Skip to main content

A Quick! Update!

Cape Town is beautiful. The weather is beautiful. The hostel is ... bearable. My classmates are fantastic.
So far, I've been alternating between nervous and excited which is usually a good sign. I'm pretty disoriented still and I have no idea what to expect and I won't even really now what's happening until Tuesday or Wednesday I bet.

Some thoughts

On Internet:
While the hostel has it, my computer refuses to recognize it, and those who are able to connect are regularly kicked off. However, at this cafe, it's totally good. I don't think it's a Cape Town problem, I think it's a hostel problem.

On Race:
I have already heard three people make comments ... actually, less comments and more whispered points in conversation about how dangerous black people are, one older white woman, one man from Botswana (east asian? i think that gets classified as "Indian" here, regardless), and one black man from Zimbabwe. I... am not thinking clearly enough to give a useful perspective on this.

On Transportation:
The train from Pinelands in to Cape Town is awesome. Busy and bustling. Today, one man gave a sermon all the way into the city center, three women were sorting and bundling mustard greens (?), swiss chard, and chives. People were selling all kinds of things. The other day we took a train with a ton of youth running around and leaning their heads out the train doors and pushing each other around. "School kids are the same everywhere," Achilles, laughing. It was adorable, but the mother hen-ness i inherited from mom had me freaking out that they would fall out the train. Other than that it's super safe. Taxis are everywhere and easy to get and bargain with.

On Food:
Delicious and not too hard to stick to my diet... except that I love trying new things... so sometimes I do. I did manage to eat some amazing Ethiopian with my hands (no Injera). The water is totally fine to drink and the fresh vegetables are sitting well with me which is pretty exciting.

I'm having a hard time keeping my head straight and I think I owe the New School Economic Review a blog post, so that concludes today's edition.

If you have international calling, by the way, let me know if you want my South African number.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I attract living situations that support my growth and happiness

You've just finished a small Mother-in-Law in your backyard/a sunny basement apartment/a tiny house in your ample side yard . You built it because you had the time and the skills and you wanted help paying for health care/to pay real rent to the Duwamish/a white person to pay you reparations .  You live off the 5 so I can visit my baby nibling without transferring busses/the light rail so I can visit my family in Tacoma/somewhere in sight of a lake so I have people visit me there .  We see each other often/infrequently/sometimes and when we do its usually because I'm weeding your garden/offering you raw desserts/bringing my bike in when you're heading out .  I am typically early to bed except in the Summer. I keep the yard tidy and my music playing is getting better all the time. I'm more than happy to check on your pets if you're on vacation or home late.  You let me paint the walls and plant my own plots. You are generous with your resources and take responsibili...
Post a Comment
Read more

South African >> American Dictionary

General Conversation, Getting Around rand >> south african unit of commercial exchange R8 >> $1 cheers >> bye petrol >> gas ..., hey? >> ..., amirite? minibus >> minivans and the informal form of transit most people take. surprisingly safe, affordable, and reliable. the fare taker may attempt swindling you out of some rand, though. Food chips >> fries spinach >> swiss chard english spinach >> spinach sweet potato >> something that looks in shape/texture like a sweet potato, but has red skin and white flesh. apparently they also have orange sweet potatoes and white sweet potatoes. I have not yet spotted a white sweet potato. The red version is cooks up softer than orange ones like we have. yam >> yuca, maybe? i have never seen a vegetable like this in person before.  roughed up, almost pineapple-like brown skin, white interior. kale, unfortunately, does not exist here. peanut butter, strangely, does, mak...
Post a Comment
Read more

On My PGPs (they/them/their)

In some of my friend groups, asking for a new acquaintance's PGPs is commonplace on first encounter -- checking in about PGPs periodically, too. In most other friend groups, "preferred gender pronouns (PGPs)" are a completely strange concept. Given the first group of friends, I am frequently stunned when I meet someone who has never heard of PGPs. Put on the spot, as I often am, I've been giving a lot of impromptu explanations.   I've been refining my brief description: "Acknowledging preferred gender pronouns is important because gender identity is not a visible quality and we should work to speak authentically with and about one another. When someone refers to me as "she" they are not referring to me but of their own preconceived notion of who I am."   I've been automating my grammar response: "We already use 'they' to refer to one person of indeterminate gender. For example, A: 'my friend will meet us at the...
Post a Comment
Read more