Training Wheels

Today, I took a significant step towards conquering my greatest South African fear: driving.

My discipline in waking up at early hours proved to be improving when I only arose from my warm bed half an hour after my 7:30AM alarm. Of course, I was assisted by the rather loud packing by the people in my room headed off for their Kenya-bound Acacia Tour bus. Apparently I was awarded for my early rising with satisfactorily hot water in the shower. Before hopping into my car (I think I may take KT's suggestion of "Aslan" for the name, but I'm still open to suggestions) I checked out of my dorm room so that I could transfer to my $40 a night single later in the afternoon.

To get the car moving, it requires a process. First, I return the radio's faceplate to it's proper location, then I remove the lock that keeps the gearshift in reverse, and finally I take off the big "club" lock around the steering wheel. Usually I would be frustrated by such a slowing of what would otherwise be a split-second process, but considering the consequences of a stolen vehicle to my summer plans, I prefer to be on the cusp of paranoia. Once the process was completed, I started her up and started off toward Table Mountain. I had decided for the sake of a gradual exposure to Cape Town roads, I would not only make the attempt on a Saturday morning, but also take a coastal road that I had taken on the sightseeing bus yesterday. This proved to be a wise choice- I got to focus on the methods of driving rather than worrying about directions. Of all the differences that come with driving on the left, I have to say that the one that has proven to be hardest to overcome is not the opposite positioning of the steering wheel or the gearshift, but rather the turn signal! It's on the right side of the steering wheel and up is for a left signal. What ends up happening is that I will be wanting to put on a left turn signal, and end up with my window wipers going full steam ahead and no blinker engaged whatsoever. Though when it happens I don't have the presence of mind to see the humor, I do laugh at myself after.

I'll probably spend part of tomorrow figuring out exactly which route I will be taking to work, since it's a relatively long and complicated commute (40 min, or so they tell me). Once I get the hang of it, though, I'm sure I'll find some pleasure in it. Until then, practice practice practice!

After allowing my blood pressure to return to normal, I left the hostel on foot, unsure of what exactly I wanted to see and do for the day. To help myself make that decision, I took refuge in a coffeehouse I had spotted yesterday called Sundance Coffee. Its slogan, "Coffee that will make you want to dance," had caught my eye, and I couldn't resist. It was pretty empty when I got there, but I had the greatest chocolate muffin and large cappuccino that I've had for a while, and I came to some conclusions about my day's activities. I decided to walk towards the Castle of Good Hope, Cape Town's only castle and oldest surviving building. They say "castle," but it's really more of a fort, but whatever. On the way there, I stopped at an internet cafe to upload yesterday's blog (hence the slight delay) and deliberately passed by one of the Cape's most beautiful buildings- the City Hall.


This building, though I don't know the dates that it was built, stands next to a huge open space, called the parade, and also is home to the balcony from which Nelson Mandela gave his inaugural address. As you can tell from the picture, it's quite impressive and very distinguished. I'm not sure if you can tour it, but I'll check- maybe for a weekend activity or something. To get to the castle I had to walk through the big plaza, in which the locals were having a huge market selling everything from clothes to food to toys. It was refreshing to walk through a place devoid of tourists (or at least from what I could tell).

When I got to the castle, I not only got a student discount for more than half off, but I also was just in time for the tour! Actually, it was more like the tour was just in time for me, since I was the only person on it. Luckily for me, all the tourists seem to have either already come in the summer or came later, because it ended up just being me and Stephen, the guide, walking around the compound for about an hour. He was a knowledgeable guide, despite his strong accent, and I enjoyed the tour immensely. I felt kind of bad having made him do the tour for just one person, so I tried to tip generously.

The exterior of the castle

The Governor's Mansion within the castle

Fountain

After I finished the official tour, I spent some time exploring the rest of the area, including the four points in the star-shaped outer wall. Being that there were very few tourists, it was a nice and relaxing experience. Next up, I explored the military museum that is a part of the castle which showcased the various amazing uniforms that officers in Cape Town have worn over the centuries. I thought it was really interesting how the various cultures of the area have had an impact on the military here, like a dress uniform topped off with a whole leopard skin draped across it. On the top floor, they had an exhibit dedicated to the Anglo-Boer War in the late 1800's. Apparently, a bunch of white settlers tried to break off of Cape Town and start their own nation, severing their ties with the British Empire, which was ruling the area at the time. Unsurprisingly, the British didn't like that and fought them into submission. Apparently, however, the British lost more people than the Boers, probably because of the Boers' use of guerrilla warfare. Ironically, I was sharing the museum with a group of South African army people.



I took a quick look around a small exhibit of period rooms and then surrendered to my hunger at the castle's restaurant, where I got a large lunch with a drink for about 6 bucks. As I was finishing, I noticed a group of about 30 South African army men and women arrive in the main area in the castle, and they started to do something I would never expect a military unit to do: they started dancing in a big circle, singing a traditional African at the top of their lungs, harmonizing and everything! It was such a pleasant and joyful sound and an amazing sight to see. To my surprise and pleasure, I saw more and more groups of military people arriving (not all singing and dancing), carrying flags and weapons. I asked around, and found out that there was a practice for the parade to open parliament today! Not having a tight schedule and not wanting to miss this elegant show of South African military might, I went back up the roof and watched the square fill up with more and more troops of varying type while reading even more of "Atlas Shrugged".

The singing soldiers

After about 40 minutes or so, it looked like the groups were getting ready to march out into the city, so I headed back down and chatted with Stephen (the tour guide from before) and waited for them to depart. Hilariously, the parade started off with the Cape Town bagpipe corps:



I watched a bunch of the groupings head out, and eventually I started walking with one of them, after I realized that they were probably walking to Parliament, my next stop. As I walked next to one of the military bands (quite entertaining) along the closed streets of Cape Town, I noticed the groups of people who had stopped what they were doing to watch this practice. It was encouraging to see the patriotism and gratitude on the faces of the people watching. At one point, there was a younger boy pretending to march beside them. After all that these people have been through, they have a right to be proud of their current government.




Though I enjoyed seeing the final result of all the soldiers lining up along the entire street with only a 4 foot gap between each of them, I decided to move on. I glanced at the parliament, since it was all closed with nobody in it (it's Saturday), I walked up Church Street, which was similarly deserted. I guess Saturdays in the winter are not the happening days here in Cape Town. Oh well, that'll just make for less traffic for Toukam's and my tours on the weekends.

Upon my return to Backpackers, I got checked into my single room, which is so luxurious compared to the 8 person room I've been in for the last two nights. It may not have a bathroom or heating, but it's nice to spread out and have good lighting. It's a short stay, though, since I plan on moving in to the apartment tomorrow sometime. I took a quick nap and charged up my laptop and iPod before heading over to the bar, where I had a great conversation with the girl from Harvard as well as two other women from the University of Minnesota who are here on a fellowship. It's funny how many people are here for internships or fellowships- a much different situation from Europe last year. All three of them are doing public policy stuff, which I found pretty interesting. For dinner, I got lazy and once again ate at the bar here, but it was really good and cheap as usual. I justified it by saying that I'll be going out to restaurants enough when Toukam arrives. Continuing my conversation with the others, I was actually distracted by a sports game on TV! Those of you who know me, you know that nothing disinterests me more than sports. However, for some reason rugby is actually interesting to watch- probably because each play lasts for almost a minute and it's full of passing, kicking, tackling, and dogpiling that leaves no room for a dull moment. Apparently there's a rugby championship going on in SA right now, and I think Pretoria just won it tonight.

I retired back to my room after talking a little more with the Harvard student and watching some National Geographic programming on deadly jellyfish. Tomorrow could either be a great or stressful day- I'm hoping that everything will be quick and painless regarding the apartment, but I can imagine it turning into a desperate search for the person in charge and my being without lodging. I'm praying it will be the former situation.

Well, perhaps my next post will come to you from the comfort of our new apartment! Thanks for reading!