Hello!!
I figured it has been a while since my last update and its time for a new post!
The last three weeks in this city have been just like the weather..very unsteady. Some days the sky is clear and and blue, it is sunny and warm out, but within only a couple of hours the temperature drops down, the clouds hang so close to the ground that you cant even see Table Mountain and its rainy and stormy. Unpredictable just like everything in this country.
I have experienced a lot of beautiful moments and met many cool people here. Last weekend we went to watch a soccer game at the Green Point Stadium. It was great, everybody was cheerful and friendly and we could even walk back home from the stadium (which is a 45 minutes to 1 hour walk) at 11:30 at night which is usually not a good idea. But the fan walks were open and everybody was out on the streets and thus it was not dangerous. It felt good to walk in the street at night feeling save and not sitting in the appartment, locked in behind bars and a security guard.

It is also just amazing to hang out at Camps Bay on a sunny day. The coast is stunningly beautiful and it is save and quiet to walk around. Hanging out there at the beach truly feels like you are in paradise and not like being in one of South Africas biggest cities. 

On the other hand its sad and scary to see cars being broke into in the middle of the day for an umbrella lying on the backseat. Every morning on my way to work (not more than a 10 min walk) I find new car windows lying in broken pieces on the sidewalk.
There are homeless people living on the highway that goes right by our appartment and I can see them every day through my window. Sometimes they are not there, the police comes around occasionally and takes them somewhere else. But they usually return the same day. They beg you for money every time you pass by, once I gave them food but they did not want it, they want money so they can get drugs and alcohol. The police came and searched them the other day, they found a bunch of knives and all kind of selfmade weapons on them.   
After 16 years of democracy there are still so many South Africans having to survive on less than a dollar a day, living on the street or in a township not having a job or perspective.

That much about my ambivalent impressions of this country.

Hugs and greetings from the Cape to all of you!!
Gesa

babbelas and other South African goodies

Thanks to a lovely and thoughtful note from a friend of mine I was reminded to write a new post (by the way, havent received the link to your semesterbreak-blog yet, Sandy.. but Im sure you have written several posts already ;) ).
Anyways..10 days have gone by already and lots has happened!!My internship at the research office of the Democratic Alliance in the parliament of South Africa has officially started and believe me folks, it has not been easy to get up that early every morning. I used to be pretty good at getting out of bed in the mornings but I guess three years of university have done the usual to me. Nonetheless, work at the research office has been pretty interesting so far! The first day I received my first research project which is to find out about CPFs (Community Police Fora) which were established to promote communication between police and communities and to prevent crime after all (you might have heard about South African crime statistics..they are pretty scary). Apparently there have been budgetary cuts by the government and the DA as leading opposition party of course has to make a statement on that. Besides the research project Im in charge of uploading new press releases onto the DA homepage..for those of you who know about my IT skills..yes..they seriously let me touch their homepage ;) .
The first couple of days it was really intense and overwhelming to receive all the news about South African politics but already now I feel I kind of know about the current main topics and issues going on in the country. I also got to go to a press conference last week and today I watched a committee meeting about the police. It is really cool to watch the news at night and you hear the statements you have already heard all about all day long because they were actually produced in your office. Or even see a press conference you helped setting up the room for and you actually watched life hours earlier that day.
But I dont want to bore you with politics.
The diversity of Cape Town still amazes me. It is such a global city, people from all over seem to live here. I love walking down the street (eventhough I still have not been able to accustom myself to the fact that people here drive on the left side of the road and I risk my life as soon as I put foot on the street o.O) and to hear the different languages, South Africa alone has several official languages but you can hear many more being spoken. My stay has already enriched my English vocabulary I suppose, some expressions really differ from the English I am used to, such as the use of "robot" instead of "traffic light" or "babbelas" for "hungover". I guess that is also the case because a lot of Afrikaans words have found their way into the English language here. Its very interesting to observe.
Other than that it is really remarkable how South Africans handle their public holidays. Apparently there are more public holidays in South Africa than in any other country in the world. Last Sunday for example was Women's Day, thus, everybody got off on Monday. And thats just the way it works here..everything is considered a public holiday..and in case it happens to be on a weekend then everybody just gets Monday off. I was told that during the Worldcup schools and universities were closed for 5 weeks straight!!That might be also an issue of public education since teachers have been striking a lot lately, but come on..5 weeks off, just like that?!?!
Alright..I have got to hit the pillow now, otherwise its going to be even more difficult to get up tomorrow morning!!I hope all of you are doing fine!!
Cheeeeeeeers from Bafana Bafana
Gesa

Parliament

early in the morning

at the waterfront

Arrival in the mother city

Hello friends :)
Due to promises I made under the influence of alcohol I find myself now writing a blog..FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE o.O so I better apologize beforehand for mistakes I probably made setting up this page. I also decided to write in English so that all of my friends have the chance to read it.
Soooo...a week ago I still found myself in tropical Middle European temperatures, and all of a sudden I wake up in the morning finding myself in the oldest metropole of South Africa - Cape Town!!!
Though getting here really wasnt all that easy I had to find out. At least not this time and not for me. When I arrived at the Hamburg airport last Thursday, an hour early, all set for new adventures, the lady at the check in counter told me that there was a problem with my flight ticket and sent me to another counter to discuss it with those people there. It was then that I found out that the company I had booked my ticket at half a year ago online, apparantly had gone bancrupt in the meantime and had not transfered the money I had paid for the ticket to Emirates. So basically I had no ticket but paid for one. Great. So the only options I had was either go home again or buy a new ticket. Since I already had arranged everything: the internship, scholarship, a flat to stay at in Cape Town, someone renting my room in Germany, someone to pick me up from the airport in SA, I decided to buy a new ticket.
Then, after a 7h flight, 9h layover in Dubai and another 7h flight I finally arrived in Cape Town where a friend of a friend had already been waiting for me. At first I thought I was tired, but since it was Friday night, he had been working all week and his friends were really keen to go out, I decided to postpone sleeping and go out to discover Cape Town by night. Was a really fun night after all. The weekend he showed me the city and we had great fun! I also got in touch with the shared flat I had arranged beforehand and made appointment with them so I could move in on Tuesday. They are great people, a Dutch girl who has been studying here for two years now and a South African architect who is a really cool guy but is not around the flat too often.
I am surprised now a week has gone by already, but on the other hand it seems long since I have been home. Cape Town is a very beautiful and interesting city and people have been very nice to me. But then its very sad to see how much segregation and racism there still is. Wouldnt have thought so before I came. Still there is the "Afrikaans Culture" and the "Couloured or Black Culture". Most white people only hang out with other white people and most blacks only with blacks. When people asked me which music I liked and I told them R'nB, they gave me strange looks, later I found out it is not appropriate for a white person to listen to R'nB. Good to know -.-
Anyways. On Monday I will start my internship at the research office of the Democratic Alliance.I am very excited and keen to get to know more about South African politics!!

view over Cape Town

Table Mountain!!