Diwali (Festival of Lights), Gardens and Beach

This past weekend I finally got to go to Kirstenbosch Gardens, which was one of the only things I was still hoping to see in Cape Town.  Come to think of it, it was generally a weekend of firsts.  Saturday morning, I joined one of my house-mates on a journey through Manenberg (an township many students from Christel House are from) to the Rylands (not sure if that's spelled correctly) for Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights.  We arrived towards the end of the temple's celebration and listened to prayer service bhajans (like Christmas carols, says Anuja).  The women and girls had the most stunningly beautiful saris I had ever seen with my own eyes. 

They had a big WELCOME sign over the entrance to the main room of the temple, which was full of vibrant color and lights.  The little girl in the photo above had the most adorable smile and was running around exploring after the singing.

On the way from Rylands to Kirstenbosch, we passed this graffiti that I always forgot to take a picture of which reads "Faith Wealz" in a Coca Cola font.

After grabbing some DELICIOUS thick crust pizzas at Scooters, we began our tour of the garden.  They have sculptures throughout one part of the garden which fit in perfectly with the surrounding scenery.

There were ducks everywhere and the grass reminded us of the UNC-CH quad in Spring.  We lay in it for a good while.

Then we saw this foot sculpture which reminded us of a Tar Heel!!!  It was quite beautiful actually, what with the faces and the detail on the hand.

The scenery reminded me of the tropics.  I loved the bright flowers and green diversity.

"Traditional Farmer" by Dudzai Chiswamba.  "The rewards of my work are many and I am happy to be strong enough to produce food for my children." -- Text on Plaque

This sculpture, and another nestled near the trunk of a leafy tree, integrated perfectly into the landscape.  I loved the mix of smooth and rough textures, dark and light, living and inanimate.

One passage seemed to lead to Narnia (not unlike our bathroom).  Molly makes for a great forest nymph, no?
The light was sparkling through the branches... magically!

For a second it seemed as though the boardwalk had lead us to marshes.  We scouted the land for hippos, but there were none.  Way to get our hopes up, Kirstenbosch.

Running through part of the garden was a... stream?  Is that what this would be?  Leave me a comment if I'm mistaken.  Anyway, it was nice to hear the soothing sounds of agua (aka eau for you Francophones).

Quite a comically named plant.  Plaque reads: "Mother-in-law's tongue is used to treat haemorrhoids, ulcers, intestinal worms, and diorrhoea."  Spelled exactly that way.  Crazy Dutch/Safrican people.

Little places looked like parcels from a field of flowers you would want to faint into.  These reminded me of yellow pollen/cotton balls that a shrunken Alice in Wonderland would take a nap on.

Near another one of these flower gardens Anuja posed, her dress blowing in the wind.  Glorious!

The winds carried news of our friends' arrival.  We made sure to be super sneaky in observing their every move to ensure they did not discover our secret (awesome) bench location.

Soon enough, though, we were found!  Andrew leapt out of Kirsten's bosch (means bush... get it?) and accosted us.  He has few people skills.

Then Harry Potter Thomas showed us the thweet thword he found, which was promptly christened "Madiba." Don't ask.

As Josiah wrote in his blog, "Time to save money and pack 12 folks into the beach bound taxi."  Yep, we tried to fit all the garden kids (about 8) into a taxi.  Not unlike a minibus. You know, the usual.  We've fit more...

That night, we went to see PARTLY GOD at the ArtsCape theatre, which was a stunning performance.  The artists took so many risks, the music was haunting/beautiful, and it was a dance-heavy show (which I loved).  All of the performers were truly athletic, unafraid to push the limits.  Very Pilobolus-like.  At one point, a net was dropped down across center stage from left to right, held taut by two of the dancers.  Apparently it was done by Jazzart Dance Theatre.  Here is the description from a flier:
"Partly God offers a dreamscape of poetry, music and dance.   The narrative is seen through the spirit of a boy soldier who befriends a young man who is searching for his father.  Their relationship is co-dependant and delicate and the boy finally offers a path to enlightenment.  Empathy then allows for transcendence which in turn offers a state of grace, thus supporting the notion that we are all - partly god."
Quite dramatic, I know.

We ended the weekend with a full day on the BEACH!  Camps Bay was insanely windy, to the point where the wind sent millions of sand grains airborne to sting your skin like needles, but overall it was pleasant.  Anne Marie and I did a polar plunge into the water (which is on the arctic current, mind you) and promptly walked our numb legs back out (and by our I mean my, since Anne Marie's Bostonian self was not fazed by the temperature).  Mostly we laid on the grass by the sidewalk and took in the view of Lion's Head (above).

In case I haven't said it enough... I want to live here forever!