Thursday, April 21, 2011

Burning CDs at 1:00 am? Sounds like Roadtrip!

I should currently be doing one of the kajillion things I have left to do before leaving the country TOMORROW. Instead…I’m burning cds for our roadtrip and writing this blog.

First of all, I owe you a description of Cirque du Soleil.

FANTASTIC.

Okay, I won’t lie, it took a little while to get used to. I mean everyone was in crazy costumes, speaking a language I at first thought was French, and then found out was actually gibberish (oops), doing crazy/creepy stunts with their bodies all the while extremely loud and disconcerting music was playing in the background.

I now understand how they were completely terrified in Knocked Up when watching Cirque du Soleil while on shrooms.

But after a while, I absolutely loved it. It was such a cool performance, especially when you realize these are real people who are doing crazy things with their bodies. It really made me want to join the circus. Sadly, I’ve never been able to fold myself in half, so I don’t think they’ll take me. Maybe I could just be a stage spotter. As in the person who stands at the end of the stage and makes sure people don’t fall off and get hurt. Yes that’s a real job and yes, that could totally be me one day!

Anyway, the rest of Fall Break was amazingly uneventful. I got over my sickness and spent the last few days hanging out with friends, sleeping until the middle of the afternoon multiple days in a row, and enjoying the quiet, peacefulness of my house when it wasn’t full.

But break had to end eventually, and school has been kicking me in the butt. Of course, it’s no one’s fault but my own. I still refuse to admit that I need to do homework in Cape Town. So therefore, I spend the weekends relaxing and having fun with friends, I’m lucky if I crack open a book or type a single word. Consequently, I spend the next week barely sleeping while writing papers and reading books. And yes, while I know that I should have learned by now to balance my work, I think the mental block has already set in. And honestly, I enjoy my weekends too much to change them now. Anyway, as my roommates like to say, we can sleep when we’re dead.

Other than school, the past few weeks have been pretty chill. For the past two Saturdays I’ve gone with some friends to Old Biscuit Mill. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned OBM before, if not, shame on me. OBM is open every Saturday and has the BEST FOOD EVER! You may think I’m kidding, trust me, I’m not. They have every kind of food you can imagine. Some delicious dishes I’ve tried include a Belgium waffle (complete with chocolate, maple syrup, whipped crème, caramel, and bananas), butter chicken, a flat bread pizza and the best pomegranate smoothie I’ve ever had. I plan on going to OBM every weekend I’m here until I leave Cape Town. Along with the (AMAZING) food, there’s a great vibe at the Mill, and while it’s usually ridiculously packed, it’s fun to see real Cape Townians out and about.

While I’m on the topic of news, I have some extremely exciting news: I am learning to cook!

I know, I know, a little unbelievable, but I promise it’s true.

Over Fall Break I discovered my friends are amazing cooks. While my roasted-red pepper hummus and pita are always a hit at our dinner parties, I’ve been pretty jealous of how great they are in the kitchen, so I decided that I would attempt to cook with them for our next dinner party. We started with quiche, which I helped Cari make, and surprise it was super yummy (although I give Cari most of the credit there). Then, after being inspired by the flat bread pizza at OBM, my friend Tomke taught us how to make it.

And guess what??

I basically made a whole pizza by myself. Well, there was a lot of instruction from Tomke, and I was a little afraid of messing up because she already mentioned multiple times I was moving a little too slow for her. But I still basically made a whole pizza by myself, and I’m even going to attempt it while home. Look out Corinne, I’m going to be the new chef of the apartment!

All of these “family dinners”— as we like to adorably call them—have really made me start to like cooking. Although the great company, along with the fact they let me blast “Bootylicious” and dance around the kitchen with a native Zulu-hat (used for a wall decoration) on my head might have something to do with that. But really guys, when we’re back in Ann Arbor, I’m definitely planning a few dinner parties.

Over the next two weeks, we have a total of 4 days off of school for Easter and some public holidays, so a couple of friends and I have decided to head to Namibia for 6 days! In case you guys don't know, (and no judgments here, I knew nothing about Namibia before coming here, and until planning for this trip, I only knew one of my roommates lives there and she saw Bradd and Angelina in a grocery store once) Namibia is on the Northwest of South Africa and apparently has some of the most beautiful scenery possible. Some friends who went over Fall Break told me it goes from lush green hills, to the desert, to mountains, to sand dunes in ever direction and back.

To say I’m ridiculously excited is a HUGE understatement!

There will be two cars, three people to a car, and unlike the Garden Route rentals, these cars are supposed to be pretty new, so hopefully we won't get a flat this time. We'll even have a CD player and GPS (fancy I know). We’ll be leaving tomorrow, and driving our rented car around Namibia, where we’ll be staying at campsites, enjoying the scenery and hopefully taking in some local sports…like sandboarding. I’m mostly just excited to see a new African country, and of course to roadtrip (since you all know how much I love roadtrips).

Well I should get back to the homework I’m trying to finish before Namibia, as well as last minute trip planning. The next time you here from me, I will be a camping expert, who will be completely sick of Ramen noodles (we bought over 20 packs for our trip), but who will hopefully have mastered the art of sandboarding and be a master navigator.

Love and miss you all!

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