SORRY FOR A LACK OF PHOTOS... MY CAMERA DISSAPPERED MYSTERIOSLY AT EARTH DANCE AND I'M HAVING TO MAKE UP FOR IT WITH ONES I MANAGED TO CAPTURE ON MY BLACKBERRY ;( I'M GOING TO TRY AND GET SOME OFF OF MY FRIENDS AND POST THEM HERE ASAP!
I promise, I haven’t been eaten by lions, detained by Namibian border control, fallen off of Table Mountain, gotten into a fist fight with a rabid baboon, or run away to Tahiti with Jordy Smith... in other words I'm still alive and well. I can't believe how much time has passed between my previous blog post and this one... APPOLOGIES!! I have no real excuse, although I guess I could say that I have had a lot of work, but the doing of that work is an entirely different story. Thus, my neglect to write is entirely unjustified. So lets hope that this one makes up for it...!!!
Lets see... where did I leave off last time? Oh yeah, EARTH DANCE!!! Well, unfortunately, there isn't much to write about that would probably leave this post under the "family friendly" check box, however I can say that I had the time of my life. Among the details that I can spare about the weekend, here is what I got kiddos ;) On Friday, September 16th, my friends Clare and Marlee and I set off in our rental, otherwise named Vegas/Biggie Smalls/Geert (we couldn't really decided on a name). This car looked like something Doc Brown blasted through to the future from the early 80s. I can't remember the model for the life of me, not that it really mattered, but I'm pretty sure it was some deceased breed of Toyota. It's white paint was peeling, the inside was solid black, and there was a radio that picked up only three FM stations. Oh, and a cassette player because apparently, people still use those? Not quite. The three of us (Marlee already covered in body paint at 11am), loaded the car with our Pringles, cash, and ciders. But the greatest part of Veas/Biggie Smalls/Geert was that we got to drive that little baby on the LEFT side of the road... woah mama now thats an adventure in itself. Plus, the only form of a map that we had managed to throw together was a faulty Google Map and well, by licking our index fingers and trying to figure out which was the wind was blowing. We, were, screwed. It took us about 2 hours to get out of the city and find the South African version of Costco where we could buy a cheap tent. Oh and I might add, I did 85% of this driving that Friday... two wrongs don't make a right my friends. After scuttling around every wrong exit ramp, entrance ramp, yadda yadda yadda... we finally found our way to the correct highway that would take us to the small town of Worcester, home of Earth Dance.
Nekkies, the Land/resort thing, that it was held at, was nestled in a beautiful valley blanketed with vineyards and a beautiful view of the mountains (in case you all haven't figured it out for yourself yet... there aren't many ugly things about the landscape here). We were greeted with a long line of anxious adolescents, ready to party it out over the next 48hrs. Between the aviators, Grateful Dead t-shirts, and rustas, I knew we had miraculously wound up at the right place. Hipsters paradise my friends. A cheerful lady walked alongside each car, snapping an EARTH DANCE wristband onto all of our left arms and handing us goodie bags with consisted of a program, an eco-friendly ash tray, and a condom. So generous. We finally parked Vegas/Biggie Smalls/Geert and then lugged out load over to our decided upon camp site and pitched a tent. From there on out... well, I think you can gather what happened! The music was unbelievable and the weather was to die for (or in my case, to sunBURN for). Every night, the stages would light up and some of the best Electro/Trance/Dubstep music I've ever heard would radiate off of the starry sky above. Out of that 48hrs, we danced for 20 and slept for zero... you do the math! What a weekend. Obviously, like any music festival, the people watching/meeting was extremely interesting. The three of us "Americanos" as some of the other Earth Dancer's came to call us, spared no minute for dullness.
Kalkies
Rugby
Over the next couple of weeks, there were a random assortment of fun happenings that have earned a spot in this blog. Last weekend started with National Heritage/Braai day on Friday. So, Lindsay, our South African friends, and I all decided to go to a Braai (obviously in commemoration of the holiday) and then to a rugby game at Newlands where we had on-the-field seats. It was a blast. The next day, a couple of friends and I decided to nurse our headaches from the holiday over by going down to a place called Kalk Bay to enjoy supposedly legendary fish and chips from a place called Kalkies right in the harbor. Well, the fish and chips where great but the best part of that day was what we had all decided to come up with next... tarot card readings. Lindsay, Jules and I were walking along the bay area shops when we saw a sign for "Claudine" tarot card readings... of course we didn't pass it up. It was my first time to have my cards read so I figured, what was there to lose? Right. So, we walked up the small back alley way (its a beach town, wasn't sketchy so keep you socks on) and up the stairs to a precious flat that overlooked the entire bay. Claudine, a sweet and petite blonde lady met us at the door and invited us in to figure out what the hell was going on in our hectic lives. I had half excepted to see a plump toad of a woman, but Claudine looked like the mom of any one of my best friends... totally normal. We all sat down and one by one, had our cards read. I can't defy the confidentiality of my friends, however I can share some of the details of what my tarot reading told me. On second thoughts... lets just see if it comes true, then I'll tell you ;)
Naked Sushi!!!
This past Monday, the same group of girls that I had my tarot cards read with, plus some (including Regan) and I all went Naked Sushi at a fun place called Bamboo in Greenpoint. The night consisted of all you can eat sushi off of girls covered in seaweed (pretty much only, but don't worry... everything was covered.... kind of) and comedy acts. It was fabulous. Not to mention, the place was crawling with men (any guesses as to why?). I accidentally told one of the girls laying down on the bar that I couldn't take any of the sushi on her cause she was covered with crabS (I'm allergic to shell fish and they were crab filled rolls). I immediately felt awful, but she laughed. Way to go HOPPER! They have to have the best job in the world... all you can eat sushi off of your bellybutton, free shots, and a big tip. And not to mention lots of date-propositions I'm sure. Sounds like the dream job to me. (Sorry Grandma... I just really like sushi!) The night was a lot of fun, and not as extreme as it sounds really, but it was still nothing short of a good time.
As for more recent occurrences, Regan and I decided to join a Yoga gym in downtown Cape Town in order to work on our figures... or in my case complete lack of flexibility what-so-ever. The type of yoga that we did was Bikram, or Hot, Yoga. It lasted 90 minutes and as if that wasn't miserable enough at times, Regan and I got placed behind 16 year old prima ballerinas/ Cirque du Soleil contortionists. It. Sucked. I've never felt like more of and idiot in my entire life. Thanks for that one girls, really. Regan and I had to work really hard on keeping a straight face while the girls where literally spelling their names with their arms via a backbend type thing. I don't think that I have ever sweated so much in my entire life. My child's pose was painful. However, it felt amazing afterwards. The two of us are definitely going back once we can generate enough sweat to make it through another 90 minute class.
Other than that, the semester has really flown by! I can't believe that I have less than two months before I am on a return flight home to Richmond, Texas. Wow. To be honest, I'm not really looking for the culture shock that will be waiting for me there, its sure to be a big one. However, I am starting to miss things like fajitas, pickles, my car, REAL ketchup, and Forever 21. But none of those things, with the exceptions of friends and family, could make me willingly return home. I feel like I've found a pocket of my heart here that I didn't know needed to be filled. Curiouser and Curiouser. Well, the next time I blog will likely be after Rocking the Daisies (get PUMPEDD!!!) I've mentioned it in previous posts, but its finally HERE! Next weekend, my friends and I will be trekking up to an even bigger music festival (of more variety) and it will surly make for a fun post.
Until then... enjoy your own adventures, wherever in the world or in life that you might be!
Hopper Xoxo
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