60 Degree Temps- The 'New' Sweatshirt Weather

Delicious Braii Dinner I had with my weekend host family while in Ocean View Township for the weekend.

A little behind schedule as I headed off with Diane and Gavin for a sunset pic-nic at Camps Bay. This pic was taken from the car.

Jammie Plaza, University of Cape Town. 

Hex River Mountains- sunrise.

We hiked along the edge of of the canyon walls, that plummeted as far as the eye could see. Epic. 

Natural, freshwater pools/falls. The water was so clean you could drink the water you swam in. Nothing beats some swimming/playing in the nude- especially in nature, in the mountain, in South Africa, in Africa.

My weekend home-stay family/extended family. A hilarious bunch, I have never laughed so hard in one weekend, ever. This was taken in Hout Bay, where fisherman can often be seen unloading snoek.

Zavior, my weekend home-stay brother in Ocean View Township, and a little neighbor boy on my shoulders. I never figured out his name, but seemed to 'hang out' with the family the entire weekend. We are cheering on the Cape Argus Bicycle Race---the 'Tour de France' of South Africa. Lance Armstrong came in second last year.

I'm writing this post while waiting at the train station, the sun beating down heavily on me, but feels mighty good as the weather these past few days has been mostly overcast and breezy. The weather lately has hinted that fall is on its way (although the seasons here don't change much except for some cooler weather and rain- which is still often mixed with sunny days.), while I've found myself a bit chilly in 60 degree weather. Sounds absurd for a Minnesotan to think. It's crazy how fast one can acclimate to a new climate- especially Cape Town.

The view  where I'm writing from, only one living in a a flat plain such as Fargo can dream of. Diamond's Peak stretches itself above the train depot and university dormitories in front of me, providing a pleasant backdrop silhouette when the sun sinks beneath the mountain. I've had the opportunity to witness this on more than one occasion.  

It has been the little things, the 'mundane' things, that have been perking my interests lately; surprising me, and making my time here that much more meaningful. In absorbing my surroundings of everyday life, I have nearly cruised on the train right past Varsity, missing my stop more than once. (Same as when I'm riding the Jammie Shuttle-the on campus bus system). My mind will often get lost in time, which is happening more and more here while taking in  this everyday life style. It is the kind of things one sees, hears, tastes, etc. everyday that you don't really think about, but when you do, you slow down and attempt to savor the experience. Just to name a few: The overcrowded, jam packed train carriages (Esp. during the 5 o'clock hour), little babies whaling on the train, [this may not seem enjoyable, but it really adds to the whole experience of someone who utilized public transit in Cape Town- one of the things that I will miss come June.). Beggers on the train. Noticing a patch of  giant cactus  that I walk by frequently, yet never realized its presence. Spicy Chutney on Rooties (A  S. African Favorite). Nearly stepping on doves while walking to class, never 'fully out of your way', and always watching for the wind to blow your sandwich out of your hand. (They're all over campus, cleaning up people's leftover lunch crumbs.--Reminds me of what Boone used to do.), taxi drivers yelling 'Wynberg' or 'Cape Town' out of the window, with a flick of a whistle. Crossing the street while cars speed by right next to you (this process has taken me about a month and a half to get good at.).

I finally started volunteering this week. I am not volunteering in an orphanage, or underprivileged school, or township, or hospital, like most people think of when volunteering in Africa. Instead, I am working with Young In Prison. Juveniles who are trying to turn their life around. I will be working with them through  creative writing/dance/art in ways that they can express themselves. It was a very real experience the other day- I am fortunate my living facilities are what they are. 

I went on a 4 day hike/traverse through the Hex River Mountain Range. It was something out of this world, something I couldn't believe I was seeing and experiencing, and something that is one of the highlights of my time here so far. 

Cape Town is a hot spot for celebrity spottings. Celebrities often vacation in Cape Town. Right now, Denzel Washingtion and Ryan Reynolds are filming a movie here. These people have been seen by several of us abroad kids here, not including myself.

As for my academics, whoa! Things have been wild lately, trying to scramble in reading, papers, tests, and studying prior to vac which starts tomorrow- a week off is sounding pretty tempting right now. However, I have papers, presentations, and projects due the first week back from break. Still figuring out how I'm going to manage to get all of that taken care of, as I am leaving at 3 in the morning for Zambia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe, where some serious adventure is about to be had. (and won't be back until the following Sunday evening).

April is quickly approaching, the time here is zipping by-and that scares me. Where did March go? 

Maybe some cooler weather would feel good right about now!

 Soccer City- Johannesburg. Last weekend flew to Johannesburg for my abroad seminar class. It was a great weekend! We stayed at a Bed & Breakfast in the Orlando West Township, part of Soweto. Nelson Mandela grew up in a house about 2 blocks from where I was staying. Saturday we went to Soccer City Stadium to watch the Kaiser Chiefs play the Orlando Pirates. It was the most intense and wild sporting event I have ever been to in my life. Over 92,000 people showed up. This was also one the stadiums where the World Cup was.

 Last Sunday I went to a summer concert at Kristenbosh Botanical Gardens. It is a world re-known nature area. It was a pic-nic type of deal. I can not describe the feeling of listening to jazz music on a natural stadium style seating slope of lush green grass, overlooking the mystical ingenious forest, with the mountain side providing an extra blanket of speechlessness. 

 Here's a side shot of the Waterfront. It is here where you will find most of the tourist crowd, along with  large flocks of white people. It has a very European look here because of British/Dutch influence. One thing that I noticed when I was here for a Valentine's day dinner with some friends was how much I love being around diversity. I wish there was more inter racial mixing back at my university at home, even in my hometown.

 This is a picture of Imizamo Yethu. It is a township in Hout Bay. I visited here for my Sustainability and Environment class, in which we are learning about complex ecological issues, which this township has plenty of.  This is one of the places where you feel that you are an entire different country other than South Africa. Standing from any point in the township here, you can see Kristenbosch, a very well to do neighborhood with multi million dollar homes, which are roughly 3 miles away.

Here's a picture of me at the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg. It was a very moving experience. It felt like a very mild version of Dachau, a concentration camp I visited while in Munich. It is unbelievable that the history of this whole apartheid era, especially the ending of it, happened during my lifetime. South Africa is a very young democratic nation, its a very eye opening feeling to know how fresh and raw their historic past is. I wish I had 4-5 days to read everything at this museum because of how much information is available to you.



I am doing well here. I find school very challenging- in the sense that it is very very very difficult to focus with the heat here, not to mention the fact that it very much feels like summer, and that I'm taking summer school classes. It was over 100 degrees Fahrenheit a couple days this week, with the humidity very powerful on top of that. It was the first day that I jumped in the pool with my younger brother Caleb to cool off. I began rowing a couple weeks ago. It is an extremely difficult and mentally and physically exhausting sport. I have been only having practices a couple times a week, with some sessions on the lake nearby. Things will be picking up a bit more though now that I'm beginning to pick up the routine and lingo.
My sophomore year of architecture school at NDSU I designed a rowing clubhouse/boathouse. It is fun to think about what I learned through that project and look at it from the side of a rower.  Rowing is a sport that I've always wanted to try and I'm fortunate enough to be getting this opportunity while in South Africa.

I know I have been terrible with keeping up with this blog, but that is because I find it very difficult to think about what I want to write on here. I can't believe its already March, as I have a fall break in only a couple weeks. I plan on doing flying to Livingstone, Zambia with a friend. We will be spending some time at Victoria Falls, one of the 7 wonders of the world, along with doing some exploring around the area and neighboring countries.
I'm having a low key evening with my host rents tonight. I really have no energy to do anything this evening, as I was up really early for crew and my mind is fried from trying to write a 10 page history paper on Heinrich Wolfflin and why he wanted to create an 'art history without names'. (I honestly have no idea what I'm doing.) Gavin, my host father, just poured me a J&B, which is whiskey, water, and ice. I'm going to go polish off a long day with him. Cheers----