July 10, 2012 – Orientation with UCT at Muizenberg

My RA, Alicia, came knocking at my door at like 8am this morning. We are supposed to be in Muizenberg by 9am to meet up with the other study abroad students from the University of Cape Town.

“Chantal, are you guys ready?”

Ummm “yea we’ll be down in a minute,” I lied.

I searched for my outfit, put it on the heater, ran to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, went back to my room, checked my phone and saw a missed call and a text message. I already knew it was somebody from the group telling me to hurry up so I didn’t even check. I started getting dressed at about 8:20. I put on my warm sweat pants, socks, sneakers and shirts. It was freezing outside so I also had to throw on my jacket.

My roommate and I ran downstairs to meet up with everyone. It was still dark outside and we had to take public transportation to our destination. Why couldn’t we do this on a warm afternoon? I don’t think the UCT students were THAT excited to meet us. We took a minibus [taxi] to the Belleville station. I’ve never seen chaos like this before. There were like a thousand other taxis going different places, metro busses were swerving around tight corners, people were rushing to be on time for work, and men were gawking at women.

We all ordered train tickets at a small window with a man on the inside. We weren’t really familiar with our new currency so it us a while to pay for all the tickets. You can tell that the man was getting irritated with us. But screw him; a part of his job is to be patient. It’s called customer service. After we got our tickets we made our way to the train station. The trains run flat on the ground like cars. When the train came I noticed that everyone boarded only on the last 3 cars.

“Why isn’t anyone going to the front the train?” I asked my RA, Will. He said that’s where people get robbed. LMAO Yikes!

I found out later that the real reason nobody sat in the front is because you have to have a first class ticket to do so. WTW! First class tickets cost an extra R3.50. Bump thaat! [Kendrick Lamar voice]

The train was packed with people going about their early morning businesses. The worst part was the smell. A homeless man walked thru our car and spoiled my whole morning. The train remained stinking even after he left. After about another hour of holding my breath, the train finally got to the Cape Town station. I had no idea my lungs capacity was that great. I might take up swimming as a hobby.

Anyways, I got a little excited that we got off the train… only to find out we have to get on another train. We crossed the platform and got on the train all the way at the front this time. It was the same story, crowded, stank, and took forever to get to Muizenberg. Let me tell you something thought – that train ride was worth it! Muizenberg was so beautiful. As soon as we got off the train we were greeted by the sound of the ocean crashing into rocks on the shore.

We met up with the UCT students and had breakfast at a restaurant on the shore. I had a pizza topped with tomatoes for breakfast. It was huge, but good. Some people ordered a French toast meal and literally got two dry slices of wheat bread. LMAO!!!! When did two slices of bread ever fill anybody up? [Shots fired at Kayana Marks]

After breakfast we headed across the street to a local radio station. Don’t get excited, we didn’t go on air. We just used their big, empty room as a spot for presentations and mini lectures. Naomi, our IES Abroad “mother” spoke to us about… I don’t know lol. But during her speech, some of us students were whispering so she definitely put us in check. I like her; she doesn’t play that!

A group of young adults came in to talk to us about fun stuff like mountain climbing, surfing, shark cage diving, and an Amazing Race. We need a strong team for the amazing race. So far we’ve got Theo, Dontranika, Imani, Liz, Will, and me. Once again, Naomi had to shut us up for trying to create a team while the people were giving their presentation. How rude! I learned my lesson; I sat all the way in the back for the next presentation. I don’t want to go back to America.

The following presentation was the best! It was Hannah and Trevor from 2waytravel.com. Yes, I’m promoting. Trevor is thee sexiest man I’ve ever seen up close. It was like looking at a photo-shopped picture of Brad Pitt. How can one man be so perfect? He must have a major disorder or something; he’s too good-looking to be real. He was about 6”4’ in height, nice muscle mass, his hair was blond and perfectly spiked, his face was unrealistically chiseled, and his voice was soothing! He probably sings well. Next weekend is our Garden Route trip hosted by 2waytravel; I hope he’s going to be there. Hannah was gorgeous too. They should have kids. That’s all I have to say about 2waytravel.

And I think I should end my story here.