Momma
Everett was in Cape Town for two weeks and just left on the 26th.
Even though two weeks sounds like a long time, when you want to cram in every
part of your two month experience for your mother, those two weeks become a
sprint: sprinting from tourist spot to tourist spot, sprinting from restaurant
to taxi to hotel to bed, sprinting through all things over stimulating and
awe-inspiring. If you think we were able to process anything, you would be
incorrect. However, if you think we bickered endlessly, you would be a 48 on
the scale of correctness (which usually only ranges from 1-10). I would blame
the brief respite of summer, taunting us with cool weather and rain, but really
we all know it’s because I’m a terrible tour guide. What can I say, I have no
patience for those who are overly-enthused by a group of drummers on Long
Street and have to take 57 pictures of the same shot, accompanied by a range of
sound effects such as “oooooh”, “aaaaahhh” and “VAL LOOK AT THIS OMG LOOK DO
YOU SEE IT LOOK.” Luckily, I know no such person. Ahem.
Everything
we fit into two weeks:
- Hiked up Table Mountain via Skeleton Gorge
- Enjoyed the flowers at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens
- Attended the Cape Town Folk n’ Music Festival
- Got a little tipsy on a wine tasting tour to multiple vineyards in Stellenbosch
- Attempted to shark cage dive
- Took the Cape Peninsula Tour
- Spent a day on the roof of an On N’ Off Bus (goes all around the city)
- Went on a community tour with Vernon (he is the bomb; highly recommended for anyone who visits)
- Saw the penguin colony in Simon’s Town
- Sat in on a cool guest speaker in one of Marita’s classes
- Ate our weight in chocolate at Charly’s Bakery
- Checked out my favorite places on Main Rd. (meaning mostly Coacoa Wah Wah)
- Learned about the forced removals at the District Six Museum
- Collected shells at Camps Bay
- Shopped at Cavendish Mall in Claremont
- Experienced Fat Cactus in all of its less-than-mediocre glory, accompanied by a surprise barbershop quartet performance by four “handsomes”
- Moseyed up and down Long Street and Kloof Street (and took an excessive amount of pictures of drummers)
- Spent an evening eating dinner at Marita’s flat with my professors and peers
- Went on the Robben Island Tour
- Spent multiple nights at the V & A Waterfront
- Ate the national animal, which is Springbok, accompanied by Kudu and Warthog (sorry Pumba)
- Talked politics with multiple cab drivers (we got to know the Unicab drivers FAR too well)
- Bought some funky souvenirs at the Hout Bay flea market
- A few quiet nights in to chill and talk
Virtual
high fives all around.
Despite
the stress of fitting everything into a small frame of time, it was great to
have my Mom here to experience everything I’ve been trying to explain via
FaceTime. Talking about what I’ve done, how the people are, the cultural
differences, the economic disparity and the changes in myself doesn’t do this
experience the justice it deserves. So, if you are a parent and you’re reading
this, go visit your son/daughter. Because there is no way you will be able to
understand Cape Town till you see it for yourself. My Mom actually said that to
me, so it has to be true (#CaroleNeverLies). Share this with your kid. I promise
you won’t be disappointed.
And
if you are disappointed and have your pitchforks sharpened/torches flaming,
take it up with Carole Everett. That’s C-A-R-O-L-E, not V-A-L-E-R-I-E.
Love
you Mom J
 |
| Val & her Mom, Carole |
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