Cape Town - Week 5

Another week come and gone. Another attempt to provide just a bit of entertainment to spice up that Monday morning for you all back home.

Although I only had one photography assignment this week, it was quite a doozy. Attending the Cape Wine Makers Guild Gastrononomous (google it if you wish), I was treated to an evening of amazing food, wine, and of course several hours spent behind the lens of my trusty camera. While most of my pictures focused around the different foods and wines of the night, I also had the opportunity to photograph the Emeril-equivalent of South African celebrity chefs: Peter Goffe-Wood (a very photogenic man, if the picture below says nothing more).

At R600/plate (about $85), I once again was able to reap non-monetary payments for my “job,” as well as experience some firsts in regards to several dishes:

- Seafood Jello - A mix of various seafood-related dishes (mussels, yellowfish, prawns, other random and recently-deceased friends of Nemo), all compactly served inside of a mold of jello. Each bite was like sinking your teeth into a tasty desert, with the pleasantly awkward surprise of finding a fishy treat inside. Mmm mmm mmmm.

- Quail – Although very tasty, I never realized how difficult it would be to describe a quail to a non-English speaking traveler, as I found in my attempts to depict my evening to my Israeli friend, Eran. “Is it a chicken? A turkey? A peacock?” (If only the TV show “Snorks” had made it across the world, my explanation would have been that much easier)

- Venison Meatloaf – Hands-down the best meatloaf I have ever eaten (sorry Burns Park Elementary School chefs, yours is a close, yet distant 2nd place).

- Veal – While I have remained adamant in my non-eating-of-baby-animal ways, I was unable to resist the appetizing treat presented before me. And not wanting to let its death be in vein, I was forced to go against my conscious, and eat away. Poor little tasty tasty guy.

Aside from experiencing the joys of free food and drinks, the rest of my week was composed of non-free food and drinks. And of course, just another taste of the overly pretentious portion of the female Cape Town population. As the “get the f*ck away from me” girl had already gained infamy for her over-friendly nature, she stood no chance against my newest encounter: The “my friend is way too hot for you” girl. Easily the most delightful person I have yet to meet in my short life, our friendship was cut short as she found great offense in my response that her friend was actually too hot for her. Shame… we had such potential.

In addition to trying new foods, and meeting new friends, I also managed to fit in a journey - a visit to Cape Point, the southern most point in all of Africa. Traveling alongside my new Israeli friend, Eran, we also brought along two other Israelis of whom he had met during his own travels. Now, if I had known that English would only be spoken for about 4.5 minutes during our 12 hour day, I would’ve rather stayed in bed, staring aimlessly at the ceiling above. Instead, I was treated to nonstop Hebrew, of which I could only interpret two words. Thus, when Eran and his friends were not saying “Caan (yes)” or “Lo (no),” I was utterly clueless on the topic of their conversations. All I could truly decipher was whether or not they agreed with what the other was saying (the caan-lo combo added an extra challenge to this game). Overall, it was an interesting journey filled with beautiful scenery, incomprehensible conversation, penguins (yes, penguins in Africa), and of course a man absolutely covered in his own blood, stumbling down the road attempting to fight any person in sight. Ahhh, what a day.

Onto this weeks lesson:

“Learn me something something about South Africa.”

This Week's Topic: Car Gods

No profession in the world is more demanding (and less paying) than that of a “Car God.” Responsible for watching over the parked cars on the road, protecting them from harm or danger, the Car God is a man of many skills. For a measly 1 – 2 rand (~$0.25), he promises to risk his own safety, as to protect your vehicle from potential damage or theft from criminals wandering the roads (or from the Car God himself, who sometimes interprets the 1 - 2 rands as a bribe not to steal your car).

Regardless of where you are in the city, once your car has been parked, you will find a Car God staring into your window, with eyes that only say “rand… rand… rand…” If you are lucky enough to arrive into the vicinity of a Car God before having parked, he will more than happily provide you with a course in drivers education, helping guide you, step-by-step, into a parallel parking spot (even if it is big enough to fit the Titanic). And when the directions are provided in the languages of Xhosa or Zulu, this of course makes the process that much more helpful. Who cares if there is a NO PARKING – TOW AWAY ZONE sign next to your spot? As long as you pay the Car God, there is “nothing to worry about brother.”

Thank you Car God. If it weren’t for that shiny green/orange vest you wear, I would swear I was being hijacked everytime I parked my car.

Onto the pics...

	Delicious mix of jello and seafood. What a combo
	Red and White wine (in case you are blind)
	The South African Emeril - Doesn't he look so happy that I interrupted his cooking as to pose for this patentedly setup picture (which of course did not even make the cut for the paper)?
	Me and my cardboard cutout friend Tony at the bah
	Hout Bay
	Some penguins wandering around Africa. Lucky guys.
	End of my journey to the southern most point of Africa