Finally!!

Wow, so I arrived in Cape Town on Tuesday night after a stressful and long journey. The emotional whirlwind that has followed since then has been intense. I went from enchantment to homesickness to panic to really happy to less happy to content with being sort of happy and being patient and waiting for all of the potential of this trip to materialize.

I live in a suburb of Cape Town called Rosebank in an apartment with two other girls and thankfully we all get along really well. I have been conversing, exploring and hanging out with a bunch of different people on the program and have encountered an abundance of coolness here..and a few Jews too. Just kidding, Jews are cool.

Its weird to feel so rootless, foundationless here. Though I have been getting to know people, I cannot recall ever feeling so unstable; but I think its a good kind of instability. I am here to be challenged, to meet different kinds of people and understand a completely new culture and though it seems lonely or hard right now, I know that it needs to be this way in the beginning. It is not possible to just walk into a new situation and have everything be the way you want it to. As Sunnie says its about the process. I am head-deep in that process right now and I am ok with being there.

So enough pretentious preaching, onto the fun stuff. Cape Town is the most gorgeous place I have ever been. It seemed a little underwhelming at first but then you look past the stores and streets and realize there are the most beautiful mountains from almost every angle. The campus of the University of Cape Town is breathtaking, I cannot even describe it. I will definitely soon add pictures but I want to build up your expectations (or I forgot to bring my camera). The buildings are historic and grandiose and the landscapes add so much color and freshness. I am so excited to sit on a field and read a book and become a part of the picture.

I do not start classes for another 3 weeks, but that is ok because I have time to acclimate to Cape Town and really get to know where I am. I'm in Africa, AFRICA!! I want to know what that means.

Last night definitely started m education. I went to a few club...in my shobbos clothes. The first one was a little too posh and pretentious, but in an unconvincing way since everything here is so cheap, which is great. Then as we wondered along Long Street which is the place to be in Cape Town, we found this other place that seemed very local and cool. Everyone was wearing weird costumes. People had bloody knives coming out of there heads and shirts and crazy make-up and I, along with the people I was with, were a little skeptical of the sanity of Cape Townians, but then we found out it was a themed "kill your neighbor" party and were comforted well kinda. The streets were filled with so many types of people and eclectic shops and I realized how interesting it is too completely immerse yourself in a new culture. I want to become a part of it, I want to understand it and its history. Apparently Americans here are easy to spot because we carry around water bottles and ask lots of questions, so it may be difficult to fully succeed in this task but I have some hope.

As much as I am ready to jump into all this newness, I have started to realize how necessary a Jewish presence is in my life. I love this new experience and the fact that it is one of the first times I am not going to be in a predominantly Jewish environment, but at the same time, I know that it is my center and I cannot be without it and I am so thankful for that. So I have started davening again in the mornings..or trying to. Also this Shabbat I am going to stay with a family in the Cape town Jewish community and am so excited to also learn about Judaism from such a different perspective. I am really happy to have the opportunity to balance out such unchartered territory with something that brings me so much comfort.

Sorry for rambling on, but it took me until now to get internet access and I have had so much bubbling inside that I wanted to pour out. Thank you for reading this and I am so excited to continue to tell you about my adventures....gosh I realize that I have to have some really great stories to live up to the presumptuous name of this blog. Well I hope I succeed.. and I am sure the pictures that will be coming soon will help.

Here is your South African Ulpan term of the day:

Braai - noun - pronounced bry- a barbeque where everyone brings there own food. People tend to have lots of braais to celebrate a variety of special occasions or simply to just spend relaxing time together.

example sentence: Sally and Harriet went to their friend Angela's braai.

ooo, I have to work on those example sentences.

E-A-G-L-E-S!

Rachie