I took 2 buses from Zimbabwe to get to Cape Town (a total of 38 hours on buses...so I looked really good when I rolled up in the mother city on a cold morning). I had 3 full days in Cape Town before Samantha arrived so I did what any "normal" Peace Corps Volunteer would do...I went to the waterfront and walked around the beautiful mall and looked at all the food in the grocery stores. I'm not even joking. There were two other PCV's in Cape Town and we were all staying at the same hostel, so together we went out and ate delicious food and just people-watched and walked around the city. I also got my hair chopped off at a salon (thanks ringworm, I never actually wanted short hair!), and I went shopping. It was all very exciting, and I was able to get all those weird culture-shock activities out of my system before Samantha arrived.
The V & A waterfront...where Mark, Michaela and I walked around eating delicious food and staring at all the beautiful people.
Cape Town has lots of street graffiti, this one's my favorite though and I was happy I was able to find it again!
The Nobel Square at the waterfront, which is dedicated to South Africa's 4 Nobel Peace Price laureates: Albet Luthuli, Desmond Tutu, FW De Klerk and Nelson Mandela.
Going back to Cape Town was really special for me because I had studied abroad there 4 1/2 years ago and absolutely loved it. On one of my free days I met up with an old professor and we drank tea and caught up, it was really nice.
Quinton, who is in charge of all CIEE study abroad programs in Cape Town. Also a very good friend :)
Finally, after 3 luxorious days, Samantha arrived and the real fun began. Together we went wine tasting, climbed table mountain, explored Bo Kapp, the district 6 museum, old biscuit mill and drank lots of cappuccinos. It was absolutely wonderful. Here are some pictures from the trip:
Wine tasting :)
The best combo: cheese and wine!
What a view!
The group we went wine tasting with. The tour itself was kinda lousy in my opinion but the people we went with were all pretty fun to hangout with so overall it was a great day!
Camps Bay Beach.
Iced Coffee from my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE coffee shop in all of Cape Town (in Old Biscuit Mill)
The district 6 museum, which commemorates families living in the district 6 of Cape Town who were forcibly removed from their homes under apartheid. The museum also stands to commemorate all those who suffered forced removals under the horrendous apartheid government.
Colorful houses in Bo Kaap
And finally, a picture from the top of table mountain!
One day, Samantha went to do a safari, which I was not planning to do, so while she did that I traveled around the Cape of Good Hope with some friends I had met when we did our wine tour. The Cape peninsula is absolutely beautiful, all along the peninsula are small beach towns (which reminded me of New England a bit) and each town has pristine beaches with blue-turquoise waters, and sometimes seals and penguins. It was really fun driving around with new friends and just enjoying these pretty towns.
Just some seals hanging out, getting some sun....
The Indian Ocean!!!
And a beautiful sunset over the ocean.
Samantha, Shivaun, Luke and myself.
We all went wine tasting together and then I spent the day exploring the cape with Shivaun and Luke while Samantha went on a safari.
The trip to Cape Town was exactly what I needed at the time because I really felt like I was on a vacation and could just relax. I had saved up for this trip (and had some help from my parents, thank you again so much you guys) and because of that I was able to relax for a few days and not stress about the idea of eating out two meals a day and just enjoying the place I was traveling to. Cape Town is also a pretty inexpensive city so even on nights when Samantha and I would go to a "nice" restaurant our meals were less than $10, which was great for me! The hostel we stayed at was cute and comfortable, and really clean. We met some other people traveling from all over the world, who then tagged along on our adventures each day and that was fun too.
The city itself was just such a nice break from Mozambique. Yes there were people begging on Long Street and asking us for money but you get that in any city. My biggest shock though was how clean and tourist-friendly the city was. It was also great to have reliable public transportation. Drivers actual yield to pedestrians! Even the minibuses in Cape Town were a lot nicer than they are in Mozambique (instead of being crammed into the bus like a pack of sardines everyone has a seat, and when the bus is full no one tries to pack more people in!) I studied in Cape Town right before the World Cup, and although the city was very nice then, it felt like an African city. Maybe it's just because I've been living in one of the poorest countries in the world (ranked 187th in development out of 190 countries) that Cape Town felt so luxurious, but it really did remind me more of Europe than Africa. It was also strange that every black African I met in the city seemed to be from Zimbabwe, not South Africa. The city is still very segregated, but that is more out of choice than anything. Black Africans lived in the Cape Flat Townships (such as Llanga and Khayletisha) for decades, and once apartheid ended, it was too expensive and likely very intimidating to move into the city. Today, most Black African families live in the townships because that's where all of their families live; that's where they shop, go to school and that's the life they know. I'm interested to see if this will change in the next 5 to 10 years as Cape Town becomes even more of a tourist destination, and continues to develop and participate in the international economy, and more jobs become available in the city.
Anyway, after a week in Cape Town, Samantha and I traveled back to Mozambique. We spent a night in Maputo with my friend Mindy and then went to Namaacha the next day so Samanatha could meet my host family from training. In Namaacha we just hung out with my host siblings and their neighbors and cooked delicious matapa with my host mom. It was really fun, and I was glad Samantha got to meet my host family, and see how a typical Mozambican family lives outside of the city. We also squeezed in a run to the waterfalls outside Namaacha and that was fun too!
So happy to be back "home".
Samantha learning how to scrape coconuts to make coconut milk (used in the matapa curry we made for dinner that night!)
My host mom adding boiling water to the coconut flakes to make milk...
I can not put into words how wonderful these people have been to me these past two years. I can go months without speaking to them and just show up at their door and they always happily welcome me with open arms. They really are my family here.
Samantha posing with Josara and Junior (our next door neighbors son).
Pessearing (Portuguese for walking around) with the host siblings and Samantha.
After hanging out in Namaacha, we had about a full day in Maputo to squeeze in the main tourist attractions...so this meant lunch at the fish market and then I took Samantha to the craft market so she could buy souvenirs...just look at this delicious, fresh seafood!
First we bought the prawns....
Then someone else cooked them...
And then we ate them...all of them!
After a day in the city, we went back to Mindy's house, where we ate Indian food together and did our laundry and just hung out. The next day, after some confusion with our airlines, we flew to Chimoio and traveled back to Vanduzi. We spent a day in Chimoio capulana shopping, and eating at Silvino's restaraunt, and then spent another whole day in Vanduzi just hanging out. Samantha met some of my closest friends here and also go to learn how to use a latrine (i.e. poop in a hole) and take bucket baths! We baked banana bread and walked around and it was really cool. I love when volunteers come to visit me at site because my friends here are always so excited to meet them, but having someone come all the way from America, just to visit me was really neat, and people were so flattered to meet her!
Samantha and I with Silvino, a very good friend and also very talented chef. We ate lunch at his restaurant in Chimoio.
An authentic Mozambican/Portuguese meal at Silvinos: beans and rice with fried fish and cabbage salad. In the background you can see a bit of the jar that has Silvino's famous peri peri in it (don't worry dad I'm bringing some home for you to try!)
Two of my favorite market ladies (the one on the left is Dorca and I often spend free mornings or lazy Sunday afternoons hanging out with her at her stall, wrapping vegetables and telling stories). The ladies in the market were so excited about Samantha's fancy camera, they immediately tried to freshen up and then started singing and dancing for her to record. It was awesome and I was dying of laughter.
Overall, I had so much fun. It was great traveling around with someone from home and just being able to catch up and relax together. The entire time we were in Cape Town I kept telling Samantha being there was like a dream, and when I came back to Moz I wasn't even sure if the trip had happened or if I had been dreaming. The countries are just so different its incredible, but I'm grateful I was able to return to South Africa and really appreciate it again. It was also fun to watch Samatha here and see which things surprised her most, and which things she didn't seem to mind. Honestly though she was a champ and didn't complain about anything and was always anxious to try something new here! She even wanted to learn how to bolea...and picked up some of my most common expressions here in Portuguese. It was really fun and I am so thankful she came to visit; the company and conversations were great and it was so refreshing to spend time with someone from home!
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