I Even Met Morgan Freeman

South Africa had the best start of any port thus far.  I woke up at 6am with my wonderful roommate Stephanie (she is not a morning person…) in order to see the sun rising over Cape Town.  It was absolutely breathtaking!  As we were pulling into port with the sun rising over Table Mountain, I knew I was about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime.  Watching the sunrise with Steph, Alex (Harmeet, he is one after our own hearts!) and others it hit me that “oh my god I am actually here”.  The crazy thing about SAS is that sometimes your mind slips away and you forget just exactly your reality is at any given moment.  For me, this brought me back to my reality of being on a ship halfway around the world open for any adventure that may arise at any given moment.

Day 1 began with a nice 3 mile run at the gym as we docked, then I went back to my cabin and got ready for the day.  I was set to go to the !Khwa Ttu Culture Center for my anthro class.  When the time came, I hopped on the bus and headed about 30 miles outside of Cape Town, where our ship docked.  The drive was absolutely amazing, as we could see white sand beaches, tall fields of wild grasses, and of course the infamous table mountain in the background.  About an hour later, we were at the culture center and it was a completely different world.  It was just a vast expanse of land that had been turned into a tribal reserve with a few small buildings in the front.  We met our guide who was going to show us around the tribal reserve, and hopped into vans that looked like they should be giving hay rides on a pumpkin patch.  The drive, while short, was just like a mini safari!  Along the way, we saw wild ostriches, King Henrys (a type of bird that proves Jesus – or big J as I like to refer to him – has a sense of humor), and even some Springbok!  When we got to the center of the reserve, there was a small village like type structure about a mile down the path.  The village consisted of 5 huts made from branches, all facing the center of a camp.  While on a smaller scale, this is the type of village that the indigenous people of South Africa lived in even to this day.  Our guide told us all about the KhoiSan peoples (the indigenous group), how they lived, and how their hunter-gatherer way of life is being threatned today because of gaming laws.  It was absolutely mind bottling to think that people still live in such a primitive way! Crazy!  Then we learned how to speak in clicks (I found out that I am not meant to be an indigenous African woman), how to hunt like they do (yep, really not meant to), and how to make some of their crafts.  It was such a shock to hear about everything that these people have to do just to survive in such a modernized world! 

Then we got back on the bus, headed back to the ship, and got ready to go out in Cape Town!  Right next to the port is a pub and grill called Mitchell’s Pub, and it turns into SAS central every time we arrive in South Africa!  This time proved to be no different.  I met up with some friends back on the boat, and we headed out to meet everyone else at Mitchells.  The back of the picture in my room (as with all other rooms, its an SAS tradition) told me to try the nachos, Old Wobbly, and Springbok Shot there and so I went for it! Don’t worry mom and dad, not all at once… I am responsible!  The nachos were amazing!  The Old Wobbly I found is a special beer that Mitchell’s brews themselves and is famous throughout South Africa and for good reason!  Later in the night, a bunch of SAS kids decide to go to Club Fez a couple miles away and so we catch a cab and head over there.  We get there before it really starts because people in South Africa don’t really start the night until about midnight or so, but once it got going it was so much fun!  About one third of the club turned out to be SAS kids, which I found out always happens regardless of what port we are in.  All in all, it was a great night filled with amazing friends, crazy Africans, and lots and lots of dancing.  Score one for south Africa.

Day 2 began a bit later, as I had planned to go to the Aquarium with Boston Rob (his name is Rob, he is from Boston, Survivor anyone?) and his roommate John.  The wonderful thing about South Africa is that the port where we are docked looks exactly like the wharf at San Francisco, and has everything within walking distance!  It was nice to take a break from sketchy cab drivers snorting a mysterious powder while zooming 80mph down a dirt road and talking about their 2 wives – thanks for that Ghana.  So we walk through the waterfront and get some fish and chips with some South African specialty drinks.  Breakfast of champions!  We hit up the Two Oceans aquarium where they have all the sea creatures from the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, because Cape Town is where the two meet!  It was amazing to see the vastly different sea life that Africa holds compared to the Pacific.  We even saw sharks!  Not great whites, but they were pretty badass nonetheless.  There were sea turtles, jellyfish, and penguins oh my!  The best part of all… I FOUND NEMO!!!  Near the exit, there was a large cylindrical display filled with clown fish and “NEMO” written across the top.  We finally did it!  The greatest part of the display was the hollowed center where you climb through a hole in the bottom and end up in the middle of all the fish!  Naturally this is designed for small children, but that didn’t stop Boston Rob or John, and while I tried to be the mother of the group, Nemo got the best of me.  While we waited our turn behind the overjoyed 5 year old foreign children with funny accents, the parents looked at us with judging eyes.  We didn’t care because we knew they were just jealous.  After a couple quick photos, we let the children resume playing with Nemo.  A life long goal had be accomplished that day and we were nothing but pride in our hearts.

On our walk back, we stopped in a local craft market and got caught up talking with a man who was selling African charms and pendants.  He was explaining the symbolism behind each charm, and it was so awesome!  There is pretty much a symbol for all of the virtues, but the one that stuck with me the most was the eternal knot.  It represents eternal knowledge, and how life is ever changing yet everything is linked.  Nope dad, its still a no.  Rob and I both loved that one and he got it made into a necklace.  John got a different symbol made into a necklace, but I decided to pass on the jewelry and leave that for the boys. 

We then headed out of the craft market and the plan was for me to head back to the ship to pick up Steph and meet back up with Boston Rob and John at Mitchell’s before we headed to the botanical gardens at Kirstenbosch.  Steph and I were on our way, met up with them at Mitchell’s, but got side tracked before heading to the gardens.  Rob and John, being the sociable guys that they are, had been talking to a local named George and his girlfriend.  George was stout, round, in his late 30s, and dropped the f bomb like no one’s business.  He was pretty awesome.  He started telling us all about South Africa and how amazing it is, as if we didn’t already know that!  He bought us all a round of beers because that is what cool 30 something south Africans do for American students traveling the world. 

About an hour and a half later, we were on our way to Kirstenbosch botanical gardens.  They are right at the base of Table Mountain, and are ranked as one of the top 7 botanical gardens in the entire world.  After one minute inside, I completely know why.  Everything was lusciously green with exotic plants and garden paths as far as we could see.  After about 5 minutes of awestruck silence, we were ready to venture thru the gardens.  It was one of the most relaxing moments of my life with some of my best new friends who I feel like I have known for years.  We spent about 2 hours in the gardens, and caught a cab back to the ship.  It was yet again an absolutely amazing day with amazing friends.  But the night was still young so we went back to the ship, got some food, and then headed out to meet up with the other SASers at Mitchell’s.  This became my home away from home away from home here in South Africa as it was the meeting place for everyone, as it apparently is every year for SASers.  (Don’t worry mom and dad, I am still being responsible! I actually just finished 2, 8 page papers and a 4 pager!)  So we went to mitchell’s, met up with everyone, and then headed to Club Zula.  This club looked like it belonged in a boho NYC loft with its dark wallpaper, brick façade, and wooden floor that felt like it was about to fall through every time the crowd started jumping – which happened a lot.  They only played 90s hip hop, and there was a guy dancing right by us who looked just like Lil Wayne.  The greatest part is that he introduced himself as Weezy baby!  After a Zoolander worthy dance off between Weezy baby and my roomie Steph (who used to be in dance for many years), we called it a tie and headed to the next club, Tiger.  We met up with some more people here and had an absolutely amazing time!  After hitting up a few more, we called it a night and headed back to the ship.  It was a late night, but an absolutely amazing one.  Another perfect night filled with great music, even greater dancing, and some of the greatest friends in the world (sans CHOLA!).  Score a hard core two for South Africa.

Day 3 was one that I was most excited for: we were heading to a block party in a township.  For those who don’t know, townships are the districts where black South Africans were forced to live during apartheid.  While apartheid is now legally over, it remains very much alive in the local customs and practices.  We are some of the only white people in the entire township, but were with some locals and so everyone welcomed us with open arms into the little that they had.  We start the day off at 11am at the township center called Mzoli’s.  It is essentially an open patio with a roof, some tables, and a DJ.  On a Sunday morning in South Africa, Mzoli’s is the place to be at.  We were able to hang out with the locals, see how they lived, talk to them, and actually experience south Africa.  I cant imagine a better block party or way to spend a Sunday morning.  We all were having an absolutely amazing time, and around 3pm headed back home.  We got back to the ship, took a quick nap, and headed out to grab some dinner.  We met up again at Mitchell’s and because they were having the Rugby World Cub, stayed there that night to watch some intense rugby games with even more intense fans.  Every day gets better and better, and this day was one of the highlights of not just my week or my semester, but my life.  Score three major points for South Africa.

Day 4 started around 11am with absolutely no plans.  I meet with some friends on te ship for lunch and figure out what I am going to do.  Between my options of going to the baboon colony at Cape Point and paragliding off of Lion’s Head Peak, guess which one I chose.  So I go with Steph, Lou, and Valleria to Lion’s Head Peak where we meet up with the paragliding instructors.  Take a second a picture four late 20s, early 30s white paragliding instructors from South Africa.  They were exactly what you think of when you hear that.  So badass!  We hop out of the taxi, see them, and the first thing they say is “ladies ready to take a walk?”. We knew we were in for the time of our lives.  After about a mile and a half to two mile hike up Lion’s Head peak, we get to the spot where we set up to paraglide from.  I agree to go last, and wait my turn as I watch the first three run off the side of the mountain and fly into the clouds.  It’s my turn so I get suited up, strapped in, and take off with full force.  My instructor (it is a tandem glide) Peter is from Johannesburg in SA, has done nearly every single extreme sport, quit his corporate job to move to Cape Town for paragliding, and is one of the coolest people I have ever met.  The whole time he is pointing out different sights and telling me all about South Africa and convincing me to move there.  He didn’t need to try that hard, I was sold after the first day!  This was (until this point) the most gorgeous sight I have ever seen.  At just under a mile in the air, the sky was the bluest I have ever seen and the water was like something that I had only ever seen in the movies.  White sand beaches and green mountains surrounded us as we landed after the greatest 5 minutes I have ever spent in the air.  Needless to say after skydiving and paragliding, I am hooked on flying through the air with parachutes strapped to my back!  As Steph, Lou, Valleria and I reconnected on land, no words could sufficiently convey our emotions.  Like 4 girls would do, all we could do was jump and scream and hug.  This was simply awesome.

Naturally the only thing that could follow that was some fresh sushi!  So we ask our instructors where the greatest sushi place is near by, and head along the beach to the place called Cod Fish.  When we get there we are one of the only groups there, but don’t let that deter us from sitting along the conveyor belt that delivered sushi through the bar, just like they have in Japan!  We can pick whatever we want, and so after a few laps all settle on what to grab.  The sushi is absolutely amazing!  I never even thought that South Africa would have great sushi, but it totally makes sense!  5 plates and extremely fully bellies later, we catch a cab back to the ship and slip into a food coma nap.  We wake up, get ready, and go out for a very relaxing night.  About 20 of us go to a thai restaurant in the waterfront and have an amazing dinner, and oh my gosh it was even someone’s birthday! (wink wink!)  With some great friends, great food, and free desert, we are at the restaurant until they close at 11pm.  Then we decide to head to down the street to Mitchell’s where we order some nachos, an Old Wobbly, and call it a night. After 4 very exhausting days, we call it an early night and get ready for our last couple epic days in South Africa.  Keeping true to its epic nature, it was yet again an absolutely amazing night.  Score four epic points for South Africa.

Day 5 was off to an early 8am start as we were set to hike Table Mountain.  I was finally about to take on the beast!  7 of us were set to hike: Luke, David, Robbie, Sylive, Rosie (another Berkeley girl!  There are 8 of us here total!), and Jen were geared up and ready to go.  After a short yet squished taxi ride to the base of the mountain, we looked up at the finish line and began our ascent to the top.  Table Mountain is not like any old mountain: it is completely rock with a flat top that overlooks South Africa for miles and miles.  The hike up is extremely intensive, entirely rock, but absolutely amazing!  It was the greatest workout to burn off any excessive calories I may have piled on this week, and had a great time getting to know everyone I hiked up with even better.  At times, the rock trail is so narrow we had to walk one at a time very carefully along the edge so as to not fall off the side.  At other times, we had to use our hand and pull ourselves up the side of the rocks but once we were near the top, we could feel all of the hard work about to pay off.  Screams of joy in the distance meant that we were close, and as the trail calmed down and we neared the top, we all were anxiously climbing to see just how worth it our day was.  What I saw, I was no where near prepared for.  It was the hands down most gorgeous sight I have ever seen in my entire life, and the most accomplished I have ever felt.  For the 2 hours that I spent at the top, I was literally on top of the world.  We got lunch at the café that is at the top (I can’t even imagine building that!), and all talked about what a great time we were all having.  We then found a nice rock along the top of the mountain and Luke and I surprised everyone with two bottles of champagne (or champagna, depending on how classy you feel) to celebrate our accomplishments!  Everyone was so excited and filled with laughter when we popped the corks and the literally flew over the side of the mountain.  We toasted to a great day, amazing friends, and the greatest months of our lives. 

We took the cable car back down the side because they HIGHLY suggest that you don’t hike back down as it is quite dangerous.  Once back at the bottom, we made our way back to the ship still filled with awe.  After getting ready for our last night, we regroup and head out to Mitchell’s for our last night where they are having a KARAOKE NIGHT!  Just for SAS!  This is why this place becomes our home away from home away from home during the week in South Africa.  With some wonderful rendetions of Spice Girls, N Sync, and the American classic Brit Brit, we are all having the greatest last night!  Boston Rob was rapping, and he is actually pretty amazing!  Harmeet, he is almost on your level and with enough CHOLA hang outs, could be freestyling with you, Oscar, and C. Yenn in no time! We have an amazing last night in South Africa, and don’t want to wake up tomorrow to have to leave.  With 5 days down and one more to go, I am having the best time of my entire life.  Score five extreme points for South Africa.

Day 6 has a bittersweet beginning, knowing that it is our last day in port.  I wake up and go to the mall (it is right in port) with Rosie, Steph, and Lou for some food and shopping, but they have a power outage spanning the entire western cape!  Lame.   So in need of some food and a nap, I decide to head back to the ship.  As I do, I run into Ken, Tim, and Sara who are heading down to Cape Point to go to the beach, and invite me along with them.  That sounded absolutely perfect to me, so I quickly change and head out with them.  We catch a train (very much like BART) about 40 minutes away (think Downtown Berkeley to Daly City), hop off, and are right at the beach.  This is the most gorgeous beach I have ever seen with white sand, clear blue waters, and “SHARK ATTACK” signs posted everywhere.  This is where shark week happens! While the boys went body surfing, Sara and I stayed on the beach and watched the seals that were swimming in the ocean right beside all the swimmers!  Despite the insane winds, I was able to lay out for a bit and got my tan on.  I did put my feet in the water because by the end of this, I will be able to say that I have touched 4 Oceans!  (This was the Atlantic, the Indian is coming up in 3 days when we hit Mauritius.)  After about an hour, we catch the train and head back to the port one final time.  It was harder than I had expected to say goodbye to South Africa but I know it was only temporary because I will be heading back for sure!

Once we got back on the boat, we went straight into the Union to listen to Archbishop Desmond Tutu speak.  He came here just to talk to SAS because he loves us so much.  Listening to him speak, I couldn’t think about how much he reminded me of Rafiki from the Lion King.  He would get really quiet, laugh, and smile while he just stared at all of us all while imparting some pearls of wisdom.  He was so inspiring, and after about 30 minutes of speaking to us, we were able to talk to him. Naturally, this turned into an entire mob swarming him, but I was able to get a picture with the Tutu!  Mom, you will love it!  As he was walking past us, he put his hand on my shoulder, looked at me, and said “bless you”.  I felt so much holier after that!  Dad, its still a no.  Regardless, he was absolutely inspiring to hear speak, and his message was very basic yet very powerful: you can be the change you want to see in the world.

As if I wasn’t convinced before, my time in South Africa has only confirmed my decision to move abroad.  My new plan is to work for an NGO and move to South Africa upon graduation in May, but not before I backpack through Europe for 6 weeks.  South Africa is hands down the best 6 consecutive days of my entire life, and I can’t wait to come back for more.  There was so much I didn’t get the chance to do but I’m not worried because I know I have my whole life ahead of me, starting with Mauritius.  6 indescribable days, countless priceless moments, and the best time of my life: Score six epic life points for South Africa.

As for the title, Dad I’m sure you understand it.  If no one else does, watch Dinner for Schmucks and it will all be explained.