Week 4

Hi again! This past weekend was the highly anticipated Wacky Wine Weekend where the 40+ wineries in the area open up for tasting and festivities. We had a great time, even though most of the wine was unimpressive. Two members of our group left Saturday morning, which was sad, but I'm glad it wasn't me!

1. Coolest thing(s) I've seen: People sliding and jumping into a giant pool of red wine in search of a diamond ring. We also went to this party at a winery Saturday night - they had live bands inside this huge tent filled with bails of hay. The people were so hammered and kept falling all over the bails of hay, stepping on our feet and throwing hay up into the air. Reminded me of a certain KA party back in college.

2. Most interesting thing I've done: Toured a champagne winery, sampled lots of wine, and blended and bottled my own bottle of red (which I'll probably never drink because the wine was shit).

3. Recent funny/embarrassing story: One of the guys at school last week pulled out his camera phone and started taking pictures of me while I was teaching class (yes, they have cell phones but can barely afford food). When I asked him to put it away, he said he "wanted to show his mom the new teacher at school." Right! The same day, another guy asked me for the sweater off my back. I politely told him that was not an option.

4. Most frustrating/difficult/uncomfortable situation faced (or in corporate speak, "most valuable learning experience"): We went out last Thursday night for our "farewell dinner." We invited the staff here at the farm as well as our drivers and went to a restaurant in town. We got there at 7 and were the only table in the whole restaurant. We didn't start getting our food until 9 (even though most of us ordered burgers) and the last dish wasn't served until 9:30 -- the New Yorkers in the group were livid! Good thing we had brought our own wine! Apparently African time is a lot like island time.

5. Best food/drink I've had: Springfield Estate wine or Graham Beck Brut Reserve

6. Plans for the upcoming weekend: This weekend is a 4-day weekend because of Youth Day on Tuesday, June 16. We're going shark cage diving on Saturday and then to Stellenbosch (the university town) for more wine tasting and hiking Sunday and Monday.

7. Health: Great!

8. What I miss most: My car and being able to drive myself when/where I want to go.

9. Other general commentary. We saw a whole new side of South Africa this weekend. On a daily basis, we see few white people (other than each other, our program director and a couple teachers at school). Well, they all came out for this weekend! I would liken the crowd to one you would see at a horse race, like the Carolina Cup or Foxfield... very aristocratic. The girls all wore scarves, skinny jeans, boots and messy hair. The guys all wore designer jeans & sunglasses, graphic tees, and these awful rubber rainboots. I was told that it was because last year's Wacky Wine Weekend was a rainy, muddy mess, but I'm convinced it was a fashion statement. The men of South Africa are tall and quite attractive but seemed very snobby, as did the girls. Apparently, attending the Wacky Wine Weekend is quite a status symbol. I definitely saw the divide between the haves and the have-nots that I heard about before coming here.

Unfortunately, I don't have pictures this week. Posting them takes up a ton of bandwidth, which is expensive here! Just imagine me smiling with a glass of wine in my hand -- that pretty much sums up my last few days :-)

Cheers!