No really. We climbed Table Mountain and by the time I got to the top, I had no sweat, because it all froze to my body. Ok, rewind.
So Wednesday was Election Day in South Africa, thus the day off and my opportunity to finally go up the mountain. But first – the election. It was so interesting seeing another presidential election so shortly after ours, especially considering the candidates we had running. One thing I might’ve mentioned, here in South Africa you vote for a party and then that percentage of votes they get determines those who end up in office. I know it’s more specific than that, there’s even a real term for it I think, but all I compare it to is that it’s the same as Israel and I know how it works there. So I guess I somewhat understand how it works here. Anyway. The two front running parties are the ANC and the DA. From what I’ve personally seen, there has been a lot more campaigning (using signs, brochures, advertisements, t-shirts, etc) from the DA. However the ANC is the party that came out of apartheid and is therefore already much more established. Also, one thing I love (which I also might have already mentioned) is that the symbol for the DA is remarkably similar to Obama’s.
As the election drew closer I tried to talk to people about what they think of the parties and it was interesting because a lot of people I’ve talked to in Cape Town said that they actually think the DA would be good but beyond here, it sounds like the ANC has too much of a hold for the DA to win the presidency. This is mainly due to the fact that the ANC has Jacob Zuma running and despite all the things he’s done wrong (some accusations were even taken to court although they were just dropped), he’s black. Meanwhile the front runner for the DA is Helen Zille, the current mayor of Cape Town. She’s white. So even though she’s doing a great job in Cape Town, especially considering the majority of the country, to vote for her would be like going backward to apartheid. Mind you, these are the opinions of just a few people I’ve talked to so they in no way represent what the entire country thinks but I found it all extremely interesting. And another thing (last bit about the election), voting was yesterday but the results should be in tomorrow-ish. There’s no way I could’ve waited that long for the results from this past year’s election, we’ll just have to see what happens now. So there you go; the election from my standpoint.
Because of the election it was declared a public holiday so we didn’t have lectures. The weather was supposed to be pretty nice which is getting rarer as winter creeps up on us. So we wanted to make sure to take advantage of the day and climb Table Mountain. I’ve wanted to go up since we got here and if I didn’t get to hike up while here, I pretty much would’ve considered my time here a failure. Anyway, there were 5 of us going and only 2 had been up, one hiking and the other via cable car. We started out going straight from Mowbray because there are paths visible from campus. First we reached Rhodes Memorial, that place that had been on fire a few weeks ago, remember? Well the memorial wasn’t but the surrounding area was. It was all burned up, crazy. But the memorial was pretty cool even though I know it’s controversial. We took a short break there to look out over the city and continued but before long we reached a point where the path split into 3 directions. Asking a few people the best way to get up the mountain we got 3 different answers but the main thing was that the main, recommended path was on the other side of the mountain. So we could take a number of other ways but if we were looking for that main one, we’d have to walk around which was (according to the 3 people we asked) between 10-20 kilometers away.
The decision was made to walk around the mountain, one that I wasn’t too thrilled with but everyone else was ok with it so I didn’t say anything. We stopped many more people along the way to ask more about directions and generally for advice but everyone told us different things so we just kept on walking. The path got pretty intense a few times and it seemed like we were going the right way one minute and then the wrong way the next. We eventually reached a stone building that was not where we had been meaning to go but we were told that we could get to the recommended route from there. So after another break, we kept on. Let’s just say that a little over 3 hours later, we reached the base of the recommended route at Platteklip Gorge. According to the signs it would take us 2 hours to get to the top and it was here that one of the girls needed to go back to do work as none of us had expected to be out so long.
Now there were 4 of us and it was already nearing 1pm, we had started hiking close to 10 but were just starting the real hiking up the mountain. Considering that we were already a bit tired from the walk/hike to the gorge I’m surprised how quickly (relative to how long they said it would take) we made it up. I trailed most of the way up mainly because I took my time near the beginning and eventually, by the time I would catch up with the others, I was out of breath and they were just beginning to climb again. I didn’t mind, I was glad to take it at my own pace and I even stopped and talked to some people going up as well and even got encouraging words from those coming down saying “not too much further” and such. Some people were going up for their first times; others had been up many times before. Some were from the area; others were from America, Germany, and other countries.
Shortly before 2:30 I breathlessly sprinted up the last few meters to the top of Table Mountain which means the hike up it took me about an hour and a half. Woooo!! It was exhausting but the view was absolutely amazing. It was such a feeling of accomplishment, even though I was ready to just fall down where I was standing so I could catch my breath. For whatever reason, I had it in my head that it was going to be flat on top, and compared to some mountains it was really flat, but I was still initially surprised to see the rough surface, bushes, and signs of animals. I wandered around for a while looking out at Cape Town and down the peninsula before finding the others and we stopped by the café to sit and drink a lot of water. Oh yeah, there’s a café, restaurants, a gift shop, and other things on top of Table Mountain mostly by the cable car. There are also paths and lots of signs all around for people who want to explore. I stopped to put on my sweatshirt which we had luckily thought about before hand. It had started getting cooler about half way up the mountain as the breeze picked up and once on the top, the wind was strong. After spending just a bit of time walking around we went for the cable car to take us down which was neat; the floor spins so you can see all around on the way down.
So there you have it. My first venture up Table Mountain.
Check that off the list.
Sarah
Friday, April 24, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
"i have a feeling we're not in Cape Town anymore"
Well, this past week I’ve been trying to write about our trip while keeping up with what’s going on back here in Cape Town so yes, this post will be painfully long focusing mainly on our trip and then looking quickly at this past week back in Cape Town. While we were on break, we passed the halfway mark for our time here. Before I know it I’m going to be getting on a plane back to the US of A. Of course, now that the time is speeding up and the days are getting shorter, I’m starting to realize just how much more there is that I want to do here. I’m going to do my best to summarize our trip now but I had elaborated earlier and then my computer went crazy and I lost, like, half of what I’d written. In any case, let’s start where I left off.
Mid-semester break. We had 10 days to see of Africa as much as possible. On Friday like I said, we left from my house at 6:30am to get down to Cape Town to catch the Baz Bus. It was conveniently running late so we hung around waiting and wishing we’d brought food with us. Finally, it came and a few hours later we were dropped off in Mossel Bay right in front of the backpackers. This was my first hostel experience and it was a really cute place, not too far from the beach which is where we went first. This beach was kind of rocky but the waves were big and there were lots of surfers. Then, as the sun went down we walked through town to another beach which had amazingly soft sand and we walked around there relaxing and watching the sunset. Then we walked back through town to a seafood restaurant overlooking the first beach we’d gone to.
On Saturday morning, Mel and I got up early (Rachael decided to sleep a bit longer) since we’d realized as the sun was setting that it would rise over the ocean. We didn’t get the very beginning of the sunrise because we’d gotten up too late but it was still beautiful. Side note: we realized we got up too late because we don’t see the sun until a little after 6:30 but that’s because there are mountains by Stellenbosch that block the initial moment where the sun crosses the horizon. Still, it was absolutely breathtaking and a fantastic start to our day.
After eating a bit on the beach, we made our way back to the hostel where we were picked up for Nyaru Game Reserve for a game drive on quad bikes. It was a pretty small reserve so there weren’t really big animals but it was still really cool. After a little bit of a rough start, we were able to get going and saw lots of animals including various species of antelope, water buffalo, wildebeest (those animals that cause the stampede in The Lion King), cheetah, giraffe, zebra, and ostrich. After the ride we went back to town for lunch and to relax at the hostel waiting for the bus, which was late again, so we met lots of cool people who were staying there and some who were waiting for the bus as well. Late afternoon came and it was on to Knysna (ny-z-na).
We got there in the early evening just as the sun was setting over the lagoon that Knysna is most well known for. After making plans for the next day, we went down to the waterfront for dinner where Rachael was adventurous and tried an oyster, Knysna’s other claim to fame. The next day, Sunday, we began with a canoe/kayak safari through the forests and as with any safari, there’s never any guarantee what animals you may see. But for me, the coolest part wasn’t even the animals. After being on the water for an hour, we reached our half way point at a bridge where we would then turn back to where we had started. It was a beautiful view from the bridge which we took in while enjoying some snacks, paddling a boat is hard work. It was here where the daring were able to take a little swim…by jumping off the bridge into the lagoon. I had decided way before we left that I wasn’t going to pass up any opportunities handed to me so I jumped 8 meters (about 25 feet) into the lagoon which was terrifying but exhilarating. We made our way back to our starting point and then were dropped off at the hostel where I took a very necessary shower. Afterwards, we found an adorable place for lunch with fantastic pizza (not like real Italian pizza but it was really good) before walking around the waterfront and town for a little shopping. That evening of course, it was back on the bus to Port Elizabeth for the night.
We left PE early the next morning to go on to Coffee Bay. Unfortunately, we needed to take a shuttle from where the bus dropped us off which didn’t get going until late, we didn’t get to Coffee Bay until after dark. A quick bit of info, the Garden Route I mentioned earlier ends at Port Elizabeth – the coast of South Africa has many different sections. Coffee Bay is on what’s known as the Wild Coast, where the towns are much more traditional villages and more of what people first think of when they hear that I’m in “Africa”. Our night there was complete with dinner, a camp fire, and a drum circle and dancing.
The next morning we found out that we had to leave pretty early in order to catch the shuttle back to the bus pick up which meant we couldn’t go to the “hole in the wall” a rock formation that is supposedly the highlight of visiting Coffee Bay. It just means I’ll have to go back because I would love to spend more time there, it was an incredible place. We made the most of our time there by climbing a hill with a fantastic view of the surrounding area, going down to the beach, and walking around the village to see what the people were doing. The culture there is distinctly Xhosa and we got to talk to a bunch of different people, Mel even got to exercise her Xhosa when a woman was walking in the same direction as us. Before we knew it, we needed to catch the shuttle to the bus that would take us on to Durban, our last stop with the Baz Bus. We figured it out, and we did spend many hours on the bus (close to 30) but we met many incredible people, all on different adventures yet going in the same direction as us. They were from all over the world and it was so much fun talking to people and swapping stories.
We arrived in Durban late Tuesday night and checking in, we saw that right next to the hostel was Ushaka, a waterfront kind of area with shops and restaurants. As we had all day on Wednesday in Durban, we started out with breakfast there before venturing into the city to Victoria Street Market where we walked around for a few hours. Coming from Cape Town, Durban had a very different city feel to it. The market wasn’t like those we’re used to which are geared entirely toward tourists, local people were there doing their regular, every day shopping. I think many people were actually surprised to see us there walking around, we definitely stood out. After the market we needed to try bunny chow, essentially a hollowed loaf of bread with curry and (I got) mixed vegetables inside. I only got a quarter of a loaf which was plenty…and my mouth was on fire by then. Still, it was really good and something we’re glad we got to try as I hadn’t heard of it until Durban.
The rest of the afternoon we relaxed by the beach. I got to step into the Indian Ocean and yes, it is as amazingly warm as everyone says. It was tough pulling us away but we needed to get back to the hostel to get ready since that evening was the first night of Pesach and we went to the Durban Hebrew Congregation for a communal Seder. The synagogue itself looked very nice even though it was dark by the time we got there. What was surprising to me (even though I should’ve expected it I think) was when we were greeted by a guard before a huge locked gate. He let us in reluctantly when I insisted that they knew we were coming, he brought us to the main dining area where I spoke with a man the guard had called over and he welcomed us when I gave him my name. We sat at a table with mostly older couples which was nice because they took quite an interest in us, asking us questions about Cape Town, studying at UCT, America, and our travels. The seder itself was very pleasant, there’s something about the familiar in an unfamiliar place that made me so happy. It wasn’t very long, probably shorter than I used to a minus the family, plus South African political jokes. Then, dinner was really yummy although we had eaten a bit before going so we weren’t too hungry. I did swipe a box of matzah though, since I had no idea how I was going to be able to keep Passover while in Zambia.
At 4am on Thursday my alarm went off and I grudgingly got up and ready for the taxi coming to get us to bring us to the airport for our flight up to Livingstone, Zambia. We got there with plenty of time to get through security and such, and before we knew it we were on a plane to Johannesburg (only a 2 hour layover) and then Livingstone. Having not had time to do more research, we landed and found out that we needed to pay for our visa into Zambia in US dollars, which none of us had. After taking a while to withdraw money from the ATM in local currency (Kwacha which has a conversion rate of about 5,000 Kwacha to 1 USD, so yeah I have cool 50,000 bills) and then waiting for a while to get it converted into USD, we finally all got our passports stamped and returned to us.
Next thing we needed to do was to find a cab that hopefully wouldn’t completely rip us off in our attempt to get to the place we were staying, the Livingstone Holiday Home (LHH). We had tried to stay in one of the two backpackers but they were both full, there were even CIEE people on the plane to Livingstone so we knew there were lots of Americans there for the same days as us. This place was not like a backpackers, but personally I am so glad we stayed there. It was in somewhat a residential area tucked away from the main road and touristy areas but not too far that we couldn’t walk or take a cheap taxi. We pulled up and were graciously greeted by a young guy we know now as Masa. He was extremely friendly and helped us out with figuring out how to pay (we couldn’t charge anything and didn’t have enough of one type of currency at the moment) for the room. We had booked for different rooms since that’s all that was available online but he was able to give us a room for the 3 of us to share, 3 separate twin beds each with its own mosquito net ;) haha. After getting just a bit settled in, he walked us around town telling us about the area before taking us to a restaurant where we got to try traditional Zambian food.
Here I had a little moral dilemma because the matzah I had was certainly not enough for the 3 days we would be in Zambia and I obviously couldn’t starve myself, especially since we anticipated having a packed weekend. Masa told us about Nshima (silent ‘n’ so pronounced like shima) which is the base for the traditional food they had there. It was eaten with pretty much anything from meats and fish to basic vegetables. The dilemma, nshima is made from corn. Considering that I have never needed to think really hard about keeping kosher for Passover, I was surprised with myself to remember that corn falls under kitniyot but since I didn’t want to starve myself for 3 days, I decided to consider myself temporarily Sephardic. Just like with the Sephardim, corn (eaten as nshima) is so common that I think Jews there wouldn’t have banned it since they would’ve then been in the same situation I was in. So in terms of food, I had a pretty typical diet for those 3 days: hard boiled eggs in the morning, a bit of matzah or salad kind of things for lunch, and nshima with veggies for dinner. And the nshima was actually quite yummy and it was cool trying this new, cultural food.
Ok, enough about food already. Friday started out slow but we eventually made it to a place where we got to book activities for that day and the next. We obviously had to first go to Victoria Falls, no question. For those of you who don’t know, Victoria Falls is one of the natural wonders of the world and a wonder it truly is. The traditional name for the falls in Zambia is Mosi Oa Tunya which means “smoke that thunders” because the mist looks like smoke rising above the falls and the sound of the water over the falls is like thunder. It was an absolutely incredible sight, putting Niagara Falls to shame. We were there during the high season and this year is one of the highest the river has ever been according to our guide. The spray was so huge that we couldn’t even completely grasp just how vast the falls were because we got lost in the mist.
As we walked on our guided tour, we realized our poor planning in that two of us were wearing sneakers and walking under the falls which (even with a poncho) left us as wet as if we’d just jumped into a pool. I eventually gave up trying to stay dry and even took the hood off the poncho to let the spray soak my head; it was such a powerful feeling. I also kept track and saw at least 14 rainbows just walking the short bridge that takes us alongside the falls. The spray is so strong and constant that the algae were everywhere we looked, covering the rock and bridge. Then we got to do just a bit of shopping at the market right next to the falls and I got a necklace that makes up the sign of the falls. It’s supposed to look vaguely like the man who first greeted Dr. Livingstone (after whom the town is named) when he discovered the falls.
After getting suckered by some of the booths into buying lots of stuff, we rushed back to LHH to change before going back out to the falls once the sun had gone down. It is called the lunar rainbow and it can only really be seen beginning the day before full moon through the day after full moon. It was the day after full moon which meant we were lucky enough to be able to go and see it. On those nights, the moon is so bright that there is enough light to create a rainbow over the falls at night, a lunar rainbow. It was absolutely incredible and like nothing I’ve ever seen or even heard of. We finally dragged ourselves away and returned to LHH for the night.
We decided to take a break from touristy things at the falls and went into Mukuni Village for the first half of the day on Saturday. We were showed around by a young woman who even brought us into some of the huts and talked to some people with us. If I remember some of what she said correctly, about 7,000 people live in the village which is the first one Dr. Livingstone visited when he discovered the falls. Our last stop in the village was at the market where everything was made in the village and all the money they make from their sales is communal, so the entire town profits, regardless which vender things are bought from. I think this last bit of knowledge is what we used to justify buying so much stuff; we were helping the entire village, not just one vender. It was so different from the market we’ve gone to in Cape Town. The people were pushier but in a friendlier way; every person there shook my hand and asked my name before telling me that they had something different compared to the others to show me. Eventually I was marketed out and while I waited I talked with some of them about living and studying in Cape Town. They were all so nice I only wish we could’ve stayed for longer to talk to more people.
The second half of the day we went to a gorge for some activities, we could see the Zambezi River not to far away where the water was choppy after having gone over the falls. There were 3 activities as part of this adventure package. First we did the flying fox which is sort of like a zip line but you run and jump and once you can’t go any further to the other side of the gorge, they pull you back in. If you make it to the other side, you get your money back and even though none of us did we did get pretty far and enjoyed the view almost 100 meters above the gorge floor. Next we went abseiling which like reverse rock climbing; you make your way down the cliff into the gorge by slowly lowering yourself on a rope. That was a bit nerve racking since I went down very slowly and got to look around and it occurred to me that I was hanging off a cliff 50 meters above the ground and the only thing keeping me up was my grip on the rope (don’t worry Mom, it’s safe and I’m fine, see). After a painful climb back up, our last and most terrifying adventure was the gorge swing. It is a few seconds of free fall of a little less than 100 meters before the rope catches and you swing back and forth across the gorge, Mel and I went tandem which also meant we had to go backwards with our legs tied. It was a terrifying build up to the fall since we had to walk to the edge, turn around, and back up until our heels were over the edge of the platform before rocking backwards to fall off. Even though it was pretty scary but I’m so glad we tried it.
We went back to LHH before going back into town for dinner to the same restaurant we’d gone to the first night. It was really nice and relaxing although Masa didn’t get to come with us that time so he couldn’t help explain stuff on the menu to us. After dinner, we went back and talked with him for a while about all different things: current issues around the world, personal views, religion, and more. Mel and Rachael were tired and went to bed after a while but I figured that I don’t know when I’ll be able to take advantage the opportunity to talk with someone who has been brought up in such a different culture with different opinions so we stayed up talking for quite some time before I finally decided that it was time for bed.
Sunday, we got up early to go check out the church across the street to see if they would have anything special for Easter. It seemed like any other service to me but the music was very pretty and it was cool just to see the congregation in action. Unfortunately we didn’t get to stay to really talk with anyone because it was also our travel day so we needed to get to the airport. Masa walked with us to a main road, insisting on carrying all our heaviest bags, and got us a cab for a good deal. It was kinda sad saying goodbye to him; he played such a role in our experience in Livingstone but we all agreed that we should keep in touch and he insisted that we inform him when we arrived back in Cape Town (which I did later that night). Our flights back to Jo-burg and then Cape Town were short but they served us on both of them (just like when we had been going there) so at least I got a few 100% kosher for Passover meals. Arriving back in Cape Town left me with mixed feelings. I had so much fun traveling but it was nice and familiar to be flying into the airport seeing the sun setting behind Table Mountain.
This week flew by as I know the rest of my time here in Cape Town will. Something about passing the half way point made me realize how much more I want to do while I’m here so I’m going to try to make the most of every day. The beginning of the week was pretty uneventful and full of matzah. I broke Passover Thursday night with a Cocoa Wah-wah cookie though which was wonderfully delicious. That same night I went out to dinner with people for a friend’s 21st birthday and then ended up at Hemisphere with them and most of my house. Since the weeks leading up to break had been so stressful and I’d been cooped up in my room, it was nice going out and being silly on the dance floor. Friday night I went out to dinner with Mel and her family (her grandmother, mom, and oldest sister) who arrived in Cape Town the same day we returned from break and are here til this coming Wednesday. We had a lot of fun and walked around the waterfront after dinner, I got a few great CDs with local artists, something I’ve wanted to do for a while.
On Saturday I went into Cape Town with a group of people to check out the SA Museum and Planetarium which was a really cool place. I tend to favor particular kinds of museums but this one was really neat; we even got to learn about the current night sky which is the reverse of what we see at home in the northern hemisphere, crazy. I got to experience Ethiopian food then for lunch before we eventually made our way back to our houses but then it was out again, this time with Rachael, Mel, and Mel’s sister down to the Green Dolphin (a jazz restaurant I’d been to only once before) at the waterfront. The food (and by food I mean dessert) was really good and the music was very enjoyable, we had a good time. That wasn’t it though; we needed to show Mel’s sister some Cape Town night life so we obviously went to Long Street. However, rather than go to Fiction, Marvel, or any of those typical places, we splurged on a place called Chez Ntemba just off of Long Street. It is a really cool place with different dance floors that have hip hop, house, and African music. The decorations inside are a bit intense with mirrors and black marble on all the walls and disco balls, lasers, and strobe lights everywhere but the music was great and we had a lot of fun.
Sunday was a wonderfully bum-y day, I didn’t do anything, and now today is Monday and exactly 1 month before the last day of lectures. I got to go to the TB clinic which was nice, I missed the kids and they made it clear that they’d missed us too. Now, I’m just sitting here shaking my head at this beyond ridiculously extensive post and enjoying the warmth of my computer on my lap. Did I mention that there really isn’t fall here, it went from summer to winter-ish really quickly. Winter weather meaning overcast and/or rainy with temperatures in the 50s, feelings like 40s with the wind chill. Occasionally we get a really nice day but I’m getting through them just knowing that it’s getting warmer at home.
Well for now that’s all. I probably should be doing homework now anyway, but it’s been a while I know (sorryyyy) so I figured an update was necessary. Congratulations and thank you for bearing with me and dealing with my ramblings. I miss you all lots and can’t wait to see you. And of course, not complete without a shout out but this time it’s because it’s 6 days until RELAY FOR LIFE!! I wish I could be there and you’ll all be in my thoughts on that day! <3
As always,
Sarah
Mid-semester break. We had 10 days to see of Africa as much as possible. On Friday like I said, we left from my house at 6:30am to get down to Cape Town to catch the Baz Bus. It was conveniently running late so we hung around waiting and wishing we’d brought food with us. Finally, it came and a few hours later we were dropped off in Mossel Bay right in front of the backpackers. This was my first hostel experience and it was a really cute place, not too far from the beach which is where we went first. This beach was kind of rocky but the waves were big and there were lots of surfers. Then, as the sun went down we walked through town to another beach which had amazingly soft sand and we walked around there relaxing and watching the sunset. Then we walked back through town to a seafood restaurant overlooking the first beach we’d gone to.
On Saturday morning, Mel and I got up early (Rachael decided to sleep a bit longer) since we’d realized as the sun was setting that it would rise over the ocean. We didn’t get the very beginning of the sunrise because we’d gotten up too late but it was still beautiful. Side note: we realized we got up too late because we don’t see the sun until a little after 6:30 but that’s because there are mountains by Stellenbosch that block the initial moment where the sun crosses the horizon. Still, it was absolutely breathtaking and a fantastic start to our day.
After eating a bit on the beach, we made our way back to the hostel where we were picked up for Nyaru Game Reserve for a game drive on quad bikes. It was a pretty small reserve so there weren’t really big animals but it was still really cool. After a little bit of a rough start, we were able to get going and saw lots of animals including various species of antelope, water buffalo, wildebeest (those animals that cause the stampede in The Lion King), cheetah, giraffe, zebra, and ostrich. After the ride we went back to town for lunch and to relax at the hostel waiting for the bus, which was late again, so we met lots of cool people who were staying there and some who were waiting for the bus as well. Late afternoon came and it was on to Knysna (ny-z-na).
We got there in the early evening just as the sun was setting over the lagoon that Knysna is most well known for. After making plans for the next day, we went down to the waterfront for dinner where Rachael was adventurous and tried an oyster, Knysna’s other claim to fame. The next day, Sunday, we began with a canoe/kayak safari through the forests and as with any safari, there’s never any guarantee what animals you may see. But for me, the coolest part wasn’t even the animals. After being on the water for an hour, we reached our half way point at a bridge where we would then turn back to where we had started. It was a beautiful view from the bridge which we took in while enjoying some snacks, paddling a boat is hard work. It was here where the daring were able to take a little swim…by jumping off the bridge into the lagoon. I had decided way before we left that I wasn’t going to pass up any opportunities handed to me so I jumped 8 meters (about 25 feet) into the lagoon which was terrifying but exhilarating. We made our way back to our starting point and then were dropped off at the hostel where I took a very necessary shower. Afterwards, we found an adorable place for lunch with fantastic pizza (not like real Italian pizza but it was really good) before walking around the waterfront and town for a little shopping. That evening of course, it was back on the bus to Port Elizabeth for the night.
We left PE early the next morning to go on to Coffee Bay. Unfortunately, we needed to take a shuttle from where the bus dropped us off which didn’t get going until late, we didn’t get to Coffee Bay until after dark. A quick bit of info, the Garden Route I mentioned earlier ends at Port Elizabeth – the coast of South Africa has many different sections. Coffee Bay is on what’s known as the Wild Coast, where the towns are much more traditional villages and more of what people first think of when they hear that I’m in “Africa”. Our night there was complete with dinner, a camp fire, and a drum circle and dancing.
The next morning we found out that we had to leave pretty early in order to catch the shuttle back to the bus pick up which meant we couldn’t go to the “hole in the wall” a rock formation that is supposedly the highlight of visiting Coffee Bay. It just means I’ll have to go back because I would love to spend more time there, it was an incredible place. We made the most of our time there by climbing a hill with a fantastic view of the surrounding area, going down to the beach, and walking around the village to see what the people were doing. The culture there is distinctly Xhosa and we got to talk to a bunch of different people, Mel even got to exercise her Xhosa when a woman was walking in the same direction as us. Before we knew it, we needed to catch the shuttle to the bus that would take us on to Durban, our last stop with the Baz Bus. We figured it out, and we did spend many hours on the bus (close to 30) but we met many incredible people, all on different adventures yet going in the same direction as us. They were from all over the world and it was so much fun talking to people and swapping stories.
We arrived in Durban late Tuesday night and checking in, we saw that right next to the hostel was Ushaka, a waterfront kind of area with shops and restaurants. As we had all day on Wednesday in Durban, we started out with breakfast there before venturing into the city to Victoria Street Market where we walked around for a few hours. Coming from Cape Town, Durban had a very different city feel to it. The market wasn’t like those we’re used to which are geared entirely toward tourists, local people were there doing their regular, every day shopping. I think many people were actually surprised to see us there walking around, we definitely stood out. After the market we needed to try bunny chow, essentially a hollowed loaf of bread with curry and (I got) mixed vegetables inside. I only got a quarter of a loaf which was plenty…and my mouth was on fire by then. Still, it was really good and something we’re glad we got to try as I hadn’t heard of it until Durban.
The rest of the afternoon we relaxed by the beach. I got to step into the Indian Ocean and yes, it is as amazingly warm as everyone says. It was tough pulling us away but we needed to get back to the hostel to get ready since that evening was the first night of Pesach and we went to the Durban Hebrew Congregation for a communal Seder. The synagogue itself looked very nice even though it was dark by the time we got there. What was surprising to me (even though I should’ve expected it I think) was when we were greeted by a guard before a huge locked gate. He let us in reluctantly when I insisted that they knew we were coming, he brought us to the main dining area where I spoke with a man the guard had called over and he welcomed us when I gave him my name. We sat at a table with mostly older couples which was nice because they took quite an interest in us, asking us questions about Cape Town, studying at UCT, America, and our travels. The seder itself was very pleasant, there’s something about the familiar in an unfamiliar place that made me so happy. It wasn’t very long, probably shorter than I used to a minus the family, plus South African political jokes. Then, dinner was really yummy although we had eaten a bit before going so we weren’t too hungry. I did swipe a box of matzah though, since I had no idea how I was going to be able to keep Passover while in Zambia.
At 4am on Thursday my alarm went off and I grudgingly got up and ready for the taxi coming to get us to bring us to the airport for our flight up to Livingstone, Zambia. We got there with plenty of time to get through security and such, and before we knew it we were on a plane to Johannesburg (only a 2 hour layover) and then Livingstone. Having not had time to do more research, we landed and found out that we needed to pay for our visa into Zambia in US dollars, which none of us had. After taking a while to withdraw money from the ATM in local currency (Kwacha which has a conversion rate of about 5,000 Kwacha to 1 USD, so yeah I have cool 50,000 bills) and then waiting for a while to get it converted into USD, we finally all got our passports stamped and returned to us.
Next thing we needed to do was to find a cab that hopefully wouldn’t completely rip us off in our attempt to get to the place we were staying, the Livingstone Holiday Home (LHH). We had tried to stay in one of the two backpackers but they were both full, there were even CIEE people on the plane to Livingstone so we knew there were lots of Americans there for the same days as us. This place was not like a backpackers, but personally I am so glad we stayed there. It was in somewhat a residential area tucked away from the main road and touristy areas but not too far that we couldn’t walk or take a cheap taxi. We pulled up and were graciously greeted by a young guy we know now as Masa. He was extremely friendly and helped us out with figuring out how to pay (we couldn’t charge anything and didn’t have enough of one type of currency at the moment) for the room. We had booked for different rooms since that’s all that was available online but he was able to give us a room for the 3 of us to share, 3 separate twin beds each with its own mosquito net ;) haha. After getting just a bit settled in, he walked us around town telling us about the area before taking us to a restaurant where we got to try traditional Zambian food.
Here I had a little moral dilemma because the matzah I had was certainly not enough for the 3 days we would be in Zambia and I obviously couldn’t starve myself, especially since we anticipated having a packed weekend. Masa told us about Nshima (silent ‘n’ so pronounced like shima) which is the base for the traditional food they had there. It was eaten with pretty much anything from meats and fish to basic vegetables. The dilemma, nshima is made from corn. Considering that I have never needed to think really hard about keeping kosher for Passover, I was surprised with myself to remember that corn falls under kitniyot but since I didn’t want to starve myself for 3 days, I decided to consider myself temporarily Sephardic. Just like with the Sephardim, corn (eaten as nshima) is so common that I think Jews there wouldn’t have banned it since they would’ve then been in the same situation I was in. So in terms of food, I had a pretty typical diet for those 3 days: hard boiled eggs in the morning, a bit of matzah or salad kind of things for lunch, and nshima with veggies for dinner. And the nshima was actually quite yummy and it was cool trying this new, cultural food.
Ok, enough about food already. Friday started out slow but we eventually made it to a place where we got to book activities for that day and the next. We obviously had to first go to Victoria Falls, no question. For those of you who don’t know, Victoria Falls is one of the natural wonders of the world and a wonder it truly is. The traditional name for the falls in Zambia is Mosi Oa Tunya which means “smoke that thunders” because the mist looks like smoke rising above the falls and the sound of the water over the falls is like thunder. It was an absolutely incredible sight, putting Niagara Falls to shame. We were there during the high season and this year is one of the highest the river has ever been according to our guide. The spray was so huge that we couldn’t even completely grasp just how vast the falls were because we got lost in the mist.
As we walked on our guided tour, we realized our poor planning in that two of us were wearing sneakers and walking under the falls which (even with a poncho) left us as wet as if we’d just jumped into a pool. I eventually gave up trying to stay dry and even took the hood off the poncho to let the spray soak my head; it was such a powerful feeling. I also kept track and saw at least 14 rainbows just walking the short bridge that takes us alongside the falls. The spray is so strong and constant that the algae were everywhere we looked, covering the rock and bridge. Then we got to do just a bit of shopping at the market right next to the falls and I got a necklace that makes up the sign of the falls. It’s supposed to look vaguely like the man who first greeted Dr. Livingstone (after whom the town is named) when he discovered the falls.
After getting suckered by some of the booths into buying lots of stuff, we rushed back to LHH to change before going back out to the falls once the sun had gone down. It is called the lunar rainbow and it can only really be seen beginning the day before full moon through the day after full moon. It was the day after full moon which meant we were lucky enough to be able to go and see it. On those nights, the moon is so bright that there is enough light to create a rainbow over the falls at night, a lunar rainbow. It was absolutely incredible and like nothing I’ve ever seen or even heard of. We finally dragged ourselves away and returned to LHH for the night.
We decided to take a break from touristy things at the falls and went into Mukuni Village for the first half of the day on Saturday. We were showed around by a young woman who even brought us into some of the huts and talked to some people with us. If I remember some of what she said correctly, about 7,000 people live in the village which is the first one Dr. Livingstone visited when he discovered the falls. Our last stop in the village was at the market where everything was made in the village and all the money they make from their sales is communal, so the entire town profits, regardless which vender things are bought from. I think this last bit of knowledge is what we used to justify buying so much stuff; we were helping the entire village, not just one vender. It was so different from the market we’ve gone to in Cape Town. The people were pushier but in a friendlier way; every person there shook my hand and asked my name before telling me that they had something different compared to the others to show me. Eventually I was marketed out and while I waited I talked with some of them about living and studying in Cape Town. They were all so nice I only wish we could’ve stayed for longer to talk to more people.
The second half of the day we went to a gorge for some activities, we could see the Zambezi River not to far away where the water was choppy after having gone over the falls. There were 3 activities as part of this adventure package. First we did the flying fox which is sort of like a zip line but you run and jump and once you can’t go any further to the other side of the gorge, they pull you back in. If you make it to the other side, you get your money back and even though none of us did we did get pretty far and enjoyed the view almost 100 meters above the gorge floor. Next we went abseiling which like reverse rock climbing; you make your way down the cliff into the gorge by slowly lowering yourself on a rope. That was a bit nerve racking since I went down very slowly and got to look around and it occurred to me that I was hanging off a cliff 50 meters above the ground and the only thing keeping me up was my grip on the rope (don’t worry Mom, it’s safe and I’m fine, see). After a painful climb back up, our last and most terrifying adventure was the gorge swing. It is a few seconds of free fall of a little less than 100 meters before the rope catches and you swing back and forth across the gorge, Mel and I went tandem which also meant we had to go backwards with our legs tied. It was a terrifying build up to the fall since we had to walk to the edge, turn around, and back up until our heels were over the edge of the platform before rocking backwards to fall off. Even though it was pretty scary but I’m so glad we tried it.
We went back to LHH before going back into town for dinner to the same restaurant we’d gone to the first night. It was really nice and relaxing although Masa didn’t get to come with us that time so he couldn’t help explain stuff on the menu to us. After dinner, we went back and talked with him for a while about all different things: current issues around the world, personal views, religion, and more. Mel and Rachael were tired and went to bed after a while but I figured that I don’t know when I’ll be able to take advantage the opportunity to talk with someone who has been brought up in such a different culture with different opinions so we stayed up talking for quite some time before I finally decided that it was time for bed.
Sunday, we got up early to go check out the church across the street to see if they would have anything special for Easter. It seemed like any other service to me but the music was very pretty and it was cool just to see the congregation in action. Unfortunately we didn’t get to stay to really talk with anyone because it was also our travel day so we needed to get to the airport. Masa walked with us to a main road, insisting on carrying all our heaviest bags, and got us a cab for a good deal. It was kinda sad saying goodbye to him; he played such a role in our experience in Livingstone but we all agreed that we should keep in touch and he insisted that we inform him when we arrived back in Cape Town (which I did later that night). Our flights back to Jo-burg and then Cape Town were short but they served us on both of them (just like when we had been going there) so at least I got a few 100% kosher for Passover meals. Arriving back in Cape Town left me with mixed feelings. I had so much fun traveling but it was nice and familiar to be flying into the airport seeing the sun setting behind Table Mountain.
This week flew by as I know the rest of my time here in Cape Town will. Something about passing the half way point made me realize how much more I want to do while I’m here so I’m going to try to make the most of every day. The beginning of the week was pretty uneventful and full of matzah. I broke Passover Thursday night with a Cocoa Wah-wah cookie though which was wonderfully delicious. That same night I went out to dinner with people for a friend’s 21st birthday and then ended up at Hemisphere with them and most of my house. Since the weeks leading up to break had been so stressful and I’d been cooped up in my room, it was nice going out and being silly on the dance floor. Friday night I went out to dinner with Mel and her family (her grandmother, mom, and oldest sister) who arrived in Cape Town the same day we returned from break and are here til this coming Wednesday. We had a lot of fun and walked around the waterfront after dinner, I got a few great CDs with local artists, something I’ve wanted to do for a while.
On Saturday I went into Cape Town with a group of people to check out the SA Museum and Planetarium which was a really cool place. I tend to favor particular kinds of museums but this one was really neat; we even got to learn about the current night sky which is the reverse of what we see at home in the northern hemisphere, crazy. I got to experience Ethiopian food then for lunch before we eventually made our way back to our houses but then it was out again, this time with Rachael, Mel, and Mel’s sister down to the Green Dolphin (a jazz restaurant I’d been to only once before) at the waterfront. The food (and by food I mean dessert) was really good and the music was very enjoyable, we had a good time. That wasn’t it though; we needed to show Mel’s sister some Cape Town night life so we obviously went to Long Street. However, rather than go to Fiction, Marvel, or any of those typical places, we splurged on a place called Chez Ntemba just off of Long Street. It is a really cool place with different dance floors that have hip hop, house, and African music. The decorations inside are a bit intense with mirrors and black marble on all the walls and disco balls, lasers, and strobe lights everywhere but the music was great and we had a lot of fun.
Sunday was a wonderfully bum-y day, I didn’t do anything, and now today is Monday and exactly 1 month before the last day of lectures. I got to go to the TB clinic which was nice, I missed the kids and they made it clear that they’d missed us too. Now, I’m just sitting here shaking my head at this beyond ridiculously extensive post and enjoying the warmth of my computer on my lap. Did I mention that there really isn’t fall here, it went from summer to winter-ish really quickly. Winter weather meaning overcast and/or rainy with temperatures in the 50s, feelings like 40s with the wind chill. Occasionally we get a really nice day but I’m getting through them just knowing that it’s getting warmer at home.
Well for now that’s all. I probably should be doing homework now anyway, but it’s been a while I know (sorryyyy) so I figured an update was necessary. Congratulations and thank you for bearing with me and dealing with my ramblings. I miss you all lots and can’t wait to see you. And of course, not complete without a shout out but this time it’s because it’s 6 days until RELAY FOR LIFE!! I wish I could be there and you’ll all be in my thoughts on that day! <3
As always,
Sarah
Thursday, April 2, 2009
i'm going on an adventureeee
Wow. These past 2 weeks have been so busy with school work finally catching up with me and lots of other things going on at the same time. Forgive me for a typically uber long ramble of what’s been going on. Where did I leave off?
Right. Mel’s birthday. Well before we went out, I had African Choir. I got there and everyone said the director was sick and the assistant director was coming. I had a lot of work to do and knew I’d be out that night so I said I was going to leave if he didn’t get there after 15 minutes. I was about to get up to go when he arrived, but I’m so glad that I didn’t leave. It was the best rehearsal I’d been to and I almost didn’t want to leave by the end. We finished learning a few songs that we’d been struggling with for weeks just in those 2 hours. It felt great and put me in a much better mood. So then I ran back home, changed, and left for Obs where we went to the first place we’d gone for karaoke a while back, Babbo’s. Even though it was the middle of the week, it was a nice sized and relaxed group of great people, it was a good time. And of course, we had to do some karaoke so Mel and I sang "Hot n Cold" (tribute to berg right there) and then I sang "One Step at a Time" with Blandina (another tribute to berg haha).
The rest of the week and part of the weekend I spent attempting to work on a 5000 word research paper I had due on Tuesday for Sex, Soaps, and Social Change. 5000 words is pretty freaking long and I was having such trouble getting into it, especially because it was a research paper. Luckily, I was able to take a break on Sunday because CIEE sponsored a trip to go white water rafting! So after 2 hours on the bus, we arrived and the guides asked us, so who signed up for white water rafting? W all looked around confused until she told us that it's rafting, with a couple little blips along the river. But we were going 12 kilometers down the river and there were a couple times where we went through a little rocky area that had some faster flowing water but for the most part it was pretty relaxing although my arms were pretty tired by the end. We were in 2 person rafts, the person in the back was in charge of steering and paddling and the person in the front mainly paddles. I was in a raft with Kate and being on a raft together for 3 hours definitely gave us a lot of time to talk and get to know each other even better! There were a few times when we had to slow down until the entire group could get together and we even got out of the rafts to go swimming a few times. We did a lot of waiting mainly because, since I was kicking ass at steering, we were near the front of the group the whole time. We even were the first boat in! Go us! So it was a great day, I’m so glad I went.
After Sunday though, my life truly became about writing papers. My 5000 word paper came out to less than 4000 words even with the citations and bibliography. I was so scared that it would make a significant difference in my grade so I kept hoping that my presentation to go along with it went well enough to compensate. But since there wasn’t anything I could do about it, I let my housemates convince me to go out to a Greek restaurant in Little Mowbray that night, the first time I’d left my house for more than to go to classes. It was nice to finally get out of my room after all that work and I’ve missed hanging out with them. And before I go on, I would like to mention that I got my grade back for it this past Tuesday. I got a 76. In South African terms, that’s a really good grade. It’s like getting an A at home. So that was a relief and put me in an awesome mood! Then I had a paper due Friday and a paper due today, both shorter than that first one but just as tricky and counting for a lot more of my total grade. So I had to return to my room for more work but I did get a break this weekend.
Friday night I ended up going down to the Waterfront with the intent to see Slumdog Millionaire. The thing is, it only just came out here 2 weeks ago and it was sold out. So instead we took a while to relax and enjoy dinner. The Waterfront has some nice restaurants even if they’re a little pricey and I haven’t been down there for a while so it was nice. The group of people I was with weren’t people I typically go out with so it was really nice getting to know all of them better. Then after dinner we went to the Green Dolphin which is a restaurant known for having live jazz performers every day for the past, like, 6 years. The band was fantastic, I was pretty tired but it was such a pleasant evening. I definitely want to go back to hear what other bands they have coming through.
So then Saturday night to Sunday morning was the Durbanville Relay For Life and I got to go!! I had been speaking to the woman I had met from CAN/SA and she found out that a committee member, Mikhail, lives in Rondebosch and would be able to give me a ride. He picked me up from my house Saturday afternoon and we even had to stop at Woolworths to pick up some donated food, it felt so familiar but so different at the same time. We finally got there and it reminded me so much of our town Relay from when I was in high school, a very typical community relay with lots of people already putting up their tents. I offered to help so they put me to work registering the survivors and selling luminaria. Once we finished with those, we used the tent I was in to set up Cancer Education stuff with tons of pamphlets, posters, stickers, and boobs haha. I hung around there for a while but not many people came by and I eventually left it for people to browse at their leisure. We had given the DJ educational facts to read but he never did, too bad. I somewhat missed the luminary ceremony because it wasn’t quite as intense as the ones we have at home. They turned the lights off around the track so it was almost entirely lit by the luminaria which was really nice. I found the luminaria that I’d bought which made me smile every time I walked past it.
Now that I left the tent to walk around, I saw one of the girls, a volunteer, who I had been introduced to when I first arrived. She was really friendly and introduced me to her team of friends and I hung out with them the majority of the night, occasionally running into Mikhail too who was having a lot of fun with his team adding crazy accessories to their themed outfits. I’m not quite sure what the theme was but I could tell when he was walking toward us because he was wearing a bunch of streamers. The night actually got pretty chilly; I’d brought a jacket and was still having to walk briskly around the track to try and keep warm. It got coldest just before the dawn but the sunrise was beautiful because it came over the mountains in the distance. The closing ceremony was shortly before 7am and as the committee stood at the front to give us the totals, they motioned for me to join them. That made me smile albeit feel a bit embarrassed, I hadn’t done that much but I’m so glad I went. So, statistics? They had about 50 teams with close to 350 participants, sold over a thousand luminaria, and raised over R51,000. Did I mention this was their first Relay? So quite a successful evening, it made me really happy that I was able to be a part of it. And the people I met there were really great, hopefully I’ll be able to meet up with them while I’m still nearby. On the way back to Cape Town, we stopped at a shelter to donate the food Mikhail’s team hadn’t sold/eaten. I slept for a few hours once I got back (after I heard about the – hopefully – last of the drama in my house) and it was back to the grind.
Now though, I’m finally done with all my papers and extremely ready for break! Beyond my work and trying to get involved with other stuff like Relay, I’ve been working on planning break with Mel and Rachael. It was pretty tricky planning it, especially since traveling in Africa is a tricky business already but we also had to find time to get together to plan around our busy schedules. There were many changing plans and times of great stress (for me personally at least, since I’m an obsessive planner) but we finalized everything eventually, even while we were super busy and now we leave tomorrow already!! It’s going to be a packed 10 days but I’m so excited! Let’s see if I can give a general overview:
Friday (tomorrow): We leave Cape Town on the Baz Bus for Mossel Bay, arriving in the afternoon. The Baz Bus is a great busing service that runs along the Garden Route and all the way up through Durban and then to Jo-burg either through South Africa or up through Swaziland. We got a 7 day hop-on, hop-off pass even though we’re only using it for 5 days because it’s cheaper that way (go figure).
Saturday: In Mossel Bay until early afternoon and then we leave for Knysna via the Baz Bus and arrive in the late afternoon.
Sunday: Knysna until late afternoon til we hop the Baz Bus for Port Elizabeth where we’re really just crashing in a hostel for the night.
Monday: We leave PE on the Baz Bus early in the morning and get to Coffee Bay in the afternoon-ish where we’ll spend the night.
Tuesday: Time in Coffee Bay until we have to catch the Baz Bus for our last leg to Durban.
Wednesday: All day in Durban. Hopefully we’ll meet up with people, get to step into the Indian Ocean, and who knows what else. That night though, we’re going to the Durban Hebrew Congregation for a communal Seder which I’m really happy about. It’ll be interesting what I do in terms of Pesach for the last half of our trip but at least we’ll have a Seder and a good meal that night.
Thursday: Our flight leaves from Durban super early but we get into Livingstone, Zambia (after a short lay-over in Jo-burg).
Friday and Saturday: All day in Livingstone.
Sunday: Afternoon flight back to Cape Town (via Jo-burg once again).
Whew. So it’s a lot of places we’re hitting up with a good deal of busing and flying, but we’re going to pretty much ever places I’ve been wanting to go to and I can’t wait. Especially because once we get up to Zambia, we’re staying only a few minutes drive from Victoria Falls and the border to Zimbabwe. I heard about these elephant-back safaris that go along the Zambezi River and I reeeeeeeally want to do that and there’s so many other things to do.
Anyway, it’s time I got busy finishing packing and got to bed, we’re leaving from my house at 6:30 to leave us plenty of time to get down to Long Street to catch the bus. I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend, week, and weekend again. I miss you all more than you can possibly imagine and I can’t wait to come back with stories from this break. It’s about time I got to do some cool traveling like most study abroad students. Well, I’m out. Be back in 10!
Love love love,
Sarah
PS I can't leave a post without including...CONGRATS BETA XI!! Love me some new bros =)
Right. Mel’s birthday. Well before we went out, I had African Choir. I got there and everyone said the director was sick and the assistant director was coming. I had a lot of work to do and knew I’d be out that night so I said I was going to leave if he didn’t get there after 15 minutes. I was about to get up to go when he arrived, but I’m so glad that I didn’t leave. It was the best rehearsal I’d been to and I almost didn’t want to leave by the end. We finished learning a few songs that we’d been struggling with for weeks just in those 2 hours. It felt great and put me in a much better mood. So then I ran back home, changed, and left for Obs where we went to the first place we’d gone for karaoke a while back, Babbo’s. Even though it was the middle of the week, it was a nice sized and relaxed group of great people, it was a good time. And of course, we had to do some karaoke so Mel and I sang "Hot n Cold" (tribute to berg right there) and then I sang "One Step at a Time" with Blandina (another tribute to berg haha).
The rest of the week and part of the weekend I spent attempting to work on a 5000 word research paper I had due on Tuesday for Sex, Soaps, and Social Change. 5000 words is pretty freaking long and I was having such trouble getting into it, especially because it was a research paper. Luckily, I was able to take a break on Sunday because CIEE sponsored a trip to go white water rafting! So after 2 hours on the bus, we arrived and the guides asked us, so who signed up for white water rafting? W all looked around confused until she told us that it's rafting, with a couple little blips along the river. But we were going 12 kilometers down the river and there were a couple times where we went through a little rocky area that had some faster flowing water but for the most part it was pretty relaxing although my arms were pretty tired by the end. We were in 2 person rafts, the person in the back was in charge of steering and paddling and the person in the front mainly paddles. I was in a raft with Kate and being on a raft together for 3 hours definitely gave us a lot of time to talk and get to know each other even better! There were a few times when we had to slow down until the entire group could get together and we even got out of the rafts to go swimming a few times. We did a lot of waiting mainly because, since I was kicking ass at steering, we were near the front of the group the whole time. We even were the first boat in! Go us! So it was a great day, I’m so glad I went.
After Sunday though, my life truly became about writing papers. My 5000 word paper came out to less than 4000 words even with the citations and bibliography. I was so scared that it would make a significant difference in my grade so I kept hoping that my presentation to go along with it went well enough to compensate. But since there wasn’t anything I could do about it, I let my housemates convince me to go out to a Greek restaurant in Little Mowbray that night, the first time I’d left my house for more than to go to classes. It was nice to finally get out of my room after all that work and I’ve missed hanging out with them. And before I go on, I would like to mention that I got my grade back for it this past Tuesday. I got a 76. In South African terms, that’s a really good grade. It’s like getting an A at home. So that was a relief and put me in an awesome mood! Then I had a paper due Friday and a paper due today, both shorter than that first one but just as tricky and counting for a lot more of my total grade. So I had to return to my room for more work but I did get a break this weekend.
Friday night I ended up going down to the Waterfront with the intent to see Slumdog Millionaire. The thing is, it only just came out here 2 weeks ago and it was sold out. So instead we took a while to relax and enjoy dinner. The Waterfront has some nice restaurants even if they’re a little pricey and I haven’t been down there for a while so it was nice. The group of people I was with weren’t people I typically go out with so it was really nice getting to know all of them better. Then after dinner we went to the Green Dolphin which is a restaurant known for having live jazz performers every day for the past, like, 6 years. The band was fantastic, I was pretty tired but it was such a pleasant evening. I definitely want to go back to hear what other bands they have coming through.
So then Saturday night to Sunday morning was the Durbanville Relay For Life and I got to go!! I had been speaking to the woman I had met from CAN/SA and she found out that a committee member, Mikhail, lives in Rondebosch and would be able to give me a ride. He picked me up from my house Saturday afternoon and we even had to stop at Woolworths to pick up some donated food, it felt so familiar but so different at the same time. We finally got there and it reminded me so much of our town Relay from when I was in high school, a very typical community relay with lots of people already putting up their tents. I offered to help so they put me to work registering the survivors and selling luminaria. Once we finished with those, we used the tent I was in to set up Cancer Education stuff with tons of pamphlets, posters, stickers, and boobs haha. I hung around there for a while but not many people came by and I eventually left it for people to browse at their leisure. We had given the DJ educational facts to read but he never did, too bad. I somewhat missed the luminary ceremony because it wasn’t quite as intense as the ones we have at home. They turned the lights off around the track so it was almost entirely lit by the luminaria which was really nice. I found the luminaria that I’d bought which made me smile every time I walked past it.
Now that I left the tent to walk around, I saw one of the girls, a volunteer, who I had been introduced to when I first arrived. She was really friendly and introduced me to her team of friends and I hung out with them the majority of the night, occasionally running into Mikhail too who was having a lot of fun with his team adding crazy accessories to their themed outfits. I’m not quite sure what the theme was but I could tell when he was walking toward us because he was wearing a bunch of streamers. The night actually got pretty chilly; I’d brought a jacket and was still having to walk briskly around the track to try and keep warm. It got coldest just before the dawn but the sunrise was beautiful because it came over the mountains in the distance. The closing ceremony was shortly before 7am and as the committee stood at the front to give us the totals, they motioned for me to join them. That made me smile albeit feel a bit embarrassed, I hadn’t done that much but I’m so glad I went. So, statistics? They had about 50 teams with close to 350 participants, sold over a thousand luminaria, and raised over R51,000. Did I mention this was their first Relay? So quite a successful evening, it made me really happy that I was able to be a part of it. And the people I met there were really great, hopefully I’ll be able to meet up with them while I’m still nearby. On the way back to Cape Town, we stopped at a shelter to donate the food Mikhail’s team hadn’t sold/eaten. I slept for a few hours once I got back (after I heard about the – hopefully – last of the drama in my house) and it was back to the grind.
Now though, I’m finally done with all my papers and extremely ready for break! Beyond my work and trying to get involved with other stuff like Relay, I’ve been working on planning break with Mel and Rachael. It was pretty tricky planning it, especially since traveling in Africa is a tricky business already but we also had to find time to get together to plan around our busy schedules. There were many changing plans and times of great stress (for me personally at least, since I’m an obsessive planner) but we finalized everything eventually, even while we were super busy and now we leave tomorrow already!! It’s going to be a packed 10 days but I’m so excited! Let’s see if I can give a general overview:
Friday (tomorrow): We leave Cape Town on the Baz Bus for Mossel Bay, arriving in the afternoon. The Baz Bus is a great busing service that runs along the Garden Route and all the way up through Durban and then to Jo-burg either through South Africa or up through Swaziland. We got a 7 day hop-on, hop-off pass even though we’re only using it for 5 days because it’s cheaper that way (go figure).
Saturday: In Mossel Bay until early afternoon and then we leave for Knysna via the Baz Bus and arrive in the late afternoon.
Sunday: Knysna until late afternoon til we hop the Baz Bus for Port Elizabeth where we’re really just crashing in a hostel for the night.
Monday: We leave PE on the Baz Bus early in the morning and get to Coffee Bay in the afternoon-ish where we’ll spend the night.
Tuesday: Time in Coffee Bay until we have to catch the Baz Bus for our last leg to Durban.
Wednesday: All day in Durban. Hopefully we’ll meet up with people, get to step into the Indian Ocean, and who knows what else. That night though, we’re going to the Durban Hebrew Congregation for a communal Seder which I’m really happy about. It’ll be interesting what I do in terms of Pesach for the last half of our trip but at least we’ll have a Seder and a good meal that night.
Thursday: Our flight leaves from Durban super early but we get into Livingstone, Zambia (after a short lay-over in Jo-burg).
Friday and Saturday: All day in Livingstone.
Sunday: Afternoon flight back to Cape Town (via Jo-burg once again).
Whew. So it’s a lot of places we’re hitting up with a good deal of busing and flying, but we’re going to pretty much ever places I’ve been wanting to go to and I can’t wait. Especially because once we get up to Zambia, we’re staying only a few minutes drive from Victoria Falls and the border to Zimbabwe. I heard about these elephant-back safaris that go along the Zambezi River and I reeeeeeeally want to do that and there’s so many other things to do.
Anyway, it’s time I got busy finishing packing and got to bed, we’re leaving from my house at 6:30 to leave us plenty of time to get down to Long Street to catch the bus. I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend, week, and weekend again. I miss you all more than you can possibly imagine and I can’t wait to come back with stories from this break. It’s about time I got to do some cool traveling like most study abroad students. Well, I’m out. Be back in 10!
Love love love,
Sarah
PS I can't leave a post without including...CONGRATS BETA XI!! Love me some new bros =)
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