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  • Day 10

    First day of classes

    August 9, 2021 in South Africa ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    Today classes began for my colleagues from Göttingen and me. I attended an in-person class for the first time since I started my Masters. But before that, we had lunch with Jan, a friend of mine who started his master in Göttingen at the same time as me. He's been studying in Stellenbosch since January so he showed us the student center calles "Neelsie" - a small shopping mall with several stores in one floor and a food court in the basement where you find everything, from burgers to salads, from affordable home made dishes to tasty wraps and huge cupcakes (more pictures of the Neelsie will follow).

    After classes we had a mini campus tour with fellow international students. They told us a bit about the history of Stellenbosch University. It was founded in 1918 on, allegedly, exactly the same date as the University of Cape Town (UCT). It owes its first steps towards establishing itself as a University to a donation of Jeannie Marais, a wealthy Stellenbosch mine owner. Today, a statue of him stands in one of the main squares on campus, although it has been the focus of controversial debates, with opponents to the statue arguing that Marais, although generous towards the university, as a mine owner was part of the system of exploitation towards black people. (I haven't made up my mind around this issue yet, but I didn't include any picture of the statue to leave space for other cool pictures, but you can certainly find one in the web).

    In the evening we went to have dinner at Java, a super tasty and affordable restaurant in downtown Stellenbosch. After having some burgers, local beer and a an incredible chocolate cake (🤤) , we received a surprise. Waiters here have the habit of writing a small message in your bill (something like "Thanks you!" and some hearts). This time, however, we received more then that. When we opened the case, there was a napkin in it with a drawing...it was us! Our super cool waiter Illone had drawn us quickly before handing in the bill. We loved this detail! You can follow her art on Instagram (@art_byillonevanrooyen). We find this so cool that we asked her to take a picture with us!
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