Just your average day in Africa.

Well, that’s it. Friday was officially my last day of classes, I turned in the last (of way too many) term papers yesterday, and I am done! The ‘studying’ part of studying abroad is over. And if I do say so myself, that part was way overrated.

I have been thinking a lot about how fast the time has gone, how much has happened and how comfortable I have become with my life here. And since the next six weeks are going to look pretty different for me, I thought I would take this time to reflect on the last four months. You know, clue you all in as to what exactly I do here on a daily basis.

Let’s start with Monday.

I wake up around 8:30, make myself coffee and breakfast and head to school. The walk hike takes about 20 minutes, crosses two freeway off ramps, and includes roughly seven flights of stairs. I get to campus about 15 minutes before my first class so that I can sit on the Jammie steps and cool off. This is one of my favorite times of day. It is usually nice out, a brisk 18°C (as if I know what that means), and the people watching is fantastic. I have never seen a campus as busy as UCT- and I go to a school with over 20 thousand people. Its not that there are necessarily more students, there is just less space, and they all have to walk right by the Jammie steps no matter where they are going. Now might also be a good time to mention that the people here are confoundingly beautiful. I don’t know if it’s the old Dutch bone structure, or the style, or the sunshine, but like I said, it makes the people watching very entertaining.

The Jammie Steps, surprisingly uncrowded. 

Just another picture of our beautiful campus.

After cooling off enough that I can breath without panting, I go to class.  My classes, and this school in general have plenty of noteworthy oddities in themselves, but I’ll have to write some other time about that.

I have a break from 12-2 when I eat lunch, sit out on the lawn and catch up on some reading (not really). After my last class I get out at 3 and head home.

If it is a Tuesday or a Thursday, then I go to Shawco. Shawco stands for Student Health and Welfare Something Something, and it is the Non Profit group that I volunteer with. I go twice a week to small school that services a township in Hout Bay and tutor grade six kids in Math and English. I’ve been working with the same group of five or six girls since the beginning of August, and they have really grown on me. At first it was hard to tell if they were learning anything, or if they needed my help at all, but then one day one of them asked me what the word ‘beg’ meant, and I realized that probably over half of what I had said to them over the last couple lessons had gone well beyond their grasp of English. So I toned down my language, had them underline any words they didn’t know in their workbooks and worked slowly on correcting their grammar and spelling. Even math lessons became mostly English lessons. It was not glamorous volunteer work, but its always refreshing to be around kids, and these girls in particular always had a way of making me smile.

Sinawe, learning like a champ.

Tecious, Lindlewa, Phoziso, Sinawe, Beauty, and Ncinci. Try memorizing those names. 

I get home from Shawco at about 6:30 and go home to make dinner. Dinnertime is always fun at Charlton house- its loud, the kitchen is crowded with people in a good way and the good cooks among us always make something that smells delicious. You’ll all be happy to know that I can officially cook for myself. I never thought it would happen but I have mastered quite a few staple entrees to add to my cereal/quesadilla diet at home.

Yes, that is a brisket. No, I didn't make it. But I helped! We made a serious
feast for Rosh Hashanah a couple of weeks ago and I made a peach cobbler!
It wasn't quite as photogenic as the brisket... but you get the idea.  

After dinner is usually homework time, which usually translates to sitting around the big dining room table with a book in front of me, hearing about everyone’s day and maybe playing a round or two of banana grams. If it’s a Wednesday though, then I have choir practice. I joined the UCT choir for Africa, which is an acapella group of about 16 people, roughly 10 of which show up to practice on a weekly basis. It’s a great time regardless. We sing only African composed music, and they all already know the songs so we pretty much just stand in a circle and sing for two hours. They are all incredibly talented and passionate and so much fun to sing with, its always an uplifting way to spend a Wednesday night.

Speaking of Wednesday nights, those are also the nights we go to Stones, the not-so-local (chain) bar that we’ve frequented quite literally every Wednesday since we arrived. It’s really nothing special, more often than not it’s just us, other international students there, but it’s two-for-one from 10 till 11 on Wednesday nights so it’s become something of a guilty pleasure.

My friend Jen and I at Stones (clearly). 

We fill up our weekend days exploring the beaches and new parts of town, occasionally traveling, catching up on homework and hitting up the super cool Cape Town club scene at night.

So there you have it. Every week is different and every day something notable, but for the most part, that is a glimpse in to my average day in Africa.

Muizenberg, South Africa

Cheers,

Emily