"I'm a hustler, and I've just been hustled... by a vending machine" -Pumi

OK. so I met a new friend last night as I was leaving the computer lab... his name is Msakha. He is a student that works at the computer lab and is a radio DJ. He was so friendly to me and offered to take me to a bar called "CyBar" to watch the World Cup and drink a beer. I decided that my aloneness was more dangerous than going somewhere with a stranger so I took a gamble on this fellow. He turned out to be one of the nicest people I've ever met-- he showed me a Cape Town welcome, introduced me to some really nice SA girls and bought me a couple beers before making sure I got back to my room safely. The scene in the bar when Spain won the World Cup rivaled New Orleans post-super bowl. People were dancing on tables and shouting along to "Wave Your Flag"-- a song that is super popular here due to the world cup. I'll agree that its terribly catchy and fun to sing when drinking. He offered to take me to the townships today but I instead went with a group of CIEE students to do some exploring. This was partially because I wanted to get to know the other students in my program and partially because I feared being put into a wedding sack when we arrived at the township (joking... sort of).

Today I hung out with the kids in my program. They're hysterical! We hopped in a cab and went to the waterfront to explore and shop a bit. First we hit up a restaurant for our first real meal in days. I won't go into details, but there were nachos involved. Then we wandered around through markets and got a feel for the lay of the land. I want to keep saying how beautiful it is, but I can't really do it justice. We discovered the joys of "photo bombing" in foreign countries. People will run into your pictures and demand you pay them for it. I was like "gee thanks for ruining my picture. I definitely want to give you some rand for that." What a strange phenomenon.

As for tonight, we're all going to take a little napsy then hold our very own ABC party... which for those of you following along at home stands for Anything But Clothes. There will be wine. There will be shenanigans.

I've never felt so instantly certain of my own impending happiness.

Love from the top of Table Mountain,

A