This picture and many others like it, were taken from Lion's Head, near Table Mountain. The four of us trekked to the base and headed up the rock just before sunset. This is quite a view to experience so there were a fair amount of people at the summit. The path towards the top orbits the base and with a direct correlation between elevation and 'rockiness'. One side showed the sunset that became much more pronounced right before dusk:
We found a nice spot on top, slightly removed from the scores of people already up there. While walking through the crowd, there must've been at least 5 different languages I heard...this really is something to experience no matter where you're from despite the potential peril with hiking up the paths of appreciable difficulty. When the sun went down, there was a good hour to wait for the moon. Luckily the clouds were dispersing and we had a front row seat for the light show. It rose with a fiery orange color, the largest I've ever seen it. The color became less pronounced as it ascended but really leaves you breathless when you take in the city lights and the juxtaposed dark silhouettes of table mountain. One of the best experiences I've had here and in my life (33°56′05″S 18°23′21″E).
Afrikaans lesson #6
dof - 'stupid'
howzit, hoesit, hoezit - "how is it (how are you)?"
hoezit my china - "how is it my friend?"
The explanation for the last phrase is as follows (taken as the best answer from a forum): the origin of the term is to be found in the early 19th century Cockney (London) rhyming slang "China plate" for "mate.
The chemistry is coming along slowly but surely. Len is off to India tomorrow for a week, and I think I've got my hands quite full until he comes back. We were able to thread some lecture bottles to use some unique gases for our research and crystal growth experiments: vinyl chloride (precursor to PVC piping), other vinyl halides, methylmercaptan (otherwise known as methanethiol, the extremely pungent smelling chemical they put in natural gas to give it a smell at all, since natural gas is odorless), methylamine (smells like raw fish that's been left out too long), and nitric oxide, which upon exposure to my compounds in chloroform, turn the solution a dark red. A color change in organic chemistry is quite rare unless you're doing a titration of some sort or dealing with heavily conjugated compounds, neither of which occurred today. The red color to my understanding may be the binding of the nitric oxide inside the cavity of my compound, to form a possible charge transfer complex, where the pi-systems of both molecules interact and one essentially donates electron character to the acceptor, hence the color change (should you feel ambitious). TGA experiments are being carried out on the resulting crystals followed by continuous data collections with all the crystals I have grown since I've been here (around 16).
Monday I went to a salsa dancing class for beginners...that was interesting. It wasn't too hard, but while drinking a grapetizer and watching the intermediate class give it a go, what we learned was kids stuff. I'll probably go again next monday.
Tuesday night took me and a few other colleagues to the waterfront in Cape Town for the SACI dinner (South Africa Chemical Institute). The amount of guests numbered in the 70s or so where everyone pretty much knew everyone else. I think in situations like these, I try my best to remember names, be proper, and just pretty much not say or do anything to embarrass my country. Our waiter's name was Xola (with a CLICK!). I really couldn't help but think of this clip from Russell Peters:
I sat next to the event organizer and met a few more graduate students from UCT as well and I got to know a little more about the people in Len's group. It was quite an honor to be in attendance with high caliber chemists and being acclimated into the group, and at times being the subject of their humor (mostly Matteo's), all in good fun of course.
I've been doing some deep thinking lately. About where I'm at, where I've been, where I want to go, the image I have of myself now and how it may be different than the image I actually project. A few people linger in my mind, sometimes the most random ones. Stepping back from things at home has given me a different perspective on my life stateside. Don't know if it's a good or bad thing yet.
Tomorrow is friday (chill day). I'll be out with Hendrik tomorrow night, probably not to Opskop, but maybe Springboks Pub? Saturday is shark diving in Gansbaai including a night's stay after the dive at a bed and breakfast in THIS gem of a property.
Caps play the pens tonight, I better wake up to a WIN.
We are a week from the halfway point here as well.
Can't wait to see everyone again.
CK
No comments:
Post a Comment