at peace

yesterday was perfect. i went to my (so far) favorite restaurant, cocoa wah-wah, with friends for lunch; we sat outside, and the adorable waitress who has served us a few times now introduced herself and asked us our names because she knew that we had come in before. we had a leisurely, delicious meal, sitting outside and laughing. we recognized a flock of americans we hadn't seen before and talked to them for a big - the kids in CIEE, another study abroad program, got here a day or two ago, and there are 150 of them, so we've been seeing more students on the street. talking to them made us feel like locals, as we explained what we already knew about the area and the restaurant.. and then when they asked us how long we'd been here, and we said a week and a half, we got a reality check. it really does feel like we've been here for so much longer than that.

after lunch, we did some shopping. we went to claremont mall, which is about two miles away, and is absolutely huge and glorious. i got some sandals, a purse, and bracelets; i'm going to have to reign in my spending soon, but i just keep discovering things i need here that i didn't bring, or didn't bring enough of.

we then headed to camps bay to watch the sunset and have dinner. camps bay is an absolutely gorgeous beach in a very affluent area of cape town; bruce willis has a house there. gorgeous houses fill the side of the mountain overlooking the bay and along the main road there are numerous restaurants and cafes. the view of the sunset was perfect, and about seven of us sat on huge rocks and silently, peacefully watched the perfectly cloudless sky as the sun sank into the atlantic ocean. i can't remember the last time i focused all my attention on watching the sun set.

at eight, we met three others and went to dinner. we had a long, leisurely meal that included numerous bottles of wine, appetizers, a main course, and coffee. i still can't get over the prices here; even in camps bay, which is an upscale area, we paid about twenty american dollars for this entire meal. and i tried two new foods: oysters (which i liked a lot) and chicken liver pate (which is disgusting in theory, actually not too bad in reality, but i wouldn't order it myself).

i had such a feeling of peace and contentment while sitting there at dinner; there was nothing else in the world that i could or should have been doing besides sitting right there, enjoying the company of these new friends, boys and girls from all over who i am learning more about each day. i think calmly watching the sun set beforehand set the stage for an all around beautiful night; it makes me wonder how my life would be if i could do that each and every night.

we then went to long street, which is indeed a very long, main street in downtown cape town. it's kind of the place to be on a weekend night, just absolutely packed with people and cars and bars everywhere. we met up with some other kids from our program and just hung out for a while, nothing too crazy, but a good time, and i even got two pool balls in the holes (there must be a better, correct term for that) in row, which is a feat for me.

all night i just felt very in the moment, which i think is actually rare for me in my usual life; i feel like i'm always thinking ahead or behind, contemplating something that happened or that will happen, rather than being present. i think it's rare for most people to be absolutely, completely, enjoying what is happening at that very moment in their lives. so that's where i was, and it felt good.