Final preparations

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Got back to Cape Town on Wednesday night a little after 8pm. Had a tearful good bye with Susie and Louis, got on the Baz bus at noon (overpriced backpacker bus between towns), and ate the sweet and sour chicken pie Susie got me for the road. Spent the next eight hours reading, journal writing (yes, i keep a written journal too), and window gazing. The baz bus stops in every town along the way as a hop-on, hop-off service. So we stopped a lot with frequent changes to the backpackers on board. We even stopped at McDonalds in George - the same one we stopped at on the way to the festival! And no, surprisingly enough I did not eat there. Didn't talk to anyone on the bus until about 5 minutes before I got off. But I wasn't feeling particularly social, so that was good. Checked in to the Cat and Moose hostel and luckily got a dorm room with only 4 beds, and only two of those were occupied, so I scored a bottom bunk. Talked to my two German roommates for a bit and that was a night.

Thursday I started the frantic running around process that I am so well know for. Went back to Rondebosch on the overcrowded minibus taxi and went to talk to my travel agent and settle up my plane ticket from Nairobi to Cairo. Don't know if I mentioned this before, but I needed to change the date for this ticket and there were no other flights to be had, so eventually I had to pay a bunch of money just to find out how much money I could trade in on that ticket to get a new one on a non-crowded airline. It was such a mess; I am spending money left and right for things that just shouldn't happen. So I went back Thursday to make the plans official on the cheaper airline, as I had to pay again to have my new ticket couriered from Johannesburg (the only place where STA prints tickets in the whole country). It was such a mess. Came back to town and caught up on internet things and got some cash and tolietries and bunches and bunches of film (probably the funnest thing I did all day was picking out new shampoo and conditioner...). I had to get bunches of cash for the overland trip in US dollars, which is harder than it sounds and would have to be split up between the next three days. I though this would be impossible with everything closing for Easter weekend on Friday, but luckily the waterfront area with massive shopping stays open. I finally settled on cashing traveler's checks at AMEX, but the commission is enormous and they told me I could do it cheaper by withdrawing cash from my card through them. This is what I did. After shopping I got some groceris to keep my food spending down and spent the evening making pasta and being jealous that everyone else was eating what looked like gourmet creations.

Friday I had to hike it out to the waterfront for my second money installment. It is about 45 min in each direction, with one bit more sketchy than the rest, so I was always nervous carrying around so much cash in that area. On the way there they were filming a popcorn commercial. I pretended to be interested for about 14 seconds, then went on my way. Got to the AMEX in the waterfront mall and withdrew more money from my card. Hiked it back, looked around a bit, and made it to the internet cafe. Dying to get my fix before being without for so many weeks. Called my mom in the evening and prepared to commandeer the television from 7:30-8:30pm. My favorite show in the world was coming on then, and although I haven't watched much tv in the last several months I could really use a dose of Charmed. (There I said it, it was Charmed - I fell in love with Piper and Leo after my trip to SE Asia and have been addicted ever since). I watched it, as did several others, some of which I had to act as tour guide to Charmed for. It was hilarious. Then we watched Pirates of the Caribbean while I ducked in and out to make my pasta. Chatted to some British girls for a while. They are 18 and 19 years old and traveling for about 9 months in Africa. Where do they get the money at such a young age? I will say, however, that the gap year that is encouraged in other countries should be in effect in America as well. I mean, who knows at 18 what they want to major in anyway? Better to get a year's worth of experience abroad and actually learn something about yourself and the world before you commit to a program. Went to bed around 1am after philosophising about American boys vs British boys. (The answer is that you inevitably like the ones with different accents than your own).

Saturday I got up early and headed back to the waterfront AMEX. This time I did change in travelers checks because I realized I had taken way too much money with me in this form and that I would empty my bank account shortly if I kept doing the other way. Which reminds me my trip may be shorter now and not include the full itinerary. You basically get robbed converting dollar TC to another currency (rand) back to dollars. It was awful. Got over it and went back to the hostel to deposit my goods in the safe. Had some lunch at the hostel (I made cheese sandwiches) and talked to John, a South African guy from J'burg. We talked about politics until I had to go back to pick up my plane tickets. Went back to the minibus taxi station. I can honestly say that the best part about leaving Cape Town is that I will never have to go there again. At first it was scary and interesting. Now it is just dirty and crowded. You are overpowered by sights and sounds and smells - anything from perfume to incense so strong you can't breathe, to urine so strong you can't breathe. There are fruits and veggies and diapers and combs for sale, along with hair braiding and gold buying and anything else. People are everywhere and most of them are in your minibus. There were 16 passengers in mine this morning, plus the driver and money guy. On the way back I had a half cheek seat and then got upgraded to a front seat, which was so nice. Afterwards went and bought even more film, some boxer shorts to sleep in, and then back here to the internet. Tonight will just be more pasta, repacking, and general freaking out before my big trip. Have to be there at 8am tomorrow morning. Am hoping my group is a good one, as I will be with them for a while. Will be out of contact for 6-8 weeks, so everyone stay safe and happy and wish me luck! 😊

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