This week, I got to experience many firsts that I'd love to share! My first 'first' is that I started at UCT on Monday. I got to meet the other students in the biomedical engineering Masters program, and some of the professors as well. Some of my classes will begin Monday, 31 Jan and the rest will begin on Monday, 14 Feb. My classes are held on the Medical School campus, but I was able to visit both the med school campus and the main campus on Monday. Below is a photo of the middle of main campus, with the beautiful Table Mountain in the background!
On Tuesday, I attended my first in-person Rotary meeting with the Rotary Club of Claremont. I got to meet a lot of new people, and everyone was glad to hear I was adjusting well! I also was able to hear one of the members, who is a recent PhD grad, give a talk on her recently completed research.
Finally, I had a first visit to a new beach - Bloubergstrand Beach. It is located just north of Cape Town. I went near sunset, and many people were out kite surfing - something I had never seen before! People have large kites that they attach to themselves, and they stand on a board in the water while the wind carries the kite (and them!) through and above the waves. I learned that the record for the highest jump while kite surfing is 34.8m (114ft)! Below is a photo of Bloubergstrand Beach close to sunset - which is around 8pm here.
I was glad to experience so many firsts this week, and I know there are many more to come in the future!