From Penguins to the Point.....

Rotary Scholars Jolene, Rose, Andrea and I spent a day together to visit Boulder’s Beach and Cape Point.

Boulder’s Beach is located just past Simon’s Town, a very picturesque town and the base for the African navy. Boulder’s Beach gets its name from the large boulders along the beach front that protect it from the southeaster and is home to a colony of more than 2300 jackass penguins. The penguins get this name from the sound they make which sounds like a donkey braying.

We were very excited to see penguins at a beach! Something quite unusual and they lived up to our expectations. They were all over the place. Jumping in the water with the swimmers, waddling up onto the beach, and down the walkways with the people, it was amazing.

After having a picnic lunch on the beach and enjoying some sun and penguins we headed down to Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve. Our hope was to see baboons at Cape Point, preferably from inside the car, as they tend to be very aggressive as they are always on the lookout for your food.

We went to the lookout point, which is the lighthouse and the view was spectacular! Although very beautiful, Cape Point had been fierce and deadly for many a ship and sailor.

We took lots of pictures and savored the view from every possible angle before making our way down and then drove the tip of know as the Cape of Good Hope. Again, beautiful scenery, but still no baboon sightings.

When we got back to the car to leave, we joked that we might have to pull out some food to entice some baboons, and Rose decided we needed to break out the cookies anyway, so we decided to bring the box of cookies from the trunk (boot in South Africa) and snack on them in the car, but we would have to hide them if we spotted any baboons. Baboons can get very aggressive about food, and we didn’t want a window smashing for a cookie.

So, we were heading out of the reserve talking about how beautiful the place was, how good the cookies were, but that we were disappointed we hadn’t seen baboons. We finished our cookies and not much further down the road, there they were! The baboons! Wonder if they knew we had cookies? Thank goodness we ate them all! We actually hid the box, just in case…..I think they have a keen sense of smell.

A mother with a baby on her back crossing the road, a male sitting on a rock at the side of the road….it was fantastic. So, Jolene drove drown and turned around so we could come back and get a better look and some pictures….with the windows rolled up! They were pretty well behaved, no jumping on the cars or anything. Then other cars starting coming along as well to get their pictures too, but they still stayed calm.

So, we had a wonderful day. Spending time with good friends, penguins and baboons, what more could you want on a sunny day in South Africa?

Enjoy the photos on PicasaWeb. Link on the Right Side.
La Shona

Oh Where, Oh Where, Did My Blog Entries Go?

Well, it seems as though all the entries I made to this blog from the computers on UCT campus are nowhere to be found!!!!

SO, I must attempt to repost all my stories.

The Lessons I've learned?

1. Type all your blogs in WORD and save them first. Then copy and paste to your blog.
2. Don't update your blog from campus!

Sorry that I've left everyone with my climbing story....however, there are new pictures on Picasa Web to keep you busy until I can get my stories up to date!

Just click the La Shona's PhotoWeb link on the right side of the screen.

Have a great day!

Climb Every Mountain....

or at least crawl up one very, very slowly! That's one thing I did during a jam packed Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar Orientation Weekend! And what a weekend it was--I'm still recuperating.

All the scholars attending South African, and neighboring countries, universities and scholars from South Africa and nearby countries that are soon to be going to other countries to start their year abroud gathered for a weekend of fun, lots of information and quality time getting to know one another.

Lions Head--Look closely and you will see why it is called such!

Isn't this a beautiful view of Camps Bay?

Now, those folks who scampered up that mountain too fast may have missed this--I prefer the "take time to smell the roses" approach....also known as the "huff and puff your way up the mountain" approach, but I prefer the flowery description, though the latter is much more true to my form that day!

I'll share more about my adventurous weekend later!

Be sure to click on the La Shona's PicasaWeb on the left, as there are MORE PHOTOS!!!

Enjoy!

And, it's been GREAT to hear from everyone! Keep those comments coming...I love hearing from you.

Cheers!

L

Look Right, Then Left, Then Right Again.....

and again, and again! That's what you do when crossing the street on foot or in a car turning Right!!!

Well, thanks to everyone who gave me words of support for getting my car home and driving around on the left, left, left, side of the road. Keep sending your words of encouragement, as they are certainly good to hear and are working wonders.

I have managed to make it through my first week of classes, and have driven myself, in my own car, a 1994 Nissan Sentra, found parking, and found my way back to John & Kay's without getting lost. Granted I didn't always go back the way that John did, but I found my way back just fine...maybe a bit more scenic, but fine none the less.

The most trouble I had was getting out of John and Kay's driveway the first morning, as I had to back out on a busy road during the morning traffic. And as I sat and sat and sat, waiting for an opening, I see John coming running past my car window, out into the middle of the road and like a New York cop, stop both lanes of traffic, and away I went! Thanks John, or I may have still been sitting there!!! Those Rotarians are quite amazing, eh?

I am still hunting for accommodations, but am getting closer I know, and have a good feeling about some calls and emails I've placed. Will go look at a place this evening.

My two classes for this semester I believe will be good ones---Debates in African Studies and Oral History. Plus I will have to be working on a thesis, so I've been brainstorming ideas for a research topic---I'll share that when I've decided.

This weekend will be the Rotary Scholar Orientation, which is a big event and will be the first time I will actually get to meet all the other scholars, though I have met 3 other scholars so far. This will be an event for all the incoming and outgoing scholars---should be great fun!

Well, I'm going to sign off for now, as it is Noon here, and lunch here is typically 1:00, so I try to beat the lunch crowd!

I will try get back on a little sooner this time. Sorry there was a delay this time, but getting all my ducks in a row for classes was a bit hectic and I just got into the labs on campus! My how the tables have turned, huh?

Hope all is well back home!

Cheers,
L

A Lesson in Patience....

The Famous Jamison Hall and the Jammie Steps!

The beauty of Cape Town can easily cause one to forget about being in a third world country, though, as one South African student put it yesterday, Cape Town is the closest to "first world" in South Africa, or in Africa.

Now, for those who are "geographically" challenged, here's a little lesson:

AFRICA is a CONTINENT.

SOUTH AFRICA is a COUNTRY located at the southern most tip of the African Continent.

If you click HERE the link will take you to a website that will show you a map of the continents. The map is interactive, so you can click on the continent of Africa and it will then show you the countries. You will notice that South Africa is located at the very bottom (South!) and it will also show you Cape Town, where I'm located.

Cape Town itself is pretty cosmoplitan, compared to what you might think of when you think of Africa.

However, I am learning that just because they have many of the items we do, and life seems to move at a pretty fast pace ("hectic" is the term that is used a lot here), that I am to assume nothing.

Having worked many years in higher education, and having been a college student for even more years, I can say I have a lot of experience with higher education processes and procedures.........here's where the lesson in patience comes in!

And I do hope that students are reading this so as to appreciate a bit more what you do have when you register for your classes :)

Last week was orientation and pre-registration for International students, which went along without a hitch for me, surprisingly. So, I go in early to campus Monday morning to collect necessary papers so that I may register.

And so the process began

1. Go to the Graduate School of Humanities (GSH) and collect papers to take to the Faculties (Department) for signatures. I gathered my papers and headed to the Oppenhiemer building where the Center for African Studies (CAS) is located.

2. Go to the Reception desk at the CAS, explain that I'm a Post Grad student who needs to register and needs to have my registration papers signed, and ask who I need to see. They want to send me back to GSH. I tell them GSH already gave me the papers needed and sent me to CAS. I was then told to speak to Prof. Garuba, but he was over at Jammie Hall doing registration. I ask if I should make an appt., but the suggestion was made that I try to speak to him at Jammie Hall. So I gather directions to Jammie Hall. (That's Jammie as in "toast and jam)

3. I proceed to Jammie Hall to track down Prof. Garuba. I see from the signs that it is Undergrad Registration. Not where I'm supposed to be, but I'm bound and determined to track down Prof. Garuba. I ask the young lady at the information desk and she doesn't know who he is, so I ask some of the other professors, and they say he is not there he must of already left for lunch.

4. I go back to CAS, since I believe I've missed Prof. Garuba at Jammie Hall. I get to the Receptionist and when I tell her I missed him, she points across the Lobby and says there he is, as he turns and goes into his office and closes his door. I knock on his door, quickly tell him what I need and he asks me to make an appointment as he is preparing to go to Jammie Hall!

5. I go back to the receptionist to make an appointment and he doesn't have anything until Wednesday. So, I make the appointment for Wednesday (today). I did manage to ask her about the times for the classes and where I might find them, and she was able to tell me what they were for the 2 CAS classes I was interested in taking. For any of the other courses I would need to go the website of the Faculty and look...I'm still looking!

REGISTRATION Part 2

6. I arrive at CAS at my scheduled time, 11:30 Wednesday morning to speak with the Convenor, Prof. Garuba. When I arrive the Receptionist looks at me with this expression that told me I was not in for good news. She told me that Prof. Garuba was not there yet and asked if I had anything else I could do, and I said no, but I could go chill out for a while and she could call my cell. Then the director came to get me, but when she found out what my program was said I really needed to speak with the other guy. So, away I went.

7. It was a lovely day for a walk, and so I visited the many different societys and clubs that had set up tables and tents along the Jammie steps and walkway.

8. Approximately 20 minutes later my cell rings. Lucinda, the receptionist, (we're on a first name basis now!) called to let me know he was back. I told here I would be right there.

9. I meet with Prof. Garuba and explain what I want to do, show him the classes I have picked out and I was all ready for him to sign my papers so I could run around campus and have all the other departments, excuse me faculties, sign my paper....but, SCREEEEECH!!!

10. The program I was in was not designed to take graduate courses, I would have to take undergraduate courses----been there, done that. And he couldn't approve me to take the courses I had picked for the program I was in, even though, I had been given the graduate courses handbook and materials for this program, and it looked as if I could take graduate courses I could not.

11. I had to make a choice. Stay in the program and take undergrad courses. Or ask to switch to the honors program, take the grad classes that I wanted. Which would mean a delay in registration and I would have to write a request to the facutly and GSH.

12 I made an appointment for Friday at 9:30 AM to see Dr. Garuba about registering for the Honors program.

13. Classes start Monday.

In case you're wondering, I started my process a LONG time ago, and asked many, many questions before I arrived.

But, I'm certainly having to learn patience from the standpoint of being a student, and from being a university employee that works in the environment daily.

It's one thing to recognize that you are in another country. It's another to recognize the different ways that things are done in another country.

Traffic moves quickly here, but other things do not.

There's a long list of sayings that I will incorporate into my blogs when appropriate. And one I will use now is the saying "Just Now", which doesn't mean just now or right now or immediately. It might mean 10-15 minutes or so.

So, for someone like me who doesn't like to have people wait on me, and who prefers to be early or on time, I'm doing a lot of waiting on others. So, I need to get with this program quickly, or I'm going to stress myself out.

The other thing that I have learned through this process, is that registration is not streamlined. So, students must still go through several different steps in order to finalize their registration. For example, a student that wants to take a psychology course, a math course, a science course and a music course, must get signatures for each course from the respective faculties (departments). And the University of Cape Town (UCT) campus is not a small campus. It is big, strung out and steep!

So, there is no hopping on the Internet and looking at all the courses to see what time they are offered and having 15-10 sections of one course and signing up online. That doesn't happen.

But one thing that I thought was outstanding was the number of social organizations and clubs that was out on the Jammie Plaza this week for students to join. UCT encourages students to get involved in service, social and sport organizations. There are all kinds to choose from, like the Hip Hop Society--thought about that one, but figured an injury was definitely in my future--Mountain & Ski, Wine & Culture, Photography, Ballroom Dancing, Habitat for Humanity, and SHAWCO (http://www.shawco.org/) to name a few.

Actually, check out SHAWCO, http://www.shawco.org/, as it is an organization that allows you to volunteer to go to the townships and help tutor or mentor children and adults. A program I've heard a lot about and hope to get involved with if my schedule will allow.

So, as I practice patience, I am also reminding myself that though the buildings of a higher educational institution may look the same on the outside, I must not be so ignorant to think that everything works the same....which I KNOW it doesn't, as that's true even in the states. I think that sometimes we (I) am walking among these beautiful, achitectural structures of academia, and I make assumptions...and it is in making assumptions that danger and ignorance collide!

View from Rugby Field, looking toward Upper Campus

So, just as we are told not to judge a book by it's cover, or to judge a person by there appearance, I am not to judge or make assumptions based on what I see...because what I see does not tell the full story of what truly is....a country where electricity is sparse and rolling blackouts are scheduled, internet is on a limited, not unlimited, basis. It is not that this country does not have what we have, but they do not necessarily enjoy it limitlessly like we do, or for the cost we do.

I open my eyes a little wider, I breathe a little deeper, I feel a little better.
L