Week 3

Tomorrow marks the end of my third week in Cape Town.  Its hard to believe I’ve been here that long.  I still have so much to do!

This past weekend included more braaiing, a trip to the winelands for the Bastille Day Festival in Franschoek, and a day at the beach in Camps Bay. 

The Bastille Day Festival was a good time.  A group of about a dozen of us Connectors attended.  There we were given coupons for five wine tastings from some local wineries that were stationed around the event.  The whole town was full of people in berets and striped shirts and I really felt like I was in a small French town in the mountains.  This was my first time in the winelands surrounding Cape Town and the scenery is amazing!

I’ve been lucky enough to meet some great locals lately and its been fun to hang out with people that live in South Africa.  This is one advantage of living and working in the city for two months, you get to know people you wouldn’t if you were just a tourist. 

Sunday was a beautiful day so we took advantage and relaxed on the beach until sunset.  I took a quick swim, but the water on the Atlantic Seaboard is a little too cold for comfort.  Luckily after jumping in Mirror Lake nothing is too cold.  A man living in Cape Town invited us to his apartment that night so we hung out there before the World Cup.  It was in an amazing location.  Right next to Cape Town Stadium and overlooking the water.

A group of the Americans here with Connect-123 went out to watch the U.S. Women play against Japan in the World Cup Sunday night.  What a disappointment.  Hey, at least I can say I saw the World Cup in South Africa, even though I missed seeing it live by a year.

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Unfortunately I had to go back to work on Monday.  Although I like my internship, the weekends are when its really exciting to be in Cape Town.

If you are reading this from back home, stay cool!  It should be in the mid-60s here for the next week.

Roll Tribe.

-Ben 

This is winter?!

So much more to talk about about after my first full weekend in Cape Town!

Friday was spent chilling out and watching a movie so there isn't much to share there.  Although I did have one of those life-changing moments I was told I would have on my adventure:  I managed to make myself a legitimate meal.  Salmon with spaghetti.  It was one of my proudest moments.

In other news, the weather has been great lately.  Saturday and Sunday each had temperatures of around 75 and perfectly blue skies, which meant it was a great weekend to do some sightseeing and take some pictures.  I spent the first half of the day taking a Hop-On-Hop-Off bus tour of the city and it's suburbs.  We hopped on at the District Six Museum near Perspectives and saw the sights in Cape Town from the second level of the big red double-decker bus (which reminds me of my other cooking specialty: the double-decker pb&j).  We were given headphones so that we could hear about what we were seeing, so I learned a lot about the city.

Here are some highlights:

The city skyline with part of District Six in the foreground.  District Six is a part of Cape Town comprised of about 60,000 people of many races.  In the 1970s the apartheid regime ordered that people be removed from their homes here and, despite protest, the South African government had these homes bulldozed.  Most of District Six now looks like this.

The square in this photo was the fan headquarters of the 2010 World Cup in Cape Town.  This is where big crowds would watch the games if they didn't have tickets.  The building on the far left is City Hall.  This is where Mandela addressed his people for the first time after being released from prison.

The Cape Town City Bowl from the base of Table Mountain. 

A panoramic view of Camps Bay.  Site of my future vacation home.

After spending some time on the beach we continued on our tour of the oceanside suburbs, which were ridiculously nice, and stopped at the V&A Waterfront for lunch.  After refueling we headed to Greenmarket Square where we did some souvenir shopping.  I bought myself a South African soccer jersey which I wore proudly yesterday after work.

The District Six museum was where we began and ended our tour and I checked out the exhibits before heading back to Perspectives.

On Saturday night we got a group together and checked out a club on top of one of Cape Town's tallest buildings, the ABSA tower.  It was a pretty upscale place but with the help of some locals we got in free of charge.  The view was amazing and everyone had a great time and safely made it home.

Sunday was spent on the roof of Perspectives where we relaxed, enjoyed the sun, and had a braii.

Unfortunately, after such a great weekend I had to go back to work Monday.  Work is going well.  Lately we've been creating a communications strategy for the Sport for Social Change Network in the Western Cape.  We are piloting the whole thing and I'll be without the other intern after Thursday so it should be a good challenge.  Some of SSCN's partners are the German government, the South African Sport and Recreation Department and Nike, so I'll get to work with some pretty big communications departments.  

I've visited the coffee shop near the place I work pretty frequently since I've been here and the guy who works there already knows my order when I walk in.  After that, I feel like I've officially been initiated to Cape Town.

So as you can see, all is well in the southern hemisphere.  

Enjoy the MLB All-Star Festivities in Arizona this week and Roll Tribe.  That Travis Hafner walk-off grand slam was glorious.

- Ben

Days 1-5

Sorry about the lack of posts in my first few days.  I’m sure that now I’m settling in posts will become more frequent.  I have had a great time in this beautiful city and met some great people. 

I arrived to my apartment late Friday night after almost 30 hours of travel, combined with a long layover in Amsterdam.  The view of the city from my room is amazing.  I live in an apartment building called Perspectives in a nice central location on Roeland Street close to almost everything I might need.  Perspectives lies in the City Bowl, the part of Cape Town between Table Mountain and the Atlantic Ocean.

The living area of our apartment with a view of the city.

Friday night I unpacked my things and settled into my new home.  Because one of my roommates was out on Long Street and another didn’t arrive until Saturday, I did not meet them until the next day.

My first Cape Town experience was a good one.  Saturday I took a minibus with two other Connect 123 participants to Old Biscuit Mill, a market with lots of interesting foods and people, where I had an ostrich burger.  It was not what I expected ostrich to be like.  I guess I had thought eating ostrich would be like eating a giant turkey.  It was actually a dark meat more like beef than any bird I had ever eaten.  Nonetheless it was a good lunch.  Later I saw a man shopping in an Ohio State hoodie so I felt obligated to give him an “O-H!”  Unfortunately he looked very confused and when I explained to him that my school was on his shirt I’m not sure he completely understood me.  It was worth a shot.

After an exciting minibus ride (every minibus seems exciting… people hanging out of the car yelling to attract customers and all of the crazy drivers here) I had my orientation and learned a bit about the city. 

That night we went to Long Street which was lively and a lot of fun.

The next day we took a walk to the grocery store which is about 5 minutes on foot away from my apartment.  Finding food was an adventure, but luckily food here is very cheap.  Eating out is also cheap, but at night its not always an option because its best not to be walking around, especially alone, after dark in some areas.  Here it gets dark around 6.

The afternoon was spent walking with one of my roommates, Rick, through the colorful Muslim neighborhood, Bo-Kaap, and to the V&A waterfront where I got some great pictures.

Bo-Kaap

V&A Waterfront

Sunday night I joined about 20 of the interns with Connect 123 on the roof of Perspectives  for a braii, which is Afrikaans for a barbecue.  This was a great time to meet some of the people I’ll be living with for the next two months.  Unfortunately I’m the only Ohioan and there are about a dozen MSU Spartans, but we’ve agreed to focus more on our mutual hate for UofM than our differences.

Monday was my first day of work at Hoops 4 Hope.  For the first day I got a ride from one of the Connect 123 program directors, but since I’ve been making the ~20 minute walk to work.  I work near an area called Woodstock in a building called Ikamva Labantu.  I will be doing a lot of work with communication and PR, which will be a great experience for me.  So far I’ve worked on the SSCN (Sport for Social Change Network) monthly newsletter that goes out today.  Next week I’ll be taking over for Daan, another intern from Holland that I’ve been working with who leaves this weekend.  My duties will be to work on the SSCN newsletter, Hoops 4 Hope/Soccer 4 Hope blogs, and work on creating a new communications strategy for SSCN in the Western Cape, including improving their website.  It’s an exciting opportunity for me to get some good experience and I think I will definitely benefit from my work here. 

We had a 4^th of July celebration at a place called Van Hunks on Monday night.  It was a good time and I got to meet almost everyone here with Connect 123.  The theme of the night was to dress up as your favorite American.  There were some good costumes, but I wasn’t alone in dressing conservatively.  I chose to wear my Neil Armstrong Homage t-shirt and felt that was enough for me.

In my first 5 days I’ve noticed a lot of cultural differences from driving on the other side of the road, the music, television, the food, etc.  Its very different being a minority and its something I’ve never really experienced until now.  The city has a lot of diversity, even compared to the metropolis of Wooster, Ohio.

I miss my family, friends, and Ohio.  Having to follow baseball from Africa is going to be a challenge, but I will manage (Austin Kearns?!?!).  They love sports here, especially Soccer, Rugby, Tennis, Golf, Cycling, and Netball… which is like basketball minus the athletic ability required and the exciting moments. 

Table Mountain as seen from the V&A Waterfront

Regardless, I’m having a great time in Cape Town!  August 31^st will sneak up on me before I know it.

Thank you Mom & Dad for making this happen!  I love and miss you!

-Ben 

Nelson & I