My weekend...

Alright, before I start on the new stuff, I think I'll rewind to one blogworthy event that didn't make it into past posts.  This past week, one of the girls who I tutored at the Masi Library gave me a typed out thank you note:  "Hi Cindy, I want to thank you for being a great teacher, friend and a sister.  I won't forget your smile, love, and care and I wish my teacher would explain things the way you do [< that was my favorite line of the whole thing].  I was very lucky to meet a wonderful person like you, I will miss you."  CUTE.  Needless to say, that note made my day.

Anyway, on to Friday night.  We all went to this market in Muizenberg that I don't know the name of, so I'm just gonna call it Muizenberg Market.  Muizenberg's claim to fame is that it is one of the main surfing destinations around Cape Town, but we went there at night so no surfing.  Anyway, the market is the place to be if you are hungry.  So many foods to choose from.  I got three samosas (potato & butternut, chicken, and bacon & spinach) for the equivalent of like a dollar and 50 cents, a vegetable spring roll, a chicken risotto (< the most delicious meal ever, one of those ones where when you bring it back to the table, everyone all of a sudden looks 10x hungrier and goes: what did YOU get?!), and the coup de gras: a waffle with strawberry icecream, banana, chocolate, and whipped cream.  YES.

After that, all of the volunteers went to this place called the Melting Pot to listen to some blues kind of music.  The girl who opened for the night was sooo talented.  Beautiful voice.  Played both acoustic and electric guitar.  The whole atmosphere of the place was really relaxed.  The tables were lit with candles stuffed into bottles, with the wax dripping all down the sides and you could see the shadows of the instruments flickering on the ceiling.  Cool.  Anyway, someone else that met us at the Melting Pot to hang out was a British volunteer (my age) who was staying the night at my host family's house.  Long story short:  She meant to stay for about a week, but plans changed and she could only stay for a night.  We were basically friends for a span of 12 hours, but it was action-packed because not only did we jam to music at the Melting Pot, she, my host family, and I went to this place called Olympia Cafe for breakfast the next morning.  It was in Kalk Bay (from a previous blog).  I had a divine mushroom, mozzarella, avo, and tomato omelette.  I don't think I'd ever had an avocado (besides in guacamole) before coming to S.A.  and I realize that I have really been missing out!  Also, since my host family cooks so much with mushrooms, I am now a fan of those as well, whereas before I came here, I would just avoid them.  Happy I'm broadening my food horizons haha.  

After the cafe, I got dropped off at the train station and rode in to Cape Town on the train with some friends.  We went to a few markets (sort of the main one: Greenmarket Square, which is outdoors and the African Women's Market, which is inside) with the goal of doing some serious shopping for people back home. The cool thing about these markets is that you can bargain for prices.  I am terrible at it and get swindled more often than not, but sometimes I'll get a buck or two off.  There are a number of strategies shopkeepers will use to try to get you to buy their stuff and spend your money, including guilt trips, bullying, or making you laugh.  Example:  I asked one woman for 10 bracelets for 70 rand.  She raised her eyebrows and said there is no way they are worth that little, so she went up to 85 rand.  I hesitated.  She said please (guilt trip technique).  I hesitated again.  She got mad and said firmly just gimme 85 rand (bullying technique).  I hesitated some more, so she said 80 in the same pleading sort of voice as she did when she said please (back to the guilt trip technique).  I said ok.  I think my indecisiveness is almost an asset because I can sometimes wear the shopkeepers down just by taking so long to respond to the prices they give me.  I think they assume they've gone too high and go lower just to get me to say something haha.  My host family told me that they totally take advantage of Americans, but if they hear in your accent that you are South African, they aren't nearly as pushy because they know that you know their game.  

Anyway, last but not least, today I went wine tasting with my host mom at a gorgeous vineyard called Constantia.  We were not serious about it at all and had a grand old time sticking out our pinkies, holding the stems of our glasses, pursing our lips, laughing about how unsophisticated we are, etc. etc.  All I know is that I much prefer white wine to red.  But anyway, I'd better get to bed- back to school tomorrow!