Back to school again. What a week! I have moved into my new office in the mall. Still can't believe I work in a mall. But the office is nice and spacious and will do the job. I bought a nice rug and am moving in colorful pictures and comfy things to make it feel like home. The most difficult part of this new set-up will be the commuting back and forth between downtown and the West campus, where I teach 3 classes. But today I got a dual parking pass for both lots which will make it much easier.

Jake's first week of school went really well. He likes 5th grade and seems in much better spirits now that school has started. He loves learning, thank goodness.

Back in the US again. South Africa was really a wonderful place to be for 2 weeks. The trip started out with a very, very long journey. First a plane trip to London Heathrow from Detroit. Then a 13 hour layover -- but smart me pre-booked a hotel room and I hung out there and slept and watched TV. Then the 6022 mile journey from London to Cape Town. That is a long flight. Might not have been the best idea to take an Ambien and drink 3 wines, but I did sleep most of the way!

The next smart thing I did, was decide not to rent a car. I am a pretty seasoned and gutsy driver, but Cape Town is a nutty place to drive and I would've freaked out! First, you have to drive on the left side of the road, and second the construction there is crazy with the World Cup coming there in 2010. I was met at the airport by my very nice driver (so cool to have someone waiting for you with the little sign with your name on it!) who took me to my apartment in City Center. What a luxury pad! It was a very modern 1-bedroom apartment with all of the trimmings. I had a kitchen, full bath, nice bed, washer & dryer, TV, great view of Table Mountain, the works. It was a nice place to hang out and convenient.

Cape Town, being a big city and not safe after dark, was not my favorite part of the trip. But it was a place you should see when you've gone that far. The first day I walked around a bit and did some grocery shopping, and bought a cheap cell phone. Good move -- it came in handy. And took a nap. I started to get hooked on the South African soaps on TV. They are hysterical and so different than their US counterparts. The thing that fascinated me the most was the slipping in and out of languages, sometimes from word to word. There are 11 officially recognized languages there, but the 3 most common are English, Afrikans, and Zulu.

The next day I woke up early and met the Baz Bus for a day-long tour of the Cape Peninsula. The Baz Bus caters to backpackers, so the trip was cheap and no-frills, which was fine with me. We drove to a town where there is a preserve for African penguins (aka "Jack Ass" penguins). I walked out on the boardwalk paths down to the beach, and you can see the little guys all around. Very cute. Unfortunately, even while holding the rail, I managed to take a really bad fall on the slippery boards and whammed my left elbow. I thought I had broken it, but didn't. It hurt like a bitch for a long time and I had a nice bruise in a few days. It still hurts after 3 weeks!

We then stopped at a place where we took a boat trip out to Seal Island, a small, rocky island where hundreds of Cape Fur seals congregate. The boat ride was beautiful, and the seals were beautiful as well.

OK, here comes the "what was I thinking?" moment of the trip. We stopped at a national park area, where we were given the opportunity to take a 6 km bike ride to commune with nature, see wildlife, die! Being significantly older than the other 6 people on the bus (all were in college) I couldn't shame myself and just ride with the bus to the ending spot. No, I hopped on a rickety old bike and did the ride. I thought I was gonna die! I made it, but every muscle and sinew in my body screamed in agony for 3 days.

We then visited a lighthouse point (I rode the tram up the mountain, thank you very much), then the Cape of Good Hope, which was beautiful. It is the southernmost point of Africa. And then back to Cape Town, where I proceeded to collapse in my bed and suffer in agony. Thank god for the soaps on TV and nice bottle of South African wine. Did I mentioned that there was a wine and liquor store next to my apartment building?

The next day I walked down to the V & A seaport, which was harrowing! Trying to cross traffic amidst construction and a strangely convoluted idea of directions was dangerous. It was a gigantic tourist attraction, thus my disappointment. But the sun was out and it was a nice walk. I managed to finagle a ticket to Robben Island that day on the 3 PM boat. Now this was worth the trip! RI is where Nelson Mandela spent most of his imprisonment, as did many other political prisoners before the abolition of apartheid. But only black, asiatic, and "coloured" male prisoners. ("Coloured" referred to the people of mixed-race that haved lived in the Cape area for hundreds of years.) The tour started by a drive around the island, which is pretty barren and scrubby. We saw the outprison where other prisoners where held; the limestone quarry where prisoners served their hard labor; the town on the island where the guards and their families lived and now is populated by some of them who remained on the island as well as former prisoners who chose to stay; the cemetery where the lepers were buried (the island once served as a leper colony); and a tour of the prison facility that was built for political prisoners.

The tour of the prison was conducted by a former inmate, which made it especially interesting and moving. We saw the cell where Nelson Mandela spent most of his imprisonment and the yard where he spent a lot of time.

Then I had dinner at "Mama Africa," this cool restaurant in a funky part of town.

OK, signing off for now. I'll continue posting my vacation highlights tomorrow!