Once I have survived the 45 minutes of the Immunology test and successfully pulled off a 2500-word research paper on an extremely unfamiliar topic - Economics and Politics behind SA Health Care system , I called my weekend on order. Despite the fact that I have to somehow finish another three research papers within the next 10 days, my brain went on strike. My excuse? I'm a Bio and Psych major. My brain has a limited capacity in the written language production region.
With that said, Thursday night, we decided to be supportive and came to the Rugby game that Wes, David, Greg, Wilson and Eddie participated in. These guys were hilarious they made my night. Despite the freezing weather, I thought it was quite worth it to get to see the view of the campus at night, and to learn the ultimate rule of Rugby - you can pass the ball back but you can only kick it forward (actually, I'm not even sure if this is right). However, rugby does make US football players seem like losers, since they do all the tackles with no gears. We came to the Alma house (the other house that some of us stay at)and came up with a list of places we want to check out and things we need to do in Cape Town and Africa, accompanied by cheesecake made by Susan. I kept having this image of the Mozambique beaches in my head and couldn't get rid of them. I want to go there so badly aka need to make this happen.
 |
| Mozambique Island - isn't this heaven on earth? Source: google |
Friday was such a miserable and dreadful day with pouring rain and freezing cold wind. It was one of those days that I had to debate that I do need to go to that only one class at noon, drag myself out of bed, made my way to Upper Campus and manage to focus on learning how plants fight off bacteria. It was one of those days that I did not want to go on any stupid 3 hour field trip and just wanted to go home, curled up into a ball with my blankets and slept away. Anyway, I did fulfill the duty of a student, as always (?). The field trip ended up being quite an interesting experience. It was eye-opening and I learned a lot, but that is a story for another day. Let's focus on the entertaining aspect of the weekend.
 |
| I tried all the flavors. Yes, that's 4 pieces of cake, I know. |
Wes woke me up from my power nap to pick me up for an event at Kolbe church called "KKK" - Coffee, Cake and Culture (yes, KKK sounds cooler than CCC). I kind of had too high an expectation for the performance and was mildly disappointed. I blamed it on the fact that U of R has so many talents in dancing and music that it takes a lot for me to be impressed now. It also might have been because I was only 1/4 of my attention, the other half was used to hold a decent conversation with Freddie, a random guy who was sitting next to me, and to fight off Wes from physically abuse me (by that I meant tickling). The best aspect of the night was the cake, obviously, and the alcoholic coffee. What can be better on a cold day than getting a chance to stuff my face with assorted muffins, chocolate cakes, assorted cheesecakes, lemon tarts, etc. Moreover, during the 30 minutes waiting in line for that little bit of heaven, I have made a few more friends and had quite an interesting conversation with them. The mission to convince Wes to come to the gay-lesbian film festival with me - failed. The mission to get Wes to steal more muffins and cheesecake - success. Freddie was amazed by how little energy I had during the performance and how much energy I got the moment I saw desserts and Bailey Irish coffee, and also my capacity to digest that huge amount of desserts. Who cares? I was happy. That's all it matters. I ended my Friday in a dessert coma and a movie, which I fell asleep to within half an hour.
Early sunshine Saturday morning, we gathered at the Alma house to set out for our Robben Island trip. The weather was gorgeous. The sun was shining, and there was a light breeze that kept the heat from being overwhelming. The sky was a deepest shade of blue, with not even a single trace of clouds, perfect weather for photography. After a short twenty minute boat ride, we arrived on the island. I have to say I miss the feeling of being on the ocean, riding over the waves and having that jumping and dipping feeling in my stomach. Many of my friends, on the other hand, didn't seem to agree that it was such a pleasant feeling. We did a tour around the prison where Nelson Mandela and many other political prisoners were held during … ugh … I forgot already. I'm not the best person to recite historical and political events. The prison itself, however, was interesting to visit. It has a beautiful architecture and a structure that gives off a feeling of immense stability and protection (well, make sense if it's a prison). The stone walls and how they incorporated little gardens and stone pathways at various places within the place somehow gave me a feeling that I'm in Greece. The weather was so gorgeous the entire time we were there that I thought to myself, if I was a prisoner, looking at this blue sky over a high stone wall, wondering about the days of freedom, would just kill me inside.
 |
| This reminds me of Little House in the Prairie |
After the prison tour, we did a tour around island, from other historical locations to modern areas where people live nowadays. There were vacation houses so cute facing such amazing views that made me think: "It must be hell of a life living on such a beautiful island like this. That if you're not living in jail". Blue sky, blue ocean, white sand, green grass, yellow daisies, white sea gulls, what else could you ask for? We were driving through a small path through the woods when the tour guide told us to expect penguins in the bushes. "What!?!" - I said a little bit too loud only at the moment when a penguin and a turtle popped out of nowhere from A BUSH and waddling across the street. Yeah, way to make a fool out of myself.
We returned to the harbor, stopped by the gift shop to look at souvenirs. I was tempted to take random things home with me as always, including a R13,000 (almost $2000) worth quilt of Africa. It was an exquisite piece of art, though. The quilt includes every unique aspects of Africa, made out of not only cloth but also decorated with various things like beads, bronze accessories, wooden masks, etc. It was such a precious item I want to be friend with whomever buy it, just so that I can look at it again. The boat ride back was pretty interesting, since Monica and I were reminiscing various things about U of R and shared our stories there. I'm so glad to have Monica with me, we clicked so well and since we are both from U of R, we shared many things in common too, friends included obviously.
Upon arrival at the Waterfront, Monica and I decided to grab lunch at the harbor. It was such a beautiful day, it would be a waste not to enjoy a leisure meal outside by the water. Italian food was calling our names so we picked a cute bistro, next to a group of local street performers - free music performance during lunch = extra bonus. I had a delicious tomato and mozzarella panini, and an iced espresso with coffee liqueur drink that reminded me of Starbucks a little bit too much. Megan, Qamar, Ben and Toni also decided to join us for lunch. I love the fact that, except for Qamar, the rest of us are all from U of R. And you realize how small the world actually is.
I finished off the afternoon with a large serving of Jamaica Coffee Gelato and a trip around the shopping mall. All these local stores and boutiques have such interesting decorations, including SA-flag-soap and leather-and-fur-Africa-shaped earrings that I tell you know, I'll be bringing them home.
 |
| I just want to eat them all =.= |
Wesley's fashion show seemed to go on quite well that afternoon too. Opening the show, he admitted to be "nervous at first but gotta show them the African swag that I invented". Lol! This guy insisted on not letting me go home until I pick up the "African swag" from him. We shall see about that. One of the guys from the show got picked to sign a modeling contract. Another thing I realized about UCT, fashion does exist on the street, in the sky, and everywhere else. There are signs looking for models and also of beauty contests all around campus. Even some of the local designers are our ages. It is such an amazing feeling to think that everytime I walk by Arts Block, I may be running into someone famous.
 | ||||
| Nothing can cheer you up better than freshly baked cookies |
 | |||||
| Coffee and muffin is a must |
I do miss the feeling of being busy and stress though, as weird as it may sound.
This thing is getting longer and longer every time. If only writing papers is as easy as writing blog entries. But again, I might have just written a terribly boring blog entry.
Oh well, there is no memories that is not worth recording. To be able to relive the memories is not something you can always do, without the help of these records.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.