The Reconstructed

Think of a group of ex-gansters and ex-drug addicts who have recently graduated from Cape Peninsula University of Technology. This is a changed lives' life changing story.There is a lot to say but just check www.thereconstructed.blogspot.com and share their joy of life.

by hazal gumus

When Duomo opens up!!!

This year just before Christmas, Duomo of Milan has opened up and showed her all fascinating, wonderful facade to us and we all appreaciated once again this whole show. Here are some pictures: enjoy ‘em!!!

by hazal gumus

Toyorari

Hello there!!!
It’s been long time no see… I was around townships and beaches and fests and happy hours in Cape Town. I can hear you; guys but this is not about my good holiday here. The upcoming story is a little bit sad and has to be said…
Yes, the story is about Toyorari which is a car of a friend’s friend in Cape Town. It is called Toyorari because here everybody (that I know) names their cars and Toyorari is a Toyota that has been used as a Ferrari…till last Saturday. As you can imagine the story does not begin here. It ends here because last Saturday Toyorari was on a car crash and it has been totally destroyed. But luckily; nobody has been hurt.
Talking about the hurt people, some days ago when I decided to walk for my meeting -which was really close to where I stayed- I did not know but there has been a riot among taxi drivers in Cape Town. When I was back from my meeting I was told that no taxis were working and I had not realized this. Today on the way to school I just saw the headlines and unfortunately; two were killed during the riots.
I know everybody was really worried about me when I decided to come here but guys no worries. I am telling you the bad stories here. There is tons of good stuff happening around. I am gonna tell you about them later and upload some pictures instead. Let’s keep in touch…

by hazal gumus

OBzzzz...

On Saturday morning I woke up as usual very early, spent some time on my laptop then decided to walk around and go to Sea Point where there is an internet cafe. I was on my way; on this lovely, fascinating december day then I received an sms asking me if I was keen on swimming today. Of course; I said yes then turned around and got ready for swimming.
Colette-she is also a designer- came to pick me up then with her friends we went to her swimming pool. It is really hot in here (I am sorry that you are all dealing with the cold weather) and luckily; I didn’t get any sunburns but the rest got I believe.
After some time everybody had to go and Colette took me a coast tour on the side of Atlantic passing by the Clifton Bay, Camps Bay and we arrived to the Harbor-Hout Bay. The weather was nice and lots of people were on the beaches to get some fresh air and still I have no idea but they say that the sea is cold. So they prefer to spend time around swimming pools.
On the way back we have decided to go to the OBZ Fest and I was warned that it is going to be crazy. Later; it was crazy… well; before we fetched something to eat and we went to Cape Town uni.’s campus where you can sit and see all Cape Town’s lights. That place was quite fantastic to have dinner and honestly my prawns with peanuts and dried chili was delicious.
Then we met all the other friends of Colette and her boyfriend and we went to a bar. It was crowded all around but finally we have found somewhere to sit. We grabbed our beers and to suggest so Windhoek is a really nice beer. The place was like the ones in Turkey so I did not feel as a stranger- I think this is also because of the people; they are friendly here. Then we moved to another place called The Stones and it is one of the most famous here clearly. Of course; before we had to pass an enormous quantity of people dancing, drinking and having fun outside. The Stones is an interesting place. They play good music and there are pool tables all around and eventually people are playing pool. But in that crowded place it is hard to play so every time you have to turn around and ask people to be careful. Btw I am sorry but I don’t have any pics from the festival because my batteries were off
At around 1 a.m. we decided to go back home and left the crazy, entertaining people over Obz. And I was wondering how come the people- who live close- can stand this chaos but then I was informed that in order to live there you have to be abnormal…Then on Sunday I felt really destroyed and broke my early waking up habits. It looks like after this trip I will be really tired
hope to see you soon guys if I don’t decide to stay here forever_kiddin’…

by hazal gumus

Cape Town news_2

Hello guys,
It is not really easy to post my news because here I don’t have internet access whenever I want. When I have the access I prefer to send my reports_ I am sorry. Also I want to share everything because I am sure you all will enjoy. So that; I am waiting for everyone to go on holidays here. Then I can go around and have some more fun.
I think it is clear that this whole week I was working hard because everybody was on leave and I had to finish the things I was supposed to do a.s.a.p. The day before yesterday I was around townships to do some of my research among the children with disabilities and this is incredibly different than the town itself. Almost everything is prefabricated-even the tailor’s place and the hairdressers. I have been to some workshops where people with disabilities produce nice stuff and I also have met lots of lovely, sincere South African children. If some of you would care to see one of the workshops just click www.tembaletu.org.
On Friday I have again been to CPUT with the professors from ID department and we have done a fruitful, intriguing workshop together where I once more realized that I need to work a lot. Because when you are designing something from far away you are missing lots of things. So; today was really helpful for me to gain back some crucial points and I still hope that this project is going to work out. Like I said before we are keeping our hopes up…
Finally; this is the weekend and I believe it is going to be around 30 degrees. Who knows maybe my new friends take me to the beaches this weekend; because they are willing to show me around. Let’s wait and see. I am going to tell you about it later. Ciao…

by hazal gumus

Let the good hopes come true...

This is going to be first time that I write from the good hopes land- Cape Town. It has been just 4 days that I arrived in here and from then on it is like I was here all my life. This is maybe because I had to work hard or maybe I had to meet tons of people. But the truth is; this is a really cool place with its beautiful, kind and helpful people.
The first day I arrived in here I took a taxi from the airport and still did not know where to stay. Thanks to my dearest flat mates’ friend Luigi from J.burg I got this address of a residence. I shared the taxi with a girl from Kazakhstan and she was here to study English. The taxi driver; Terrence; was really nice and when I asked him about the pay phones to call the responsible person of the residence he just called the guy for me and learned everything about the residence. Then he did not charge me extra because first I was going to the uni. campus then we came to Waterfront which is one of the safest and richest area in town and far from the main campus. Finally; I was in the Waterside residence of the CPUT and settled in my shiny, tiny, beautiful, Table Mountain viewed room.
And my days are all the same: every day I am waking up at around 7.30 and later going to school, having some meetings and coming back to my lovely room and working. I just had the chance to see Waterfront and the port and yesterday I saw some of the beaches from Atlantic side which is really cold I was told. The weather is incredibly hot and fresh at the same time. This is summer but not in our terms I can say.
Lastly; I’d love to add some pics but I am not sure if they are good enough. Maybe in time I will have some more beautiful ones and can upload them as well. For now goodbye everyone ...keep well till I come. And keep your good hopes somewhere safe…

by hazal gumus