This is Africa, after all

The most important thing I've begun to learn this first week (and it's been a hard time even beginning to figure it out) is that in Africa, you cannot be uptight. You cannot be in control, and you cannot expect things to go the way you wanted or needed or absolutely HAD to have them go.
Like many of the characters in the movie Blood Diamond say, "T.I.A: this is Africa". It's a shrug, of sorts; a letting go of needing to know what's going on 24/7. You can't control it, so there's no point in trying.
My lessons in letting go started early, when my roommate Andrea and I were placed in an apartment completely unlike its description on the University of Stellenbosch's website. We entered the prison-like little space (complete with a kitchen area, bathroom and two bedrooms) to find we were missing a kitchen table and chairs. As if the room wasn't empty enough already! In many respects, it's as nice or nicer than dorms in the US (depending on the school). I suppose we're lucky to be supplied with kitchen utensils and linens by AIFS, rather than having to buy them ourselves. What we weren't supplied, we could buy ourselves: rugs and such to cover the neutral walls and ugly laminate-tile flooring. But the one thing that was impossible not to notice (other than the glaring emptiness of our kitchen area) was the lack of heat in the building.

Alright, so we'd been warned. Mike (our coordinator here) definitely included the words "we don't have central heating" once or twice in his emails to us. But none of us actually realized that might entail 45-55 degree temps INSIDE in the middle of a sunny African afternoon. Who'd-a-thunk AFRICA could be cold??

We've since adjusted accordingly. Some people bought extra blankets (coincidentally, the one duvet AIFS did supply us with is entirely warm enough for the night. The trouble comes in trying to do anything *outside* of my bed), some people consistently wear three layers and two pairs of socks.Some people spend as much time as possible standing in direct sunlight, the only warmth we can get outside, trying to soak it up in reserve for later. Most of us bought hats and scarves, if we didn't bring them. And we learned that keeping doors shut magically keeps our rooms much warmer. Difficulty 1: overcome (except for the kitchen table part, which should be fixed by this afternoon).

The second great adjustment has been classes. After three days of orientation (one just with AIFS, two with the other 200+ International students) we still had not even gotten our student cards, or signed up for classes. Actually, as I sit here (5 days in) I STILL don't know what classes I'm taking, or if I'm going to get in to the English classes I need. Class meeting times and locations are decided by means of mass chaos: no where is there a book printed listing all the courses being taught, let alone where and when they're offered. We as International students have a list of separate classes in English taught specifically for us by Stellenbosch professors, but in certain departments (of course, English being the chief one) instead of International classes we have to register in maintstream university courses. This requires a series of hoop-jumping: find the department, find the department secretary, get the listed class offerings, talk to the professor, beg for your scholastic life. Even then the time the professor gives you may and probably will change during the semester, perhaps even multiple times. This morning I made my first major attempt at jumping through said hoops.

I found the English department easily enough. It's located on the 5th floor of the Arts building (which, I'm fairly certain, may qualify as the ugliest building on this beautiful campus), smack dab in the middle of campus. The entire western side of the fifth floor is a long yellowed hallway lined with English dep't offices and various posts in Afrikaans, one after the other--not particularly the most welcoming place on campus. After wandering a bit I stumbled upon what appeared to be the office of the department secretary, only to find a note announcing her leave until Monday the 21st of July. Students were redirected to another administrative assistant, who I noticed half-running away down the hallway as I approached her office. On the wall outside her office was a list of courses for this semester, but none of them were courses we were told were being offered, and no where were they labeled as to the language in which they were taught--fat lot of good it would do me to sign up for a writing class in Afrikaans.

So that was pretty much useless.

At this point, I'm still trying to calm down. The one class I was told I'd be in (the one I got pre-approved) is no longer being offered. But as our coordinator Mike has repeated often, there is not just a Plan A in South Africa. There's a plan B, C, D and even Z, if it comes to it. It'll work out, he says. There is absolutely nothing more (that I know of) that I can do until Monday, when the professors return. I've sent as many emails as I can, and now I have to give in to the fact that this is, after all, Africa. Nothing is quite as it seems or as you'd like it to be.

Despite all that, it's good for me. I love it. And I'm very much happy to be here.

One more brief comment: it IS spectacularly beautiful here. I wish I could post pictures for you all, but because of the way the internet works (we pay by the megabyte, so downloading and uploading (putting pictures online) is way expensive) I can't at this point. Maybe later in the semester, if I find out I'm not using all of my internet quota (I get a certain amount a month paid by AIFS) then I'll get some up. Until then, you'll have to trust me. My dorm Academia (22 separate buildings with 20 or so apartments each) has an amazing view of both the Hottentot Mountains (I think) and Stellenbosch Mountain. They're flatter, bluff-style mountains. Their hillsides are covered in vineyards which are barely green this time of year. Soon, though, the warmth will come back and the vineyards will bloom and everything will be even more gorgeous! We've been told this is the best time of year to be here, because we get to witness the transformation from winter to spring to summer. I'm certainly excited to see it.

I miss you all! Feel free to pass this on to anyone who might like to hear from me...