Setting up house and settling in

After an itinerant first two weeks, last weekend I was able to move in to the place where I will stay for the rest of my time here. It is a spacious one-bedroom cottage (pictured at right) in the front yard garden of a house near to the university. It was nice to unpack fully, but the best part so far (besides that view of the side of Table Mountain in the background) has been having a full kitchen. I've had fun stocking the cupboards and doing some cooking and baking. My landlords (a UCT professor and school librarian, both semi-retired) are wonderful, and they are great resources both for my project and as I explore the neighborhood. I have my sister to thank for the connection, as she stayed here ten years ago while doing research.

I've started to explore farther afield from the UCT neighborhood. In part, this is due my becoming more comfortable navigating the transportation options, such as the ubiquitous mini-van "taxis," as well as having found a used bicycle (pictured below). The bike is not flashy (which may not make it theft-proof, but should help); it's a classic, basic machine that has already had a liberating and joyful effect on my daily travel.

My getting out more is also largely thanks to having linked up with some other American visitors (all of whom have cars!); there is a second teacher here (from Boston) on my program, and also a professor from Miami U (in Ohio) here on a Fulbright with his family. I've also met a family from Seattle who is here for six months. All this has meant some social invitations, including a few dinners, being invited along on an excursion to Cape Point yesterday, and a Table Mountain hike planned for VERY early tomorrow morning. These emerging friendships are a nice counterbalance to lots of time spent researching and reading, which has been enjoyable but also rather solitary. A large contingent of foreign students from all over Africa and the world (including a conspicuous number of Americans) has arrived at the university this past week, and the South Africans are starting to show up to. I look forward to meeting more people through classes, which start next week, and through playing some soccer on campus (I've found a group that plays indoor soccer during the luch break).