It’s been a long time. It should probably be longer since I have an essay due on Monday worth 30% of my final grade that I have yet to start but my father knows better than anyone that if I don’t want to do something, I won’t do it.
So what has brought me to this position of putting off my work until such short notice? Three days before the essay is due and all I have to show for it is a puny excuse for an outline. My sister, Julie, came to town. My biased opinion told me that it would be a good time but I would have never been able to guess the things that we went through together. She got in on the night of Friday the 23rd. After indulging in some Reese’s and chocolate covered macadamia nuts, we went to a bar a couple blocks away to help her get acquainted with the place. It was strange being on the other side of things. Since I’ve been here, I’ve never been the one to talk, always the one to listen about what to do, where to go, and what to avoid. Saturday morning we went to Old Biscuit Mill and Julie had her first experience on the mini buses of Cape Town. I’m not sure if I’ve spoken about OBM yet but it’s a little market on the way into the city with good shops and of course, good food. Grabbed some blueberry pancakes and an omelets and we were off to the city for the afternoon with Nick. We walked around the waterfront, got a couple t-shirts for the rugby game that night, typical touristy things I guess you could say. As the afternoon began to close on us, Julie was getting tired so we came home for some afternoon naps and got ready to head to the Stormers- Cheetah rugby game. Nick and I spent at least an hour trying to describe what kind of team the Stormers are for South Africa so I’m going to do my best to try and describe it again. The Stormers are to the Western Cape, what the Flyers are to Philadelphia. They are a professional team. They’re not the national team though. South Africa’s national team is in New Zealand playing the World Cup right now. I hope that makes sense. The game was great. I had no idea what was going on and the Stormers lost but it was awesome. The Cheetahs are from the Free State where there are a lot of Afrikaners and if you remember from my spring break experience the Afrikaners basically ARE rugby. Sunday we took the train down to Simon’s Town where the penguins are. The train cost us probably about two dollars total to ride it for about an hour both ways. I love South African transportation. As we’re walking to find the penguins we do what two Skrzat girls know how to do best; get ice cream. Having no idea where the beach is though, we then ask the lady behind the counter how far Boulder’s Beach is and she tells us it’s too far to walk. Ugh, whatever lady. So we’re walking through the town and of course, after about 15 minutes of walking we get to the beach. That lady was a liar. Saw some penguins, ate fish and chips, and headed back home to Mowbray. Don’t think it’s that simple though. There’s never a dull moment in Africa. The train transportation is a bit crowded to say the least. Thankfully Julie and I got seats but we’re American. Our personal space bubble is a lot bigger than the South Africans. Julie was sitting on what would normally be a two person seat in the States with two other people. She was squished up against the window. I was sitting with one lady to my right. As Julie asks the guy to move over a bit because he was in her space he starts going off about how he’s “A HUMAN BEING! IT’S THE GOVERNMENT’S FAULT THE TRANSPORTATION IS SO BAD!” He was a colored man and what I caught of the nonstop complaining was how he’s mistreated because of the color of his skin. The lady next to me who didn’t even know him started going off on him in Afrikaans and the whole train is looking at me and Julie. Great. By the end of the train ride though the guy is taking food from the lady and handing it out to the kids around us. I felt like a thousand pigeons were over my head there were so many of them. Julie and I jump off the train and as it passes we see the third class cars with the doors open and people hanging outside the train. Whatever, Africa.
This entry will continue when I have time to write again this week...
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