Braving the Minitaxis/bus

I have been getting to work on the minibus, which weaves in and out of traffic picking up anyone and stopping wherever requested. Of course it is more profitable the more one can stuff into the van. It is common for them to be playing loud dance music, so it is important to have coffee before leaving home. :) I also rode in one that had a tv screen installed and was playing MTV videos. All this for $0.50.

Now I am having to face the minibuses as a driver. I have bought a 1974 VW Beetle. Another dream realized. I have always wanted to own a bug, although I might question this desire. It is an adventure. It is in great condition as far as a 33 year old car can be. I am also having fun driving on the left side of the road and I have aspirations of learning car maintenance.

I think this is the last of my posts on introducing you to my life and now I can start moving on to what I am doing during the week and my experiences.

Spending my days in a monastery

My internship is at The Trauma Centre located in Woodstock, which is just two communities towards the city center from me. I am in the children and violence programme. There are two other psychologists who started working there in February and my supervisor. The Trauma Centre is coming out of a slump and working on getting funding together. You can see more at www.trauma.org.za It is located in an old monastery next to a church. There is a garden which contains plaques placed there by Hilary Clinton and the Queen of Denmark.

At the moment I have been working on various workshops. We are conducting one with 6th graders on preventing bullying. We have had session on empathy, prejudices and understanding why people bully. Another workshop is with 200 parents on topics such as HIV/AIDS as trauma and domestic violence. Another one that starts next week is with preschool teachers on recognizing and addressing trauma in children.

I will eventually do individual counseling with children, but I jumped the gun and came to my internship before all the paperwork was done.

Orientation to my Workplace and Coworkers

The front of the building and my coworker Rone.
My coworker Wonique. This is Wonique and Rone's office, but Wonique is here one day and Rone is here 3 days, so I use this office when a computer is free because it has internet access and mine next door does not.
My supervisor Carmen.
And, trying to make sure I post pictures of myself, because I am sure that you want to see me. :) This day the electricity was out for the morning, but we had planned on cleaning storage in the afternoon, so we started in the morning and then had a goodbye party for two interns that were leaving. I am the only intern until next month.

American Woman in Stellenbosch

At the wedding, Ashley and I wandered and took photographs. At lunch that day we had talked about a poster at the restaurant titled "An American Girl in Italy."

Jumping Into the Barrel

It’s winter and the rain won’t stop. I’m from the desert and not use to rain that has been poured on me almost nonstop since Friday. My friend Ashley and I were going to spend Saturday touring the wine country of Stellenbosch before attending a wedding, but the rain kept us in Cape Town. The wedding was conducted in Afrikaans and the reception took place at Blaauwklippen winery.

We threw rose petals as the couple walked into the reception and then toasts took place before dinner.

Where am I?

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=cape+town,+south+africa&ie=UTF8&t=k&om=0&ll=-33.943364,18.475045&spn=0.001295,0.00412&z=18

This is a link to where I live. The row of buildings with dark roofs is my complex and my flat is the one on the top facing north. There are two units in that building and mine is to the left.

Click on the satellite link to view the buildings.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=cape+town,+south+africa&ie=UTF8&t=k&om=0&ll=-33.929202,18.437682&spn=0.001295,0.00412&z=18


This link is to where I work. The building with the courtyard is mine. We are next to a church that rents the property, a former monestary to the Trauma Centre.

My house

Another note of interest is that the mailbox is a plastic bin attached next to the gate for the complex for everyone. So one has to sort through everyone's mail to find their own.

Life in a Flat

The view from my bedroom. There is a bowling club next door.

I am renting a room in a flat owned by a South African and I have another flatmate from the Netherlands, here for another 4 months. I moved in after 4 days at a Bed & Breakfast. The owner, Andrea bought the flat in January and it is very basic, she has lots of DIY projects planned.

My room as you can see in the pictures is tiny and not much to it, so I am barely contemplating looking at other options.

Now to get into my house, I open the outside gate, open the garage and unlock the door to the house. If I get a car, I have to open the gate for parking, unlock the gate to get into the driveway, unlock the gate for the front courtyard and unlock the door. Whew! Then there is the alarm system as well.

The downstairs has the living room, dining area and kitchen and a bathroom. Upstairs are 3 bedrooms, the master bathroom and another bathroom.

We also have a cleaning woman that comes every Monday. Yesterday was my first experience with that, she really organizes everything - any clothes left on the floor get washed, she puts clothes away as she thinks and she organizes the refrigerator. Imagine no cleaning.

Mountain Beauty Part 2

The top picture is south towards the tip of Africa. Next, the city as it is getting dark and the sunset over the Atlantic. I didn't have time to stop and set up my camera, but the last picture is of the city as we hiked down a gorge. We were moving fast because it had become dark. But I also had my friends point out the Southern Cross.

The hard work is done, on to the beauty

The mountain in the background is known as Lion's Head
I live just around the corner a bit
The national flower - King Protea

A few more pictures of difficulty

To the left you can almost make out the buildings on top of Table mountain there where the cable car was closed and we had to hike down a gorge on the other side of it.

This photo show the climb up ladders and rocks to the top of Table mountain.


And the evening in an amazing house on the coast. The bathroom and the upstairs living room.

I think I might go climbing again tomorrow

I didn't put some of the pictures of my house on my flash drive, so that post will have to wait. But I do like having people to tell all these things too, so on to the next thing.

I met this guy, Ashley, while I was looking for a place to live in Cape Town and he invited me to go hiking because he and his friends frequently go. Sunday (6 May), he sent me a message that he was going hiking right then. Ashley, Karl and I hiked, or rather climbed up what is known as the 12 Apostles to the south of Table mountain and then hiked over to the cable car at the top of Table mountain, but it was closed, so we had to hike down from there. And it got dark.

So I have two parts to my pictures – the first series here show my climbing paths because I want you to be able to comprehend why for most of the hike I was thinking to myself, “How did I get myself here and how am I going to get down?” Ashley as well was apologizing and in fact bought me a pack of beer the next day to make up for it.

But then dinner helped to make up for it too. Ashley is house sitting for a housesitter while the owners spend half their year in France. The house is beautiful and so I snuck a couple pictures to show you. We had pizza, including one with chicken liver and onion, because Karl thinks it is wonderful.

Next post will be the beautiful pictures of and from the mountain. :)


Known as the Twelve Apostles, although they aren't named and there are apprently more than 12. I climbed to the top, which I wouldn't have thought possible with all those rocks.
We climbed around this area.
Climbed up that!
And climbed there.

Shopping for a car

I have decided to buy a car so that I can do some things and enjoy being in Cape Town, the public transportation is horrible and I can't walk around by myself at night.

My coworker took me looking at cars today with some friends of her's that are looking to buy as well.

Of course the big hump I have to get over is actually driving on the left side. So I took a fiat for a drive. A manual and I probably scared the salesman for a couple reasons: I think the brake and gas pedals were very close together, either way I kept hitting the gas instead of the brake and then I am use to leaving space to the right for the passenger side of the car, so I was driving too close to the curb and parked cars, that the passenger had to jerk the wheel. But I must say that I stayed on the left side of the road and I did not kill the vehicle shifting. :) Have to be proud of something when there is so much that is out of my element.

So I was ready to take a nap when I got home after trying to negotiate car buying. I did see a Chevrolet with the steering wheel on the left side.

I am a bit afraid that I might ruin my car before I learn to drive here, but I think I should get the hang of it (2 weeks I was told), that it will be worth it to see outside of the city and get to the store for things that I need.

But after such a day, I am going to McDonald's I think, super close to my house and it may taste a bit different, but it will be something familiar.

I am sure plenty of you are saying that one does not go to another country to eat McDonald's, but sometimes one needs something from home. :)

On the African Continent

Well I am in Cape Town. Been trying to get around to posting something and letting everyone know how I am and where I am. :)

My first few days here have been good and difficult. Adjusting to being in a new place and being so far from everyone I know. There was a man at the B&B I was staying at while I looked for housing that was concerned for me and so he gave me a lift to the convention center where he had an exhibit at the Decorex Expo (housing and decorations). From there I would walk around on the Waterfront or the Company Gardens and the National Gallery.

On Monday, we went to my internship site and I moved into my flat. We also drove south along the coast. It was very beautiful - mountains and ocean.

Wednesday, I started at my internship and so that has helped me settle a bit more. The next installment will be about my housing and then I will post information on my internship site.