Spier Wine Estate Dinner Friday January 27, 2012

 We finally got internet in our rooms today! We had to go to a couple buildings to get our computers programmed and passwords set up to sign onto the internet. The Information Technology building is set up in what looks like a small house, much different from the one at my school! It was very cute though and cool inside. I like it. You can see the crazy long words I mentioned earlier too. Thankfully most posts come with English underneath, although I do want to learn some Afrikaans.

What was special about today was our MOYO welcome dinner at the Spier Wine Estate in Stellenbosch. All the international students were shuttled from the campus about 20 minutes down the road to a local vineyard. I FINALLY SAW ZEBRAS! The vineyard is a popular tourist destination and they keep local African animal on a reserve close to the restaurant for tourists to see. I kind of felt bad for the poor animals being in those grasslands away from their wild counterparts, but they did have a lot of room to roam around. Riding past on the bus, I saw zebras, ostriches, springbok, and cows. Finally! I would have loved to have pet them all but I don’t think you can do that, nor do I think they would appreciate it.

This is one of the areas we lounged and talked at after dinner. It was all lit up by the lanterns you see above.

The restaurant itself was absolutely incredible. Since I imagined dinner in a vineyard to be outside out in the field, I didn’t bring my camera because I was afraid it’d get broken. Silly me. I’ll share some pictures some of the other students took. The atmosphere was incredible. There were iron sculptures around that created fountains coming down from the trees and lanterns with star shapes punched out. There were tree houses that you could reach by climbing a spiral staircase up the tree.

Our tables were set up under a large tent with two stages, one in the front and one in the middle. A group of performers drummed and danced to traditional South African music for us, stamping their feet and moving their arms in beautiful ways. 

Of course many of you are wondering about how the food is here in South Africa. We had a fantastic buffet set up for us there. And if you didn’t know it already, I’m a vegetarian. So I can’t tell you I tried the springbok or ox tail or hake fish they offered. One thing I do love is the feta cheese over here! I’ve been eating a lot of salad (there aren’t many vegetarian options around) and it’s been on everything. Delicious! I don’t really drink either, but the other students said the wine was fantastic. I guess it’s an acquired taste.

 After dinner at the front stage, there was a live DJ who played all kinds of music. It was great to dance around and mingle with the other international students. I’ve met so many in the past few days it’s hard to keep track of everyone’s name! Here’s the website of the restaurant so you can see more: http://www.moyo.co.za/restaurant-moyo-stellenbosch/map.aspx

We got our faces painted with designs in white paint!

 

Tomorrow I'm going to Cape Town!