Who are we?

This blog is an agglomeration of the thoughts and experiences of two American girls who packed up and moved to South Africa on a whim. Caz from Fairfield, Connecticut and Mandy from Milwaukee, Wisconsin first met as roommates in 4127 on Semester at Sea in Fall of 2010.
In the interim, Caz returned to finish her Bachelor of Science with a double major in Biology (concentration in Microbiology) and Geography with a minor in Chemistry at the University of Miami in Florida, while Mandy took a hiatus to rediscover her real passion working with pregnant women, advocating for home birth and delivering babies outside of a hospital environment. We reconvened to follow both of our fields of study (read: hopes, dreams, asiprations, life goals, etc.) outside of the United States. Hello South Africa?

We are both here for at least a year and a half, though the more time we spend falling in love with South Africa, the more we'd like to think it'll be longer. We are both starting jobs in November/December: Caz working with infectious disease at a hospital clinic and Mandy beginning her training to become a certified midwife. Before then, we are both writing a book about our experiences leading up to this adventure as well as the multitude of serendipitous happenings that led us here.

As always, feel free to comment or ask questions. If you have an interest in a topic, let us know and we will surely oblige you (within reason). Enjoy!

Monday, August 5, 2013

African Queen Took Your Left Shoe

So. Anyone who knows me back in the states knows I’m a bit of a picky eater – a problem I generally put aside while I’m traveling, but seeing as I’m living here in Cape Town… well, let’s just say I’ve tried boerwoers and hated them. I generally like “bland food”, as they put it. Not so much flavor. No spices. Not salty, certainly no pepper. It comes as no surprise to many that my favorite food is mozzarella. Plain, fresh, delicious mozzarella.

My first day walking down Kloof Street, I found an Italian restaurant called Mozzarella Bar. I was beyond excited, but determined to wait for Mandy to share the introductory meal at what I was sure would turn out to be the most amazing place on earth. Today was that day. We ate amazing Italian food in this colonial port city in southern Africa.  

We walked down Long Street, famous for its bars and backpacker hostels, infamous for the strip clubs, drug dealers and street walkers, both notorious and innocuous as the sun goes down. We meandered across the boulevards leading into the waterfront, following the train tracks that led to the shipping port. We saw Maersk in a lot of containers waiting to be shipped out by rail, into the interior. It felt like SAS all over again.
 
The waterfront was just as I remembered it. Just as white and Dutch and pristine. Speed boats and catamarans lined the inner slips of the harbor, security guards and cameras patrolled the apartments of wealthy foreigners while gardeners worked on their immaculate landscaping. Later, our cab driver informed us that it was mostly Arabs coming to stay in these luxury apartments, paying other European foreigners to stay in their ‘vacation homes’ for well over 200 dollars per night. It was strange none of that money was coming back to Africa.

Den Anker hasn’t changed either. We spotted the blue and white roof from afar, excited to relive our time there. The upside down skiff was still christened the African Queen. Ordering a Kwak still meant you were to give up your left shoe to the barman. We drank cherry beer and ate rich, indulgent food. We laughed about everything and nothing and all the memories we had in this city. A little nod to the past as we both knew we are embarking to make so many more.


We caught a taxi back. Tonight I have to go see my South African. 

- Rh



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