Screw Hopkins!

Because the first few days here in Cape Town have been rainy and wet, (this is the winter season, so this will be common, hence the rainy backdrop of this blog), we didn't get a chance to explore campus or Tygerberg too in-depth on foot until today.

One thing that has blown me away about this University is how extremely beautiful and student-friendly it is. Walking around here (even though it's final exams time) is like walking into one of those glossy college brochures of natural light and happy students in study lounges. The campus is ginormous full of so many great place to sit and study, outlets everywhere, so many students congregating and sharing.

The library, which is hands down the coolest building I have ever seen (and I have seen a LOT of buildings) is a giant corkscrew. It has no stairs or elevators, just a ramp that walk up and down the 14 levels, each level dedicated to a separate subject and full of huge windows. I wish I could capture it all in a simple picture. I just walk around this campus and want to study.

I thought that my fascination with this campus came from the fact that UIC is a giant concrete jungle. I mean seriously, our library and most of our lecture halls have no windows. But as we walked around the last couple of days, Raji, a Johns Hopkins Nursing student said "Screw Hopkins! This place is amazing, can I just stay and finish my degree here?" That's quite the statement for someone that goes to the best university in the US and arguably the world, with quite a gorgeous campus.

This is really a great place to be, I look forward to starting work on Monday. My research is actually focused on this school's nursing program, so it's going to be pretty interesting how my views and insights into this campus will move on forth. The history of this school (and the university system in pre and post-apartheid South Africa is quite incredible, and I'll certainly grace you with that on a coming post, keep reading)

For now, let's see some fun pictures of campus. (We walked around on Saturday when not too many people were on campus, we didn't want to be those dorks taking pictures of busy students).

Welcome!

Why not?

The awesome corkscrew library

It's the Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Laureate, he is a major human rights activist who rose to fame for his opposition of apartheid in the 80s. 

This was the view from the roof of the parking lot in the mall.

That's me. And my handy dandy access card.

The School of Public Health. I am seriously considering returning for my masters here.

I have designated this as my bench. I shall MCAT study here.

There are a lot of murals indoors and outdoors. This is in the Community Health Sciences building.

This is a traditional African university. The other three universities in Cape Town are traditionally White, Colored, and Indian, the difference in diversity today is humongous, it's attempt to desegregate them is quite interesting, it's effect is actually  part of my research.

The student center

Lots of cool fountains

So much natural light

100% Student-owned coffee shop. One of many many on campus. There is a very very large Indian and Malaysian population in Cape Town. (Cape Townians were really bad slaves, and the British and Dutch brought slaves from there for years) This makes for Samoosas to be sold everywhere (don't know why there is an extra o here, we find it hilarious and delicious).

Both of these departments I find fascinating. Their School of Natural Medicine is really incredible. If they had a masters program, I would looove to complete it. (They have doctorates and Bsc/MS combined degrees in several areas of complimentary medicine)

Rastafari Black Studies

Interesting.... I never thought of God having any color, and the fact that people were so fascinated with a White Jesus in Ghana just makes this even more interesting.

School of Government. Which is actually separate from the School of Law.

A very far off view of Table Mountain. I shall climb that before I leave, the view from the top is suppose to be breathtaking.

Raji, very excited about the nursing school and never wanting to leave.

That is actually not Table Mountain in the background, but just a beautiful landscape. The barbed wired area is a nature reserve in Campus.

This actually sits on top of my door. I find it incredible, a reminder of how young this country is, and how amazing it is all they have accomplished. Tomorrow we will actually go into town and make a trip to Robben Island, where Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years. Stay tuned, expect a very intense blog post next.