Ok, people. Bear with me here! A lot has happened since last Thursday! After we returned from the safari, the next day we wrote our blog posts and did homework. However, the next day was far more interesting.
We drove to the Cape of Good Hope again, this time with Imri, and went to the beautiful beach, and I quote from my earlier post about the trip, “the walk down to the beach must have had about a hundred enormous stairs, but once we got to the shore it was worth it. Cool, white, soft sand made from crushed shells welcomed our aching feet. Another steep slope rolled down to the water. Asher and I put aside cleanliness, lay on our sides, and tumbled down the hill!” After rolling down, I tried out an art I had wanted to attempt; sand-sculpting. I was only able to make a heart-shaped mound because I had only started and we had to leave, but it was fun nonetheless. After eating a small lunch and witnessing a woman shriek because a bird tried to grab her sandwich, we went up to a lighthouse on the cliff that we hadn’t been to before. We then went to see the African penguins at Boulders Beach again, and once again they were hilarious. We went to both the isolated beach and the big beach to see the penguins (read “Ella’s Penguin Paradise Adventure” to see more detail). Once we left the penguins, we went home to do homework and then went to an excellent restaurant called Nelson’s Eye. Nelson’s Eye has very good steak, and both Imri and I are carnivores (I know we’re omnivores, but you know what I mean!) 
Anyway, on Saturday Asher and I did homework while Ofer and Imri went to the Farmer’s Market. We said goodbye and he went to the airport to fly back to Israel. That night we met with friends of one of my best friend’s mom. We went to another very good restaurant called Beluga. There, we met Francesca and Gareth. They live here in Cape Town but they used to live in many other places, including Boulder. We talked and got to liking the couple. When we started talking about Asher’s upcoming Bar Mitzvah we told them about mine and Asher’s lack of outfits. Therefore, Francesca decided that she would take us to a good dress store a couple days later and see if we could also brainstorm some ideas for Asher. On Sunday we did more homework, but on Monday we went shopping. Francesca met us at a dress store called Shana. Because we got there before her, we had walked around the area and seen the store. There were a couple of blue dresses in the window that weren’t really to our fancy, so we were hoping that it was the wrong store. We were also trying to find a way of getting out of buying anything. However, when we walked in with Francesca and started browsing we were pleasantly surprised! I tried on a medium-blue dress with a very nice shape and a black netted dress with hand-stitched flowers on it. Both were very nice, but we didn’t end up buying either. I would tell you what we did buy, but I’ll wait until my Bar Mitzvah post to tell you about that! No, I’m just kidding. We bought two tops and a skirt. The first top is black and gold and very iridescent. The second has nude-pink sequins on it that turn a silverish-white when you flip them with your hand. Both are very beautiful. The skirt is plain, black, and satin. As you can imagine, in a store like this, the skirt was a work in progress. However, we wanted it plain black and we left it and the tops to be fitted to my size. We then went to a cafe called Truth Coffee Roasting where we ate brunch. Now, the Truth cafe has a theme; steampunk. If you didn’t know, according to the Merriam Webster Dictionary steampunk is “science fiction dealing with 19th-century societies dominated by historical or imagined steam-powered technology”. However, to most people steampunk fashion is, and again I quote, “a style of design and fashion that combines historical elements with anachronistic technological features inspired by science fiction”. In other words, it’s basically an interesting combination of metal and leather or things like that. While we were sitting at Truth Coffee Roasting, Ofer decided that Asher should wear a steampunk outfit for his Bar Mitzvah! We asked our waiter where they bought their costumes from and he said that they were specially ordered, so that was a dead end. Then we went to the next possible option… Google! There we found a store selling steampunk clothes called Steampunkt. We went inside and looked around, finally buying Asher a vest with metal clasps and a decorated bowler hat. Then, we discovered that the woman who owned the shop actually made Truth’s costumes! Not a dead-end after all! As we were walking back to Francesca’s car we stopped at a second-hand/antique store where I found something that I really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really wanted: A small ceramic cow covered with colorful plates. I know this sounds ridiculous, but I really want it. However, I was out of luck because I wasn’t allowed to buy it even if we did leave it in Israel. We then drove to Lucia and Mia’s, Gareth and Francesca’s daughters, high school and picked up the girls and their friend. Francesca told us about the neighborhood and what it’s like living in Cape Town. She mentioned that many schools here were separated by gender. However, what, or rather who, I found most interesting was the two homeless people in their neighborhood. They call them “Geppetto” and “Galileo”. Geppetto finds spare wood and sharp objects such as old knives or glass to carve by the side of the road. He does this every day and tries to sell them to people. Francesca says that having something to do probably keeps him sane. People have even begun giving him carving kits to work with! Geppetto is intriguing, but Galileo is a whole other story. Every day Galileo sits on a hill and looks at the sun through his fingers. Non-stop. Every day. Oh! And did I mention that he ONLY WEARS TRASH BAGS?! Francesca has even tried giving him clothes, but he refused even a blanket. Even when it hails, Galileo literally sits there, staring at the sun, in his garbage bag. After dropping Mia and Lucia’s friend at her house, we drove to the family’s home and took an Uber back to our apartment at Sea Point. After homework, we went back to the family’s house for dinner. They have two dogs; Lily and Luigi. Lily is old and dominate, but Luigi is very very playful and needs a lot of attention. Over dinner, we talked about a lot of things. Then, we started to talk about vinegar. Apparently, Francesca is from Italy and her family is famous for its old vinegar. They let us try some and it was delicious! Oddly, it tasted like date-honey ((Lucia is obsessed with vinegar)(like me!)). After dinner, the girls went to their rooms to do homework but came down to tell us about Cape Town and what it’s like to live there. They were very insightful and I think if we had met earlier we would’ve become good friends. Then, we got home and went to sleep. The next day (Tuesday) we stayed in all day doing homework because it was raining but then went to have our last dinner at Camps Bay. We also went to pick up my Bar Mitzvah outfit. On Wednesday, we went to a Township called Langa. There, we cycled around, stopping at interesting places such as a school, church, sacred ground, graffiti contest site, craft center, and traditional healer.
Everyone was very friendly, and even the children greeted and waved at us. Then, we had lunch at a restaurant called Mzansi. We ate many different types of food, but the Malva Pudding was absolutely wonderful. We listened to a fantastic live band who taught us how to play their marimbas, looked at beautiful sand art created by a man called Lutel, learned how to make sand art from Lutel, bought a necklace made of seeds made by Lutel’s wife, and listened to the owner’s (“Mama’s”) story of how the restaurant came to be. She speaks Xhosa, an African language filled with very loud clicks. That night, we went to dinner with a friend of ours and his girlfriend at a restaurant called Kloof Street House. This “friend” I have sadly neglected to mention in previous posts. Anton was originally our Uber driver, but then we all became friends and he drove us to many exciting adventures. His girlfriend, Tria, was also very nice. After our excellent meal, Anton and Tria drove us back to our home in Sea Point. Today is Thursday, the 30th of August, 2018; our last day in Cape Town, South Africa. Today we fly to Israel for our second destination on our year-long trip and Asher’s Bar Mitzvah. We will miss you, Africa! We hope to visit soon!…
Ella
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P.S
Sorry this is so long!