Danger: White Sharks

I plan on keeping it short and sweet today mostly because the Swiss have decided to switch the y and z letters and have no apostrophe on the keyboard. Needless to say this is driving me up the wall. Number one order of the day was a trip to Muizenburg beach. Muizenburg beach is a surfing hotspot on False Bay, this means slightly warmer water, many more shark attacks. If anyone has been following the news is Cape Town (doubtful) you will recognize Muizenburg as the site of the "Dinsosaur Shark Attack" where a tourist was eaten by a white shark the size of bus because he was swimming 100m out when the shark flags were up. There really is no helping someone like that, but it demonstrates the point that Muizenburg is shark country.

This, as is common in Cape Town, makes life-threatening situations rather amusing. I will paint the scene, nice beach, warm water, white sand, nice breeze, no one peddling goods on the beach.... Then all the sudden, the alarms sound, everyone is ushered out of the water in a total frenzy and an underwear model sprints down the beach waving the shark flag. This was the first time my lack of camera was felt. Quite a sight he was. This happened twice while we were there. This has been the only exception to the Africa Time Rules. People sprint, rather than saunter casually out of the water.

Other things worth mentioning today were: My first minibus ride, my first ride on the "free train," the problems that arise on TV from having 11 national languages ,and Status (fragrance commerical).

My minibus ride was everything I hoped it would. Almost got in several accidents because they cannot drive at all. But you can´t beat 75 US cents to anywhere in town. My second ride had 17 people in a 12 person van. Great, sweaty African fun. Nearly took a third that would have probably reached clown-car status had all five of my friends gotten into already over capacity bus (About 15). To quote my housemate, "These guys are optimistic."

In other minibus related news, I have learned how to whistle with two fingers (one of the two requirements for becoming a "gotchya," the other is volume). I am planning on heading down to find a job tomorrow... WYNEBURG!
I decided the train was not that exciting. It is "free" on the weekends. This means there is no one selling tickets, but it is still not intended to be free. Supposedly where the muggings happen , but there are police patrolling these hyper-filled cars. So I felt safe.

Next headline, the television. My housemates, being European, love soccer. Watch it anytime its on. This obviously doesnt bother me at all being a soccer fan myself, but after watching a few games and Generations (South African soap opera) we have all noticed that the language used to commentate or speak, changes every few minutes...English one sentence, Afrikaans the next, then Xhosa, or Zulu... You just never know, I have to assume unless you are fluent in all 11, you will end up being quite uninformed.

So much for a short post.

If you can find a online version of a Status fragrance commerical, enjoy it... Its All About the Respect.

Be Well

Sleeping with one eye open.

So, seeing as I've only given this address to my parents, I'm sure all of you reading this have heard what has happened to me. But I'll give the more detailed account of the happenings:

5a.m. 3 days ago, I wake up out of a very deep sleep to a bright room and, to my surprise, a little black man standing in the corner by the door. As I wake, he turns to me, says something in some language I did not quite understand, I'm sure he mentioned Africa... So I imagine it went something along the lines of "Welcome to Africa, white boy!" After that, he casually walks out the door. Assuming this had to have been a dream because there is no way anyone could get over the approx. 10 foot walls with spikes on the top, I was just mildly confused at first, rather than distressed. Quickly I came to the realization that my computer was missing, then my camera, cell phone, iPhone, DVDs, credit card, debit card, passport and my NEW R273 sandles...come on...seriously the man had shoes on...he didn't need my new South African sandles. So after realizing the short man robbed me blind. I took the appropriate measures (police, landlord, parents, etc.)... But that's not interesting. The interesting part is the fact that, though he took the cards out of my wallet...he left R200 that was not there earlier...Leading me to believe, I was struck by the African version of the tooth fairy. He takes absolutly everything you have, and leaves $30. Awesome. Other highlights from the robbery involve the police coming to the house and dusting for fingerprints on a small section of the window and no where else. The detective conclusivly telling me things I already knew, "I believe he escaped via the tree growing over the fence" (my web camera was draped over tree) Bravo , Detective Hanse. Bravo.

This whole ordeal has obviously put my whole house on red terror alert level. The next day as we left the house as a group. A man wearing a yellow vest (I assumed he was a wolf dressed in police clothing) came biking up our block very slowly, looking all around in a most suspicious manner. I allowed him to pull into our driveway and stop before I aborted my trip to the grocery store and approached him. The conversation went something like this:

Me: Excuse me! Can I help you?
Mystery Man in Yellow: Ummm yes, I'm here...
Me: Well, we were recently robbed... So can you go somewhere else??
Mystery Man: Yes...that's... why... I... am... here... Which house was robbed?
Me: Yeah, OK buddy. Get out of here!

And he left. Slowly on his bike that it looked like he robbed from a 13 year old.

In our meeting with the landlord that evening, turns out he was named Parfait and is a Congolese security guard that hardly speaks any english.

So long story short, anyone walking down our street gets at least an eye if not a word.

In other news, I've found my new favorite hobby... Haggling. I learned two days ago that you should not get into a cab with the meter running because they will charge you through the roof. So now, I negotiate my price for every cab, tons of fun. I love the "R50 to the city center...and that's all" ... " I can do R70!" Then I walk away, knowing another cab will descend within seconds. Tons of fun.

I pre-registered for classes today... Africa heavy... Advanced South African Politics, Genocide: African Experiences, African Instruments (a music playing class), and Xhosa (pronounced click-osa)... Very excited for all of these.

I got my first taste of apartheid legacy last night. The housemates and I went to an open mic night at a bar downtown. Mostly "soul-hop" or as they say in the state Def Poetry Jam. Very powerful stuff.

Today I learned how to fix the water crisis. Eliminate dryers. People having to hang up laundry by hand is a great deterant to my frequently doing laundry. Save huge amounts of water. Hang drying laundry is a hassle...

Okay that's what I have now. Be well

Penn Tour

Today was the Cape Peninsula Tour. This is apparently a huge deal for Cape Tonians.

Hit some Cape sweet spots... Cape of Good Hope, Boulders National Park (CAPE PENGUINS!), V&A Waterfront, Ocean View, Scarborough Country and all the other spots on the peninsula bus tour.

Highlights (outside of the penguins, of course): Ocean View..a township area a few area outside of Cape Town proper that is settled mostly by "Cape Colored" (descendants of slaves, mostly Malaysian,... I had heard that the District 9 movie was based on real events. But after watching the special features and hearing that they "didn't want to make a political movie" just kind of disregarded the true historical context. But after hearing what actually happened here, I can't imagine that they had any intentions outside the political. Pretty powerful stuff...forced removal of black/colored (first time I had heard that phrase used inoffensively)... Oh also regarding the story of Ocean View, the tour guide today was so impressively culturally and ethnically sensitive... and I quote... "black folk are a tribal folk ... they live in Ocean View now for tribal reasons ... It's not a political issue at all, South Africa is now a democratic nation..." Thank you for the insightful commentary Mrs Tour guide...

Also I've found Europeans hold a somewhat contradictory view towards America... They all seem to be very biased against Americans ( "I'm sick of that accent already, can you try another accent," things like this) but then they talk about how they love all things American (movies, TV, food, some sports) quite contradictory...but makes for interesting conversations with the house mates. Good thing I can talk "football" with them, saves myself some respect.

I'm missing the NFL playoffs right now...How disappointing. Colts v Jets game looks great... Oh well. Bars close early here on Sundays... (who goes to bars on Sundays outside of the USA)

Oh yes, and I'll put out my prediction here today. Though I wish I didn't have this feeling... After listening to stories of people for the past few days, something bad WILL happen during the World Cup. Probably not in Cape Town, but in Joburg things sound much less than savory. The story that sticks out in my mind comes from 2 guys I met the first night who said it took them less than 10 minutes in downtown Joburg to be mugged at knife and "possibly gun" point in the middle of the day. Other things I have heard are "do not go to Joburg unless you have everything totally lined up transportation-wise"... That came from a Zimbabwean... I just cannot imagine that all the fans will know to anticipate these safety measures... Scary stuff... I hope everything goes well, but I'm just not sure now. We'll see I guess

So this is Africa.

Well maybe not REAL Africa as I've been told so many times. But geez, I'm certainly not in the States. I cannot even begin to put into words the environment I'm currently living in. I'll just give it short and quick. 90 degree weather, soothing breeze, white sandy beaches, blue ocean (REALLY blue), and a backdrop that is unlike anything I've seen. So I will post pictures of all this when I take them.

I don't know how to treat a "travel blog" so excuse me if I don't follow the correct format. I think I intend to use this more of an interesting tidbits of info that come mind here rather than "today I did this, or tomorrow I plan on ..." but there is sure to be some of that.

First order of business, one of my favorite parts of Cape Town. Minibus taxis. Minibus taxis are the cheapest method of public transport in Cape Town 5-6 rand a trip ( the exchange is about 7.5 rand to a dollar) so they are really dirt cheap. But there is a reason and I will let the wikipedia entry on the minibus taxi do the talking here, "Over 60% of South Africa's commuters use shared minibus taxis (16 seater commuter buses). These vehicles are mostly unsafe and not roadworthy, and often dangerously overloaded. Minibus taxi drivers are well known for their disregard of traffic rules."

Just watching these guys drive is a hoot. They will weave across several lanes of traffic to potential customers swing the sliding doors open while they are still moving at absurd speeds. Someone said downtown the average is about 70kmh (about 40).

But the best part about the minibus taxi is the "Gotcha." The man who leans out the window of these vans and shouts, whistles, winks, makes totally inappropriate comments to white women, and any thing else he feels might make people want to jump into his taxi. This gets really funny considering when you realize how many of these guys there are. A serious approximation I'll give is about 40% of cars are minibus taxis. So the city is just brimming with these hilarious men leaning out of car windows going 40 down busy streets (the wrong side of the street at that, I don't like this driving on the wrong side of the road business...going to get me killed) trying to entice people who don't need a ride to spend 75 cents for a quick ride.

Also they are also apparently a great place to get mugged at night. So I've steered clear of them, but they keep me constantly in stitches. Which is great.

Other little tid-bits I have right now are ...South African beer is decent. I've firmly decided the cheapest is also the best tasting, Black Label its called, its 5.5% ABV, and has a lot more flavor than Windhoek (Namibian). So that's the booze life.

Music here is disappointing. The first night I went to a dance club with some people I'd met... all they played was American pop music. And this was not like good pop (okay...there was some Lady Gaga) but stuff like Owl City...weird. I hope to see some good live stuff. Some people said there are lots of little jazz lounges around that have live music most nights. Something I'll be sure to check out.

Last talking points: I moved into my house today. Totally beautiful. Really upscale nice place, not your typical college house I'll say. It's in what our landlord assures is a "really safe neighborhood" and is "no more dangerous than wherever you all come from." There was a BMW just sitting out on the street (very bold). That's a plus. Very international house. I have 2 Norwegians guys (tons of them in this program)...Turns out Norwegians are the coolest people on Earth... A Swiss guy, a girl who goes to UMichigan, a girl from Yale, and an Australian. And there is one more Swiss person moving in soon. So very nice people. I think we are going to do a little braai tonight. That's South Africa speak for BBQ. Looking forward to that.

So, all is well here.

and they call traffic lights "robots."