Everything You Want To Know, Abridged, Part I

It feels like I’ve been here for much, much longer than two and a half weeks. In the past days, I’ve: discovered a new, beautiful city, become acquainted with a group of twenty-three other students, suffered multiple sunburns, and have completed the equivalent of nine weeks of class. Last Thursday, I handed in a midterm paper, today, I got it back and, tomorrow, I am taking a final exam.

I haven’t “blogged” since my arrival because I’ve been so busy: our days are packed with school, activities and, when I’m not doing something organized by the program, I (along with others) am exploring Cape Town.

School

On my first morning in Cape Town, I had my first class. Sophie and I missed the previous day’s Orientation, as well as a tour of Cape Town. We were a bit in the dark. We have class every Monday-Thursday, 9am-12pm.

We are taking four classes over the course of our time here in South Africa. We complete one sequence course, African Civilization I, II, and III as well as a se minar taught by a T.A. Each of the components of the African Civ sequences are condensed to three weeks each. We have three classes for three hours each week. Today, we finished the last lecture of the first part of the three-part sequence. Tomorrow, we have an in-class final. Every Thursday, we meet for a separate course, the “pro-seminar,” taught by an Anthropology graduate student. It is the only course that caries over through the entire trip. (This coming week, though, the seminar is replaced by the final exam for African Civ I; tomorrow’s class is replaced by the final.)

Every Wednesday evening, before dinner, a guest lecturer comes to one of our guest houses (more on that in a bit) for a lecture series, which is tied into the pro-seminar. Last week, Achille Mbeme, a prominent South African political theorist came to speak to us about the nature of, and the necessity to redefine, democratic systems. Tonight, we were audience to Hilton White, a past lecturer at the University of Chicago, who, in fact, used to teach one of the courses on this program. He spoke to us about the re-emerging concept of ethnicity in a new, political dynamic in South Africa.

On Fridays, we have field trips. Last week, we went to a “migrant worker museum” in a township a few miles away from the city center. Tomorrow, after the final, we go off to Clanwilliam, a small town two hours away from Cape Town. It is famous for its remarkable cave and rock paintings, which we will spend two nights looking at. We return to Cape Town on Saturday afternoon. Usually, though, our field trips are just day trips, like last week’s, and we have the weekend to ourselves.

Living

The group of twenty-four is split into two guesthouses. I live in a beautiful place, complete with a large swimming pool, outside deck, and a common area with lots and lots of sunlight. It’s been a real pleasure doing homework by the pool, rather than in the depressing enclaves of the Chicago campus. We are given breakfast every day and four dinners a week (Monday-Thursday). The two guesthouses come together for dinner every Monday-Thursday, and the lieu of our meal switches every week. So far, I’ve been incredibly with all the food that has been prepared for us. A recently-declared vegetarian, I’m incredibly impressed with the veggie-prowess of our chef, Peter. Tonight, we had burgers, and I wasn’t even slightly disappointed with my veggie burger. (The beef ones were à point anyway.)

The guesthouses are in a wonderful neighborhood; there are many restaurants, stores, bars, etc all within walking distance. There is a mall, similar to the one I lived near in Durban, a ten minute walk away, which is home to one of the most wonderful “wellness” stores I’ve seen: I’ve been buying many snacks from there. The mall also boasts a women’s only gym, where I’ve, along with two other girls on the program, bought a two-month membership. I go nearly every day; the three of us have signed up for a “Bums & Tums” class together. My legs have never been in quite so much anguish.

We often eat out for our lunches and dinners Friday-Sunday, sometimes for a quick bite, other times for a longer affair. So far, I’ve determined I have two favorite restaurants. The first, the Daily Deli, is across the street from my guesthouse. It is a simple, quaint little place that boasts delicious meals made from fresh ingredients. I especially enjoy their brick-oven pizza, as well as their delectable tomato-feta-avocado sandwich. Trumor has it that the Daily Del does not have a liquor license, so when one wants to order wine, beer or dry cider (a South African specialty), there is a code to learn: “red olives, please” for red wine, “white olives” for white, “pink” for rosé, “green” for Heineken, and “yellow” for cider. Legal issues aside, the restaurant is a wonderful place with a soothing ambiance. A little more hectic is Royale, Cape Town’s famous burger bar. Aha! Burgers, you say? Aren’t I supposed to be meat-free? Well, friends, Royale has a terrific selection of vegetarian fare: soy burgers, chickpea burgers, black-bean burgers, mushroom burgers… etc. I’ve been twice, and have not regretted my vegetarian choices. Royale is also known for its exceptional milkshakes. A new friend, Alex, tried the Mint and Avocado Shake last time we went, and it was certainly more delicious than I had anticipated.

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There’s much more to say, and much more to do, but, sleep is calling.

I'm back.

Well, I’m back! Yesterday, I arrived in Cape Town to start UChicago’s abroad program, “African Civilization in Africa.” Getting here, though, was not as simple as intended: I arrived a full twenty-four hours after my scheduled arrival.

It all started at O’Hare International (to which I had flown to early in the morning of January 2), where I was going to meet Sophie to fly out to Amsterdam and, from there, to Cape Town. We checked in without a problem, and were even able to arrange to have seats next to each other. At the gate, were notified that our flight was to be delayed for a half hour, but we weren’t too worried: our lay-over in Amsterdam was for four hours, so a half hour delay didn’t cause us much stress. After about an hour’s worth of delay, KLM kindly informed us that our plane was in fact missing a vital mechanical part, a part that, oddly enough, could only be found in Amsterdam. As a result, the flight was to be delayed twenty-four hours. We were assured time and time again by KLM agents at the airport that, were we to show up again, at the same time, the following day, everything would be just fine: we would be put on the same flight, and be secured seats on the Amsterdam – Cape Town flight twenty-four hours after our original reservation.

Interestingly enough, while on the phone with the airline, my mother discovered that, in fact, there were no seats available on the Amsterdam – Cape Town flight the following the day and, had we flown to Amsterdam on the 3^rd, we would have been stuck there until Friday: only then would we be able to get seats on a flight to Cape Town. Despite Amsterdam’s clear charms and interesting history, Sophie and I were adamantly against this plan. We searched for an alternative. Finally, after much, much debate on the phone with the airline, my mother and in person with the sly, good-for-nothing, rude KLM agents, we settled on an itinerary that would first take us to Atlanta, then to Johannesburg, and then, finally, to Cape Town. It seemed easy enough: our bags were to be checked all the way from Chicago to Cape Town, we were to have plenty of time in both Atlanta and Johannesburg to make our connecting flights. We would be in Cape Town by 8:15pm.

Well. Things went smoothly enough, until we reached Johannesburg. Having already landed thirty minutes late, and gotten of the plane at the very end (we were seated in the second-to-last row), we only had forty minutes to make our connection. Immigration. Fifteen minutes gone. And then, as if only to make our lives more miserable than they already were, we were informed that we would, in fact, have to pick up our luggage at baggage claim, and then recheck it at the check-in counter. Our flight had already departed by the time we reached the check in counter.

But that wasn’t the end. At the check in counter (our flight was on South African Airways), we were told that we could not simply be put on the next flight that evening, but that Delta would have to provide us with some form of documentation that would allow for that. Off to the other side of the airport to obtain said document. But no, of course not. You see, that would be too easy. Instead, Delta initially refused to accommodate us, since the delay was due to weather conditions, a matter entirely out of the control (but clearly in ours). Well, I wasn’t prepared to accept that as an answer. After reminding myself , and demonstrating to others, that I am a debater, along with Sophie’s angry and exasperated quips, Delta caved. Off to check for the 8:15pm flight to Cape Town, with just over an hour left.

Oh, you thought it was over? Too bad. South African Airlines tells us that we need a new ticket number to check in, and we must go to the ticket counter before checking in. Sure. Until, surprisingly, the ticket counter tells us that there is no need for this new ticket number. Great! Back to check in. But only if we agree to pay the fees for our baggage, something that we already did back in Chicago, when we – remember – were assured that our bags were to go all the way through to Cape Town. Mom had told me of an agreement that Delta and South African Airways share concerning international luggage, which should guarantee that, once paid for, bags do not need to be charged twice. South African Airways enjoyed my mom’s ability to create mythical tales.

Finally. On the plane. Finally, two hours later, a 10:15pm, in Cape Town. Finally, after a pre-arranged taxi to our living quarters, home.

(More to come about what it's like here soon.)

Durban: A Last Hoorah

Today is my last full day in Durban and my last day at the Legal Resources Centre. The last week in Durban has been a bit more exciting one than usual. I got started back at work last Thursday. There hadn’t been too much change in the office over my time in Beijing (the nature of NGOs), but Jessica left Durban which left the office feeling a little emptier. Luckily, two other UChicago undergrads happened to be exploring Durban for the weekend, one who’s been spending her summer in Cape Town, the other in Pietermaritzburg, about an hour away from Durban.

Friday night was uneventful, but filled with decent Mexican food from Florida Road. Saturday, I was happy to do all sorts of tourist-type things that I had yet to do in Durban, despite having arrived in June. In the morning, we three UChicagoers explored Essenwood Market, a small crafts and flea market about a ten minute walk from where I’ve been living for the summer. We had lunch there: some traditional KZN Indian “Bunny Chow,” curry stuffed inside of a loaf of bread (I’ve dubbed it the Indian version of a bread bowl). After Essenwood, where I bought a few souvenirs to take back home, we headed to the city center for a walking tour that we had previously reserved.

The tour repeated lots that I had already seen in the city (it took place mainly in the immediate neighborhood of my office), but we did explore some areas that I hadn’t yet been to. For example, we visited a supermarket that was housed in an old Catholic church, and visited a mosque that we were told was the largest in the Southern hemisphere, capable of hosting thousands of people for prayer each day. We also visited Durban’s Catholic, which was surprisingly small. We went back to Victoria Market – the “bead ladies” weren’t there, as they only come on Fridays – were we visited an Indian spice merchant. We tried a variety of spices and mixtures; I bought the “Rice Spice” to use back in Chicago. I also tried “Mother-In-Law Hellfire,” which we were told is given to a bride-to-be from the mother-in-law’s kitchen as a test to see if the young lady is worthy to be married. I was too afraid to try the “Durban Poison,” which is meant to scare off all visitors.

We also visited the fish and meat market. It was the end of the market day (around 3pm), so not much was left, and the stench of rotting fish filled the area. We saw many, many remains of cattle: heads, feet, tail, etc and very bizarre looking fish – items I didn’t imagine were going to be sold before the market closed. Our tour ended after the market; we were very near my office, so I showed Kayla and Karla the Diakonia Centre, where the LRC is located (it’s a converted church and a very pretty building, so it really is worth a look). After, we headed to Wilson’s Wharf, a spot a five-minute walk from the LRC with various restaurants along a pier; a nice place to sit and watch the sunset.

Later that night, we met again on Florida Road for dinner and a night out. We eventually met with some Duke undergrads that Karla had met through her job in Pietermaritzburg. Over all, a fun night. Karla (who spent the night on my floor) and I got brunch the next morning before she returned to ‘maritzburg. Monday, I came to work a little later than usual: Kayla (who would leave Durban in the afternoon) and I went to Durban’s Moses Madhiba Stadium (where the World Cup matches were held) to do the “SkyWalk,” a climb up the stadium’s incredibly high arch. The SkyWalk was incredible; reaching the top was a very cathartic moment, standing atop the stadium where I had spent many hours watching the world’s most impressive soccer stars, thinking of all the people who had occupied the stadium, taking in the wonderful .views of the city where I’d spent my summer...

Kayla left directly after the SkyWalk. I walked along the path between the stadium and the Casino, where I caught a cab to get to the office. The days went by as usual. I spent some time with a Durban local, the son of the housekeeper of the apartment complex where I am residing, and learned a little bit more of the life of the youth in Durban and South Africa. I have been a little demoralized and taken aback by the raging, though skilfully hidden by FIFA, xenophobia and racism that still plagues the country; it was very interesting to hear the point of view of someone my age. Sakhi is what South Africa considers “coloured,” the American equivalent of mixed-race. (When I first heard that “coloured” was a legitimate race classification, I was extremely shocked; but the word does not hold the same meaning or connotation as it would in America.) He is part Xhosa, Zulu and white, but explained to me that most people say he looks fully Zulu. (Something he says may actually be an advantage, because coloured people are often harassed and seen in a negative light.)

Kamala and I took of a little bit early from work yesterday, as neither of us had taken a lunch break. She drove me down to uShaka Marine World, one of Durban's most talked about attractions, which combines aquarium with water park with beach, shopping center and many restaurants. We had a late lunch of sushi sitting at nice table over looking all of Durban and the ocean; I was sad not to have brought my camera. Karla came back to visit Durban last night. We had wanted to go to dinner at Durban's most famed Indian restaurant, Silverani's, but were disappointed to find it closed. We tried Cafe 1999, right next door, instead. The dinner turned out to be extremely delicious; we shared a "trio" appetizer, and I indulged in a duck dish served with caramelized onions and crispy goat's cheese.

Work today started off as usual, but during our daily "tea time," I was greeted with a beautiful good-bye chocolate (!) cake and nice parting gift and card. I was truly touched! The whole office came together to have tea, which rarely happens; it was a wonderful opportunity to say goodbye to everyone. Kamala and I went out for lunch together - I showed her my favorite vegetarian Indian restaurant that I go to at least once a week. As usual, it didn't disappoint, and they even gave us some free dessert for my last day. The dessert was absolutely delicious, and I've since looked up the recipe online. It was a lovely last day of work. Kamala drove me home, where I collapsed on my bed and took a longer-than-intended nap.

Now I'm in my apartment for one last night in Durban, wondering what I should do with my last few hours, while remembering all the packing I must do. It's been a wonderful time, and I'm excited to set off on my next journey of the summer!

Pictures from China!

At Grand Epoch City

The MUNUC Crew

With one of my favorite delegates.

With Joyce at the Bird's Nest

The UNCND: My committee!

My delegates hard at work.

Fake dragons and blue sky (a rare occurrence) at the Grand Epoch City

WEMUN 2010

My time in China is over, and I am currently en route back to South Africa. Once again, I find myself in Dubai International Airport, with not much to do. I am already missing Beijing: what an amazing two weeks.

The “Training Camp” proved to be one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I spent four days with two groups of Chinese high schoolers (some were middle school age), teaching a course on Public Speaking and Debate in Model UN. I didn’t think I would enjoy teaching as much as I did. The classes were so much fun; I got to know each of the students well by asking them to make speeches about their favorite hobbies. I tried to balance the classes between lecturing about how to make a good speech/what makes Model UN speaking slightly different and making sure the students were having fun. At the end of every session, the students were asked to fill out evaluation forms; they definitely enjoyed the class. (Some of the reviews included: “Best facilitator ever!” “Amazing class, amazing teacher…” The review that touched me the most and made me realize that I was doing some really worthwhile read: “Thank you. I spoke without look at the paper all the time… Yes! I can! You give be the opportunity, and I have become brave. Thank you, please keep your style of teaching! Love you”)

Along with our daily classes, we (the facilitators) were also asked to lead two hour-long workshops, one on a topic relating to the UN, another on any topic we wanted. I led a workshop on Women’s Rights and the UN, and The World Cup: Say No to Racism, which I led with a student from UPenn.

The training session was lots of fun, and we were given quite a bit of free time, during which I explored the giant Grand Epoch City. I do wish it had been located in Beijing proper, I might have been able to get to know the city a little bit better. I also would have eaten something other than the daily mass-produced mediocre (occasionally above average) food provided to us by the hotel.

The night the Training Camp ended, all the facilitators went into Beijing for dinner and a night out on the town. At dinner, we met other university students who were coming to lead committees at the Model UN conference, but had not participated in the camp. They were too tired to come out with us afterward, so it was just the original group. Beijing nightlife was certainly different than anything I had ever experienced before – it was extremely fun. On our way back to GEC, we made a late stop at McDonald’s, which tastes exactly the same in China as it does in the United States. We spent the next day getting ready for conference: going over logistics, meeting our assistant directors, finding our committee rooms (which were spread out all over the convention center – I got lucky: my room, though much too small, was located in the hotel in which we stayed and that had all the meals), etc.

The conference flew by. My committee, the United Nation Commission on Narcotic Drugs (UNCND), was lots of fun, and was comprised of fifty extremely gifted students from six countries around the world: China, Japan, Singapore, USA, Switzerland and India. Most of the delegates were engaged from the start, and I was surprised by the amount of research and preparation many of them had devoted to the committee. After some debate at the beginning of the first session, the delegates chose to take on Topic A, Opium Production in Afghanistan. (I personally prefer Topic B, Cocaine Trafficking through West Africa, but only a couple of the delegates seemed enthusiastic about it.) Over the four days, the committee debated, wrote working papers, draft resolutions and ultimately passed a resolution with a host of solutions and recommendations to solve the problem.

I was able to entertain the committee by arranging for “expert speakers” to offer some information that I thought they were missing in their debates: Anne (from UPenn), who was not running a committee at the conference, posed as an American soldier stationed in Helmund province of Afghanistan, a friend from UChicago recorded a video posing as an Indian minister of finance, and two of the other directors came in to pose as a representative of the IMF and an envoy from North Korea. I could go on about how wonderful the committee was, but the unbiased Press Corps delegation from the BBC, who wrote an article about the committee, does it for me: “The atmosphere during the committee’s sessions has been a balance between a serious approach to the topic, and a light and open atmosphere which enables delegates to share their country’s views comfortably…. Whenever there was a pause in the discussion, such as during the numerous instances of roses being delivered to the clearly popular Director [that’s me], the delegates felt free to laugh at the chair’s jokes and be at ease; yet, the moment discussion was resumed decorum immediately returned and the proceedings continued.”

The evenings were just as fun as the committee sessions. The first night, not much was going on because everyone was so exhausted. “Global Village” was the main event of the second evening: essentially a World’s Fair where all the schools set up a booth representing either their home country or the country they represent at the conference. I had lots of fun exploring the Village, and got lots of free treats from many booths. The Indian delegations took a particular liking to me, and at the end of the evening I left with two new scarves, a collection of bindis, henna on my hands and some unidentified snacks. I ate lots, from delicious Swiss chocolate, to even the brave undertaking of chowing down a grilled cockroach from the Chinese table. When asked what the latter tasted like, I responded, “like dry, crunchy, gross dust.”

The following night was the Masquerade Ball, a big dance for all the delegates. The directors were encouraged to perform for the delegates, so the UPenn students and I choreographed a dance to the ever-popular Wannabe, by the Spice Girls. The dance went over extremely well – I definitely felt like a celebrity with all the pictures that were being taken. I stayed at the dance for quite some time, enjoying the dancing and music, and eventually left with a handful of other directors to the outdoor grill/bar area outside our hotel. That part of the evening proved to be extremely entertaining, and ended with my leading (standing atop a table) a giant sing-along of American classics for a huge group of directors, assistant directors and even delegates.

The last day of conference came much too quickly. My delegates passed their resolution with two hours to spare in the session, so we spent the rest of the time taking pictures and exchanging emails. After closing ceremonies, the directors returned to Beijing. We were supposed to stay in the hotel where we had stayed for two nights before leaving for Grand Epoch, but due to some miscommunication and disorganization among the WEMUN staff, we found ourselves in Beijing without hotel rooms. Eventually, after midnight, we were relocated to another hotel. A group of us that had planned to go to the Barça game were pretty annoyed. That night, I decided to extend my stay in Beijing by 24 hours; I just didn’t want to leave quite yet.

The next day consisted of sleeping in, hot-pot for lunch and a trip to Silk Market in the afternoon. This time, I didn’t buy anything that could serve as a display in Mom’s copyright infringement exhibit in her office, but did invest in a very cheap phone after having lost by beloved BlackBerry the day before. A group of us (myself, my friend Gideon, the UPenn kids, two Georgetown and on Harvard) found a small dumpling restaurant for dinner. At night, we went out on the town, and met up with many members of the WEMUN staff; the night was really a wonderful way to end my time in China.

My flight wasn’t until 11:55pm last night, so I had time to explore a little bit more during the day. After a sad goodbye with two UPenn students with whom I really got along with in the morning, I was invited out to lunch by one of Mom’s old students. The lunch was at a traditional Sichuan restaurant (Sichuan food is known for being the spiciest in China - I began to tear up after eating one of the dishes). After lunch, I went with Anne, Jocelyn (another UPenn) and Joyce to the Olympic Village, where we saw the famous Bird’s Nest and Water Cube. After a sad goodbye, the three of them left for dinner to celebrate Joyce’s birthday. I didn’t go because I was getting worried about catching my flight. Instead, I had arranged to meet with Gideon in front of the Cube. To my dismay, we couldn’t find each other, and after walking around the cube for an hour, I decided I had to go back to the hotel to get my things and head the airport. I was very disappointed to have missed Gideon; we won’t be seeing each other until April, as he is abroad in the Fall, and I will be away in the Winter.

On my way to the airport, I began to get very upset at the idea of leaving Beijing after such a wonderful experience. I had never imagined that the two weeks would have been so enriching and fun, and I am really hoping to return again next summer. The trip presented even more than just a wonderful two weeks: one of the advisers from a school in India, after encouragement from two of her students who were delegates in my committee, invited me to be a chair at her school’s UN conference in New Delhi this coming November. If all the details work out, I will be there!

(Pictures to come soon.)

Clara in China... Summer 2010

I am taking a brief, two-week hiatus from Durban in Beijing, where I am participating in a Model UN conference and training camp. At Chicago, I staff our college's high school Model UN conference (MUNUC), where over 2000 high school students come to Chicago to debate for four days. Here in China, I am participating in "WEMUNC EXPO," which brings together staffers from several Model UN conferences (Chicago, UPenn, Berkeley, Harvard, Georgetown) to put on its own conference. MUNUC has five of its committees represented; I am running the committee that I chaired this past year, United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs. Before the conference starts next Thursday, some of us are helping to run a training camp, where we will be helping first-time Chinese delegates to learn the basics of ModelUN: speech and debate, paper writing, reading and research, lobbying and negotiation. This training camp lasts five days. I will be teaching Public Speaking and Debate every day to two different groups. I will also be leading two workshops, on on Women's Rights and the other on the World Cup. The students arrived today and seemed very excited and eager to learn.

The training camp and the Model UN conference are taking place in a large convention center about an hour away from Beijing proper, Grand Epoch City. The venue is gigantic: it was intended to be a full-scale replica of the Forbidden City. We arrived at the convention center late Wednesday night, after a long ride on a bus that we were all convinced would break down at any moment. Before coming to Grand Epoch City, we spent two full days in Beijing. We stayed at an apartment-style hotel and our days were filled with tourism activities. On Tuesday, the itinerary included the Summer Palace and the Great Wall. For me, the day didn't go exactly as planned. Due to a combination of the extreme heat in China, my lack of water, a poor decision to eat street food on my second night in the city and very little sleep the night before, I felt extremely sick form the moment I woke up. I made it to Summer Palace, but after getting sick a few times on the way and a momentary loss of consciousness, I was taken to the hospital instead of continuing with the group to the Great Wall. Needless to say, I was extremely disappointed that I didn't get to go to the Great Wall, but I wouldn't say that my day was completely wasted. Joyce, the director of the training camp and conference, took me to a Chinese hospital, and I got to see first-hand the efficiency of the inner-city Chinese health care program. I was seen by a doctor in under ten minutes, was immediately given a blood test, my results were in within five minutes, and was given prescriptions and an IV directly thereafter. The entire medical adventure cost under $30.

After the hospital, there was still a good amount of time left in the day and I was feeling much, much better. Joyce took me to a restaurant, where I ate a simple meal of rice and steamed vegetables (doctor's orders) and then we explored the famous Silk Street Market. I would never, ever do something like buy many DVDs, each at a whopping $.90, or a full series set of the West Wing, so I definitely did NOT do that... Mom. After coming back to the hotel and taking a nice nap, Joyce and I rejoined the group for dinner where, my favorite, Peking Duck was served. Hearing the stories from the Great Wall made me very jealous, but also made me realize that I definitely would not have been able to handle the heat and exhaustion that came with the excursion. The other UChicago students brought me a souvenir from the Great Wall, a small stuffed panda, which was extremely nice of them. One of the WEMUN staff members also brought me a small replica of the great wall.

That night, I went to meet Gideon, a good friend of mine from UChicago, who has been spending his summer in an intensive language program in Beijing and will also be spending his fall quarter in China. We went to Hao Hai (pronounced: H-oh Hi, an area with lots of restaurants and bars surrounding a lake, and sat at a bar on a second-floor balcony overlooking the lake. It was a fun, relaxed evening and it was really great to catch up, since I won't be seeing him until March of 2011!

Feeling almost completely better, I was ready for our activities on Wednesday: Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. It was another unbearably hot day in Beijing, but I was hydrated and had plenty of water with me. Both locations, directly next to each other, were extremely impressive. Our tour guide, Amy, told us that, every day, tens of thousands of Chinese citizens line up in front of Chairman Mao's memorial, just to catch a glimpse of his decaying body which is set up on display for four hours a day. Some have rumored that the body is actually made of wax. One of the UPenn students here, Anne, who has been working all summer in Beijing with WEMUN, told me that she lined up to see the body and it was one of the weirdest events she had ever experienced .

The Forbidden Palace - the old residence of the Emperor, his family, concubines and servants - is immense and awe-inspiring. Complete with 99,999.5 rooms, getting from one end to the other took us over two hours. It was extremely crowded - it is currently the summer holiday season in China, and Beijing is a tourist location for tens of thousands of Chinese every summer. The buildings were remarkably well preserved, most of the paint and detail did not look as old as the building (built between 1406 and 1420). We didn't go into many of the rooms, but we did get a look at the emperor's study, the quarters for the concubines and the very impressive garden.

The group (and Mao) at the entrance of the Forbidden Palace.

Forbidden Palace Gardens


Anne (UPenn) and I

We were all relieved to get back on the bus; we were drenched with sweat. After a decent lunch, we were taken to a "traditional" Chinese tea room and experienced a Chinese tea ceremony. We tried five different teas, all of which were delicious. There was the opportunity to buy the tea after the ceremony, but after consulting with the Chinese natives that were with us, I realized I could buy the same teas for much cheaper elsewhere. Then we were taken to Hao Hai, where we went on a short rickshaw ride around the neighborhood and were then given some free time. For dinner, the UChicago crew went to what is apparently the oldest barbecue restaurant in Beijing. The most delicious course of the meal was the barbecued venison. After dinner, we went back to our hotel. After lots of waiting around, we got on the bus to take us to Grand Epoch City.

Our first day at GEC mostly consisted of getting ready for the training camp and getting acquainted with the huge convention center. I bonded with the UPenn students, most of whom are my age (I am the only non-graduate from UChicago); two of them came to the WEMUN conference last year, so know most of the ins and outs of the convention center. Today, we were able to sleep in, and in the afternoon we greeted the Chinese students with an opening ceremony that included a dance we had learned the day before to a Chinese pop song, "Green Light." Dinner tonight was very tasty - there was more duck! - and afterward I conked out for a few hours. Now, it's back to sleep so that I can have a productive first day of teaching.

One of the teas.

Some delicacies for sale at Hao Hai.

In Beijing!

After a very long journey, I made it to Beijing. I left Durban at 3:00pm, to catch a 6:40pm flight. Check in and security were painless enough, except for when a woman at security tried to confiscate my (empty) World Cup water bottle. I kindly reminded her that the rule was for 100ml of liquid, and not for a container. I was disappointed to find that there was no food at all past security. I don't quite understand why some airports have all the food before security; that layout doesn't seem to make sense if airports encourage going through security with lots of time to spare, especially for international flights.

The flight wasn't very full, so I was lucky enough to have an empty seat next to me. The dinner was served within the first hour - it was decent - and then I slept for most of the way. I arrived at Dubai at 5:20am, and my flight to Beijing was set to take off at 10am. Before reaching the physical terminal, I had a little bit of  rough time. We had to walk off the plane and to shuttle busses that would take us to the terminal. Though I was only outside for a minute, the combination of the extreme heat (99 degrees Fahrenheit) and my apparel (sweatshirt and jeans) caused me to feel very ill. On the bus I got very clammy and became dizzy. The discomfort culminated in my fainting on the bus. It was nothing dramatic, and a passenger I had talked to for a little bit at the beginning of the flight helped me up. I drank lots of water after that. 

The Dubai airport was impressively crowded for such an early hour. Every store was open. and the lines for food were incredibly long. Overwhelmed with it all, I walked from one end of the terminal to the other twice, before finally settling on a place to have breakfast. There were hardly any seats available, but I managed to snag a table. A little later, a woman asked if she could join me at my table. We struck up a little conversation: originally from Cape Town, she was flying from New Zealand back to South Africa to visit family. She also told me that she had take a shower at the terminal's health spa for $14. At that point, extremely sweaty, sticky and unhappy, I decided to find the hotel shower. There are public shower stalls in the terminal, but they aren't very private and I didn't have my own towel. Finding the hotel was easy enough, as it was one escalator ride above the level where the departure gates were located. From the glass hallways of the hotel, one looks down on to all of the duty free shoppers and travelers waiting for their flights.

The shower was an incredibly good idea, and I felt extremely refreshed (bodily and mentally) afterwards. I still had just over two hours to kill before boarding. I perused the duty free, but after realizing how tired I was, fell asleep at my departure gate. This flight was much more crowded, and, though I had the same seat that I had on the previous flight, I had a neighbor this time. I slept for the first little bit, then watched two movies: the new Alice in Wonderland and Remember Me. The latter was extremely heartbreaking and I began to cry so much that a flight attendant came to check on me. I was pretty embarrassed, but once I told her what movie I was watching, she understood completely.

I landed in Beijing right around 11:00pm. The waits for passport control and baggage claim weren't horrendous and I was ready to go fairly quickly. My original plan was to meet with another UChicago student (graduate now, technically) who was coming in at the same time as me, and we would head to our hotel (where we're staying for one night, before heading to the conventional center where our Model UN conference and training will be held) together. His flight landed at Terminal 2, and I was informed that that was 40 minutes away from Terminal 3, where I was. We decided it made most sense to get to the hotel on our own. Luckily, I had printed out a piece of paper with Chinese writing that I was told explained directions to the hotel. Relieved, the taxi did indeed pull up to the hotel twenty minutes after leaving the airport. 

For "dinner" (at 2am), I had an instant soup, "Original Hot and Sour Sweet Potato," after refusing to eat anything from KFC, which is were the two other UChicagoers settled on, after snubbing the other few options that were still open at the time. I don't have definitive plans for tomorrow, and we're not exactly sure how or when we are supposed to be at the convention center, so I'm hoping to meet up with Gideon, who has been spending all summer in Beijing and will remain here for the Fall, who could show me around the city. I'm very excited for the Model UN conference and the tourism days they're purportedly organizing for us, but it seems as though we won't get much time to explore the city of Beijing, so I'm hoping to be able to see some of it tomorrow!