Cape Town - Week 2

The routine of life has slowly began to kick in, as I am now in my 2nd week in Cape Town. For several days I had two main activities that comprised my daily life. The 1st, driving/walking around the city, in an attempt to familiarize myself with my surroundings. The 2nd, well… the 2nd was not so fun…

So, in South Africa, there is a department known as Home Affairs. They handle matters such as passports, visas, work permits, ID cards, citizenship, etc etc. Pretty much anything dealing with living in or visiting South Africa is taken care of within this government-run office. And to say that they are efficient is like saying that U of M is going to win the national championship this year.

The reason for my visit to Home Affairs was two-fold. One, to apply for citizenship, as I technically am a South African citizen by descent (Mom/Dad were still SA’s when I was born). And two, to extend my visitor’s visa which was only applicable for 90 days. For those of you who remember my visit to Chicago back in early August, I went to apply for a year-long visa which was approved by the South African consulate. Until of course I actually arrived in South Africa, and they told me that I only had 90 days since my current visa was completely invalid.

So… for three straight days I went to Home Affairs to try sort out my visa, and three straight times I was sent home with completely different instructions. While one person told me to leave the country, and then just come right back in, another instructed me that I needed to collect the following documents to reapply for a new visa: Police background check from the States (yeah, that’ll be easy to get), a hospital document claiming that I don’t have Tuberculosis (once again, easy as pie), and of course $100. So I gave up. I’ll either figure it out when December comes along, or just live in this country as an illegal immigrant (cause I’m sure South Africa’s biggest worry is a 25-year old American living here).

Aside from my daily visit to Home Affairs, I have also spent several nights with distant family and friends for Rosh Hashanah. Most of these nights were like walking through a family tree from hell. My relation to certain dinner mates went as far as: Grandfathers brothers cousins daughters sons nephews 3rd uncles illegitimate ½ brothers moms… twin sister. The fact that they shared the maiden name of my mother was the only comfort that these people were actually relatives, and thus, it was a bit less awkward that I was there in their home for dinner. Nevertheless, everyone was very friendly, welcoming, and the food was unreal. Sure does beat my daily peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

The rest of my time has been comprised of nonstop cricket and rugby. Currently there are two HUGE tournaments going on in South Africa: The Twenty20 Cricket World Championship (hosted in South Africa) and the Rugby World Cup (hosted in France). The odds that either of these sports have been received a minute of broadcasting in the US is just as likely as me catching the next season of LOST on my 3.5 channel TV (the 4th channel gets horrible reception). BUT, here, it is insane. Everywhere you go, everywhere you look, there is something related to cricket or rugby. Store signs, commercials, hell the conversation on the streets all about some dude who’s name I can’t pronounce who played “brilliant” last night. It is fun though. With Michigan 1-2 now, and no chance of ever receiving a live game to watch over here, I need to focus my competitive thirst elsewhere. Thus, I am now a Springboks (rugby) and Proteas (cricket) fan. Go Boks!

The latest match vs England I watched at a bar with my flatmate (Kevin) and several of his friends. The atmosphere was similar to watching a UM/OSU game at BW3’s (non-Ann Arborites, sorry, just gotta go with the reference). It was insane. And now that I understand the game, I can actually get into it.

Well, tis all for now. Onto the pics

	Newest decoration for my room - Very African, I know
	South African drinking game (aka, drink the beer faster than the other team) -- My flatmate Kevin is the one in the green
	Ya got me on this one...
	Another postcard shot of Camps Bay
	Table Mountain with the city below

Next Week: ??