Monday was a National Holiday, Heritage Day. And that means three day weekend.
It all started off Thursday night. I had been slaving over an economics essay (to find a solution for the European Economic Crisis) for weeks, and I finally turned it in Thursday morning. Celebration necessary. We had in the books that we would have a house dinner that night, so about 2/3 of the 13 Malleson residents went to Gypsy, a small hipster restaurant in Obz. The fabulous dinner (with unfortunately small portions) was followed by aimless walking through the neighborhood, where we found zero nightlife and came home.
Friday. Ah yes, the official weekend. I didn't have any set plans, but I knew I wanted to go out. A few people in my program got a table at Club 31, a downtown hotspot. My first night out in town in nearly a month. I will further discuss why this night was definitely unforgettable. For some reason whenever CIEE kids and myself go out together, I'm always the one that diverges from the group and ends up meeting locals. So I was at the bar talking with my new (female) friend, Barri. She introduced me to a couple of her friends, seemed like a very interesting gal. Little later on I hit the dance floor with one of her friends, seems harmless, then he asks me "do you want to have the sex?" What. The. Hell. Never have I been more caught off guard. He repeated himself, I screamed no, and literally ran away. I couldn't see any CIEE people nearby, mostly because I wasn't looking that hard, I just wanted to get out of there. So I took the elevator down, ran into the bouncer who grabbed me a cab, and went home. At about 2:30AM I received a phone call from the bouncer making sure I got home ok. I did, but unfortunately without my keys.
Saturday. I asked one of my friends who I was on spring break with if she'd be interested in going to Stellenbosch, wine capital SA and college town, over the weekend. We made plans to stay in a hostel and go on a wine tour. So seven of us hopped on the train Saturday afternoon and made the hour trek west to Stellenbosch. I loved it. It is the most darling town I've been to in South Africa. Great dining, cute little boutiques, friendly people, fabulous wine, and of course a really fun night life. We definitely enjoyed ourselves bar hopping through the little college town.
The greatest thing about it - I felt safe the whole time. It's hard to really explain it, but I almost got used to always keeping one eye open for my safety in Cape Town. And it's exhausting! I didn't really realize how exhausting and annoying it is until I got to Stellenbosch and felt comfortable everywhere I went and didn't have to take cabs everywhere. The culture in Stellenbosch is Afrikaans, which means another language, and a lot of white people. Honestly, I felt a lot less vulnerable surrounded by hundreds of other white college kids. Sad but true.
Sunday. Not having any concrete plans for wine tasting, we somehow got ourselves a private driver who took us to the various vineyards we wanted to go to. Each tasting cost about $4, so there were no hesitations to hit up as many as we had time for. My first wine tasting experience was not only extremely affordable, but extremely enjoyable.
Monday. Our house was able to get funds through the program for a paid trip to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for 18 years. After the sea-sickening boat ride to get to the Island, we got on a bus for a driving tour of the island followed by an hour walking tour through the cells and various prison wings. It was ridiculous. Actually not ridiculous. There is no word to describe it.
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| Nelson Mandela's cell |
Depressing maybe. The size of Mandelas cell was smaller than that of a guard dogs. What does that tell you. South Africa has gone a long way from when Mandela was at Robben Island, but there are still so many kinks in the system people neglect to address.
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| View of Cape Town from Robben Island |
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