10 Reasons to Study Abroad in Cape Town, South Africa

1. It is the oldest city in South Africa
2. It is full of young people… The median age in the city is 26 years-old
3. It is one of the most multicultural cities in the world

We Want to Hear from YOU!

ISA, Interstudy‘s partner organization, has had an awesome student blog since 2009. The ISA student blog has served as an open forum for ISA students to explore all aspects of the study abroad experience through stories, photos, and other media, and will now serve the same purpose for Interstudy too! The goal of the blog is to help prospective students get an inside view of what life is like as an ISA/Interstudy participant so they can make an informed decision about which study abroad location best suits their academic and personal goals.

Deadlines Extended for the University of Cape Town Fall 2013 Program!

We are happy to announce that the deadline for our Fall 2013 University of Cape Town program has been extended! All paper and online applications must be received by Interstudy/ISA by April 29th in order to meet this deadline.

More details on this program, including program requirements, housing, excursions, courses, dates, and other information can be found here.

Sawubona. Igama lami uLanga Mchunu!

Sanibonani! For those of you who don’t know, that means “Hello” in Zulu. Zulu is a language spoken in many parts of South Africa, and a language that is now often heard in Interstudy‘s Boston office. Interstudy‘s South Africa Site Specialist and the newest addition to the office, Langa Mchunu, was born and raised in South Africa and speaks fluent Zulu and English. Even though Langa is the only one from South Africa in our office, we are all catching on with some of his Zulu phrases. The most popular one being “Yebo”, which means “Yes”. “Yebo” just falls off the tongue so much easier than “Yes”. You can count on “Yebo” being the new hip word to use in the US in a few years, and you can thank Langa for that!

Don’t Panic… There’s Still Time!

Forgot or ran out of time to submit your Fall 2013 Interstudy study abroad application? Don’t panic! Many of the application deadlines have been extended!

Getting to Know Historical Grahamstown, South Africa

International students in front of the Drostdy Arch.

Grahamstown is situated in the heart of Frontier Country; with the arrival of the 1820 settlers it became an important military post for the English. Traces of this history can still be found today. La Trattoria, the Italian restaurant that is fully booked every Tuesday in anticipation of its weekly 2 for 1 pasta special, is located in one of the oldest buildings in town. The Cathedral of St. Michael and St. George, where a friend and I have attended Sunday services, is decorated with plaques celebrating the exploits of colonialists; racial and ethnic offensive language has been permanently covered by strips of marble. High Street was designed to be wide enough for horse-drawn wagons to turn around in.

Realizations After a Semester in Cape Town

After four months in Cape Town, I realize that I have a terrible sense of humor. I stuck to my guns, but my guns apparently weren’t funny. This cuts me deep and is making me rethink things. I arrived in Cape Town in July and fell in love with this place instantly. The sprawling city, the diverse and interesting people (and their accents), the breath-taking scenery. Oh, and the bars and clubs. What’s not to love?

Amsterdam is in South Africa?

One of the things that I love most about my experience in Durban is the glimpse of small-town living I get every once in a while. Even though Durban has over 500,000 residents, there are several regular hangouts where I always see familiar faces.

Sticking to What You Know

I was going to write about the fun stuff I’ve been doing since I arrived in Cape Town. I was going to write about adjusting to a massive school like UCT. I wanted to talk about the exciting things I’ve done and seen- the whales, the baboons, the penguins, lions, wine tasting, peri-peri, the Old Biscuit Mill, bungy jumping, backpackers, the Garden route, the night life. I really did. But then I started looking around and found something far more worthwhile to write about at this time.

Township Walk

The university system in South Africa of course has its differences from that of the United States, but the similarities are clear: I attend classes, write papers, and study for exams. One course, however, has its students buzzing and pushes the boundaries of my comfort zone every day.

Joy, the lecturer for my anthropology class on Power and Wealth, has challenged us to take control of the course and our own education. She doesn’t give us lecture notes, she doesn’t assign weekly readings. We bow to each other at the beginning of every class to recognize each other’s knowledge and perspectives. We have discussions ranging from the feminization of poverty to the recent Student Representative Council elections on campus to racism in South Africa. Someone posts on the class Facebook page almost daily.