Wednesday 31 August 2016

LIVING IN CAPE TOWN (4)




During my final weeks it started to hit me just how quickly time was passing by.  I sadly began to realise I wasn't going to be in Cape Town for as long as it had once seemed and so I decided to disconnect myself from my phone and social media to make sure I was really living in each moment. 

During my last two weeks I was incredibly lucky to get the opportunity to shadow three of the top Magistrate Judges at Wynberg Magistrate's Court.  It was one of the most surreal experiences that I've had.  I worked with civil, criminal and child law cases.  Thinking back to when I was leaving the UK, at that time I would have never dreamed that I would end up working in the High Court. It makes me so grateful that I got on that flight despite all of my fears, apprehensions.  Working in the court also gave me so much confidence and reassured me that I do want to be a lawyer. 

Later in the week my friends and I went sailing at the Waterfront.  That night we also went to an authentic Mexican restaurant and my American friends were shocked at how apparently "un-mexicanised" us Brits were when we had no idea what to order...


The next night we all went clubbing, which was so fun and I am obsessed with the nightlife here in Cape Town.  On the way home however, our taxi driver ran through three red lights and was stopped by the police yelling at him about how he had our lives in his hands and how we all had families, etc.  They were right but the driver gave them a load of cash and the police let him drive away with all of us still in the car. On arrival I always knew to avoid getting into taxis, although the more I began to feel like a local the more relaxed I became. 

The next day we went to the famous braai, Mozoli's, which is basically a large scale barbecue party that happens every Sunday in one of the township areas. When you first go in you order your meat... So, a large group of us all ordered around 10 pieces of chicken, 2 pieces of lamb, 3 pieces of streak, sausages and more and that's pretty much what you ask for.  They throw all of your meat into a plastic bucket and you take it through to the braaier who cooks it on the huge barbecue stoves for you to collect later.  Inside the actual area where everyone eats there are huge speakers playing African beats, everyone is dancing around, playing drums and getting drunk, all whist enjoying the meat, it really is a once in a lifetime experience if you visit South Africa. 

The next week I went back to the women's shelter to finish off the work that I was doing and also to say goodbye.  The women made me a beautiful card with the Scottish flag on it.  That night my friends and ate pizza whilst watching the sunset from the top of Signal Hill, which has an amazing view overlooking the entire city.  It looked stunning in the dark with all of the city lights and I tried not to cry whilst looking over my friends admiring the view.  The next few nights before I left mainly consisted of my friends and I eating ice cream, watching movies, and just being silly together.  I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to share my time in Cape Town with I am going to miss them all so much.  I can't put into words how much I did not want to leave.  I felt like in a short time I quickly built my dream life.  I used to wish that the world could freeze in that time so that could be our lives forever but sadly however it was time to return to reality. 



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