July 26

Cape Town
1. It is winter in Cape Town- literally- picture December. (and on Monday I was experiencing one of the hottest summers central Europe has had in years)
2. They drive on the other side of the road (I won't say wrong side, since it is right to them and the British).
3. Cape Town is VERY racially and economically diverse- every color of people and homeless sleeping on cardboard only miles multi-million-Rand beachside villas.
4. They have 11 national languages- really- and English isn't everyone's primary language, in Cape Town, Afrikaan is another predominate language, in Durban, Zulu ( I think), the languages with clicking in it, is spoken by the rural population.

All day I kept thinking: "How am I here? How did I end up all by myself in South Africa?"

After nearly missing breakfast from sleeping too late, I ran downstairs to an abundance of food. Around noon, I was ready to start my day, I went to the front desk to ask for a map of the city. They asked me where I wanted to go? -I want to see the city. Then I was recommended to do a hop-on-hop-off bus tour of the city. I ran upstairs to grab my fleece jacket and put on my tennis shoes (warmer than flip flops) and went to the bus stop just in time. I boarded the double Decker bus, sat up top for optimal view, and took in the 3 hour tour of the city center, gardens, Table Mountain, Camps Bay and other deserted beaches (its winter), and finally back to the Waterfront where we started.
From my bus tour I went to an information office to arrange my airport shuttle for tomorrow (I'm going to Durban to do my Richter Fellowship study on the effectiveness of abstinence education in preventing the spread of AIDS- more about that below). Then I decided I was hungry, so I sat down at a Pancake House and decided against ostrich meat and a sausage of unknown origin and went with the chicken option. It was chicken and mushroom wrapped in a pancake- interesting. To help me warm up, I also had South African Rooibos tea- it is very good- I definitely recommend it- I know it can be found stateside. I had planned to walk to the city center from the waterfront (against the hotel travel desks instructions), but I got intimidated by the bustle of the city and decided to stick to the touristy waterfront. Just when I was starting to think there wasn't much to the waterfront I discovered a huge mall, which I happily wondered in for hours. It had multiple grocery stores, a movie theatre (no I did NOT see another movie), a market area, food court, hair salon, drug store, and generally lots to look at. As I've said, it's winter here, so it gets dark early, which made me not so adventurous and I turned in early.
*I can't wait for Sydnee to come back so I can properly enjoy this city. I think I over-estimated my independence.
Also, if you want to come to Cape Town- summer is probably better than winter because there are so many beaches to be enjoyed, but if you do come in summer then you don't get to see the whales from Antarctica (and maybe not the seals or penguins- not sure if they are seasonal animals). 2010 will be a crazy time, as Cape Town will host the World Cup- plan accordingly :).
*For the next three weeks I will be in Durban, living with a family, and trying to do some research, so I am not sure if I will be able to keep up the daily blogging, so don't get worried if you don't hear anything for several days!