THE METRIC SYSTEM

We registered for classes today. The process was everything I hoped for and more. Long lines and rows and rows of plastic chairs zig zagging across the room, which we moved through one at a time until we could talk to an adviser. Ellen arrived an hour after me and got done before me. I have a knack for picking the wrong line of chairs to sit in—it’s a gift. After 3 hours of musical chairs without the music, we took our pieces of paper to another room for “data capturing.” I thought this would be a data POW camp, where all the captured data was punished for a failed military coup—but no such luck. This room was just where someone took our classes and put them into the computer. Basically, online registering that we could have feasibly done ourselves. Needless to say, after this Ellen and I were ready to unwind a little.

We went to Café Sophia down the street to get lunch and a glass of sangria. The woman asked us if we wanted a litre. As Americans, litres mean nothing to us as measurements go. She might as well have also given us the temperature in Celsius and told us the distance to the bathroom in kilometers. When you say “litre” to me, I can just as easily picture a thimble or a silo. So naturally, we told her the litre was perfect. Minutes later, she emerges with this massive pitcher of sangria—I guess some would call this a litre. A little more than Ellen and I anticipated for lunch, but we made it happen and it was a wonderful meal.

After an afternoon fiesta followed by siesta, we went over to Connor’s before going out. We had a lot of CU and USC kids there—enough to form an a cappella group to butcher “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” We took cabs over to a club called Roots, which was apparently having a Mardi Gras themed night. Didn’t see a single beaded necklace the entire night, but saw two fire throwing performances… Standard Mardi Gras. I met someone named Jonathan who was born in Zimbabwe and is studying to be an obstetrician at UCT. He told me how someone in his class was shot and killed coming out of his home on the way to his shift at the hospital. They only took the cash from his wallet. Jonathan said that a lot of the students were really affected by it and he couldn’t believe it happened to one of his classmates. The most appalling part is how disposable life can seem here. Taking this man’s life was only worth a couple rand.