Hard Knock Life

Tuesday of this week I began my internship with Christel House SAfrica and I'm kinda sorta obsessed with my job(s).  I work mostly under the direction of the music teacher, who is very encouraging and joyful in the way only a performer can liven up a room, helping him to produce and cast their junior school (grades 4-7) musical.  Which musical exactly?

Annie.

Yes, I have been entrusted with the huge responsibility of finding the perfect Annie amongst all the students.  The pressure is intense.  I've already been told there is a young hopeful who I may or may not find is perfect for the part, but I have no idea what her name is or what grade she is in.  We start auditions in the new term, which begins the first week of October.  While preparing for auditions and trying to make a budget (in Rand), I have tried to perfect my use of the school/safrican dialect.  Here is what I have come to learn over the last few days (and weeks):

Morning! - From Day 1 at the school, I noticed that no one here really says "Good morning."  Just "morning."  It is said very cheerfully.

TO LET - Signs bearing these words are found across Cape Town, and they mean "for rent."  I definitely thought it was TOILET when I first saw it.

Hire - People don't say "rent a car" or "rent costumes" (as I had asked about for Annie).  They say "hire a ___."  Very good to know.

Rubbish - As in, garbage can rubbish bin.

Educator - The term used for "teacher."

Learner - The term for "student."  It's really interesting that they use these words.  I've heard it at both Christel House and the school we visited with Molo Songololo. 

Screens - Don't know if this is universal, or just with the Labia movie theatre, but cinemas will say "(Name) Screens 1 and 2." 

If I think of more I will update.  Today Caroline, Andrew, and I went to the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, which is a 40 minute walk from the manor each way.  It was a great way to take advantage of our first sunny and (fairly) warm afternoon.  Spring is around the corner!  We saw a very cute performance involving two kid breakdancers, did tons of window shopping, admired the docked boats, and posed for funny pictures.

I'm very excited about the upcoming weeks because not only will the weather improve and Annie be underway, but another teacher at Christel House asked me to help start a Drama Society (or drama club, as we would say - add that to the vocab list) by giving the members lessons on play-writing, improvisation, actin, directing, costumes, props, etc.  I cannot wait!  It's exactly what I pictured myself doing, though I will need to channel my educational theatre skills (shout out to Gaby) for it.  I'll post photos once I get to know the students better!


In the meantime, here are some shots of the V & A Waterfront:

The kidz modeling on a sculpture of an upside-down ice cream cone. Bizarre?  Yes.

Some pretty flowers near a restaurant on the waterfront.  I thought they made for great subjects. Oui?

Our home!  (From afar.)  No, not Chapel Hill... Signal Hill.  Why must I always live on/near a hill?

Miami, that way!  Only 12,311Km from there.  Not TOO bad.

The famous clock tower on the waterfront.  Another similarity with Chapel Hill!  Ahh!

A water buffalo (?) made ENTIRELY of beads.  I'll take ten.

The mall.  Looked almost EXACTLY like South Point.  I really thought I was in North Carolina for a hot second.  But then all the prices were in ZAR (making the price of a shirt R450, for example).

Making our way around the mall, Caroline decided to take a break under a muscular armpit and Andrew tried to get this pretty lady's attention.  They were staring at me the WHOLE time.

We had an unexpected end to the day with a visit from Sarah Palin's bridge to nowhere!  Oh, the good ol' USA.

Internship Placement FINALIZED

Perhaps it went without notice, but I have been pretty hushed about discussing my internship placement.  I have now worked everything out with the coordinator and the new NGO, so I feel (more) free to disclose everything that has happened.

At the outset of my trip to Cape Town, I was under the impression that I would be working at this thuper creative-looking arts/culture center in Langa Township called Guga S'Thebe.  A Google search I did prior to the program got me way to excited about the prospects of working there - should have known something would go wrong...

When I arrived in the airport and our internship coordinator picked us up, I asked what Guga would be like.  He said that I would be working under an actor from the area.  This made me even more ridiculously excited.

I didn't really bring up the subject further until this past week on Tuesday, when we were to begin our tours of the various internships.  We visited the workplaces of all but my roomie's NGO (Molo Songololo - Xhosa for HELLO CATERPILLAR!  It's too cute, eh?).  The tour included visits to Black Sash, a Red Cross Hospital, Place of Hope (A Shelter for Battered Women), The Cape Argus (newspaper), Izikho Museums/South African Heritage Foundation, Olive Leaf Foundation, Cape Town Refugee Center, Christel House, and Tafelsig Community Health Clinic.  Basically at every single location, I was incredibly jealous of everyone's internships, though both health-related locations were tough, since at the first we went through the pediatric burn unit and at the second were taken through the emergency room and TB clinic.  I got the impression that everyone's work would be very challenging.

On Wednesday, I came to find out that my internship would actually be in a primary school outside of Kayelitsha, and that my supervisor with Guga S'Thebe was only loosely associated with the center.  After the entire group was awed by the performances (including poetry, dance, and singing) at the primary school, we were equally sketched-out by my supervisor.  I did not feel I could comfortably complete 3 months with that character.

After much discussion over the weekend, and the possibility being thrown out that my roomie would join me at my internship to ease my discomfort (which would have been ludicrous after we beheld the sight of awesome Molo Songololo on Thursday), the coordinator suggested the possibility of working with Christel House.

Today I stayed at home reading and hanging out with my TA and another student, when about mid-way through I got a call from the coordinator.  He said that the internship would work out, and that I would be helping coordinate a musical theatre production at Christel House!  It seems like an incredible school with real results, so I can't wait to start there tomorrow.  I was so excited that I had to post (again!).  Keep in touch and remember to send me your addresses!

Roar!

Although we have had a stressful week with drama (the bad kind) at the manor, internship tours, and studies, we managed to blow off some steam by... HIKING!  Again!  While my roommate, TA, and a friend climbed Table Mountain, me and some of the kidz decided to get to the top of Lion's Head in less than 1hr 15 min (the time set by the previous group).  It's not really a race, but one of our main forms of entertainment is having unnecessary and uncalled-for contests.  SO IT WAS ON.

We had been told that the hike up Lion's Head was a bit treacherous, and it began with edging along the side of the rock after hiking up the trail.  I tried to make it look really dramatic, but it was actually quite safe.  The more intense part, of which I have no pictures (curses!), was climbing vertically with the aid of a chain up to the top.

On the trail and at the top, we kept seeing these revolting interesting beetles.  I think I saw three total.  This one was being devoured by some flies.  Appetizing, yes?

After only 45 minutes, we arrived at the top of Lion's Head completely out of breath.  Then we realized we were IN a cloud.  I tried to include the photos that show some of the scenery, though most of the time it looked completely white all around.

The view of the city.  A cloud is about to consume us.  Clouds are actually quite cold when you pass through them.  It made for a bitter victory.

Anne Marie, Brenna, and I on a ledge (sorry Ma and Titi Sylvia) at the top of Lion's Head.  I think you can guess what is about to happen...

Great success!  Jumping photos are far too fun to pass up.  When I show people this I will lie and say I actually sky-dived from a plane and landed gracefully on the sandstone of Lion's Head.  Anne Marie looks like she actually did just that.

We then proceeded to continue jumping and taking photos of ourselves.  I was able to get some amazing shots of Anne Marie when it was completely clear, but then a cloud came to mist up mine.  Lame.

I promise I have a neck.  I was pretty giddy at this point - what's new?  Also, it was freezing, so don't be fooled by my clothing or jovial expression.

My clearest shot of Table Mountain.  The clouds would NOT let up!  Also, here you can see the stone steps we took to get to the top.  We may or may not be athletes now.

On the way down we passed this stone that I SWEAR says Diana.  It was awesome freaky.

Obviously the weather would become glorious ON OUR WAY DOWN.  What luck.  Here is a shot of one of the ladders we took to get to the top.

At the very least we had a great view of Signal Hill, which is also known as the rump of the lion (we climbed the head, and live on the rump, to the right).

There's the sun!  Where were you all afternoon?!

As you can tell, living in this city is spectacular.  The views cannot be beat.

The strain from climbing made us want to jump into the still-freezing ocean.  Check out the low clouds on the horizon.  How I despise them...

On the bright side, I was walking down with Anuja when we saw people wind gliding!  If I can, I would love to be able to wind glide over the city.  The sky became so beautiful after we left!

As the sun set, we said adios to Lion's Head, because we needed to get ready for Eboni's birthday party.  Eboni is the teaching assistant for our course with Mama Lee, and she is also our residence advisor for the trip (a TA/RA if you will).  She is intelligent, gorgeous, patient, kind, and we all love her dearly.  So much so that we got her a mucking afazing cake from Charly's.  See below (she is on the right):

The entire program was invited to her birthday bash by Mama Lee (our professor), who offered her apartment as the venue.  We had some DELICIOUS cheesecake, cheese and crackers, and concluded with a ridiculous game of charades.  One of the things we had to guess was "Caroline's bicycle" (she is 2nd from the left).  Without pointing, or spelling names.  Actually impossible.

Overall, the weekend alternated between relaxing and nail-biting, but overall it was great.  More to come this week when I start my internship!

3,563 ft - Table Mountain Summit

Yesterday five friends and I climbed Table Mountain.  It was my first time scaling a mountain (I believe - parents, confirm this) and the most strenuous 1.5 hours of my life.  But first...

On Thursday, when I wrote about Cape Point, I skipped over our Monday through Wednesday activities, which were visiting the District 6 Museum, going to the SA National Gallery, and completing a "transportation exercise" conjured up by Vernon (our master/expert tour guide).

Day 4 (Monday 8.31): 

 On Monday we went to the District 6 Museum.  We learned the history of the demolished community and explored the various exhibits.  Above is a photo of a map laid out on the main floor of the building.  Visitors to the museum have labeled spaces where various families lived, making for a very thorough record.

Photos of residents printed on cloth hang around the 2nd floor of the museum.  It was small, but it started out as a 2-week exhibit in the 1990s and has been successful ever since - pretty impressive.

One exhibit was all about the barber shops and beauty salons of the 60s in District 6.  Here my roomie models one of the hair driers.  The middle picture in the row to her left is of our tour guide back then!  Got a sweet mushroom (what they call a bowl-cut) going on.

Another exhibit about children, complete with a hop scotch (hope I got that right) game that goes into the display box.  These cats are creative.  The mural in the background was bathed in light from  windows all around... really pretty.

The tower down the middle is made up of salvaged street signs from District 6.  Much of the museum was composed of salvaged debris from the demolition.

Day 5 (Tuesday 9.1)- Random Places on Brownlow, Kloof Nek, and Long St.:  

 

This is a photo of the cafe by our manor which I promised to post earlier.  They make delicious oven-fired pizza and drinks.  Have only been once for fear of spending too much rand.

 Here we see the choice nighttime hang-out of the group, Rafiki's.  They have a sweet pizza and beer (I mean soda) special and another which involves rump and prawn.  Haven't tried either yet, but I have three months...  Locals use it as a place to catch rugby games and at night they have dancing.  Though some nights it can be relaxed as well.  This was snapped on our way

Walking along Long Street, this gem was spotted.  The baby shirt reads "I Love Boobies."  Those Cape Townians have a sense of humor, eh?

The Carolines and I made our way through Company Gardens to the SA Portrait Gallery.  They had a sweet bronze exhibit and really interesting art from South African and UK artists, spanning centuries up to 2008.

OBAMA!  A flier from the Argus spotted whilst walking around downtown.  Our resident Canadian points.

Day 6 (Wednesday 9.2)- Public Transport Exercise
On Wednesday we were each assigned into teams chosen by Vernon to complete various public transport exercises. Some teams were made to take mini buses from Tamboerskloof or downtown to areas around Cape Town.  My team, however, only had to go from the Hiddingh Campus about a 15 min walk from home (where you find fine art, film, media, and drama studies) to Lower campus, then walk down Main Street in Rondebosch to a Woolworth's.  There, we were instructed to buy a bag of sour cream potato chips.  Simple enough, yet we managed to take a full four hours to do it.  On the plus side, our group was Team Zebra (pronounced zeh-brah).  If I figure out how to edit them, I will post the videos taken of this catastrophe adventure.

Thursday and Friday we made a trip to Cape Point (which I wrote about earlier) and started classes.  The first is a history survey course (for which Mandela's autobiography prepared me more than I expected) and the second is a course on the 21st Century Scramble for Africa, taught my Mama Lee herself.  The subject matter is pretty complicated... wish me luck.

FAST FORWARD TO...

Day 9 (9.5) - Hike up Table Mountain
We began our hike at the doorstep of Hillcrest.  The walk to the beginning of the trail at the base of the mountain alone took about 2 hours.  We went up Kloof at a steep incline the whole way, still on sidewalk up until this trail near the base which ended up being a 5 minute detour.  Finally we reached the main visitor's center at the base and they told us we had to walk another 2km up the road to get to the beginning of the gorge trail.  After some false starts, we were off!

Cut to an hour later.  I feel like my heart, lungs, and legs are going to explode.  The fear of passing out from exhaustion has never been so real.  The route we took isn't really a trail - there are no smooth parts of it.  Instead, it is like a giant staircase.  Imagine having to take stairs two at a time, sometimes on uneven footing, going up hundreds of feet vertically.  I was pretty glad we had gone during winter, because I think the hike during the summer would give me heat stroke.  About 30 minutes from the summit, we saw some graffiti which captured our sentiments perfectly:

Caroline was a beast.  She kept us at a pretty good pace, so that only about an hour and 15 minutes into the hike we were already near the top:

At least it was gorgeous. We had to hike around the side and up the back, so this was taken between the rock formations looking back (see below for reference, too).

Even so close to the summit, many a rest break was taken to avoid collapse.  Andrew is a LITTLE too excited.  I don't know how I had the strength to push the shutter on my camera.  Part of me was also very angry - I hate this hike, I hate my legs, I HATE TABLE MOUNTAIN, so luckily I didn't punch anyone in the face.  It did help that another hiked on the way down said "break a leg."

AT THE TOP!  I have never been so giddy.  Even though the temperature was probably around 40F, I was still in my shorts and shirt, sweating.  Then the wind started getting to us and we bundled up.

It was a relief to not see any more rocks to climb above us.  Level ground, FINALLY!

 Though it was cloudy, the sky was really gorgeous from the top.

Once we went around to the ocean side (Hout Bay I believe), it was even more evident how far we had gone.  From sea level to about 3500ft.  I'm really glad I went with experienced hikers and they could see how pumped I was to have made it.  Maybe some day I'll get to attempt 10,000ft or higher.

This is me being a fool on a bridge across the table top.  Again, I was delirious.

Many an epic photo was taken at the top.  The Atlantic Ocean sits in the background.

 

Victory dance by Caroline.  In the background you can see the cafe.  Yes, there is an eco-friendly restaurant at the top of Table Mountain.

 

As the sun set, it looked like a painting.

 

Looking out over Lion's Head peak (also a very hard climb which seems dwarfed by Table Mountain) and the city.  Robben Island (where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for three decades) can be seen.

The City Bowl and Table Bay as seen from the summit.  It was glorious.  Can't say I'd do it again, though.  Haha... maybe.

Rotate to the right a bit and you get a great view of Devil's Peak and the Tater Tot Mountains (not their actual name, but can't pronounce or spell it).

A shot of the cable car making its way down the mountain.  We took the last one down because hiking down would have been dangerous past sundown.

Victory!  The girls in green jump at the top of the mountain.  Another take below:

Then it was my turn to take some solo shots:

I was a bit too excited at this point.

As the sun set, we made our way to the cable car.

Goodbye, Table Mountain!  It's been a pleasure making your acquaintance.

The cable car comes real close to the rocks.  It was awesome!

The team!  Walking downhill after hiking was an effort.  Our joints were jumbled, making our legs like jello.  But we were oh so happy.  Look at those faces.

Anne-Marie, looking almost as excited as I am at the prospect of going to Disco Nights.  Look at that.  Or the Baxter Dance Festival.  Good times.

Our victory dinner was at Mexicano.  WARNING: Do not go here.  As Andrew said, "you can't do Mexican in Africa.  You just can't."  All the waiters were very emo and they even dared to give us ITALIAN MINTS with the check.  The food looked like they had Googled the recipes before serving it.  And our check took half an hour to receive.  Again, GOOD TIMES!

We were NOT happy campers.  Caroline was looking especially homicidal.

We decided that going to Cape to Cuba would have been a much better choice.  Check out the front of the building during the day and at night.  Complete with Cuban flags on either side and neon.  Mexican was a bad choice.

Overall, though, hiking Table Mountain was a great success!  Glad I was one of the first 6 from our year to do it.