Science amazes me.

09/08/2009

This weekend was gorgeous, finally! After pretty much a solid week of rain, the sun shined right into my window this morning and I couldn’t be more excited. Not only is today Women’s Day, but also it’s a Sunday where tomorrow we have no lectures. Three-day weekends are the best. At 7 am this duck that decided to perch itself next to my window and sing for the world to hear, woke me up, grudgingly. I tried to fall back asleep for a few more hours and he was just not having it- bah. Ben attempted at murder but throwing one of our lemons from the lemon tree that grows on the garden patio at the duck and his accomplice. Ben negatively failed but succeeded in throwing the lemon at the neighbors’ roof.

“Ohhh, shit!” When Germans swear, it cracks me up, every time.

Andrew and I decided that today we were going to the Botanical Gardens in Kirstenbosch. We gathered Ben and Jessica to join us. We called a taxi and went into one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. The entrance way was confected with indigenous looking statues, mostly of naked women- mhm, and of strange animals that may or may not be a cat/bird? After the entrance, you feel completely enveloped into something unreal- or at least something that you thought only existed in movies and books. Time stopped. Your heart fills with this feeling that everything in the world that ails you, doesn’t matter—you are here, in this sanctuary of beauty, peace and serenity. And that is all that matters. If you feel stressed or depressed or anything- go there to make things make sense. If I ever get married (god forbid) it will be there. And I don’t care how much it costs every guest to fly there; it will be worth every penny when your soul and body finally get a chance to meet.

It was like I was 10 again, being the tomboy and climbing trees. They have numerous hiking trails, natural waterfalls, picnic areas and amazing plants. Some were healing plants, some were just beautiful flowers that bathe in the South African sun, others are just strange, amazing—but strange. As we discovered new things, I just couldn’t actually believe that a place like that actually existed. And better off, I was standing in the heart of it. We took a moderate hike higher so that we could see parts of the city (another weekend I will go there for a sole purpose of hiking—the trails looked awesome!).. but the city view we saw from a low elevation was remarkable.

When those points in life seem unbearable, where you really think you’re not going to get through it—all you need is some great new perspective that will vivaciously help you. I came to South Africa not expecting the cliché. I suspended any other preconceived notion and just dove right in. As I stood in the middle of a stream today, watching crystal clear water naturally flow off of rocks, I could feel the world resting in my hands. I could see how the earth was created and why, I could see why we all must be decent to each other and why sometimes when things just are too much, you need to take a step back and think, the world is a huge abyss of creation- be apart of it. Get your hands dirty and feel what is around you. That’s usually the problem- you need to ground yourself again. In the hastiness of everyday life, people forget their surroundings, what is happening outside of their bubble. Stepping away from it will not only pop it but also prevent it from ever getting enough oxygen to fill up again.

After spending a few hours, we all decided we were pretty hungry. We called Mark, our new taxi man to come fetch us. We went to Cavendish and at Osumo, a great little smoothie/health food place. So fresh! The cool thing about food here when you order, you get the correct portion size and the dish usually doesn’t have anything but the main concentration- so no chips or fries, sometimes salad. Being healthy is everywhere. And I love it.

The rest of the afternoon I worked on a paper drank tea and relaxed. Happy Woman’s Day to me!
-Mel