Day 2- The day of grocery shopping and beautiful bathrooms

    
This morning began hopping out of bed and frantically running down to the lobby to meet Blair, Erin, and Katie for breakfast. Luckily we had time afterwards to go back to the apartment to make ourselves presentable before our big meeting with the second half of the group- time for round two of first impressions. We had announcements as usual, then it was turned over to a man from Revel Adventures who told us about various activities we could do while in Cape Town including bungee jumping, skydiving, sand boarding, surfing, and “quad biking.” Clearly, I was one of the only little bumpkin folk who was not aware of what this so-called “quad biking” actually is. I thought the term was hilarious! Quad biking? Seriously? He then showed a video depicting all of the activities he had described, with the last being “quad biking”…I was practically dying to find out what it was! …and there popped a video of people four-wheeling. What. The. Heck. I grew up on those! I think I’ll find some other adventure to spend my time and money on!

One of the TA’s is going to do yoga classes on the beach- I am totally in! I’m all for getting the yin and yang balanced on the beautiful coast of the Cape. Namaste y’all! Wednesday night we will have the opportunity to go on a Sunset Champagne Cruise off the Cape- again, I’m in! In June, we can go see the Springboks, the South African rugby team, play here at home, and apparently they’re doing very well. Does it even need to be said? I’m in, yet again! Now as for the skydiving and bungee jumping…

After our morning class, Laura Claire and I decided it was time for us to go grocery shopping. We met up with a group in the lobby and set out walking for the Pick-n-Pay, the grocery store close to the hotel. We got about a half-mile into the trek and realized that whatever we bought we would have to carry back. Yuck. After about a mile and 25 minutes, we finally arrived at a strange, mall-type building and found our way to the Pick-n-Pay. We decided we would just get the basics this time, what we could carry anyway, and we would just have to come back another day for the rest. Milk, cereal, PB&J fixins, lettuce, tomatoes, an onion, grapefruits, a couple energy bars, crackers, cheese, nutella, and some pasta were about all the items we could handle. Oh, and chocolate of course- let’s be honest. Too bad we forgot the bread…

Apparently you have to pay for the plastic bags here in South Africa. As much of a bit of a pain that was, I think it’s a fantastic idea! Just imagine- if Americans had to pay for plastic bags at the store each time they shopped, they would probably buy a few re-usable bags and bring their own - less plastic would be used and therefore, less would be wasted!

Moya

Tonight we were finally introduced to the food of the South African culture. All 101 students along with the staff, piled on busses and went to Moya, a traditional African restaurant. Here we were seated and served family-style with a salad, some sort of pita-type bread and EVOO, and chicken, beef, and vegetable dishes as the main course, with rice and couscous. For dessert, fruit kabobs were served with warm chocolate for dipping. I guess some things are equally as delicious on all continents!

my war paint- looks tough, right?

All through dinner we were serenaded by two African men with elaborate head-pieces and in colorful dress working their way amongst the tables, playing their drum-type instruments and singing traditional songs along with a few Lion King pieces to appease us Americans. A lady then came around and painted a little design on each student’s face, usually around the eye and eyebrow area.

This restaurant was one of the neatest, most unique, and most beautiful I have ever seen. For starters, it was right on the beach of the Cape, and on the porch there were booths made of surf-boards with glowing blue water running underneath. At first I thought there was a glass floor, but it turns out there was no floor at all! You would dine with your feet in the water and that would be the end of it! Once inside, there were sparkly (!) mirror-esque decorations and such along the walls and ceiling. 

OH. And let me just tell you about the bathroom. Yes, the bathroom. It was fabulous! (First of all, it was co-ed – how does it feel to wait forever in line, boys?) The sinks were covered top to bottom in what appeared to be broken mirror pieces, the ceiling was covered in some sort of aluminum foil, and the doors - ivory, very ornate, and pointed at the top- looked like they belonged on cathedrals instead of bathroom stalls. Fully complete with chandeliers and all things sparkly and fabulous, it was by far the most beautiful bathroom I have ever seen. Maybe because of all the shiny and sparkly things? So be it.

just a peek of the bathroom!

Katie, Laura Claire, me, Romo, Blair, and Skylar at dinner