Wining, Dining and watching a bear get married on the beach

Yes, you read right: We did watch a bear get married to man in a bridal gown on Clifton beach. But more of that later.

Last Saturday, a few of us from the Democracy House (and a couple of groupies) ventured in the winelands for a day of fun, sun and good wine. Traditionally, our day started two hours after the planned departure time but nevertheless progressed into quite an awesome day. First on the map was the Spier Wine Estate out in Stellenbosch. Originally set around a lake with a few picnic spots of grass for picnic enthusiasts, Spier has turned into a busy tourist destination with a great restaurant, amphitheatre for live concerts and a hotel/spa. After browsing and watching cheetahs laze in the sun we managed to accumulate eight bags of food from the deli and had a rather intimate picnic in the grass. With wine and cheese aplenty, we managed to settle on the windiest spot in the place, but manged to stay planted long enough to eat.

Fully fed, we made our way further into the winelands but unfortunately encountered "Closed for Tasting" signs at a number of farms. Our quest for good wine continued though (thanks to a very helpful assistant at one of the farms), toward the Muratie Wine Farm (who were thankfully open for tasting!). Quenching our desperate need for wine, Muratie provided the most authentic cellar setting. Fascinatingly rustic, we tasted and tasted and tasted among spider webs and faded early twentieth century furniture.





The idea to head toward Clifton for sunset was John's and in an attempt to beat the sunset we moved the day's activities toward Clifton beach. Resembling a scene out of the Wizard of Oz (on Acid), we witnessed a man in a bear suit getting married to a man in a bridal gown. Freaky I know. We only noticed later that there was a camera in the vicinity as well as a director.

We breathed a sigh of relief knowing that it was for some advertisement and that the wine we tasted was not laced with hallucinogenics. With the frisky bear covered, no-one could find an explanation for the guy rolling around under a blanket by himself. Cape Town's a crazy-ass place we concurred. Beautiful as well…but also crazy.








Cheers.
Yudhvir

Sunday, Sep. 30th2007

Tamara is our close friend in the Democracy House, and her daughter Efredah is, no doubt, everybody’s sweetheart!

Tragically, Tamara’s husband Irvin died of AIDS on Sept. 19, 2007.

We went to attend Irvin’s funeral on Sunday morning, in Crossroads, Nyanga. This is a place very different from downtown Cape Town, and to me much more like Africa. The residents are all black people -- women wearing in colorful long dresses and scarves, carrying babies on their backs or pots on their heads. They live in wooden bunkhouses, poor and small. Some buildings do not even stand straight on the ground. Each house is painted in different colors. Food is cooked alongside the road. I could not tell what the gravy was but it smelled very strong.

The funeral was in the front yard of a small home in a big tent. We were invited to sit in the front. People showed us their friendliness and respect. Salla tried to make a video of it, and a potentially award-winning documentary might come out later. The funeral lasted for 3 hours, I was amazed by the beautiful voices of Xhosa people. They are really born great singers. Then the coffin was buried at noon, in a graveyard not far from the tent. It was that moment I first saw Tamara crying since the bad news arrived more than ten days ago.

Life is full of suffering, but I believe Tamara is a strong Xhosa woman. It is sad but also a relief for her. Life will go on and be better, as long as we believe and never give up.

/Siyi