Hallo Suid-Afrika: A Very Interesting Train Trip

So I haven’t posted in a while, and a lot of things have happened! I moved out of my orientation residence and into a house with other American students who are on my program. I have an RA, and there are 19 of us split into two houses. Essentially the “house” is a compound, with two separate houses, a large garden and a backyard. Enclosing all of this is a huge fence and a gate with a key swipe entry. We have a security guard who sits inside the gate from 6pm-6am everyday as an extra precaution. Break ins are common here, so almost all houses have a gate around them, and the few that don’t have bars on the lower windows. Our first night we had to learn how to lock all of the various gates and doors on our house. Most of the rooms are singles, but I drew one of the set of keys for a double. Our room is enormous though, and even has a fireplace, it’s super cute!

I’ve been exploring Cape Town a little more this past week, while still going through UCT registration and orientation. Registration here is wicked complicated. Nothing is computerized, so it involves a lot of paper forms and running around to various departments. The walk alone to “Upper”, where the actual classes are held is super intense. Campus is spread out, upwards on the side of Devil’s Peak. Lower is where students live, Middle is the administrative buildings and Upper is the old part of campus and where classes are held. Upper is really beautiful, and the background of the mountain is unreal looking.

Today my roommate Emily and I went to Muizenberg on the train. There is a beautiful beach there, and plenty of people were surfing, something I definitely want to try while I’m here. We headed back on the train a little before 5. I cannot accurately describe the crush of people in the train car. When Em and I got on, there weren’t any seats, but there was a comfortable amount of standing room. By the time we made it half way to our stop in Mowbray, you literally could not move on the train. The doors remained open the whole time, and people were literally hanging half out of the open doorways, and standing in between the cars on the little platform. Em and I were obviously out of place, and about 4 stops prior to where we wanted to get off, we were told to start moving towards the exit or we wouldn’t make it. Someone told me “you must fight!” It was terrifying/hilarious. I’m not entirely sure how I managed to get off the train, but Em’s from NYC so she was at least was aggressive enough to lead the way off. At the very end, I thought I wasn’t going to actually make it off the train, or that only half of me would make it off. Needless to say, I will not be taking the train at rush hour ever again.