Stellenbosch

Yesterday I left my hostel on Long Street in Cape Town to come out to Stellenbosch for 5 days. On the way out here, we passed Khayelitsha and Langa, two of Cape Town's biggest townships. Only 24% of Khayelitsha's residents have access to electricity, 17% to water, and perhaps most devastating, 32% to education. The pictures below are not of great quality since they were taken from the freeway going 110 km/hr, but if you click on them, you can see a bigger version. Later in my stay in Cape Town I will be going out to the townships. What really got to me driving past, though, was that each time we'd come to a freeway interchange, I thought the township would end. But then on the other side of the interchange, they'd start back up. The expanse of townships went on and on.




Below are some pictures from around Stellenbosch. The city is about 60,000 residents during the school year (20,000 otherwise), so it's a pretty small city. The majority of the people speak Afrikaans, and a lot of the signs are only in Afrikaans. I have learned how to say "please" and "thank you" in Afrikaans and hope to learn to count to 10 before I leave South Africa. This region is well known acros the world for its vineyards. I think I may go on a tour of a vineyard and wine cellar before I leave here on Monday. The architecture here is very colonial - it reminds me of New England. Almost all the buildings are white, some have thatched roofs, and many were built before 1800. It almost seems like a theme park. I wonder if they have codes regarding historical preservation - like if it's a requirement that even new buildings look "historical." Something I will have to find out.


A park near my hostel. There are mountains here, too! :)


Tourist information office - thatched roof.


I think this was a seminary of some sort, but I'm not sure because the sign was only in Afrikaans.


One of the few building of color in the town.


A street near the University of Stellenbosch campus. I think this is primarily student housing.


The University's sports complex. I wish the Gophers got to play sports on a backdrop like this one.



I had to be the typical tourist taking pictures of wildflowers on the UStell campus. :)



Pedestrian/bike bridge and trail near campus.


The trees along their main street are wrapped in red fabric - I assume that's for their wine festival taking place this weekend.


A church - of which denomination, I'm not sure. I could only really photograph its steeple because the lower part of the building was blocked by a huge wall.


Even the more modern buildings here have a distinct look to them. Historical preservation code in place?

In other news, my friend Tim sent me this link. He had seen the story on BBC - "Zeros will be knocked off the Zimbabwe dollar, making 10bn dollars one dollar" on Friday. Funny, because this hyperinflation has been going on for awhile now, and I just recently mentioned it and suggested "knocking some zeros off" on here.

Sea Point Pictures

It's a common sight to see people sleeping on the ground, even during the day, like this man here.


There's lots of little construction projects going on all around the city.


Is it any wonder I chose this city to come to on my fellowship?


Robben Island, seen from the mainland, where Nelson Mandela was held in prison for 27 years. I hope to make it out to the island before I leave Cape Town.


Banners mark Green Point as a place for urban revitalization, what I'm studying here in Cape Town.


A school in Sea Point I walked past. As far as I know, all schools here (both private AND public) require uniforms.


Decorative lighting in Sea Point serve no real purpose. In my opinion, this is money that could've been better spent.


The beaches are really rocky in Sea Point and therefore not good for swimming. :(


Me! haha


Mountains are almost always visible in the city, except when obscured by clouds or fog, or blocked by the buildings.


Lion's Rump overlooking the Strand/Buitengragt intersection. This intersection is where all the newsies hang out, trying to sell the various city newspapers to pedestrians and people in cars alike. Today I saw a woman with a package of plastic hangers chasing after a woman driving past, trying to sell them to her.


I still look the wrong way when I'm crossing the street. I look what would be the correct way in the US, but they drive on the opposite side of the street here. It's easier when it's a one-way street.


More hotels overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.


The new stadium being built for the World Cup in 2010, in Green Point, Cape Town.


Near the new stadium. Nothing says "Welcome to Cape Town for the World Cup!" like barbed wire.


Cape Town: Beaches and natural beauty, and restriction through walls and barbed wire.


Signal Hill in the background, looking down Beach Road.


Cape Town's lighthouse, built in 1824.


Hotels facing the Atlantic Ocean in the touristy part of town.

Sea Point

Today I got to yet another part of the city I hadn't yet been to, Sea Point. I passed the new stadium that the city is building for the World Cup soccer tournament, which Cape Town is hosting in 2010.

Green Point, where the stadium is (see pictures above), is where the city is focusing a lot of its revitalization efforts, specifically in preparation for the World Cup. There have been questions whether or not Cape Town is going to be able to handle hosting the World Cup given its crime and energy crisis (or load shedding which I've mentioned in previous blog posts). Therefore, Cape Town is trying to do as much as it can to make the World Cup run smoothly two years from now. Mayor Helen Zille is trying to stage a "war on crime" and they're making deliberate changes in the the Green Point area.

I recently read in one of the local newspapers that 40% of South Africans are seriously considering leaving the country, primarily due to crime and economic reasons. The other night I was talking to Mike, the hostel's security guard, who was originally from Congo but has been living in Cape Town for 12 years now. He is now planning to move to the UK as soon as he graduates from university because food prices have been skyrocketing since he's been here, but standard pay rates have remained the same. He studies full-time in construction management, works overnights on weekends at the hostel, and has another job during the week. And still things are getting too expensive for him given that wages have not inflated, as well.

Anyway, back to my discussion about Sea Point and Green Point... there are huge expanses of open green space between the main beach road and the water. I'm sure this is to maintain the sightline between the touristy hotels and the water, but I feel like there's some way that open green space could be used that wouldn't interfere with tourism. There were so few people out along the water today, and it was a beautiful day. A few joggers/walkers or people taking their dogs out, but it was pretty empty overall. Perhaps soccer or other sports fields could be put there along the water for youth or community sports leagues. I did see one play ground along the water, but it was completely void of users.


(If the embedded video above doesn't work, check it out on Youtube.)

Today I confirmed my booking for my next hostel, so I'm moving out to Stellenbosch for five days later this week. Woot! Should be fun. I've heard Stellenbosch is a great place with lots of great architecture. The majority of people out there primarily speak Afrikaans but most also speak English. I have learned "please" and "thank you" in Afrikaans, but my goal is to also learn to count to 10 so I can another language to my list! haha.

Talk to you all soon, I hope!

Currency and 3.2 Trillion Dollar Beer

This morning started out with a bang (or maybe a coo?)... as I was waking up - half awake but still in bed - in flew a pigeon. It just sat there on the counter where it had landed within arms reach of me for about 5 seconds as I lay there paralyzed out of fear (just kidding), then it left again. I told the manager but it was no big deal to her, like apparently it had happened before. I mean, it wasn't upsetting to me, but I was highly amused by the whole occurrence. haha.

I made my way down Kloof Street today, a more residential area than Long Street where I'm staying. There's a grocery store down that way that I found rather small, but I guess it's a pretty standard size in Europe and here. My first real grocery shopping experience here was interesting. Different brands, sizes, measurements, and products. Plus sales tax (VAT) here is 14%, even on food. My hostelmates and I guessed it's hardly (if any cheaper) to buy your own groceries and cook for yourself than it is to eat out. That's significant in that it's a reflection of how well the foodservice industry pays here.

Last night speaking to one of the managers at the hostel, I was wondering what a pretty standard low-paying job here earns in wages. Not really thinking of the US equivalent before I spoke, I threw out the guess "10 Rand per hour?" but immediately after saying that I realized I was asking if they were earning $1.50/hr, so I was going to revise my guess, but the manager told me that's about right. Wow. Things here are a bit cheaper than in the US, but not significantly, and especially not proportionally in relation to our wages. I mean, a cheaper meal here is about $5-6, which is about what you'd pay in the US. But many of these people would have to work at least 4 hours to pay for a cheaper meal at a restaurant here. That's just crazy.

The desk at the hostel is decorated kinda funky. One of their main decors is bills and coins from all over the world, donated, I'm sure, by their guests who come all over the world. Bills and coins are taped/glued over the ceiling, walls, etc. The manager showed me a new bill they had gotten from Ray, who is a hostel regular. (Ray is a cameraman and does work for the hostel when he stays there. He's really cool, laid-back guy. I guess he has a residence in Milnerton that he goes to every few days, but since it's a long drive and he's on a motorbike, he just stays here in Cape Town most nights.) Anyway, he travels far and near for his camerawork and was recently in Zimbabwe. He gave Kevin (the bar manager) a Zimbabwean bill to put up in the desk area. When Kevin showed it to me last night, I thought it was fake. It was a 50bn (that's BILLION) note. Like in the US, you know how we have those fake $1 million dollar bills? I thought it was something like that. But no, this bill is actually for 50 billion Zimbabwean dollars. And it's worth nothing there. A single cheap beer is 3.4 TRILLION dollars. At that point, I have to wonder, why not make a unit of currency of much greater value? Instead of charging things in the trillions, it seems it would be a lot easier to make one unit of currency a much smaller numeral, if that makes any sense. The other thing is that a beer there is something like $20 USD if I understood Kevin correctly. Basically, the whole of Zimbabwe is in such turmoil that things are ridiculously expensive and the currency exchange rate is out of control. In 2008 the current inflation rate is 9 million percent! In a 2.5 week span the Zimbabwean government created several new, much greater denominations of bills. For more information on Zimbabwean hyperinflation, check out the Wikipedia page.)

Really, this is just an example of things I never expected to learn on this trip. I had heard bits and pieces of the problems in Zimbabwe but didn't know much about it at all. Not only am I learning by doing my research, I'm learning from the managers and the other guests at the hostel, and about all kinds of things, not just urban planning or architecture.

Amalgam

Me with Charlotte and Marian, both from Holland, hanging out at the hostel. Afrikaans (a language common in South Africa) is very similiar to Dutch, so these girls and other Dutch travelers are able to understand Afrikaans and vice versa.


Rand notes. I have heard there is also a R200 bill, but those are somehow easiest to counterfeit so many stores are hesitant to accept them. R200 is about $30. R100 like I have shown here is about $15. Their smallest bill is a R10, about $1.50.


Rand coins. There is also a 50c piece that isn't shown here. The 5c piece (bottom right in the picture) is worth about half a US penny.


A view of Kloof street on my way to the grocery store (which, by the way, was quite small by American supermarket standards).


Further up the hillside on Kloof Street, a more residential area.


This is the second playground I've seen with hardcore barbed-wire protection.


A view down Kloof Street looking back toward Long Street (where I'm staying) and the city centre.


A view of Table Mountain from the Company's Gardens.


"Bird of paradise" flower in Company's Gardens.


Another photo I took the other day in the Company's Gardens.


Mounted police officers: notice that they're all white, though none of the foot patrol police officers I've seen have been.


This netting above the courtyard at my hostel is intended to keep out pigeons and other animals, I think, but its effectiveness was disproved today by the presence of a pigeon - perhaps the one sitting on the netting here - flying around my room this morning. haha See next blog post shortly.

Quick Update

Today I didn't do a whole lot, kinda recovered after a long night of hanging out at the hostel late last night.

It was cool; at one point last night I was sitting at a table full of people who were each from a different country: Austria, Australia, Ireland, Scottish, and England. It's just crazy because I have never met so many Europeans before I came here. I've really had no problem understanding anyone - most people speak English pretty well.

Last night I met a couple from San Fransisco. The guy had lived in Minneapolis and worked in St. Paul for 3 years, so it was nice to talk to someone who knew my city. He agreed that Minneapolis is a great city. The Scottish guy I was sitting with jokingly asked if my trip here was sponsored by the Minneapolis Tourism Department because I spoke so highly of the city that he figured I MUST be getting paid to do it. :)

FYI, ostrich tastes like chicken but has the texture of steak. :) The potjie was really good. They also had butternut (squash) so that was a good reminder of home.

Tomorrow my plans are to try to get over to Green Point, where they're building the new stadium for the 2010 World Cup.

Take care everybody! (Oh and if ever have any questions/comments, please don't hesitate to let me know!)

July 23rd in Pictures

This view of the mountain greeted me as I emerged from a sea of skyscrapers in the city centre.


Sweet! Too bad so much of this city was built on slave labor...


These signs, no stopping (parking) are common throughout the city, but I've noticed it seems to apply not only to automobiles, but pedestrians as well.


Some public green space in between the transit centre and downtown.


An entry to one of the underground marketplaces. Notice the multilingual direction sign.


An exhibit at the Slave Lodge depicting from where Cape Town's slaves were "imported."


The exterior of the Slave Lodge - this is the facade that was added when the building served as the Supreme Court.


In the Company's Gardens - this picture doesn't do it justice, not by far.


On the edge of the Company's Gardens.


Even the functional areas of the Company's Gardens are awesome, such as this drainage area.


Tree bark turns into a canvas for street art.