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First weekend of freedom
After returning from the hike Susie and I joined our roommate Alex (who goes to UWC) and a group of 8 of her new friends from school for dinner. We went to a restaurant called Mama Africa, where I enjoyed ostrich and crocodile and something else. Mama Africa is located on Long Street, the most popular strip of bars and clubs that is overpriced and usually populated by tourists. Lots of the international students hit up Long Street on their first days here but we took our time to get there and decided to explore it when we were all together. The rest of our roommates met up with us and we had a fine night of celebrations.
I was the first to wake up on Saturday (shocker) so I bummed around and made some breakfast of eggs and maxi-slice cheddar cheese that I forgot I had in the fridge. Since then I've been putting it on everything I make so that I use it up before the expiration date. Susie, Jamal, and myself made our way to Mr. Price, a cheap clothing store that I've been meaning to go to since I've discovered how cold it can get here. Jamal was loving the attire and bought himself a snazzy outfit. I was looking for something warm but the girl's section was useless so I ended up purchasing a sweater from the men's department and I can't stop wearing it. Along the way we also spotted some stores for school supplies but I decided I barely use any at home so I'll hold off until it's absolutely necessary. Later in the day five of us went to the Waterfront to meet up with the 4 Stellenbosch students…as part of their orientation they were given a bus tour of Cape Town and had some down time there. We only got about an hour together before they had to leave. Alex and Nicole were doing some community service at UWC for the day that was affiliated with habitat for humanity…ha. We sat on the rocks by the ocean for a while and enjoyed the beautiful winter weather. It's bizarre how sunny and warm it can get for a few hours during the day before the temperatures drastically drop. For dinner we ate at what I must say is probably my favorite spot thus far (minus places with African food)…a restaurant with all kinds of food that is geared toward using healthy ingredients. My tuna salad allowed me to forgot that raw vegetables may be questionable; everyone was super pleased with their meals. Jamal and Brittany ordered cocktails which they argued were some of the best drinks they've ever had. I suggested that after exploring some more we should return to the restaurant bar…which led to the following shambles… We returned to the bar by 7 30 and each ordered a drink. My mojito was disgusting due to a layer of pure sugar at the bottom that was so thick it wouldn't even dissolve. I made Jamal drink it as I was gulping down his strawberry jam jar- an empty jar of jam filled with booze, strawberries, and juice. We were soon approached by the restaurant manager, a Jamaican fella that decided he would cover our entire tab after ordering us a round of tequila shots. He also announced that he had a list of 22 secret Jamaican cocktails that he wanted to make for us. Before we could react he was behind the bar with blenders and booze and god knows what (he refused to fill me in on the ingredients) and was serving us drinks one after another. Needless to say we were all wasted within an hour or so and decided it was time to go back as we still had a night of tentative plans ahead of us. We took a cab back to meet up with Alex and Nicole at whatever bar they were at…the driver's meter was going up every millisecond and we were b****ing that the rate was absurd. We were drunk and angry and realized that we had to go home anyway to drop things off. We got a nicer cab driver and came back to the house for a bit before proceeding out again. Our first destination was Scrumpy Jack's, the 'usual' spot for many locals. We then proceeded to Roots, which I loved. Part of this bar/club was outside, where there was sand and a firepit and a total hippie vibe. Inside was a bar and food area, and in the back were some rooms for dancing that were covered in smoke. Next was the 'corner bar', infamous for their cheap samosas and other good food. We ordered a bunch of crap and were told to come back on Tuesdays for game nights. We made friends with the owner, whose wife works in the kitchen of the bar. It was empty for the most part, as I feel people just go there to grab food and chill and get away from the chaos of other scenes. We wandered around for a bit and finally ended up at Stones, my favorite part of the night…chill with good music and a nice bar. There are pool tables all around however, so it gets annoying when people poke you in the back when it's their turn in the game. And it's often impossible to avoid because of lack of space.
Just remembered that earlier in the evening the original plan of some of us was to hit up Tiger Tiger, a club about 10 minutes from us via cab. It's quite popular and we've heard some good stuff but we were rejected upon arrival because Jamal wasn't wearing leather shoes and collared shirt…weird and unexpected.
Once again I woke up first. It was almost hot outside which was very deceiving because it got extremely cold again by early evening. We returned to the Waterfront area in the afternoon for the famous Sunday "Green Point flee market"…an array of African crafts. Although everything is relatively cheap, bargaining will make it way cheaper. Since they were almost closing we kept getting the line "please support me and be my last customer for the day. I will give you special price".
Dinner at sea food place was delicious. We came home and Nicole treated us all to Tim Tam chocolate biscuits, along with a lesson as to how they should be consumed. You bite one corner off, then corner diagonal from it, and you use it as a straw to suck your tea through. This melts the chocolate and makes for one delicious dessert. I have named it the Tim Tam shot.
Exhaustion and classes begin tomorrow. My first one is at 8 am and since I have no idea where I'm going I should get there early. There is a shuttle that drives all over the place, and one of the stops is about a 10 minute walk from the house.
I am attempting a pescatarian diet for the remainder of my stay here.
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