Considering that today was our first day in a very new place, it was remarkably uneventful (probably a good thing). We were met at the airport by a wonderful group of six Rotarians (one of whom is a fellow scholar), and they are taking good care of us. We need it too! Cape Town is a car city, and the suburbs where we are currently staying are even more spread out. We can see the University from our hosts' house, but we are still reliant on them for rides.
The area is as beautiful as we had been told. We had a wonderful view of the mountains as the plane was approaching, including the “tablecloth” -- a thick cloud sitting on top of Table Mountain.
Our hosts for the first few days, Sonia and Humphrey, have been wonderfully welcoming and made us feel right at home. They even explained cricket in a way that we could understand! A match lasts 5 days, and at it is still possible to end with no winner – Humphrey calls it a sport with “a high degree of subtlety.” Andrew started gnawing on his hand.
Having so much help during our first few days makes us wonder what people do without it, for even with their assistance we feel like we are taking baby steps. For instance, today we accomplished the monumental tasks of buying electrical plug adapters and getting cell phones, and it took about three hours and lots of driving. We hope that everything won't be as difficult, but we also appreciate the opportunity to learn to be patient, to accept help graciously, and hopefully to be attentive to other people's needs when we are in a position to help. It is especially ironic that all the things we rushed to close down in Vermont--like phone plans and bank acounts--now need to be reopened.
The highlight of our day? We wanted to buy our cell phones as cheaply as possible, so we asked where to buy used models. Humphrey suggested a store called (no joke) Cash Crusaders. Sonia asked, “Isn't that where all the stolen phones get resold?” Humphrey responded “No love, that's Cash Converters.”
What aspect of moving to a foreign country would you most want someone else to take care of for you?
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