The First Week

Well, I finished my first week of school. It has been an amazing experience. The teachers are very kind and helpful. I’ve been following math, English, physics, Xhosa and IT. And what is school without weekend? On Saturday Lauren, the Dutch exchange students and I went to Ratanga Junction. It’s a theme park next to a mall called Canal Walk. 

Each day we start off with either a church or house assembly. The first few days were extremely hot but this week it was a bit cooler, it even rained! Afterwards most students have Tutors. Our equivalent is a “Studieles”.  Usually Lourents and I just sit in the relaxation rooms of Gray House and play pool sometimes. It’s funny how the exchange coordinator from Bishops expects us to work while the teachers really don’t.

As I said previously on Saturday we went to Ratanga Junction. It was nice to do some things together again since we are separated most of the time. The day began well when we went to Ratanga. There was a slight miscommunication as to where we would meet.  While Lauren, Lotte and Elise were waiting inside, Lourents and I were waiting outside. After 30 minutes of waiting we went inside to see if we could find the girls. We had heard from our hosts that there was a particular attraction which we needed to check out: The Slingshot. It is basically a 10 story tall swing. You get pulled up until the ropes are horizontal and then you start swinging. At first you are basically falling. This was a good mental preparation for the Bungee Jump I’ll be making in February. We went on some other rides, but kept the best for the last. The name of the ride was “The Cobra”. It was an awesome ride where you are hanging in a seat. There were loopings and barrel roles, it was awesome.

Later that day my host family wanted to bring me to the top of Table Mountain. But that wasn’t the best part. They timed it so that when we arrived the sun was setting. It was a wonderful sight. We stayed at night so that we could see Cape Town lit by its own city lights. 

Since my stay here people have had trouble pronouncing my name, I don’t blame them of course, but here are some of the funnny names that they have given me:

Malik

Look

Luke

Louis