SHAWCO Health

As part of my Community Health in Context course, I am required to participate at a service learning site to complete 40 service hours. Since this is a health related course, our service learning site is supposed to help us experience aspects of health care system in Cape Town. I am volunteering with a program …

Peninsula Tour

Another weekend, another IES trip! This time we traveled down the Cape Peninsula towards Cape Point, the most southwestern tip of Africa. We started our day by heading to Hout Bay, a neighborhood south of Table Mountain and along the Atlantic Ocean that is home to the Hout Bay Market. Along the dock at the …

National Women’s Day in South Africa

On Thursday, August 9th, was National Women’s Day here in South Africa, so here’s a little history lesson for you all to start off this post! National Women’s Day is a public holiday that started in 1995 in remembrance of one of the largest protests in South African History. On August 9, 1956, about 20,000 women …

UCT Academics

One of the biggest culture shocks I’ve had so far would have to be school at UCT. Even starting out at orientation and registration it was much different. In the US most schools have an online registration process near the end of the previous semester in order to sign up for classes and figure out …

The Garden Route

Last weekend was full of crossing things off the South Africa bucket list! IES organized a road trip for us along the Garden Route, a stretch of southern South Africa that is made up of farmland and some incredible sights. We had an early morning Friday to drive to our first destination, Wilderness. Wilderness is …

The Mother City

I arrived safely in Cape Town a week ago for my fall semester at University of Cape Town and began what I hope will be the adventure of a lifetime! When I landed, I met my study abroad program director at the airport to drive to where I’ll be staying for the semester: a small …

Good Eats

My whole life I have been surrounded by creative cooks. From my mom fixing up schnitzel and spaghetti carbonara in the kitchen to my boyfriend, Daniel, mixing up a new pastry or challenging dish, I am never without a new treat to try. In Oman I am surrounded by new foods, but there is a simplicity …

Shah’s Shop

Where Everything is Possible A five-minute walk and a skip away from the Al Amana Center, deep into the Mutrah Souq and around the corner is a cute little shop where I like to spend my days. Colors literally wind about the walls as they make up the expertly woven rugs and embroidered scarves folded …

In the Neighborhood: Mutrah

For three more weeks, I get to wake up and go to sleep in my cozy room at the Al Amana Center in Muscat. I finally feel as if I know this neighborhood and some of the patterns the locals take each day. I’d like to take you through the streets and let you smell …

Even so, Come Lord Jesus

” A new way of understanding other religions implies a new way of understanding Christianity. Christians do indeed face both problems and promises when they honestly and lovingly face the reality of other religions. ”                                         …