Cape Town

Arrived in Cape Town early Thursday morning to blue skies and a refreshing summer breeze. We drove along the hillside that overlooked the city below that is speckled with brightly colored rooftops and is bordered on one side by rugged mountains and on the other a flowy coastline. Our hostel is a backpacking lodge and travel center caled the Ashanti, and is conveniently located near the main Kloof street that has a great Califonia meets New Orleans vibe with the flowy white iron balconies and short flat buildings. A few of us indulged in our first taste of cheese in a month (wasn't seen at all in China), at a funky Mexican place then went out  to a bustling Irish pub that featured array of locals and travelers- among them was our crew of flight attendents who we had gotten to know pretty well by the end of our 9 hour flight. Yesterday we had a very informative orientation session with Susan, Angela and Rose- the three coordinators of this leg, who are all very excited and passionate about this country and our program. We had a simple lunch in the front yard of the hotel that peacefully clumps lounge chairs, hammocks and palm trees. Despite this tempting lazy venue, we went for a run through the Company gardens that has cobblestone paths and houses numerous national museums, sculptures and statues- and very friendly squirrels. We walked along Kloof street in the afternoon and admired the traditional African markets and spoke to some visitors from Memphis who gave us some tips for hiking Table Mountain. That's where we're off to today- a morning hike before it gets super hot and steamy- we're going to start at the trail that leaves from the national  botanical gardens and go up the "skeleton gorge" path for a 4 hour trek. Apparently the mountain is hollow with a dragon inside, so the last person up will be fed to him- on the table top..siezing the day early!

Shanghai

Our Shanghai adventure started with a pleastantly short and easy flight over the China countryside with a gorgeous ROYGBIV sunset peaking (peking..?) through the windows of the plane. After cheking into our hotel, the ladies enjoyed a traditional vegetarian dinner of beans and eggplant and dumplings, then we ventured out to a plethera of unique venues that Rosalie recommended from her summer internship in Shangahi. First was the British Bulldog Pub that had vitange framed record albums, sepia photographs and colorful pin-up posters scattered all of the walls and cielings. Next was the "Not Me" bar that featured stranded halloween jackolanters and an unfortanately empty dancefloor that was bordered with bright green couches in egg-shaped "pods". We hitched on to some locals with mbrellas as we trecked through a rainy drizzle to a place full of old ex-pats. We bumped into a couple Swedish businessmen who contract Chinese factories to produce nutritional supplements...they were surprised by our interest in their business endeavors. We started the dancefloor just in time to celebrate Rafat's 20th birthday then taxi'd back for some tasty late night street noodles. After a too-easy google search, we found the "Egghead Bagel" shop to treat ourselves toa rare western breakfast.. or in Conner's case, chocolate moose. A comical mural on the wall depicted quite the comical heroic quest of Mr. Egghead: He discoveres that his eyelashed bagel damsel has been captured by the ferocious fast-food villans; soda and fries. He fuels up on a bagel that privdes him with the strength to defeat the greasy monsters and retrieve his mistress. After a little chortle, we walked through a busteling commerical area around Ren Bin Wan Chan (aka People's Square). We tested out the subway which was the cleanest, most efficient and well-organized underground system I've every seen- DC should take notes. We explored some shopping markets, passed a store that was swarming with fans trying to sneak a peak at a Hong Kong movie star. We grabbed a milk tea at starbucks (their token cultural adjustment to the local menu) and napped before grabbing a late dinner at a Turkish restaurant. I had a babganoush-esque eggplant mush alongside zuchinni cakes. My favorite part of the trip was yet to come, as we walked along the Bund that gleamed with spotlighted European-influenced architecture on one side, and futuristic neon skyscrapers on the left. We went to a lighthouse that was converted into a restaurant/bar and hung out on the scenic rooftop that provided an epic view of the skyline from all angles. Our wild sides came out at Club 88 where we danced a lot, met some other travelers and Rosalie spn the DJ's record.

 

Satruday we had a needed lazy morning then a few of us wandered out into the rain to the old historic area of Shangai. The rain lured us into a small bubble tea shop where the young owner attempted to give us directions to a nearby temple, but happened to direct us through a street filled with quaint massage "parlors" ( a place with 3-4 comfy recliners). After a walk and travel-filled weekend, Gemma Sam and I treated ourselves to masssages. While Gemma got a head massage (turned body massage), Sam and I got hour-long foot massages, and it was the best 5 dollars I've ever spent. With well-oiled feet and zenned-out minds we explored the nearby neighborhood where we caught glimpses of some mysterious stone warrior statues (maybe some leftover Terracotta wariors?). Our last night we all got a little dressed up (boys finally clean-shaven) for a late dinner at the Radisson hotel restaurant. IT was a circular spinning room on the 45th gloor that provided a gorgeous evening view of the city lights below. Many of us got traditional foods like duck and  jiaozi (dumplings) while others indulged in some sushi and tempura- overall it was a delicious feast with a great group. I giggled a lot when Rafat and Rosalie held up their arms as if they were on a roller coaster.. as they soaked in the thrill of  having the dinner table ratotate around the city once every two hours- quite the adrenaline rush but I don't think it'd make it to Cedar Point. The excitement continued as we walked down the eerie stairs of a bomb-shelter-turned-bar that had domed tiled passageways and concrete tables that nested against the walls. Pipes lined the cieling and there was weak lighting that emphasized the creepy aura of the venue, it was really fun nightlife vibe.

 

Our morning consisted of subwaying to the Xintonging district which is filled with savy restaurants and shops that are sandwhiched along gorgeous renovated stone arhitecture and tree avenues. We found a place for brunch that gave us really high expectations in the atmostphere and delicious menu, but the service was beyond mediocre- in an ultimately funny way. They tried to make up for the innaccurate orders and 3-hour wait by serving us 16 unwanted side orders of french fries (there were twelve of us..)- a whopping value of about 80 american dollars. We wandered around the district a bit then headed to the airport for a quick flight back to Changsha- which welcomed us open armed with rain and cold weather for most of this week. We rationalized that this is a representative taste of what home is like in the northeast as winter is right around the corner! Christmas carols are slowly seeping in to our frequent break-into-song moments.. I ancipate some great sing-along bus rides once December rolls around even though we'll be basking in the glory of the summer sun! 5 more days in Changsha- it's wild how fast this leg of the program flew by, will hopefully submit one more update on China before we're in the next continent. Happy singles day!! (11/11/11- a celebrated day of the year here in China!)

 

Changsha

Going to China, I didn't really have many pre-conceived expectations or even a notion of what it would be like, I really prefer to formulate my impressions in person with first hand observations and experiences because that's what immersion's all about. Changsha is a large city, comparable to Philly or Baltimore with its bustling aura and metropolis aesthetic. We are studying at the Central South University that the main college in the Hunan province, with 56,000 undergraduate students. After the first few days if touristy sight seeing and orientation/histories and introductions, we finally moved into our homestays. I'm living with three other students- Iris (spunky art major from Seattle who’s super chill, has great music taste and is super motivational during our early morning workouts), Marjani (NYC native polisci major at Swarthmore who breaks into song and laughter with me all day long), and Sylvia (motherly and hilarious chica from Tanzania who has been pop quizzing me on new Chinese and Swahili vocabulary). We live a 12 minute walk from CSU in a 2-story apartment in a large complex right along the main road that thrives with street venders, stores and people-watching opportunities. 

Our host parents are both professors (Dad economics, Mom geography), and since they both speak minimal English they sorta hired two of their students to live with us part time as translators and roommates- they have been a great resource to have around during meals to help facilitate conversation. Our grandparents are preciously petite and jolly, and surprisingly mobile. They help a lot with household chores and cleaning, and go on daily walks- they have gotten some great stamina from living on a 5th floor apartment…we're still getting used to the hefty flights of stairs that await us every time we get home. We have been unexpectedly spoiled, as we each have our own single room and bed- and there are still about 4 free beds left over (we may host a sleepover one weekend). We have welcomed the traditional Hunan Cuisine with open arms and open chopsticks- the simple vegetable dishes are our favorite, especially the plethora of dark leafy greens and eggplant. We're still getting used to finding out what we eat after the fact…I now know that I like snails and chicken stomach! We also hung out with our 22 year old host brother who attends university about an hour away and is studying IT, he woke us up at 7am (ouch) Saturday and Sunday so we could have productive days exploring the Tangerine Island (in the river, has a huge head of young Mao Zedong at the tip of the 5km scenic park) and Walking Street (no cars or bikes allowed, many shops and even got a Starbucks treat- although didn't test out the green tea cheesecake…).

As for the program, it's obvious that the coordinators spent a lot of time arranging the content of the site visits and guest lectures so that everything is much more synthesized than India. After having a detailed lecture from a well qualified and experienced doctor about Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) we went that afternoon to the largest TCM hospital in the Hunan Province where we got to test our acupuncture (tried it in my leg and hand ahh! felt weird but cool...), peak into drawers and cabinets full of fragrant herbs and minerals (and beetles?!) in their pharmacy, speak to patents in the inpatient and outpatient sectors and even attempt a method of TCM diagnosis. They have 9 different ways of feeling a patient's pulse on along the radial artery on the wrist, using different amounts of pressure, that can reveal signs of certain diseases based on the strength flow and beat pattern. We also visited an elderly home (we played ping pong and chatted to residents), a primary community health center (focuses a lot on family planning on maternal/infant health to reinforce the one child policy), and just today a rural government-run school in Shoashan where we spoke with the principle, at a school lunch with the students then spent the afternoon touring their campus (which is right next to Mao Zedong's birthplace and house). A good chunk of IHPers were sweaty after trouncing some high schoolers in basketball, and playing ping pong/badminton/ultimate Frisbee. 

We just had a really fun unit between the HCC and GH classes about food, and how it relates to culture, security and policy. We had an exercise during lunch where we were given time to find a traditional food and to perform a food history to discover the background information on the food items that was discussed during a massive potluck feast- which included a cornucopia of noodles, rice, pancake things, miscellaneous meats on sticks, questionable gelatinous globs and even lemon tea-flavored bag of lays chips (comparable to the culturally adjusted Masala Spice flavor in India..)

Halloween was a blast- they arranged for a bus to take us across the river close to the hoppin' nightlight of Bar Street (Which we explored last weekend) to a KTV (karaoke) club where we had a private room with plenty of treats and drinks for all. The only trick was figuring out how to work the karaoke machine before Conner discovered how to turn on the English setting). Favorite song moments were the Spice Girls jamming out to some of their top hits, Katie singing Alejandro by Lady Gaga and Greg, Mark and I's debut of Love Shack. Favorite costumes were Mackenzie's barefoot doctor outfit, and Mike's Great Firewall of China (he dressed up in all red- from wig to sneakers- and taped websites like Google, Facebook and YouTube all over him with random holes cut in where he scribbled VPN on his skin). Thanks to Iri's creativity and considering its prevalence on dining room tables in this country, a lazy-Susan seemed to be the perfect costume for me- I had no problem sporting some frumpy floral pajamas and rabbit slippers- not my normal night wear choice but I could get used to such comfortable dancing garb. After a morning of class tomorrow we are off to Shanghai for the long 3-day weekend- can't wait to explore another huge city in China! Should be fun-filled…missing everyone and hope you all had a great Halloween!