And so the second half begins...

Sanibonani!


...which means "hello" in isiZulu, one of the eleven co-official languages of South Africa. isiZulu is predominately spoken within the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Even though my host family is not Zulu, I sometimes watch Zulu programs on television to help me fall asleep. I'm not implying that listening to the Zulu would encourage one to sleep, but it just tends to be what's on tv around bedtime. 


As the title of the post implies, I'm officially on the second half of my exchange. In fact, three months from today I left Chicago! Weird, ey?


Oh well, I tend to ramble about such matters...


Now on to what you really wanted to read about, what I've been up to lately. This past week may appear to be less exciting than the other ones during the last month or so, but the last few weeks were filled with exciting and unusual experiences. 


The school week in South Africa barely differs from that of Chicago. I get up, go to school, come home, do work, eat supper, then go to bed. My routine is interluded with various sport matches of either of my host sisters, a trip to the shops, or a spontaneous detour to another part of Cape Town. I would elaborate further on the details of my daily routine, but I think that you get the picture.


This past weekend I had yet another few exciting experiences. On Saturday, I had the pleasure to meet up with the other exchange students in the Cape Town area. The majority of these students reside in Mitchell's Plain, which I have yet to visit. From what I know, Mitchell's Plain could not be anymore different than where I live, Plattekloof. Still, it was great to have the opportunity to share our mutual thoughts, reactions, and feelings about being on exchange. Regardless of socioeconomic status, South Africa is a culturally rich country. My fellow exchange students and I were all able to acknowledge that point. 


Now, what did we all do together besides make mutual cultural understanding? (Wow, that sounds like something out of an AFS pamphlet!) We went to one of South Africa's three ice rinks to do what else, but ice skate! I haven't ice skated in a long time but hey, I didn't fall once! The last thing I imagined myself doing in Cape Town was going ice skating. Yet another cultural misconception has been proven wrong. What really stood out to me was the diversity of people at the rink. In many public places in South Africa, racial segregation is somewhat evident. Obviously, there is no more official racial segregation in the country. Many places such as restaurants, bars, and shops tend to have a clientele that is made of one race. My existence in Cape Town so far has been quite "white". There are days that go by during which I may have less than one or two interactions with a person of a different skin color. Now, if you are reading this in America such a concept doesn't seem so weird. I attend a mostly white school, have solely white friends, and have a white host family. Therefore, my existence is primarily white. Keep in mind that less than ten percent of South Africa's population is white. Going back to the ice skating, I was in fact shocked by the seemingly equal distribution of whites, blacks and coloureds on the ice. It also appeared as if there was an equal distribution of people who could and really couldn't skate!


Saturday evening I went out in town with a friend. We went to Long Street, which I have been told is something of an experience in Cape Town. I will let you google Long Street. I can assure you that I really did in fact experience it!


Sunday morning, that same friend and I went for a walk to this area of Cape Town called "Devil's Peak." As the name implies, it is very high up! We went on something of a hike to what used to be a quarry. It was pretty strange coming upon a huge hole in the middle of a mountain in the middle of a city. However, that's Cape Town for you! One thing you must understand about this city is that it perpetually has the power to surprise.


Many people ask me what the weather in South Africa is like. As in America, the weather varies greatly based on geographical location. Cape Town at the moment is in "winter", which means that it's about 55-70, with intermittent clouds and rain. People come to school in scarves to ward off the cold. Odd, ey? When it's 55 degrees in Chicago we all put on shorts and flip flops. Today at school was a civvies day and I wore my Havaianas and my classmates honestly thought I was crazy. It's still summer for me!


Pictures will come up shortly. The internet is too slow for my patience tonight, so must wait a little bit. Your patience will be rewarded!