will find out soon enough.
Moving on, Cape Town is an eclectic city – one with a deeply troubled past. Although I have only been here a few days the fallout from a history of forced racial segregation is still apparent. While apartheid has fallen and everyone is equal under the law, the economic inequalities are staggering. I don’t want to get too into it on this first post but I’m sure this will be a theme I continue to fall back on.
On a lighter note (or darker, depending on your level of confidence in me) I’m taking my American-trained driving skills to the streets of South Africa. The seven other interns and I have to rely on two shared cars for our transportation needs. Usually this wouldn’t be a big deal; however, in South Africa they drive on the left side of the road (damn British imperialists). What makes this situation messier is the overall lack of automatic cars in the rental-car market. This meant that for the first day I was the only person who knew how to drive a manual Toyota back from the airport. That initial drive to our apartments was easily the scariest drive of my life. I don’t think I’ve ever paid more attention to the road then on that day. Not only did I have to mentally reverse everything going on outside the car, but everything inside the car as well. The clutch was in the same position, but the blinkers and stick shift were both switched. I’m not going to describe the journey in too much detail; just know we made it home safely. However, on the way I managed to stall out once, almost merge into another car on the freeway, follow the lead car (my professor) onto the wrong side of a divided road, and get briefly tailed by a police officer. Needless to say we swapped the Toyota out for an automatic.
Today I had my first encounter with the renowned South African wildlife. We took a nice coastal drive to Simon’s Town and saw about a hundred penguins just hanging out on the rocks. I also learned something particularly interesting about the tuxedo-bird that I think is rather important. I don’t care how many times you’ve seen March of the Penguins or Happy Feet, these animals are NOT all cute and innocent. Don’t pet them; they will bite.
Moving on, Cape Town is an eclectic city – one with a deeply troubled past. Although I have only been here a few days the fallout from a history of forced racial segregation is still apparent. While apartheid has fallen and everyone is equal under the law, the economic inequalities are staggering. I don’t want to get too into it on this first post but I’m sure this will be a theme I continue to fall back on.
On a lighter note (or darker, depending on your level of confidence in me) I’m taking my American-trained driving skills to the streets of South Africa. The seven other interns and I have to rely on two shared cars for our transportation needs. Usually this wouldn’t be a big deal; however, in South Africa they drive on the left side of the road (damn British imperialists). What makes this situation messier is the overall lack of automatic cars in the rental-car market. This meant that for the first day I was the only person who knew how to drive a manual Toyota back from the airport. That initial drive to our apartments was easily the scariest drive of my life. I don’t think I’ve ever paid more attention to the road then on that day. Not only did I have to mentally reverse everything going on outside the car, but everything inside the car as well. The clutch was in the same position, but the blinkers and stick shift were both switched. I’m not going to describe the journey in too much detail; just know we made it home safely. However, on the way I managed to stall out once, almost merge into another car on the freeway, follow the lead car (my professor) onto the wrong side of a divided road, and get briefly tailed by a police officer. Needless to say we swapped the Toyota out for an automatic.
Today I had my first encounter with the renowned South African wildlife. We took a nice coastal drive to Simon’s Town and saw about a hundred penguins just hanging out on the rocks. I also learned something particularly interesting about the tuxedo-bird that I think is rather important. I don’t care how many times you’ve seen March of the Penguins or Happy Feet, these animals are NOT all cute and innocent. Don’t pet them; they will bite.
great to hear about your trip, keep on bloggin. Have a great time and be careful.
ReplyDeleteCraig