A couple nights ago after I was here in the internet cafe my plan was to get some sushi takeout and head back to the house, which I did, but when I went to the sushi place they were putting out platters of sushi for the bi-weekly $7 sushi buffet. Sadly I had already ordered my measly 8-piece spicy salmon california role, so I went back to the house a bit bummed. Lucky for me though Sofia is also a sushi lover and when I told her about the buffet she really wanted to go as well, so I put my dinner in the fridge for later and Sofia, Friedericke and I went to the Sushi Zone buffet (not to be confused with the competing Taste of Asia buffet directly across the street) which was an amazing spread of sushi plus lots of other Chinese and Thai food (did I mention for only $7?). It was just great. Plus we got a bottle of wine that we moved outside to the front patio to finish- sat around talking for quite a while. Then we went back to the house and got ready to go out- headed to Long Street where we started at The Dubliner, then went somewhere else for delicious mohitos and then to Zula for some dancing.
The next day (two days ago) Sofia, Friedericke and I went around 11am to a market about 5 minutes away. The focus of it was a HUGE food market- tons of vendors, all with free samples, with delicious looking bread, cheese, fruits & vegetables, sandwhiches, meat, cakes & sweets, etc etc etc. Additionally there was a tented area in which vendors were all around the perimiter making ready-to-eat food such as crepes, pizza, hot sandwhiches, stir fry, wraps, salads, and much more- everything looked AMAZING. In the middle of the tent were several long rows of picnic table-type tables (each with flower center pieces) packed with people eating and drinking beers and obviously completely enjoying themselves. It was a nice scene. I got an iced tea that came in a jar for 20R- when I returned the jar after I drank it I got back 1R.
The market also consisted of an area of shops, some open air some not. Things were not too cheap here but I bought a nice scarf and it was a really nice area to walk around.
The three of us had already planned to pack a picnic that night and watch the sunset from Signal Hill, so convenitenly we were able to buy everything for our picnic at the market (chicken sandwiches on fresh rolls, cherries, salad with artichokes, zuccinni, eggplant, tomato, olives and feta cheese). Definitely the best picnic of my 20 years.
For the rest of the afternoon we hung out around the house (i.e. layed out back on the patio reading) and around 6:30 pm we left for Signal Hill, which is right next to Table Mountain and closer to the ocean. There were a lot of people up there for the sunset picnicking and with good reason- I would do it weekly if I lived here (oh man I wish I lived here). Our food and bottle of wine were delicious and we sat in the grass until the sun was nearly set (around 8 pm) and then walked out to a point for the final few minutes of daylight. On one side of us was Table Mountain, with clouds rolling over the top of it like an avalanche, and on the other side is the Atlantic ocean, with the sun setting over it, and down below us is the coastline scattered with hotels and houses. It was breathtakingly beautiful, and we stood around admiring it until there was nothing left to see.
A little later on we headed out to Long Street (surprise, surprise!) and met up with some Gary's Surf School people and a few others. We spent most of the night at Marvel, which is a favorite bar of everyone but it was my first time there. Not many tourists go to Marvel- it is a lot more locals- and was SO much fun. Awesome music and not surprisingly such a fun crowd. Another night for the books.
Sadly, Sophia and Friedericke went back on shift the next morning which was so weird!! I will have very little time to see them again before they leave next week- as in like 30 minutes between shift changes. I really got to know them pretty well the past couple of days though and as I have said really like them. I guess that is just how it works here but still it is a shame.
Yesterday I didn't feel great (sore throat and runny nose finally catching up with me?) but I still refuse to waste a day (sorry Mom, can't do it!). I did take it somewhat easy though by going to Green Point Market, which is only open on Sundays & about 15 minutes away from Obs. I had a great time taking my time and haggling the prices down, and I bought a lot. I wish I had gotten more, but I have no clue how I am going to fit everything in my suitcases (will worry about that later). It was interesting because I have had an Obama pin on my bag this entire trip, and no where has it gotten more attention than in the market. So many people asked if I had any more that they could have, and one lady put it on and I took a picture of her- she happened to be wearing a shirt from Kenya as well, which is where Obama is from. She and her friends just loved me. So that was neat. Came home from the market and again layed out and read (who doesn't love to lay out and read? I do it a lot).
Last night we all stayed in, and most of us went to bed pretty early & really tired. Unfortunately, Obs House had some bad luck last night, and not for the first time. A little over a week ago Friedericke had her camera and Ipod stolen- someone hoped the wall & electric fence, reached in through the window, and took them off of her bed while other people were awake in the living room. I was at shift when this happened. Last night, everyone was asleep except for Amy, who had been out front on the phone and then went into the living room around 1 am. Turns out that while she was still awake in the living room, someone got in again and this time came in through the window in the other girls bedroom (not mine) and took Amanda's (new girl from Canada) camera and wallet. Around 2 am Amanda and the other girl in the room Jenn woke up and realized that something was wrong- the shade was up. Amanda coincidentally went to get something out of her purse and it was gone. So this morning (when I really, really had wanted to sleep in past 8:30 for once) I awaken to the police in the house- great. They ended up finding her credit cards on the other side of the wall, for some reason the person took them out of the wallet and left them (too bad she had already called her parents to have them cancelled by the time they found them). Of course there is really nothing the police can/will do, but it is really freaky that someone was IN the house- it didn't seem as bad when we knew they had just reached through the window. It's pretty scary, and we are all now always locking up everything of value (of course the lockers could probably be broken in to with minimal effort). It sucks because I know that this isn't a safe place, but I like to try and give it some credit, which is hard to do with this stuff happening.
Additionally, there has been talk at Bap that one of the gangs in Khayelitsha tried to pay one of the older kids at the orphanage to steal a key to our flat there & asked him if we had any weapons. They know that we are there and that we have cameras, phones, and laptops. Of course hearing this is scary, and the flat could be broken into so easily. But everything that I have heard is that townships are actually really safe because they know that when white people visit we are either volunteering or spending money on their goods- so if anyone were to break in at Bap they would literally be hunted down and killed by all the people in the township. This is a crazy, crazy place.
And speaking of which, it is getting dark and I don't really want to walk home alone in the dark, so I'll finish catching up later. I am fine though & definitely keeping my things locked up (though go figure- for a HORRIBLE 5 minutes on Table Mountain today I thought I lost my camera... it was in my pocket, duh). And, there are five of us girls sleeping in my bedroom and if someone tries to get in we have a plan of attack prepared... I won't go into detail.
Miss everyone!!!
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