Winds, Beaches, and Tow Trucks, July 22

Hello! I woke up this morning to the sounds of what seemed like a hurricane passing by outside, only to be informed by our housekeeper Monica (a witty and very knowledgeable Cape Town local) that the cape storm was coming in. You see, it has been sunny and around 75 degrees for the past three days, so I was under the impression that everyone was lying when they talked about the torrential downpours Cape Town can have during the wintertime. Monica told me that it wasn’t originally named the “cape of storms” for no reason. Today was extremely windy, and still pretty warm, but they tell me that the wind is indicative for a big rain storm….We’ll see tomorrow how the rain is. (I still have to buy some boots/rainy weather shoes!)

In the morning we met our landlady Miss Hanley. She is very sweet and made us tea as we signed our leases and did legal stuff. I just adore her, she is very sweet. After tea, she took me down to the local mall to get our things photocopied, and she showed me around along the way. Hanley introduced me to what will now be my favorite grocery store, Woolworth’s (a similar rendition of Trader Joe’s that is conveniently located three blocks walk away from my house). After we signed the leases Hanley took us for a spin around town to show us her favorite spots and beaches.

We went to the most gorgeous beach titled “third beach.” The water was aqua colored, the sand was nearly as white as silicone, and large boulders surrounded the edge of the beach. It was super great! It made me feel happy just standing there in the sunshine, and I wondered why South Africa doesn’t get more credit, because I think that might be the prettiest beach that I’ve ever been too! (Well, maybe tied with Kauai). South Africa really is one of the most gorgeous places on earth, haha. I think I will like it a lot here. The water felt like it was like 40 degrees though - I am not looking forward to how cold it is going to be when I go surf! I can’t wait for it to be summertime here…only three more months J

We got back to our car only to discover that it wouldn’t start. Some of the local workers that were in the parking lot tried to help us start the car for about thirty minutes before deciding that Hanley had better just call a tow truck. I was very amazed though at how willing the people are to help each other out. Its not often that five guys would devote half an hour to helping out a stranger in the US. While we were waiting for the tow truck, me and the girls walked to go and get some sandwiches. We ate at a beautiful little restaurant overlooking the ocean, and finished right when Hanley came to pick us up. I was super exhausted after our adventure filled day, so I took a nap when we got home, and just woke up. I thought that I was skilled at taking naps in the middle of the day, but my housemates have all been sleeping for almost three hours. Apparently my napping skills are no match for theirs. So that’s the end of the happenings of today. Tonight we plan on making dinner and watching Jane Austen movies. (I thought you would enjoy this Olivia…We are watching “Persuasion”…I don’t think we’ve seen that one yet).

P.S. I know I didn’t write a blog yesterday, but nothing too eventful happened. We finished doing orientation stuff. I met some nice Norwegian people and am super excited to introduce the work “keen” into my vocabulary. They seemed to be “keen” on everything. I like that word, so I think I’m going to use it, and maybe people will think I’m European. Although, many already do think I’m European before I start talking, especially when I am with the European crowd. Apparently I look very Swedish. Who would’ve thought…

Cheers!