I'm here!

I arrived in Port Elizabeth Monday morning and am settling in. Even though my flat is not a beach facing one, we can see the ocean from our balcony. We only have to cross a reasonably busy street to get to the beach. The summer temps (around 80 Fahrenheit) and sunshine are a welcome change from the rain and just above freezing temps we were experiencing in Europe (well 5-10 Celsius in Paris, 10-15 Celsius in Rome and 10-20 Celsius in Athens). We went grocery shopping for the first time- our director picked us up from the airport, brought us to our flats, and told us to meet him in 10 minutes to go to the grocery store (Pick N’Pay). Needless to say, it was a bit overwhelming and I didn’t get nearly enough stuff. Although some of the food at the store was unfamiliar, I was able to find such familiar things like peanut butter and Cadbury’s chocolate (and of course veggies, fruits, pasta, etc.). Since the rand to dollar ratio is so good (about 10 rand to 1 dollar), everything seems extremely cheap to us.

Tuesday was the start of our orientation at NMMU (Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University), the university where our classes will be held (although we’re only taking classes full of the CSB/SJU students on the program, they are being taught by NMMU professors in NMMU classrooms). We watched a movie about the campus and had a little tour of campus. We also had our ID cards taken. Someone decided it would be fun if we had a contest for the funniest ID card picture. I wasn’t sure if I was going to participate in this contest, but the person in front of me in line encouraged me to make a face, so I did. The face I decided upon, however, was not the face that ended up on mu ID card. I had it all ready (I think it was some sort of surprised face with an open mouth), but then the lady taking the picture said she wasn’t ready yet, so I closed my mouth. The lady decide not to give me a few seconds warning on when she was taking the picture, so the picture I have is of that. I haven’t decided if I think it is just a very bad picture of me or a funny picture of me, but many others of the group have found it hilarious, so I guess that works for me! We tried to go to the beach when we got back to the flats that afternoon, but it was very windy and all the sand was blowing everywhere.
For dinner two of my flat mates- Amina and Laura, and I made spaghetti. Making my own dinner is something I’m going to have to get used to. All my other flat mates lived in on campus apartments last semester, so they have some experience with it. I still had a meal plan (my pay as an RA), so I could just walk over to the dining hall any time I wanted and get food quickly. I’ll have to adjust to dinner taking 1- 2 hours if I have to help a bit with prep and clean up . . . and that’s not even counting dishes, since our maid who comes daily does those for us! (yes, we are rather spoiled in the cleaning department- our maid makes our beds, does our dishes, takes out our trash, and cleans our floors & bathrooms daily). That night we had a contest for the funniest ID card picture. While I thought several of the pictures were quite funny (a couple “3rd grade” closed mouth smiles, some “sexy” pouts, and a couple serious glares) the rest of the group choose mine as the winner. We had a big ceremony for counting the votes and it was fun hanging out with other people in my group.

Wednesday we had academic orientation at NMMU. We learned all about the grading policies and class structures of NMMU. It seems more European- grades besides A, AB, B, and BC are still common and their equivalent of an A is above 75% (but it’s really hard to get- most students are trying just to get above the pass @ 50%). Since we aren’t taking actual classes through NMMU (our NMMU professors hired by CSB/SJU to teach our classes around our schedule have been instructed to grade us on a more American scale so that our GPAs don’t get screwed up while we’re here), it wasn’t information that was really that important for us. I thought it was still a little interesting to see what the professors are used to. We took a mandatory trip to the local shopping mall (our director tried to get us out of it since he said it wasn’t a cultural experience, but the organizers of the orientation said we couldn’t get out of it) and I got some shoes and more groceries (2 of the 4 other girls in my flat are going in together on groceries, and we’re starting a grocery collection from scratch, so we need a lot of stuff!). Although many of the stores in the mall have different names from the US, we’re quickly figuring out what’s what and there are a couple stores that I recognize from England/Ireland like Woolworth’s. We were just hanging out in our flats when the power went out that evening. Thankfully, our group had nothing to do with it- our part of PE just lost power for pretty much no reason. Power shortages are very common here- I know last year’s study abroad group actually had only a few hours of power a day for the last month or two of their stay.

Thursday we had a tour of Port Elizabeth. We began our tour in the port part of the town. We learned all about containers (the big metal crates the ships carry across the oceans), PE’s fruit & metal exports, and how the strong winds affect the huge cranes (in winds above 85 km/hour they can break and get caught in wind gusts and end up in the ocean) from a retired captain turned tour guide. After that we drove through some of the townships. It was eye-opening to see where most of the people in this city live- PE has 1 million people, but 900,000 of them live in the townships. While some of the people live in the government provided tiny cottages (they’re not much, but they had a window & a door, and I think some had at least 1 interior wall), many are still in metal shacks. After we drove over a hill leaving the city centre & tourist area behind, the townships stretched out for miles in almost every direction. For the first time I felt like I was in a “different place than what I am used to. Walking around our little part of town it’s easy to forget that we’re not just on holidays in Florida or somewhere in Europe. The university campus could well be in another state. I know there is lots of poverty in the US (and in other parts of the world), but this was definitely a new experience for me. We visited the Red Location Museum, a museum dedicated to the history of the Red Location section of the townships. The architecture of the museum was really unique- it was supposed to make the visitor feel a little awkward and not completely comfortable. The architect used a lot of concrete and rusted metal so that it fits in to the area it’s located in- they built it right in the Red location, which still has shacks in it. We learned about some of people involved in the anti-apartheid movement like Govern Mbeki, a woman who our guide referred to as the Mother Theresa of the area (I can’t remember her name right now . . .), and a guy who built the first stadium for black sports teams (can’t remember his name either . . .). In these big rusted containers called memory boxes they had displays about topics like jazz anti-apartheid music and a room set up like the inside of one of the shacks. They also had a moving annotated photo journal display about the Uitenhage massacre (I’m not sure of all the history/significance of it yet, but basically on the 25 anniversary of the Sharpeville Massacre, another huge event in the anti-apartheid struggle, an unknown number of people were killed while trying to attend a funeral). I’m looking forward to learning more about this country’s history in my Senior Seminar class and my Poli Sci class.

After lunch at the Green Acres shopping mall again we went on to historic Port Elizabeth. On the way we got a few glimpses of the new football (soccer) stadium being built in PE for the 2010 World Cup. South Africa was awarded the games and the government or some committee decided which cities would host which games. PE was awarded several games, the biggest of which is the third place match. Since PE didn’t have a big & nice enough stadium to host this game (football isn’t hugely popular in this part of South Africa), they had to build one. It’s coming along, but with the frequent power outages and transportation strikes, our tour guide is just hoping that it will be done in time. As for Port Elizabeth’s beginnings, the British founded Port Elizabeth around 1820 as a port. We took a look at an old lighthouse (now quite a ways from the shore since they have been extending the shore line ever since) and a large stone pyramid built as a memorial for the daughter of the guy who founded the town. Her name was Elizabeth, so that’s how the city got its name.

Yesterday morning we visited the AIDS Haven (otherwise known as the House of Resurrection), one of the places we can choose to do our volunteer work. For some reason I was really tired, but the information the head of the Haven was giving us was very interesting. She explained how the children ended up here and how she’s working to get money from the government to help with their care (right now the Haven runs entirely on donations). The Haven has 5 babies, ~10 toddlers, and ~15 older children who attend school. Since we’d be volunteering during the day (Monday & Tuesday mornings), we’d be working mostly with the toddlers. She was very adamant on what she wanted us to do when/if we volunteered there- stimulate these children and help get them ready for school. She said that these children don't need toys- they have tons of them. They go on more excursions than I do. They need to get ready for school so they can get a good education. We visited the nursery and said hi to the babies and then headed over to the Play school to play with the toddlers a bit. I haven’t decided yet which place I will do my volunteer work at yet. When I first applied to the program I said I wanted to work at the Haven since I am pre-med and I thought it would be a great medically related service opportunity. I’m not really sure how much I would learn about AIDS if I work at the Haven, but I suppose I will learn something about the healthcare system in South Africa, which would be good. I also like working with older kids though, which would be what I’d be doing in Pendla primary school, our other volunteer option (which we’re visiting on Monday).

When we returned we took yet another trip to grocery store- hopefully our last one for at least a week. We walked there, but the group caught a combi (?) back- my first one of the trip. Combis are basically small mini vans that function a bit like taxis. They drive around and stop for people and bring them where they want to go. They don’t just pick up 1 person or group though- they cram the van with people and drop them off at their destinations as they go. As they drive along the door man collects money (6 rand) from every person. We’ll be taking them to school every day once classes start. I went to the beach for an hour or so, but the wind was quite strong again so I ended up with a layer of sand coating most of my body. In the evening we had a group excursion to a local cricket match. The Port Elizabeth Chevrolet Warriors were playing the Lions (I forget where they were from). They were playing a new, short version of cricket (2-3 hours instead of all day or the traditional 5 days) that’s only come along in last 5 years. It has become popular in South Africa, and is catching on in India, but not so much in England. Gary is friends with an English couple and they came along to explain the game to us, which was helpful. Nakita, one of the girls in our group from Trinidad & Tobego, also helped explain the rules to us. I don’t think most of us completely knew what was going on by the end of the game, but we figured out when to cheer and were happy when our team won.

Today we have a free day, so I’m off to the beach. I probably won’t be writing quite this much on a weekly basis, so I hope this satisfies your curiosity for now! I’ll try and get some pictures up next week when I have access to free internet (we have to pay for internet at out flats, but have free access @ school). I’ll post some highlights/reflections on Europe in a little bit.

Bye for now!