sorry it's been so long...

Last week I managed to get at least one of my exams out of the way. It was Making of the Modern Middle East, and I think it went pretty well. I wrote on Israel/Palestine, Egypt, and the end of the Ottomans. People sounded pretty stressed, but I think that it went ok. Which I'm sure you all know means one of two things: it went pretty well, or it went horribly. I guess that I'll just have to wait and see...
On Thursday Emily and I went to the V & A Waterfront (V&A for Victoria and Alfred). We went to the aquarium there and got to see lots of cool stuff. We were there for the penguin feeding, featuring mainly jackass penguins, a type of penguin unique to South Africa. Two things to note here: first, I'm in a hemisphere where penguins roam free, second, they really are called jackass penguins. I also got to see a cuttlefish, seahorses, and jellyfish. All in all, a very cool place. Afterward we went and saw some vaguely bizzare chick flick. Good for a rainy day I guess.
The V & A Waterfront itself is kind of a bizzare place. It's a humongous mall, one of the most visited attraction in Africa (how sad is that). It's a weird mix of African kitsch and high fashion stuff. It's way too big and just kind of overwhelming. I think that my system tolerates shopping as well as the next person's, but there's something about a bloated mall selling everything you never wanted that's just too much. I guess I do a lot better in smaller venues, or when I know what I want from a specific place. Long story short, it's way too much.
Other than that, I haven't been up to too much. My friend Hannah and I have managed to get through season six of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (if you haven't seen it, it really is much better than you think), and are hoping to get through seven as well. I have all of this coming week off. My exam schedule is pretty horrible, just the one last week, then one on the tenth, two on the eleventh, and I leave the twelfth. Gross. I pretty much have to be packing as I study and say goodbye. Sometime this week though I'm hoping to go to Stellenbosch with some friends, so that should be fun. A short road trip to go wine tasting and hiking? Count me in!

Well, love you guys loads, and I'll see most of you very soon. And I've put new pictures up, so feel free to check them out!