Danger: White Sharks

I plan on keeping it short and sweet today mostly because the Swiss have decided to switch the y and z letters and have no apostrophe on the keyboard. Needless to say this is driving me up the wall. Number one order of the day was a trip to Muizenburg beach. Muizenburg beach is a surfing hotspot on False Bay, this means slightly warmer water, many more shark attacks. If anyone has been following the news is Cape Town (doubtful) you will recognize Muizenburg as the site of the "Dinsosaur Shark Attack" where a tourist was eaten by a white shark the size of bus because he was swimming 100m out when the shark flags were up. There really is no helping someone like that, but it demonstrates the point that Muizenburg is shark country.

This, as is common in Cape Town, makes life-threatening situations rather amusing. I will paint the scene, nice beach, warm water, white sand, nice breeze, no one peddling goods on the beach.... Then all the sudden, the alarms sound, everyone is ushered out of the water in a total frenzy and an underwear model sprints down the beach waving the shark flag. This was the first time my lack of camera was felt. Quite a sight he was. This happened twice while we were there. This has been the only exception to the Africa Time Rules. People sprint, rather than saunter casually out of the water.

Other things worth mentioning today were: My first minibus ride, my first ride on the "free train," the problems that arise on TV from having 11 national languages ,and Status (fragrance commerical).

My minibus ride was everything I hoped it would. Almost got in several accidents because they cannot drive at all. But you can´t beat 75 US cents to anywhere in town. My second ride had 17 people in a 12 person van. Great, sweaty African fun. Nearly took a third that would have probably reached clown-car status had all five of my friends gotten into already over capacity bus (About 15). To quote my housemate, "These guys are optimistic."

In other minibus related news, I have learned how to whistle with two fingers (one of the two requirements for becoming a "gotchya," the other is volume). I am planning on heading down to find a job tomorrow... WYNEBURG!
I decided the train was not that exciting. It is "free" on the weekends. This means there is no one selling tickets, but it is still not intended to be free. Supposedly where the muggings happen , but there are police patrolling these hyper-filled cars. So I felt safe.

Next headline, the television. My housemates, being European, love soccer. Watch it anytime its on. This obviously doesnt bother me at all being a soccer fan myself, but after watching a few games and Generations (South African soap opera) we have all noticed that the language used to commentate or speak, changes every few minutes...English one sentence, Afrikaans the next, then Xhosa, or Zulu... You just never know, I have to assume unless you are fluent in all 11, you will end up being quite uninformed.

So much for a short post.

If you can find a online version of a Status fragrance commerical, enjoy it... Its All About the Respect.

Be Well