Off to Cape Town tomorrow!

Vacation starts tomorrow - I am so excited to get out of town!

So our plans are to spend the weekend in Cape Town with a group of friends. Jorge is running in the Two Oceans race on Saturday, a 35-mile ultramarathon that is supposed to have stunning views of the coast. On Monday we're driving up to Franschhoek in the Winelands for a few days of wine-tasting and gourmet restaurants, and where we'll celebrate Milo's FIRST BIRTHDAY! Then we're going to spend a couple days in Hermanus, an ocean-side town, where hopefully we'll catch some whale sightings. We've been to Cape Town and Franschhoek before, so we're just going to take it easy and relax on this trip. I'll post if I get a chance, but otherwise we'll be back on the 20th.

It's a strange day in Lilongwe today. There is a big campaign rally for the current president at the stadium near our house, so there are police everywhere, and throngs of people wearing identical blue t-shirts with President Bingu's face emblazoned on the chest. It seems to have everyone all astir. My office is in the main market area, and throughout the day there have been periodic bursts of people running past my office window, yelling and chanting. No idea where they're going, but they seem to be in a good mood, at least. You always have to be careful when you see groups of people running in Africa. After all, maybe there's an elephant after them or something.