December 2012
3 posts
Round the Bend: Team Building Your Last Week in...
Okay, so the last few days, we were at this team-building place near a town called Swellendam in the Western Cape Province. It was really nice—cool cabins (more glamping!), good food, fun activities. We went rappelling (also known as absailing?) and white… View Post shared via WordPress.com
Last Weekend in Cape Town
Currently, I am winding down my last full 24 hours in Kapa (we’re going to some riverside town, Swellendam, until Wednesday, and I leave Thursday). They have been toomuch fun, and I am not happy that the end is here. It’s funny, because I REALLY thought I… View Post shared via WordPress.com
A Dictionary So You Can Understand Me When I'm...
So this semester, I have actively worked to pick up the best of South African lingo. I have a few more hours of work left on my 50-page research paper on PEPFAR in the Western Cape, so obviously I am going to procrastinate by posting my new favorite words… View Post shared via WordPress.com
November 2012
5 posts
Thanksgiving Abroad
So I’m super impressed with the people on my program right now. We decided that all 24 of us would have Thanksgiving together, at the frat house (the house where 12 people are currently living!). I think most of us made something, and we had a pretty… View Post shared via WordPress.com
Too Close to the End
The last week has gone by SO quickly. I can’t believe I only have just over three weeks left in SA! There are definitely some things I won’t miss though. Like my house running out of WiFi on the 19th of the month, so I always have to pay for an internet… View Post shared via WordPress.com
Week of Freedom Numero Uno
I can already tell I’m going to love ISP time. Even while keeping myself busy with work, I’m still finding so much time to relax and enjoy myself! I feel like I’m finally seeing the city I’ve technically been in for two months and I’m loving it (with two… View Post shared via WordPress.com
It's A Small World/VOTE
Sooo it’s ISP time! Today, we moved into our new home and started our research (or rather, pretended to). I’m living in this awesome, artsy suburb of Cape Town in a house with 4 other people–one from the program, 3 from the area. The three seem pretty… View Post shared via WordPress.com
Ubuntu
Okay, here’s a warning: this will be mostly a really mushy, feel-good post about love and life and whatever else is involved in Ubuntu. You see, we just had a lecture. This pretty awesome woman, Sonja Kruse, came to our class to talk to us about ubuntu… View Post shared via WordPress.com
October 2012
8 posts
Glamping and First Impressions of Bo-Kaap
Earlier last week, my program went glamping at a San cultural center. Glamping, for those of you who don’t know, means glam camping…and it was pretty glam. Sure, we slept in tents…but they were surrounded by straw huts, had lights, and contained… View Post shared via WordPress.com
Stellie: Tours, Braai, Rugby and Markets
Stellenbosch has a lot of wine, brandy, braai and markets. So much, in fact, that I did a wine tour, a brandy tour, and went to two markets this weekend. I also had braai Friday-Monday, and watched my first rugby match! The markets were incredible. I got… View Post shared via WordPress.com
Thriller & Languages
Thriller & Languages
Yesterday, I went to a workshop that combined the Thriller dance and cha cha. Oh my goodness, how I missed random campus events! I was able to meet some people, dance around, and learn a creepy dance. I still am always surprised when people are excited… View Post shared via WordPress.com
First Impressions of Stellenbosch
Yho! Stellenbosch is very different from what I’m used to, both at home and in South Africa. It’s definitely a beautiful town. There are wineries everywhere, and beautiful old buildings. It’s a very cutetown. The homestay coordinator likened it to Boston.… View Post shared via WordPress.com
Buccaneer's
I spent the last weekend at a beachside resort in the Eastern Cape. It was absolutely gorgeous. I went to the Indian Ocean for the first time! Other than that, we unwinded, hiked, and went out a bit. It was peaceful.
Friday morning, I woke up to watch… View Post shared via WordPress.com
In the Countryside
I had an incredible experience in Tshabo. It is beautiful, with rolling hills and grass and animals everywhere. The houses are all beautiful colors. Cows, chickens, goats, and dogs roam the hills. There were six puppies that were only a few weeks old in… View Post shared via WordPress.com
Simon’s Town and the Cape of Good Hope
Currently, we’re situated in Simon’s Town. It’s a seaside naval town near the Cape of Good Hope. It’s really cute—kind of like a Savannah or a Newport. I expect there to be saltwater taffy for sale or something. The history makes it a little less cute, as… View Post shared via WordPress.com
Leaving Langa
Although I am excited to visit Simon’s Town and the Eastern Cape, I’m realizing that I am not ready to leave Langa! Three weeks is not long at all. It seems like only days ago I was nervously thinking that three weeks living with a family I had just met… View Post shared via WordPress.com
September 2012
10 posts
Memorials, NGOs, and Crime
Thursday, my program took us to several memorials and to an NGO. The memorials were really interesting. Two were in Gugulethu, a township, and two were in Athlone, an area that had been designated for coloreds during apartheid.
The first was for the… View Post shared via WordPress.com
Cooking in Kapa
Everything here is just different enough for it to be an experience. For instance, Wednesday night I decided to cook my family dinner. Now, I am not a cook by any means. I went through a phase in middle school where I cooked almost every weekend, but then… View Post shared via WordPress.com
Meat, Meat, Meat and the Sea
Sunday and Monday were absolutely lovely. Sunday was actually nasty—when I got back to Langa, it was pouring, so I laid in bed and watched reruns of what few shows I have downloaded on my computer—but to be honest, it was kind of nice to just veg out and… View Post shared via WordPress.com
Robben Island
Saturday was an intense, emotional day. It started off far too early for a Saturday morning. A van picked us up at around 10 a.m. to take a tour of Langa, the township we’re currently staying in. I had been dreading the tour. I don’t think the people who… View Post shared via WordPress.com
My Secretly Cool Accent
Yesterday, my program visited a variety of schools to figure out to the best of our ability the education system in Cape Town. We were put into groups and we visited a variety of schools, including public and private schools, and the school I spent a day… View Post shared via WordPress.com
“Everything that’s gone wrong in the world...
That’s a quote from a tour guide at the District 6 museum (more on him later).
Now that my days are mostly filled with classes, I’ll probably be writing a lot less—more like once a week or so. The past week was absolutely incredible. My classes are… View Post shared via WordPress.com
Igama lam nguCaitlin
That phrase means “my name is Sisipho (a gift).” Sisipho may be my Xhosa name, given to me by my new Xhosa homestay family, but that is more how I would describe the family and the last few days.
Before I describe my wonderful new family, I need to… View Post shared via WordPress.com
Is this real life?
I was going to try to only write every few days, but the last 24 hours have been so incredible, I had to write again. Cape Town is the most incredible place, and I can barely leave this is real life.
First, Wednesday night we went to this awesome bar… View Post shared via WordPress.com
Molweni from Capa!
Or Kapa, or Kaapa, or Caapa….it’s slang for Cape Town and I can’t find the spelling online. Anyways, hello everyone from Cape Town! I am finally here, and I could not be happier. The last few days have been pretty busy, but so exciting.
In Jo’burg, we… View Post shared via WordPress.com
In Jo'burg!
Hey everyone! I am officially in South Africa. This week, we’ve been in Jo’burg for orientation. It’s been really great—but so busy, I feel like I’ve been here a month! First, I flew in…which was a 16-hour flight. There were a tonof kids from my program… View Post shared via WordPress.com
August 2012
9 posts
One week!
Okay, I lied again. Here I am posting, with one week before I fly out…
But that’s the thing, you see. It is one week until I fly out. Seven days. 168 hours. I am working hard to finish my work for CMC (I should be working on my internship paper…) & SIT… View Post shared via WordPress.com
“If this were a business run by an observant, Kosher-keeping Jewish man who was...”
– -Valeria (valeria2067)
Valeria for president.
(via livia-carica)
Newsweek: Meet Mitt Romney's running mate,... →
everythingbutyoucarlotta:
Rated 13% by the ACLU, indicating an anti-civil rights voting record. (Dec 2002) Rated 0% by the HRC, indicating an anti-gay-rights stance. (Dec 2006) Rated 8% by the NEA, indicating anti-public education votes. (Dec 2003) Rated 0% by the CAF, indicating…
If you’re not a rich, white, straight, young Christian dude at a private school…sucks to suck I...
“And it’s not as though Ryan has voted to help low-income mothers after their...”
– Is Romney’s Race Over? (via stfusexists)
July 2012
7 posts
Feminist Majority Foundation: Tell Congress: We... →
feministmajorityfoundation:
Enough is enough. Under the “fake” VAWA passed by the House this year, 11 million students would be denied the vital improvements to their school’s sexual assault policies that are included in the real VAWA. Authored by Republican members of Congress Eric Cantor and Sandy Adams, this version…
4 tags
Feminist Majority Foundation: VA Governor Appoints... →
feministmajorityfoundation:
Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell appointed anti-choice obstetrician Dr. John W. Seed to the Virginia Board of Health this week. He is a vocal public opponent of legal first-trimester abortion. He serves as vice-chairman of anti-choice group “OBGYNS for Life”; is a member of the “medical resource…
June 2012
3 posts
SCOTUS Hands Down Arizona Immigration Ruling
feministmajorityfoundation:
The Supreme Court released its decision today on Arizona v. United States, the case which decided the fate of the controversial immigration bill in Arizona, S.B. 1070. The court struck down three out of four provisions in the law, but unanimously upheld perhaps the most controversial aspect of the bill.
Read what our intern Caitlin wrote about the bill on our Campus...
February 2012
3 posts
Sorry Professors, homework isn't happening this...
How can you expect me to read about LGBTQ* issues and globalization and constructivism right now? They all remind me of the same person…
And how is it possible I can’ find my Day of Silence OR Consortium shirts?!
One month five days, 2 loved ones passed away. 2012, I hate you already.
January 2012
14 posts
Is this semester over yet?
Kat: These are your friends.
Me: Oh this is awkward, no you're not...
Kat: These are your wingwomen.
Me: I'll take it.
