Student Project Perspectives

November 6, 2007

Week 3 - Starting to adjust

It is the simple things...

There are so many adjustments I didn't think of when planning to go abroad. For example, simply figuring out where to go when you need a loaf of bread or how to get there. Something like that at home takes very little thought, takes a lot more thought in a new environment. As the weeks have gone on, though, as a group we have started to fall into a rhythm. Some adjustments have been easy, while some we've had to learn the hard way for example:

• After getting carbonated water a few times we learned we needed to ask for still water.
• After waiting thirty minutes at a restaurant we learned you needed to ask for the check if you ever wanted to get out of there.
• Stores close at six if not earlier.... We still forget that one.
• Cars don't stop for you... you stop for the cars, luckily none of us learned that the hard way but we watched someone else.
• When you have the mentality that things cost less it is easy to spend more then you usually would have... I think a lot of us have learned that the hard way.

• We've learned to expect power outages.... They make everyday an adventure.

Overall though I really feel that our team is beginning to feel like a part of the office we are working in. People come in daily to see how things are going and frequently offer us advice on what we should do on the weekends and even in some cases offer to give us rides if we need it. When the Red Sox were playing, one of our co-workers offered to have us over at 2am to watch the game at his house. I don't think he knew that if we had gone we would probably have 19 other people coming with us. We have even started walking home from work in the afternoons. It takes about thirty minutes and it is great to get out and see the city outside the walls of a taxi cab.

There have been some significant changes, though, that have made adjustment difficult. When we thought we finally had gotten used to the six hour time difference from home, daylight savings time, which isn't used in Cape Town, changed it to seven hours. Even with our project, significant changes have occurred that have required us to change our focus. Our project now focuses on one of the first BRT corridors in Cape Town that is soon going to be under construction. Our task is to determine how this corridor is going to terminate in the central business district or if it is even going to terminate. We need to look at necessary infrastructure as well as possible configurations. Even though this is a change from our original plan, part of this experience is rolling with the punches and continuing to push forward in this new environment.

Are the Red Sox a New York team?

It definitely was not the same being in South Africa while the Red Sox were in the World Series. Yes, we did have someone ask us if the Red Sox played for New York. Due to this, it was not a surprise that the World Series does not play on one of South Africa's few television stations. For games one through three of the World Series we would get up in the morning before work, go online, check the score and see that they won...but that was it. It wasn't the same sort of feeling. Because of this, a few of us decided we needed to find a way to watch game four. It turns out that as we were international, we were able to pay $10 to watch the game online. That morning, four of us got up at 4am and set up in the lobby with a lap top to watch the game, though this situation was not ideal, it was bearable. With the internet connection in South Africa it was a struggle. After much refreshing and restarting, we made it to the end of the game and did see the final pitch that clinched the World Series. It is definitely a Sox game I will never forget.

Indlovu Center

Since my group's project has been centered in the city, we hadn't had the opportunity to experience or even see for that matter the "real" Cape Town, the Cape Town that you don't see in the travel brochures. This past Saturday, though, we had that opportunity. As an entire group we were invited to a Braai in one of the settlements where one of our teams had been working. The further we drove from Cape Town the smaller and more simplistic the housing got.

When we finally pulled over we were surrounded by shacks made out of scraps of metal and wood and it appeared anything else they could find. In most cases, they were smaller then most American bedrooms. Immediately as we stepped out of the van, though, we were greeted by a multitude of children from the settlement. We followed them to the Indolvu Center. As we walked people smiled and waved from their homes. When we made it to the center, preparation had begun for the Braai which is basically a BBQ. We went upstairs in the center where most of the children were playing pool. Some of us took out our cameras to take some pictures of the center and we immediately became the center of attention. Before I knew it they had my camera and were taking pictures of everything including an excessive amount of pictures of me. We showed them how to look at the pictures they had taken and they loved it. Most of the pictures on my camera that day weren't pictures that I had taken but to be completely honest, I didn't care.

As the day continued we learned how to play the drums and were even treated to a concert of traditional African music. When you looked around you knew they lived in extremely poor conditions, but when you spoke and interacted with them their spirit was overwhelming. In conditions where you would expect so much sadness there was so much energy and perseverance. When the afternoon was over many of us didn't want to leave. Truly, this was an experience of a lifetime. Look at the pictures because they speak for themselves.

Until next week...
-Nick