Days 2 & 3: Settling In

Saturday was a relaxing day.  We met with our advisors in the morning to discuss developments to our projects.  The good news is, the WaSH team will be in Langrug more than we thought we would be.  This is the site of last year's project, where we thought we would not be welcome, but it seems like we will spend at least the first two weeks there.  

We went to a rugby game in the afternoon.  Rugby is the sport of South Africa.  Apparently, it was the championship match between DHL West Province (home team) and the Sharks.  WP lost despite our support.  I learned a lot about rugby from Morgan, who plays it at WPI and was more than happy to teach us the rules.  I also found that African sports fans are just enthusiastic as Americans (even New Englanders).  Then twenty-six hungry college students found the nearest Steers - what seems to be an African version of Burger King (without ketchup, to my dismay.  I survived).

It was a quiet night at the lodge.  To describe the accommodations, we are in a "backpacker lodge".  Four people per bedroom in bunk beds.  I'm with three other guys in the "Flat."  It's a building adjacent to the main lodge - we have our own bathroom and kitchenette.  It's nice because we're away from the noise of the main building.  The downside is we have to go through a separate gate and are a bit isolated at times.  On Saturday we tried to plug an American power strip into what we thought was a transformer – turns out it was only an adapter.  Quick ECE lesson, anything you would want to charge (i.e. laptops, phones) will probably work with just the adaptor – the box in your charger will transform the voltage from 240 V to 120 V.  Not all power strips (like the one we tried to use) are rated to do this.  So yeah, we blew out the power strip and lost power.   We found a circuit breaker, that didn’t solve the problem.  We were told an electrician could come sometime Monday.  It really wasn’t a big deal, because we only sleep in the Flat, and we had a flashlight for the bathroom.  Thankfully, the power magically came back on Sunday afternoon.  I’m still not really sure why… not asking questions.

Sunday: Three of us went to Catholic Mass at St Margaret Mary’s.  We got there ten minutes late because Google lied to us and almost led us to walk on a highway.  But it was a really nice Mass.  It felt like a Mass at any traditional Church in America. I was very grateful to able to have such a comfortable experience, even thousands of miles from home.  Reasons why I love Catholicism.  Sometime while I’m here though, I’d love to experience a more African Mass like the ones missionaries describe when they talk at our home parishes.  (I wonder what Mission Sunday is like in Africa…).  It looks like All Saints Day will just be celebrated next Sunday, which is good because I don’t know how feasible it would have been to get to church on Friday.  (The Immaculate Conception is also thankfully on a Sunday this year.  Seems like someone’s looking out for me).

Cape Town is an interesting city.  It doesn’t really feel like Africa for the most part (at least the section we’re living in, which seems to be fairly affluent).  Of the cities I’ve been to, it feels the most like Boston particularly in its cleanliness.  The driving is also very similar – I’d say only slightly worse than Boston drivers.  Not necessarily for lack of skill, but for over-confidence.  Stopping inches (sorry, centimeters) short from another car is the norm. 

I got some great car-riding experience after Mass on Sunday when a group of us went to the beach.  Apparently, the best way to get there is via “Crazy Taxi”.  These taxis drive up and down the main road, yelling out the window for anyone who needs a ride to jump in and catch a ride for R7 ($.70).  They don’t deny service to anyone, even if the van is packed and people are sitting on the floor.  They’re remarkably efficient, almost more like a bus than a taxi.  For those reading this who may be concerned about my safety, remember that you probably at one point in your life rode around Boston (or India) in a packed car without a seatbelt.  And you clearly survived.  There are more legitimate taxis that we call to get us to our projects and flights, etc.  The “crazy taxis” are merely a cheap alternative for small excursions, and provide an entertaining story.  I can now check that off my list of things I’ve done.

The beach was nice, the weather beautiful, and I only got slightly burnt on the back of my hand. 

Beach

We came back to the lodge, I went back to the waterfront with a friend to get a couple of things (including starting my Christmas shopping).

Waterfront

 I missed the group that went to out dinner, so I made some instant pasta I had bought.  The stove takes a while to heat up and I had to estimate mL, so it didn’t turn out great, but food is food.  We spent tonight booking our flights for our Safari over Thanksgiving and finalised details for our first day of work tomorrow.

WaSH team will be meeting with our sponsor in the morning, and then we will be touring three informal settlements (including Langrug where WPI worked last year) along with a Habitat for Humanity group that has begun working with our sponsor.  It’s going to be a long day, but hopefully quite insightful.  We’re all really excited to get started.  I should probably go to bed since we have to leave the lodge at 8, so Ubusuku benzolo! (Goodnight!)