The madness begins...

Where to start…

I finally bought my vuvuzela. Turns out there’s such a thing as a fake vuvuzela. When I came home after my proud purchase, Helena asked if I had mastered on how to blow it and I was like “uh… yeah… all you have to do is blow.” Apparently, it’s not that easy… mine’s only easy b/c it comes with a whistle inside of it. Not the real thing. Sigh.

Oh! I don’t feel so overwhelmed at work anymore! Turns out, I DON’T have to know anything and everything about drip irrigation systems (the hot houses is still another story). But I set up a meeting on the 22nd (that’s when we can get transportation) with a supplier of the drip system. All I have to do is show him the garden layouts and he can help determine what’s needed and get us a quote. Phew. Yay for experts. As for the hot house (er, green house), Monica and I are going to a plants nursery on the 18th that has a hot house for me to get inspiration. Maybe I can even ask them how
they built theirs or if they have any recommendations.

The opening ceremony and first World Cup match is tomorrow!!!! The city is so alive and filled with excitement it’s bursting out of every corner. Yesterday at noon was a vuvuzela ceremony in tribute to the World Cup and everyone and their vuvuzela spilled out onto the streets. Vuvuzelas were blowing, cars were honking, people were chanting and dancing. Of course, I only remembered to take a picture after the fact. Doy. We were going to go to the grand ceremony that started at 2 pm today, but we heard there was a stampede already with some injuries, so we decided to avoid that area.

Today I went to Table Mountain with Vijay (sorry, I realize my topics are kind of jumping around and not in chronological order… however my brain’s working). Oh. my. god. It was breathtaking. Today was a beautiful day, no cloud in the sky and it paid to go to the top of it. Surprisingly, it wasn’t as crowded as I thought it would be, even with the big influx of tourists. Went up around 3 pm and stayed til after we watched the sunset at 6 pm. Walked around (it really IS pretty flat at the top!) and discovered these adorable furry animals called dassies! They kinda look like beavers, minus the big tail (in fact, I don’t recall them really having a tail), but APPARENTLY they’re the closest genetically related species to the ELEPHANT. How WEIRD is THAT? They’re adorable. I had a staring contest with one. But yeah, back to the views. No picture or words can really describe it. Mountain series all around, cliffs highlighted by the sunlight, the city down below (and the stadium!), peninsulas in the distance, all surrounded by vast blue oceans crashing onto the shorelines. The sunset was spectacular also… I might have gone a little blind from staring at it for too long.

Crime is definitely on the rise. Almost every tourist (that looks like an obvious tourist) has been mugged or near-mugged. I know, I know… I’m being careful, dear friends and family. So far, no problems here yet. Probably because I kind of fit in (yay) or just look… poor? Either way, I’ve got my pepper spray in hand (and my kickboxing skills somewhere in the back of my mind… ha).

Went on one of those touristy bus tours 2 days ago, you know, the one where the passengers wear the headphones and listen to recorded information. It was pretty neat – stopped off at the Kirstenbosch botanical gardens and I went a little snap happy. Really neat place though. For the rest of the ride, just enjoyed the scenery and the history facts from the recordings.

Tomorrow we’re watching the Opening Ceremony at Sean’s and the first game (I think). Then he and his friends have tickets to the first game in Cape Town that evening (at 8) so I think I’ll make my way to the fan zone in the city and see how that is. SUPER PUMPED! Can’t wait to go to my game on the 24th. Wondering if I should even try to get tickets to other games…

Tomorrow Ikamva is closed (is it because the World Cup starting is basically like a holiday? I think it might be.) But it’s been a long day, so I’m going to call it a night. G’night!