(1/22)Lazy Day and (1/23) Kirstenbosch

(1/22) I woke up sore. It was a good sore. The kind you get after a long night of drinking, but rather mine was from a long day of drinking and biking. A recommended combination in appropriate settings (illegal in the Minneapolis, don’t do it!). We rose to a slow start and headed into upper campus to fill out some paper work for next week’s international student orientation. We have to register all our classes by hand, seriously throwing me back to the stone ages. I have been approved and pre-registered for three classes: A History of Anti-Semitism, Africa: the Making of a Continent to 1880, and Gender, Sexuality, and Politics. I am going to try to pick up a forth class, either the Media in South Africa or African Dance I. Hopefully, the by-hand registration will go smoothly and I will be able to get into all my classes. If not I guess I can continue studying culture in a non-academic setting, I think I am getting an A in that.

After campus we headed into town to run some errands, such as grocery shop and figure out how the Internet café Cocoa Woa Woa works. They serve the most amazing smoothies. So whether I am back there for the free Internet or refreshing drinks, I do know I will surly be back.

Once home we played cards outside with our flat mates and got ready for the night down town on Long Street. We rallied quite a few apartments together to make a super group and took cabs into the city. We first went to the Dubliner, an Irish pub, for a nice flash back to the 1990s. The music was ridiculous, but we sure had a good time. We met a bunch of British students also studying at the University of Cape Town. We followed them to Stones, a much more chill bar, and formed a super group of international students (I’m sure the locals wanted to kill us). I unfortunately went into Mom mode when a girl form our program began throwing up on herself (attractive, I know) and called it quits for the night. Besides getting some vomit on me, it was a really great night. Hopefully she has learned her lesson, two bottles of wine is no good before going out, stick to a bottle and a half.

(1/23) Today my roommate Lina, a flat mate Jon, and myself headed to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens for the afternoon. Imagine a mix of Jurassic Park and scenes from the Lost World. The gardens are complimented with the backdrop of Table Mountain on three sides. It seriously looks unreal. Kirstenbosch was the first botanical gardens and at one time was owned by Cecil Rhodes (the launcher of De Beers, the once outrageously dominant monopoly of diamonds in the world).

Top: Flowers at Kirstenbosch

Middle: Should be the scenery for the next Jurassic Park

Bottom: One giant tree

We headed home for a late lunch and to relax on our back porch. It was overwhelmingly hot out today and the beach, although sounding tempting, would have left me fried in the long run. Tomorrow we are heading to Camps Bay, the beach of all beaches, so I thought I would save my skin from charing for tomorrow.