So I know it's been a while, and I haven't updated you about Mom and Dad's trip in Cape Town. But I'll do my best to remember what I can now!
Mom and Dad got in on the 18th around 9pm. I met them at the airport a little teary-eyed..... happy tears, of course! And by a little, I mean a lot. I was so emotional that Mom thought something was wrong with me, and I had to convince her that I was just really happy to see them. Mom was surprisingly perky (I guess that shouldn't be surprising because she's pretty much always perky) after the long trip, and they both luckily slept a fair amount on the plane. They moved into their bed and breakfast very close to my apartment. The next day, Mom joined me at my African Instruments classed and was inspired by the music. She noticed how African music intertwines seemingly opposing rhythms and notes into intricate melodies. Dad skipped out on music class (SHOCKING!) and we met up with him afterwards to tour the campus and have some lunch. We took a cab to the waterfront, and they were amazed at how well I bargained- it's a new skill I've learned in SA. There was something terribly wrong with the car and it was vibrating pretty roughly the entire trip. I told them to remember the saying T.I.A. (This is Africa), and they got used to the idea REALLY quickly. That evening, we walked around the waterfront and had dinner on the waterfront while the sun was setting.
Unfortunately (for me), Mom and Dad had to leave at about 3:30 the next morning to go on their safari in Botswana. Can you believe they left me behind to go to CLASS?! Just kidding... kind of. They will be better at telling about their trip, but I can say a couple noteworthy things. They saw all of the Big 5 (lion, leopard, buffalo, elephant, rhino ....) and much more. Seeing a leopard is a very rare occurrence. Their driver drove about an hour out of the way just to see this leopard leap across a branch on a tree. Though this might not sound very exciting, trust me, it is! I haven't seen a leopard since I've been here, but that is not surprising since most people don't ever see one. I've met people who have gone on several safaris in the past 20 years and have never seen one or have only seen one once, so it's really amazing that they got to. Mom's highlight of the trip was seeing lions mating. She learned that this process is very painful for the female lions, and the males even have to bite them around their necks for grip, leaving a scar. Needless to say, when they returned to Cape Town, they had some stories to share!
Mom and Dad got back to Cape Town on Good Friday, pretty late at night, and we moved into our hotel in Sea Point. Dad had to get acquainted to driving on the opposite side of the road, with the stick shift on his opposite hand, etc. It was pretty funny at first. He'll kill me for saying this, but he lightly tapped a car the first time he got in the car. (Maybe this humbled him? Or at least lessened his road rage? I'll have to wait and see.) Dad was eager to make a conference call to work, but surprise, surprise.... the internet was down at our hotel (T.I.A.)! He just laughed it off, embracing the meaning of the phrase once again. The next morning, we went to Old Biscuit Mill which is a neighborhood goods market. There is just about every kind of delicious food you can imagine at this place, and it is open every Saturday. It is a favorite weekend activity for me and my friends. Dad tried his first ever ostrich burger! I think ostrich is very similar to steak, in texture and even flavor. We then adopted my good friend from Trinity, Leigh, and went to Robben Island. We had a windy ferry ride to the island, where we were led to a line of buses. We got on a bus with a tour guide named Tabo who is actually from Khayelitsha! He was AWESOME. We took a bus tour of the island, seeing things like the Robben Island church, school, former areas for people with leprosy, etc. Many people employed on Robben Island reside there, as well as some former prisoners. Former prisoners also are the ones who give the prisoner tour, which was the next stop on our tour. Unfortunately, this tour guide was not as great as the first one. (He even made some pretty awful remarks about America and some conspiracy theories about 9/11, but I won't get into that. It will get Dad's blood boiling again.) All in all, it was still a great day and we learned a lot about the prisoners. Prisoners were treated differently based on the color of their skin. Bantus and Coloreds were given much different rations of food, for example, Bantus receiving a far less daily intake than the Coloreds. And of course we got to see Mandela's cell, where he spent 27 years of his life. It was really exciting for me to see his cell, because I've studied him a fair amount since I've been here. (The next night, Invictus was on TV, the movie about Mandela being elected as President and the South African rugby team's road to victory during the Rugby World Cup. The 2 occurrences helped South Africa bounce back from its terrible time during the Apartheid. It made the day even more meaningful because we got to actually see the things in person that were in the movie, such as the quarry yard where Mandela and other prisoners spent hours a day. I even recognized a restaurant at the waterfront that was shown briefly when the South African team won a game. Pretty cool!)
On Easter Sunday, we decided to enjoy nature and tour the Cape Peninsula, which I had done at the beginning of the semester. We got unlucky with the weather, and it was pretty cold, windy, and rainy almost the whole day. We did get lucky and were able to beat the rain while climbing up to the lighthouse on Cape Point. When we went to the Cape of Good Hope (the south-westernmost point in the continent of Africa), it got really rainy. We quickly ran out and took some pictures at the sign to prove that we went there, and then we rushed back into the car. We then drove to Simonstown and Boulder Beach to see the African penguins. Yes, there are penguins in Africa! When I went there at the beginning of the semester, it was really cool, but this time was better because there were baby penguins! The penguins, like other birds, have a mating season. The babies are lighter in color and fluffier and SO CUTE! We got back to our hotel where the internet was still out of service. Honestly, it just got funnier for us each day, since we were staying at this really nice, modern hotel, that somehow consistently had minor problems. (Not to be overly repetitive.... but T.I.A.)
If there's one thing I've learned while in South Africa, it's that they LOVE their public holidays. They have nearly an entire month off of work every year for public holidays that are just celebrated in their country. This meant that I did not miss any classes during Mom and Dad's trip, because Monday the 25th, the day after Easter, is a holiday called Family Day, the 27th is Freedom Day, and May 2nd is Worker's Day. (I also don't have classes on Fridays.) So it was the perfect time for them to come! On Family Day, we went to an event at my internship in Khayelitsha. I help coordinate events at the soccer field, and it was my job to make the schedule and games for the day. We played games such as 3-legged races, a balloon race (where a balloon is placed in between 2 kids' backs and they have to run up and down the field without dropping or popping the balloon), a complicated tag game that one of the guys at the field created, apple bobbing, and bobbing for candy in a bowl of flour. It was such a fun day, a day for kids to just be kids and have fun. I convinced some of the students in my program to come to the field and volunteer. They got to play with cute kids and paint faces, etc. It meant a lot for me that Mom and Dad got to see where I spend much of my time and the people I spend that time with. It was definitely difficult for them to see how awful the township is, especially the conditions the people there live in. This is something I've grown somewhat accustomed to seeing, but it certainly impacted them. Mom was especially vocal about the shocking sights. It's hard to capture it in pictures and words. The hardest part is that there's almost nothing you can do to really make a difference here. Giving money would only help a small number of people, when there's nearly 3 million people living in this township alone. All you can do is what people at my internship have done, and create some kind of sustainable healthy environment for the residents. They created this safe haven for the kids and thousands of community members.... doesn't get much better than that.
We had planned on taking the cable car up Table Mountain later that day, but it was too foggy and windy, so we had to change our plans. This happens frequently, as the weather in Cape Town is often foggy and windy, especially during this time of year! Instead, we just looked at some of the views at the bottom of the cable car station and got some lunch by the beach in beautiful Camps Bay. Not a bad alternative! The next day, we went to Stellenbosch, South Africa's wine country. They finally got to meet the one and only Sibs, my Trinity professor. We stayed at her incredible estate in our own guest "cottage" that should have more appropriately been called a HOUSE because it was huge. My Trinity class was also actually spending the night at Sibs', but they had to rough it in a couple of her suites with king sized beds. Leigh, the adopted daughter, stayed with us in our 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, large living room and kitchen area, cottage. Sibs' house is even more impressive and beautiful, not to mention her gardens and multiple swimming pools, plus the view of the Stellenbosch mountains isn't too bad either! We went out to dinner with my class and Sibs at the vineyard called Spier. It's pretty famous, and I recognize the brand from America. We dined at Spier's buffet-style restaurant called Moyo, with every kind of African meat you can imagine.... ostrich, kudu, springbok, and more. There performers playing the djembe drums and singing. Since I am now an expert on the djembe (right...), I was excited to see some other professionals playing. After the drumming, they encouraged everyone to get on stage and dance to Shakira's WakaWaka. If you don't know the song, get on Youtube and watch the music video. It was a hugely popular song during the World Cup last year. And this next part needs to be documented, so this blog is serving that purpose: Charlie DeVinney danced to WakaWaka on stage with me and my friends, in front of complete strangers. Well, I can't exactly call it dancing, since he is not the most graceful person, but it was beautiful in my eyes. Africa brought out a whole new side that I never thought I'd see. My friends thought Mom and Dad were insanely hilarious... or maybe just insane? It was a blast!
The next day, since my class was a little slow-moving, we decided to go ahead and tour a winery. The three of us and Leigh went to a winery called Camberley and tried 9 different types of wine! It was a LOT of wine, and obviously a lot of fun! We then met up with my class at one of my professor's favorite restaurants in the posh town called Franshoek, where we had more wine and lots of delicious food. (A main theme on their trip is delicious food, by the way.) We headed back to Cape Town for our last night together :( Thursday morning, we tried our luck one last time with the cable car. Although it was still a bit foggy, we were lucky, and it was open. So we got to go to the top of Table Mountain and walked around. It was beautiful, and pretty cold! Mom was a trouper, but then couldn't handle the heights, so she went to the gift shop while Dad and I walked around the top to see all the different views. We had lunch once again in Camps Bay. It was a great ending to a great trip. They then drove me to my internship in Khayelitsha since it is close to the airport, and hung out there for a little while before heading home. I wish they could have stayed another week. There is so much to do here, and it is impossible to see everything in such a small amount of time! I know they had a great time, and again, it meant so much to me for them to make the effort to come visit me. After the trip, Mom thanked me for everything since they got to see things that they never would have seen as tourists, especially everything in Khayelitsha. This made me feel really good, because I was, admittedly, a bit worried that the trip didn't meet their expectations with the weather, limited time, etc. I miss them already! Mom, if you think I'm forgetting something, feel free to write your own blog post and I can add it to my site. I'll post some pictures later!
