A Day By the Water

4/11/09
We went to the beach today. We took a taxi to the other side of table mountain to the Atlantic Ocean. Similarly to the North East Atlantic, the water is FREEZING. It is, however, much more blue and green and the sand is a little bit whiter. I also hear there are a lot of sharks, but there were plenty of surfers and swimmers out there. I can’t wait to get my hands on a buggy board! The waves are perfect! It was so amazing to be laying on the beach an open your eyes to these grandiose mountains surrounding you on three sides…and in front of you: water as far as the eye can see. We started the day with a beach-side breakfast. I had “Mango Juice” and a fried egg on a croissant with bacon. The bacon was kinda weird though. It looked almost like thinly cut steak. It was ok, I ate only a piece of it. Every place I’ve eaten so far has had an awesome view. Whether it’s a mountain or water, this city engulfs you in mother nature’s most beautiful creations. There are no words for the state it puts you in. I fall more in love with Cape Town every time I look at her.

After the beach (and naps and showers) we ventured to “The Waterfront” for dinner. Here there is a lot of shopping and dining..and sailing! Boats, boats and more boats everywhere. This area is highly commercial, bustling with tourists. And we “connect kids” (as we call ourselves) are NOT tourists…but still a great (and safe!) place to venture. Just about the entire city is asleep with the holiday weekend (and I mean completely shut down), but I can’t wait to really check out the waterfront during my time here.

FYE: At the waterfront, we ate dinner at a place called “oyo”. It appeared to be pretty posh, but was actually averaged priced. I ordered this seafood pasta dish (for only the equivalent of 8 USD). One thing I haven’t gotten used to in these foreign countries is that they always serve shrimp with the heads still attached! I first realized this in Spain. I asked, “What is this? Catfish?” My Aussie friend looked at me and told me it was Shrimp (jumbo shrimp!). Then she nodded and said, “Ohhh. You probably usually get it with heads off….yeah, they leave them on everywhere else.” How awful! I did alright in Spain, and enjoyed it thoroughly. But there was something about it being in my pasta at dinner tonight that didn’t sit well. Perhaps it was that they were swimming among my penne peaking out at me unexpectedly as I tried to enjoy my meal…or it might have been the foot long antennae that sprouted out of my dish…it also could have been the pasta-sauce drenched little feet that made my stomach churn. Now…I pride myself on having a strong stomach and an open mind (esp when it comes to food), but I almost lost it right there at the table. I was about to make a run for bathroom when my friends (who up until this point where getting a wild kick out of my reactions) dove in and rescued my plate from me. While I buried my face in my hands, they cleaned my shrimp and got rid of any evidence. I vowed to give them my first and second born. As a child I was never able to eat shrimp because some family member (which family member is unclear-I was very young) had made a “puppet” out of one in a restaurant. Any time I tried to eat shrimp after that I could only picture a live creature and could never bring myself to eat one. Less then a year ago, I conquered my fear and have enjoyed shrimp ever since. After tonight’s episode, I may have regressed a little bit.

The connect people are super fun. I’ve made some good friends already and my roommate is a blast. We like to go back and forth trying out each other’s accent and discovering the different ways we pronounce things. The connect group itself is pretty diverse as far as representing the US goes. I’ve got friends from every region in the country. Everyone has the drive for travel, adventure, and benevolence. We are hiking Table Mountain on Monday with a REAL South African! He is a friend of my child life teammate, Jamie. But what I really can’t wait for is to start my work in the hospital on Tuesday. That’s when my journey REALLY begins.

Afrikaans:
Robot = stop light or traffic light
Soccer = soccer! They don’t call it football
The “big 5” that I mentioned before are shown on each of the notes (10, 20, 50, 100, and 200).