Note to reader: This is a long one, so you might want to take it in chunks, or thirds. The third Monday of classes has come and gone as well as the whole month of July. I am not quite sure where it went but it has snuck out the backdoor and hopped the next flight to the Seychelles for an 11-month holiday. I wouldn’t mind doing the same except that time does not stop for anything and I would miss too much. But, I’ve been thinking maybe there’s a way to get around that. We just have to change our concept of time and its relation to our lived experiences. I’ve been reading about it in my critical psychology book…Academic disciplines have created mainstream thought too much around Western thoughts and culture making findings and discoveries inapplicable to the greater world, so we need to bring out the marginalized knowledge and ideas for life to be explained more accurately for the majority of people. Are you guys in? There’s a whole other world out there—shining, shimmering, splendid! Stunning even.

So I’ve gotta tell y’all about the amazing days I experienced before my body told me to STOP WITH THE FUN ALREADY.

Saturday: The Guys arrive. The capital G is intentional. When I say “the Guys” I am referring to two of the coolest guys I’ve met in a long time with rip-roaring energy and perfect synergy, characteristic of people who have seen the best and worst in each other and have flourished together as a unit because of it. If you can imagine two fireflies emitting the brightest light you’d seen fireflies emit flitting around a world balloon, you might be able to imagine these two. They had me laughing for hours, which I know for sure is not good for keeping strep throat at bay. And they have the storytelling vibe down so well that each guy knows perfectly when to let the other pick up certain details and then when to switch back. A little more history on these Guys: Pouya and Shahin aka John and Shane are two Persian Australians who have been friends for a long time and where having a reunion with two other buddies in Namibia for a week or so. They then had a few days before going home where they decided last minute to come to Cape Town. Shahin and my roommate Anisa knew each other from when they were doing service in Haifa, Israel together recently. So they get here and immediately start expounding on these amazing adventures of riding on the sand dunes like in Napoleon Dynamite, being stuck between the Zambian and Namibian borders after both gates had closed, the crazy coincidence of being able to see Victoria Falls on the night that the moon was full creating a perfect rainbow in the dark, whitewater rafting with crocs, among other stories. Unbelievable—all in 7 to 10 days. Now they were saying they had 48 hours in Cape Town and wanted to continue the adventures. I was in. I wanted to see Cape Town too and how could there be any better opportunity? So Saturday, we went to a fireside and learned about EQ: Emotional Intelligence for a long time and got in touch with our Primary and Secondary processes, aka our feelings. Then we rushed to the Waterfront, one of Cape Town’s great attractions for some dinner at 10:17. Everywhere we went the kitchens were closed. But thankfully we came armed with four pretty girls (two of which are my beautiful roommates) who somehow convinced a place to open the kitchen. So dinner was on! And that was the first day.

Sunday: WHOA! Woke up, followed by a gathering of friends, and then off to the famous Table Mountain: a huge, flat mountain rising above the city, which is a great place for climbing. We were on a time crunch as I needed to be back by 3 to babysit and I had forgotten my phone to contact anyone if we were running late. We started our adventures around 12, and rushed through them with the utmost enjoyment. Just getting there presented its first challenge as we swerved left and right, eventually pulling over, as we tried to figure out if we were being followed. As the white truck sped past us, we breathed a sigh of relief and were off once again. We rushed up in the cable car, pounced around the top of the mountain looking at the absolutely STUNNING, blessed view of “the spot, and the house, and the place, and the city, and the heart, and the mountain, and the refuge, and the cave, and the valley, and the land, and the sea, and the island, and the meadow where mention of God hath been made, and God’s praise glorified.” (Bahá’u’lláh) With just a few triple jumps, one could move from looking at one side of the world to the other. And the amazing thing is that the day was perfect. Cape Town winters have completely unpredictable weather, often complete with rain, clouds, gray skies, and other such conditions that keep people locked in the house. But it was beautiful. We only stopped once, to watch a little animal devour old cigarettes. The little guy must have been addicted or something. We then quickly made our way to the place of descent where we were instructed to start climbing down. Never having grown up around mountains and never having the experience of mountain climbing, or rather mountain running-down, this was a fun hour prancing down the rocks while trying to keep my eyes up to enjoy the views. Each level brought a whole new beauty and as we noticed ourselves keep saying over the days was, “This must be one of the most beautiful places on earth.” With each step I felt more energized, more amazed, more shaky in the knees. But the soreness the morning after is the best kind. We stopped very few times, trying to beat the clock ticking over our heads, but the waterfall toward the bottom was too much to just pass by. After much exhilaration, we did make it back, and only a few minutes late. From there I babysat, which was fun, and then came back at which time one of my roommates, the amazing MONA, the Guys, and I headed up to Signal Hill where the night view of the city can blow a person away. Just hope it blows you backward instead of forward, because the edge is right there. We stared in amazement for quite a while then got in the car to check out the top. Uh oh! We pulled up into the parking lot, but then spotted three guys approaching to our right with torches (the more fear-inducing word the rest of the world uses for flashlights) so Shahin, the dramatist, sped away to position ourselves perfectly in front of the only other car on the strip for security, even if we happened to disrupt a special moment with our rear beams. The guys with torches soon were approaching again, but walked straight on past through the night. That ended the second day.

Monday: This was the day the guys were supposed to leave, however after rushing to the airport and giving back their rental car, they weren’t able to get on the flight because 1) their tickets were for a different day and 2) the flight was full so they couldn’t leave early. They were quickly back in the swing of their usual go-go-go energy and went with Mona on a day trip to Robben Island. I couldn’t go because as you all may remember, I am actually here to take classes. From what it sounded like, they had a great time, even creating a small protest proclaiming to, “Free Mandela. Free Mandela.” That was about the extent of that day.

Tuesday: Another day that conjures up immediate feelings of calmness, joy, and appreciation for all the unexpected hapinesses of life. It started with class and ended with sleep, and was filled in between with hours of living to the max. After I returned from class, Mona, the Guys, and I were off to town via a kumbi or very crowded taxi bus thing. We were on our way to rent a car and then drive to Cape Point and the Cape of Good Point via Fish Hoek, a place Shahin never thought he’d get to go. The rental process took a lot of our energy, but seeing as energy is never lost or destroyed, we were able to recover a bunch through the natural elements of the earth and each other. So we were off on a beautiful car ride along the coast down to the south eastern-most point of the continent, one of those labels that could be given to anything, like, “the most southernly point above the 51st and 52nd latitude lines,” or something like that. Along the way we stopped to look at vicious little penguins, excited monkeys, and to begin the picture collection of the day with a number of shots of those one-of-the-most-beautiful-places-on-earth places. We eventually made it to the star attraction, and begin the hike up to Cape Point where the lighthouse is located and where you can see the Indian and the Atlantic Ocean meet. It’s said that there’s a line where they meet, but my eyes weren’t able to see it. As often happens when climbing mountains, it feels like you’re getting to a top point and once you get there you see a further/higher point ahead. Such was the experience when we got to the Cape Point…we saw another path down a ways that led out even further. Pouya was determined to go on the path less traveled, so we found the path and continued discovering more hidden treasures and reaching more of those points. Shahin and Mona stopped at one of those top points and Pouya and I continued, only turning back because we were beginning to run out of time to finish everything before the park was going to close. We all rushed back down to where the care was, at which point Shane and Mona hopped in the car and Pouya and I started making our way down the path to the Cape of Good Hope, where we’d meet the other two. We started at a running pace, bounding down the path, but slowly got stalled by the views of the world before our eyes and all around us. We were making good time until a path down to the beach was discovered. Whoosh. I flew down those steps, threw off my shoes and was running down the sand to the water like I was auditioning for a position on Baywatch. The waves were incredibly powerful, crashing against the big rocks to the left and the right. The waves would roll in and cap, and the momentum would continue up the sand right onto our previously dry pants. We were soaked to the upper thigh before we knew it. And before I could take a breath that could properly absorb the crisp sea air, the strong undertow would be yanking the sand from around my feet and pulling it back out. Water is the strongest and most humble element in the world. I became entranced by the sounds and the views, but was pulled back out by Pouya now assuming Shahin’s position and telling me we needed to get moving. Back on the road again, but this time with bare feet, I let my body become weightless, only realizing my inability to do that when I would have to walk across a bunch of small pointy rocks. So I put my shoes back on and zipped on ahead to the summit, and which point I started to worry that there was no exit point to where Shahin, Mona and the car were. After all, this was the absolute top point. Whew. I eventually spotted the path down, but watched the sunset from the top as Pouya made his way to the top as well. Pictures were a must, followed by enjoyment of the splendor, and then a mad rush (well…not really) to the car, which was oddly driving from one side of the parking lot to the other every 7 or so minutes, first to look at the sunset and second to look at the mountain. As the last car left in the park, we figured we should probably make a move before we got stuck there for the night. I was laughing at the prospect, but others were quite worried. Worry aside for two minutes, though, as we spotted a few ostriches just chillin and had to hop out for the all-important pictures. On the road again, we eventually made it to the exit point and were able to leave without a hitch. The hitch came about 37 minutes later as we were nearly home when two people ran toward our car while we were stopped at a red. Shane and John were absolutely convinced we were about to be hijacked, but then the police guy happened to pull up beside us. Me? I’m not so sure about this concoction of a story, but those two love it, so it’s all theirs. We made it home for a breather at which time the guys went for dinner with a couple they met earlier and the rest of us got ready for a big good bye party the guys were throwing for themselves. Of course, all the kitchens were closed by the time we all got coordinated, so we ended up finding a karaoke place called Dizzy’s. By this time, my throat was coming into full effect, so I wasn’t going to participate, but uff, it looked like SO MUCH FUN that the last song I just had to join in (Maroon 5…This Love). We all had so much fun! And without any alcohol if you could believe! Quite a crew. And as we were about to call it a night, we walked outside and ran into a homeless woman, or rather she ran into us….over and over again, smacking her lips and teetering over. She was either very drunk or had a whole different mental reality. She was approaching all of us as taking grabs at people saying she wanted to get married, etc. It is only funny for me looking back on it, but at the time it was very uncomfortable. We could hardly get in the car without her blocking the way. And once we did get in the car, she began taking a coin and tap tapping the hood with it, eventually just throwing the coin at us as we left. Thankfully no harm was done and I think the others got more amusement out of the situation. The ride home was one big medley as we sang any song we could think of at the top of our lungs. I knew I was sacrificing my throat, but figured it was worth it. After sacrifice is giving up something lower for something higher and we were pretty naturally high that night.

Well, I think I’ll leave it at that. Wednesday the Guys left in the morning for a stopover in Singapore and then on to Australia, and I got bed-ridden in the afternoon. Life goes on. Today it’s Monday and although I’m not back to 100%, I’m on my way, and as you’ve read, those 4 days of fun were most definitely worth it.