Ample Excuse to Jol

jol South African slang

noun -a party

verb - jolling, jolled, to jol

(intr) to have fun, to party, can also refer to a disco or party

         It's hard to believe that 2 months have passed since I arrived in Cape Town. I have settled into a routine (although it is so different from life back home its strange to consider it a routine) and have settled into UCT and Cape Town quite well. The past few weeks have been more work intensive and I haven't been exploring or traveling around Cape Town as much. However, I was given a great excuse to have a fun weekend and take my foot off of the gas on all schoolwork and other work I have been doing lately. On Friday, I received an offer for a summer internship position from a think tank in midtown Manhattan. Having interviewed with them twice, I was thrilled with the news and getting the news on a Friday right after I left my last class ensured that I would not be touching a book for the rest of the weekend. 

Finally, found a proper occasion for this Boschendal Sparkling Wine

           The think tank is called FSVC (Financial Services Volunteer Corps http://www.fsvc.org/) and focuses on helping stabilize financial markets in developing and transitional economies. By helping central banks in countries such as Algeria, Iraq, Mozambique and others, FSVC helps promote central and commercial bank transparency, availability of financing for small- and mid-market businesses to help stimulate economic growth as well as anti-money laundering and anti corruption projects. I will spend my summer working with Financial professionals who are helping in various different areas mainly in Northern Africa and the Middle East. It will also afford me an opportunity to live in New York City for the summer and work on 53rd street between 5th Avenue and Park Avenue. I couldn't be happier with the news and was eager to go out with some oakes and celebrate.

Royale Eatery is known for their burgers. In fact, rumor has it Royale Eatery is the home of Angelina Jolie's favorite Burger in the world

          Levi, Ross, Brocq, Brocq's girlfriend Lisa and I headed to Long Street to the highly esteemed Royale Eatery, famous for their gourmet hamburgers. Rumored to be Angelina Jolie's favorite burger in the world, we all selected eclectic burgers and tall beers to kick start the night. Brocq's girlfriend was in town for a few weeks from the U.K. and interestingly enough, I was present when Brocq and Lisa met in the Bahamas in the summer of 2010. Brocq and I were heading out on an Island School boat to scuba dive and Lisa, who was interning at the Cape Eleuthera Institute joined us. Here we are almost two years later all together in South Africa. So we enjoyed each others company, drank some beers to celebrate the weekend and my recent job offer. The night carried on later and a little bit crazier than most, jolling with Brocq and some rugby guys ways the perfect way to celebrate the job offer and was all fun and games until the next morning when I woke up to the reminder that I had a 13:30 rugby match in Kuils River.

Ready to go

         Trying my hardest to appear composed and ready to go, we headed to Kuils River to take on the Kuils River Rugby Club around noon. I had not arrived home until 5:00 the previous night and was not in the best of conditions. However, I was once again rewarded for hard work in the previous weeks when I was told that I was starting today. Playing Left Wing, with only one half of game experience I was now starting against a large, scrappy, "coloured" team. Our usual Left Wing has been moved to Flyhoff, so I was the Left Wing for the whole game. Once again I had the flutters and nerves that I had missed from competitive, organized, full contact sports. We hoped to improve on last weeks loss and come back with a win, giving us even more incentive to jol hard that night.

Pre-game hype up

Game Time

          Before long the game was underway and we came out yelling off of the first kickoff. We controlled the play early and missed a few opportunities to punch in an early score. Our physical play and speed was putting us in a position to put the game early, but we clearly got the jitters as we approached the try line. Dropped balls and missed holes led to turnovers inside the 22 repeatedly. Eventually we punched in a score, though the kick was missed. We held the 5-0 lead into the half but were dissapointed we hadn't put more points on the board.

A Scrum after a penalty 

Getting involved in the Ruck

       We came out of the half more energized and looked to put up the points we were capable of. Kuils River came out of halftime with a different game plan, to play dirty. In rucks and scrums they began to throw punches, at faces, stomachs, whatever they could hit. They led with their heads and were noticeably trying to injure our best players. We had a young and inexperienced ref who held little control over the game. Several Yellow and Red cards were issued to Kuils River, but the violence in rucks was getting out of hand.

Game face

Vilhem with the Heisman

       Despite the distractions on the field, we managed to punch in another try, along with the kick, to take the lead 12-0. I was getting more action this half, getting several carries, kick returns and tackles. I had one run (pictured below) where I advanced the ball about 25 metres. Happy with the progress I'd made in the previous weeks I continued getting as involved in play as possible. We kept our composure for the most part, despite the bush league play we were up against.

Ross on the opposite Wing

           We held on for the victory 12-0 but left the game with a number of concussions and injuries as a result of the dangerous play Kuils River exhibited. We were happy with the win and hoped the best for our teammates who were injured. Once again, I was given an excuse to jol the night away. I played the full game, was invovled in offense and defense and we were victorious. We headed away from the game excited that we had built on our previous week's performance and had momentum moving towards league play in a few weeks. We also were lucky to have a photographer on hand who took some great action shots of the game. We enjoyed the ride back to Rosebank proud that we were returning victorious.

UCT 12 - Kuils River 0

Though I was low on energy, I awoke from a brief nap just in time to jump in a cab with some friends and head into the heart of Cape Town for Carnival. Having missed Mardi Gras in New Orleans for the first time since 2009, this would have to do for this year in the place of Mardi Gras. As we entered the city we could see the lights and hear the crowds as we eagerly awaited to see what Cape Town Carnival had in store for us.

The streets were packed with all types of sights, not unlike a walk down Bourbon Street. The large gay population in Cape Town had its presence felt, as it does in New Orleans, with eccentric outfits and making the event seem less family oriented. We grabbed some drinks at a bar and came out onto the crowd in the street to watch the parade and decadent floats glide past us.

Parading through the Center

Though the floats were not as over the top as they are at Mardi Gras, they were beautiful. The dancers and floats made quite a spectacle of the center of the city, and, probably due in large part to the drinks we had in our hands, we enjoyed watching them drive past while drinking and socializing with others around us. Hoever, after about an hour of watching the parades, we decided to turn for the other side of the city and hit the bars that were sure to be packed with some crazy outfits and energy in celebration of Carnival.

Long Street during Carnival

The bars were crowded and Long Street did remind me of Bourbon street tonight more than most nights. The second floor balconies especially paint the same picture and create a 360 degree crowd experience. We enjoyed some time at the bars, complete with a few Milk Stouts before calling it a night. Ross and I were exhausted from Rugby and all of the recent festivities and were not able to stay out as late as all of the others who were with us. So we left the Carnival early, happy that we'd mustered the energy to see it all, and even happier that we were heading home to our beds for a good night's sleep.