Tonight I went to the rugby semi-final match between the Western Province (Go Cape Town!) and the Cheetahs. Liz, Kevin, Collin and I walked from our house in Rondebosch down to the Newlands stadium, located a convenient 15 minutes jaunt away. We arrived just after kick-off. We paid 50R (about 7$) for standing tickets. Because we were a bit late, we had to stand in the back, but we got a pole to lean against, so that was nice. The rugby game was very exciting, and the crowd was very into it. Although I could not understand much of what was happening, I thoroughly enjoyed the game, and cheered on Western Province wholeheartedly. We learned some new cheers, some of which were in Afrikaans. We also learned that Western Province fans love their crowd wave. Our section loved it so much that for fifteen minutes they tried to start up a crowd wave, focusing upon it more than the game. We were surrounded by crazy Western Province fans in blue and white striped polos who were waving the WP flags. We ended up winning by 24 points, which was very exciting. If the finals are in Cape Town, we are going to try to get tickets to see them.
Earlier today I went to downtown Cape Town and the Old Biscuit Mill with Liz. We ate delicious food at the Mill, did a bit of shopping (I found this really cute coat on sale because it is the end of winter here…lucky for me, I am returning to winter, so I felt justified in getting it :), and then travelled via mini-bus to downtown. Our day consisted of a lot of walking up and down and around government walk. We went to the old Slave Lodge, a place where the slaves of the Dutch East India Company were kept during the original settling of Cape Town. It was very informative and depressing. We also went to Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s church and had a coffee (Tutu was a key figure in the TRC following the end of apartheid). After this we went and walked around the company gardens. Unfortunately we missed the last bus back home, so we had to walk a long distance to swindle a taxi cab to take us back to “the bosch” (aka Rondebosch). By the end of the day I was starving, about ready to pass out, and my feet hurt very badly, but I thoroughly enjoyed our adventures in downtown Cape Town.
Apart from this weekend, nothing too exciting has happened this week. I spent a lot of time working on my homework and papers. Finals are coming up soon, and I cannot wait to be finished with all of these history classes. I have written 8 papers this semester, which is more than I wrote at UCSD in my two years. I know this sounds bizarre, but I am actually looking forward to returning to my hardcore science studies…I even feel like I miss Ochem. I know, I’m a nerd. Besides studying, I went running everyday. I also got to walk Anuk, which was fun. I ate dinner on Main road a few times with friends. And on Tuesday I made Thai yellow curry with coconut milk from scratch. It was pretty good if I do say so myself. I did not get a chance to go surfing again, but I plan on fixing that and going tomorrow to "the berg" :)
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