hard work

It seems from my blog that I've been spending way more time frolicking in the summer sun than writing my dissertation. However, that is not true, I've been working very hard on my thesis, it just so happens that photos of the beach are in higher demand than photos of me in the library typing on my laptop. That said, here are more photos of sun fun!: 

Bongani at his humble home in Newlands. 

The next several pics were taken by a friend of ours, Thaheer Mullins, who happened to have his camera on him when we discovered a trampoline at a pool party in Hout Bay - such rad photos.  
The background is absolutely magical.
Once a cheerleader always a cheerleader, I guess. This is my friend Karen. I met her at the beginning of this year when we took Public Culture in Africa together. Her work revolves around issues of public memory. More specifically, how public spaces like memorials and museums remember past events. 15 years out of Apartheid, South Africa is obsessed with questions of how to appropriately remember a painful yet complex history. Karen's work will be in high demand in the memory industry. She moved to Jo'burg last week and I was fortunate enough to spend quality time with her before she left. She's good peoples. 

Nava at the pool party. 

We also found baby goats! SO sweet and good for Bongani's image. 
A colleague of ours in the African Studies department is housesitting in Seapoint and invited us over for a dip in the awesome pool. 

Now, back to work! I have a first draft completed and am currently working on revisions. The final work is due January 29th!

yet another beach tale

My friend Sakina is a native Captonian and indulged us in one of her favorite pastimes with a Sunday trip to Boulder Beach (below). 

Boulder Beach is made special not only by the giant boulders that break up the beach and give it character, but also by these little guys: African Penguins. 



Boulder is on the warm Indian Ocean. I was thinking, this is probably the first time in more than a decade that I've gone swimming in the ocean. 

As Nava took this picture, I remember thinking, "I'm never leaving South Africa"... but alas, it's almost time to book that ticket home. 

Ballot's Bay

In November Tabitha graciously invited a group of us to Ballot's Bay (5 hours east of Cape Town on the coast) to spend the weekend at her father's vacation home. He is an architect who designed this home, which sits on a private nature reserve on the coast. We drove up Friday and were meant to leave Tuesday but Tabitha's car blew a gasket and we were 'stuck' there for a whole week. I use the word 'stuck' loosely because this place was magnificently beautiful and we were all too happy to stay awhile longer (albeit we did have to ration food because we were miles from town without a car). 

Within half a mile of our destination, we had to stop to let the car cool down (this was before we realized it had a serious problem). Check out the horses though! There was also a beautiful peacock that I captured with my polaroid - I wish I had a scanner. 

The house we stayed in is on the right. The house to the left of us was vacant for the week - almost completely secluded. 

View from the deck.

Nava, Tabitha and Sakina on the deck.

Searching for cell phone service and jumping around to avoid the vicious fire ants!

Allow me to explain my outfit: we went on a nature walk and some of nature's most annoying creatures would not leave us alone. I had to take off my shirt and wrap it around my head so that the bugs would stop flying into my ears. Also, I needed to tuck my pants inside my socks Girl Scouts-style to keep the tics out. It is a miracle that none of us came back with tics because they were on just about every blade of grass; I have never seen so many in my entire life. On a positive note, look at this giant tortoise! We also saw dolphins, zebras and ostriches! 

Our last dinner with the little supplies we had left: cheese, potatoes, and lentils - vegetarian shepherd's pie. Because of the date, this meal was also effectively my Thanksgiving dinner.