The 2nd day was a lot of lectures by CIEE to not drink our semesters away and stay away from prostitutes. We also were divided into our orientation groups, which I had a sneaking suspicion were also our house groups since Lexie was in my group (I was right). Then we went to Signal Hill instead of taking the Gondola up to Table Mountain because it was closed. Clouds had enveloped Table Mountain in what the locals call a "cloth over Table Mountain" and clouds were literally pouring over the cliff. The views of Sea Point, Lion's Head, and the city were beautiful and we walked down a path to sit down and just take it all in.
For dinner we went with our orientation groups (we were still really only allowed to go out in our groups) to Rafiki's which had some delicious Tapas and mediteranean food. It took a while again so we just went back after and did some skyping (Lexie finally contacted her parents).
Friday was the day we found out we were in Consolata House with our orientation group and another one too (18 ppl+Nyoko). We went on a quick tour of campus (begging to go see our house but Nyoko said she wasn't allowed). Once we made it up all the steps to upper campus, we had a stunning view of the suburbs below. In a classroom at upper campus we had a talk on some of the volunteer opportunities and then about academics and pre-registration. It was only at that point that it hit me I wasn't just permanently on vacation and school would have to start eventually. They made it seem harder than any U.S. school but from stories I hear it will not be as rigorous as they make it seem.
During our lunch break, Lexie and I tried to find the UCT store (so she could buy a water bottle) in a very confusing building. It turns out they had moved to where everyone else had went to get lunch in the cafeteria. The book store didn't have any water bottles and another book store off campus said they weren't getting water bottles until April (weird when the summer is right now). The cafeteria seemed good and had lots of choices but it was closing when we got there and there were long lines so we went to find another area where they have a few tents of food setup. I ate for the first time at Souper Sandwich and decided that it will be my main source of lunch, with their scrumptious grilled sandwiches.
CIEE rented out Marco's African Place Friday night and treated us to dinner and music. The food was alright but there was not enough, and we had the worst seats in the place since we couldn't see the band. Then I got up and went to the front near the band because a few people were dancing. Soon, they had cleared the tables and almost everyone was dancing. That is still the most fun I've had in Cape Town so far.
We went out that night to a club that had a rooftop seating area with a nice view of Long Street. The dancing was fun too but it was all slightly older people. As we were sitting on the rooftop a German and a white South African drunkenly talked out loud about how we stole their seats. We ended up talking to them, and learning that the German was very conservative and supported the Iraq War "unlike most germans" and the South African was complaining about how they took their (white South African's) national anthem away and were moving the emblem to the other side on their rugby jerseys. Our third night in Cape Town was an interesting night indeed.
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