Great White Shark Diving with Obama's Navy deep sea divers

 I just returned from a trip of epic proportions.  I didn't sleep last night because I was being picked up at 4:30am to go cage shark diving and I was extremely excited (plus, went out exploring again with Dena until late in the night). I had originally planned to go whale watching, but whales have not arrived yet, which ended up working out perfectly.  Dena couldn't go because of an allergy to the cold (yea, she's a weirdo but I'll forgive her) and this was my last day of "vacation" before classes start so I didn't want to miss this chance. This was something I always wanted to do in Hawai'i, but never made it happen.  (Tangent: Cape Town reminds me very much of Hawai'i in that it is magically majestic and beautiful and the people can be described in the same way as a result.  The combination of the sun, mountains, ocean, plants, and animals are breathtaking.  One part of the drive today actually made me feel like I was exiting Kalama Valley)

 I knew shark diving was going to be epic and then I began talking with a guy in the group and after finding out he was from NJ (instant connection, always) , he shared with me that him and his 5 friends were actually Navy deep sea divers who were in South Africa as part of Obama's security team.  It was funny to see him tell me this, but when anyone else asked these guys why they were here, they said "work" and did not go into any more detail.  The captain did, however, find out they were all certified to scuba dive and let them go into the cage another time with tanks so they didn't have to come up and down to see the sharks.  While my day ended there, they were definitely going to continue their adventure as I heard talk of strip clubs come up at least a dozen times. 

The main message of "shark lady", who I didn't get to meet, is that the great white shark is misunderstood, maligned, and even hated on our planet because of negative media publicity.  They have been pursued, hunted, and indiscriminately killed over the years to the point where its existence hangs in precarious balance.  The operation of these tours was to actually dispel some of the hype and myths of these beautiful creatures.  The marine biologist compared their behavior to humans trying to get used to an unfamiliar object by touching it and feeling it softly.  Sharks do this as well, but use their mouth and their teeth happen to have extremely sharp teeth.  They are not actually attacking surfers or people, they are just getting to know an unfamiliar object in their habitat.  It is for this reason that most shark attacks (4 deaths on average a year) only end in death because of loss of blood, not because the shark tore apart the person.  Their purpose was to introduce some element of objective perspective to the people who do the diving in order to make a contribution to maintaining the natural balance in at least one ecosystem, in our communal home, Earth. 

Locals

I've been meeting some locals recently and it's been great learning about South Africa from them.  One guy in "university", whose name I can't even try to spell out because it involves a "click" sound in the middle of it, told me how he grew up in a small town where kids learn on the trees because the schools are so inadequate.  He was able to attend a good "white" school as he first described it because of a music scholarship he got as part of the South African choir. 

Another local I met was not from Cape Town, but grew up in a tribe and was going to university for marketing.  I wish I could post some more, but I need to take a quick power nap.  It's about 3:30 am here and I have to be up at 4:30 am to go diving with the great white sharks! Beyond excited...

Wine Tour of Stellenbosch

 So with the time difference and with a fun night out last night, Dena and I were awoken at 1pm by housekeeping.  The wine tour left at 1:30... Luckily we made it.  It was myself, Dena, the tour guide Vincent, and another woman who was ironically a professor of Education at University of Michigan.  She was here to give a lecture and plans to come back to do research for her dissertation.  The town of South Africa that is famous for the vineyards is called Stellenbosch and we did the half day tour and were able to visit 2 vineyards.  This picture is from the first one where we did a chocolate and wine pairing.  It was too early for the brandy, but the wines were perfectly paired (they said they spent over 2 years pairing them).  I purchased a bottle of my favorite one to take home with me :)

Picture of the building at the first vineyard, an example of the Dutch architecture unique to this town.  The Dutch settled Cape Town in the 1600's and this building was erected in the 1700's.  All of the buildings throughout the town had the same architecture and all of the buildings were white. 

 The day was spent with fantastic conversation and it was great meeting such fascinating people.  The wine was delicious, cheese plates to die for, and my favorite were the fresh figs. 

 Picture from the car. 

 This is Peter Falke Vineyards.  His claim to fame is making socks and his vineyard was unbelievably beautiful.  It was here that we had the cheese plates.  It was great sharing stories and enjoying a relaxing day of all things good.   During the day it's high 60's and sunny (winter here), which feels like 70's and one the sun goes down it gets cooler around 50's. The mountains in the background were breathtaking and he had 6-7 dogs that were the happiest dogs I've ever seen, running around playing or chilling tiredly on the steps.  Below is a great panoramic of our view. 

 Doesn't get much better than this...

Yummy.

So these are a few snapshots of the vineyards.  I will post more on facebook and tomorrow I will be going shark diving!

South African Haircut (I wish...)

So I woke up this morning extremely late today, but was okay with it because I thought I deserved a day to sleep in since my last day of work was the day before I flew out.  Anyway, I woke up and went to the market to find that wine was equivalent to $3! I may have done flips in the supermarket.  Then, I realized I didn't get a haircut in New York so I found a salon in the mall.  I sat down and asked for the typical South African hairstyle that men were getting now (just for fun, why not?) but to my disappointment I was told my hair was too short.  The "in" style now is short hair on the side and a HUGE comb-over on top.  I couldn't get exactly that, but this will do for now (not much different).  It's funny how the little things such as getting a hair cut can be seen as a nuisance in real life, but is so fun when there's no work and you're on a high from traveling.  My hairstylist was from the Eastern Cape and we laughed a bunch during my haircut.  Anyway, Dena was at the hotel when I got back and we hugged and jumped for joy for a minute and are about to go grab some food. Until next time...

Day 1- Waterfront Walking

 The first thing I noticed when walking around the waterfront is that I felt like I was in England with more sun and a more beautiful landscape.  Maybe it's because this is the first time studying abroad since London so that excitement of studying abroad kicked in, or maybe it's because the accents are so similiar, or maybe it's because half of the people I encountered were actually Brits on "holiday."  Whatever the reason may be, I can put my money on the fact that this town is a tiny view of a success story of Africa.  I saw a gorgeous waterfront mall with over 40 stores (including a McDonald's of course), fantastic restaurants, this ferris wheel, boats, beer halls, etc.  Even better the South African Rand is currently at a 1:10 exchange rate with the dollar, which makes converting easy (Move the decimal place over 1 spot: 25 rands is $2.50.)

While this vacation spot was very relaxing, beautiful, and full of genuinely nice people, I look forward to getting to know South Africa better by hearing and learning of their struggles and accomplishments once the program starts (which by the way is called Education and Social Reforms).  3-4 of my friends/classmates arrive tomorrow and the program officially starts in 2 days.

 Awesomely energetic African dancers and singers I saw when I first got to the waterfront, a few minutes walk from my hotel.  I love the sound of the African languages, but unsure which of the 11 official languages of South Africa these singers were expressing. 

 Figured I should take a picture of myself---ya know, just to prove I'm not sitting in New York stealing these pictures from Google.

Beautiful sunset by the water.  The Canadian man I shared a cab with from the airport told me the last time he was in South Africa, the waterfront was not built up, but many Europeans and Americans are coming to develop on the waterfront because of the exchange rate and growing South African economy.  He also pointed out on the side of the highway a long stretch of houses, which can be compared to ghettos that were basically shacks.  He told me last time he was here they were selling meat on tables even though they had no access to refrigeration.  He noticed that this time around, these "ghettos" had electricity.  Interesting to already see the dichotomy of two very different worlds in one. 

World News: South African Perspective

Obviously, South Africans look up to Obama, but interesting to see how progressive the laws of this country are.  They were the first country to have a national non discriminatory law put in place and gay marriage has been legal since 2006.  Possible research topic: Have the sweeping national laws worked or is it creating more tension and violence?

 As I waited to get checked in, I took a look at the local newspaper.  It's always interesting to me to see international perspectives of big news as well as local news to see what's important to the city/country that I'm visiting.  Of course, this visit is especially historic because of the health of Nelson Mandela.  Even the way the South Africans discuss the looming death of their hero is admirable.  As a people, they are all trying to say he deserves a dignified, peaceful death and want to send a message that his legacy will live on because in South African (or African?) culture, the family gathers around the dying to tell the person they will all be okay on Earth to give the dying person a sense of comfort in order for them to let go.  The South Africans believe they are his family and his people and are attempting to send this message as a result.  Other interesting tidbit: Nelson Mandela's daughter is disgusted at the international media's disrespect for him.  While Americans and other countries have gotten used to the inhumanity of the paparazzi and media, it was interesting to hear how Mandela's daughter was appalled at how the media camped outside of the hospital awaiting the news and had no respect for the family or Madiba (his clan name).

Other interesting thing I noticed: The newspapers have a place where people can comment on past news stories, similar to some papers in the US.  Many South Africans believe the hospitals are keeping Mandela on life support only until Obama's visit is over in order to not disrupt his Africa tour.  Many are unhappy with putting Obama's agenda ahead of the peaceful passing of their hero.  

Other interesting news story: Protestors were throwing feces at a protest because of poor living conditions/jobs, but the government responded saying this was only going to harm the health of all people even more.  

 A beautiful backdrop for statues created for the 4 Nobel Peace Prize recipients (Mandela is on the right). This is by the waterfront in Sea Point, a short 5 minute walk from my hotel. 

Close up, quotes are engraved on the ground.

Jumping Continents

 

I just really liked these ads in the airport.  They were all different pictures of a man earning the trust of a wild elephant.  (Ad was for a bank) 

The flight over was 14 hours to J-burg and another 2 hours to Cape Town.  I was nervous about the length of the flight, but sleeping pills and free wine for international flights proved to be my saving grace.  I slept through about 10 hours of it. Being hungover from my send off the night before made that fairly easy.   Here's a picture of the plane and my first views of Africa, where humanity all began...