So I have been here for almost 3 weeks now, and I think it is time for an update :) I think I have adjusted here pretty quickly, the first week was very strange and everything was new, but I met a few good people, which made me like it here so much :) So, I arrived on March 1st 2010, which was a Monday. It had been a long trip, and I flew from Copenhagen around 6pm, arrived in London around 7 pm, and was taking my flight to Cape Town around 9.30 pm. It was a weird feeling being all alone. I killed time by finding my gate, Heathrow is a big airport, even though I have been there so many times, I still tend to get lost. When arriving at my gate, I started looking at all these people who were going to Cape Town, wondering if they were going on holiday, or if they were native South Africans. I am thinking it probably was a mixture of both. Most of them was white, I noticed that immediatly. Then I started thinking about if they all thought the same about me, if I was 'South African', or what my purpose was of going there, as virtually the only person looking 'colored'.
I watched a few movies on the plane, I got to finish watching Fame, which I started watching on my last trip from the US, and I watched some of this Jamie Foxx movie, which was interesting, but I did not get to finish it. Maybe when I go back to Denmark :) The guy sitting next to me was from the UK, living in Liverpool, but had a small airline company, so he was going to SA for some business. He showed me pictures of some of the smaller planes he owns, and I was sort of happy sitting next to him if something should happen, as he was a pilot as well. We started talking because he saw me reading Politikens " Turen gaar til Sydafrika", which basically is one of those tourist books. I mostly focused on reading the part about Western Cape the politics of SA, and the composition of SA.
Arriving in Cape Town, I was getting excited/ nervous, as I knew I would have to pass the border. Not that I thought they would not let me into their country, but those guards there always make me nervous. First I had to figure out where to go, as the signs there in my view were kind of misleading. When I finally found my way, there was a smaller line in which I had to wait for my turn. I heard about 4 Danish speaking people, and the same thoughts I had in Heathrow struck me - they had no idea I was Danish. I was looking forward to experiencing how South Africans would receive 'someone like me' with all my diversities or whatever. It went smoothly going through the border, the woman just asked me what my purpose of coming to SA was, all the usual questions. Going through and coming outside, I knew Henrik from Africa Contact would be there to pick me up, but I did not know what he looked like. When I came out, I saw a 'white' guy and a girl with the same color as me, standing with a paper with the name Sabrah on it. I went there, greeted them, and that was that :) I tried to figure out where the girl was from, because she presented herself as Inga, which I thought had a Scandinavian ring to it. Henrik said he was not sure when I would be arriving, but he was happy that I was finally there. I told him that he had the same name as my dad, and that my mom was like, good there is a 'Henrik' to take care of you there. Arriving in Cape Town, it was very hot, and I was wearing jeans,and a long sleeved cotton shirt, a scarf, and carrying a sweater with me. I normally get cold on airplanes, and it was pretty cold in Denmark before I left. But way too hot for Cape Town.
The three of us went to their car, and first stop would be my new work place, AIDS Legal Network. Inga was driving. We had a hard time finding the place, and Inga was calling them several times for directions, as we got lost. It was kind of overwhelming arriving there, because all of sudden it was all real: the internship I had been planning since 2009 was suddenly real, and here I was standing at my workplace for the next 6 months. I would start on March 8th, so I had a week to relax in, and get settled in, before starting for real. At the office, I was met by a woman in her 50s I believed,as she had some grey hair, who presented herself to me, and showed me around the office, and introduced me to the rest of the staff. There were only three peoplein that day, and the director was in New York. She gave me some of their publications, and said I could use the week to read them. I thanked her, and Inga asked me if I had anymore questions to ask them, which I did not. I liked the place, and the people seemed friendly.
Then next stop was finding a place for me to stay. Before going, we were stopping by an ATM, as Henrik needed some money. Inga and I waited in the car, and accidently the car in front of us had a license plate saying 'Winnie M'. Inga was like, maybe it is Winnie Mandela, and we both smiled. However, out came three men, who drove off in it, so unless they borrowed her car, that was not the case :) Henrik came back out, and we were off to Deco Lodge, a place, which had special agreement set up with Africa Contact, so we could live there cheaper. When we came, around 2 pm, there was young manager named Bongani, which was a funny name, since it reminded me of someone else. The woman's name was Nonki, and it took them a while to settle on a price, which we all could agree on. It ended up with me paying 2000 Rand for the month I would stay there, which was great. The normal price would have been 9000 rand, so I was satisfied, and that would include Internet, Henrik told me. So I managed all the paperwork, but their swipe machine was not working, so I had to go get the money in cash, which was fine. Henrik showed me the best places to withdraw money, and was explaining to me how I should carry money around. He had earlier also given me a small pamphlet with important information. I finally had a room to settle in, and Henrik said I should take my most important stuff and lock it in with a padlock. Luckily I had one from my bag, which I just used. We then went for lunch at a place named Fransi Pansi, which Henrik said was pretty good. The place was in my 'new' town, Woodstock. Henrik paid the lunch here, and suggested we would meet in Cape Town center next day, where I could pay our lunch.
After the lunch, they dropped me off at Deco Lodge, and showed me how I would get to Cape Town with a mini-van, or as they call them here, a taxi. Henrik told me they could drive kind of recklessly, but it was cheap transport. I was kind of anxious if I could figure out how to do, but I luckily got assistance from two new friends: Lucy and Sophie. Lucy was a young girl in her 2os working at the Lodge, and Sophie was also a young intern there. Lucy is from Zimabwe, and Sophie from Germany. So when I returned to Deco Lodge, I was asked to move rooms, I did not really understand why, but they carried my bag upstairs, where I finally got to rest a bit. I had earlier on asked Bongani for a plug converter, as NONE of the one's I hat brought, which were supposed to cover the whole world, worked. In Heathrow I used my laptop until it died, but it did not shut down properly, and I had no power converters in my back to recharge it. So I just wanted to shut it down properly. About half an hour after I woke up from my sleep, there was a knock on my door, it was Bongani again, saying I should move to another room. He introduced me to a young girl, Suzan, and said we could be new roommates. I agreed, and moved again, but asked him if that could be the last time. three times in a day was a bit much, I thought. Suzan seemed nice, and I liked the room better, since my 2nd room not had a closet I could lock up with a padlock, but a weird one with no space, and we would be two people sharing that one. So I was settled for the day, and had a good feeling about this place. The plan was to stay there at least one month, and meanwhile find another place to stay, something more permanently. So that was my first day in Cape Town, and I pretty much felt at home already.
Next update with my second day in Cape Town will follow shortly. Pics will also appear soon. I hope you enjoy reading this, and that it not is too long for you - please do read & comment on it, it is interesting :)
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