1. Last weekend my RA group through CIEE (my abroad program) went to Mzoli's, a world famous (or maybe just SA famous) meat restaurant in the township of Gugulethu. Again, I'm a little uncomfortable with how voyeuristic it seems to do touristy stuff in townships, but Mzoli's is a hot spot for South Africans and tourists alike, and it's really more like a famous restaurant than any kind of poverty tourism. It's this big outdoor awning with lots of tables, and you go inside the building, pick out the hunks of raw meat you want and then they cook it and you go pick up your big bucket o' meat! We got lamb, chicken, beef, pork and sausage, pap (which is kind of like grits but with the consistency of mashed potato), bread, and this salsa-y thing on the side. No forks or knives or plates (except eventually we broke down and asked for plates, cause things were getting ugly)! CIEE paid for our food, so we ate a massive amount of meat. Mzoli's is famous for having this great party atmosphere and lots of drinking and music and dancing, but after we ate, we all got sooooooooo tired. Needless to say, I need to go back and bring some caffeine with me next time!
This actually looks so gross to me now
Note the sign in the background
Here is a disgusting picture of our dirty table
2. On Friday, two of my friends and I went into the city to see this cool public arts festival called Infecting the City! Throughout the weekend were different performance and visual arts displays. We only caught two performances, one was an aerial gymnastics/dance performance, and the other was this modern dance piece, in the court yard of Cape Town railway station:
3. So as I mentioned in an earlier post, I joined UCT Capoeira, which is a Brazilian martial art that is sort of a combination of dancing and fighting. I've been going twice a week now for about a month, and it is so fun! It's also really difficult and I'm perpetually sore, but it's worth it, because I'm gonna be a master by the time I leave. Jokes, I suck. But anyway, I've met some awesome people through this club, and on Friday UCT Capoeira had its "opening function" which was basically a party at one of the group leaders' house. There was lots of food and drinks and music and most of it was Capoeira/Brazil themed. We also played, which I wasn't expecting, so I had worn jeans. It is a miracle my jeans didn't split right down the middle, because I was forced to get in the middle of the circle and Capoeira with one of the advanced guys (which entails a lot of cartwheels and kicks and lunges). Here are some pics from that (not of me, though):
The guy in the green is our coach, Esperiño and the most strong/flexible person I have ever met.
4. Today, for my class Race, Identity and Culture, we went for a walk around UCT campus to this spot next to campus that used to be a zoo! To back track a bit, we were learning about the history of UCT, particularly its legacy of being a largely segregated, discriminatory institution, built with the money of Cecil Rhodes, the eurocentric, crazy British guy that was obsessed with conquering Africa. He had a zoo built next to the campus, which was set up in a hierarchical design, (just like the campus itself), along a hill, with the lion's den at the very top. The zoo was filled with different animals from all the British colonies, as a tribute to British greatness, I guess. Anyway, this zoo existed until the 1980's, and no one has done anything with the property yet (except for destroying a lot of the structures because too many homeless people were seeking shelter in them), so it's just chilling and becoming old ruins. Our walk around it was so eery, and a disturbing reminder that, down to its very landscape, the university we're attending is very much a part of Cape Town's oppressive and racist past (and present). Here are some pics:
outside the lion's den
inside the lion's den
PS My parents are coming tonight! Woo!
No comments:
Post a Comment