I Should Tell You

A little bit about what’s going on in my life!!

1. School

This has been dominating my life. Work is really starting to pile up and I am… over it- to say the least. My Advanced South African Politics class is particularly troubling. We just turned in another paper this week. The topics are so vague (and kind of absurd) that it makes writing the 1,000 word responses kind of difficult. They certainly take up much more of my time than they should! I also had a test this week, but it was quite easy… I probably shouldn’t say that until I get the grade back, though. But the next few weeks will be intense. I’ve got a ridiculous number of tests, projects, and papers that need to be taken/done. With all of the public holidays coming up (Good Friday was yesterday, Family Day, Freedom Day, and Workers’ Day) we only have 17 days left of classes! Crazy, or what? The first couple of preliminary finals schedules have been released and mine isn’t too bad. I have one on the 30^th of May, the 1^st of April, and the 7^th of April.

2. Poor Communication

One of the most obnoxious things about being in South Africa (and there really aren’t many) is that being in contact with people back home is so darn difficult! Lately, I’ve had a lot going on and that translates to me needing to able to communicate with people. Not always an option here… It’s just one more thing that proves that Cape Town is trying to be a 1^st world city while being surrounded by the 3^rd world. For example, Skype always works best if I just make an audio call with no video. Should I hope to do video, only one of the parties involved can be streaming. Two is way too much for my faulty internet connection to handle. Also, Skype seems to function properly if the windows are open. Which, you might think, why is that a big deal? Well, when it’s nighttime and the mosquitoes are after me like an emaciated dog after a chicken leg it can be problematic.

3. Wine

I now love it! Each Friday night I attend Wine Society at UCT with some of my friends. We usually get six glasses- mind you they’re only about half full. We rank each wine we taste for it’s color, nose, and taste. Today Amy, Arianna, Chelsea, Diane, Elsha, Kait, Miki, and I went to Stellenbosch on a wine tour! We went to four different vineyards. The first two were very good and I enjoyed nearly everything I tasted. And I was less than impressed by the last two. Overall, I tried more than 25 wines today. Needless to say, I had a darn good time! But what’s very cool about this whole experience is that I’m learning so much. I now know a little bit more about what you taste when you’re drinking wines and I know more about my own palette- which helps me to decide what I will like. It’s so fun to be surrounded by other people who are learning these things too. We can all talk to each other about what we taste and smell in the wines. It’s just a very cool experience. I bought a bottle from the first vineyard we visited, Simonsig, and I am bringing it home to my Mommy!

4. Rent

I have recently gotten on a new kick. If you know anything about me you’re probably very familiar with how I fall head over heels for a new… anything- hobby, tv show, band, etc. Well, right now I’m on a Rent kick. Like the musical… I knew a couple of the songs, but really had no idea what the story was. I borrowed the DVD from Elsha on Monday and have watched it at least 15 times. Not to mention I now have the soundtrack and haven’t stopped listening to it. I’m dreaming of seeing it performed. It’s no longer on Broadway so maybe one day I can see it done by a traveling group. Basically, I have fallen madly in love with Roger. If you’re familiar with Rent, you’ll know that the title of this week’s blog is also the title of a song from the show!

That’s pretty much all right now. Scroll down to see two posts worth of pictures of our Stellenbosch trip. We enjoyed ourselves so much that we’re talking about going back on Monday! God love South Africa and its love for a considerable number of public holidays!

I’m going to be living La Vie Boheme this week- another Rent reference!

Love you all.

Be safe,

B.