Robben Island

^^^Outside of the prison
'Twas a day off when our IES coordinator told us that we were leaving for Robben Island, the home of Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners 16 years before being relocated. We met at 7:30 and arrived at the docks at 8:00. The ride took 25 minutes and we all stumbled out, more than half our group was ready to puke. The swells of the ocean were large, and the boat was enclosed: these were the primary catalysts of everybody's sickness. We then boarded a bus which toured us around the island. We saw the leper graveyard (the island use to be a home for banished lepers). We saw the limestone quarry where Mandela spent his days working, and made a few more stops that usually would be picturesque views of Cape Town, but the fog was thick and we could not see much. After the tour of the island, we got off the bus and toured through the islands main prison. Our tour guide was a former prisoner and added insight of his experiences. I was a little dissappointed with the tour of the prision because we blasted through the prision in a little over a half hour. It was very humbling to see the state of the prison. Aside from Mandela's 5x10ft cell, he was allowed to roam for an hour in a small courtyard the size of a tennis court. ^^^Mandela's Cell
I could see a week of this, but 16 years? That is almost the length of my life. I can not imagine the trails and tribulations the prisoners faced there. We got back home where we rested up to leave for the home-stay in Langa Township for the weekend.

Cameroon vs Nederland

Thursday was one of those days where you wake up ready for the day to be almost over. I don't say that in a negative sense, but in the sense that the World Cup game I was going to started at 8:30pm. I still had to go through school and four hours of service before I got there though. Classes went uneventfully (only 6 left) and service did as well (with the exception of the little girl who ate a used piece of gum I had put inside a wrapper in my pocket). Finally it was time. I donned my spirit and vuvuzela and took the train to downtown Capetown.This was an experience like I have never felt before. I could only imagine it being 10x the spirit of a Notre Dame game day. People were dressed in ridiculous outfits. There were a surprising amount of Netherland fans. I thought there would have been more Cameroon fans due to the distance from South Africa. While there is much to say about the experience, I have a hard time putting it into words without pictures, so this post will be picture heavy. There was an electricity in the air, and the anticipation of seeing gods of the pitch take to the field. It was amazing seeing people that I only recognized in video games and television up close-and REAL. Netherlands won 2-1. Even after the game, the loss/victory did not dampen spirits of any side. People still cheered, drank, and had a jolly time. This was a experience I will not forget.
^^^me joining in the deafening vuvuzela buzz. Each vuvuzela buzz boasts up to 120 db: the equivalent of a chainsaw or a car horn.
^^^ Click for the entire, full quality picture panorama

The High Society Club

While we have sampled much of the less-than-luxurious portion of SA, our group decided to get with the times and sign up for a wine tasting tour. Wine is a huge export in SA. While it is no France in terms of wine production, it is well known as an up-and-coming part of the world with a few wine estates starting to win big awards for their tastes. SA, especially the Cape Town area is one of the few, if not the only wine producing areas in Africa as a whole.
We woke up to meet outside our apartments to be picked up in two separate vans. We boarded and became acquainted with our guide: James, and the two other fine English gentlemen. We traveled out an hour into wine country named Stellenbosch, Paarl, and I forget the last, but it too ended with an -osch as many things do around here (I live in Rindebosch right next to Kristenbosch). We started of with our first of four wine estates: Goats Do Roam.^^^At Goats Do Roam, they had this structure outside the wine tasting area. Yes, that is where they sleep at the the top.
I will say that this was the best place of the day not only because of the wine but fot the ambiance and surrounding beauty. At this particular wine tasting, you were allowed 6 different wines from a menu, and they would serve you roughly a fourth of a cup. I drank the first two glasses of wine and quickly decided that my state may become unfavorable at the rate I was going if I was to have 30 tastings in the day. I immediately went to the ol' two sips (or four on a good wine) and then pitch- which, surprisingly, is actually perfectly normal in these estates. Maybe they were making me feel better by saying it, but I saw other tasters doing the same thing. For the rest of the day, I took up the theme of "tasting" rather than "drinking". ^^^Me with my official wine tasters badge.
In the end, I think it behooved me because while many of my compatriots were sick and burned out, I was going strong in the tasting and taking notes on the flavor differences.We toured 3 more farms, each as beautiful as the next. We laughed, joked, and had a good time. I do wish I was a bit more of a connoisseur but we all have to start somewhere. I also wanted to bring some wine back to the states, but I didn't know the rules on that. They were selling some good wines for less than $10 a piece!!
When we returned I went out for a run, ate a big meal to finish off the day.

Putting it All on the Table

Well, I woke up feeling extra adventurous and a need to see Cape Town. While most of our group wanted to go to the brie for the second week in a row, I decided I would rather do something I had not done yet. I managed to round up three other people to head up the mountain that overlooks Cape Town: Table Mountain. We called up a cab and arrived at the base around 2:00. We waited until the middle of the day so it would be warmer. Also, this time was a rare opportunity to head to the top of the mountain because a cloud usually hangs over the top despite the surrounding weather.^^^finding my inner Zen

We waited in line for about 45min and then took a cable way up to the top of the mountain. I would have liked to hike the trail, but between running and getting people rounded up, there were only so many hours in the day. We boarded and it zipped us up the mountain in under four minutes. The cool thing was that the inside floor of the car cab rotated so eveyone could get a great view. When we got to the top, we spent the next three hours taking pictures and soaking up the sun. On our return, we witnessed quite a sunset as well. We returned home feeling satisfied and accomplished. I doubt any of the others will have a chance to do this between our future schedule and the lack of clear weather.
^^^Me and a few buddies posing for our upcoming album cover.

WOW

6 days without blogging. I apologize for my lack of participation in this blog during the past week. A few of the days (schools days) were to uneventful to talk about and some other days were so eventful, I did not have time to talk about them. On Thursday-school, Friday- a group of people headed down to the waterfront again. I decided that since I had done this the day before, I traveled into Cape Town where I adventured about and watched the rather disappointing US game in the Coca-Cola Fan Park.. The fan park is a neat function placed in every major city in SA that allows fans to watch games in a rock n' roll fashion. We are talking big stage, lights, music, vendors everywhere, and many big screens to accommodate to the 3,000 person capacity. After the game I went to vendor to vendor for about 20 minutes and tried my hand at haggling. I was pretty impressed with myself. One particular object was selling for R180 and I was able to haggle it down to R80- just under half! I returned to the apartments where I enjoyed the fellowship and camaraderie of my classmates.
On Saturday we returned to the open market that opens every Saturday morning and I bought myself some curry and an Amurula shake. Amarula is a fruit grown in the southern region of Africa and has a very rich and distinct taste. As far as I have tried to describe, I have failed, but for old times sake: it taste like an orange/vanilla cream... almost like an orange push-pop. It is a very sweet fruit and is a popular flavor to add in any milky substance. On the way back, I had one of my first more terrifying experiences. I was walking with a group past a local McDonald's when a man in a dirtied trench coat and a full white beard broke his way out of the McDonald's. I man, presumably an employee carried window spray and was spraying him away so he would leave the employees and customers alone. The man was literally foaming yellow at the mouth as he screamed and shouted obscenities, a colorful combination that could weave an even greater tapestry than of one that could be found over Lake Michigan today. He threw things, carried a string of rags like a whip and began to lash about. I was so busy observing this behavior, that I found that the whole group I was with had shuffled away in fear, leaving me very vulnerable. I turned again to find him approaching me as he looked me in the eye, pointed his finger at me and proclaimed, "sh**, di**, f***ing rotten human scum, cr**, f*** you." Wise and philosophical words. Naturally I decided that in the best interest of my being to maybe give him a little more room. We called a taxi, and traveled back to our apartments. Some of us were getting stir crazy and decided to climb above campus and visit the Cicil Rhodes memorial. I honestly couldn't tell you what it was for because there was no description plaque. We spent some time admiring the architecture and the view of the city before returning home, washing our laundry and settling down for the featured game of the night.

Social oddities of SA

We discussed this in our lastest class and it is completely true, or so I have found. The first thing is that the people of SA lie. We lie, but they lie A LOT. They tell us to meet them somewhere, but they end up not being there. They agree on plans, and do not honor them. We were warned of this very attitude by our professor. People have no ill intentions when they lie to you, they just seek as little problems as possible. Just a way they have around here. Also, another thing is getting things done. SA is notorious for their lack of commitment to a deadline. At our orientation, we were told: "I will do it now"= "I will not do it".... "I will do it right now"="I will do it sometime today or tomorrow"... "I will do it now-now"=" I will actually do it in the next hour." So when we ask for things, we ask for them now-now.
Another observation I had was not given to me via lecture. It is the South African sense of ownership. I will be sitting on a chair in a bar watching the game and a number of people will come up and take my vuvuzela that was sitting next to me, blow it, and set it back down. When going airport security in Jo-burg, the security took it out for inspection and three or four officers proceeded to take turns blowing it. This is the same with small object of smaller value, they assume it is everybody's to share and there is no real ownership. I think it is kind of cool having this lax sense of ownership, but seems very quirky when first encountered.

School begins

Well, finally, roughly two weeks after arriving, we began school. We have classes Tuesday-Thursday from 8:30-4:30 . They are no doubt long days, and do not leave much time for doing anything else, but it is nice to have four day weekends. Tomorrow we do not have school. It is a national holiday here in SA: National Youth Day. The day is in memory of the youth who gave up their lives in dedication to the revolt against unfair education and rights during the apartheid era.
Yesterday it was raining, so we basically stayed inside all day. I traveled to a nearby outlet mall to look for some running shoes because I wsa hoping for a second pair of shoes. I found the shoes I was looking for, but surprisingly, they were more expensive here than back in the states. This is a stark contrast because things are usually much cheaper here. The average cost of a restaurant is $7. My shoes that I was looking for was about $120. This fluctuation in price is not too surprising because while most things are cheap here, other things are more expensive: cheese, honey, gum to name a few.
On my way to the outlet shops I was walking along the street looking for them when a poor man approached him. He asked me for a house. While I didn't have a house on my person, I asked him for directions to the shops, and gave him a breakfast in return. He was ecstatic. I did this action with our past class in mind. Am I really helping the problem? Am I showing a poor man a feast, only to turn him out again. Most people argued in our class that our presence here is worthless. We can't help, we can only know that there is a problem. We also talked about how we cannot see people as a problem to solve, but as a person. How can we do this if the problem is clear? There are many difficult questions to be answered here over the next few weeks. Any thoughts?