First Day in Cape Town

On my first day here, I slept in a bit and rested from the flight. Tony had planned to meet me around 11 am to take me around town, help me get a bank account, and help get a cell phone sim card. We got all of these accomplished quite quickly. Then, we went to the International student office at UCT to see what I needed to do about pre-registration. International students are required to pre-register in order to insure that all proper documents are in place. I spoke with a woman named Lindy about the fees I owed because I couldn’t get a clear answer via email from anyone at the Fees Office. I knew that I owed a bit more before I could pre-register. Tony works with the UCT human resource department, so he took me to one of their offices to use the internet and pay the additional fees. It was great – I kind of felt like a VIP marching into an administrator’s office and being offered her computer. Once I paid and printed the necessary form, we returned to the international office, the line was quite long and we were told that if we come back later it would be shorter. Tony took me to lunch at a beautiful place on Table Mountain – Rhodes Memorial. I had a tuna and avocado salad – it was delicious. I also had a coke. No worries everyone, coca-cola is everywhere here! Yes! It is made with real sugar, instead of high fructose corn syrup, so it’s a little better for you (or not quite as bad, I guess). Anyway, after lunch Tony took me back to the international office. I met an American girl and her South African friend. Some students suggested we go to the Fees office to get our forms stamped so that we could move more quickly through the long line (called queue) at the international office. We went all the way there (about a 10 minute walk uphill, once we figured out how to get there) and were turned away because it was the wrong place. I went back to speak to Lindy – she stamped and signed the forms for fees and I went downstairs to complete the rest of the process. It didn’t take any time to finish the process once the fees part was completed. Once I was done, Tony picked me up and drove me around Cape Town a bit more. Then, we went to his house to wait for supper.
I met Tony’s daughters – Megan (16) and Jenny (21) and his wife, Jill. They were quite kind and it was very nice to be in their home and get to know them. While we waited for dinner, we watched some tv and a movie. They know more about American tv than I do – we watched Make it or Break It, Lie to Me, Gossip Girl, and The Other Boleyn Girl. I had to ask about the stories in some of the shows because I didn’t know anything about them. I was quite surprised at how much American tv is available. Most of it is a season or two behind what is out in the states now, but most of the same shows I watch at home are available here.
We ate dinner, which was quite good. Tony and his family are Jewish, so before dinner we had a traditional Jewish prayer and shared some challah. It was interesting for me because I have never shared this sort of practice so intimately with a family. I have been to two Shabbat services before, but never a small family practice such as this. The dinner was good – beef brisket, butternut squash, and rice. There was also a big salad with lots of fresh vegetables. After dinner we had a dessert of milk pudding and custard. Later, Tony took me back to my flat. I got back and settled in a bit and went to sleep.