And There Won't be Snow in Africa this Christmas

...but there will be lots of sitting on the beach. The weather was gorgeous this Christmas in Cape Town, South Africa, and my roommate and I took advantage of that on the beach this afternoon. The water was too cold to go in, but I took a well-deserved nap on the sand and dreamed about all the cool shiznit I've been up to:

Work is getting better; the one other American boy I became friends with left to go home to NY, but I think the other girls are warming up to me. But even if they aren't, the cheetahs definitely are! Every day they let me cuddle with them a little more. There are six cubs and about ten adults, and they all have quite distinct personalities. I'm still learning how to tell them all apart, but it's getting easier every day. I've also been meeting some really interesting people at the cheetah center; people from all around the world come to pet the cheetahs... so far I've met some families from DC and SoJo (that's what I'm calling South Jersey starting now), India, Germany, other parts of Africa, etc. I even met a guy who owns part of the Yankees. We fought about the World Series. ...I told him the cheetahs here are trained to eat Yankees fans. I also met a nice Jewish family from Florida who gave me the number of someone who works at the Garden Shul, one of the most famous shuls in South Africa (I live in Gardens, so it's right in my neighborhood). They said she'd hook me up with a nice Jewish South African boy. Yeah... I'm calling her first thing after Shabbos.

So have I mentioned enough times that I love the people I'm living with and the other kids that are here through the same placement program as me? SO MUCH. We had a super fantastic Christmas dinner last night at my house. Everyone pitched in a little (I can't cook, so I helped clean up), and it turned out really great. The people in my house traded gifts for Secret Santa, and I got a CD of the best of African A Cappella music! And get this.. the person who got me the gift had no idea that I sing in an A Cappella group! ...Christmas magic. After dinner, we all went out to this classy club called Hemisphere where I showed off my mad eyo dance skills and grinded with a little Indian man who had Elvis hair and lots of bling. ...More Christmas magic. When we got home, one of my roommates shoved a cake in my face, and when I got up to throw it back at him, still quite inebriated, I tripped and fell on my face in front of everyone in the room. ...Oh mah gah, enough Christmas magic already.

I still have so much touristy stuff to do in Cape Town! A bunch of my friends left for Namibia today, but I work five days a week, so I probably won't be able to go on a longer trip like that while I'm here. I AM going skydiving with a bunch of friends soon, though! Super cool. And maybe tomorrow I'll go see the penguins, do a bus tour, and go shopping for some more going-out clothes and bathing suits. Definitely didn't bring enough of those.

And if you'll all please look at the box to the right-hand side of your screen, you'll notice that I've finally uploaded the pictures from my trip so far! I'll add them to facebook as well... I'll be able to add descriptions there.

Enjoy!
Jordyn