Invictus a Grand Finale to the Week

Dear William Ernest Henley,
Thank you a million times over for inspiring Nelson Mandela to such greatness with your poem Invictus.

"....
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul."
Last verse of Invictus by WE Henley

What would South Africa be today without Mandela's wisdom and vision?

I read the book, "Playing the Enemy", and couldn't imagine the film would do justice to John Carlin's account of how Mandela gathered his apartheid enemies into his fold. And Morgan Freeman was brilliant as Mandela - he looked like him, spoke like him, walked like him, he could have been him!

Invictus brought back such strong memories for me of the 1995 Rugby World Cup. I was at the first match with my son, Gareth, then age 15. (I still wear the shirt!) South Africa, host nation, played Australia, prior World Cup champions. No one thought South Africa stood a chance of winning that first game, let alone the cup, having been out of world class rugby for years and years.

So if you've seen Invictus you will know exactly where we are staying in Cape Town. The rugby stadium is minutes from us. The helicopter in which Mandela arrives to give the captain his handwritten poem, Invictus, flies right over our suburb and also shows the mountain we love to walk in. We're in Newlands, the centre of rugby and cricket. When Tim rides his bike to work he cycles past the stadium to avoid the main roads.

The other highlight of the week was the wine tasting we organized for the students on Thursday. Our young friend and sommelier at the Vineyard Hotel, Chris, did us proud. We gave him money, he brought wines and words and we had a lot of fun. I forgot to take my camera, but here is one that Mililani Trask-Batti took of Tim and me at the very beginning - thanks Mililani!

Saturday morning Tim and set off on our normal weekend walk, up to the contour path in Newlands Forest. Something came over us at the point where we should have turned down to go back home for breakfast. We decided to go up, up and further up, right up Newlands Ravine, to the saddle between Devil's Peak and Table Mountain. It was hard work but the view of the city of Cape Town that awaited us when we got to the top was worth the effort.

Here's a photo of the route we took to the top of the saddle. Devil's Peak is on the right. Photo by Daniel McCrea



Once at the top we had a big decision to make. How to get down again? Tim's knees didn't fancy descending the ascent. Going down the other side would leave us carless in the city; the only other option was walking the circumference of Devil's Peak, along the upper contour path, and finally back to Newlands Forest.

We got home for breakfast at 2pm! It was a very short day.

Of Wine and Food and last week in Cape Town

If all the weeks ahead of us turn out like last week, I'll really need a holiday when we get back to California in June!

Every week we end Monday with a wine tasting at the Vineyard Hotel where sommelier, Chris Wiehe, holds forth on a few select wines, inviting hotel guests and members of the public to share his knowledge. We have been so impressed with Chris we've arranged for him to give a wine tasting to the Stanford students - to introduce them to the terms, the tastes, and some affordable wines they can buy in their neighbourhood.

The interesting snippet about Chris is that he is the son of Marc Wiehe who once owned the wine estate L'Avenir where, for ten years, I owned half a mythical "row" of vines, entitling me to 5 cases of wine each year at cost price. In the early days when Marc first bought the farm, he needed capital and raised some funds this way - "anybody out there want to buy a row in a vineyard and get cost price wines for 10 years?" It was a risk. We didn't know if the wines would be any good. But the risk paid handsomely and the association with Marc and L'Avenir was very special. Tim and I were thrilled to discover Chris Wiehe at the Vineyard.

The start of each week is also time for me to get to grips with the week's African Genocide topic, the class I am taking at the University of Cape Town with 5 of the Stanford students on Tuesdays. This week we had some dense and grim articles to read about the annihilation of the Herero people in German South West Africa over the period 1904 - 1908. Although you might think the subject depressing, I find it highly stimulating and such a privilege to sit in on a class with Mohamed Adhikari, history professor at UCT.

Wednesday evening we began our "Dinner with the Stantons" evenings when, for the next 6 weeks, we'll have four students over to eat with us. We also invite a couple of interesting guests so the students can meet locals. We had a marvelous evening on Wednesday, beginning with the students telling us about themselves, followed by our guests, Pieter Jolly (rock art archaeology specialist) and Jan Glazewski (Environmental lawyer), explaining what they do and inviting interesting discussion around lots of fascinating topics. Fabulous evening!

On Friday Grant Parker, our Stanford faculty in Cape Town, held his Western Cape Sites of Memory class at Groote Constantia, one of the 8 sites Grant has selected to discuss in his course. First, two students gave a well researched presentation on the history of the estate, after which we toured the museums. Grant had invited his dad, Dick Parker, to join us, as well as good friend, Dick van der Ross, known to many Capetonians for his appointment in 1975 as the first coloured rector of the University of the Western Cape. Grant's father was a teacher and a school inspector. Both Dicks had many stories to share over lunch at the Jonkershuis restaurant hosted by Grant - thank you, Grant, for a superb outing and delicious food and wine - a memorable day! See Photos.

In between these Stanford events, Tim has his own Community Based Research course on Mondays. And for the rest of the days during the week he needs to be at the Stanford Centre to direct the proceedings there.

We bought a couple of essentials last weekend. A Weber to BBQ on our stoep, or "Braai" as it's called here, and a bright yellow bike for Tim to cycle to work. That way I will have more access to the car. He gets fit and I get lazy!

A Hike in Newlands Forest

Tim and I try and walk in the forest as often as possible and today we were lucky enough to be accompanied by the son of our Irish friends who brought his camera, so here we are, the proof!



Of course it could be, since we don't look at all tired, that we are posing against a backdrop. So here is the view in the opposite direction, of the sprawl of suburbs. Way over on the far side, almost hidden in the smog, you can see the outline of the Hottentots Holland Mountains.

Africa Cafe Welcome Dinner

The students had their Welcome Dinner on Friday 8th at the Africa Cafe in Cape Town. Click on the link to see some photos

Wildlife trapped in our garden

Tim and I watched Guineafowl Drama for an hour or so this morning and decided that birds do indeed have teeny brains.

Ma and Pa Guineafowl brought their 5 chicks into our garden this morning, but then couldn't find their way out. It was easy for Ma and Pa to escape. They can fly. But the chicks were tiny, their little wings mere stumps of feathers on the sides of their fluffy bodies. They were stuck in our garden. Yippee, a replacement for the ravens I miss so much back at home in Inverness!

What made it worse for the babes is Ma and Pa abandoned them to the next door garden leaving their chicks squealing over on our side.

A fence separates the properties. It has wooden slats with a small gap between each slat. It begins about a foot off the ground, secured to a brick foundation wall. The chicks couldn't jump that high. New Balance to the rescue. I ran to fetch Tim's new shoe box and placed it up against the wall, hoping they could jump to that level and then get to the next. After a lot of false attempts, they made it - now all they had to do was fit through the gap in the slats.



Up and down the wall the chicks scurried, trying this gap,then that gap, with Ma & Pa on the other side of the fence, egging them on. First one was through, then two, then three. But the last two were just too chubby. Ah, wait, no, the fourth got pushed by the fifth and it was also safe next door.



Poor number five. It didn't have the strength in its feet to push itself across the gap. Sherry to the rescue - I tiptoed up behind it and gently eased it's little bottom, and plop, it landed on the other side to join the family.

We thought the rest would be easy - escape from the next door garden guarded by a big black gate across the carport. I figured the chicks could easily slip under and Ma & Pa could fly over. But no, Ma & Pa were determined to get through the gate posts which were far too close together. They tried very hard until "Ping, oh yes, we can fly."

I last saw the family trotting down our road. I hope they made it as far as the safety of the park and don't become roadkill after all that hard work!

The Work Begins

Monday January 4th began early for Tim, the day the Stanford students officially began their quarter at the brand new Bing Stanford Overseas Centre in Cape Town. Introductions and orientation and decisions on which courses to take was the flavour of the day. (Please note spelling - we're in Cape Town, communicating in the local brogue.)

All the faculty, including those from Cape Town University, came to an extremely yummy lunch on Monday, catered for by Lindi Kriel, David's wife. Each lecturer gave a brief course outline, at the end of which Tim and I wanted to sign up for all.

I posted some photos to a web album so please check it out and meet the students and lecturers yourself.

The University of Cape Town's Summer School is about to start with some courses I'd love to do. Added to all the Stanford classes I also want to take, this will not be a summer holiday!

Cape Town is windy this week with Tuesday the hottest day of the year (all 5 days!) It was only 36 deg Centigrade here in Newlands, but in other parts of Cape Town it got to well over 30 C! I wallowed in our teeny pool for the first time since we moved in.

Tim and I have been to two music evenings at a small venue/cafe not too far away from where we live. While it's been nice to hear live music in a similar environment as the Station House, the quality is just not the same as "Paul Knight and his friends"! We're very jealous of the line-up at the Station House this weekend. Laurie Lewis, Tom Rozum and Nina Gerber - our very best favourites!

I've just finished reading Zeitoun - Dave Eggers gripping story about what really happened in New Orleans during Katrina. We're also reading South African literature (for one of the Stanford courses) starting with Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton.

Happy New Year!

Welcoming in the new year with Claire, Breda & Billy over a Champagne/Jazz Brunch at the Winchester Mansions, Cape Town. Claire took the photo but I managed to slice her in from another shot. Thanks Claire!

Strange weather here today. The notorious south-easterly wind, the "Cape Doctor" has kept the mountain covered in a thick blanket of cloud, dark and gloomy on the Newlands side, white rolling tablecloth on the Cape Town side, while Sea Point basks in brilliant sunshine and crowds of day trippers gathered on the promenade to picnic, play ball games, and frolic in the icy sea.

The Stanford students begin arriving this weekend and classes start on Monday. Finally Stanford's Cape Town Overseas Centre will hum with activity.

Yesterday our resident assistant at the student housing, Claire Gibson, arrived. Claire was part of the 2008 Spring Quarter pilot program. We feel so lucky to have her here. The students are so lucky too!

Ayanda and Nathaniel visited on the last but one day of 2009. We had supper and then danced up a storm.







Finally, little bit of chilly UK - Gareth and Naz, Loch Ness, Scotland.