After a seven-hour flight from Washington D.C. to Dakar, an eight-and-a-half hour flight from Dakar to Johannesburg, a two-hour layover and a two-hour flight from Joburg (Johannesburg) to Cape Town, I finally arrived in Cape Town. Even when I stepped off the plane, I still felt like I was flying. My body felt discombobulated and I could not believe that I had actually arrived. No turning back; I am here.
My arrival in the airport was exactly what I had expected. Resident advisors who coordinate the CIEE program greeted me, and all others arriving, with glowing smiles while dancing excitedly with signs reading “CIEE.” Their welcome instantly made me feel comfortable in such a foreign place.
I arrived around 10:30 p.m., and was initially disappointed that I would not get to see the city in daylight when first arriving; however, I enjoyed seeing the beautiful city illuminated, while also getting a wake-up call on the bus ride back to campus.
On our 15-minute ride, we passed neighborhoods of small homes that appeared to be constructed of whatever one could find and did not have electricity. This part of the city seemed dark, literally and emotionally. I do not know any of the backgrounds or stories of those neighborhood’s residents, but seeing the homes immediately enforced the issue I had heard so much of in South Africa: the great gap between the wealthy and the poor. I knew that I would be moving on to the university, which is in a good neighborhood, and will only see these homes again when I go to volunteer in the townships throughout the semester.
The long flight and seven-hour time difference certainly made me jetlagged. I am a little better today, but my natural body clock is all out of whack. The first night we arrived to the dorms, where all CIEE students are living during orientation, around midnight. At that time, some people were on their way home from going out downtown and many others were asleep, but once I found my room, I could not even think about sleep. I ended up staying awake until about 4 a.m. even though I knew I had to be awake for breakfast around 7 a.m.
The first day of orientation felt long and tiring, partly because of the jetlag, but mostly because I was focused on being social and friendly non-stop all day shaking hands and meeting new people every moment. The last time I had this kind of experience was orientation before freshman year of college, which I loved; but this time around, it’s a bit more difficult. I’m not less outgoing than I was freshman year, but I am simply more out of sorts than normal.
I left a very wonderful and comfortable life at USC to study abroad here and am determined to meet people whom I can trust, have fun with and grow to love. Naturally, I still talk to everyone and have really enjoyed meeting and speaking with everyone I’ve met so far!
The highlight of the first day of orientation was finally finding out our housing arrangements. I will be living in the largest CIEE house with 27 other students and two RAs. The “house” is actually three separate houses that are somewhat connected so each house will only have about nine students who will each have a single bedroom. The houses have their own common room, kitchen and daily cleaning service, which now includes doing the dishes. This was one of the most exciting bits of news to hear about our housing because most of us do not even have dishwashers at our college apartments, let alone a maid service that cleans the kitchen, bathroom and common room every day during the week.
There are two other USC students in my house. Everyone I’ve met so far who will be in my house seems great and from all different schools. I am very excited to get to know everyone including my two RAs, one of whom is a DJ, who we will be making great use of this semester.
We move in on Saturday and I can’t wait! I will finally be able to unpack and get settled into this place where I will be spending the next four and a half months. I am anxious to see the actual house, where it is in relation to campus and feel like I have a place to call “home.”
I had the opportunity to use the Internet for the first time last night, which turned out to be an amazing experience. Two girls and I walked to a nearby café that offers free wi-fi if an item is purchased. We went to the café, Coco Wah Wah, just after dinner intending to have a cup of tea and check e-mail, but our Internet session turned into the three of us sharing a jug of delicious sangria while furiously checking e-mail and Facebook. To our surprise, one of the waiters brought us a large brownie sundae, which was on the house, and was genuinely interested to find out how a few details about who we were. Everyone who worked there was very nice and welcoming. We will definitely be returning again soon and plan on becoming regulars!
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