Getting Settled

Today was my first day in Cape Town! My flight here was not as great as the one to London... it was longer AND my seat wouldn't recline AND I sat beside a Swedish guy and girl who were preparing for a big debate about democratization. Meaning they were DEBATING the entire time, to the extent where the flight attendant had to ask them to be quiet. However after many many movies on FULL volume and multiple attempts at falling asleep I arrived in Cape Town. When the plane was descending I could see mountains covered by a mistical fog and I instantly had a smile because I knew it was a matter of minutes before my feet would touch the ground. I was greeted at the airport by a guy named Andrew (he works for VAC- the agency that set up my internship) who held my name up on a sign. He told me "siya namkela nonke" which means welcome in Xhosa (one of the 11 official languages in South Africa). Andrew drove to me my house, but on the way I couldn't help but notice the slums and shanty houses along the highway. I knew to expect this, but the surprising thing was that a good majority of them had mini sattelite dishes attached to their roofs. weird.

(South Africa doesn't look much different from Toronto in this pic!)

Anyways, I arrived at my home which is in a nice neighborhood in a suburb of capetown called "obs" (the student living area). My house is nice, and my housemates are even nicer. Trish (from Pensylvania), Chelsea (from Conneticut), Robin (from Seattle), Renata (from Brazil), and Joshua (from Nigeria) all seem like great people and I know our house is going to be a great place to hangout. We're all interning at different places but it's perfect because we all learn new things from one another. I certainly lucked out!

Today I also went walking around "obs" with other interns to see all the little restaurants, cafes and bars they have. It's a very cute town with vibrant colours and vibrant people. Today was a scorching 39 degrees celsius out- good thing I had sunscreen (thanks mom!) but I can't complain coming from Toronto/Ottawa weather! I also got a simcard for my phone and went grocery shopping after I had unpacked. I'd say it was quite a productive day. And to top it off, I have overcome my first "African" challenge.... I killed a HUGE cockroach that decided to run under my bed about 10 minutes ago. I am definitely going to have to get used to that. ew.

 (Part of the main strip in Obs)

That's all for now! xoxo, Keira