This past weekend was very eventful, lots of fun to be had
by everyone. On Saturday I wake up before 9 (ugh) to go on a wine tasting trip
in Franschoek, a gorgeous wine valley a bit further out of Cape Town than
Stellenbosch. I eat breakfast alone and think it odd because my roommate is
also supposed to be going on this trip. I finish my bowl of museli and go knock
on her door… nothing. Hm. I grab my phone and call her… nothing. I wonder if
she came in last night? I go to knock on her door again and decide to open it
before I panic. I open it and call her name. I look over and she’s laying in
bed looking up at me with a dreamy look at her face. This freaks me out and I’m
like, “Woah! Sorry, just couldn’t figure out where you were since you wouldn’t
answer the phone or your door. You going to Franschoek still?” She nods and is
like, “Dude, thanks for getting me up! Yes, let’s go.” We get ready and as
we’re walking out the door, she gets the hiccups and starts freaking out. She
is hilarious! And obviously still inebriated form the night before.
We get on the bus and drive out of town. Its rainy out, the
first real rainy day we’ve had since I’ve been here. It doesn’t disappoint me
though, it creates a relaxing vibe for the wine tastings and the greens of the
valley are very intense against the dreary sky. The first vineyard is great,
but the second is my favorite. Its called Grande Provence (http://www.grandeprovence.co.za/)
and its over 300 years old. The wine is delicious, there is a beautiful garden,
an art gallery, and a fancy restaurant. I could stay there exploring the
gardens and wine fields all day, but we go on to the next winery for lunch. I
split a bottle of Rickety Bridge Semillion (www.ricketybridgewinery.com) with
my roommate who is taking the day like a champ, and another girl. For lunch I
have a gigantic plate of fish. Probably should’ve gone for something more like
a giant plate of bread. By time we get back on the shuttle to Cape Town, I am
ready for a nap.
After waking up from my lovely nap, Cailey and I make curry
for dinner. Well Cailey makes it while I sit on the couch, she’s been wanting
to try out a green curry recipe. Its delicious and this seems like a great
night to spend sitting on the couch. Except its Hunter’s last Saturday in Cape
Town, so of course we have to go out. Much to my chagrin, I get off the couch
and drag myself out. A new girl has joined us from Egypt and she doesn’t drink
so I figure she’ll want to go in early like me. I find her and tell her to let
me know when she wants to split and we can make that happen. Well what actually
ends up happening is we finally find a cool place on Long Street called Joburg.
It looks totally lame from the outside, and the first floor isn’t that special.
But, somehow, we all get VIP stamps and are allowed up to this sweet room
upstairs where a several hours long dance party ensues. Before I know it,
Hunter and I are eating Indian and Chinese food at Food Inn at 3:45 in the
morning and our other friends are trying to find another place to go out... Am
I still in college? Oh well, that chicken fried rice from Food Inn lasted me 3
more meals and was delicious. And I had a great time.
The other highlight of this week has been the opening of
Parliament and the State of the Nation Address (SONA), which I am currently
watching. We got fliers under our doors, full page front and back, listing all
the road closures that would be going on the days leading up to SONA and day
of. So I googled what exactly this would entail and Parliaments website said
there would be a flyover, horses, and cannons going off. I live right up the
street and can see it perfectly from my building so naturally, this was all
thrilling news. I went up to the roof a few times and saw them practicing. Its
been quite an affair – I saw a troupe of bag pipers (in Africa??) and a lot of
soldiers. The South African Air Force flyover practice happened – it was four
propeller planes. Then today leading up to the speech, they shut down all the road
around us. There was a red carpet rolled out at Parliament, I got to see the
mounted police or soldiers or whoever they are doing their march down Plein
street, and they fired off a bunch of huge cannons. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t let us on the
roof to watch today (security measure?) so I had to hang out the window to do
it. Oh and can I say how annoyed I was that through this whole thing, there was
no schedule of events to be found anywhere, or listing for its showing on tv?
Yea, so I’ve just had to hang out and watch to see what happens.
The actual address is on tv now (someone had to call and
inform me of this as I couldn’t find a schedule anywhere). The president, Jacob
Zuma, is (in my humble opinion) a very mediocre speaker; lots of awkward pauses
and coughing, weird diction. I haven’t heard many positive things about him
since I’ve been here. I also found out today he has 5 (!) wives and 22
children, none of whom have over an 8th grade education (I haven’t
verified this fact). But now he’s going on about education, seems like that
could start at home? The president just said something about getting a Facebook
message from someone about land redistribution… what is going on?
Anyway, in other news, I got sick yesterday. I woke up with
a scratchy throat so I panicked at work and went to Clicks (Walgreens
equivalent) and bought the closest thing to EmergenC I could find. It must’ve been too little too late because I
woke up this morning with a full-out cold. I went into work for two hours
because there were some things I really needed to get done at the office today
and then I went home and slept for 4.5 hours. Bummer. Kyle texted me a happy
face for Valentines Day and I finished a jar of Nutella that was sitting in my
cabinet stopping every now and then to blow my nose. Happy Valentines Day to
me. Unfortunately, I couldn’t even escape it in South Africa as there were
heart shaped chocolate boxes and pink love stuff in the stores all this week.
Looks like its bed for me again very soon and hopefully I’ll
get this virus thing under control so I don’t waste a precious weekend. We’re
going on a trip to Cape Point this weekend, including a stop at the PENGUIN
BEACH. Can’t wait!
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