By kenzconnors
I've been bouncing around Cape Town, South Africa for four days as of now. The first week of my SIT program is an orientation. On the first day the academic director, Stewart, actually dropped us off at a random place in the city and told us to find our assigned destination. My group was assigned the Greenpoint Stadium--the stadium that was built for the World Cup in 2010. We walked MILES to find our way there and introduced ourselves to the public transportation system in Cape Town.
When we got there, we noticed a very large crowd. There was a day-long performance competition going on to celebrate the freedom of the slaves. My small group bought a ticket for 60 rand each and had so much fun listening to the music and watching the performances. This first day was hectic so I was excited to be able to relax at Bloudenberg Strand (strand means "beach" in Afrikaans) and Buffelsfontein the next day.
I can't even begin to explain the beauty that was Buffelsfontein. We learned that this word means "Buffalo Fountain" in Afrikaans. Buffelsfontein is a wildlife reserve that we spent three nights on. My entire cohort of 24 people stayed in a home with glass windows that allowed us to see the animals roam the reserve around us. I woke up to the cutest family of zebras outside my window in the morning!
Today (Monday), we went on a three hour game drive. Similar to a safari, we took a raised and open truck that brought us very close to all types of animals (springbok, wildebeests, ostriches, cheetahs, lions, zebras, rhinos, etc). Tomorrow we have a braii planned, which is a South African barbecue. The food here so far hasn't been too unfamiliar. It's funny because instead of McDonalds on seemingly every street corner in the United States, there is a KFC on every corner here.
On Saturday, we will be moving into our first homestay in the Langa township, where we will live for four weeks. A township is an underdeveloped urban area that was reserved for non-whites during the Apartheid era. These areas still remain predominantly black today. I don't know any information about my family just yet. All I know is that Sunday will be filled with lots of bonding and quality time spent together. I'm excited to live with my homestay family and hear about not only their histories, but the fun and light-hearted stuff too!