I'm "home"

After more than 20 hours of traveling and very thorough security measures that come along with flying to the U.S. — including gate-side pat downs, luggage searches, and liquid confiscation — I am back in the states. In a way, I'm home, but I'm actually in a new home. Instead of being a normal kid going to spend time with family in their hometown and relax as reverse culture shock hits, I pressed fast-forward and moved straight up to Boston. Three days after arriving in the States, I spent time with family, drove up the east coast to Boston, moved into my new apartment (with the help of my Mom), and started my full-time summer internship at the CS Monitor.

I simply moved into a new life, place and job. I've heard from friends who have also recently arrived back home who say, "it's strange to be home," but that's not the case for me. I didn't exactly have an adjustment period to acclimate back to the States. Rather, I jumped into another life in a new city with new people. I guess I don't waste any time.


The first few days I spent in Boston, my mom stuck around to see that I settled in and to help me explore this great city. We found a delicious Thai restaurant within walking distance from my apartment, shopped at the wonderful Trader Joe's, got my hair cut, visited the beautiful Company Gardens and ate dinner and delicious cannolis at Mike's Pastries in the North End (Little Italy).

Everyone keeps asking me, "how's Boston" and my typical response is "so far, so good." I love the neighborhood where I live, my roommates are all very nice (Craigslist success story), and everything I need seems to be in walking distance, including my job. I realized just the other day when walking home from work that this is the most adult thing I've done so far. Last summer, I interned in LA, so I was away from home and not in school, but I was in my comfort zone and living with friends. Here in Boston, I work 9 to 5, Monday through Friday, and that's the extent of my commitments. I come home after work, rest for a bit, go for a run, and make dinner for myself followed by a movie or episode on Netflix Instant. I'm a working woman in a new city with not many friends, which seems very much like the life of a recent graduate taking on their first full-time job. It's different, but exciting. I've always wanted to live in Boston and now, I have until mid-August to explore the city, meet lots of new people and make strides in my journalism career at the CS Monitor. This works. I'm happy.

On to the next adventure...

For my last day in Cape Town, I decided to take it easy, blog a bit (obviously) and go up to the Rhodes Memorial just behind campus. From there, there is a beautiful view of Cape Town. I went up there by myself and took some time to look out onto the amazing city, which I know so much more about now than I did five and a half months ago when I arrived. 

I'm very ready to go, but sad to leave Cape Town. I will definitely be coming back to Cape Town and hopefully to other parts of South Africa as well. I realized while studying abroad that there is so much left for me to see. I want to visit so many countries in Africa alone, and then there's the rest of the world for me to tackle. 


I'm now moving on to my next adventure in Boston where I'll be the national news desk intern at the Christian Science Monitor for the summer. I have a whole new city to explore for the next two months.

Cape Town: I've learned so much, and could learn so much more. I've absorbed so much culture and interacting with so many different people. See you again later in life...

The happiest place in Cape Town!

Tucked away in District 6 is Charley's Bakery, a bright and colorful building full of delicious baked good that look amazing...

A full day of intellectual stimulation

Part 1: Parliament
Thanks to a great list that I found online of Top 100 things to do in Cape Town under R100, I organized a free guided tour of parliament for a group of seven friends this past Friday. I felt like a bit of a nerd, but I was very excited before going and am so happy I found out about this opportunity. 

One funny thing happened with one of the police officers on guard as soon as we arrived at the gates: as he was escorting us into the right building where we could wait for our tour guide, I engaged in the typical small talk about studying here for six months and nearing the end of my stay. He then offered to marry me so I could stay in the country longer. He said I could go home and come back whenever, because I'll then have duel-citizenship and can stay in South Africa forever. He thought it was the perfect plan! He told me to come find him after the tour so we could make further arrangements. I of course laughed it off and said I'd consider him, but didn't happen to run into him again before leaving (so no worries, Mom and Dad...I am coming home).


As far as the tour goes, it was better than expected. I learned so much in just an hour tour -- information I wished I had learned toward the beginning of my stay so I would have been more aware of South African politics.

There are 400 seats in parliament, which meets several times a week to discuss different issues. Currently, they are in the process of discussing and presenting budgets. Of the 400 seats, the ANC (African National Congress) holds 60% of the seats, the DA (Democratic Alliance) holds about 20%, and other minority parties like the IFP (Inkatha Freedom Party) hold the remaining 20% of the seats.


Most parliament meetings are open to the public for viewing, which unfortunately, we weren't able to do, but we saw and sat in the meeting room, which used to be the place where parliament met, but is now too small. We also sat in the huge National Assembly room, which is where parliament meets now take place.

During a parliament meeting there is specific language that is to be used by those who speak. If language is deemed "unparliamentary" or someone is not using the appropriate manners, the speaker, who leads parliament sessions, can tell that person to leave. Then that person must leave not only the National Assembly, but the premises and not return for at least 24 hours.


The day we visited parliament was hosting the "Official opening of the National House of Traditional Leaders." We saw many men and women walking around wearing traditional garb who were there for the event. President Jacob Zuma gave the opening address, but unfortunately we never bumped into him so I didn't get the meet the president.

One of my friend's, Taylor, is going around Cape Town with this guy, Flat Stanley. Her little cousin sent her Stanley so he could be photographed in all different places, and once Taylor sends him back, he will then go to another new location and travel all around. So, of course, Stanley came to parliament with us!

Part 2: The District 6 Museum

Just a couple blocks from parliament is the District 6 Museum, which is where we spent the second half of the day.

While reading about the stories of people who were forced out of their homes into District 6 to live in small, crowded homes as demanded by the apartheid government, I could only think about how the experiences of black and colored South Africans during apartheid are likely similar to those of black Americans before and during the Civil Rights Movement. Of course forced removal did not occur in the States, but in a way it unofficially did occur. If a black or white family found that they were the minority in a neighborhood, families would sometimes choose to leave or stay and be terrorized by the minority. Also, signs posted in public places designating a toilet or bench for a certain race were seen in America it seems just as much as they would have been present in South Africa during apartheid. The major difference between the struggle of minority races in America versus South Africa is the time element. In South Africa, race is still a hot topic that people openly discuss in any environment at any time. Less than 20 years blacks and coloreds in South Africa were experiencing what blacks did in America more than 60 years ago. I'm not sure why I never realized the parallel discrimination in both countries before now.

A nice day in Hout Bay...

Finally, a moment with Fugard

Before coming to South Africa, my dad told me about one of his favorite playwrights, Athol Fugard, and insisted that I seek out going to a play of his, going to his theatre or really finding him, meeting him and interviewing him.

When I first arrived in Cape Town, I was happy to see a huge sign on the side of a building on Main Road saying "Fugard Theatre," so for a while, I thought that the theatre was right there and so close to my house, which was great. However, when the sign disappeared, I knew something was wrong, and then when I found out that building is actually a CIEE house with students living in it, I knew that it definitely was not the Fugard Theatre.

Yet, after a little bit of searching online, I discovered the actual Fugard Theatre, which is located in District 6. I knew I couldn't come back to the States without going to the Fugard Theatre because my dad just wouldn't like that, so I made plans with Tommy, a guy in my house who is an actor, and we went to the Fugard Theatre to see Bird Watchers, a show written and directed by Fugard about his time in the Eastern Cape with two good friends.

The show started off a bit slow at first, but by intermission, I felt in touch with the three characters. I was happily surprised by the way in which the second act was constructed -- a time change to 30 years after the first act. The plot became very intense and the characters grew more complex. Tommy and I both agreed that there's something about Fugard's writing that is just so amazing. The dialogue is easy to understand, but is almost poetic in a way. As an audience member, I can tell that Fugard thinks about and chooses each word very carefully. 

Pointing at "Victory," the play my dad directed this past semester at Virginia State University, in a long list of all of Fugard's plays.

Winter weather in Cape Town is no joke.

For the past couple of weeks now, the weather in Cape Town has been less than enjoyable. Unlike the warm, sunny and breezy weather in January, February and March, winter weather in Cape Town consists of torrential rain, coldness, gusty winds, cloudy, grey skies and the occasional part of a day when there is a hint of sunshine. Now, I have to give myself a pep talk before leaving the house, especially going out at night. My house doesn't have central heating, so I make do with a small, square wall heater in my room that really only works if I keep my door closed at all times of the day. For some reason, the house traps cold air and most of the time, it is warmer outside than inside the house. I love Cape Town of course, but winter Cape Town is just not as much fun.

Here is an example of this awful weather: the tree in our driveway is now split in half and broken, because of one night full of gusty winds and torrential rain.

My classiest cup of tea

Afternoon High Tea at the Mount Nelson Hotel is officially the classiest activity I have done while in South Africa. I, along with seven other girls, enjoyed an afternoon of tea, coffee and delicious finger foods at the beautiful hotel one Sunday.  I finally had the opportunity to enjoy a cucumber sandwich and other little treats like salmon and cream cheese wraps, egg salad sandwiches, small fudge squares, little pieces of cheesecake, hazelnut chocolate cake and much more. The tea menu was more extensive than anything I had seen before. They had so many types of herbal, black, green, and rooibos tea, plus coffee upon request. 

The environment was full of people who appeared as if high tea was a weekly activity for them. We saw several parties of daughters, mothers and grandmothers and then other parties of women catching up on a casual Sunday afternoon. Men were there as well with their wives or mothers it seemed, but the majority of tea-goers were female. Overall, the demographic was white. Since I haven't done any other "high class" activities like this since I've been here, I don't know if the white majority is to be expected at places like this in Cape Town.

One thing I never quite figured out while I was at the hotel was the reasoning behind the pink color of the building. The whole hotel was gorgeous, inside and out, but the faded bubblegum pink color never quite made sense to me.

After tea, we explored outside and walked around the grounds. Behind the hotel is a beautiful courtyard and outdoor area with bright green grass, where we stopped to take a few pictures before leaving.

Sharing some fun with huge, but little, soccer fans

Pizza, juice and cookies at the Ark.

Every volunteer site had the opportunity to throw an end-of-the-semester event for the kids whom we have been working with for the past several months. For the Ark, we decided, after many ideas fell through, to have a pizza party at the Ark and then take the kids to the last game of the season at the World Cup stadium in Green Point to watch the Ajax (Cape Town's team) play against Maritzburg United. We raised money for the event by hosting a fundraiser at CyBar (a bar in Rondebosch near my house) and selling cupcakes and cookies at the bar. We managed to raise R800 that night , which CIEE matched giving us R1600. I was so excited that we got all of our money straightened out and everyone, kids and volunteers, go to the game free of charge.

All of the kids and volunteers -- we managed to leave and return with the same number of people without a problem.

We tried to keep the soccer game a secret for the boys so it would be a surprise when we hopped on the bus to go to the stadium, but I think a few of them may have either guessed, found out or had an idea of where they were going. Regardless, they were excited, and as were all of us who had never been to the stadium before. When asking the boys what they want to be when they grow up, most of them say rugby or soccer player. For most of them, this was their first trip to see a professional soccer game, and for it to be at the World Cup stadium made it even more exciting.

Keanon, the boy I worked with the most this semester, and me on the bus heading to the stadium.

Security entering the stadium was normal -- searched purses, patted down the boys -- but they also disassembled flags that people brought to the stadium by taking off the stick part and just leaving the cloth flag. I'm guessing the stick could be used as a weapon, even though they were selling the same flags (sticks included) inside the stadium.

World Cup stadium in Green Point.

I can only imagine how amazing a game was during the World Cup. The stadium is huge, so it wasn't completely full for this game, but the stadium was still full of energy and excitement from all of the wild soccer fans. Now, I truly understand the concept of a soccer "hooligan."

Ajax players on the field. (Photo courtesy and the most enthusiastic child photographer I know: Keanon)

Jamie and the boys.

GOAL for Ajax!