The Madness Never Stops

You know those days where you’re not quite sure what you’ve experienced until you look back on it? Today was the prime example of that. We went to this restaurant called Mzolis, but it was about far more than just the food. This was the single craziest block party I have ever witnessed, even crazier than Dave Chappelle’s “Block Party”. Combine $1.30 quarts of beer with $4 for (essentially) all-you-can-eat of the tastiest meat in the most savory sauce ever and imagine 400 other people joining you in the exact same activity and you have the framework for Mzolis. I cannot possibly do an adequate job of describing the atmosphere in this place no matter how many superlatives I use, so just take my word for it: I’ve never experienced anything like that, and I WILL be back.

It’s almost impossible to be complacent in Cape Town. The past week I’ve visited Camps Bay, The Cape of Good Hope, two different townships (Ocean View, where we’ll be doing home stays in mid-August, and Guguletu, where Mzolis is), Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens (one of the most peaceful places I’ve ever been), Green Market Square, Old Biscuit Mill (a delicious food market with about 30 different stands where you can sample almost any type of cuisine you want), and hiked Table Mountain. In fact, we got such a late start on Table Mountain that we wound up hiking down the last hour and a half under the stars. I can’t get over how cool Table Mountain is – it literally rises out of the ocean out of nowhere on the back side, and falls just as quickly on the other side feeding into Cape Town. It’s really amazing to have such a badass mountain overlooking such a thriving city. Though it’s a hard hike and I underestimate it every time, I will be making it at least 5 more times throughout this semester. The views on top are breathtaking – you can see the extent of the Cape Flats, the 12 Apostles (twelve jagged pieces of Table Mountain extending down the coast line), Robben Island, Camps Bay, and the Soccer Stadium from the top. It’s really a trip to be on top of the mountain looking down into a huge city. By the end of my time here I’ll probably have over 200 pictures of / looking down from the mountain. It’s just that cool.

After exactly one month of being in this beautiful country I’m about ready for classes to start tomorrow. I need something to keep me occupied, and though going out 5 nights a week is a lot of fun it gets to be too much after a while. Is it possible that I’m about to start my junior year? Where the hell did time go?

Peace and love from the coolest, most diverse city in the world.