Moving In

For the first few days, before we moved into our house, we moved into a set of UCT dorms. The next few days were full of organized activities, speakers, and ice breakers. We were able to explore the area around school (called Rondebosch) and learn more about the campus, including the 25 minute hike required to reach it. In groups of about 10 people, we participated in the well-planned “ama-zing race,” a scavenger hunt around campus. Unfortunately, this happened to be the hottest day since we had been here, and we had to trudge around campus looking for buildings we didn’t know existed.

After four days in the dorm, we moved into our houses. We have an awesome location, a few minutes away from Main Road with restaurants and the grocery store, and walking distance to campus. We also have a great house, there are 30 of us divided between a 12 person house and a duplex with 8 downstairs and 10 people upstairs. I’m in the bottom floor with 4 other girls and 3 guys. Our duplex is brand new, and looks like a modern, Ikea loft but with dorm rooms. Everyone has their own room, mine has one bright red, brick wall, and came furnished with a bed, desk, nightstand, and dresser. It’s really fun to live in such a social environment, and it’s been great cooking house meals and just sitting and talking to people in the living room. Once we moved in, it really hit be that we would be spending the next five months here, and I’m happy to call this home.

(almost) Everyone in our House!l

During our first week, we had a few more organized activities. Most were becoming repetitive, as we just wanted to get out and explore by ourselves, but by far the most interesting was the tour of sites where we could volunteer throughout the semester. Until this point, we really only saw the developed side of Cape Town, but the townships acted as a reminder that much of South Africa still has a lot of progress to make. Just a few minutes outside of the city, miles and miles of houses spanned next to the freeway. These “houses” were more like shacks, they had weak wood frames and tin roofs held down by cinderblocks, ropes, and tires. Most of these townships don’t even have running water, and it was a sad reminder of the reality that so many people live like that.