CHAPTER ONE. BEFORE I KNEW... "Do not pity the dead. Pity the living, and above all, those who live without love." J.K. Rowling. September 22, 2008. Hello, everyone! Glad to see those who are glad to see me! "So THAT'S IT: It doesn't get to me! It never gets to me, if ANYTHING," as the song goes. I would never advise my friend Uncle Tyoma to come to South Africa — to Cape Town. He would die here. From delight. Because the mountains here are just... wow!!! "Lion’s Head" (670 meters), the mountain on the left with the peak. To the right of Lion’s Head is Signal Hill (350 meters), which got its name from the cannon standing at its foot, firing from Monday to Friday at noon. Table Mountain (1086 meters), from the center to the right — a dozen mountain peaks called the "Twelve Apostles." Their height is about a kilometer. It is 18:30 local time now. That means it's 8:30 PM in Moscow and 10:30 PM in Chelyabinsk. The day is hot, the night is very cold — such is, apparently, the South African spring. They say it's the height of summer here in December and January. Today we had a walking tour of Cape Town and a meeting with the program organizers. Everything went interestingly. The only thing that was a bit stressful: my head was spinning because I had to force it to work wildly all the time, trying to understand what was being said. Sometimes I succeeded. No, of course, I understand — the guides talk a bit too much, and the SASTC people (organizers) too, but still — when will I finally start speaking English normally?! A personal thank you to Mr. Dragunkin — a mega-guy, whose audio course helped me master at least some grammar. Thanks to him, I understand a little and even speak. If I happen (actually) to understand what is being said to me, or what I am being asked, and manage to answer myself, even if relatively primitively, BUT I succeed — it's pleasant. People! If you are planning to go to Africa or any other English-speaking country in the near future — don't be as lazy as I am. Learn English! Well, and how did I get here, and in general? I'm walking around today and thinking, "What was I waiting for so long? Why didn't I come here sooner? It's stunning here!" If anyone doesn't know — Cape Town was founded about 350 years ago. The first settlements, it's not hard to guess — were built by Europeans. The Dutch, the British, and maybe someone else (too lazy to look at the guidebook again, I read it about a month and a half ago and didn't even finish it). It must be precisely why it looks a bit like a modern English city (especially with its churches and left-hand traffic). It reminds me a bit of Europe, with its good roads. Also, South Africa is very similar to Russia (strangely enough). Especially to "seaside" Russia. And another feeling... as if you are at home. And this is tens of thousands of kilometers from Chelyabinsk! And South Africa is similar to Russia in prices — well, exactly the same as ours. This is especially pleasant for me — having seen that prices in Europe and the USA are very different from ours, they are even significantly more expensive than Moscow ones, let alone Chelyabinsk. The city of Cape Town is located at the foot of the 1086-meter ↑ "Table Mountain". I flew with Emirates airlines with a layover in Dubai. I liked the flight. These airlines are, of course, not British, but very, very decent. On the display, I read: flight time — five hours to Dubai; and another ten — to Cape Town. The distance, if you add up both flights, judging by the display, came to about 50,000 kilometers. The altitude was about 11,400 meters, and we reached speeds of up to 930 km/h. For those who don't know much about this — that's a lot, high, and fast. However, large Boeings always fly with such indicators. I spent the night at Dubai airport (in my opinion, it's not as luxurious as in Moscow or London, but still "up to standard"). And you can get enough sleep on the soft benches, especially considering that I only had carry-on luggage with me. I only received my large luggage in Cape Town, I didn't have to worry about it. When we started our descent over the sleepy Dubai, an amazing view opened up through the porthole windows. Lovely! And you say (I'm not talking to anyone in particular): "What is there to look at if not America or Europe?" In short, if you have the opportunity — I highly recommend it — the beauty is delightful. And Dubai presented me with a new surprise in the morning. When the plane took off and I looked at the city from above — it suddenly dawned on me: there used to be an ordinary desert here! And now such civilization — a fantastic metropolis, where people, I suppose, have already forgotten that there were once only sands and the ocean here. Then we flew. And for a long time, and really, wherever you look — the savanna stretched everywhere (in Africa, actually, it's not everywhere, but the plane's route was like that for some reason, and I'm still in shock). Because there is so-o-o much sand, and on its outskirts, there is so much more water that, as Grishkovets would put it: "I don't even understand how much!" I saw sand in solid and soft forms. In dunes, boulders, in giant — maybe three kilometers high — mountains. A significant part of the savanna is rocky desert — hammada. I saw almost black sand, yellow, white, red, gray, orange, and even greenish. Damn. And we, to build a house, buy a couple of KAMAZ trucks of this sand at an expensive price. Yeah. The Africans would have given it to us for free! Or would have traded a ton of sand for fifty kilograms of soil! ? I already thought that I was... deceived! And that there would be nothing else there besides sand and the ocean. We even managed to fly past Johannesburg (not to mention Pretoria) somehow. And I was so hoping to see them through the porthole windows! But then we finally arrived. And the small and relatively quiet airport made the most positive impression on me (oh, what a noise and bustle there was in comparison in New York and the tension in Heathrow — the London airport). Passport and visa control? No problem! As if I were one of their own. No one (like in America) is nitpicking, everyone is polite and nice. I was settled in a hostel with five guys who also came to SASTC for this and other volunteer programs. No one speaks Russian. That's it. So... I recommend it! And me? I'm going to learn English! Bye everyone! Write, don't forget. Just fewer questions like: "And what now? Did you get a job? Do you know where you will live after a week in the hostel?" People, I have no idea! In advance, so as not to answer one by one, I'm answering everyone. Bye!