Eating and Beaching

Last Thursday, two staff from VAC invited us to their house in Nyanga (a township not too far from where I work in Cross Roads).  We arrived with a greeting by a local music/dance group.  At first I was very unsure of my feelings towards this event.  I have spent little time in townships, but from what I understand, they are very poor areas that the blacks, coloureds, and Indians were forced to live in under the Apartheid, and although that is now ended, many still live in the townships and have been unable to rise from the poverty and suppression of previous decades.  However, many successful Africans will choose to remain in the townships even after they achieve "success" in our perhaps distorted mindset of wealth equals success and happiness.  Andrew, who works for VAC, is one of those that has remained in the township and lives in a modest, yet beautiful house in a vibrant area.  As I have witnessed the respect he has of both colleagues and of his community, I began to feel at ease at the idea of the Braai and local entertainment. The uneasy feeling of "White Tourist Comes to Poor Africa" lightened and in set a night of friends sharing cultural traditions and good food.  

True Cape Jazz -  this kid was exceptional

Traditional South African food is centered around a Braai, and this night, our plates were filled with ribs, chicken, and sausage along with a vegetable satay over "pap".  Pap is very similar to grits and a local staple.  Bland by itself, pap adds great depth and texture to the meal and attributed to my reaching food coma status by the end of the night.

Traditional South African Braai as prepared by VAC staff, Ivy

On Saturday morning, I awoke early to head to the Old Biscuit Mill which is  foodies dream come true.  Local artisans set up their organic food, crafts, and clothes for South Africans and tourists to file in throughout the day.  I am not an eloquent enough writer to describe the event (nor am I a great photographer, sorry), but simply put, it's Eastern Market on steroids.  Cheeses, meats, fruits, and veggies proudly serve as the base to the Mill but you can get burgers, pizza, falafel, flat breads, frozen yogurt and my favorite, Belgium Waffles.  Organic Heaven.  

This weekend I spent as much time at the beach as possible.  On Saturday, I went to Muizenberg and my friend Bryant taught me to surf.  I got up twice so I'm considering a life change and going pro.  But seriously, surfing is hard!  It looks so easy in the movies, you just swim out and catch a wave--in real life, the swimming out part took about 30 minutes and after each wave you had another 15 minute trek back out to where you started.  I still enjoyed the rush of adrenaline riding the wave and hope to surf more in the upcoming months here.

Muizenberg Beach, where I learned to surf

I also went down to Simons Town and Boulder Beach where penguins own the beaches.  It was very similar to my experience in Peninsula Valdez in Puerto Madryn, Argentina, penguins relaxing on the rocks and beach, just doing their own thing.  Overall, it's a beautiful experience to lie on the beach and share that experience with the penguins.  Who knew we were so alike?

Boulder Beach, Simons Town.  Can you spot the penguins?

In sum, the beaches here are beautiful so cheers to many more weekends at the beach.