Welcome to Cape Town

Cape Town from the air is beautiful. The sun was setting as our plane descended, turning the smooth oceans black and orange and pink. The outlines of buildings were still visible: the dense conglomerations of the townships, the tall skyscrapers of the waterfront, and finally, the airport.
A slight breeze made the warm, humid air pleasant.
Finding out that my luggage had been left in Joburg was considerably less pleasant. As I waited to fill out the baggage claim forms I discovered two things about South Africans; first, they are extraordinarily friendly, and second, they cut lines like no one’s business. Still, the gentleman who managed to bypass me in line (with two luggage carts!!) warmly welcomed me to Cape Town, and after hearing that there was no one from the University to pick me up, offered to wait with me until someone arrived. I don’t know how many Americans would do that for someone they just met.
About an hour later, after filling out my claim forms and finally locating someone from UCT (they apparently thought I was arriving the next day), I was on the Jammie Shuttle, eagerly looking forward to meeting my 14 roommates.
Getting around in foreign countries is never as straight forward as in the States, and my shuttle driver took me to 2 other houses before finally delivering me to the correct address. 10 of my roommates had already moved in, and were gathered around the TV, watching soccer and drinking wine, when I walked in.
I live with four boys and eleven girls; Marianne is Norwegian, Tessa is Dutch, and everyone else is American, mainly from the Midwest and Massachusetts. When we aren’t at orientation, the roomies tend to split up to go to the beach, or shopping, or run around campus getting classes approved. At night, however, we all go out together to the bars that are two blocks from our house.
The house is painted brick red on the outside, and sand-colored on the interior. The overall effect is kind of southwestern. When you enter the house, the living room and dining room are first. The three black leather sofas face our television set, which gets satellite TV. The dining room table is far too small for 15 people, but 8 people can comfortably sit at the square table. The kitchen is enormous. Approximately the size of Lauren and Rachel’s bedroom, a double sink, three refrigerators, an ice chest, and two very long counters complete the room. 3 bedrooms are off of the hallway, past the kitchen. A few steps later, five stairs lead to the second floor, where 6 bedrooms are situated. The third floor also has 6 bedrooms.
I’m located on the third floor, in the back right-hand room. One wall is almost completely made out of windows, through which I can see Devil’s Peak. Against the adjacent wall, two windows look towards the water, and throughout the day, I see seagulls. My room stays well lit most of the day, and the intense sun tends to wake me up around 5:30am. The sun also makes the room feel like a furnace on some days (our house doesn’t have air conditioning or central heating), and the one window that opens doesn’t allow too much of a breeze through. My room is one of the bigger ones in the house and it’s on the third floor (much safer), so I can’t really complain.