Hallo Suid-Afrika: My One Month Anniversary!

This weekend was fantastic, plenty of fun activities, and the realization that I’ve been here for a month already, ONE MONTH! That means that my time here is almost a quarter of the way done, so unreal.

Saturday CIEE had a wine tasting program for us in Stellenbosch. Stellenbosch is where the very famous wines of the Western Cape are produced. It’s beautiful countryside full of vineyards and farms situated about forty-five minutes outside of Cape Town. It's surrounded by mountains and very lush and green. We stopped at an estate called Neethlinghof, where we had a cellar tour and did wine tasting. The tour was really interesting, where we learned about the history of the farm and the production of wine. Neethlinghof is an estate vineyard, so all the wine they produce comes from grapes that are grown there on the property. The grapes are then matured on the property and bottled there as well. They don’t export to the US, but they have some wonderful South African wine! Some of the wines we tried are specific to South Africa, and come from grape types that were produced here. A great way to spend my one month anniversary in South Africa!

me with the wine I bought :)

wine cellar!

wine cellar at Neethlingshof

wine being matured

wine tasting!

Today we went to Mzoli’s, a totally crazy experience. Situated in Gugulethu township, Mzoli’s is basically a huge meat market that feels like a street party. It ended up being almost a whole day event. Almost my entire house went, and it was a great time. We left from Wolmunster around 10:30 this morning and took a mini taxi to Gugulethu. For about a dollar a person we all squished in one mini taxi and headed out of Cape Town into the townships. Once there, we got a huge table and started buying beer and cider. Mzoli’s is cheap, for massive quantities of meat and drink. Although it took almost two hours from the time we got there to get our food, we weren’t lacking. There was plenty of time to drink and socialize, and the music was great. There are even little vendors selling things like sunglasses, bags and jewelry. I bought a really cute bracelet for R10 after we ate! When our food arrived, there were enormous platters of pap (maize mash), salsa and bread with a tub of meat. There were sausages and chops, all unidentifiable, but all BBQed and delicious. After eating, we moved to the dance floor, it was basically a huge party with tons of food. Such a fun time!