Registration Madness

The past week has been a bit more relaxed and I'm beginning to feel more at home in Cape Town.  For the past few days, I've spent a lot of time being lost on campus and trying to figure out the hilarious disorganized registration process (all paper - no computers allowed).  During pre-registration, all undergrads have to run around to various departments to get course approval.  In my most successful venture, I managed not only to speak to an actual professor but also to learn when the class would be meeting! What a productive morning.

Yesterday, I successfully completed the actual registration process.  I am really pumped about my classes, and it looks like I will have most of my afternoons free to volunteer, run, or whatever else.  For now, I am signed up for Natural Resource Economics, South African Politics, Statistics, and African Instruments.

A couple of days ago, I went into town to The Book lounge to hear Martin Meredith speak about his new book, Diamonds, Gold, and War: The Making of South Africa.  (I was thinking of taking a course at UCT called South African History until 1900, but after hearing this lecture I think I'll just ready his book.)  He was a very smart and engaging speaker and really impressively managed to answer a few unintelligent audience questions in an interesting way. I was psyched to get to talk to him afterwards.  The bookshop also served delicious wine and hors d'oeuvres - overall, a very satisfying evening.

Another highlight of this week (and really the only valuable part of UCT orientation) was the drum circle on Monday.  It was basically a giant call and response djembe lesson.  There were 300 or so rhythmically challenged Americans banging as hard as we could on miniature drums, led by five of the happiest looking African dudes you can imagine.  My friends and I had such a good time that we followed them downtown to the Zula Bar on Long Street and met some of their musician friends.

Now that registration and orientation are done, we have another week to explore before classes start.  Five friends and I are renting a car and taking off tomorrow morning on the Garden Route.  We're driving about 800k east to explore the coast of the Western Cape.  I'm especially excited about the hostiles that we've booked.  At our last stop, Mossel Bay, we're staying in a broken down train on the beach!  Also on the tentative agenda are Tarzanian tree-swinging and ostrich riding.  I can't wait!