Mackenzie: Uhm...penguin!
Mr Feeney: No, I don't think you understood...
Mark: BAM!!!!!!
**********************************************************
Old El Paso Taco Mix.
Pringles.
Lemonade flavored Mike and Ikes.
etc.
Over the course of the last year, I've perhaps dedicated a little too much time, energy, and blog space discussing just how absolutely astonished I've been with the variety of commercial products are available in Zambia. Of course, absolutely none of them are manufactured here. Time after time, I check the packaging to see where they are made and the answer is inevitably the same....South Africa.
Let me tell you something. If you are frequently exposed to a sequence of events like the following:
1.) Wahooooo finding stuff I used to eat in America!.
2.) This tastes even more delicious than I remember!
3.) Where is this from?
4.) Oh. South Africa.
it's an unavoidable reality that you are going to establish a Pavlovian response where you associate 'South Africa' with 'greatest place on the face of this planet'.
Unless you are an absolute moron (everyone should mentally picture me discretely gesturing at my brother, Mike), you can probably figure out where this is going: Mark took a trip to S.A.
In vintage Mark fashion, this trip was pretty much the antithesis of a well-planned, well-organized vacation. There was essentially no preparation involved. On Monday, an organization-wide e-mail was distributed informing everyone that no one would be required to work on Thursday and Friday. A sequence of e-mails was immediately exchanged discussing a gameplan to take advantage of the four day weekend. The idea of a Cape Town, S.A. trip was suggested and originally shut down (Hypothetical question: If I were to say that my reason for originally saying no is because I had planned a 'High School Musical' marathon day where the first two were watched on DVD before going to the theater for HSM3, would that make me lame AND creepy or just creepy?) , but eventually plane tickets were booked that same night. With a guide book in hand and no sleeping arrangements made, my favorite cab driver Bruce drove us to the airport early Thursday morning.
The game plan was simple. Take advantage of the fact that Cape Town had a developed economy and take advantage of its proximity to water (subtle brag time: wahoooooooo getting an A+ in 6th grade social studies!).
Cape Town really has a lot of offer culturally, historically, and athletically. It's been the most critical port city for one of the most important shipping routes since the 14th century. Up until the early 90s, it was engulfed in the absolutely uncomphrensable social and political system known as apartheid. Nelson Mandela was imprisioned on an island a mile away from the city. It has amazing outdoors opportunities with the famous Table Mountain located in the actual city.
Let me tell you something. If you are frequently exposed to a sequence of events like the following:
1.) Wahooooo finding stuff I used to eat in America!.
2.) This tastes even more delicious than I remember!
3.) Where is this from?
4.) Oh. South Africa.
it's an unavoidable reality that you are going to establish a Pavlovian response where you associate 'South Africa' with 'greatest place on the face of this planet'.
Unless you are an absolute moron (everyone should mentally picture me discretely gesturing at my brother, Mike), you can probably figure out where this is going: Mark took a trip to S.A.
In vintage Mark fashion, this trip was pretty much the antithesis of a well-planned, well-organized vacation. There was essentially no preparation involved. On Monday, an organization-wide e-mail was distributed informing everyone that no one would be required to work on Thursday and Friday. A sequence of e-mails was immediately exchanged discussing a gameplan to take advantage of the four day weekend. The idea of a Cape Town, S.A. trip was suggested and originally shut down (Hypothetical question: If I were to say that my reason for originally saying no is because I had planned a 'High School Musical' marathon day where the first two were watched on DVD before going to the theater for HSM3, would that make me lame AND creepy or just creepy?) , but eventually plane tickets were booked that same night. With a guide book in hand and no sleeping arrangements made, my favorite cab driver Bruce drove us to the airport early Thursday morning.
The game plan was simple. Take advantage of the fact that Cape Town had a developed economy and take advantage of its proximity to water (subtle brag time: wahoooooooo getting an A+ in 6th grade social studies!).
Cape Town really has a lot of offer culturally, historically, and athletically. It's been the most critical port city for one of the most important shipping routes since the 14th century. Up until the early 90s, it was engulfed in the absolutely uncomphrensable social and political system known as apartheid. Nelson Mandela was imprisioned on an island a mile away from the city. It has amazing outdoors opportunities with the famous Table Mountain located in the actual city.
I plan on discussing all of these as little as possible. Rest assured, we did experience these unique aspects of CT. We went to musuems. We drove to Cape Point and saw the Cape of Good Hope (random fact: CoGH is the southwestern most point of Africa, but not the southern most). I even channeled my inner-Seattlite and went on my first ever hike (side note: A Nalgene bottle was involved, butI was not towing it.) It's just that I'd rather discuss more important things.
Things like food.
Highlight #1 of the trip for me was the three nights of seafood (including one sushi night) and one night of Mexican food. Historically, these are not my favorite foods. However, after a year of living in a landlocked country with (shockingly) a very, very small Mexican population, cravings for things you can't normally have kicked in. At the risk of using too strong of a word, my burrito experience was close to euphoric. Okay. That was too strong. It wasn't euphoric. The point is, though, the food was ridiculously, ridiculously good.
Things like shopping.
Highlight #2 of the trip was the shopping. On the last day of the five day trip, we went to the shopping mall. I had just two things on my shopping list. A new thug cap (my previous thug cap mysteriously disappeared after an amazing four year run of making me look thuggish in spite of my all-GAP clothing attire) and new socks. The last year has been an absolute revolution about the advantages of a washing machine. Prior to this trip, I didn't own a single pair of socks which I was not embarassed to have someone else see. I had little idea prior to arriving in Lusaka that socks would deteriorate so quickly when they were being hand washed and hand dried. Every sock had either holes or was so faded that they had to be turned inside out. So...I bought THIRTEEN new pairs in Cape Town.
Things like penguins!!!
Highlight #3 is the event which led to the picture included above. It's not enough for C.T. to have four lane highways, city lights, a plethora of socks, mountains, and two effing oceans. It also has a colony of penguins. PENGUINS!!! Just a few weeks ago, I was on a safari. At dinner, people asked what animals we saw and like the jerk that I am I responded with the last animal I expected to see during my stay here, "penguins". Little did I know they actually lived in close proximity. PENGUINS!!! I'm still giddy.
I don't care what maps say. Cape Town isn't in Africa. It's a Utopia.
1 comment:
No, I don't think you understand...
BAM!
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