THE ITHACAN

District 6 Museum

By Michelle Boulé, Blogger • March 23, 2012

District 6 was a pre-apartheid area in Cape Town. It was an area where people were forcibly removed from their homes and resettled into townships based on race. District 6 is different from many of the other districts, because it was a place where whites, blacks, indians, malaysians, and khoesan lived together peacefully, therefore going…

Hospital

By Michelle Boulé, Blogger • March 9, 2012

I always have a sense of foreboding when I enter hospitals. Knowing that there are a plethora of needles inside and many who are sick unnerves me. For obvious reasons I only go to the doctor’s when it is absolutely necessary. The township hospital gave me that same sense of foreboding except when you entered…

Football

By Michelle Boulé, Blogger • March 5, 2012

“We need more paper,” Sango said as he was balling up wads of old newspapers around some small rocks. “Here, HERE! I have some,” yelled Sipho. Making a soccer ball takes a lot of work. Finding the old newspapers and rocks were easy, the ground outside was littered with both. Compacting the paper around the…

Township Series: Part Three

By Michelle Boulé, Blogger • March 2, 2012

I have pointed out many of the differences between townships and the United States but there are still similarities. The children sing songs by Nicki Minaj or Drake and if you get the antenna just right, a fairly clear picture on the TV emerges and an American sitcom comes on. Mama Nosintho acted like my…

Township Series: Part Two

By Michelle Boulé, Blogger • February 29, 2012

Mama Nosintho and I walked from the mini bus stop to her house. Along the way she stopped and talked to everyone we met along the way. I soon became lost trying to distinguish who was a cousin, who was a neighbor, or who was a kid she used to babysit. We passed several…

Township Series: Part One

By Michelle Boulé, Blogger • February 27, 2012

Pieces of broken glass crunched into the sand under my feet as I walked. The air was dusty and smelled of garbage that was for too long neglected and left to rot by the side of the road. The sun is hot, burning my skin even through my clothes. Stray dogs wander through the streets…

Old Biscuit Mill

By Michelle Boulé, Blogger • February 26, 2012

Ithaca is known for its famous farmers market. The one in Cape Town is just like the one in Ithaca...but on steroids. It's easily 2-3X larger than Ithaca's. But just like Ithaca, it boasts food from many different cultures and many organic vendors. It's places like this that make me miss Ithaca (but not the…

Tenikwa Cats

By Michelle Boulé, Blogger • February 17, 2012

During our first week in South Africa, our group went on the Garden Route (think of a scenic drive like Rt 66). I’ll talk more about the trip in a later post but one of my favorite stops was the Tenikwa Wildlife Center This centre was founded to help rehabilitate animals and also serves as…

Cango Ostrich Farm

By Michelle Boulé, Blogger • February 15, 2012

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I heard that IES was bringing us to an ostrich farm. My only frame of reference was that it would be like visiting a dairy farm outside of Ithaca, which would be quite boring. I was proven wrong. We were dropped off at Cango Ostrich Farm, which is…

An introduction to Cape Town

By Michelle Boulé • February 10, 2012

Africa. When people hear the name they picture Masai warriors hunting lions or a war torn countryside where people would not be able to survive if it weren’t for peacekeeping organizations. Africa. It is a place just as diverse than the United States with 54 recognized countries. South Africa. A country that was torn apart…