I know I keep saying it but this will actually be my last blog post, Ive been home for a month so I wanted to write one last blurb about Cape Town…I’m not even sure where to start but here goes.
My entire flight home I was in absolute denial, even as the plane landed I kept thinking that if I stayed in my seat it might turn around and take me back to Cape Town.. It was so bizarre I actually remember feeling so guilty because I wanted to see my family and friends but was so not ready to come home yet, still it was
inevitable, my study abroad was over and I was back in America.
I met my parents in the airport and spent the entire drive home telling stories. When I walked in my front door I found my two best friends standing in my kitchen, which they decorated for my birthday/homecoming and there was cake and presents, it was absolutely perfect. I was beyond happy to see them and suddenly being home didn’t seem to bad. A few seconds later Fenway came running through the kitchen and almost knocked me over with excitement and I decided that it wasn’t going to be too rough back in Allentown : )
I watched just about every single world cup game (I had espn3 set as my homepage at work so I could watching from the office) and played my vuvuzela when goals were scored or things go awkward during a game. I was so proud of the country too, they definitely exceeded expectations and pulled of a great tournament, maybe all the games weren't sold out, but the stadiums were full and people were watching those games! I wish the housing evictions would have been highlighted in the news (instead of just talking about vuvuzelsa) but its a start, and I hope that the nation really does benefit, in the long run, from holding the tournament.
Saying I miss South Africa would be an understatement, I mean it’s an absolute given. I loved the country, its people, Cape Town, the school, black label & hunter’s dry and long street, old biscuit and of course all the amazing friends I made in Mobreezy. I constantly catch myself comparing things to SA or just getting excited at the mention of the continent. I learned a lot while I was abroad and of course not just in the classroom. My volunteering projects were perfect, I realized I
really do enjoy teaching and am absolutely positive now that I want to volunteer with the Peace Corp or another NGO overseas before settling down professionally. I also realized that I can be away from home for extended periods of time, after 5 months I didn’t want to leave, and I know its horrible to admit but I didn’t get very homesick once I was adjusted to Cape Town. And it sounds so cliche but I took a lot of risks while abroad and learned a lot about myself, what I want in life now and in the future. I learned who was really important to me, friends and family...and everyone else who doesn't quite fit into those categories. Although coming home is a bit of culture shock I definitely cleared my head a little with that fresh Cape Town breeze...
I now have a new obsession with soccer. I found myself cheering for Manchester United the other day while watching them play Philly; it was automatic my friends taught me to support red. I have a coin jar on my desk at home that’s dedicated to my Brazil 2014 fund, which I know is a long-shot but I it could happen.
I can’t even begin to explain how happy I am with my study abroad experience. I want to go back to Cape Town, like now now, but know it would be different without the group of friends I had last semester. It’s still an amazing place and I plan to return one day, ideally to work for ACCORD, or the American embassy after I graduate.
I still catch myself getting excited when someone discusses the world cup (or better yet, vuvuzelas). When I talk to friends in SA, I catch myself smiling when they use the work hectic or cheers, which is some slang I'm slowing introducing to my vocabulary at home, my sister’s already teasing for saying “as well” in every other sentence. I found out this afternoon that I got into graduate school, so it looks like my far-fetched dream of studying at UCT for my master’s degree has just
gone out the window but I know I’ll be back, maybe for a summer program or maybe in a few years for jobs...or the 2020 Olympics, I know I'm backing the big for South Africa, and I'll continue to wear my UNITED FOR BAFANA band proudly because of the country and people it represents.
So thanks for an incredibly, truly life-changing experience Cape Town, you've been more than fantastic to me, and thank you also to anyone who actually kept up reading this and followed me throughout the semester.
Cheers,
Hales
July 28, 2010
July 22, 2010
KE NAKO AFRICA
Where do I even start? The world cup was beyond incredible. In the days leading up to it there was so much excitement and pride in Cape Town, you could feel at the pride overflowing when talking to cab drivers, bar tenders or just about any South African for the matter. Posters, jerseys and flags were everywhere, and those vuvuzelas, well they never stopped ringing. My friends and I couldn’t walk anywhere downtown without being greeted by a random person who would yell “WELCOME TO SOUTH AFRICA!” and we’d giggle because after 5 months months we still stuck out in this country.
On Thursday, June 10th, my friends and I went down town, we had a girls day at the spa (thank you for a great currency exchange) and then got some excellent mojitos at Che bar for happy hour. We met up with our friends at neighborhood for more cocktails and then took to the street to watch the opening parade in Cape Town. The parade was cool, totally random though, and after we stayed in the streets to watch the opening concert in Johannesburg, which was playing on Jumbo screens. The boys were excited because the bars were allowing people to take their drinks out in the street so we all danced and sang crazily to the music on the jumbo screens and started celebrating. After a little while we got tired of the concert and decided we should just wander back to Long Street and check out the action there…and boy was it packed.
We bar-hopped the rest of the night, but spent most of our time in Joburg, our favorite bar. When we weren’t dancing inside we were out running in the streets, it was absolute madness. People were going crazy, running around in jersey cheering and singing, and of course blowing vuvuzelas. We started lots of chants and met plenty of people simply because they were either wearing American jerseys or they were locals who liked our bafana gear and wanted to cheer with us. There were lots of people "making the circle bigger" who were dancing in the streets, it was perfect, thank you south africa for being yourself. It was so much fun, I didn’t want the night to end, it was pure revelry.
I came home that night to some very unfortunate news, which I guess is just an example of how life works…sometimes you’re soaring high and then you easily trip and hit rock bottom. My parents reluctantly told me that a family member had passed away unexpectedly so I spent the rest walking around LBG trying to calm down and luckily, had an amazing roommate who helped me mourn while I was so far from home and my family.
The next morning I woke up exhausted, still crying and pretty much unable to even keep my eyes open, but I had to get up it was OPENING DAY. I put on all my south African gear…a bafana bafana tee, south African earrings, a bright pattern head-band and wore a South African flag as a cape, I was ready for the day. My friends and I took a minibus downtown (there were maybe 20 of us crammed into one van, all decked out in bafana bafana stuff it was awesome). We went straight to the fan park, where we hung out all day waiting to watch the opening match in Joburg (South Africa v. Mexico) on the jumbo screen. The fan park was so cool, it was packed with lots of die-hard fans, everyone was wearing gear for the rainbow nation and they were so excited. We sang Shosoloza and other south African songs, made lots of friends and played our vuvuzelas throughout the afternoon, and when the game started every person in the park was watching. Although the game ended in a 1-1 tie everyone was ecstatic, South Africa scored the first goal of the game (and tournament!) and had played a pretty great game, especially since they were the underdogs of the tournament, ranked 83rd in the world, they were only playing because they were the host country.
After the game we walked to the Eastern Bazaar, filled up on Indian food and then walked to Green Point Stadium to watch the opening game in Cape Town. The game was Uruguay v. France, and although the game was pretty boring, the atmosphere in the stadium was so cool. We were all still in our south African jerseys and a lot of the fans at the game were too so it was a lot of fun. There were people wearing Ireland jerseys too (because of the controversy in the French game) and lots of random costumes, if you will being displayed. There were even two people in cow suites, which I still don’t understand? After the game we went home, it was almost midnight and had another long day tomorrow.
Saturday, we woke up kind of early to go to Old Biscuit Mill for one last time. We got the best iced coffee in the world, and some breakfast then caught a minibus to Newlands to see the SPRINGBOKS (national rugby team) play France. The game was so much fun, we stood in the stands along one of the “end lines” and cheered BOKKA along with everyone else. It wasn’t even a close game but still it was so exciting, I think I’m actually starting to understand the sport…too bad when I go home no one will want to watch it. After the game we rushed home to throw on anything and everything that was red, white and blue and then headed down town to the fan park to watch the USA/UK game.
Now, this was the first time since studying abroad that I fully embraced my “americanness”, until this point we usually tired to hide the fact that we were tourists but when we got to the park I coulnd’t help but feel so proud. There was red, white and blue everywhere, and I was so excited to meet and cheer with all these Americans. The game was so much fun. I was wearing a navy skirt with a white tee, red headband and had an American flag (cape-style of course) and it was maybe 45 degrees out? So I had a few beers to keep me warm and Farley and I wandered around the stadium painting people’s faces and making friends until the game started. Of course it was another tie, but the game was still so exciting. We sang patriotic songs and made friends with international tourists who decided to cheer for America and then went to Long Street afterwards. Long Street wasn’t really that fun though and it was almost my birthday so after celebrating my 21st with a tequila shot at Fiction, we decided to ditch the bars and head to Tin Roof to celebrate.
Tin Roof is my favorite bar (besides Joburg and Stones) in Cape Town. It’s cheap, the music is so bad its great and there’s never a lot of Americans there…So my roommate and I met up with two of her friends there and we celebrated my 21st dancing like crazy and of course trying lots of different drinks. Farley told everyone it was birthday so we made lots of new friends for the night and just had a really great time. We went home super late as always but it was a great birthday.
Sunday morning, we woke up and got one last breakfast at Coco wahwah and then rounded everyone up to go to Mzoli’s for the last time : ( Mzolis was a lot of fun, although it changed a little for the world cup but still it was really cool. We sat at the restaurant drinking black label and cider and watched soccer games all afternoon. Everyone ate lots of meat (except not me, that’s what the coco wahwah was for…) and finally we went home once it was started to get dark out. I went back to my room to pack because I was leaving the next day, then went over to Suzanne’s room to help with dinner.
I walked in the door and Suzanne and the rest of the girls surprised me with a birthday cake (chocolate of course) and presents and we toasted with some good wine and then ate dinner. It was great, have I mentioned how much I love these girls? We hungout and ate more cake and played cards until the rest of my friends made their way to Suzanne’s room so we could go out and all celebrate my birthday and one last night together on Long Street, (the rest of my friends had been in Rustenburg the night before for the UK/US game so were reunited and ready to go!) Long street was lots of fun, even for a Sunday, I guess with the world cup it was bound to be crowded.
We bounced around from bar to bar, and then finally ended up at Joburg. My friends were determined to make sure I celebrated my 21st well, so that was really fun, around 2am we stopped raging and stood around the bar at Joburg to watch the Celtics/Laker’s game and then finally around 5:30 AM, when the game was over, we went home beyond exhausted.
The next day I got brunch with my girlfriends in Obz, we went to the fabric store (which I’ve wanted to do all semester) I waved a last goodbye to stones and then went home to finish packing. I said my goodbyes, and started crying when I took one last view at table mountain and then got in the car to get to the airport.
At the airport I ran around like mad buying last-minute world cup tees and snacks for my 14 hour plane ride and then finally boarded my plane in complete denial of coming home…
if you still don't know these songs please listen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTJSt4wP2ME&feature=avmsc2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRpeEdMmmQ0
On Thursday, June 10th, my friends and I went down town, we had a girls day at the spa (thank you for a great currency exchange) and then got some excellent mojitos at Che bar for happy hour. We met up with our friends at neighborhood for more cocktails and then took to the street to watch the opening parade in Cape Town. The parade was cool, totally random though, and after we stayed in the streets to watch the opening concert in Johannesburg, which was playing on Jumbo screens. The boys were excited because the bars were allowing people to take their drinks out in the street so we all danced and sang crazily to the music on the jumbo screens and started celebrating. After a little while we got tired of the concert and decided we should just wander back to Long Street and check out the action there…and boy was it packed.
We bar-hopped the rest of the night, but spent most of our time in Joburg, our favorite bar. When we weren’t dancing inside we were out running in the streets, it was absolute madness. People were going crazy, running around in jersey cheering and singing, and of course blowing vuvuzelas. We started lots of chants and met plenty of people simply because they were either wearing American jerseys or they were locals who liked our bafana gear and wanted to cheer with us. There were lots of people "making the circle bigger" who were dancing in the streets, it was perfect, thank you south africa for being yourself. It was so much fun, I didn’t want the night to end, it was pure revelry.
I came home that night to some very unfortunate news, which I guess is just an example of how life works…sometimes you’re soaring high and then you easily trip and hit rock bottom. My parents reluctantly told me that a family member had passed away unexpectedly so I spent the rest walking around LBG trying to calm down and luckily, had an amazing roommate who helped me mourn while I was so far from home and my family.
The next morning I woke up exhausted, still crying and pretty much unable to even keep my eyes open, but I had to get up it was OPENING DAY. I put on all my south African gear…a bafana bafana tee, south African earrings, a bright pattern head-band and wore a South African flag as a cape, I was ready for the day. My friends and I took a minibus downtown (there were maybe 20 of us crammed into one van, all decked out in bafana bafana stuff it was awesome). We went straight to the fan park, where we hung out all day waiting to watch the opening match in Joburg (South Africa v. Mexico) on the jumbo screen. The fan park was so cool, it was packed with lots of die-hard fans, everyone was wearing gear for the rainbow nation and they were so excited. We sang Shosoloza and other south African songs, made lots of friends and played our vuvuzelas throughout the afternoon, and when the game started every person in the park was watching. Although the game ended in a 1-1 tie everyone was ecstatic, South Africa scored the first goal of the game (and tournament!) and had played a pretty great game, especially since they were the underdogs of the tournament, ranked 83rd in the world, they were only playing because they were the host country.
After the game we walked to the Eastern Bazaar, filled up on Indian food and then walked to Green Point Stadium to watch the opening game in Cape Town. The game was Uruguay v. France, and although the game was pretty boring, the atmosphere in the stadium was so cool. We were all still in our south African jerseys and a lot of the fans at the game were too so it was a lot of fun. There were people wearing Ireland jerseys too (because of the controversy in the French game) and lots of random costumes, if you will being displayed. There were even two people in cow suites, which I still don’t understand? After the game we went home, it was almost midnight and had another long day tomorrow.
Saturday, we woke up kind of early to go to Old Biscuit Mill for one last time. We got the best iced coffee in the world, and some breakfast then caught a minibus to Newlands to see the SPRINGBOKS (national rugby team) play France. The game was so much fun, we stood in the stands along one of the “end lines” and cheered BOKKA along with everyone else. It wasn’t even a close game but still it was so exciting, I think I’m actually starting to understand the sport…too bad when I go home no one will want to watch it. After the game we rushed home to throw on anything and everything that was red, white and blue and then headed down town to the fan park to watch the USA/UK game.
Now, this was the first time since studying abroad that I fully embraced my “americanness”, until this point we usually tired to hide the fact that we were tourists but when we got to the park I coulnd’t help but feel so proud. There was red, white and blue everywhere, and I was so excited to meet and cheer with all these Americans. The game was so much fun. I was wearing a navy skirt with a white tee, red headband and had an American flag (cape-style of course) and it was maybe 45 degrees out? So I had a few beers to keep me warm and Farley and I wandered around the stadium painting people’s faces and making friends until the game started. Of course it was another tie, but the game was still so exciting. We sang patriotic songs and made friends with international tourists who decided to cheer for America and then went to Long Street afterwards. Long Street wasn’t really that fun though and it was almost my birthday so after celebrating my 21st with a tequila shot at Fiction, we decided to ditch the bars and head to Tin Roof to celebrate.
Tin Roof is my favorite bar (besides Joburg and Stones) in Cape Town. It’s cheap, the music is so bad its great and there’s never a lot of Americans there…So my roommate and I met up with two of her friends there and we celebrated my 21st dancing like crazy and of course trying lots of different drinks. Farley told everyone it was birthday so we made lots of new friends for the night and just had a really great time. We went home super late as always but it was a great birthday.
Sunday morning, we woke up and got one last breakfast at Coco wahwah and then rounded everyone up to go to Mzoli’s for the last time : ( Mzolis was a lot of fun, although it changed a little for the world cup but still it was really cool. We sat at the restaurant drinking black label and cider and watched soccer games all afternoon. Everyone ate lots of meat (except not me, that’s what the coco wahwah was for…) and finally we went home once it was started to get dark out. I went back to my room to pack because I was leaving the next day, then went over to Suzanne’s room to help with dinner.
I walked in the door and Suzanne and the rest of the girls surprised me with a birthday cake (chocolate of course) and presents and we toasted with some good wine and then ate dinner. It was great, have I mentioned how much I love these girls? We hungout and ate more cake and played cards until the rest of my friends made their way to Suzanne’s room so we could go out and all celebrate my birthday and one last night together on Long Street, (the rest of my friends had been in Rustenburg the night before for the UK/US game so were reunited and ready to go!) Long street was lots of fun, even for a Sunday, I guess with the world cup it was bound to be crowded.
We bounced around from bar to bar, and then finally ended up at Joburg. My friends were determined to make sure I celebrated my 21st well, so that was really fun, around 2am we stopped raging and stood around the bar at Joburg to watch the Celtics/Laker’s game and then finally around 5:30 AM, when the game was over, we went home beyond exhausted.
The next day I got brunch with my girlfriends in Obz, we went to the fabric store (which I’ve wanted to do all semester) I waved a last goodbye to stones and then went home to finish packing. I said my goodbyes, and started crying when I took one last view at table mountain and then got in the car to get to the airport.
At the airport I ran around like mad buying last-minute world cup tees and snacks for my 14 hour plane ride and then finally boarded my plane in complete denial of coming home…
if you still don't know these songs please listen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTJSt4wP2ME&feature=avmsc2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRpeEdMmmQ0
BUNGEE, ELLIES & WINE
So I am basically an eip fail at blogging (at least since I’ve been home) but I needed to do one last post about my final adventures because I knew even if I’m the only one who will ever go back and read this…well I’ll want to know about the World Cup!
So after cage diving, Farley, her brother Coop and I went on the garden route. The garden route basically entails driving along the southern coast of South Africa from the Western to the Eastern Cape and stopping at all the beautiful beach towns along the way. It’s one of the largest tourist destinations in the country (right behind Kruger National Park) and most students take the trip over a long weekend for skip a week of classes to travel. Well, we didn’t really have this option because the world cup was starting on Friday and we wanted to be back the day before for all of the pre-game festivities, so we basically did the garden route on speed. We drove 6 hours to Plettenburg bay and stayed overnight at a random backpackers and then drove home the next day in the afternoon. I know you’re probably thinking we’re crazy but we had to do the garden route because we wanted to go BUNGEE JUMPING!!! The world’s HIGHEST bungee jump is off of Bloukrins Bridge, just past Plettenburg along the Eastern Cape and we had to do it before we went home…
The drive to Plettenburg was one of the most beautiful drives in the world, the landscape along the coast was continually changing. Farley drove the entire way (stick shift on a car without power steering, I definitely would have crashed) but I sat up front and played DJ and the 6 hour drive went pretty quickly. We drove through mountains, along cliffs, by the ocean, through vineyards and farms; the atmosphere was constantly changing with each turn we took it was fantastic and beautiful. We passed safari parks and ostrich farms, along with random coffee/art galleries, and plenty of small, quant adorable little beach towns. We stopped at elephant land, and played with elephants. Farley and I even got to feed milk to a baby elephant, but she kind of took the bottles out of our hands and fed herself, still so cool. We walked around with the ellies for a little and learned about how they came to the sanctuary. After an hour or so we got back in the car to continue the drive to Plett.
When we reached Plett we went straight to our backpacker’s, dropped our stuff and went downtown for dinner. We walked around but it was kind of a ghost town because it was chilly and the middle of the week-not exactly tourist season? We went back to the backpackers and hung out in the bar/game room for a few hours, met some random people who were in SA for the world cup then went to bed early. The next day we went to bungee! The jump is over a gorge, it’s 216 meters high, the highest in the world! To jump, you go in groups to the bridge, where they bind you at the ankles (and place a safety thing around your chest incase the ankle bind would break) and then you pretty much just jump off the bridge and fall…really far! Basically it was absolutely amazing. I’m pretty sure I screamed the entire way down. There is a DJ at the bridge who plays really loud hip hop music, so Farley and I were dancing and being crazy just getting pumped up so we wouldn’t be scared but when I went to jump the DJ actually cut the music and I had to jump to DEAD SILENCE. No one else had to do this so I was absolutely terrified, I felt like the world was having a moment of silence for me or something creepy like that. But once I jumped I forgot about being scared and just took it all in.
Besides the music thing I wasn’t scared at all, just really excited. After being just feet away from great whites I don’t think I could be scared of anything, its pretty awesome. So yes, you might think I’m crazy but I would totally do it again.
After bungee we went to monkey land, which is a reservation for rescued monkeys (or monkeys that people previously kept as pets but were seized by animal protection services…) we walked for an hour and saw lots of adorable monkeys and then it started to rain so we sprinted to the car and drove home.
Overall, the garden route was definitely a success, it was so much fun. Of course I wish we could have driven to more places but I got to bungee and that was the sole reason for going and let’s face it, coming home to world cup madness was way better than beach towns…
Wednesday I woke up really early to go wine tasting with Suzanne through Stellenbosch. We went to 4 different vineyards, including a Champaign winery that actually made the Champaign which Nelson Mandela drank when he became president, and Barrack Obama drank at his inauguration…it was delicious. The day was a lot of fun. We started at 9:30 AM, but luckily our first stop actually gave us a tour of the vineyard, I learned how wine was made and then when we had our first tasting, we were also given some cheese, crackers, nuts and almonds and taught how to actually sample the wine. After that vineyard we went to a second tasting where the workers there were feeling generous so instead of giving us 3 or 4 samples we tried nine wines. Needles to say, after that stop we all wanted lunch and were feeling pretty silly. Still, we went to the Champaign winery, tried 5 or 6 more wines and then finally it was time for lunch.
We got lunch in the town of Stellenbosch, which is a really quaint university-town that reminded me of the New England. Suzanne and I found a cute little café to eat at, and then afterwards we explored for a little. After lunch we went to Spier, which I’ve been to before but it is by-far my favorite vineyard. We sampled 5 wines there and then got in the car and went home. At the end of the day I had tried over 25 wines, and it was almost 6PM. We were feeling quite exhausted from all the wine but it was almost the world cup so we had to rally…
That night I got dinner with my friends at our favorite Greek restaurant and then we decided to go to Stones for one last Wednesday night. Stones is a bar with lots of pool tables, and outdoor seating, a lot of study abroad students would go there Wednesday night because there were good drink specials. My friends and I went there almost every week but this would be a our last time going as a large group so it was a bit depressing. We ordered a lot of Black Label and then sat outside playing cards acting like typical American college students, still it was so much fun. After a couple hours we couldn’t play anymore because no one could focus so we went back inside to find the bar completely packed with tourists for the world cup. We ran around being crazy meeting people and singing soccer songs and then finally went home at some ridiculous hour, it was a very successful last night at Stones : )
http://www.faceadrenalin.com/aboutus.asp (BUNGEE!)
http://www.elephantsanctuary.co.za/cragshome.htm (elephant sanctuary)
http://www.spier.co.za/ (monkey land)
http://www.spier.co.za/ (spier winery)
So after cage diving, Farley, her brother Coop and I went on the garden route. The garden route basically entails driving along the southern coast of South Africa from the Western to the Eastern Cape and stopping at all the beautiful beach towns along the way. It’s one of the largest tourist destinations in the country (right behind Kruger National Park) and most students take the trip over a long weekend for skip a week of classes to travel. Well, we didn’t really have this option because the world cup was starting on Friday and we wanted to be back the day before for all of the pre-game festivities, so we basically did the garden route on speed. We drove 6 hours to Plettenburg bay and stayed overnight at a random backpackers and then drove home the next day in the afternoon. I know you’re probably thinking we’re crazy but we had to do the garden route because we wanted to go BUNGEE JUMPING!!! The world’s HIGHEST bungee jump is off of Bloukrins Bridge, just past Plettenburg along the Eastern Cape and we had to do it before we went home…
The drive to Plettenburg was one of the most beautiful drives in the world, the landscape along the coast was continually changing. Farley drove the entire way (stick shift on a car without power steering, I definitely would have crashed) but I sat up front and played DJ and the 6 hour drive went pretty quickly. We drove through mountains, along cliffs, by the ocean, through vineyards and farms; the atmosphere was constantly changing with each turn we took it was fantastic and beautiful. We passed safari parks and ostrich farms, along with random coffee/art galleries, and plenty of small, quant adorable little beach towns. We stopped at elephant land, and played with elephants. Farley and I even got to feed milk to a baby elephant, but she kind of took the bottles out of our hands and fed herself, still so cool. We walked around with the ellies for a little and learned about how they came to the sanctuary. After an hour or so we got back in the car to continue the drive to Plett.
When we reached Plett we went straight to our backpacker’s, dropped our stuff and went downtown for dinner. We walked around but it was kind of a ghost town because it was chilly and the middle of the week-not exactly tourist season? We went back to the backpackers and hung out in the bar/game room for a few hours, met some random people who were in SA for the world cup then went to bed early. The next day we went to bungee! The jump is over a gorge, it’s 216 meters high, the highest in the world! To jump, you go in groups to the bridge, where they bind you at the ankles (and place a safety thing around your chest incase the ankle bind would break) and then you pretty much just jump off the bridge and fall…really far! Basically it was absolutely amazing. I’m pretty sure I screamed the entire way down. There is a DJ at the bridge who plays really loud hip hop music, so Farley and I were dancing and being crazy just getting pumped up so we wouldn’t be scared but when I went to jump the DJ actually cut the music and I had to jump to DEAD SILENCE. No one else had to do this so I was absolutely terrified, I felt like the world was having a moment of silence for me or something creepy like that. But once I jumped I forgot about being scared and just took it all in.
Besides the music thing I wasn’t scared at all, just really excited. After being just feet away from great whites I don’t think I could be scared of anything, its pretty awesome. So yes, you might think I’m crazy but I would totally do it again.
After bungee we went to monkey land, which is a reservation for rescued monkeys (or monkeys that people previously kept as pets but were seized by animal protection services…) we walked for an hour and saw lots of adorable monkeys and then it started to rain so we sprinted to the car and drove home.
Overall, the garden route was definitely a success, it was so much fun. Of course I wish we could have driven to more places but I got to bungee and that was the sole reason for going and let’s face it, coming home to world cup madness was way better than beach towns…
Wednesday I woke up really early to go wine tasting with Suzanne through Stellenbosch. We went to 4 different vineyards, including a Champaign winery that actually made the Champaign which Nelson Mandela drank when he became president, and Barrack Obama drank at his inauguration…it was delicious. The day was a lot of fun. We started at 9:30 AM, but luckily our first stop actually gave us a tour of the vineyard, I learned how wine was made and then when we had our first tasting, we were also given some cheese, crackers, nuts and almonds and taught how to actually sample the wine. After that vineyard we went to a second tasting where the workers there were feeling generous so instead of giving us 3 or 4 samples we tried nine wines. Needles to say, after that stop we all wanted lunch and were feeling pretty silly. Still, we went to the Champaign winery, tried 5 or 6 more wines and then finally it was time for lunch.
We got lunch in the town of Stellenbosch, which is a really quaint university-town that reminded me of the New England. Suzanne and I found a cute little café to eat at, and then afterwards we explored for a little. After lunch we went to Spier, which I’ve been to before but it is by-far my favorite vineyard. We sampled 5 wines there and then got in the car and went home. At the end of the day I had tried over 25 wines, and it was almost 6PM. We were feeling quite exhausted from all the wine but it was almost the world cup so we had to rally…
That night I got dinner with my friends at our favorite Greek restaurant and then we decided to go to Stones for one last Wednesday night. Stones is a bar with lots of pool tables, and outdoor seating, a lot of study abroad students would go there Wednesday night because there were good drink specials. My friends and I went there almost every week but this would be a our last time going as a large group so it was a bit depressing. We ordered a lot of Black Label and then sat outside playing cards acting like typical American college students, still it was so much fun. After a couple hours we couldn’t play anymore because no one could focus so we went back inside to find the bar completely packed with tourists for the world cup. We ran around being crazy meeting people and singing soccer songs and then finally went home at some ridiculous hour, it was a very successful last night at Stones : )
http://www.faceadrenalin.com/aboutus.asp (BUNGEE!)
http://www.elephantsanctuary.co.za/cragshome.htm (elephant sanctuary)
http://www.spier.co.za/ (monkey land)
http://www.spier.co.za/ (spier winery)
July 1, 2010
mozambique! better late than never?
Okay so I definitely just stopped blogging, once I got back from Mozambique everything got really crazy and I was basically never even home and when I was it was to sleep or take a bath or something, I even stopped running? So crazy. So here's what I was up to in my last month starting with traveling...
Mozambique: So much fun! It was a little bit crazy and the most un-planned trip I've ever embarked on but overall it was a complete success. I traveled with three of my girlfriends, Farley (my roommate), Sarah and Laura; We had some difficulty actually getting across the border and had to buy new bus tickets and spend a last-minute night at a backpacker's in Joburg but we met some great people along the way and eventually made it to Maputo. We went to dinner at a fantastic seafood restaraunt on the water where Farley and I almost died choking from coughing and laughing on our prawns...so embarrassing. After a night in the capital we left for our so called "island" of Punto d'Ouro, which isn't actually an island. We took a quick ferry across the water then took a minibus for 4 hours until we got to the beach.
The minibus was hilarious. All four of us were crammed into the back seat (there were 18-20 other people in the van?) and then Laura started to feel sick and wanted to sit up front...so instead of having a random person come squash with us we bought "another seat" and just sat 3 in the back...everyone in the van found this really entertaining, one woman specifically thought it was funny and whenever we stopped and another person got on and tried to get in the back she explained to them in Portuguese what we had done and then laughed, she was great though she told the driver where we needed to go and gave us a big smile when she left. our drive was essentially 4 hours over dirt roads through "lush" landscapes...Sarah gave me a benodryl before we started driving because my allergies were bothering me and oh my gosh did that medicine hit me. The ride was so bumpy but I still managed to pass out, I would wake up every once and a while when we hit a huge bump and my head hit the car roof but otherwise I was out and determined to sleep...Farley said I looked like I died.
When we finally got to the beach it was essentially paradise. We stayed in this simple chalets that were actually one the beach, maybe 50 meters from the water? So I fell asleep each night to the sound of waves crashing outside and woke up every morning to the beautiful sunrise it was absolutely perfect. The island was essentially dead because it wasn't tourist season anymore and we actually joked that we were the only ones staying there. We spent all day lounging on the beach, reading, swimming or exploring the market and nearby stores. We bought fresh bread, veggies and coconuts everyday from the market "in town" (10 minute walk to informal housing) and then ate out each night at a different restaurant. Sadly, the seafood was not fresh (even though we were on the water!) and most fruit was out of season but we survived :) We learned some Portuguese form our waiters and made friends with people at this restaurant we hung out at each night after dinner. I ran on the beach every morning and night and befriended this stray dogs that a local surf shop looked after, they were so cute they actually ran with me and then slept next to my beach towel during the day. Since the beach was pretty empty we never partied or stayed out late, there was no one to party with? Instead we went to sleep when the sun went down and woke up early when it rose. It was a perfect relaxing (not to mention detoxing) vacation and I loved every single minute. I also got some cool souvenirs from the craft market and befriended some of the local tradespeople.
Laura and Sarah had to leave our trip early to get home in time to take exams so Farley and I spent one extra day at the beach then went back to Maputo and stayed a night in the capital. One our mini van ride back our bus actually got stuck and everyone had to get out of the van and push it. A truck driving the opposite direction saw us, stopped and got out and helped, it was really funny. I wanted to take a pictures but thought that might be inappropriate? Once we got to Maputo we went straight to Fatima's unpacked, and explored. We bought fresh Pao and vegetables off the street then went back to rest before dinner. We got dinner at this fantastic Indian restaraunt and then got directions from our waiter to this Jazz bar that was supposed to be "hopping" on Thursday nights. We walked 30 minutes to the bar-which was so nice to do! only to be told there was an expensive cover, and the bar was empty so there was no way we were going. We gave up and walked across the street to get milkshakes and call it a night. After eating we tried to hail a cab on the street but there literally were no cabs, neither of us had airtime so we couldn't call anyone, we were essentially stuck. Our waiter tried to help us and then some random people that were also eating at this cafe offered to drive us home.
Mozambique is really different in that crime essentially is not a huge problem there, we noticed that everyone was really friendly and helpful and it seemed to be a genuine country. That being said we agreed and got into these people's car. After driving a little they asked if we wanted to get drinks with them-all these people were middle-aged, and could have been our parents ages with the exception of one woman who looked to be around thirty? We agreed because the rest of the night had been a fail and we didn't want to give up yet. We went to this sleek cafe and they ordered us glasses of wine, after talking for a few minutes we realized these people were members of high society, they all held very respectable jobs, were educated and traveled around Africa (one even to the US!) One of the men actually worked for the UN and had previously worked for the World Bank, talk about weird but awesome? They insisted that their younger friend take us out so that we could see Maputo and we didn't really have a choice so we tagged along. This woman was so much fun but also kind of crazy. She took us to two incredibly posh, upscale, expensive bars (Ice and some other place...) and we eventually lost her, definitely by accident, and walked home around 4 AM. It was the craziest, most random night ever but is one of those things that you could never imagine happening but love to stories about once it does? It was so bizarre.
The next day Farley and I kind of woke up in shock reminiscing everything that happened the night before. We eventually wandered in town to shop for crafts and find breakfast. We explored the capital, which was really fun, it was beautiful, perfect weather and lots of art to look at and the people were also really friendly. Eventually we went back to Fatima's, packed up our stuff enjoyed one last Pao veggie sandwich and fruit salad (all of which we bought off the street!) and then said goodbye and got on our bus to go back to South Africa.
We made it home safely, no crazy stories but it was still fun. We did wait around the Joburg bus terminal (so sketchy!) for almost an hour while our cab driver drove to some backpacker's confused about where we were, such a failure. It was freezing too, maybe 40 degrees? And i was in shorts and a teeshirt...I forgot it was winter and colder in South Africa.
Overall though the trip was so great and I'm really glad I got to see this beautiful country. If I had the choice I would definitely do the Peace Corp there, so hopefully one day I'll get to return :)
Cheers,
H
-------wrote this at some point in june:
SCARIEST THING OF MY ENTIRE LIFE! GREAT WHITE SHARKS!!!
You know its bad when you go to write in your blog and realise you can’t remember your password (let alone your email address/username) that you usually sign in with…needless to say I think this will be my last post for a while.
I promised myself I’d write about my last few weeks abroad and then I’ll finish a completely new post as a farewell because
I’ve been home for exactly a month now and have definitely had time to reflect on all that…
So basically after Mozambique most of my friends were also finished with exams so we spent the last week and a half hanging out 24-7, exploring Cape Town and trying to fit in any last-minute touristy stuff before people started heading home on June 5th. In the last week that my best friends and I were all still together we went out every night of the week: Tuesday was karaoke at Dizzys, Wednesday Stones (obviously) Thursday was hemisphere and Long Street and then Friday was our final finale on Long Street. We also went to Old Biscuit Saturday morning and spent countless afternoons throughout the week wandering green Market Square. We got high tea at the Mt. Nelson Hotel (absolutely gorgeous and the food was fantastic, later that day we were all loopy and convinced we were high off the tea leaves or something because we drank so much…) Then after Old Biscuit on Saturday Suzanne, Elle and I went in town to find this Africa necklace we all wante…unsuccessful we met our friends for dinner at the Bombay Bicylce Club for one last farewell dinner before taking Stacey to the airport. We were all prepared to sob saying goodbye but instead of tears we blasted Freshlyground in the parking lot and danced like crazy and then laughing helped Stacey with her luggage and said goodbye before she went through security. After the airport we went to hangout with some of our friends who were leaving the next day then called it a semi-early night (midnightish?) because we had to get up super early the next morning…
Sunday we went CAGE DIVING! AGHH CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? I actually still can’t believe that I did it. Anyone that knows me well, knows that I am absolutely terrified of sharks. All semester I refused to go into the water that was higher than my knees/not clear because one week before we arrive abroad a man was literally “mauled” in waist-deep water. Cape Town is literally where shark week is filmed; it has one of the largest amounts of great whites in the world and they swim miles from the shore, it’s absolutely terrifying. Still, my friends were all doing cage diving so I got drug along thinking I’d either feel so empowered
and brave I’d never fear sharks again… or just have a heart attack in the cage and never go swimming in the ocean again…totally worth the risk
So anyway, we got picked up at 4:30 Sunday morning to take a van 2 hours to Gansbaai, which is located a 20 minute boat ride from Dyer Island…an area with one of the largest great white populations in the world! It’s hard to describe how diving actually worked but basically we took the boat out into the ocean (and could still see the shore when we docked!) and then put on wet-suites and split into groups. Five people could go into the cage at one time, I opted out on the first round still unsure whether I actually wanted to get wet so my friends got ready to jump in and I climbed on the top deck to watch for fins. This might have actually been a horrible idea because when the first shark swam up past the cage I screamed and grabbed whoever was standing next to me on the dock because IT WAS HUGE. I told my friends I didn’t think I could do it and sat down on a bench in the center of the boat. I still thought it was possible for one of the sharks to actually tip our boat or at least flop by the side and gobble someone up…I know so dumb. After two sharks circled the boat a few times there was a lull and then I spotted one, BEFORE ANYONE ELSE. This scared me the most because I thought if the expert researchers didn’t see this shark how would they know if we’re safe when we go in and out of the cage, they could easily miss a shark and it could eat someone, I was terrified. Still, when it came time to switch the groups my friends told me I had to do it, and that it was not scary at all so I believed them.
To get into the cage one has to climb from the side of the boat down a ladder into this narrow cage (sort of like a dog cage but much larger…) it was wire but with holes/gaps in it so we were actually in the water. The cage sits on the surface so and is about 8 feet deep. We were all given a pair of goggles and basically you wait at the top of the cage and when someone sees a shark you take a deep breath and push from the top of the cage to the bottom and take a look at the shark as it swims by/at the cage. It was actually really really cool. When the first shark swam by I didn’t think I just took a deep breath and listened to the instructions to “get down!” I saw the shark, probably screamed underwater but couldn’t stop watching it, I stayed underwater until I couldn’t stand it anymore, I needed air. I don’t know if it was that I was so paranoid I wanted to be able to watch the shark at all times or if I just became mystified by its agile swimming…either way I was hooked. I had basically become an adrenaline junkie. It terrified me that I was in the water with sharks all around me but I didn’t want to get out of the cage. I remember at one point that I realized I could turn around in the cage and behind me was just open water (I though it was the boat but realized the boat couldn’t be that deep) I totally freaked out and told my friends that the sharks could have been watching us the entire time! Luckily the people in the cage with me listened to my paranoid scenarios where I nervously listed everything that could go wrong while in the cage, one of my friends even coached me a little, probably to get me to stop talking…but still it helped to have someone telling me exactly what to do the first couple times and keep my mind of the sharks.
I stayed in the cage for what I thought was hours, but in all was maybe a half hour? The water eventually got really cold and some other people changed their mind and decided they wanted to get in and take a peak so I opted to get out of the cage so they could try. This was maybe the scariest part of the entire day. There were 3 great whites within the vicinity of the boat and I was told to climb out. When the cage is opened you basically sit on the top of it to slowly climb out and swing over the side of the boat-well while climbing out all that I could think of was those clips on shark week where the great white literally leaps out of the water to grab a seal on a rock or something…and I couldn’t help but think that could be me! I was so scared I climbed as fast as I could up the side of the cage and literally hopped over the side of the boat and ran to the middle of the deck and sat down speechless and out of breath. I changed out of my wet suite and into some drier clothes and then went ot find my friends who were all ready to tell me I did great :) because they’re awesome and really supportive.
The boat started to get rocky and our shark team instructors told us we had to return to shore because the water was too rough it wasn’t safe, I was totally okay with this so we all took seats inside the boat and got ready for the crazy, bumpy ride back (luckily none of us got sick!) so that was it. I did it. I saw great white sharks literally inches from my face and I didn’t get eaten or pass out!!! I still have nightmares, actually at least once a week and basically anytime that I’m in the water I’m terrified (even just swimming laps in a pool reminds me of great whites…) I know I’m crazy but still absolutely no regrets, I’m so glad that I tried it!
Cheers!
H
Mozambique: So much fun! It was a little bit crazy and the most un-planned trip I've ever embarked on but overall it was a complete success. I traveled with three of my girlfriends, Farley (my roommate), Sarah and Laura; We had some difficulty actually getting across the border and had to buy new bus tickets and spend a last-minute night at a backpacker's in Joburg but we met some great people along the way and eventually made it to Maputo. We went to dinner at a fantastic seafood restaraunt on the water where Farley and I almost died choking from coughing and laughing on our prawns...so embarrassing. After a night in the capital we left for our so called "island" of Punto d'Ouro, which isn't actually an island. We took a quick ferry across the water then took a minibus for 4 hours until we got to the beach.
The minibus was hilarious. All four of us were crammed into the back seat (there were 18-20 other people in the van?) and then Laura started to feel sick and wanted to sit up front...so instead of having a random person come squash with us we bought "another seat" and just sat 3 in the back...everyone in the van found this really entertaining, one woman specifically thought it was funny and whenever we stopped and another person got on and tried to get in the back she explained to them in Portuguese what we had done and then laughed, she was great though she told the driver where we needed to go and gave us a big smile when she left. our drive was essentially 4 hours over dirt roads through "lush" landscapes...Sarah gave me a benodryl before we started driving because my allergies were bothering me and oh my gosh did that medicine hit me. The ride was so bumpy but I still managed to pass out, I would wake up every once and a while when we hit a huge bump and my head hit the car roof but otherwise I was out and determined to sleep...Farley said I looked like I died.
When we finally got to the beach it was essentially paradise. We stayed in this simple chalets that were actually one the beach, maybe 50 meters from the water? So I fell asleep each night to the sound of waves crashing outside and woke up every morning to the beautiful sunrise it was absolutely perfect. The island was essentially dead because it wasn't tourist season anymore and we actually joked that we were the only ones staying there. We spent all day lounging on the beach, reading, swimming or exploring the market and nearby stores. We bought fresh bread, veggies and coconuts everyday from the market "in town" (10 minute walk to informal housing) and then ate out each night at a different restaurant. Sadly, the seafood was not fresh (even though we were on the water!) and most fruit was out of season but we survived :) We learned some Portuguese form our waiters and made friends with people at this restaurant we hung out at each night after dinner. I ran on the beach every morning and night and befriended this stray dogs that a local surf shop looked after, they were so cute they actually ran with me and then slept next to my beach towel during the day. Since the beach was pretty empty we never partied or stayed out late, there was no one to party with? Instead we went to sleep when the sun went down and woke up early when it rose. It was a perfect relaxing (not to mention detoxing) vacation and I loved every single minute. I also got some cool souvenirs from the craft market and befriended some of the local tradespeople.
Laura and Sarah had to leave our trip early to get home in time to take exams so Farley and I spent one extra day at the beach then went back to Maputo and stayed a night in the capital. One our mini van ride back our bus actually got stuck and everyone had to get out of the van and push it. A truck driving the opposite direction saw us, stopped and got out and helped, it was really funny. I wanted to take a pictures but thought that might be inappropriate? Once we got to Maputo we went straight to Fatima's unpacked, and explored. We bought fresh Pao and vegetables off the street then went back to rest before dinner. We got dinner at this fantastic Indian restaraunt and then got directions from our waiter to this Jazz bar that was supposed to be "hopping" on Thursday nights. We walked 30 minutes to the bar-which was so nice to do! only to be told there was an expensive cover, and the bar was empty so there was no way we were going. We gave up and walked across the street to get milkshakes and call it a night. After eating we tried to hail a cab on the street but there literally were no cabs, neither of us had airtime so we couldn't call anyone, we were essentially stuck. Our waiter tried to help us and then some random people that were also eating at this cafe offered to drive us home.
Mozambique is really different in that crime essentially is not a huge problem there, we noticed that everyone was really friendly and helpful and it seemed to be a genuine country. That being said we agreed and got into these people's car. After driving a little they asked if we wanted to get drinks with them-all these people were middle-aged, and could have been our parents ages with the exception of one woman who looked to be around thirty? We agreed because the rest of the night had been a fail and we didn't want to give up yet. We went to this sleek cafe and they ordered us glasses of wine, after talking for a few minutes we realized these people were members of high society, they all held very respectable jobs, were educated and traveled around Africa (one even to the US!) One of the men actually worked for the UN and had previously worked for the World Bank, talk about weird but awesome? They insisted that their younger friend take us out so that we could see Maputo and we didn't really have a choice so we tagged along. This woman was so much fun but also kind of crazy. She took us to two incredibly posh, upscale, expensive bars (Ice and some other place...) and we eventually lost her, definitely by accident, and walked home around 4 AM. It was the craziest, most random night ever but is one of those things that you could never imagine happening but love to stories about once it does? It was so bizarre.
The next day Farley and I kind of woke up in shock reminiscing everything that happened the night before. We eventually wandered in town to shop for crafts and find breakfast. We explored the capital, which was really fun, it was beautiful, perfect weather and lots of art to look at and the people were also really friendly. Eventually we went back to Fatima's, packed up our stuff enjoyed one last Pao veggie sandwich and fruit salad (all of which we bought off the street!) and then said goodbye and got on our bus to go back to South Africa.
We made it home safely, no crazy stories but it was still fun. We did wait around the Joburg bus terminal (so sketchy!) for almost an hour while our cab driver drove to some backpacker's confused about where we were, such a failure. It was freezing too, maybe 40 degrees? And i was in shorts and a teeshirt...I forgot it was winter and colder in South Africa.
Overall though the trip was so great and I'm really glad I got to see this beautiful country. If I had the choice I would definitely do the Peace Corp there, so hopefully one day I'll get to return :)
Cheers,
H
-------wrote this at some point in june:
SCARIEST THING OF MY ENTIRE LIFE! GREAT WHITE SHARKS!!!
You know its bad when you go to write in your blog and realise you can’t remember your password (let alone your email address/username) that you usually sign in with…needless to say I think this will be my last post for a while.
I promised myself I’d write about my last few weeks abroad and then I’ll finish a completely new post as a farewell because
I’ve been home for exactly a month now and have definitely had time to reflect on all that…
So basically after Mozambique most of my friends were also finished with exams so we spent the last week and a half hanging out 24-7, exploring Cape Town and trying to fit in any last-minute touristy stuff before people started heading home on June 5th. In the last week that my best friends and I were all still together we went out every night of the week: Tuesday was karaoke at Dizzys, Wednesday Stones (obviously) Thursday was hemisphere and Long Street and then Friday was our final finale on Long Street. We also went to Old Biscuit Saturday morning and spent countless afternoons throughout the week wandering green Market Square. We got high tea at the Mt. Nelson Hotel (absolutely gorgeous and the food was fantastic, later that day we were all loopy and convinced we were high off the tea leaves or something because we drank so much…) Then after Old Biscuit on Saturday Suzanne, Elle and I went in town to find this Africa necklace we all wante…unsuccessful we met our friends for dinner at the Bombay Bicylce Club for one last farewell dinner before taking Stacey to the airport. We were all prepared to sob saying goodbye but instead of tears we blasted Freshlyground in the parking lot and danced like crazy and then laughing helped Stacey with her luggage and said goodbye before she went through security. After the airport we went to hangout with some of our friends who were leaving the next day then called it a semi-early night (midnightish?) because we had to get up super early the next morning…
Sunday we went CAGE DIVING! AGHH CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? I actually still can’t believe that I did it. Anyone that knows me well, knows that I am absolutely terrified of sharks. All semester I refused to go into the water that was higher than my knees/not clear because one week before we arrive abroad a man was literally “mauled” in waist-deep water. Cape Town is literally where shark week is filmed; it has one of the largest amounts of great whites in the world and they swim miles from the shore, it’s absolutely terrifying. Still, my friends were all doing cage diving so I got drug along thinking I’d either feel so empowered
and brave I’d never fear sharks again… or just have a heart attack in the cage and never go swimming in the ocean again…totally worth the risk
So anyway, we got picked up at 4:30 Sunday morning to take a van 2 hours to Gansbaai, which is located a 20 minute boat ride from Dyer Island…an area with one of the largest great white populations in the world! It’s hard to describe how diving actually worked but basically we took the boat out into the ocean (and could still see the shore when we docked!) and then put on wet-suites and split into groups. Five people could go into the cage at one time, I opted out on the first round still unsure whether I actually wanted to get wet so my friends got ready to jump in and I climbed on the top deck to watch for fins. This might have actually been a horrible idea because when the first shark swam up past the cage I screamed and grabbed whoever was standing next to me on the dock because IT WAS HUGE. I told my friends I didn’t think I could do it and sat down on a bench in the center of the boat. I still thought it was possible for one of the sharks to actually tip our boat or at least flop by the side and gobble someone up…I know so dumb. After two sharks circled the boat a few times there was a lull and then I spotted one, BEFORE ANYONE ELSE. This scared me the most because I thought if the expert researchers didn’t see this shark how would they know if we’re safe when we go in and out of the cage, they could easily miss a shark and it could eat someone, I was terrified. Still, when it came time to switch the groups my friends told me I had to do it, and that it was not scary at all so I believed them.
To get into the cage one has to climb from the side of the boat down a ladder into this narrow cage (sort of like a dog cage but much larger…) it was wire but with holes/gaps in it so we were actually in the water. The cage sits on the surface so and is about 8 feet deep. We were all given a pair of goggles and basically you wait at the top of the cage and when someone sees a shark you take a deep breath and push from the top of the cage to the bottom and take a look at the shark as it swims by/at the cage. It was actually really really cool. When the first shark swam by I didn’t think I just took a deep breath and listened to the instructions to “get down!” I saw the shark, probably screamed underwater but couldn’t stop watching it, I stayed underwater until I couldn’t stand it anymore, I needed air. I don’t know if it was that I was so paranoid I wanted to be able to watch the shark at all times or if I just became mystified by its agile swimming…either way I was hooked. I had basically become an adrenaline junkie. It terrified me that I was in the water with sharks all around me but I didn’t want to get out of the cage. I remember at one point that I realized I could turn around in the cage and behind me was just open water (I though it was the boat but realized the boat couldn’t be that deep) I totally freaked out and told my friends that the sharks could have been watching us the entire time! Luckily the people in the cage with me listened to my paranoid scenarios where I nervously listed everything that could go wrong while in the cage, one of my friends even coached me a little, probably to get me to stop talking…but still it helped to have someone telling me exactly what to do the first couple times and keep my mind of the sharks.
I stayed in the cage for what I thought was hours, but in all was maybe a half hour? The water eventually got really cold and some other people changed their mind and decided they wanted to get in and take a peak so I opted to get out of the cage so they could try. This was maybe the scariest part of the entire day. There were 3 great whites within the vicinity of the boat and I was told to climb out. When the cage is opened you basically sit on the top of it to slowly climb out and swing over the side of the boat-well while climbing out all that I could think of was those clips on shark week where the great white literally leaps out of the water to grab a seal on a rock or something…and I couldn’t help but think that could be me! I was so scared I climbed as fast as I could up the side of the cage and literally hopped over the side of the boat and ran to the middle of the deck and sat down speechless and out of breath. I changed out of my wet suite and into some drier clothes and then went ot find my friends who were all ready to tell me I did great :) because they’re awesome and really supportive.
The boat started to get rocky and our shark team instructors told us we had to return to shore because the water was too rough it wasn’t safe, I was totally okay with this so we all took seats inside the boat and got ready for the crazy, bumpy ride back (luckily none of us got sick!) so that was it. I did it. I saw great white sharks literally inches from my face and I didn’t get eaten or pass out!!! I still have nightmares, actually at least once a week and basically anytime that I’m in the water I’m terrified (even just swimming laps in a pool reminds me of great whites…) I know I’m crazy but still absolutely no regrets, I’m so glad that I tried it!
Cheers!
H
May 16, 2010
Adios Classes!!! :)
Today was so fantastic. Erica (my CHOSA partner) and I took our kids on a field trip/excursion to Signal Hill and played all afternoon. We really wanted to hike with them but honestly didn’t have the time to do an entire day’s hike up Table Mountain or Lion’s Head and also weren’t sure if they would enjoy hiking? So we decided to take them to Signal Hill, which is almost as high as lion’s head but you can actually just drive to the top of the hill and park and then there are picnic areas and lots of trails to walk around on…and the views are phenomenal. So we took our kids to Signal Hill, had a picnic (made sandwiches and ate snacks) walked around the trails, and then bought them ice cream and went home. The day went perfectly though, I couldn’t have asked for it to be better.
The van that was picking us up to take us to Bap to get the kids and then drive to Signal Hill was over an hour late, so Erica and I were both really nervous, we figured the kids would get upset and angry, or think we forgot about them…and we were also nervous because we only had about 3 hours allotted for our trip. Still, our van finally came, and when we got to Bap our kids were all waiting outside for us; they’d been there the whole time just hoping we’d show up, it was really cute but also made me feel horrible for being so late. They gave us hugs and then jumped in the car before we had a chance to actually walk into the children’s home and let the caretaker’s know we were there…it was cool they were so excited. Once we got to signal hill they were so crazy, they just wanted to run around and play, and when we walked on the trails they yelled hello to everyone (and told them “Hey we are Xhosa!!”. They made friends with this crazy artist who was paining Table Mountain, who told them about when he met Nelson Mandela to paint his portrait. They also wanted to walk to see the World Cup stadium (which is right next to Lion’s Head) so we walked there and they started singing the South African national anthem, it was so great. The afternoon went so quickly and I was really bummed to have to take them back and say goodbye…I’m done with my volunteering with CHOSA and won’t get to go back because of my exam schedule and traveling plans. I’m so glad I got to meet these kids though, they’re all so great, it’s incredible the way they all have become a family and look after each other, and they’re just so happy I’m so glad my last time with them wasn’t at Bap teaching, but on an afternoon excursion, it was perfect.
My field trip today was obviously the highlight of my week, but I did some other cool things too. Last weekend I went to a concert at assembly, I saw freshlyground, a South African band (who’s really good!) they actually sing with Shakira in the official song for the world cup. On Tuesday I went to Zula in town for acoustic night, but it turned out that a Cape Town band was playing that night, 4 Seasons Family, they were also really good, fun music. Both concerts were great, and were such a nice break from the usual party scene here.
Wednesday, I had my CIEE final dinner at Moyo at Spiers winery in Stellenbaush. It was so good! We all got dressed up for the dinner and the restaurant it was at was so pretty. IT was inside a winery, so we actually ate outside under a tent (permanent wood gazebo kind of?) but there was also all these little forts and booths and smaller gazebos around the huge one we ate under? And there was small ponds and flowers and I can’t actually describe what the place looked like but it was gorgeous. Our dinner was a buffet and this place had everything…fresh veggies, lots of different prepared salads, so much meat I didn’t know what it was?, FISH AND CALAMARI, and then typical south african foods…and then of course, dessert. We ate way too much delicious food, and drank good wine, and got our faces painted while watching African dancers/performers and then explored the winery a little. IT was such a perfect dinner.
Thursday was our fundraiser for CHOSA at Stones. We were trying to raise money to pay for our trips that we were doing with our students before the semester ended, and Stones is this bar/pool hall that a lot of students go to. The fundraiser was only semi-successful, it was raining and gross out that day and we knew most students had gone out hard the night before because Wednesday was the last day of classes…so no one was really up for day drinking? Still, a lot of our friends came and it was semi-successful.
The rest of my weekend was not very exciting…I have 2 exams, 2 papers and a project to due between now and Thursday so I’ve basically been spending all my time in coffee shops studying and writing. I’m leaving on Friday though to go to Mozambique for 8 days I’m so excited! My friends and I are flying to Joburg, then busing across the border to Maputu (the capital) spending a night there, then taking a ferry out to an island and staying there for a week, then coming home. It’s going to be the perfect ending to a crazy and stressful week, and I’m going with my 4 best girlfriends so it will be a great final trip to do together ☹
I can’t believe I have less than a month left, its going to go so quickly, I don’t’ even want to think about it, I could stay here forever. Although I do my friends and family…and iced coffee and showers and going on long runs, I know I’m going to come back to South Africa-maybe I’ll even work here one day!
I’ll try and write again before I leave for Mozambique, cheers!
The van that was picking us up to take us to Bap to get the kids and then drive to Signal Hill was over an hour late, so Erica and I were both really nervous, we figured the kids would get upset and angry, or think we forgot about them…and we were also nervous because we only had about 3 hours allotted for our trip. Still, our van finally came, and when we got to Bap our kids were all waiting outside for us; they’d been there the whole time just hoping we’d show up, it was really cute but also made me feel horrible for being so late. They gave us hugs and then jumped in the car before we had a chance to actually walk into the children’s home and let the caretaker’s know we were there…it was cool they were so excited. Once we got to signal hill they were so crazy, they just wanted to run around and play, and when we walked on the trails they yelled hello to everyone (and told them “Hey we are Xhosa!!”. They made friends with this crazy artist who was paining Table Mountain, who told them about when he met Nelson Mandela to paint his portrait. They also wanted to walk to see the World Cup stadium (which is right next to Lion’s Head) so we walked there and they started singing the South African national anthem, it was so great. The afternoon went so quickly and I was really bummed to have to take them back and say goodbye…I’m done with my volunteering with CHOSA and won’t get to go back because of my exam schedule and traveling plans. I’m so glad I got to meet these kids though, they’re all so great, it’s incredible the way they all have become a family and look after each other, and they’re just so happy I’m so glad my last time with them wasn’t at Bap teaching, but on an afternoon excursion, it was perfect.
My field trip today was obviously the highlight of my week, but I did some other cool things too. Last weekend I went to a concert at assembly, I saw freshlyground, a South African band (who’s really good!) they actually sing with Shakira in the official song for the world cup. On Tuesday I went to Zula in town for acoustic night, but it turned out that a Cape Town band was playing that night, 4 Seasons Family, they were also really good, fun music. Both concerts were great, and were such a nice break from the usual party scene here.
Wednesday, I had my CIEE final dinner at Moyo at Spiers winery in Stellenbaush. It was so good! We all got dressed up for the dinner and the restaurant it was at was so pretty. IT was inside a winery, so we actually ate outside under a tent (permanent wood gazebo kind of?) but there was also all these little forts and booths and smaller gazebos around the huge one we ate under? And there was small ponds and flowers and I can’t actually describe what the place looked like but it was gorgeous. Our dinner was a buffet and this place had everything…fresh veggies, lots of different prepared salads, so much meat I didn’t know what it was?, FISH AND CALAMARI, and then typical south african foods…and then of course, dessert. We ate way too much delicious food, and drank good wine, and got our faces painted while watching African dancers/performers and then explored the winery a little. IT was such a perfect dinner.
Thursday was our fundraiser for CHOSA at Stones. We were trying to raise money to pay for our trips that we were doing with our students before the semester ended, and Stones is this bar/pool hall that a lot of students go to. The fundraiser was only semi-successful, it was raining and gross out that day and we knew most students had gone out hard the night before because Wednesday was the last day of classes…so no one was really up for day drinking? Still, a lot of our friends came and it was semi-successful.
The rest of my weekend was not very exciting…I have 2 exams, 2 papers and a project to due between now and Thursday so I’ve basically been spending all my time in coffee shops studying and writing. I’m leaving on Friday though to go to Mozambique for 8 days I’m so excited! My friends and I are flying to Joburg, then busing across the border to Maputu (the capital) spending a night there, then taking a ferry out to an island and staying there for a week, then coming home. It’s going to be the perfect ending to a crazy and stressful week, and I’m going with my 4 best girlfriends so it will be a great final trip to do together ☹
I can’t believe I have less than a month left, its going to go so quickly, I don’t’ even want to think about it, I could stay here forever. Although I do my friends and family…and iced coffee and showers and going on long runs, I know I’m going to come back to South Africa-maybe I’ll even work here one day!
I’ll try and write again before I leave for Mozambique, cheers!
May 4, 2010
Rugby, Tutu & S[LBG] Time
Tonight my girl friends and I baked chocolate cake from scratch and watched Good Will Hunting…you can tell it’s almost exams week haha, so delicious though. And there were so many scenes in the movie with DUNKIN I was really sad, I can’t wait to buy some vanilla iced coffee in the airport when I land in DC!!!
Anyways, my weekend was beyond fantastic, I actually think it might have been one of my favorite weekends in Cape Town.
Friday, my friends and I went to the Cape Town Stormer’s Rugby game. It was so much fun, we bought tickets in the standing section and were basically surrounded by crazy, dedicated fans. At half time we went to the bar and discovered it was even crazier there…the bar was two small dingy rooms, with one tiny black and white TV but it was packed! People were yelling and cheering, and singing songs in Afrikaans, so we just played along it was so much fun. I actually think I kind of understand how rugby works (finally) after watching this game. And the stormer’s won so they secured a spot for the semi-finals in their league. After the game we just went to a bar in mowbry and then called it a night and hung out in leisbeck.
Saturday, I got up super early (after just 4 hours of sleep!) to go downtown with some friends because we heard a rumor that Desmond Tutu was speaking at a church. Well it ends up he was speaking at service to commemorate the 20th anniversary of an ANC Leader’s survival from an assassination attack. (I wish I could remember the man’s name but I’m going to post an article about it…) The service was really beautiful. IT was in St.George’s, which is the largest Anglican Church in the Southern Hemisphere, and it’s downtown in the Company Gardens-it’s this huge stone church basically. I actually enjoyed the service, which is new because I tend to change my mind about church everyday, and then afterwards, both this survivor and Desmond Tutu spoke, and each person’s speech was great. Also, just a side note, Tutu is adorable, he is maybe 5 feet tall and he was smiling and laughing the whole service and kept making small jokes and funny comments. It was absolutely perfect.
After church I got breakfast at Old Biscuit Mill (and some delicious groceries like falafel, a pomegranate…and bath salts?) and came home to power nap before my Leisbeck Gardens Pub Crawl through Mowbry. I won’t post all the details but basically about twenty of us Americans who live in the res hall wore our matching LBG shirts and paraded through a bunch of bars. We got magaritas at a Mexican restaurant, and wine at a greek restaurant…and then hit up the dodgy bars in mowbry. It was so funny; one of my friends had gone to the bars previously and warned the managers that were planning to do this, and everyone was so excited. We walked into the first sketch bar and were bombarded by people there, they took their pictures with us and danced with us and then followed us on the rest of our bar crawl, it was so funny. We ended at this place called “Champs on Vic” and took over their VIP lounge, it was great. My flat mate and I came home after, made a super late dinner and then passed out. It was great I got 12 hours of sleep (so much better than the night before!)
Sunday was pretty uneventful, I did home work all day, but then got really delicious Ethiopian food for dinner. There is this women who lives literally across the street from our residence hall and you can just call her up and she’ll cook you dinner (for really cheap!) and you go eat in her house. It was so gooood.
Today, I had volunteering at CHOSA and it was really good. Usually, I just hangout and have discussions, chill time with the high school students, but today one of the students asked me to help him with his economics homework. It was so much better, we did some English lessons on the side, and I helped him read/start a worksheet on South Africa’s national budget…it was cool though. I’ve realized from both of my volunteering projects that I really enjoy teaching and I think that if I do volunteer with the Peace Corp or some other organization overseas I definitely want to do teaching…? Kinda cool.
So this week is pretty much the same-old. I’ve got a party/fundraiser for one of my volunteering projects, my friends and I are celebrating someone’s 21st at club in town…and then this weekend I think it’ll be the usually Old Biscuit Mill, and hopefully a beach day and market on Sunday, but who knows we tend to change our plans a lot!
Until next week, Cheers!
-Okay fail on finding an article but I’ll keep searching…
Anyways, my weekend was beyond fantastic, I actually think it might have been one of my favorite weekends in Cape Town.
Friday, my friends and I went to the Cape Town Stormer’s Rugby game. It was so much fun, we bought tickets in the standing section and were basically surrounded by crazy, dedicated fans. At half time we went to the bar and discovered it was even crazier there…the bar was two small dingy rooms, with one tiny black and white TV but it was packed! People were yelling and cheering, and singing songs in Afrikaans, so we just played along it was so much fun. I actually think I kind of understand how rugby works (finally) after watching this game. And the stormer’s won so they secured a spot for the semi-finals in their league. After the game we just went to a bar in mowbry and then called it a night and hung out in leisbeck.
Saturday, I got up super early (after just 4 hours of sleep!) to go downtown with some friends because we heard a rumor that Desmond Tutu was speaking at a church. Well it ends up he was speaking at service to commemorate the 20th anniversary of an ANC Leader’s survival from an assassination attack. (I wish I could remember the man’s name but I’m going to post an article about it…) The service was really beautiful. IT was in St.George’s, which is the largest Anglican Church in the Southern Hemisphere, and it’s downtown in the Company Gardens-it’s this huge stone church basically. I actually enjoyed the service, which is new because I tend to change my mind about church everyday, and then afterwards, both this survivor and Desmond Tutu spoke, and each person’s speech was great. Also, just a side note, Tutu is adorable, he is maybe 5 feet tall and he was smiling and laughing the whole service and kept making small jokes and funny comments. It was absolutely perfect.
After church I got breakfast at Old Biscuit Mill (and some delicious groceries like falafel, a pomegranate…and bath salts?) and came home to power nap before my Leisbeck Gardens Pub Crawl through Mowbry. I won’t post all the details but basically about twenty of us Americans who live in the res hall wore our matching LBG shirts and paraded through a bunch of bars. We got magaritas at a Mexican restaurant, and wine at a greek restaurant…and then hit up the dodgy bars in mowbry. It was so funny; one of my friends had gone to the bars previously and warned the managers that were planning to do this, and everyone was so excited. We walked into the first sketch bar and were bombarded by people there, they took their pictures with us and danced with us and then followed us on the rest of our bar crawl, it was so funny. We ended at this place called “Champs on Vic” and took over their VIP lounge, it was great. My flat mate and I came home after, made a super late dinner and then passed out. It was great I got 12 hours of sleep (so much better than the night before!)
Sunday was pretty uneventful, I did home work all day, but then got really delicious Ethiopian food for dinner. There is this women who lives literally across the street from our residence hall and you can just call her up and she’ll cook you dinner (for really cheap!) and you go eat in her house. It was so gooood.
Today, I had volunteering at CHOSA and it was really good. Usually, I just hangout and have discussions, chill time with the high school students, but today one of the students asked me to help him with his economics homework. It was so much better, we did some English lessons on the side, and I helped him read/start a worksheet on South Africa’s national budget…it was cool though. I’ve realized from both of my volunteering projects that I really enjoy teaching and I think that if I do volunteer with the Peace Corp or some other organization overseas I definitely want to do teaching…? Kinda cool.
So this week is pretty much the same-old. I’ve got a party/fundraiser for one of my volunteering projects, my friends and I are celebrating someone’s 21st at club in town…and then this weekend I think it’ll be the usually Old Biscuit Mill, and hopefully a beach day and market on Sunday, but who knows we tend to change our plans a lot!
Until next week, Cheers!
-Okay fail on finding an article but I’ll keep searching…
May 2, 2010
AFRICABURN!!!
AFRICABURN!
I have no idea where to start. My weekend at Africaburn was so incredible. I had no idea what to expect but basically could never have imagined how wonderful it was.
My friends and I drove a really cheap rental car through the desert for 5 ½ hours to get there, and when we finally arrived at the Karoo I thought we had driven to the moon. We were seriously in the middle of nowhere; you couldn’t see anything for miles and way off in the distance were these beautiful mountains. The way camp was set up, all the tents were in a “C” shape, and then the open part was where all the burns took place, and all the art was in the middle. There was a really strange mix of people there. I met a lot of college students (lots of Americans) but there were also families and elderly people there and couples, mostly from Cape Town but also from all around Southern Africa. The art that people brought was really neat, most of it was interactive too. So people would paint a mural but then you could add to it, or they’d build a statue and you could scribble/sign it. All of the art was really hippyish so I loved it. I felt like I was living in the civil rights movement or something, everything was really chill, or encouraging for peace and happiness or to live with no regrets…it was really neat.
I basically spent all day walking around looking at art, doing activities (bead-making, face-paintng, dancing in random tents or doing some type of art) and then at night my friends and I walked around to tents that were turned into nightclubs and watched burns. It was so crazy, everyone walked around in costumes, I felt like I was in some Tim Burton Halloween movie but I loved it. I painted my face everyday and wore crazy clothes and didn’t shower for 4 days, by the last day I basically had temporary dreadlocks and my body was brown from all the dirt. My friends and I took a stove with us but it wouldnt’ actually boil water so I lived off PB & J and PB & Nutella sandwiches, and dried fruit…so healthy. (Basically since coming home I have yet to eat a sandwich and have been beyond healthy about my eating…)
Let’s see what else…I don’t really know actually it was just fantastic. The people there were all really cool and so friendly. I think it was the safest place I’ve been to in South Africa so far, everyone seriously shared everything. People would come over to our tent and offer us food and water and like I already said, all the art was participatory. It was one of those festivals where we were supposed to leave nothing behind, so it was also pretty eco-friendly. Our drive there was so beautiful (the boys got a flat tire which sucked for them but still it was so great) and we got really good grapes from some people off the side of the road when we drove through wine country and they were about the size of ping pong balls and very delicious.
I can’t really believe that my weekend happened because it all seemed so unreal but it was so great and I wish I could go back even though the festival is over. I want to go to Burning Man in the states now (possible road trip to Nevada maybe?)
Cheers!
I have no idea where to start. My weekend at Africaburn was so incredible. I had no idea what to expect but basically could never have imagined how wonderful it was.
My friends and I drove a really cheap rental car through the desert for 5 ½ hours to get there, and when we finally arrived at the Karoo I thought we had driven to the moon. We were seriously in the middle of nowhere; you couldn’t see anything for miles and way off in the distance were these beautiful mountains. The way camp was set up, all the tents were in a “C” shape, and then the open part was where all the burns took place, and all the art was in the middle. There was a really strange mix of people there. I met a lot of college students (lots of Americans) but there were also families and elderly people there and couples, mostly from Cape Town but also from all around Southern Africa. The art that people brought was really neat, most of it was interactive too. So people would paint a mural but then you could add to it, or they’d build a statue and you could scribble/sign it. All of the art was really hippyish so I loved it. I felt like I was living in the civil rights movement or something, everything was really chill, or encouraging for peace and happiness or to live with no regrets…it was really neat.
I basically spent all day walking around looking at art, doing activities (bead-making, face-paintng, dancing in random tents or doing some type of art) and then at night my friends and I walked around to tents that were turned into nightclubs and watched burns. It was so crazy, everyone walked around in costumes, I felt like I was in some Tim Burton Halloween movie but I loved it. I painted my face everyday and wore crazy clothes and didn’t shower for 4 days, by the last day I basically had temporary dreadlocks and my body was brown from all the dirt. My friends and I took a stove with us but it wouldnt’ actually boil water so I lived off PB & J and PB & Nutella sandwiches, and dried fruit…so healthy. (Basically since coming home I have yet to eat a sandwich and have been beyond healthy about my eating…)
Let’s see what else…I don’t really know actually it was just fantastic. The people there were all really cool and so friendly. I think it was the safest place I’ve been to in South Africa so far, everyone seriously shared everything. People would come over to our tent and offer us food and water and like I already said, all the art was participatory. It was one of those festivals where we were supposed to leave nothing behind, so it was also pretty eco-friendly. Our drive there was so beautiful (the boys got a flat tire which sucked for them but still it was so great) and we got really good grapes from some people off the side of the road when we drove through wine country and they were about the size of ping pong balls and very delicious.
I can’t really believe that my weekend happened because it all seemed so unreal but it was so great and I wish I could go back even though the festival is over. I want to go to Burning Man in the states now (possible road trip to Nevada maybe?)
Cheers!
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