Weekend Recap

So last week I thought I was blogging too much, as it was nearly every night, but now that I haven't posted in a few days, I've forgotten all the details of things that have happened sense. This is my best shot at remembering the big things that have been going on.

Saturday was a blast. We started the morning in our neighboring suburb, Woodstock, at a place called Old Biscuit Mill. I didn't know much about it other than it has a Saturday only market and that our whole lodge recommended going, but given as it was only a 15 minute walk away, we went for it. It was incredible. The mill of Old Biscuit Mill is in fact that. What was once an obviously industrial building has been repurposed (an urban planner's dream, am I right?) into a series of permanent shops and eateries. The permanent shops ranged everywhere from an upscale art gallery, a Lush-eqsue soap and bath shop, a chocolate factory, curio shops and plenty of nice, upscale restaurants. While interesting, the real selling point was the massive market. In the London days we went to markets all the time, and I would say that this one rivaled Borough Market, for those who are familiar. It was mainly food and drink, and every type of cuisine you could possibly imagine, three tents full. I decided on a berry smoothie, and a very American egg and cheese bagel, but in my defense, bagels aren't a thing here and it was deliciously homemade by a local baker and his daughter. Dying for more goodness, Mandi and I split a lemon meringue tart and called it lunch.

Finally, a sunny day with a beautiful view of the mountain. 

L-O-L. For the record, I asked what exactly was an eggslut and it's a glorified McMuffin. Extremely disappointing. 

That night the five of us, along with three guys from the house, Nico, Henry and Andrew went to Newlands to see the South African National Rugby team, the Springboks, play a match against World XV. The game was great, with Springbok winning 47-13, and it was such fun to see the differences in stadium culture here versus at home. My personal favorite example of differences? Instead of peanuts and popcorn in the stands, vendors sell beef jerky and donuts. It's possible I had a donut, I mean when in Rome...

Yijing went behind the scenes to do some face painting herself. 

Sunday was a bit of an interesting day. We met with Sidney in the morning to discuss some details of our project and then had the rest of the day free. If you interested in hearing more about our research, I'm planning on having my next post be just that. We checked the weather and saw that the morning would be clear with rain in the afternoon, so our initial plan was to check out Robben Island- home of the prison where Mandela spent such a large portion of his life. Luckily we called before going and learned that they were sold out, so plan one, done.

Plan two was to head to Bo-Kapp, a colorful and vibrant quarter of the city that’s supposed to be full of photo opportunities. We ate lunch with the plan to do that once we finished, but one look at the sky decided for us that our casual strolls through the neighborhood would likely be more enjoyable on a rain free day.

Plan C was the District 6 museum, and like most things in South Africa, it’s closed on Sundays. Typical. Idea 4 was the movies, but with nothing we wanted playing at any appropriate times, that was a bust. Our final option, and eventual selection was visiting the Two Oceans Aquarium. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t super enthralled about it given all the failed plans we had before, but it was excellent. The Cape Town aquarium is much smaller than the National Aquarium in Baltimore, but still a great one.

They had a predator exhibit and Sunday is shark feeding day, and coincidently we stumbled upon that section right as the feeding began, so that was really cool to watch. We saw the divers go in and feed the sharks as well as the massive sea turtle, all while they explained what they were doing and facts about the animals. The coolest part for me is the touch pool. They have tanks, with staff members manning them, that have all sorts of sea life that you can actually touch. A lot of it was plants- various types of seaweed, but they also had starfish, sea urchins, sea anemone and a few fish. The anemone was quite the experience. I know that they’re living, but you kind of forget that when they’re just hanging out, swaying with the current, but when you touch them, they suck onto you where you literally have to pry yourself off.

We found nemo. 

The touch pool. 

Sunday night we had our first “cultural exchange” if you will. A few days back, Nico, who is from Italy asked if I knew how to make “fluffy, breakfast pancakes. Like they have in America.” He clearly didn’t know who he was talking to, as I am the pancake queen- ask any of my college roommates; they can vouch that I make a mean ‘cake. Laughing I said yes, and he asked if I could teach him. We decided Sunday night was the night, and he got the recipe from me and brought back all of the ingredients from the store. I was impressed that he was even able to find maple syrup, but the boy did good. I taught him how to make the mix, what to look for when they’re cooking and the latest in pancake flipping technique. The result was a delicious breakfast for dinner, and our Italian, plus a few Dutch spectators, had their first homemade pancakes. In exchange, Nico is going to teach me an Italian dish, likely pasta. I definitely think I’m winning this exchange- pancakes for pasta- but I never would have thought that of all things “fluffy, not flat pancakes” would be such a delicacy.

And finally, before I forget, we had a hailstorm yesterday. Yes, you read that correctly- ice falling from the sky in Africa.