Simon's Town

So today was more of an adventure than I would have thought it'd be...
After the group gathered themselves together to make our way to the train station, the mantra hurry up and wait runs through my head as our meeting time stretched on for almost thirty minutes. I'm still getting used to the fact that not only am I surrounded by college students, who can't seem to get themselves together on time on a normal day, but that I'm dealing with college students in Africa, where time is quite literally almost irrelevant at times. I don't think the idea of time is money ever sank in here, and I know we Americans are actually made fun of for our constant appraisal of time and speediness.
But I digress: we finally made it to the train station, a two minute walk from the res, and waited (I really am getting good at it!) for the train to come. Little did we know that when the train arrives you have about twenty seconds to get on, and no one checks to make sure you've boarded. Well, let's just say that the image of someone running down the platform as people inside the car hold the doors open and grab said person to heave them into the car is not as exciting as it looks. It's terrifying. As the last person in the group to board, I literally had to leap onto the moving train as it sped away from the platform. I think it's the only time during this entire experience that I've been truly frazzled. But, I made it onto the train in one piece, and we now have a really funny story to tell people:)
The trip by train to Simon's Town is absolutely stunning as you move south down the peninsula along the water. It's maybe forty-five minutes from Cape Town, so it's a great late morning trip if you're just dying for some great seafood or want to get out of the city for a little bit. We had a great lunch at this little restaurant on the water, then walked around the vendor's stalls looking for souvenirs: I almost bought this gorgeous ebony wood bowl with carvings all along the outside, but when the seller and I agreed on R80 for it, she got a call from her sister and tried to up the price on me. I had to walk away, which was such a bummer. Her loss.
Simon's Town used to be the center of the British Navy in the southern hemisphere, and today is the base of the South African Navy, so we had to stop at the South African Maritime Museum while we were there. It's full of really interesting artifacts from the long history of the Navy in the area, with things from photographs, uniforms, artillery, a replica of a submarine, a helicopter, and diving equipment.
A quick stop at the beach to get our hot feet wet was in order before we reboarded the train (I wasn't at the back of the group this time!) which quickly filled with end-of-the-workday passengers. And when I say filled, I mean literally filled, to the point where people were hanging out of the open doors and some were even sitting on the metal pieces connecting the train cars. It was insane! And scary! But we elbowed our way off in time for our stop without too much trouble, and no one was pick pocketed, which apparently happens all too frequently.
Now for the rest of the evening I'm scheduled to get some laundry done and go to bed early, as tomorrow I'm being picked up at 6:40am for the cage diving. Wish me luck!