Caleigh has been here for about a month and a half, the first three weeks of which were spent living Plan A: working at a large industrial wine operation. Here is a list of things that were wrong with that experience in no particular order:
1. 19 hour workdays
2. No English. Most of her coworkers could speak English but didn’t like to. All Afrikaans all the time.
3. Less than stellar management
4. Extremely large, old and poorly designed winery without proper machinery = Caleigh lugging 25 kg chemical bags and buckets of scalding water up labyrinths of stairs and catwalks all day. Shame*.
So naturally when Caleigh phoned Casey back in Connecticut with a hesitant “How do you feel about having an adventure?” she enthusiastically agreed with a loud “WWOOF!”
So here we are 2 ½ weeks into Casey’s arrival at our second WWOOF farm in Stellenbosch. Here is a list of things that we have experienced thus far:
- Riding to the supermarket in a clunky white hippie van, whose exterior was covered in sheep quoting bible verses
- Being chased by a flock of large aggressive honking geese (daily)
- Fashioning delicious meals from fresh vegetables and herbs we’ve picked ourselves minutes earlier. Michael Pollan eat your heart out.
- Climbing a mountain** and sunbathing on rocks overlooking Table Mountain and the South Atlantic while listening to a pack of baboons nearby who were doing the same
- Lounging with South African winemakers at sunset drinking wine that had come from the vineyard in which we were sitting (at which point Casey spilled red wine over both of our white clothes…shocking)
- Drinking beer and eating pizzas at a restaurant on the beach overlooking Robin Island (where Mandela was held in prison)
- Milking cows, making cheese and yogurt
- Making a fabulous french friend named Camille, whose incredible one-liners entertain us to no end
- Making a cake for our South African friend’s birthday…and then eating it all by ourselves because South Africans don’t like sweets, and, well, we do.
- Making a mosaic
- Buying a car
- “Braaing” the night away
(more to come on all of this later)
So this is just a little taste to whet your appetite--our first of many updates to come. Our title "Bluegrass Safari" comes from the title of a song we heard a guitarist perform last week--a mix between Bluegrass music (the music of Caleigh's homeland) and a special rhythmic African music that is the bomb. So we decided that is an appropriate title for our trip: the Bluegrass Safari.
* Shame: one of our favorite South African phrases. No matter the magnitude of the problem, the South Africans will regularly reply with "Ahh, shame."
e.g. I forgot my cell phone back home. Ahh, shame.
OR
I left the tap open accidentally and drained 100 gallons of wine into the gutter. Shame. (Yes, it is a really freaking big shame)
** While hiking, we were under the impression that we were nearly at the top, but in actuality we were just short of halfway there. Klem, I'm sure you are shaking your head right now.
