I just wanted to pop in and point out that all of you who did NOT come visit me in Cape Town during the last 6 months missed out on the #1 travel destination IN THE WORLD...
Top 25 travel destinations 2011
read the link.
Also, please send all your positive thoughts to Ricky and my Mama right now, they could surely use it.
Love
Monday, May 23, 2011
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Lion's Head...pictures pictures!
Date: 18/05.2011
Time: 23:37 (though I started uploading pictures AGES ago...internet is KILLING me tonight)
Days abroad: 114
So, as we all know by now, South Africans LOVE their public holidays. Technically, today was not a public holiday actually, but voting day...so we all got the day off :) I went to Long Street with a bunch of friends to work on growing my pile of gifts...people, you are all hard to buy for! I did a LOT of haggling...to the point of exhaustion....but, in the end, I think I got some pretty good deals. I'm hopeful that I can finish up all my gift buying in one more trip to town...but we shall see.
Anyways...today is not the point of my blog post...though we did have a fun mini-bus ride home. hahaha, always a delight.
The point is, in fact, the hike I did yesterday evening! :)
A boy in CIEE arranged a bus to take us to the base of Lion's Head:
for an evening hike. The view from the top is supposed to be really cool and it was the last full moon for us while we are here in Cape Town. So about 18 of us decided to climb and piled into the bus.
We started the hike on a nice wide, dirt trail that gently sloped up and around the base of the mountain. Pretty views of Camp's Bay and a light breeze on a sunny day, it seemed like an easy walk rather than a hike.
This is Camp's Bay from the beginning of the Lion's Head trail...you cant see the ocean because it is covered by the clouds...
The hill gradually got steeper and rockier and by the time we had made almost a complete circle around Lion's Head it was more of a hike than a walk...
Signal hill is the grassy hill on the right...this is the view of part of Cape Town from the opposite side of the mountain from Camp's Bay...once again, the ocean is covered by clouds.
Because we got a bit of a late start (we were supposed to leave at 4 but we had to make a detour to pick up some stragglers at the 7-11 on Main Road in Mowbray so we didnt actually head towards the mountain until 5) the sun started to set as we were still hiking...
This is the lovely Serena...
Well, after we'd been walking/hiking for maybe 30 or 40 minutes, we got to the part of the trail where walking and hiking ceased and CLIMBING began...
(If you click on the picture it will get bigger and you can see people scattered up the side of that rock face...awesome)
We came across a sign:
sounds like fun...
Well, we had gotten to the part where you go pretty much straight up a rock face using chains and handles that somebody had been kind enough to bolt into the rocks.
This is the lovely Serena again...coming up the "use at your own risk" route with the shadow of Lion's Head over the city and the base of Devil's Peak in the background.
Well, we were a little late and the sun was setting quickly so we paused about 5 minutes from the top for a water break and a picture:
Once we got to the top, the views were incredible. We watched the sun finish setting and the moon rise and all the city lights come on. It was amazing.
This is Mercy looking at the city. Signal Hill is off to the left of this picture. The full moon came up over Devil's Peak on the right (I was messing with the settings on my [mother's] camera so it looks like daylight...it was actually quite dark). Jameson Hall (and the rest of UCT) is on the opposite side of Devil's Peak from here.
This is Ashleigh...Signal Hill is off the right side of this picture. The clouds are covering up the ocean.
(This picture looks a tiny bit like the world is ending...with the clouds coming in and everything...)
And the view Ashleigh was looking at as it got later and I changed some of my camera settings. Beautiful, no?
So, basically, an INCREDIBLE hike...and everyone should come to Cape Town and do it. ASAP. Because nobody is getting any younger, folks.
Wanna hear the best part?
We got to go back down the mountain IN THE DARK!
Scary. But fun fun fun!
Now I can check two things off my bucket list: 1. rock climbing in Africa and 2. rock climbing in Africa in the dark.
haha, just kidding, neither of those things is actually on my bucket list. They should've been though. Because they were a blast.
That's all for now everyone, I mostly wanted to get the pictures up...I hope you enjoy them :)
I miss everyone!
Love
Time: 23:37 (though I started uploading pictures AGES ago...internet is KILLING me tonight)
Days abroad: 114
So, as we all know by now, South Africans LOVE their public holidays. Technically, today was not a public holiday actually, but voting day...so we all got the day off :) I went to Long Street with a bunch of friends to work on growing my pile of gifts...people, you are all hard to buy for! I did a LOT of haggling...to the point of exhaustion....but, in the end, I think I got some pretty good deals. I'm hopeful that I can finish up all my gift buying in one more trip to town...but we shall see.
Anyways...today is not the point of my blog post...though we did have a fun mini-bus ride home. hahaha, always a delight.
The point is, in fact, the hike I did yesterday evening! :)
A boy in CIEE arranged a bus to take us to the base of Lion's Head:
for an evening hike. The view from the top is supposed to be really cool and it was the last full moon for us while we are here in Cape Town. So about 18 of us decided to climb and piled into the bus.We started the hike on a nice wide, dirt trail that gently sloped up and around the base of the mountain. Pretty views of Camp's Bay and a light breeze on a sunny day, it seemed like an easy walk rather than a hike.
This is Camp's Bay from the beginning of the Lion's Head trail...you cant see the ocean because it is covered by the clouds...The hill gradually got steeper and rockier and by the time we had made almost a complete circle around Lion's Head it was more of a hike than a walk...
Signal hill is the grassy hill on the right...this is the view of part of Cape Town from the opposite side of the mountain from Camp's Bay...once again, the ocean is covered by clouds.
Because we got a bit of a late start (we were supposed to leave at 4 but we had to make a detour to pick up some stragglers at the 7-11 on Main Road in Mowbray so we didnt actually head towards the mountain until 5) the sun started to set as we were still hiking...
This is the lovely Serena...Well, after we'd been walking/hiking for maybe 30 or 40 minutes, we got to the part of the trail where walking and hiking ceased and CLIMBING began...
(If you click on the picture it will get bigger and you can see people scattered up the side of that rock face...awesome)We came across a sign:
sounds like fun...Well, we had gotten to the part where you go pretty much straight up a rock face using chains and handles that somebody had been kind enough to bolt into the rocks.
This is the lovely Serena again...coming up the "use at your own risk" route with the shadow of Lion's Head over the city and the base of Devil's Peak in the background.Well, we were a little late and the sun was setting quickly so we paused about 5 minutes from the top for a water break and a picture:
Once we got to the top, the views were incredible. We watched the sun finish setting and the moon rise and all the city lights come on. It was amazing.
This is Mercy looking at the city. Signal Hill is off to the left of this picture. The full moon came up over Devil's Peak on the right (I was messing with the settings on my [mother's] camera so it looks like daylight...it was actually quite dark). Jameson Hall (and the rest of UCT) is on the opposite side of Devil's Peak from here.
This is Ashleigh...Signal Hill is off the right side of this picture. The clouds are covering up the ocean.(This picture looks a tiny bit like the world is ending...with the clouds coming in and everything...)
And the view Ashleigh was looking at as it got later and I changed some of my camera settings. Beautiful, no?
So, basically, an INCREDIBLE hike...and everyone should come to Cape Town and do it. ASAP. Because nobody is getting any younger, folks.Wanna hear the best part?
We got to go back down the mountain IN THE DARK!
Scary. But fun fun fun!
Now I can check two things off my bucket list: 1. rock climbing in Africa and 2. rock climbing in Africa in the dark.
haha, just kidding, neither of those things is actually on my bucket list. They should've been though. Because they were a blast.
That's all for now everyone, I mostly wanted to get the pictures up...I hope you enjoy them :)
I miss everyone!
Love
Saturday, May 14, 2011
The weeks just keep flying by...
Date: 14/05/2011
Time: 22:15
Days abroad: 110
Sorry it's been a couple of weeks! I have been really busy with school lately. However, Thursday I finished the last of all of my homework ever in Cape Town. Hard to believe. In 4 weeks and about 6 hours I will be arriving at PDX. Only 1 week left of lectures here, then finals happen over 3 weeks. Which is really strange, if you ask me, but a lot of things here in South Africa are strange.
For instance, I realized this week, they dont have pie. Oh sure, they have meat pies and weird things like that...but NO DESSERT PIE. And I didnt even realize until this week.
I also was talking to Buhle the other day as he made french toast...they dont put maple syrup on their french toast. He put cheese on it. And it was just egg he made it with. No cinnamon and sugar. No nutmeg. Nothing like that. And it was for dinner. lol
Anyway, i should stop boring you all with random food facts, hahaha.
So, as i said, my weeks have been filled with paper-writing, not very interesting...last weekend I went to Long street with some friends to a place called Royale and had burgers that were DELICIOUS. Finally, a good cheeseburger...too bad I didnt find it until a month before it is time to leave :( They also had an extensive milkshake menu and I got a fresh orange milkshake--best. invention. ever. We also found a cab driver on the way home who was really cool. he was Nigerian...he's trying to save $20,000 US and move to Dallas...he's been saving for 4 YEARS and he's hoping he can go in April 2012...he was nice.
That little adventure was the most exciting thing about my weekend, the rest of it was spent working on homework.
Thursday was a VERY good day. Pricewaterhouse Coopers was on campus recruiting (there is ALWAYS something going on on campus on Thursdays...and they always have free give-aways)...anyways, it was supposed to be free stuff for people interested in accounting...minor details. Serena and i convinced a lovely lady to give us vouchers so we got a free travel mug (a nice metal one) filled with 2 shots of espresso and foamy milk (i dont know what that is called? an americano...? or...a latte? haha, i have no idea), and they had a TON of extras so we each got THREE free donuts. One cinnamon sugar twisty thingy, one chocolate frosted and one white frosted with chocolate swirlys...it was awesome. Then, to celebrate finishing all of my Africa homework ever, I went BACK to Royale with some different girls...this time for happy hour. We took the campus shuttle to the campus in town...so transport was free...on the way there, we were smashed into the jammie (the shuttle) like sardines...i was standing on the stairs praying we would not go around a sharp corner too fast and catapult me out the doors. hahahaa. Also, the Jammie nearly died...i dont know what was going on but we were going up a hill and it started doing this crazy chugging thing...hahahaha. i love getting around Cape Town. anyway, 30 rand burgers and fries...that is about $4.35 US. not bad not bad at all. Kamilah and I split a chocolate-coconut shake this time:
Also deicious...this picture looks like we're on a date. Which is awkward. We werent, haha.
On the way home Ashleigh and I walked from upper campus and I thought I would share a picture of the view from Jameson Hall at night:
There was rugby practice going on, so I apologize for the bright field lights...but it is still a pretty picture :)
Tonight (Saturday), Sara and I wanted to go get a gatsby for dinner. I dont know if you all remember, but I was introduced to the gatsby by my host-family the weekend I spent in Ocean View...it is basically a HUGE sandwich with a ton of stuff in it. including chips (french fries, that is). Well, one of our security guards, Alison, told us where there is a good Gatsby place in Mowbray. But he said they are only good on Fridays and Saturdays after 7pm...problem is, Mowbray is REALLY not safe after about 530 or 6...so, we talked the guardian angel driver (the guardian angel is the car that our security company has to drive us between CIEE houses after 6pm) into taking us to Mowbray. Luckily, Andile is one of the nicest men ever and he had no problem driving us there and picking us up :)
We got a chicken gatsby with chilli sauce...it was so delicious:
Sara with her Fanta :)
No, we didnt eat the whole thing...we each ate 2 and 1/2 8ths of the sandwich (figure that one out, lol). We gave 1/4 to Alison, for telling us where to go and keeping the bad guys away at night, and Buhle ate 1/8.
Other than Thursday and today...a very uneventful week....
Oh! Kate the Canadian that I met on my mid-semester vac trip through Botswana made a video of the trip and posted it on facebook...here it is:
I know it is kind of long but it is definitely worth watching. She started her trip in Cape Town and Sara and I didnt join until Windhoek, Namibia so the part with the Kalahari Bushmen is where we came in. However, Kate's footage around Cape Town will give you some visuals for all my previous posts :)
It really is an incredible video, I hope you all enjoy it.
I cant believe I only have 3 weeks and 6 days left in beautiful Cape Town. It is FLYING by...
I hope everyone at home is well, miss you guys!
Love
Time: 22:15
Days abroad: 110
Sorry it's been a couple of weeks! I have been really busy with school lately. However, Thursday I finished the last of all of my homework ever in Cape Town. Hard to believe. In 4 weeks and about 6 hours I will be arriving at PDX. Only 1 week left of lectures here, then finals happen over 3 weeks. Which is really strange, if you ask me, but a lot of things here in South Africa are strange.
For instance, I realized this week, they dont have pie. Oh sure, they have meat pies and weird things like that...but NO DESSERT PIE. And I didnt even realize until this week.
I also was talking to Buhle the other day as he made french toast...they dont put maple syrup on their french toast. He put cheese on it. And it was just egg he made it with. No cinnamon and sugar. No nutmeg. Nothing like that. And it was for dinner. lol
Anyway, i should stop boring you all with random food facts, hahaha.
So, as i said, my weeks have been filled with paper-writing, not very interesting...last weekend I went to Long street with some friends to a place called Royale and had burgers that were DELICIOUS. Finally, a good cheeseburger...too bad I didnt find it until a month before it is time to leave :( They also had an extensive milkshake menu and I got a fresh orange milkshake--best. invention. ever. We also found a cab driver on the way home who was really cool. he was Nigerian...he's trying to save $20,000 US and move to Dallas...he's been saving for 4 YEARS and he's hoping he can go in April 2012...he was nice.
That little adventure was the most exciting thing about my weekend, the rest of it was spent working on homework.
Thursday was a VERY good day. Pricewaterhouse Coopers was on campus recruiting (there is ALWAYS something going on on campus on Thursdays...and they always have free give-aways)...anyways, it was supposed to be free stuff for people interested in accounting...minor details. Serena and i convinced a lovely lady to give us vouchers so we got a free travel mug (a nice metal one) filled with 2 shots of espresso and foamy milk (i dont know what that is called? an americano...? or...a latte? haha, i have no idea), and they had a TON of extras so we each got THREE free donuts. One cinnamon sugar twisty thingy, one chocolate frosted and one white frosted with chocolate swirlys...it was awesome. Then, to celebrate finishing all of my Africa homework ever, I went BACK to Royale with some different girls...this time for happy hour. We took the campus shuttle to the campus in town...so transport was free...on the way there, we were smashed into the jammie (the shuttle) like sardines...i was standing on the stairs praying we would not go around a sharp corner too fast and catapult me out the doors. hahahaa. Also, the Jammie nearly died...i dont know what was going on but we were going up a hill and it started doing this crazy chugging thing...hahahaha. i love getting around Cape Town. anyway, 30 rand burgers and fries...that is about $4.35 US. not bad not bad at all. Kamilah and I split a chocolate-coconut shake this time:
Also deicious...this picture looks like we're on a date. Which is awkward. We werent, haha.On the way home Ashleigh and I walked from upper campus and I thought I would share a picture of the view from Jameson Hall at night:
There was rugby practice going on, so I apologize for the bright field lights...but it is still a pretty picture :)Tonight (Saturday), Sara and I wanted to go get a gatsby for dinner. I dont know if you all remember, but I was introduced to the gatsby by my host-family the weekend I spent in Ocean View...it is basically a HUGE sandwich with a ton of stuff in it. including chips (french fries, that is). Well, one of our security guards, Alison, told us where there is a good Gatsby place in Mowbray. But he said they are only good on Fridays and Saturdays after 7pm...problem is, Mowbray is REALLY not safe after about 530 or 6...so, we talked the guardian angel driver (the guardian angel is the car that our security company has to drive us between CIEE houses after 6pm) into taking us to Mowbray. Luckily, Andile is one of the nicest men ever and he had no problem driving us there and picking us up :)
We got a chicken gatsby with chilli sauce...it was so delicious:
Sara with her Fanta :)No, we didnt eat the whole thing...we each ate 2 and 1/2 8ths of the sandwich (figure that one out, lol). We gave 1/4 to Alison, for telling us where to go and keeping the bad guys away at night, and Buhle ate 1/8.
Other than Thursday and today...a very uneventful week....
Oh! Kate the Canadian that I met on my mid-semester vac trip through Botswana made a video of the trip and posted it on facebook...here it is:
Southern Africa 2011 from Kate Bee on Vimeo.
I know it is kind of long but it is definitely worth watching. She started her trip in Cape Town and Sara and I didnt join until Windhoek, Namibia so the part with the Kalahari Bushmen is where we came in. However, Kate's footage around Cape Town will give you some visuals for all my previous posts :)
It really is an incredible video, I hope you all enjoy it.
I cant believe I only have 3 weeks and 6 days left in beautiful Cape Town. It is FLYING by...
I hope everyone at home is well, miss you guys!
Love
Monday, May 2, 2011
So many public holidays...I love it
Date: 02/05/2011
Time: 23:25
Days abroad: 98
Thank you all so very much for the lovely Happy Birthday messages and facebooks and everything else! I promise, I am working on e-mailing everyone back, I just wanted to post a quick blog update to show you all some of my weekend...
Friday...
I woke up to this lovely sign outside my door...compliments of Ashleigh, the nicest house-mate in the world :)
Then, I decided to skip my Friday lecture (Happy Birthday to me) and go into town with some friends. A couple of us took a tour of the Shimansky Jewelers diamond cutting workshop at the V&A Waterfront....it was pretty cool to see how they made all of their fancy jewelry.
After our tour, we headed to a bridal expo where we made up a elaborate story about my friend Loren getting married so that we could get some samples. And they were not in short supply. I sampled cake, cupcakes, chicken, truffles, a chocolate fountain, drinks (both alcoholic and non), and about all the cookies I could handle...which is a lot of cookies. the expo went on all day and they were showing coverage of the royal wedding on screens all over the place (let me say, I am quite disappointed that I have to share my day with William and Kate for the rest of my life). Then, to keep up the charade, we got Loren a makeover and into a pretty dress:
I have to say, by the end of the expo, I was pretty bummed that there actually wasnt going to be a wedding...because the one we were planning was pretty spectacular.
The wedding expo happened to be in a warehouse next to the Cape Town World Cup Stadium...so I included a picture of that for you guys as well:
After our day of wedding planning, we headed back to UCT and the southern suburbs. I am very proud of our traveling abilities that day...we took a mini-bus from mowbray into the city (5 rand), walked to the waterfront, took a mini-bus from the waterfront back to the taxi rank (3 rand 50) then the UCT shuttle from the downtown campus back to upper campus in Rondebosch (free); overall 8 rand 50 to get all over the place...about $1.10
And because I had my camera, I walked home from upper campus to share a little beauty with you.
Remember the picture of Jameson Hall I posted several weeks ago? it had the little white car driving in front of all the stairs...anyway, this is the view from the same spot only facing due east instead of west:
I walk by this gorgeous view of the city all day long between my classes...not too shabby. unfortunately, my house is at the bottom of that hill...
Walking to and from campus, I pass through this cool little tunnel under the N2 freeway...this is going home so it is all downstairs...imagine the morning hike. Maybe you can begin to appreciate my rock-hard calves...
I took the next 2 pictures from the roof of a building on middle campus. The building I was standing on was constructed by the Dutch East India Company in the 1700s and it became the center axis around which the University of Cape Town was built...I'll put up a picture of that building at a later date...for now:
This is Jameson Hall with Devil's Peak in the background (The N2 runs between me and the rest of the picture)
And...
This is the northern half of UCT's upper campus. Table Mountain is on the left in the background and the building with the pillars on the right hand side is Jameson Hall (the center of upper campus) with Devil's Peak in the background. The red-ish bushes line the N2 freeway and the green bushes block the rugby fields from view. Pretty spectacular, huh? This is what I look at on my hike to school...at least I have a visual target, right?
Friday night I went to dinner with a couple of friends in Claremont at a restaurant called Greens. It sounds healthy but it was actually delicious. I had pasta with a chicken, bacon, cream sauce...basically a heart attack in a bowl. When I got home, Ashleigh and Sara had gotten me cupcakes! and balloons! and toy story napkins! They are so sweet.
Saturday, I got up and did a little homework then I went to a place called the Old Biscuit Mill with some friends. The Old Biscuit Mill is a touristy market where there are about a million food stalls. I had a delicious steak wrap and a strawberry smoothie...we wandered around some of the shops and headed home. I did homework most of the afternoon--I have a lot of papers due this upcoming week.
Sunday...was homework day. All day long. I did venture down to the Pick N Pay at about 1ish and THEY FINALLY GOT SOME CHICKEN IN STOCK!!! yay! So I bought some chicken. And some celery, cherry tomatoes, and broccoli. Then back to the homework.
Monday (today) was ANOTHER public holiday...I could definitely get used to this South African calendar...I worked on a paper in the morning then I had a tour of the Groote Schuur hospital heart transplant museum. The first ever heart transplant was performed here in Cape Town at the UCT hospital so they have a whole section of the hospital donated to the museum. including the actual operating rooms where the donor and recipient were operated on. It was an incredible museum...made me want to do some surgery. Interesting fact for this post: in Dutch, 'Groote Schuur' means 'Big barn'. The land where the hospital is was originally developed by the Dutch East India Company in 1657 and it was a huge farm with, well, big barns on it that functioned as part of the grainery. In 1893 Cecil John Rhodes bought the land, restored the big barn, and had a house constructed on it which he called 'Groote Schuur', for obvious reasons. His house is actually still standing...I'm hoping to go see it before I leave, and the land was donated to UCT. Hence, the UCT hospital's name. kind of an interesting fact for you all...
The museum, as I said, was incredible...very very informative. The original heart recipient only lived for 18 days after receiving his heart, he died of pneumonia before he got out of the intensive care unit. The second heart transplant in the world happened 3 days after the first in America. The second one at Groote Schuur was about one month after the first, and that patient live 18 months. The third transplant performed by Dr Chris Barnard at Groote Schuur was on a Colored woman who live for 13 years after the surgery. Now the surgery has become a routine procedure in hospitals around the world...this was one of my favorite places I've been in Cape Town so far...really neat...
anyways, I came home and finished my paper (bo-ring) and took a million years to upload those pictures for you guys (sorry I didnt take any of the museum, my little camera broke and I didnt want to carry the big fancy one through Mowbray after the museum at dusk...it was scary enough carrying myself through there after I parted ways with Serena at the ShopRite...so i didnt take it with me...If i have time to go back i will definitely take it).
Well, I'm off to bed. I actually have all of my classes tomorrow. For the first time in 2 weeks.
I hope everyone is well stateside!
Missing you guys!
Love
P.s. i hope you enjoy the pictures...I'm trying to be better about sharing...megabytes or no :)
Time: 23:25
Days abroad: 98
Thank you all so very much for the lovely Happy Birthday messages and facebooks and everything else! I promise, I am working on e-mailing everyone back, I just wanted to post a quick blog update to show you all some of my weekend...
Friday...
I woke up to this lovely sign outside my door...compliments of Ashleigh, the nicest house-mate in the world :)Then, I decided to skip my Friday lecture (Happy Birthday to me) and go into town with some friends. A couple of us took a tour of the Shimansky Jewelers diamond cutting workshop at the V&A Waterfront....it was pretty cool to see how they made all of their fancy jewelry.
After our tour, we headed to a bridal expo where we made up a elaborate story about my friend Loren getting married so that we could get some samples. And they were not in short supply. I sampled cake, cupcakes, chicken, truffles, a chocolate fountain, drinks (both alcoholic and non), and about all the cookies I could handle...which is a lot of cookies. the expo went on all day and they were showing coverage of the royal wedding on screens all over the place (let me say, I am quite disappointed that I have to share my day with William and Kate for the rest of my life). Then, to keep up the charade, we got Loren a makeover and into a pretty dress:
I have to say, by the end of the expo, I was pretty bummed that there actually wasnt going to be a wedding...because the one we were planning was pretty spectacular.The wedding expo happened to be in a warehouse next to the Cape Town World Cup Stadium...so I included a picture of that for you guys as well:
After our day of wedding planning, we headed back to UCT and the southern suburbs. I am very proud of our traveling abilities that day...we took a mini-bus from mowbray into the city (5 rand), walked to the waterfront, took a mini-bus from the waterfront back to the taxi rank (3 rand 50) then the UCT shuttle from the downtown campus back to upper campus in Rondebosch (free); overall 8 rand 50 to get all over the place...about $1.10And because I had my camera, I walked home from upper campus to share a little beauty with you.
Remember the picture of Jameson Hall I posted several weeks ago? it had the little white car driving in front of all the stairs...anyway, this is the view from the same spot only facing due east instead of west:
I walk by this gorgeous view of the city all day long between my classes...not too shabby. unfortunately, my house is at the bottom of that hill...Walking to and from campus, I pass through this cool little tunnel under the N2 freeway...this is going home so it is all downstairs...imagine the morning hike. Maybe you can begin to appreciate my rock-hard calves...
I took the next 2 pictures from the roof of a building on middle campus. The building I was standing on was constructed by the Dutch East India Company in the 1700s and it became the center axis around which the University of Cape Town was built...I'll put up a picture of that building at a later date...for now:
This is Jameson Hall with Devil's Peak in the background (The N2 runs between me and the rest of the picture)And...
This is the northern half of UCT's upper campus. Table Mountain is on the left in the background and the building with the pillars on the right hand side is Jameson Hall (the center of upper campus) with Devil's Peak in the background. The red-ish bushes line the N2 freeway and the green bushes block the rugby fields from view. Pretty spectacular, huh? This is what I look at on my hike to school...at least I have a visual target, right?Friday night I went to dinner with a couple of friends in Claremont at a restaurant called Greens. It sounds healthy but it was actually delicious. I had pasta with a chicken, bacon, cream sauce...basically a heart attack in a bowl. When I got home, Ashleigh and Sara had gotten me cupcakes! and balloons! and toy story napkins! They are so sweet.
Saturday, I got up and did a little homework then I went to a place called the Old Biscuit Mill with some friends. The Old Biscuit Mill is a touristy market where there are about a million food stalls. I had a delicious steak wrap and a strawberry smoothie...we wandered around some of the shops and headed home. I did homework most of the afternoon--I have a lot of papers due this upcoming week.
Sunday...was homework day. All day long. I did venture down to the Pick N Pay at about 1ish and THEY FINALLY GOT SOME CHICKEN IN STOCK!!! yay! So I bought some chicken. And some celery, cherry tomatoes, and broccoli. Then back to the homework.
Monday (today) was ANOTHER public holiday...I could definitely get used to this South African calendar...I worked on a paper in the morning then I had a tour of the Groote Schuur hospital heart transplant museum. The first ever heart transplant was performed here in Cape Town at the UCT hospital so they have a whole section of the hospital donated to the museum. including the actual operating rooms where the donor and recipient were operated on. It was an incredible museum...made me want to do some surgery. Interesting fact for this post: in Dutch, 'Groote Schuur' means 'Big barn'. The land where the hospital is was originally developed by the Dutch East India Company in 1657 and it was a huge farm with, well, big barns on it that functioned as part of the grainery. In 1893 Cecil John Rhodes bought the land, restored the big barn, and had a house constructed on it which he called 'Groote Schuur', for obvious reasons. His house is actually still standing...I'm hoping to go see it before I leave, and the land was donated to UCT. Hence, the UCT hospital's name. kind of an interesting fact for you all...
The museum, as I said, was incredible...very very informative. The original heart recipient only lived for 18 days after receiving his heart, he died of pneumonia before he got out of the intensive care unit. The second heart transplant in the world happened 3 days after the first in America. The second one at Groote Schuur was about one month after the first, and that patient live 18 months. The third transplant performed by Dr Chris Barnard at Groote Schuur was on a Colored woman who live for 13 years after the surgery. Now the surgery has become a routine procedure in hospitals around the world...this was one of my favorite places I've been in Cape Town so far...really neat...
anyways, I came home and finished my paper (bo-ring) and took a million years to upload those pictures for you guys (sorry I didnt take any of the museum, my little camera broke and I didnt want to carry the big fancy one through Mowbray after the museum at dusk...it was scary enough carrying myself through there after I parted ways with Serena at the ShopRite...so i didnt take it with me...If i have time to go back i will definitely take it).
Well, I'm off to bed. I actually have all of my classes tomorrow. For the first time in 2 weeks.
I hope everyone is well stateside!
Missing you guys!
Love
P.s. i hope you enjoy the pictures...I'm trying to be better about sharing...megabytes or no :)
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Thursday
Date: 28/04/2011
Time: 21:36
Days abroad: 94
Just an FYI...in South Africa, hot cocoa and hot chocolate are NOT the same thing.
oh, and Topper biscuits are DElicious...
In case you were all planning a trip here, I like to keep you all informed as I become informed...that way I dont forget before I remember to tell you
AND I hear the Pick N Pay got chicken today...I am going to have to go check it out, I am in desperate need of some protein.
Love
Time: 21:36
Days abroad: 94
Just an FYI...in South Africa, hot cocoa and hot chocolate are NOT the same thing.
oh, and Topper biscuits are DElicious...
In case you were all planning a trip here, I like to keep you all informed as I become informed...that way I dont forget before I remember to tell you
AND I hear the Pick N Pay got chicken today...I am going to have to go check it out, I am in desperate need of some protein.
Love
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Some ramblings
Date: 27/04/2011
Time: 12:21 pm
Days abroad: 93
I am sitting at a nice little cafe...drinking rooibos tea (my new-found love) and eating a lemon poppyseed muffin.
mostly because they have free internet...and since they have free internet and I already finished my research...I felt like I shouldnt waste this golden opportunity to post on my bloggy...for free!
Now, I wish I had done something exciting this last week that I had pictures of...unfortunately, my little camera broke and I dont like to carry around my mom's big, beautiful camera because nothing screams "mug me!" like a nice piece of technology...hmm, makes me re-think lugging my computer down to main road to use this free internet...
On a lighter note, graduation is in 46 days!!
Hard to believe...I guess I better start learning to be a grown-up or something.
ALSO!!! Only 129 days until kickoff in Dallas!! How exciting...129 days is almost how long I have been in Cape Town. And that was like nothing...
The weather here has taken a 180 degree turn...I think Cape Town forgot it is in Africa. It has been monsoon rains every day all week. I'm talking like wake you up in the middle of the night rain because it sounds like the house is coming down. Also, we have these hilarious little heaters in our rooms that do absolutely nothing...
See that white square on the wall? Basically, the plank thing gets hot but no heat actually radiates into the room. Hahaha. The funny thing is, I dont think it is really that cold but after 4 months of 90 degrees, it feels like Antarctica in there.
Well, I clearly have nothing exciting to report...oh! except! I went to Checkers AND Pick N Pay yesterday and BOTH of them were completely out of chicken. How do the 2 main grocery stores run out of chicken?! So bizarre. Sometimes, South Africa is so strange...
Happy Happy 21st Birthday to the lovely miss Alex!!
I miss you all!
Love
Time: 12:21 pm
Days abroad: 93
I am sitting at a nice little cafe...drinking rooibos tea (my new-found love) and eating a lemon poppyseed muffin.
mostly because they have free internet...and since they have free internet and I already finished my research...I felt like I shouldnt waste this golden opportunity to post on my bloggy...for free!
Now, I wish I had done something exciting this last week that I had pictures of...unfortunately, my little camera broke and I dont like to carry around my mom's big, beautiful camera because nothing screams "mug me!" like a nice piece of technology...hmm, makes me re-think lugging my computer down to main road to use this free internet...
On a lighter note, graduation is in 46 days!!
Hard to believe...I guess I better start learning to be a grown-up or something.
ALSO!!! Only 129 days until kickoff in Dallas!! How exciting...129 days is almost how long I have been in Cape Town. And that was like nothing...
The weather here has taken a 180 degree turn...I think Cape Town forgot it is in Africa. It has been monsoon rains every day all week. I'm talking like wake you up in the middle of the night rain because it sounds like the house is coming down. Also, we have these hilarious little heaters in our rooms that do absolutely nothing...
See that white square on the wall? Basically, the plank thing gets hot but no heat actually radiates into the room. Hahaha. The funny thing is, I dont think it is really that cold but after 4 months of 90 degrees, it feels like Antarctica in there.Well, I clearly have nothing exciting to report...oh! except! I went to Checkers AND Pick N Pay yesterday and BOTH of them were completely out of chicken. How do the 2 main grocery stores run out of chicken?! So bizarre. Sometimes, South Africa is so strange...
Happy Happy 21st Birthday to the lovely miss Alex!!
I miss you all!
Love
Monday, April 25, 2011
Hoppy Easter! (har har har)
Date: 26/04/2011
Time: 01:11
Days Abroad: 92
Easter weekend was fairly uneventful in the southern hemisphere...we had Good Friday off of school. And the Monday after Easter (Family Day) and we have Wednesday this week off as well (Freedom Day) so, basically all my lecturers took a second mid-semester vac and almost all of my classes are canceled all week. Which is pretty cool if you ask me.
Friday night I went into downtown Cape Town with some friends...we took a mini-bus. Which is supposed to be a big no-no after dark...but we had a boy with us, so we figured we'd take the risk. Well, after dark, I guess the mini-bus becomes the place to be. They are supposed to seat 16...at one point I counted 23 people in there...NOT including the driver. And it was all black lights and slow jams as we cruised into town...
We got off at the taxi rank and walked over to Long Street to see what we could see...we ate at a place called the Eastern Food Bazaar. They had Indian and Chinese and other unidentifiable foods and you could pick from any of them and watch them get it ready...it was so good. And so cheap! For R20 I got a full meal of rice and schechwan chicken...it was delicious until I accidentally ate a pepper that mustve been grown on the sun. It was so hot that the outside of my lips were burning 20 minutes after i swallowed it...I actually thought I might be dying. Anyway, after that we wandered up and down Long street, went into a couple of lounges...but it was kind of dead so we were home by 1-ish.
The rest of the weekend I was trying to heal a cold so I spent a lot of time in the comfort of my bed. Monsoon-style rains have arrived in Cape Town so I snuggled under my covers and read some homework and watched some movies.
Easter Sunday...I was out of groceries and the Pick N Pay was not open...so I had take-out Chinese...like a Christmas Story..not quite Gramma Tiny ham but it wasnt bad. Then I got to talk to my lovely family :) that was delightful...
Monday I was a little more adventurous...Sara heard that there is a Starbucks inside a hotel downtown but we were late getting going and then it was pouring down rain so instead of going to find it we went to the Cavendesh mall to watch a movie...on the way, our mini-bus overheated and the whole thing filled with smoke...the driver simply asked the guy in the passenger side to put down his window, made a couple halfhearted attempts at waving the smoke that was POURING out of the vents out of his eyes and kept right on a driving. No big deal. I thought I was going to die of carbon monoxide poisoning or something...not my ideal way to go out, smashed between 2 stinky men in the backseat of a very crowded mini-bus where nobody would realize I was dead until they reached Wyneburg and turned around and tried to collect my 6 rand for the ride back into town....haha
When we arrived (alive, thankfully) the mall was like a maze. We went and bought the tickets first then had about an hour to kill so we wandered and I was seriously concerned about being able to find my way back to the theater...it was 4 floors of escalators and corners and sky bridges and tiny little stores...and at one point we passed a sign that said "lift for paraplegics"...I am not kidding. I cracked up...what is wrong with just a plain old sign that says "lift"? Like if you arent a paraplegic you cant use the lift? What if you just had a hip replacement? Not a pareplegic but you arent allowed on the lift. No sir, those are for paraplegics only...ridiculous.
Anyway, we had no idea what our movie was about going in...we literally stared at the posters on the wall for like 10 minutes and I turned to Sara and said "Strangest thing...I have never heard of ANY of these movies..." So we took a leap of faith with Liam Neeson and saw Unknown. It was actually quite good. But, get this, the theater had ASSIGNED SEATS. When we went to the counter to get our tickets the lady said "Front, middle, or back?" and I said "excuse me?" and she said "FRONT, MIDDLE, OR BAAAAACK?" all slowly, like I was a total dummy and I said "er, middle?" thinking maybe they had seperate doors to go through or something...but then she printed my ticket and, sure enough, we had seat numbers. Seats D5 and D6. Now I am thinking that it is a little silly and probably nobody pays attention to that anyway but when we went into the theater...PEOPLE WERE SITTING IN THEIR ASSIGNED SEATS. How weird is that? It was like middle school all over again. We had to climb over an elderly couple, a pimply teenage boy, and a woman in a 3 piece suit to get to our seats then the old lady next to me talked to Liam throughout the whole movie. How annoying. I wouldve liked to move down a couple of seats to avoid her running commentary but I couldnt, because I was assigned to seat D5.
It was pouring still when we got out of the mall so we mini-bussed back to Rondebosch and the driver nearly took out an old White man trying to cross the street--not unusual. Except then the old White man walks around the front of the van and STICKS HIS ARM IN and tries to punch the driver...never a dull moment. I grabbed Sara and hightailed it up the hill...I did not want to be caught in the middle of a mini-bus brawl.
That was about it...I made some dinner (rice and the last of my frozen vegetables...it was a public holiday so the Pick N Pay was closed by the time we got back from the mall). Watched a movie with a couple of friends and now I am headed off to slumber.
All in all, not a very exciting weekend to share with you all...nothing compared to my last few posts...
I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend!
Missing everyone!
Love
Time: 01:11
Days Abroad: 92
Easter weekend was fairly uneventful in the southern hemisphere...we had Good Friday off of school. And the Monday after Easter (Family Day) and we have Wednesday this week off as well (Freedom Day) so, basically all my lecturers took a second mid-semester vac and almost all of my classes are canceled all week. Which is pretty cool if you ask me.
Friday night I went into downtown Cape Town with some friends...we took a mini-bus. Which is supposed to be a big no-no after dark...but we had a boy with us, so we figured we'd take the risk. Well, after dark, I guess the mini-bus becomes the place to be. They are supposed to seat 16...at one point I counted 23 people in there...NOT including the driver. And it was all black lights and slow jams as we cruised into town...
We got off at the taxi rank and walked over to Long Street to see what we could see...we ate at a place called the Eastern Food Bazaar. They had Indian and Chinese and other unidentifiable foods and you could pick from any of them and watch them get it ready...it was so good. And so cheap! For R20 I got a full meal of rice and schechwan chicken...it was delicious until I accidentally ate a pepper that mustve been grown on the sun. It was so hot that the outside of my lips were burning 20 minutes after i swallowed it...I actually thought I might be dying. Anyway, after that we wandered up and down Long street, went into a couple of lounges...but it was kind of dead so we were home by 1-ish.
The rest of the weekend I was trying to heal a cold so I spent a lot of time in the comfort of my bed. Monsoon-style rains have arrived in Cape Town so I snuggled under my covers and read some homework and watched some movies.
Easter Sunday...I was out of groceries and the Pick N Pay was not open...so I had take-out Chinese...like a Christmas Story..not quite Gramma Tiny ham but it wasnt bad. Then I got to talk to my lovely family :) that was delightful...
Monday I was a little more adventurous...Sara heard that there is a Starbucks inside a hotel downtown but we were late getting going and then it was pouring down rain so instead of going to find it we went to the Cavendesh mall to watch a movie...on the way, our mini-bus overheated and the whole thing filled with smoke...the driver simply asked the guy in the passenger side to put down his window, made a couple halfhearted attempts at waving the smoke that was POURING out of the vents out of his eyes and kept right on a driving. No big deal. I thought I was going to die of carbon monoxide poisoning or something...not my ideal way to go out, smashed between 2 stinky men in the backseat of a very crowded mini-bus where nobody would realize I was dead until they reached Wyneburg and turned around and tried to collect my 6 rand for the ride back into town....haha
When we arrived (alive, thankfully) the mall was like a maze. We went and bought the tickets first then had about an hour to kill so we wandered and I was seriously concerned about being able to find my way back to the theater...it was 4 floors of escalators and corners and sky bridges and tiny little stores...and at one point we passed a sign that said "lift for paraplegics"...I am not kidding. I cracked up...what is wrong with just a plain old sign that says "lift"? Like if you arent a paraplegic you cant use the lift? What if you just had a hip replacement? Not a pareplegic but you arent allowed on the lift. No sir, those are for paraplegics only...ridiculous.
Anyway, we had no idea what our movie was about going in...we literally stared at the posters on the wall for like 10 minutes and I turned to Sara and said "Strangest thing...I have never heard of ANY of these movies..." So we took a leap of faith with Liam Neeson and saw Unknown. It was actually quite good. But, get this, the theater had ASSIGNED SEATS. When we went to the counter to get our tickets the lady said "Front, middle, or back?" and I said "excuse me?" and she said "FRONT, MIDDLE, OR BAAAAACK?" all slowly, like I was a total dummy and I said "er, middle?" thinking maybe they had seperate doors to go through or something...but then she printed my ticket and, sure enough, we had seat numbers. Seats D5 and D6. Now I am thinking that it is a little silly and probably nobody pays attention to that anyway but when we went into the theater...PEOPLE WERE SITTING IN THEIR ASSIGNED SEATS. How weird is that? It was like middle school all over again. We had to climb over an elderly couple, a pimply teenage boy, and a woman in a 3 piece suit to get to our seats then the old lady next to me talked to Liam throughout the whole movie. How annoying. I wouldve liked to move down a couple of seats to avoid her running commentary but I couldnt, because I was assigned to seat D5.
It was pouring still when we got out of the mall so we mini-bussed back to Rondebosch and the driver nearly took out an old White man trying to cross the street--not unusual. Except then the old White man walks around the front of the van and STICKS HIS ARM IN and tries to punch the driver...never a dull moment. I grabbed Sara and hightailed it up the hill...I did not want to be caught in the middle of a mini-bus brawl.
That was about it...I made some dinner (rice and the last of my frozen vegetables...it was a public holiday so the Pick N Pay was closed by the time we got back from the mall). Watched a movie with a couple of friends and now I am headed off to slumber.
All in all, not a very exciting weekend to share with you all...nothing compared to my last few posts...
I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend!
Missing everyone!
Love
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