Returning to 14 Osbourne

Coming back to where the trip started was easier than I had thought it would be. I adjusted back into "my life" better than I anticipated. We left Guguletu Friday afternoon and fell right back into where we left off Saturday morning by going on two wine tasting tours outside of Cape Town. The weather was beautiful and the wine was delicious! (I have just recently acquired a new taste for wine thanks to these tours.) We spent the entire day walking around the vineyard and mulling about little shops.

I would have pictures if I hadn't lost/gotten my camera stolen at the end of the week before uploading my pictures... Oh well, could have been worse!

We visited Robbin Island later during the week. This is where Nelson Mendella was imprisioned. We had the opportunity to see the cell he was in and tour the grounds. I was really looking forward to this part of the trip but was unfortunately unimpressed. We remained on a bus for the majority of the tour and only got to step out a couple of times. I didn't take out of this portion as much as I had hoped, although it was still pretty cool to have seen the prison where Nelson Mendella stayed. We learned that he has come back several times. I thought that was pretty cool of him considering the circumstances.

Table Mountain is the large mountain that we can see right outside of the house we stayed at in Cape Town. It is absolutely beautiful and really tall! One of the last adventures we had was to hike up it. It was the perfect day - no clouds and wonderful weather! We definitely got our cardio workout for the week that afternoon. It took my group a little over an hour and a half to hike up Table Mountain. We made it just in time to see the incredible sunset over the Atlantic Ocean. Throughout the trek, I was telling myself what a stupid idea it was to have decided to walk up and not have taken the sky lift. When I got to the top and was able to walk towards the edge and see the ocean, I knew it was all worth it. I would have done it two times over just to see what I saw. (I really wish I had pictures for you) It's one thing to look at LaCrescent over Stoney Point - for those of you who have seen it - but it's another to see the Atlantic Ocean over Table Mountain, especially during sunset. (This picture is what we see outside of our house. It is what we hiked.)

Throughout the week we had some lectures and a little freetime. We ended the week with a braai (barbecue). It was really fun and we got a chance to meet some other students who were also participating in interstudy from Yale. The week was a little more relaxed and I think we all needed it after the emotional rollercoaster we encountered the week before. Like I said before, I really surprised myself by how easily I slipped back into my regular routine. I think it was easy for me to do that because the whole time I was in Guguletu, I knew I was coming back to the house in Cape Town. I didn't once have to think that I'd be staying where I was that week for good. It's surprising how easy it can be for us to pretend.