Move-In Day

From Cape Peninsula Tour

On Saturday we slept in until 11 since we were the last house to move in. At 11:30 a bus came to pick us up and drove all 18 of us and our luggage to our house. We were all really excited and kept thinking that each house we passed must be our house. When we started to slow down in front of a very large property with an enormous house we couldn't believe that this is where we would be living for the next 5 months. None of us had been expecting to live in a nicer house than we'd ever had in college before. But there it was with it's long driveway and land covered with trees, bushes, flowers, and even cacti. We almost didn't care what room we got as we all knew we would be getting singles with our own bathroom.

From Cape Peninsula Tour

Of course though, to be fair, we all drew numbers out of a hat to set the order for picking rooms. I picked number three so after two girls had picked their rooms, I set off to pick mine. I had two criteria for picking my room: that it would be dark in the morning and that it had a big shower. I ended up picking a room on the second floor without a view and a bit smaller than most rooms but with very little sunlight in the morning and a large shower.

I had barely had time to move in, when the SOL mate arrived to pick two of us up who wanted to go get basic supplies at the mall. I needed a shower curtain and a window curtain most of all, and those were only things that you could get at the mall which required a vehicle to get to. We went to Cavendish Mall in Claremont, the suburb just to the south of us. It was one of the largest malls I'd ever been to and even had a large electronic touchpad instead of a map that would show you where you are, which direction you were facing, and how to get to the store you wanted to go to. We found a Wal-Mart like store called Mr. Price where we got everything we needed.

Once we got back, we immediatly left for the braai (South African word for barbecue, pronounced like brian without the n) at the Liesbeek Gardens pool (the dorm where some CIEE students were staying). It was our first of many to come braai experiences and it was delicious. The pool party was fun and our last official get together where all 150 participants on CIEE would be there. We stayed home that night and enjoyed our new house, since we had a long day of exploring the Cape Peninsula on Sunday.