Culture Lessons

Stellenbosch is the second oldest city in South Africa. As apart of its legacy, the town has a deeply rooted history as one of the major strongholds of apartheid ideals. During a tour of the some of the oldest parts of town, you could see the in both photos and paintings of the segregation between races. African housing, if they had housing, was simple with few rooms and dirt floors. They often had 10 to 15 individuals living under one roof. Dutch Afrikaners lived in more modest housing with yellow wood flooring and single level homes. The British colonizers had the most elaborate housing with multiple levels and many different rooms.






Food in the Western Cape is fabulous! There is a lot of ostrich, antelope, pork and beef. What is most common here is what is called a braai (pronounced BR-eye). It is about equivalent to an American BBQ. And they grill out about every chance they get down here. Even my friends and I tried our hand, somewhat successfully, at our own braai. We had sausage, burgers and chicken over an open fire. Though, we need some help getting started. Our head student Grant, a native South African, had to help us start the fire. My own cooking down here has improved slightly, if I do say so myself!






Classes are pretty easy and thus far. The homework has been limited to reading and short essays on our thoughts about the readings. I have tests at the end of October and if I don’t get the grade I like on those tests I have a second chance at the tests at the end of November. Afrikaans is currently my most challenging class. The words pretty different than English and pronunciation are difficult. I hope to strengthen my vocabulary over the next few weeks and maybe attempt at posting in Afrikaans. Currently I know only my Ps & Qs, like dankie – THANK YOU & essablief – PLEASE, which are important!

First Week in Stellenbosch

First week in South Africa’s second oldest city has gone fairly smoothly. My cardinal directions are back and I know my way around town. The seven-hour time difference doesn’t seem to affect me as much any more and as of late the weather in Stellenbosch has been sunny and cool. Students have returned to campus for their first day of school and the city has seemingly come alive. I didn’t realize how big the student population was until some one said around 20,000 students. Stellenbosch University is about the same size as the University of Nebraska.

The campus is very nice. It is situated between two main streets in town: Merriman and Victoria. Victoria is lined with huge old oak trees. Many look like they have probably been around since the beginning of Stellenbosch! This place is gorgeous! No one told me how absolutely beautiful South Africa could be. My pictures do not do this place justice.













This past weekend was busy. I explored more of Stellenbosch, were I found a lot of neat stores and shops. Sidewalk cafes line a lot of the streets and it reminds me more of Europe than Africa (although I have never been to Europe). In on shop I found a signed photo of Hitler for sale! I went to my first "Braai" and we had a tour of Cape Town, which was wonderful. Cape Town is a beautiful city. It’s weird to think that people wake up to the sun shining on Table Mountain everyday. I will blog more about the beautiful city later! However, I do need to tell you about an incredible mountain trek up Stellenbosch Mountain.

We started at 9:00 am in the morning and got to the summit at 1:00 pm. We started out hiking up the mountain with a group of seven of us, Sarah, Steven (our friend from Holland), Jake and Andy (my two fun and crazy roommates), Max, Carly (one of five Nebraskans here in Stellenbosch) and I. What we thought would be a leisurely hike up a gentle sloping rock face soon turned into a death march through chard brush. After we got above the brush line the ridge seemed to raise only a few hundred feet to a weather/ communications tower. We took a few pictures of the valley and the surrounding area. We could see for miles (or kilometers) to Table Mountain and False Bay. We then trekked another couple hundred feet to a second ridge.

Here we were half way up the mountain, the small grass and brush stopped and the terrain turned into a moon-like landscape with giant boulders and steep ledges. Sarah and Steven decided to stay behind on the second ridge while Jake, Andy, Carly and I continued to the peak. An hour and a half later we reached the Peak of Stellenbosch Mountain. The view was INCREDIBLE!!! You could see for hundreds of miles inland and out over the ocean. You could see Cape Point and the entire Stellenbosch Wine lands valley.







The hike down was dangerous and rocky. We ended up back in Stellenbosch at about 4 pm. I have never been more exhausted in my life!

Stellenbosch

Well, I have successfully made it to the other side of the planet with no hassles! The flights were extremely long and the food was OK, but over all they were uneventful. I didn't loose my luggage! Always a plus, and when I arrived I got my first handful of South African Rands. The money here is exquisite, appearing with some of the big five wild animals on the African Savannah.

I got into Stellenbosch at about 11:00 pm South African Standard Time (SAST) local time, that is about 4:00 pm CST. The past few days have been spent getting used to our surroundings. I have made a few friends, three of which are from Lincoln and we have another one coming in this weekend from Omaha. Sometimes this world seems too small! Anyways, I know you guys are really only here for pictures. So without further ado: I give you Stellenbosch!















More to come! Stay tuned! :)

I leave for South Africa tomorrow!

This is it! I am leaving for South Africa tomorrow at 1:20 pm out of Kansas City International. I am slightly nervous about traveling and I am dreading my 2 connecting flights in Detroit and Amsterdam. Hopefully, my lay overs will go smoothly! Wish me luck and you will definitely hear from me once I arrive and get settled in Stellenbosch. Here is what my life looks like crammed into two suit cases and a carry on.



Forget me not Lincoln!