Me just ramblin'

Hey folks, it has been a while. I'm getting used to this whole limited computer access sitch, but it's certainly affecting my blog frequency among other things. And as a result I'm going to just spit out anything that comes to my mind in this short 30 minute access period that I'm given.

 

Bare-footed. It's a very common means of walking around, here. It is socially acceptable to roam shoeless through the malls, streets, and campus. I've enjoyed it on occasion, myself. It instills a feeling of freedom. Consequentially, my feet's soles are always black, but it's no big deal because everyone else's are, too. Also, I have gotten used to sand constantly occupying my many crevices. Speaking of feet, my Birkie tan is becoming more defined.

We have a mini-gecko who constantly occupies our bedroom. I've named him 'Joe the frog' because i believe it's the reincarnation of the 444's late pet. 

Let's see...rugby. It's huge here. Super 14 tourney commenced a bit ago, which consists of the 14 best club teams in the world. We've been following the Cape Town Stormers religiously, who are 2-0 now. We're going to their 3rd game tomorrow evening, and it should be a blast. The more i'm understanding the game, the more I'm loving it more and more.

March should be a good month, despite the fact that I won't be able to catch any ncaa tourney action. We have our spring break, where i think some guys and i will be renting a car and roadtripping around southern Africa. We haven't discussed specific plans, yet. And then the week that follows, my parents are visiting and i'm really looking forward to that.

I've gotten into the whole school groove. My 3 classes shouldn't really pose any problems, nor should they really interfere with having fun. So far, quite easy. The classes are: history of so. Africa to 1900; African lit & lang; and crime and deviance in south African cities. Sadly there have been three students murdered in the past month. There was just a ceremony on campus held for the most recent victim, who was stabbed to death downtown.

I plan to begin working out, I think, in attempt to discredit Ben Oswald who claimed that it's impossible to study abroad and not come back 20 lbs fatter. We'll see. Mom, I'm wearing sunscreen and being safe. 

I think i've said enough, and i have no more time in which to say more anyways. Hi to everyone.

KE NAKO "It's Time"

116 days 04 hours 20 minutes 27 seconds until World Cup kicks off. There's a constant countdown in all the McDonald's and on the TV's bottomlines. There's already quite the buzz that's getting me excited for it to begin. I find World Cup commercials to be more inspiring than any other sports commercials. I get goosebumps half the time I see one.
So far i have tickets for two games--the first one being France vs. Uruguay on the first day of the Cup. It is the opening game in Cape Town's brand new 68,000-capacity stadium, which is surrounded by Table Mountain and the shore that looks out to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners were imprisoned during apartheid. The stadium is designed to be "unobtrusive from the land but quite striking from the sea."
Also, they're setting up a Fan Fest zone downtown where they'll show all the Cup games on a giant screen. It's free and will hold over 25,000 people. There's entertainment and beer, and is open from 10 am to midnight every day. I may be just as excited f0r this as i am for the games. It's probably where i'll spend the whole month of June (especially if i don't find a place to live).
Cam, could you download season 3 of Californication for me? i'll have my parents get it from you before they visit me. I'm hooked on the show, and credit Hank Moody for all my recent bad decisions. My new computer doesn't work, so that's an additional cause of my Internet inaction. Peace be with you.

Hats

This Sunday I took another trip to the Muisenberg beach with two of my housemates, Phillip and Johannas. Phil is a 27 year old graduate from Western Michigan and Johannas is a 22 year old German who shares a room with me. Our fourth housemate, Andy, is 20 and goes to NC State. I had a pretty nice experience at the beach this time. We swam for a bit, and then kicked a soccer ball around for quite some time. The highlight of the trip, however, was my encounter with a local homeless man named Errian Kol (sp?). Anyways, he was walking around and decided to take a seat next to me. I was a little uneasy at first, but I soon understood that all he wanted was to chat, and maybe something to eat. We talked. I had no food for him, but I gave him a Coke. I told him where I was from, and he explained a little of his background. I learned that his mother’s mother’s great grandmother was a German, thus explaining his colouration. He really liked hearing about the United States. His first question to me was, “Have you ever seen Mariah Carey?” Sadly, I hadn’t. He really liked my Milwaukee Brewers hat, so I asked him if he wanted to switch hats. He really liked that idea. And so did I. I gave him my Brewers hat, and he gave me his faded green hat. We took a picture together, and then went our separate ways. I think we both were positively affected by the interaction. I told him that when I come back to this beach, I’ll wear my new green hat, and that he should wear his Brewers hat. That way, we can hopefully run into each other again. It was just a nice experience at the beach. I’m sure I’ll be back to that beach, and it'd be neat to run into him again. My new green hat has been very lucky at the house poker table, too! I've won 2 of the last 3 nights.

The southern-most “house” in Africa

We bussed down to Cape Point/ the Cape of Good Hope, which was originally believed to be the southern-most point in Africa, but later found to be out-“southed” by Cape Agulhas, a cape that jets out a few hundred kilometers to the east. Windy with rocky cliffs and sandy beaches. Sunny and blue waters. All of us little international ants filed out of our tour bus and ascended up to the watchtower at Cape Point. A satisfying lookout place to where the Atlantic meets the Indian. The ants then descended the trail back to the bus. But the five of us were not completely satisfied. In the short, more southern, distance stood an old man’s house. We needed to visit him—possibly the southern-most man of Africa. We were short on time but we didn’t care. We ascended, descended, and then ascended once more. Treacherous paths. At times only a misstep away from fatally dropping. Crawling on all fours with the incoming image of the shack keeping us motivated. Finally, it’s within reach, almost there. We joyously arrive at the man’s shack, which is vacant at the moment. He left it open, though, so we could take a look around. We think we see him in his houseboat out at sea where he spends most his days. Oh well, we are just happy to have made it. We need proof. I quickly find a rock on which to place my camera, set the timer…and flash! Great photo for an even greater trek! We descend back to the busses completely satisfied, to where all the ants have already gathered. None of them understand the significance of our adventure.

Penguins at Simon's Town

Contact information though June 28, 2010:

Mobile: 27825601076

Residence: 3 Esher Rd, Claremont

Cape Town, Western Cape

South Africa 77708

All texts/calls are welcome, although they may cost you a small fortune. Same goes for shipments. Hottest day yet today, 26 Celsius. It's the first day without a strong breeze which really adds to the scorcher. I was called out by Josh for not being faithful to my skype promise. He has a point. We're trying to figure out the costs first before we do too much skyping.

Two weeks in and two of my friends have already been mugged. My turn may come at some point, but I'm trying to be smart about it. I usually leave my wallet at home and instead just throw some bills in my pocket. The less you have, the less they can take i guess. It's too bad though, because I love walking and exploring the city alone. I find it very relaxing. From now on, I'll try to just do that with empty pockets.

School begins tomorrow. Peace.

pub & mutton

We’ve been watching the African Cup of Nations and EPL games at a great sports pub—Rascal’s—just down the street a lot lately. Manchester United has a cult-like following among the locals here it seems. During the Arsenal/Man U game yesterday, Rascal’s was flooded with people, most of whom had some sporting attire for Manchester United. We all shared tables, and most people had to stand. And instead of ordering individual beers, they offer jugs, which hold 3.5 L of beer. Four jugs and two games later, I had some delicious mutton curry from the Pakistani place across the street. I even thanked the man in Urdu, I think. A few nights ago when we were watching the Egypt Algeria semifinal match, we sat with a local who taught us how to order Castle beers without sounding like foreigners. With my impressive grasp of accents, I of course nailed it. I’m slowly becoming African.