day two.

This morning Auntie Anne drove me to school, and although Vancouver had said to take a cabs until further notice (for which I would be reimbursed), as she leaves on Sunday we want to spend as much time together as possible, even if only a few minutes at the start of the day.

Had period one spare, and as I am sitting reading over the lesson for the day, my mobile rings. Its auntie Anne. Calling from the police station. After dropping me off she was rear-ended by one of the jitney mini-buses, at the gate of the police station. Thankfully she was okay and it was only a minor dent, but she was clearly (and understandably) shaken. I may have mentioned before that the mini-vans cruise the road by their own rules, and this was no exception. Auntie Anne was stopped, in coordinance with what one I supposed to do, though such behavior is admittedly not the norm here. thankfully a couple of the teachers were able to drive me to meet her at the police station, and act as interpreters since everything was being discussed in xhosa. The matter was quickly resolved and Auntie Anne was able to leave, while we returned to school for class. What a start to the day!

Had two classes today, both Grade 10 English, and luckily both the right classes this time. Things went relatively well and the students were well-behaved for the most part. I am still a novelty to them however, so we will see how long this will last. When I arrived at my last period class I came to find another teacher teaching them. Apparently such timetabling kinks are common at the beginning of the year, and according to one teacher, “they should be sorted out within a months time.” A month?

Auntie Anne picked me up from school and off we went in search of penguins and baboons. We had heard that there was a beach not to far from the city where penguins liked to hang out, and baboons ran wild.

About 45 minutes from Cape Town, Muizenberg is an adorable little fishing town, with brightly-colored cabanas lining the beach, and fishing boats constantly coming to and from shore. The colonial-style water-facing architecture was reminiscent of Barbados, and the sky was a perfect rich shade of blue. We found the beach and the penguins and took the requisite snapshots. Afterwards we had dinner at a gorgeous restaurant overlooking the bay. Auntie Anne had lobster bisque and I some freshly-caught snapper. Yum.

On the drive back we took the mountain route towards Chapman’s peak. One feels as though you could be driving through Italy or even the alps, as the highway winds round and round, with a sheer drop cliff overlooking the ocean on the one side, and steep lush mountains on the other.

As we approached chapmans, the sun was setting in the rich blue sky. Breathtaking. Even more unbelievable is that such beauty is almost a daily occurrence here in the Western Cape. *swoon*