Computer-less in Cape Town

Over the past weekend my computer began having technical difficulties, and it turns out SA has a woefully inadequate knowledge of Macs. Long story short, it will be a while until I get my laptop back. In the mean time I'm in the school computer lab writing a quick update.

The weather has been a roller coaster ride these past few weeks. Today it is 80 degrees and sunny...over the weekend it was rainy and cold. I think I definitely made the right choice to study in Cape Town (as opposed to Europe) because as soon as the weather gets even a little cool or grey I get tired and antsy.

Here are a few one sentence updates on various activities from the past week:

Aquarium Field Trip - My kids loved it and were well behaved - the sharks and giant eels were a hit - and we had a dance / pizza party on the Water Front afterwards.

National Gallery - Monday is free museum day in Cape Town and it was raining, so I spent the morning perusing the mostly modern (and kind of underwhelming) collection of the National Gallery.

Cafe Ganesh - A girls' night at this charming Middle Eastern cafe resulted in copious amounts of pita consumption and excellent conversation.

Kirstenbosch Hike - Yesterday was glorious, so I broke in my new safari hiking boots by heading around the mountain to Kirstenbosch gardens and enjoying a zen-ful picnic lunch and several hours of reading in the sun.

Fat Cactus Friday - Last Friday we had a Mexican-themed house dinner at Fat Cactus complete with many margarita toasts to the semester and general reminiscing.

Stay tuned for - Later today a few of us are going to high tea at the ritzy Mount Nelson resort, and on Friday we are having a massive Fall Feast potluck where we introduce our South African friends to the wonderful tradition of Thanksgiving. I'm responsible for dessert, so I sure hope South Africa knows about pre-made pie crust.

More to come when I can steal another minute at a computer. It's time to begin reflecting on the semester and exploring the bigger picture implications of my time spent in Cape Town. Expect a detailed post soon.