Lameness
Just as I was about to sit down and enjoy my lovely grilled cheese sandwich I made for dinner, I was notified that my debit card was compromised. No debit card = no money.
Cool.
I’m going to pretend it was some crazy government conspiracy or an evil ninja that did it. I don’t want to think that any of the lovely people of South Africa would ever do something as awful as try to steal from a poor little international student like me… ha, who am I kidding? I know way too many people who have been robbed here, so I guess this isn’t too bad.
Now I just need to wait for them to send me a new card which is supposed to take a few days. It better get here before Thursday (WHEN SARAH GETS HERE) or I’ll be pissed (I almost wrote “pizzed,” weird).
Thanks Africa!
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SARAH COMES IN ONE WEEK! SARAH COMES IN ONE WEEK! SARAH COMES IN ONE WEEK!
(Here is a picture of an excited kitten in celebration.)
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A Table for a Mountain
Finally.
After being the only loser living in Cape Town who hadn’t climbed Table Mountain, I have done it! It’s actually quite sad that I haven’t climbed Table Mountain till now. Considering it’s supposed to be the first thing you do when in Cape Town (and that I used it as the picture for the top of this blog), I really needed to get my act together and hike dat Table Mountain.
(Not my picture, but still pretty amazing —> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_Mountain)
Arielle, Jess, Jeremy, Michelle, and I may have huffed and puffed our way up but once we got to the top, it was spectacular. Really, it IS flat. Who would have thunk?? At the top you can explore and enjoy the most beautiful views of all the beaches and mountains surrounding you. I was loving nature and it was loving me.
I think I might have to do it again.
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Epic African Road Trip Part 3
Well la-tee-da friends.
I’m living the hard life.
In the last two weeks, I’ve been forced to go out and celebrate two 21st birthdays and have been eating delicious food everyday. Life is hard.
Though interestingly enough, I think I’m suffering from some sort of post-spring break disorder. You know, where you have such an amazing time for one week: no restraints, no stress, no school. Just pure fun. And then you go back to restraints, stress, and school and everything just feels way lamer than the awesome spring break you just had. Yeah, that.
So I might as well reminisce, right?
Day 6:
After waking up to the sound of roosters, the group set off early for our 6 hour pony trek through the mountains of Lesotho. For 6 hours, we unsteadily perched upon our ponies and made our way through corn fields and streams, up mountains and rocks to gaze at old rock paintings and swim in a beautiful waterfall.
(Jess on pony.)
This day was unbelievable. And let me just tell you, even though my butt was super sore after 6 hours of pony trekking, it was most definitely worth it.
When we got back to the lodge we decided to make dinner for the evening. One word: Chakalaka. Oh yeeeaaaaaah. Chakalaka is chakalicious… sorta. It’s this spicy canned vegetable crap that I seem to eat a lot of here (thanks to Adam’s discovery of it), but when we made it on this night we added some other fresh vegetables making it much more satisfying. Put some rice into the mix and you’ve got yourself a great meal… sorta.
(Oh yeaaaah, gimme dat Chakalaka.)
After getting caught on the toilet when the electricity went out FOR THE SECOND TIME, we decided to hit up the local bar and hang with some people from the village. This bar was great. Imagine a one room shack with a bar area that consisted of an opening in the wall covered in bars (naturally), a single tv in the corner that played the same video of three women dancing on a loop, and a single pool table smack dab in the middle of the room. All the while, everyone is just standing around the perimeter of the room watching whoever is playing pool at the time. At one point Jeremy may have tried to pimp me out to one of the locals at the bar, at which, to his great disappointment, I said “no.”
As the evening progressed, we eventually ventured outside and star gazed. The sky in Lesotho is amazing. It is so breathtaking it’s actually indescribable. We reclined outside on the grass watching the stars for quite some time before calling it a night. And what a night it was.
Day 7:
On day 7, we hesitantly left Malealea Lodge early in the morning. After briefly giving a ride to a nice hitchhiker named Vincent (don’t worry Mom, he worked for the lodge and needed a lift) and getting stuck in border traffic for 3 hours (where we ate DELICIOUS street food delivered to our car), we made our way to Bloemfontien.
There is no reason to ever go to Bloemfontien except for… drum roll please… CHEETAH EXPERIENCE! (http://www.cheetahexperience.com/)
CHEETAH EXPERIENCE CHEETAH EXPERIENCE CHEETAH EXPERIENCE :D
We saw all kinds of wild cats and got to pet and PLAY with cheetahs, lion cubs, Bengal tigers, AND MORE. MORE MORE MORE!
(Chilling with new cheetah friend.)
The best part was that even though we got there two hours after their last tour of the day, we were so weirdly persistent that one of the women that worked there gave us our own personal tour. Awesome. Pure awesome. The only thing that wasn’t pure awesome was when I found my orange bag (yes,you all know the one I’m talking about) partially destroyed by a hungry cheetah. My orange bag. The one I bartered for in Costa Rica. My most prized possession. An extension of my body. It will no longer be the same… RIP.
(Looking crazy and trying not to cry over orange bag. RIP.)
After our wild cat adventure, we stopped by Fruit & Veg City (heaven in the form of a grocery store), grabbed some food for dinner, and made our way through yet another lightening and thunder storm to Colesburg.
Colesburg… what’s there to say about Colesburg. There are even less reasons to go to Colesburg than there are to go to Bloemfontein (at least Bloemfontein has Cheetah Experience and Fruit & Veg City). The only reason one goes to Colesburg is because it’s halfway between Johannesburg and Cape Town and people need a place to sleep after a long drive. So on our final evening, we stayed at the sketchiest backpacker we had been to so far in good old Colesburg.
(“Colesburg… what a town.” -Jess)
It was a ghost town. This backpacker was completely empty except for us. It was big and wooden and the walls made noises. To ease our overnight experience we went to the bar next door where we once again played pool and a man who passed out on the floor was dragged outside after the owner poured a pitcher of water on him. Things in Colesburg were definitely not your average, everyday experiences.
Day 8:
This was our final stretch. In only 8 hours, we drove over 700km to get back to Cape Town. We managed to get back in one piece, drop off our car, and still eat a fantastic meal in Obs.
And just like that, it was over. The most amazingly epic road trip of my life was done. When I look back on that trip I realize… we were crazy.
We were young, excited, crazy and had the time of our lives.
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Awesome New York Times article. →
“And identity […] is really about narrative. It’s a story you tell yourself about yourself, but it’s also a story others tell you about you.”
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There are rumors that she and Gayle had relations.
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Epic African Road Trip Part 2
This week has been… lame. I’m back at school and all I can seem to do is day dream about all the cool things I did and saw over break.
Rode an ostrich, check.
Ate dank food, check.
Drank on a beach, double check.
Now to part 2 of my epic African road trip.
Day 3:
Day three we went on a safari. Yes! Yes! Yes! First, I love animals. Secondly, I love wild animals. Thirdly, I LOVE AFRICAN ANIMALS. We saw elephants, zebras, warthogs, buffalo, you name it. Great. Epic. Amazing.
(Dude, where’s my herd?)
After the safari, we went grocery shopping and braai-ed at our backpacker. Despite the creepy man trying to talk to us all night, we had an excellent time. Unfortunately, this was Kristi’s last night but we celebrated her departure in style: vegan burgers and chutney chips in hand.
Day 4:
On day four we woke up at 5:30am and were on the road by 6am to drive to Lesotho. Eight hours and one random dirt road later, we were in Lesotho. Lesotho is also known as “The Mountain Kingdom” (I found this quite entertaining and may have playfully imagined little hobbit-like mountain people ruling the area, apparently, not the case). Lesotho is one of the most unique places I’ve ever been. The whole country is almost completely untouched by modernization, the skyline is filled with rolling hills and mountain ridges, and tiny huts dot the countryside. Yes. Huts. Legit huts. Shit was unreal. And sooo beautiful.
(View from our car.)
As we were reveling in the awesomeness of Lesotho, the weather Gods decided to mess with us naive Americans a little and sent a serious storm our way. The rain came down in sheets, so much so that we could barely see the road in front of us. The lightening lit up the whole sky, the thunder shook the ground, and the hail… THE HAIL. It was serious. The hail was the size of gum balls and kept coming down for a good 20 minutes. We weren’t sure if we should be excited about the epicness of everything going on around us or if we should pray for our lives. Fortunately, the storm stopped and another 2 hours of driving (yes, you guessed it… on a dirt road) we finally reached Malealea Lodge where we were going to be staying for the next few days.
(Dude, where’s my hut?)
Day 5:
I’m pretty sure there are only 2 types of professions in Lesotho: the farmer and the shepherd. I’m also pretty sure they are the nicest people ever. Everyone we met was super friendly and everyone always smiled and waved to you on the street. If the rest of the world was this nice, we would all be a lot happier.
Anyway, today was our “take it easy” day. Apparently, “take it easy” in Lesotho means “crazy ass hike” in American. Though, this hike was AMAZING. We walked through corn fields, talked to goats, climbed rocks, waded through water, and swam in ridiculously cool rock pools. Super-bro.
(The spring break crew.)
After our hike/swim/lovefest, we went back to the lodge to prepare for dinner of traditional Basotho food. We were walked from the lodge to a tiny hut in the village where we were served maize, some kind of green vegetable, and chicken. Also included in the meal was an old Basotho story-teller who taught us several life lessons about love and race, it was an interesting evening…
To be continued.
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Epic African Road Trip Part 1
Seriously. This shit I get myself into. How I managed to survive an 8 day road trip in South Africa and Lesotho is beyond me. I mean… I just drove thousands of kilometers on the left side of the road in 2 African countries. What?! I did THAT??
Apparently, I did.
Let me explain.
The car: White, automatic (none of that manual crap), comfortable, big trunk.
The crew from my car: Jess from Minnesota, Ilana from California, Kristi from Norway.
The crew from the other car: Adam from Wisconsin, Caroline from France, Jeremy from Wisconsin, Lucien from Holland.
The plan: Drive along the Garden Route to Port Elizabeth and then up to Lesotho and back. Do cool shit. Party (this is spring break after all).
I am not one who goes on spring break trips. I normally just chill at home or at Bryn Mawr, but I’m in Africa. Remember that? Cause sometimes I still don’t, ha.
Anywhoo…
Day 1:
We woke up at 5:30am and were on the road by 6am. Baller. Stopped in Mossel Bay for lunch before we went to Highgate Ostrich Show Farm. THIS WAS SO COOL. Everything I have ever wanted to do with an Ostrich, I most definitely did.
I fed an ostrich.
I pet an ostrich.
I RODE AN OSTRICH.
Yes, I rode an ostrich. It still makes me giggle just thinking about it. T’was glorious. Ostriches are the funniest creatures. They just look silly. And they’re dumb as shit. Hilarious, but dumb. AND SO MUCH FUN. Hehe.
(My stand off with some ostriches.)
After my ostrich encounter, we drove through vast mountains and valleys to a lovely little place called Wilderness. Later that evening, after a delicious dinner of stuffed mushrooms and butternut pizza with lots of garlic (and let me tell you, it was freaking tasty), I happened to be looking up at the sky and out of no where saw a shooting star! I was magical. Unexpected, beautiful, and magical. Sigh.
Day 2:
Once again we had an early wake up call and drove to Knysna where we had a lovely picnic of avocado, cheese, and bread (oh boy, how I love talking about what I eat) on a remote bridge off of some dirt road we randomly decided to drive down. We did this often. Not picnic on a bridge, but drive down random dirt roads. And you know what? It always was a good idea. Even if it wasn’t maybe the smartest…
(Ilana in front of the “Use of This Bridge at Own Risk” sign.)
From Knysna we went to Buffalo Bay and enjoyed some drinks on the beach only to be followed by Ilana’s courageous turn at bungee jumping in Tsitsikamma. The rest of us watched. I may be crazy, but I’m not made for that kind of crazy. Ilana is.
It was on this day we met up with the other car in Port Elizabeth. We went out to dinner, chilled (Adam won 500 rand at the black jack tables), and stayed in another backpacker for the night.
(Adam with some billz.)
Bored, yet? I hope not, cause the best is yet to come in part 2. Hollaaah!
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So a feminist, shark, and gossip girl walk into a bar…
Dear Friends,
Yes, I’m still alive. Sorry for the lag on updates recently, life’s been… busy? Yeah, you could say that.
School is actually a lot of work here despite what most people think about study abroad academia. Right now I am love love LOVING my religion class. Well, actually I’m mostly loving (obsessing over?) my religion professor. Her name is Sa’diyya Shaikh and she is magic. She’s intelligent, funny, beautiful, and did I mention a Muslim Feminist? She teaches Islam with such passion and understanding it’s practically poetry. I need to bring this woman back to Bryn Mawr with me cause everyone would lose their shit over her.
In other news, the one and only Sarah B. is coming to visit me in 2 months. I can’t wait. Duh. I’m reveling in the idea of playing tour guide in Cape Town. I feel like my cool level has gone up now that I have an insiders scoop to a city in AFRICA (Africa… I still can’t believe I live in AFRICA).
Also, next week is spring break in which I will be taking an epic road trip along the Garden Route in South Africa and then drive up to Lesotho for a total of 10 days. Elephants and ostriches will be involved.
Speaking of animals… I went shark cage diving this weekend. Shark cage diving. This is something I’ve wanted to do since I first arrived here, so you can imagine how excited I was. Want to know something else? Blake Lively was on our boat. You know, Serena from Gossip Girl? This chick:
So on this tiny ass boat, where we’re all about to go diving with SHARKS, up pops Blake Lively. Just chilling in South Africa. Sitting right next to us (in a big hat and bigger sunglasses, naturally), chatting with us, and shark cage diving with us. It was nuts. I mean, I don’t really watch Gossip Girl and I don’t think she’s even that great of an actress, but she seemed normal enough and I’m not going to lie, it made the whole thing even cooler than it already was. Plus, I’ve got some serious bragging rights that I will be taking full advantage of until no one cares anymore… I’m thinking this will last about 3 days.
But let’s talk sharks.
I was less than one foot away from GREAT WHITE SHARKS. The captain said that in the 2 hours we were out in the water we saw at least 9 of them. And let me tell you, they were HUGE. Cool random fact about great white sharks: females are bigger than males. Basically, the bigger ladies swimming around us were way more bad ass than their smaller male counterparts. Duh. Also, I was most definitely looking fly in my wetsuit and by fly I mean absolutely ridiculous. Overall, a very successful day.
Now I’m working on writing 2 papers due next week. I just need to get through them and then spring break.
Let’s do this.
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Did I mention I ate ostrich the other day?
Well… I did. TIA my friends, TIA.
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Unfortunately, I’ve been sick for the past week. I can’t breath through my nose, I no long speak but croak, and it feels like there’s an Oompa-loompa doing aerobics in my stomach. So what have a been doing for the last half hour to make me feel better? Homework? No. Googling images of “cute puppies”? Maybe…
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Owned.
(Also, I’m going to The Old Biscuit Mill again today! Hooray!)
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