So after a long and tiring 20+ hour flight I finally arrived in the beautiful Cape Town, South Africa. Although it was nearly midnight by the time I got in I still found myself refreshed by the wonderfully cool South African air. I spent my first night here in a hostel called Obviously Armchair which ended up being just blocks from my new home. After a horrible nights rest – due to nerves and excitement—I was picked up along with another intern from VAC, Juhi and driven to our adorable orange bungalow. It is a ten bedroom house with a nice little front yard, porch and back area, where I was lucky enough to score a decent sized corner room complete with my own bathroom—sweet! The view from outside our door is the stunning Devil’s peak mountain which is breathtaking every time I see it.
My first day, two other interns and I were taken to orientation and put on a city tour of Cape Town. And although very touristy it gave us a wonderful view of the city and we even got to get off at Camps Bay for some lunch. The only downside is the fact that the running joke seems to be how you can so easily tell who the new interns are because they get totally scorched on the open air tour! And I definitely didn’t disappoint in terms of nasty sunburns- ouch.
The next day I had my meeting with my boss, Rachelle for my internship at Youth Dynamix. The meeting went extremely well and I think it’s going to be a perfect fit for me. Her office is within an advertising company called JWT, which I may be able to do some work for as well. After the meeting my boss and I along with some fellow interns and their bosses went for drinks – what a wonderful start to a new job
I’ve come at a really good time in terms of getting to know other interns since this is when a lot of new people are coming in as well. Everyone is very nice and it seems like we should have a group of around 30-40 interns over the next couple months. The organization VAC hosts adventure trips every Friday and this week’s trip was hiking to the Bloomsberg Caves. After being a total couch potato for the last, I’d rather not say… the hike to the caves was quite the kick in the ass! However when I finally made it we had to literally army crawl through a very narrow tunnel before reaching an opening in the caves. I also need to mention that the views from this hike were utterly stunning as we overlooked Cape Point and Simon’s town in the distance. Going down the mountain got quite interesting as our leaders decided it would be fun to try going down the other side of the mountain. I soon learned that although they had done this hike a couple of times they had never attempted this before and after literally scaling down partial cliffs we soon lost the trail and were stuck traipsing through the African bush. Although it was quite comedic, few escaped without scratches and twigs covering them.
Finally today, we went to a Braai (kind of like a BBQ) in a local township. It was an amazing experience, not only to visit a real township but also to see the culture at its truest form. The food was amazing, and I’m not just saying that because I’m a meat lover, since this braai included huge plates full of delicious chicken, sausage, and lamb- yum! Braai’s are quite popular here and the ones at Mzoli’s are some of the best in town, often including local DJs and lots of dancing and drinking.
I begin work on Monday which I’m very excited since it will get me started on a schedule and keep me busy busy!
