Wine Tours & Vuvuzelas

Finally we are seeing the light in the tunnel and we have only one exam left before our first semester here in Stellenbosch is over! As we have said numerous times already, it has been unbelievable hectic, especially the last 2 months with non-stop assignments, presentations and now finally the exams. But all the hard work has paid off and we have both gotten good results so at least it's not for nothing we've gone sleepless night after night, driving our brains to the limit of meltdown on caffeine-trips on our mission to produce a certain amount of semi-constructive words for each assignment. After we have written the last 4000 word exam next Monday, we don't have to worry anymore about sudden heart attacks caused by the enormous frustration over the non-logic in every aspect of the University bureaucracy, and the constant worry if the internet is stable enough to give us the necessary sources needed for the 72hr exam. Hallelujah!

BUT - we haven't just been geeks since the last time we wrote. We have both had our birthdays since then, and on the 7th of April Siri was first out. The day wasn't too exciting though, after having had 2 presentations at school before going out doing a survey for our research group work, we and Alex went for dinner at our new favourite Lebanese restaurant, Manoush. The real celebration was on the 10th of April together with our friend Cindy from Oslo. The weather was nice and warm and we gathered around 50-60 people to our birthday party at the Trumpet Tree. It was a wonderful night which ended at Springbok, a legendary night club here in Stellie. Siri received many nice gifts and wishes, and it was an evening filled with laughter and joy. One of the best nights here so far! The day after, Siri and Cindy used their gift certificate at one of the many spa and beauty salons in the town, getting full massage and pedicure. Just what one need after a big night out…

Wine tour and 17th of May

The following weekend we went on our first wine tour. This was to be an epiphany - seeing how there is over 400 wine-farms in the area we have A LOT to look forward too..! We were about 14 people going from wine farm to wine farm, one nicer than the other. The most stunning views and beautiful scenery imaginable, and on top of that you taste delicious wines for 20Rand (approx. 15 NOK) for 4-6 different wines. The wine farms are gorgeous with lovely restaurants and a wonderful atmosphere. We got a guided tour at one of the places, where Per actually got inside a big wine-tank from a small hole in the wall..! We now know all the stages the grapes have to go through before it ends up in the store back home in Norway.

Another major event that's happened since the last time we wrote was the 17th of May celebration. Being a Norwegian abroad on the Norwegian national day is a special experience. Just like in Australia, ANSA (the Norwegian student Association) organises a big celebration. This year, since we both are on the ANSA board and Roger is in fact the ANSA-leader in South Africa, we had to plan and organise this big party. We went to Cape Town on the 16th, keeping the Norwegian traditions alive with a nice dinner and drinks the evening before the big day. Many people showed up, and the restaurant in Kloof street where we had the dinner was within no time occupied with Norwegians. It was a very nice evening, and the next morning we started off with a 17th of May breakfast, including champagne of course. We had to leave the breakfast early as we were helping the Norwegian Association to prepare for the big day which was going to be celebrated in the beautiful De Waal Park, at the foot of Table Mountain. As ANSA cooperated with the Norwegian Association, it was not only students celebrating but all Norwegians in Cape Town got together this warm sunny day. Many people wearing bunad and Norwegian flags topped with traditional 17th of May games made it almost like home. Siri was selling hot dogs all day, where we had Idun mustard and Norwegian "lomper"! Roger sold coffee and sodas, and there was waffles and cakes as well. It was about 170 people in the park that day which was a new record, and the local marching band made it a unique experience with their gym suits playing latino rhythms and the band leader were waving around with a black umbrella dancing in an awkward way. After having sung the national anthem multiple times and selling out all the hot dogs and sodas, some of our friends went back to Stellenbosch while we continued the celebration in Cape Town. The former ANSA leader for South Africa was visiting as well, and before the fancy dinner at Leinster Hall which is a beautiful assembly down town, we went for a few drinks in the area of Gardens. The dinner was really nice with a good mixture of young and old, and us students had our own big table. The main course was lamb, and some of us thought it was very similar to pinnekjøtt, Norwegian x-mas food. They had a lottery were all the prices were Norwegian food or movies or other kinds of treats, as well as an auction were the main item was 2 World Cup quarter-final tickets. We bought some lottery-tickets hoping to get some of the goodie-bags, but the closest thing was the girl sitting next to Siri who won a jar of herring (sild)…It was a fun night, and when the two of us, along with Emma and Maiken drove home to Stellenbosch that evening we were all pretty knocked out from the two days of Norwegian celebration. Hipp Hipp Hurra!!

Last Thursday it was Roger's birthday, with perfect timing as we handed in our second last exam that day. It was also Noma's birthday (a South African friend of ours) and so we went to her birthday party that night, celebrating Roger the day after when we went on our second wine-tour. Roger too got many nice gifts and wishes, and the day started with wine-tour taking a different route this time. We were even more people than the first time, and this time we went by a brandy distillery, Van Ryns. WOW! The welcome-drink was a mixture of brandy and tropical juice which was believe it or not very good. It continued with a tour around the place, including a demonstration of how they make their barrels the old fashion way - the old man ended up playing music with his hammer during the barrel making. We were then taken into the storage of brandy barrels, and just the smell in that room could give you pretty high blood-alcohol concentration. In fact, our guide said no more than 20 minutes in that room was advisable, as well as all flammable items were prohibited. After spending some time at this beautiful place, we went on to one of the most commercial wine farms here in Stellie, called Spiers. It is a massive place, and in addition to having wine they also have a cheetah-conservation and a bird conservation. They offer the guests to come in and pet the cheetas (in return for a decent sum of money of course), but we weren't at all impressed with that place. The enclosures were way too small and they actually stated that they bred cheetas for the sake of "information" training. One positive thing they do though is to breed a certain dog race which is specially trained to herd sheep and cattle and to scare cheetas and lions away. This has been a great success here in the western cape, meaning the farmers haven't been forced to shoot, injure or trap cheetahs hunting on their stock. Another farm we went to that day had white lions as an additional attraction. We didn't go and see how they had been put up, but one can seriously question the purpose of combining the art of winemaking with money making attractions as endangered species like white lions. Anyway, the day was great fun, and after finishing the last wine-tasting we went for dinner at a delicious pizza restaurant. The bartenders came with a special birthday present for Roger, 4 flaming bright-coloured shots which were to be taken in one go. After dinner and drinks the party carried on, and it was a great night with cigars and laughter on Roger's birthday. The best birthday-gift came in the mail from Norway - Øyvind and Anne sent a surprise package with Norwegian magazines, Norwegian new chocolate that we hadn't seen before (delicious by the way) and best of all, a cd with a funny power point presentation for the b-day kid and pictures and movie clips of their beautiful mini-me Selia. And of course, a birthday card filled with wisdom as always It was truly a wonderful gift!!

The world cup is getting near, and everyday now there are being more and more vuvuzelas (loud trumpet-thing) and people singing and dancing in the streets, cheering for South Africa. It's going to be a party we've never seen before, everyone is super-excited. On Friday Siri is going to Cape Town to watch the first world cup game at new Green Point Stadium, France vs Uruguay. Then we are both watching North-Korea (!) vs Portugal before Roger is watching the Netherlands vs Cameroon. Even though there has mostly been joy around SA having the world cup, there has also been several riots in the time before it all starts. Luckily, there hasn't been too much here in the Western Cape. Nevertheless, the train that goes from Stellenbosch to Cape Town (the only transportation by the way, as there are no busses going) were attacked with a firebomb when one of our good friends were on it a couple of weeks ago. The bomb hit in the wagon next to the one she was sitting in, and it was empty so no one got injured. But the train obviously couldn't continue, and being stuck in the middle of no-where as it is getting dark is not the best situation. Fortunately she was okay, although shaken up of course. They think it was the so-called Cape-Flats gangs that did it, and apparently there have been several attacks on the train and other infrastructure as they are feeling neglected by the government and want to use the World Cup as an opportunity to put pressure on them. There is also a "taxi"-conflict going on at the moment, but that is mostly in the area of Jo'burg were taxi drivers are fighting over customers in sometimes a violent manner. But all in all we feel as safe as back home in Norway, and we are crossing our fingers that the next weeks to come is going to be successful and bring lots of opportunities for South Africa.

Until next time - hope you are all well and we miss you loads! We can't wait to get visitors and hope as many as possible is going to come see us and this beautiful country

XXX