So I haven’t updated my blog in a bit because it seems like not much has happened recently—homework is picking up, I’m getting into a daily rhythm of life, and it’s only now and then that my breath catches and I realize I’m living in an entirely different country. We go to Jo-burg next weekend, but until then it’s just going to be school, homework, & routine.
Which looks something like this.
I wake up at 7:25 every morning (earlier than I have woken up since high school), eat breakfast (also a break from the American routine) and walk to school at about 8:00.
Ways We Entertain Ourselves While Walking
-naming the dogs (watch out for Brutus)
-guessing whether the people we see are going to greet us
-trying to make it the whole walk without noticing anything new (so far: fail)
-memorizing the order of landmarks (the house with the blue front yard comes before the foot-deep hole in the sidewalk, but only when going north)
-taking inventory of the trash in the alley by the railway line- you’d be surprised how fast different items come and go
We then have class from 8:30 to 11:30 Monday through Thursday. So far my favorite has been our study of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. For the first two weeks we were taught by one of the seventeen original commissioners, but we have a regular lecturer now because Glenda has left for the Sudan to do peace work there. The class is, understandably, extremely thought-provoking and the material is sometimes pretty difficult to get through, emotionally. I’m also taking African Traditional Religions & Worldview, Pauline Writings, and Perspectives on Transformation. And I have quite a bit of homework for all of them, which I should be doing now instead of writing this.
After class we usually eat lunch in the Sugarbowl, which is Cornerstone’s student lounge. On most days I pack a sandwich to save money, but there’s a restaurant attached to the school where they sell really good chicken pitas for only R13 (just under $2). I’m making friends with the woman behind the counter, who pretty much knows what I want to order every time I come in. On some days we walk down to Azraa’s for samosas and curry, or to the bakery in the other direction where you can get doughnuts dirt cheap. On Thursday Lindsey got them for everybody in our Perspectives class and only spent R18. Needless to say I might gain a little bit of weight by the time I get home.
After lunch I spend the afternoon in the library checking email and doing homework- unless we’re feeling irresponsible and choose to go to the beach at Muizenburg instead (have you ever thought about how hard it would be to go to school in the summer? Especially when the water is such a pretty tropical color and there are amateur surfers to amuse you?) Then it’s the walk back home and a few more hours of homework/lazing around until dinner, usually made by Ode and always delicious (last night was tacos, although the winner of the week was Fat Tuesday’s pancakes).
If I’ve already finished up all my work for the day or am just flat-out feeling irresponsible, my end-of-the-day reward is a slab of Cadbury’s chocolate while curled up with my Spanish Harry Potter book. I’m beginning to wonder how I’ll ever eat chocolate in the States again—Cadbury’s is absolutely divine. I have a few friends at school that make sure I only buy one bar a week, because otherwise I would probably get a bar a day and then be embarrassed every time I’d have to explain why, exactly, I ran out of money so fast while on my semester abroad. But since I’ve got so much homework to do this weekend, I think I might just deserve two this week. We’ll see.
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