All day long I felt like I was wearing a sandwich board saying "Hi, I'm American!" on the front and "I have no idea where to go or who to talk to!" on the back. For a 22,000-student university, the campus is pretty small, and on the first day back to school, it feels even smaller.
It was like high school from one of those movies: You walk up the main steps to find hundreds of students, packed together in selected groups on the front area hugging and talking about their vacations, all the while either ignoring you or assessing you. At lunch, my housemate Brian and I sat in a corner outside of the food court on the steps, because all the cool kids sniped the tables by group (lucky us, we got to sit next to the chain-smoker table).
I only had two classes today, neither of which was less than 100 people, and I doubt tomorrow's will be either. My first class, History of Modern South Africa, was half Americans, and taught by an American professor (so much for escaping the country). It seems manageable enough, and relatively interesting. The Political Economy of International Relations doesn't seem as inviting, but it does seem really engaging. The professor kept making jokes at the Americans' expense (like that's never happened before).
I walked back to the house today for the first time since I've been here, and it was pretty liberating. Since I've been in Cape Town, I haven't exited a private residence without escort, so I felt kind of naked.
Mom: don't worry, it was one in the afternoon, and about a quarter mile through the middle of campus.
Alas, my riveting posts with lots of brilliant photography will have to subside for at least the next four days, as I am forced to participate in the "study" part of study abroad.
Epic fail.
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