Today we woke up and then headed into Cape Town itself from our suburb of Observatory. We took the minibus taxis there. If any of you have been in an African country before you would probably understand what they are like. For those of you that don’t I’ll give a little explanation. Basically, they are these old Volkswagen vans that have been converted into buses to carry people around. They seem to be everywhere and whenever we walk anywhere there are tons of them screaming for you to take a ride. Each one is manned by two people: the driver and another individual whose job it is to collect money and recruit passengers. This second person is always hanging out the window or open door of the van yelling the destination and asking people if they need a ride. Some of them go above and beyond the call of duty and actually get out of their vans and run up to you to try to convince you that their minibus is the best. Once you actually board the bus, you pass your money up to the front and sit back for the ride. Inevitably they become overfull. Today when we were riding, every seat was filled after some of our group had gotten in, but the driver said 3 more people and sure enough we picked up 3 more people along the way. Though it was cramped, it’s relatively cheap and a fun adventure!
We got into the city and just wandered around a little bit to get oriented with major streets and public transportation. I was surprised by how much it reminded me of San Francisco. We walked through a city mall to the Company Gardens in the center of Cape Town. From there wandered over to Long Street to grab some lunch. I ended up eating at Nando’s which is a restaurant that serves chicken with hot sauce in pitas, wraps and on burgers. It was a fun place to eat because I’d actually eaten there a bunch of times when I was in Botswana during several trips I took in high school. It was still just as good this time around.
After lunch we got the chance to just wander around the city a little bit and explore the local shops and restaurants. It seems like a really fun place and it’s very close to where we’re staying. We got a chance to walk by a street market and I saw many of the familiar souvenirs I’d seen in Botswana and Zimbabwe.
After we were finished wandering around, we returned to Observatory by train. It was really interesting to see which groups of people ride the train. We waited in line for tickets for around 15 minutes and during that time we saw 2 white South Africans. It was incredible to see this immense divide in a way that I haven’t really seen here much. As we took our seats on the train, there were many different street vendors who walked on and off of our train car selling anything from cold drinks and snacks to CD cases and ID card holders. One particularly heart-wrenching man and woman came on the train to beg for money. A relatively young woman was guiding a man with cataracts through the train car as he played a keyboard roped around his neck. It was really hard to watch as they passed through the car begging for money.
Tonight we have a Braai (barbeque) with Talisman, an a cappella group from Stanford, which is traveling through the area. I won’t have time to write any more for tonight, so I’ll write about the Braai tomorrow!
Tim
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Feeling at Home
Today has been a little bit more relaxed than yesterday. We got a chance to take the shuttle to the University of Cape Town (UCT) campus this morning. We got a tour of the campus, access to the library and computer labs, and each of us got our own UCT ID card. The campus was great and bustling with activity the whole time we are there. The school has about 25,000 people and is mostly non-residential. As a result, most students come to campus in the morning and leave at night. It was packed the whole time we were there. Something that was really cool to me was how diverse and integrated the community was. There were people from everywhere and it really looked like a cool community. I’m sad that I won’t get to spend more time on campus. We don’t have any of our classes there, so there are very few chances to interact with the campus. I hope that I can find a way to get integrated.
After our time on campus, we were free and I wandered around and got some food at a local place. I also got my phone for South Africa. I’m really starting to feel comfortable moving around the neighborhood. It is starting to feel familiar and my confidence in my own sense of direction is increasing. Hopefully I’ll keep getting more comfortable.
We also had meetings with the service learning coordinator today and I have narrowed my groups down to two. I will take more time to describe them tomorrow or Thursday when I have decided on one. Both of them work in the public health sector. One of them specializes on HIV-affected individuals while the other works on issues of malnutrition and wellbeing. I think I would be happy about both placements and I’ll let you know more about the one that I’ll be working with this spring!
This afternoon I went for a longer run to get outside. The weather is still warm, though it’s very windy. Hopefully the running weather keeps up because I’m really enjoying going out with friends to run and explore Observatory and the surrounding neighborhoods.
That pretty much sums up my day. As a bonus, I have some pictures of my time in Cape Town! The program director’s wife took some pictures of our first orientation session while we were meeting with the professors. Though the pictures are just from the Stanford Centre, they are pictures of me in Cape Town. Hope you enjoy them and I’ll try to put some up in a few days. They can be found at: http://picasaweb.google.com/sgstanton/SpringQuarterOrientation#.
Tim
After our time on campus, we were free and I wandered around and got some food at a local place. I also got my phone for South Africa. I’m really starting to feel comfortable moving around the neighborhood. It is starting to feel familiar and my confidence in my own sense of direction is increasing. Hopefully I’ll keep getting more comfortable.
We also had meetings with the service learning coordinator today and I have narrowed my groups down to two. I will take more time to describe them tomorrow or Thursday when I have decided on one. Both of them work in the public health sector. One of them specializes on HIV-affected individuals while the other works on issues of malnutrition and wellbeing. I think I would be happy about both placements and I’ll let you know more about the one that I’ll be working with this spring!
This afternoon I went for a longer run to get outside. The weather is still warm, though it’s very windy. Hopefully the running weather keeps up because I’m really enjoying going out with friends to run and explore Observatory and the surrounding neighborhoods.
That pretty much sums up my day. As a bonus, I have some pictures of my time in Cape Town! The program director’s wife took some pictures of our first orientation session while we were meeting with the professors. Though the pictures are just from the Stanford Centre, they are pictures of me in Cape Town. Hope you enjoy them and I’ll try to put some up in a few days. They can be found at: http://picasaweb.google.com/sgstanton/SpringQuarterOrientation#.
Tim
Monday, March 29, 2010
Orientation and Life in Observatory
Today was an eventful day here. We had our first series of orientations that ran for 7 hours today. It was a full day’s work. We walked to the Stanford Centre (official South African spelling) for the first time at 9 this morning. It is only about 5 blocks from our house, so it shouldn’t be too hard to use in the future and most of our classes will be there. We had all kinds of safety meetings and information thrown at us. We also got the chance to meet all of the professors that will be teaching this quarter and got to hear about their classes and interests in Cape Town. It was a really fun experience. We basically just got to hang out and talk with the Professors for several hours and I feel like I will get to know them quite well by the end of the quarter.
I think I’ve decided on my courses, though I may change a little bit tomorrow when I have a meeting about service learning. I’m taking a course on how HIV/AIDS affects vulnerable populations that will also have a field study which gives me the chance to work on trying to assess where vulnerable populations exist. I will also be taking an Archeology class studying stone age humans that will involve looking at artifacts and visiting locations with cave art. The professor seems really interesting and excited about what he’s doing, so it sounds like it will be a great class. Lastly, I’ll be participating in a service-learning course which allows me to work with a local non-profit. I will work out my placement in a meeting tomorrow and will let you know!
After dinner we visited an interesting poetry reading that happens at a local restaurant every Monday. It was one of the first non-Stanford events that I’ve participated in and it was really an interesting event. A very mixed race group gathered in this restaurant and took turns reading either poems they had written or poems that had really touched them. It was such a treat to see both black and white South Africans mixing over a common interest. I may try to go back next week.
As a part of our orientation, we got a chance to hear from a man who works with a local nonprofit aiding the homeless community in our neighborhood here. His organization is working with local grocery stores to provide meal vouchers that can be given out to homeless people which will get them a meal and will get them in contact with his nonprofit so that they can be placed in the proper care systems to rescue them from homelessness. I want to end this entry with a story about one of the local homeless men. Colin is a white South African who is homeless and has a mental disorder. He decided to take up residence on our porch over the last several weeks. Several nights ago he was having a manic fit and screaming, cussing, and spitting all over the porch. The disturbance was enough to scare the newly arrived group here and security was called to remove him. We told the leader of this nonprofit about him and he knew a little bit of Colin’s story. He had been a math professor until he witnessed his wife and child murdered in front of him. Seeing this act caused him to lose his mind and he has been homeless since and unable to get the help he needs. We saw him on the streets later today and all I could think about was the tragedy of his situation. I wanted to do something. I wanted to help him. Hearing stories like this really makes me want to support organizations that help the least fortunate among us. I pray that as you read this your heart will be spurred into action for a cause that really tugs at your heart. Sometimes you don’t have to look past your front porch for a way you can make a difference.
Tim
I think I’ve decided on my courses, though I may change a little bit tomorrow when I have a meeting about service learning. I’m taking a course on how HIV/AIDS affects vulnerable populations that will also have a field study which gives me the chance to work on trying to assess where vulnerable populations exist. I will also be taking an Archeology class studying stone age humans that will involve looking at artifacts and visiting locations with cave art. The professor seems really interesting and excited about what he’s doing, so it sounds like it will be a great class. Lastly, I’ll be participating in a service-learning course which allows me to work with a local non-profit. I will work out my placement in a meeting tomorrow and will let you know!
After dinner we visited an interesting poetry reading that happens at a local restaurant every Monday. It was one of the first non-Stanford events that I’ve participated in and it was really an interesting event. A very mixed race group gathered in this restaurant and took turns reading either poems they had written or poems that had really touched them. It was such a treat to see both black and white South Africans mixing over a common interest. I may try to go back next week.
As a part of our orientation, we got a chance to hear from a man who works with a local nonprofit aiding the homeless community in our neighborhood here. His organization is working with local grocery stores to provide meal vouchers that can be given out to homeless people which will get them a meal and will get them in contact with his nonprofit so that they can be placed in the proper care systems to rescue them from homelessness. I want to end this entry with a story about one of the local homeless men. Colin is a white South African who is homeless and has a mental disorder. He decided to take up residence on our porch over the last several weeks. Several nights ago he was having a manic fit and screaming, cussing, and spitting all over the porch. The disturbance was enough to scare the newly arrived group here and security was called to remove him. We told the leader of this nonprofit about him and he knew a little bit of Colin’s story. He had been a math professor until he witnessed his wife and child murdered in front of him. Seeing this act caused him to lose his mind and he has been homeless since and unable to get the help he needs. We saw him on the streets later today and all I could think about was the tragedy of his situation. I wanted to do something. I wanted to help him. Hearing stories like this really makes me want to support organizations that help the least fortunate among us. I pray that as you read this your heart will be spurred into action for a cause that really tugs at your heart. Sometimes you don’t have to look past your front porch for a way you can make a difference.
Tim
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Getting off to a good start
Today was a pretty eventful day and it’s just my second day here! I woke up bright an early at 9 am (ok, not so early) and went on a run with a small group of people from the program. We ran from our house to near the University of Cape Town campus and then up a trail to a Cecil Rhodes Monument on the hillside. I thought it was really interesting that there was still a huge monument to someone who basically started this whole oppression of Africans thing in South Africa, but it was a cool monument. It had a great view over our neighborhood and a couple of the other suburbs of Cape Town.
After getting back to town, I had some food and then we went to explore more of the immediate neighborhood. We went over to the larger grocery store, Pick’N’Pay, which is about a 10 minute walk from our house. It was good to get out and see a little bit more of the bus. When we got back to the house, a group of several other students were headed to the train to go to the beach and said we should hurry to get there. We ended up just missing the train, but we decided to take the next one. The train required tickets to ride, but unfortunately the ticket office is closed on Sundays, so we ended up just riding on the train without a ticket and fortunately our ticket was never checked.
The 40 minute train ride took us Muizenberg, a popular surfing beach. It was such a beautiful sight - right on the False Bay with pretty large waves and mountains on both sides. There were a ton of surfers out, even though a red flag signaling that a shark had been spotted was waving. Later the red flag was replaced with a black flag signifying that the water had become too murky to see a shark. Fortunately all our group did was wade in the waves as they crashed on the beach.
We spent a couple hours wandering on the beach and took a few pictures. It was a fun little adventure and it was good to get out of our little neighborhood and see more of the area surrounding Cape Town. We took the train on the way back. On several of the windows this time, there was a sticker posted which stated “Stop TB, Open the Window.” Though the windows were open and we were pretty safe, it was interesting to be reminded of some of the immense health problems that are ravaging the population. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to do something through my time in service learning here.
Back at the house we had our first prepared meal. The landlord’s wife is our cook and brought it over in large pans. We had meat babotie with chutney for dinner which is apparently a pretty South African dish. It was good and I hope that it is a sign that the food this quarter will be good!
Hope all is well with all of you reading this!
Tim
After getting back to town, I had some food and then we went to explore more of the immediate neighborhood. We went over to the larger grocery store, Pick’N’Pay, which is about a 10 minute walk from our house. It was good to get out and see a little bit more of the bus. When we got back to the house, a group of several other students were headed to the train to go to the beach and said we should hurry to get there. We ended up just missing the train, but we decided to take the next one. The train required tickets to ride, but unfortunately the ticket office is closed on Sundays, so we ended up just riding on the train without a ticket and fortunately our ticket was never checked.
The 40 minute train ride took us Muizenberg, a popular surfing beach. It was such a beautiful sight - right on the False Bay with pretty large waves and mountains on both sides. There were a ton of surfers out, even though a red flag signaling that a shark had been spotted was waving. Later the red flag was replaced with a black flag signifying that the water had become too murky to see a shark. Fortunately all our group did was wade in the waves as they crashed on the beach.
We spent a couple hours wandering on the beach and took a few pictures. It was a fun little adventure and it was good to get out of our little neighborhood and see more of the area surrounding Cape Town. We took the train on the way back. On several of the windows this time, there was a sticker posted which stated “Stop TB, Open the Window.” Though the windows were open and we were pretty safe, it was interesting to be reminded of some of the immense health problems that are ravaging the population. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to do something through my time in service learning here.
Back at the house we had our first prepared meal. The landlord’s wife is our cook and brought it over in large pans. We had meat babotie with chutney for dinner which is apparently a pretty South African dish. It was good and I hope that it is a sign that the food this quarter will be good!
Hope all is well with all of you reading this!
Tim
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Safely in Cape Town
Hey all!
I’m writing this message from my room in Cape Town! I’m not sure when I’ll get to post this as the internet isn’t up and running yet, but in any case I made it! The trip from Dubai was not very eventful, but I did meet up with two other Stanford students in the Dubai airport because we were on the same flight. The flight was again great and I got a few hours of sleep to go with the few hours of sleep I had during my layover. Before I knew it, we were in Cape Town landing and going through customs.
A man named Sipho was our driver and picked the three of us up from the airport. He was really nice and pointed out some landmarks along the drive including several of the townships. It was really strange to see a golf course right next to one of the townships. It was kind of strange to see the juxtaposition of wealth and poverty so clearly. When talking to the RA at the house we learned that Sipho, who has been picking up students all day, actually lives in one of the townships and is one of the few trying to work themselves out of their situation. I really liked Sipho and I hope I get to meet more men like him.
We’re staying in the Observatory neighborhood (Obz) in the suburbs around Cape Town itself. So far it has been really nice. I got into the set of three houses that Stanford students will occupy around 6 pm and met up with the group that is already living here. I’m in a triple in the house, though it shouldn’t be much of a problem because I think I’ll spend most of my time in the common areas. I’ll try to post pictures of the house when I can.
After settling in I went to the local grocery store and ATM which is about 1000 feet from our house to withdraw some money. Then I returned to the house, took a shower and went out with a group of 8 students to go explore and grab some food. We ended up going to a sushi restaurant several blocks from our house. It’s interesting that the first food I ate in South Africa was sushi. There are actually a surprising amount of Asian restaurants in the area where we are staying. Hopefully I can explore a little farther tomorrow and get to know more of the area.
It’s about time for bed now as I’ve been a little bit jet-lagged after 35 hours of travel. I’m headed to bed and I’m going to get on Cape Town time, but I’ll update later when I can!
Tim
I’m writing this message from my room in Cape Town! I’m not sure when I’ll get to post this as the internet isn’t up and running yet, but in any case I made it! The trip from Dubai was not very eventful, but I did meet up with two other Stanford students in the Dubai airport because we were on the same flight. The flight was again great and I got a few hours of sleep to go with the few hours of sleep I had during my layover. Before I knew it, we were in Cape Town landing and going through customs.
A man named Sipho was our driver and picked the three of us up from the airport. He was really nice and pointed out some landmarks along the drive including several of the townships. It was really strange to see a golf course right next to one of the townships. It was kind of strange to see the juxtaposition of wealth and poverty so clearly. When talking to the RA at the house we learned that Sipho, who has been picking up students all day, actually lives in one of the townships and is one of the few trying to work themselves out of their situation. I really liked Sipho and I hope I get to meet more men like him.
We’re staying in the Observatory neighborhood (Obz) in the suburbs around Cape Town itself. So far it has been really nice. I got into the set of three houses that Stanford students will occupy around 6 pm and met up with the group that is already living here. I’m in a triple in the house, though it shouldn’t be much of a problem because I think I’ll spend most of my time in the common areas. I’ll try to post pictures of the house when I can.
After settling in I went to the local grocery store and ATM which is about 1000 feet from our house to withdraw some money. Then I returned to the house, took a shower and went out with a group of 8 students to go explore and grab some food. We ended up going to a sushi restaurant several blocks from our house. It’s interesting that the first food I ate in South Africa was sushi. There are actually a surprising amount of Asian restaurants in the area where we are staying. Hopefully I can explore a little farther tomorrow and get to know more of the area.
It’s about time for bed now as I’ve been a little bit jet-lagged after 35 hours of travel. I’m headed to bed and I’m going to get on Cape Town time, but I’ll update later when I can!
Tim
Friday, March 26, 2010
Mid-Travel
Well I’m about halfway through my travel to Cape Town now. I’m sitting in the Dubai airport writing this. It’s interesting to see that everything is written in Arabic first and then English. At this moment it is almost 9 pm and my next flight leaves at 8:35 am tomorrow. This airport is really nice. I guess they built it before the economy in Dubai crashed. I tried to check out the hourly rates for the hotel upstairs, but it was a bit pricey so I’m going to try to sleep in the terminal.
The first flight was pretty uneventful, but Emirates sure provides great service. I got 3 meals on a 12 hour flight and got a chance to watch the Blindside and just sleep for a little bit. My sense of time is completely off right now. Dubai is 8 hours later than Connecticut and 11 hours later than California. Cape Town is only 6 hours later than Connecticut, so I’m trying to stay up a little later to get more on schedule.
I’ll update again when I get to Cape Town!
Tim
The first flight was pretty uneventful, but Emirates sure provides great service. I got 3 meals on a 12 hour flight and got a chance to watch the Blindside and just sleep for a little bit. My sense of time is completely off right now. Dubai is 8 hours later than Connecticut and 11 hours later than California. Cape Town is only 6 hours later than Connecticut, so I’m trying to stay up a little later to get more on schedule.
I’ll update again when I get to Cape Town!
Tim
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Ihambo - Mwendo
Hey Everyone!
I'm finally getting this blog up for my trip to Cape Town this spring and hopefully Tanzania this summer. I called it ihambo and mwendo because those mean "journey" in Xhosa and Swahili. The next few months are going to be just that - a journey. My trip takes me to Cape Town, South Africa until June where I will be studying with a group of Stanford students at the University of Cape Town. While I'm there I will be taking a few courses, but what I'm particularly excited about is my chance to help a non-profit through service-learning. I will learn which non-profit I will be working with hopefully in the next week or so and I will let you all know!
For the summer, I'm hoping to head north to Tanzania to do qualitative research on mothers' perceptions of disease. I will be joined there by Marlene Kennedy who spent last summer there (her blog is at http://katika-imani.blogspot.com) and also happens to be my girlfriend of two and a half years. Our project is trying to discover why mothers don't practice hand hygiene even if they know that there is bacteria on their hands and know that washing their hands can remove that bacteria. We will be conducting surveys and focus groups around the area of Bagamoyo Town on the eastern coast of Tanzania. Unfortunately we haven't received the funding for this summer's work yet, but we have several grant proposals still in the pipeline, so hopefully this will work itself out. We would really appreciate your prayers for summer plans.
Well, I have to get back to packing and getting last minute things done. I leave tonight at 11 PM EST from JFK and will be in Cape Town on Saturday. I don't know if I'll get a chance to update between now and then, but I will try to write something up on the plane and post it as soon as I get a chance. Thanks for all of your prayers and support and feel free to send this to anyone who you think might enjoy reading it!
Tim
I'm finally getting this blog up for my trip to Cape Town this spring and hopefully Tanzania this summer. I called it ihambo and mwendo because those mean "journey" in Xhosa and Swahili. The next few months are going to be just that - a journey. My trip takes me to Cape Town, South Africa until June where I will be studying with a group of Stanford students at the University of Cape Town. While I'm there I will be taking a few courses, but what I'm particularly excited about is my chance to help a non-profit through service-learning. I will learn which non-profit I will be working with hopefully in the next week or so and I will let you all know!
For the summer, I'm hoping to head north to Tanzania to do qualitative research on mothers' perceptions of disease. I will be joined there by Marlene Kennedy who spent last summer there (her blog is at http://katika-imani.blogspot.com) and also happens to be my girlfriend of two and a half years. Our project is trying to discover why mothers don't practice hand hygiene even if they know that there is bacteria on their hands and know that washing their hands can remove that bacteria. We will be conducting surveys and focus groups around the area of Bagamoyo Town on the eastern coast of Tanzania. Unfortunately we haven't received the funding for this summer's work yet, but we have several grant proposals still in the pipeline, so hopefully this will work itself out. We would really appreciate your prayers for summer plans.
Well, I have to get back to packing and getting last minute things done. I leave tonight at 11 PM EST from JFK and will be in Cape Town on Saturday. I don't know if I'll get a chance to update between now and then, but I will try to write something up on the plane and post it as soon as I get a chance. Thanks for all of your prayers and support and feel free to send this to anyone who you think might enjoy reading it!
Tim
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