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