C-Town

So im in Cape Town...sorry I haven't updated in a while, but no computer in the homestay and...im just busy! So we got to Cape Town and went to a really sweet Backpackers hostel for a few days...it was hot as hell in those rooms in our bunkbeds, but fun none the less with the bar/pool table room upstairs and a pool outside. We were also only a few blocks off Long Street, pretty much where the cool scene is in Cape Town. I spent three days pretty much hanging out on Long Street, eating good vegan food since all menus in the area mark their vegetarian and vegan stuff and theres a lot of it! I bought some stuff too since Long Street has lots of vintage stores and local south african designers. Everything is wayyy cheap for Americans right now since $1 equals about R11 (11 Rand). Ill put this in some perspective. When we go out to dinner we always order the most expensive wine on the menu which is usually no more than 180 Rand...or...$18. Yowza! So everyone's been going crazy shopping and whatnot. Last Saturday the majority of us woke our butts up at 5:30 in the morning to climb Table Mountain which is a mountain smack dab in the middle of Cape Town. The hike took about an hour 1/2 and the losers who took the cable car to the top met us. It was really beautiful and i'll post pictures at a later date. On Sunday our homestay parents picked us up in the Bo-Kaap which is a muslim community and ergo, all our homestays are muslim. Were actually only a few blocks from Long Street again which is fun, although a little dangerous at night. Its actually a rule on the program here that were not allowed to go anywhere alone...ever. And at night we have to take cabs home from Long even though its only a few blocks. Anyway, my homestay parents are Mouna and Achmat and they are so sweet. They are grandparents and within a few minutes of getting to their house Mouna was showing us every photo album she has and pictures of her grandchildren, children, and trip to Mecca. Her and Achmat (mostly Achmat) love watching Cheaters and Cops and our first night we watched some crappy Steven Seagal movie called Mercinary for Justice...Our first night for dinner was a little tricky cuz me and Steph (my lovely orthodox jewish roommate i had last time) dont eat meat or cheese (and me with even more restrictions). Mouna is like, "Do you eat meat? I made meat curry, meat samosas and bought sausage" and were just like "oh...they didn't tell you?..." we explained our dietary restrictions and she whipped up some pasta for us and we told her of the magical world of soy products. She has since bought soy milk for us and me and Steph actually found some tofu (at this place called Wellness Warehouse. Imagine the beauty part of Whole Foods and a little food but for dirt cheap. South Africa is amazing). So today was our 2nd day of school. Our classes are in this church hall that has no fans or air conditioning...bleh! (SA is going through a heat stroke right now) so thats a little rough. Tomarrow is neighborhood day. Next weekend I might do this thing where you jump off cliffs of different sizes into bodies of water. and then you abseil down a waterfall! yikes. Not sure about this weekend except that Im getting an edgy haircut from a bougie, ultra hipster hair salon for the equivalent of 20 bucks. Gotta love that exchange rate. So Ill try to update this as much as I can while in this neighborhood, but in 2 weeks we leave the Bo-Kaap and start staying in a township (where many blacks were relocated during apartheid and couldn't afford to leave) so I will definitely not have computer at least in my homestay and I don't really know what the area is like. After 2 weeks there I have spring break and my parents are coming, yay!
Love you all, comments!
p.s. Lisa- i keep forgetting to bring my list of mailing addresses with me to internet cafes...I'll try to get on that...and I'll try to write some letters. Although letters take like, a friggin month to get there!
p.p.s. Anton-do you still have my book Alphabetical Africa?