I think the word "waste" that more or less sums up my day.
The Stellenbosch Wine Tour. Beautiful country, and I am sure the wine was great, but my pallate just is not there. Run through of the day:
8am : Leave for Stellenbosch
8:45 : Arrive at a parking lot at which point the driver turns around and asks where we are going... This is, of course, after we were told that this company has a standard tour around Stellenbosch. Calls to the company are made and we discover we have 5 wineries to visit around the area.
9am: Recieve our first batch of 6 half glasses of wine, are taught "proper" wine tasting technique, and are told "Don´t spit it out, making wine is hard work." Not sure if he is serious. But, nevertheless, we take this to heart.
Wines are tasted correctly with proper cheese accompaniment. Hints of dark chocolate and stirred fruit... Wine fortified with brandy really hits the spot before 10am.
10am: Six half-glasses of wine down, head to second winery... 6 more half-glasses of wine... Wines stop being tasted are now being drank.
10:45am: Five more. This was about the time we all realize that the proper tasting technique probably involves only a sip or spitting out the wine after its been tasted.
11-5: Lunch, realize that we've had too much wine too early in the day, also realize my palate is not nearly sophisticated enough for this hobby, go to a chocolate tasting (was phenomenal), call it a day.
So the long and short of it is: I don't like wine nearly enough to spend money tasting little bits . it all day long, never listen to someone when they tell you not to waste wine at 9:30 (no one should be drinking at that time of day), Stellenbosch is a beautiful part of the country, and dessert wines are delicious.
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Today was another not so exciting day. Went through UCT's silly process of having to go to the ITS office so they could give me a password...so I could change it. It would make much more sense to just give everyone a general password upon arrival (or inform us of a user specific one during registration, rather than queue for 20 minutes and have it take 30 seconds)... I bought a new cheap computer... Nothing too exciting... Except I'm the only one who can watch SA DVDs.
My new favorite ridiculous thing is Cape Town has been discovered. "Security Guards" and "Parking Specialists." I say this with quotation marks because these people don't actually have a job (no quotation marks) they are actually homeless (no quotation marks), they have just bought ("found") neon green vests and as soon as someone tries to park they run to the parking space and wave the person into the very clearly available spot. Then they stand by the car and expect a tip. Also fun are the guys with neon vests who try to direct you to a spot where "the minibus taxi can see you," these spots are sometimes alternatively referred to as "anywhere along the side of the road." So as you are standing, waiting for the bus, they will approach you, encourage you to move 5m down the street and then ask for a tip. Not to mention asking for a tip is simply not how it happens.
Had my new favorite minibus trip today (I just love the minibus and intend to open a business down at the Jersey Shore [it would work perfect, one long main street + cheap transport + reckless driving + great characters = wild success]) it was 20+ people (so at least 8 over capacity) and a hilarious driver. He pulled up in traffic next to a Castle Lager delivery truck with canvas sides, pulled back the siding and presumably reached for a beer. Didn't get one, but it was a quite a show.
Got my schedule today. Classes meet a lot here. I have 8 meetings of Xhosa a week. So much for 2x 75 minutes at Conn. What the hell is this tutorial stuff anyways.
News in SA is also way more exciting than US. The Cape Times is always good for a laugh, a shudder, and a general good time. Best part is: as of now, no Afghanistan news. I've recently read a story about a building whose construction was ordered shutdown because no plans for the building had ever been stated or submitted (Oh! Reminds me of my favorite man made landmark!). Another involved Zuma's new "love-child." And, of course, "Girl, 7, wanted to be raped." Her teacher said she was acting precocious. Well. There you go. Rather horrid stuff.
My favorite man-made landmark in Cape Town, by far. A highway bridge in the middle of the city. You may ask, "Nate, what is so interesting about a highway bridge in the middle of a city?" Well, my friend, the answer is it's missing a section about 100m of it. So in the middle of the city is a bridge missing a 100m section. Apparently the story (or what I understood from the cab driver) was that they had planned this about 10 years ago and started building; while building they realized they were out of money and stopped. When they got money again... there was a man who had moved into the space the missing section would occupy and refused to move. And as one of my housemates said, "I guess South Africans have a thing with forced removal," so now...there it stands. Unfinished for the last 10 years. And probably without much hope of completion.
Well time to fire up the braai.
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