space, silence, sand and happiness.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
happier things
Since my last post about getting mugged wasn't so happy, here are some photos from the past month and a half that I haven't had a chance to put up yet.
a sunny day in the Company's Garden park
matching the national gallery building behind me
I was so excited to see THE BOTHY on the map of the park
beautiful proteas and sunflowers from the Adderley street flower market--only R20 a bouquet!
a soccer game at the Athlone stadium--I don't know half these people. you can probably guess which ones are the kids on my study abroad program.
a new friend?
Nick and I made raw pizza
transfixed by some aquatic creature at the Two Oceans aquarium
you may never fail to frustrate and confuse me, but i love you, cape town.
a sunny day in the Company's Garden park
matching the national gallery building behind me
I was so excited to see THE BOTHY on the map of the park
beautiful proteas and sunflowers from the Adderley street flower market--only R20 a bouquet!
a soccer game at the Athlone stadium--I don't know half these people. you can probably guess which ones are the kids on my study abroad program.
a new friend?
Nick and I made raw pizza
transfixed by some aquatic creature at the Two Oceans aquarium
you may never fail to frustrate and confuse me, but i love you, cape town.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
how lucky i am
I sort of debated writing about this, but I feel like it's probably going to be one of the more memorable experiences I've had in South Africa. So, here goes.
I was mugged by two men while walking to the gym in Rondebosch yesterday. Before I go any further in this story, I should mention that I'm perfectly fine and unharmed, sitting here in my nice warm bed blogging about this.
Anyway, around 3:30 yesterday afternoon I was on my 15 minute or so walk through my neighborhood from Mowbray to Rondebosch. Sometimes I walk on the main road to get there, but recently I have been walking in a more residential part and crossing under the train tracks to get to the main road. I walk alone to Rondebosch several times a day and have never felt in any danger. In fact, as I was walking yesterday, I even thought to myself how safe I have come to feel even though the realization of what I am doing, walking alone in one of the most dangerous cities in the world. But I never feel that fear here.
So, as I was walking, I felt my cell phone vibrate in my bag. I took it out to see who had texted me. I should probably mention that I have been using a really shitty phone here, and it can't be worth more than $10. It was an indestructible black Samsung decorated with holographic colorful smiling boat stickers. Read: not anything of much value. Before I could check the text and put the phone back in my bag, two men approached me. One of them came close to me, and as I tried to dodge him, he blocked my path to get away. In the few seconds that I realized he was blocking me, it hit me that I was about to be mugged, attacked or killed. I think I screamed, I don't remember. The one who blocked me grabbed my right arm while the other one grabbed me from behind. The one behind me tried to rip my purse off of me, but had a hard time since it was a cross-body bag. I struggled with them for probably less than a second, then I remembered the advice my dad and others had given me about just giving them what they want. The guy's grip on my arm hurt enough and I didn't want to be in the presence of these guys for any longer so I released my phone, screamed for help and took off running in the other direction as fast as I could.
As I was running I was guess I was pretty visibly upset. I saw an older black woman walking in the opposite direction. She looked at me, asked me what was wrong, and put her arms out to me. I immediately ran to her and hugged her. She calmed me down for a minute and offered to walk me back to my house. I honestly could not have been more thankful for her presence. As we were walking we found the police, who later came to my house for information. As we were walking, I found out the lady's name was Ferena, and while she has lived in this area for her whole life, she's never been a victim of crime. I asked why anyone would want such a piece of crap phone and she said that "they'll kill for one rand." (if the exchange rate is R7=$1, you'll know this is hardly anything). She said that the people like the ones who mugged me don't live around here. Instead they either come from the Cape Flats or live on the streets and come to where they know there's more affluence.
Ferena walked me back to my house and a few minutes later the police arrived. Given what I have heard about the complacency of the South African police, I was actually surprised at their willingness to help me, even if there isn't much they can do.
I'm angry and still freaked out by what happened yesterday, but most of all, I feel incredibly lucky. I am lucky that I only had my phone stolen, and not my purse or my ring. I am so lucky that the only thing that hurt me was the twisting grip of their hands, not a knife or a gun. I'm lucky that they gave up after getting my phone and seemed to have no other interest in stealing anything else from me. I'm lucky that I had the ability to take off running as fast as I could, and that I wasn't dead on the ground. I am lucky that I found someone as wonderful as Ferena to take me home and that the police were making rounds through the neighborhood just as it happened. I'm also lucky that I made it to the gym finally last night for a kickboxing class where the only thing I had to kick and punch was a stuffed mitt. All in all, as pissed off as I am about what happened, I am infinitely more grateful that it turned out the way it did.
I was mugged by two men while walking to the gym in Rondebosch yesterday. Before I go any further in this story, I should mention that I'm perfectly fine and unharmed, sitting here in my nice warm bed blogging about this.
Anyway, around 3:30 yesterday afternoon I was on my 15 minute or so walk through my neighborhood from Mowbray to Rondebosch. Sometimes I walk on the main road to get there, but recently I have been walking in a more residential part and crossing under the train tracks to get to the main road. I walk alone to Rondebosch several times a day and have never felt in any danger. In fact, as I was walking yesterday, I even thought to myself how safe I have come to feel even though the realization of what I am doing, walking alone in one of the most dangerous cities in the world. But I never feel that fear here.
So, as I was walking, I felt my cell phone vibrate in my bag. I took it out to see who had texted me. I should probably mention that I have been using a really shitty phone here, and it can't be worth more than $10. It was an indestructible black Samsung decorated with holographic colorful smiling boat stickers. Read: not anything of much value. Before I could check the text and put the phone back in my bag, two men approached me. One of them came close to me, and as I tried to dodge him, he blocked my path to get away. In the few seconds that I realized he was blocking me, it hit me that I was about to be mugged, attacked or killed. I think I screamed, I don't remember. The one who blocked me grabbed my right arm while the other one grabbed me from behind. The one behind me tried to rip my purse off of me, but had a hard time since it was a cross-body bag. I struggled with them for probably less than a second, then I remembered the advice my dad and others had given me about just giving them what they want. The guy's grip on my arm hurt enough and I didn't want to be in the presence of these guys for any longer so I released my phone, screamed for help and took off running in the other direction as fast as I could.
As I was running I was guess I was pretty visibly upset. I saw an older black woman walking in the opposite direction. She looked at me, asked me what was wrong, and put her arms out to me. I immediately ran to her and hugged her. She calmed me down for a minute and offered to walk me back to my house. I honestly could not have been more thankful for her presence. As we were walking we found the police, who later came to my house for information. As we were walking, I found out the lady's name was Ferena, and while she has lived in this area for her whole life, she's never been a victim of crime. I asked why anyone would want such a piece of crap phone and she said that "they'll kill for one rand." (if the exchange rate is R7=$1, you'll know this is hardly anything). She said that the people like the ones who mugged me don't live around here. Instead they either come from the Cape Flats or live on the streets and come to where they know there's more affluence.
Ferena walked me back to my house and a few minutes later the police arrived. Given what I have heard about the complacency of the South African police, I was actually surprised at their willingness to help me, even if there isn't much they can do.
I'm angry and still freaked out by what happened yesterday, but most of all, I feel incredibly lucky. I am lucky that I only had my phone stolen, and not my purse or my ring. I am so lucky that the only thing that hurt me was the twisting grip of their hands, not a knife or a gun. I'm lucky that they gave up after getting my phone and seemed to have no other interest in stealing anything else from me. I'm lucky that I had the ability to take off running as fast as I could, and that I wasn't dead on the ground. I am lucky that I found someone as wonderful as Ferena to take me home and that the police were making rounds through the neighborhood just as it happened. I'm also lucky that I made it to the gym finally last night for a kickboxing class where the only thing I had to kick and punch was a stuffed mitt. All in all, as pissed off as I am about what happened, I am infinitely more grateful that it turned out the way it did.
Monday, May 2, 2011
tsotsi
With a lot of my friends off in the Karoo desert for the weekend and a residual sinus infection, I've spent a lot of the past two days watching movies. Yesterday I rented this film Tsotsi, a word that I've heard a lot in the book I'm reading. In South Africa a tsotsi is a gangster or thug working mostly from the townships.
I can't get over how remarkable this movie is. Besides completely terrifying me of getting mugged, my house broken into, and Johannesburg (I know that may be stupid, but for some reason, probably based on everything I've heard from everyone here and from my parents, Cape Town seems so much more innocuous than its larger sister to the northeast), Tsotsi even made me shed a tear. And I don't cry over movies. Except for Titanic. I'd never heard of the film in in the States but it won an Academy Award in 2005 for Best Foreign Language film.
I sort of had a hard time sleeping last night after watching it. As I was shutting off my computer and putting the DVD back in the case I could hear someone's burglar alarm going off in the distance, and all I could think about was one of the robbery scenes in the film. While I know ever burglar alarm I hear isn't necessarily something like that happening, I always wonder what it is.
The bottom line on Tsotsi: if you find it, watch it.
I can't get over how remarkable this movie is. Besides completely terrifying me of getting mugged, my house broken into, and Johannesburg (I know that may be stupid, but for some reason, probably based on everything I've heard from everyone here and from my parents, Cape Town seems so much more innocuous than its larger sister to the northeast), Tsotsi even made me shed a tear. And I don't cry over movies. Except for Titanic. I'd never heard of the film in in the States but it won an Academy Award in 2005 for Best Foreign Language film.
I sort of had a hard time sleeping last night after watching it. As I was shutting off my computer and putting the DVD back in the case I could hear someone's burglar alarm going off in the distance, and all I could think about was one of the robbery scenes in the film. While I know ever burglar alarm I hear isn't necessarily something like that happening, I always wonder what it is.
The bottom line on Tsotsi: if you find it, watch it.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
two oceans recap
Rainy Easter Sunday here. I really lucked out on the weather--yesterday was beautiful and warm, perfect for the Two Oceans. I'm glad the rain waited until today.
Yesterday morning at 5:15 a cab picked me up to take me to the 6 AM start of the Two Oceans half marathon in Newlands, just a few miles from my house. On a complete whim, Nick, never registering for the race and never having run over six miles, decided to illegally join the run. This was not a difficult task, considering there were 14,000 other half marathon participants (the other 9000 of the 23,000 total ran the ultra--more on that later). Here we are at 5:30 in the morning, looking less than attractive.
The race start was insane. Since I didn't provide a mile time, I was placed in the final seeding, which meant that I didn't start until about five minutes after the cannon (Yes it was a cannon, not a gun) went off. The crowds were insane and it was difficult to set a pace for about the first 4 or 5 mile because there were so many runners! I ended up running the first 5 miles at an 10:30 mile pace, which is significantly slower than what I'm comfortable with, simply because it was impossible to move through the crowd. By mile 6 I was able to make my way through them and increase my pace.
The race took us from Newlands to Claremont towards Wynberg (VINEEEEBERG!!) and Constantia. The mountain views were incredible. From miles 7 to 8, the course went straight up hill. I was getting a little bit tired at this point but thanks to the many refreshment stations I had a constant supply of powerade and water sachets, even though I accidentally squirted powerade directly in my eye around mile 9. At the top of the hill we had a beautiful view of the sunrise over the Southern Suburbs all the way to the Cape Flats.
The last 4 miles followed Rhodes Drive to Kirstenbosch and eventually to UCT's upper campus, where the race ended. I completed the race in about 2:15, which was slower than I expected, but I know that the slower pace was definitely due to the crowds. While it was little slower than projected, it allowed me to be mostly comfortable the entire race, although I was pretty tired by the last mile. The crowd encouragement was beautiful all along the course and running toward the finish line with so many spectators was a complete adrenaline rush. Nick and I found each other at the finish line, grabbed water (and a Diet Coke for me--sometimes it is just the most refreshing thing ever) and retrieved my backpack from the bag drop for some photo opportunities.
happy happy happy to be done with beautiful UCT in the background--the only difference between us is that I had a number and he didn't...he still got a medal though!
check out 82 year old oupa (grandpa in Afrikaans)! He definitely had a lekker run and finished not far behind us!
if you look closely you can see my Afghanistan registration
We chilled for a while and waited for the ultra marathoners to come in. THIS was the most incredible part of the entire day. The first ultra runner finished in around 3 hours 10 minutes. UNBELIEVABLE. 36 miles! In barely over 3 hours. The ultra followed the same southbound course as us, but instead of turning back to UCT, the ultra went all the way to Muizenburg to Simon's Town, across the peninsula to Hout Bay and Chapman's peak, then back towards UCT. I cannot fathom how one does this. We had an amazing view from the top of the footbridge over the finish line and got to see the winner make his way to the finish.
here he comes...
VROOOOOOOOM
I love this picture--I think it captures the energy of the race so well
the first lady to come in. She's Russian and has run the race with her twin sister for the past eight or nine years. One of them wins for the women each year.
Yesterday was undoubtedly one of the most incredible days I've had in Cape Town. The positive energy of both the runners and the spectators was so contagious. My race was amazing and so much fun, but it was definitely watching the end of the ultra marathon that made the day. The dedication and strength of those runners blows my mind. I know I'll be back for another Two Oceans some day...maybe I'll even be crossing the finish line as an ultra marathoner then!
Yesterday morning at 5:15 a cab picked me up to take me to the 6 AM start of the Two Oceans half marathon in Newlands, just a few miles from my house. On a complete whim, Nick, never registering for the race and never having run over six miles, decided to illegally join the run. This was not a difficult task, considering there were 14,000 other half marathon participants (the other 9000 of the 23,000 total ran the ultra--more on that later). Here we are at 5:30 in the morning, looking less than attractive.
The race start was insane. Since I didn't provide a mile time, I was placed in the final seeding, which meant that I didn't start until about five minutes after the cannon (Yes it was a cannon, not a gun) went off. The crowds were insane and it was difficult to set a pace for about the first 4 or 5 mile because there were so many runners! I ended up running the first 5 miles at an 10:30 mile pace, which is significantly slower than what I'm comfortable with, simply because it was impossible to move through the crowd. By mile 6 I was able to make my way through them and increase my pace.
The race took us from Newlands to Claremont towards Wynberg (VINEEEEBERG!!) and Constantia. The mountain views were incredible. From miles 7 to 8, the course went straight up hill. I was getting a little bit tired at this point but thanks to the many refreshment stations I had a constant supply of powerade and water sachets, even though I accidentally squirted powerade directly in my eye around mile 9. At the top of the hill we had a beautiful view of the sunrise over the Southern Suburbs all the way to the Cape Flats.
The last 4 miles followed Rhodes Drive to Kirstenbosch and eventually to UCT's upper campus, where the race ended. I completed the race in about 2:15, which was slower than I expected, but I know that the slower pace was definitely due to the crowds. While it was little slower than projected, it allowed me to be mostly comfortable the entire race, although I was pretty tired by the last mile. The crowd encouragement was beautiful all along the course and running toward the finish line with so many spectators was a complete adrenaline rush. Nick and I found each other at the finish line, grabbed water (and a Diet Coke for me--sometimes it is just the most refreshing thing ever) and retrieved my backpack from the bag drop for some photo opportunities.
happy happy happy to be done with beautiful UCT in the background--the only difference between us is that I had a number and he didn't...he still got a medal though!
check out 82 year old oupa (grandpa in Afrikaans)! He definitely had a lekker run and finished not far behind us!
if you look closely you can see my Afghanistan registration
We chilled for a while and waited for the ultra marathoners to come in. THIS was the most incredible part of the entire day. The first ultra runner finished in around 3 hours 10 minutes. UNBELIEVABLE. 36 miles! In barely over 3 hours. The ultra followed the same southbound course as us, but instead of turning back to UCT, the ultra went all the way to Muizenburg to Simon's Town, across the peninsula to Hout Bay and Chapman's peak, then back towards UCT. I cannot fathom how one does this. We had an amazing view from the top of the footbridge over the finish line and got to see the winner make his way to the finish.
here he comes...
VROOOOOOOOM
I love this picture--I think it captures the energy of the race so well
the first lady to come in. She's Russian and has run the race with her twin sister for the past eight or nine years. One of them wins for the women each year.
Yesterday was undoubtedly one of the most incredible days I've had in Cape Town. The positive energy of both the runners and the spectators was so contagious. My race was amazing and so much fun, but it was definitely watching the end of the ultra marathon that made the day. The dedication and strength of those runners blows my mind. I know I'll be back for another Two Oceans some day...maybe I'll even be crossing the finish line as an ultra marathoner then!
Saturday, April 23, 2011
lekker run!
Two Oceans half marathon, done. I have a million pictures to upload but right now I am riding on the waves of post-race elation and looking for a shower and a trip to Old Biscuit Mill to refuel.
Friday, April 22, 2011
balloons and flags
What a beautiful fall day in Cape Town!
This morning I ran in the Two Oceans International Friendship Run, which took runners from all different countries on a nice 5K from the Waterfront to Green Point and back. Emily joined me for the run but definitely ran a lot faster than I did, since I kept a really slow pace the whole run as to not wear myself out before tomorrow.
I got to chat with participants from all over, including a guy from Costa Rica who told me he's run 10 marathons but never an ultra, and that he cries each time he finishes. I also heard announcements of how many runners from each country--ONE FROM AFGHANISTAN. That's me. Unfortunately neither Emily nor I had any clue what the Afghanistan flag looks like so we couldn't pick it out from all the flags at the start of the run, otherwise I would have gotten a picture representing my country.
There was a wonderful stop halfway through where I got to help this lovely little lady find a new pair of shoes. Old Mutual donates a portion of the money it makes on the Two Oceans entires to help kids in Cape Town get new shoes for school.
Afterwards Emily and I used our race goodie bags of candy to pay our minibus fare back to Mowbray. I should really start carrying bags of M&Ms instead of cash because the caller seemed a lot more excited to get his payment in candy instead of in five rand!
This morning I ran in the Two Oceans International Friendship Run, which took runners from all different countries on a nice 5K from the Waterfront to Green Point and back. Emily joined me for the run but definitely ran a lot faster than I did, since I kept a really slow pace the whole run as to not wear myself out before tomorrow.
I got to chat with participants from all over, including a guy from Costa Rica who told me he's run 10 marathons but never an ultra, and that he cries each time he finishes. I also heard announcements of how many runners from each country--ONE FROM AFGHANISTAN. That's me. Unfortunately neither Emily nor I had any clue what the Afghanistan flag looks like so we couldn't pick it out from all the flags at the start of the run, otherwise I would have gotten a picture representing my country.
There was a wonderful stop halfway through where I got to help this lovely little lady find a new pair of shoes. Old Mutual donates a portion of the money it makes on the Two Oceans entires to help kids in Cape Town get new shoes for school.
Afterwards Emily and I used our race goodie bags of candy to pay our minibus fare back to Mowbray. I should really start carrying bags of M&Ms instead of cash because the caller seemed a lot more excited to get his payment in candy instead of in five rand!
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