Wow it has been quite awhile since I last wrote a blog entry. I tried to write one a couple of days ago and I got distracted and didn’t finish it. As such, I’ve decided to try to get back to writing a little bit after such a whirlwind of a week.
Today we traveled as a group to Robben Island just off the coast of Cape Town. This is where Nelson Mandela was held captive for almost 20 years as a political prisoner before the end of Apartheid. It was an interesting tour, but something about it felt extremely commercialized. We went to the island on this yacht with flat screen TVs showing something much like an airplane safety video and then a short documentary. When we arrived, we were shuttled onto buses for a tour of the island with a tour guide before we were allowed to take a walking tour led by a former political prisoner who had been imprisoned there. I think I was particularly upset by what had been done to the prison itself. All the walls inside were whitewashed and the only cell with anything inside it was Mandela’s former cell where items were neatly folded. It looked sterile, nothing like I imagined it when reading Mandela’s autobiography. It just seemed so disconnected from what the prison must have been like.
The former inmate who was leading us through the prison was a really interesting person to talk with. We talked with him for a little while after the end of the tour and almost missed the ferry back! His memories of this place were very vivid to him. It seemed like there was always more than what he was telling us. It was interesting to think about him in this job of reliving those times of his life every day. Many of the former prisoners who work there were basically forced to work there. Though they would have a hard time finding work elsewhere because of the 40% unemployment in the greater Cape Town area, it seems to unfair to force him into a place that had such bad memories. In a way, he is still imprisoned here by his job.
After leaving the island we took the cable car up Table Mountain. The views were incredible and no photo could possibly do them justice. Despite being a very warm day in town, the top of the mountain was cold and windy and so we didn’t spend too much time up on top.
Back in Obs we went to what we have been told is the best Mexican restaurant in the Cape Town area. Though you can’t quite call it actual Mexican food, it was very good. The burritos were very square and looked almost identical to the enchilada, just in a different shape. The ‘flautas’ were also interesting because it was basically one ‘flauta’ in the same shape as the burrito. We had two Mexican girls from our program at the meal and they were surprised when the waiter didn’t understand the correct pronunciation of arroz con pollo. I’m pretty sure that there were no Mexicans working in that restaurant, but the food was good and very filling! I would definitely go back.
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