Comings and Goings

On Monday we leave for ten days in the Eastern Cape, which kind of marks the third phase of our semester, if you count our three-week interim and then a term at Cornerstone as our first and second. It’s strange to be this far already, and as much as I’m glad to finally be done with papers and exams, I wish we’d have had more time to spend with Cornerstone friends in and around Cape Town. From here on out we aren’t going to have much of a regular schedule anymore and we’ll be doing a good amount of traveling. So here are a few highlights from life and leisure in and around the Cape Flats.

Taxi-riding. This isn’t a single outing like the rest of them, but it’s definitely one of the most interesting things I’ve done here. First off, to differentiate between the two: cabs are for tourists and the generally well-to-do, where you ride privately and pay per kilometer. Taxis are white vans with three or four rows of backseats, cost 80 American cents a ride, are usually packed full of people, and are always more entertaining, to say the least. I took my sixteenth taxi ride this afternoon. Some of our most memorable experiences include:
--that time we met a previous Cornerstone lecturer who recognized us not only as Americans, but as Bethel students
--sitting next to two Xhosa women who were absolutely fascinated with our accents, our clothes, and the fact that we as Americans would choose to ride in a taxi
--sitting next to a coloured man who was equal parts delighted and surprised to find himself sitting next to Americans and graciously helped us make our way through the labyrinthine Wynberg depot from one taxi to the next
--trying to cram twelve bags of groceries (along with three people) into a taxi that was already full
--the time the door fell off as we got out

Winetasting. The drinking age here is 18, and the hills and mountains just east of Cape Town are renowned wine country, so Joelle took Mourette and me wine tasting with some friends of hers in the beginning of February. I really don’t know much about wine at all, but it was still a really neat experience. The vineyard was absolutely beautiful and we tasted six types of wine along with at least a dozen cheeses for under $2. I’m almost ashamed to say that I was a little woozy after the tasting, but it was worth it. We finished off with coffee and scones in a beautiful grassy arbor afterwards, which was the perfect ending to the experience.

Valentine’s Day Dance. This is an annual event at Cornerstone, and I’m guessing that probably one of its strongest annual traditions is for the American students to arrive overdressed. We organized a shopping trip to the mall in advance and did a hurried version of the whole high school formal dress-hair-and-makeup-together prep routine only to arrive and find that not only were we just a tad dressier than we needed to be, but that the dance’s red-and-black theme was intended for apparel as well as venue decoration. It was really fun though; at that point we didn’t know many of the Cornerstone kids that well and it was a good chance to bond. Afterwards some of us went back to a host family’s house, ordered midnight pizza from St. Elmo’s (much better than Scooter’s or Debonair’s, if you were wondering), and watched South Africa Broadcasting’s version of the Winter Olympics’ opening ceremonies: one hour of only the highlights. As it should be.

Lion’s Head. This is one of my favorite experiences so far. Lion’s Head is a mountain (only about 2/3 the height of Table Mountain) that stands above the City Bowl, and I climbed it with a handful of other Americans and Cornerstone friends the Monday after we got back from Jo’Burg. Seeing as the climb started practically 75% of the way up the mountain, the hike to the top was pretty easy—just a few places where you use chains to get up the rock face when it’s too steep for a trail. We timed our climb for sunset at the full moon, and it was absolutely breathtaking (another random first: I’ve never actually see the sun set over the ocean before). I’ve seen pictures of the nigh lights of Cape Town, but it’s another thing entirely to see it in person. To add to the perfection: my aunt and uncle sent me off to South Africa with a giant bag of M&M’s, and through unprecedented levels of self-control, I managed to save them for two months. They were the perfect accompaniment to a South African moonrise.
I have to say, though, that one of the most memorable parts of the experience was the hike down, which wouldn’t have been bad if it hadn’t been night, a sudden gale hadn’t come up out of nowhere, and if my flashlight wasn’t dying. A visual memory I will probably take to the grave: trying to climb down a rickety metal ladder in the dark, with a massive wind promising to pluck me off and toss me over the barbed wire and down the mountain face. I’m sure it wasn’t really that dramatic, but at the time it definitely seemed a big deal.

Rugby. We’ve heard from the beginning that American football is for wimps, so we decided to see just how intense rugby really is by going to a game in Newlands. Our Stormers completely pummeled New Zealand’s Highlanders, in terms of the score but also physically. (At one point, I think the player-medic ratio on the field was 3:1.) I liked it despite myself, with that little guilty part of me that probably would have secretly enjoyed bear baitings in Elizabethan England. And it’s true: I’m forever ruined for watching American football. It’s not nearly as engaging.

Kirstenbosch. March 21 is Human Rights Day, so last Monday we had a public holiday and our friend Ben took us to Kirstenbosch: this beautiful sprawling botanical garden on the bottom slopes of Table Mountain. It was absolutely breathtaking, and I can only imagine how it must look in earlier summer, when all the flowers are in bloom. I could probably spend a week exploring Kirstenbosch and still feel I hadn’t seen my fill. There’s just so much of it, and it’s all worth looking at, from the sculpture garden to the forests to the fynbos and the trails leading up into the mountain. Ben was full of personal anecdotes, too, of childhood adventures in the garden. It makes me wish I had grown up there.

Braais. So far, I’ve been to seven or eight braais here, as they’re generally the standard hang-out or social gathering. It’s basically a barbecue with at least three different kinds of meat, plus pap (a maize meal with the texture/consistency of mashed potatoes) and then whatever salads or chips you might want to add. I’m not wild about eating all that meat, but I think braaing is one of the things I’ll miss most about South Africa.

Camping. To celebrate finally being on holiday, seven of us Americans and six Cornerstone friends went camping in Betty’s Bay this week (south and east of Cape Town, down below False Bay). It was so much fun. We went cliff jumping at these beautiful freshwater pools up in the mountains, had a morning on the beach by the campsite, and spent a rainy day curled up in a café overlooking the ocean. But really what we did was sit around the campfire for three full days, just talking and eating and playing Mafia. It was a much-needed break from the school routine, and it was so wonderful to basically sit and do nothing for days on end. The people that I’m with here are really just incredible. It’s crazy to think that I didn’t know any of them until January, and it’s painful to think I’ll have to say goodbye to all of them in May. But I really am grateful for the time I’ve had—especially this camping trip.