Oktoberfest 10/27/2012

Kait, Gabby, and Corrine enjoy Oktoberfest

The drunken masses dance on picnic tables

BEN - Woke up and had a pretty lazy morning which actually allowed me to finish my book Endurance (I highly recommend it, unbelievable survival story).  I'm now reading Khayelitsha, a book I found here about a white Afrikaner moving to a township which I think is a pretty fitting thing to read during our stay here.  Anyway, in the afternoon Sarel asked if I wanted to go for a ride on his motorcycle.  We sped off soon after.  His bike is much different than Gabby's dad's bike (the only other one I've been on).  I had to really bend forward the whole drive.  My helmet had no wind screen so I spent a lot of the ride with half-open, watery eyes.  We saw some antelope, zebra, and warthog, and even had a group of vervet monkeys cross the road in front of us.  On our way back he really kicked it up a notch to the point where I couldn't open my eyes.  When we got back I asked how fast we were going and he casually replied, "about 220 km/hr, so that's about 140 mph."  Shit, that's very fast!  No wonder it felt like I may fly off at any second.  The rest of the day was pretty relaxed until 4:00 rolled around.  Gabby, Corinne, Kait, and I all packed into the car and drove to Port Elizabeth for a night of debauchery.  Our first stop was 99 Mile Beach Hostel, same one Gabby and I had stayed a week before, to drop our stuff off, and claim our dorm beds.  We decided to go for dinner after Corinne and Kait timidly asked if we liked sushi. We of course jumped at this opportunity.  The first place we went we sat and ordered and drink and debated what sushi to get.  We eventually decided only to be informed that their sushi lady was sick, and not coming in today.  We promptly paid for our drinks and moved on to the next restaurant in search of some fresh fish!  We went to Ocean Basket and gorged on some tasty sushi.  Yummm.  We went back to our hostel to catch a cab, which resulted in waiting outside for 45 minutes, before someone from the hostel just offered to drive us.  Finally, we made it to Oktoberfest, paid our entrance fee, and walked into quite a scene; not one that I expected.  We walked into a giant tent with beer booths on the perimeter, hundreds of picnic tables in the middle, a stage complete with authentic German band, and a mass of drunken humanity.  Ah, just like being back home in a fraternity basement.  We joined the madness, and pushed our way to buy beer.  We all got a bit drunk and got to know both Corinne and Kait a bit better, Corinne telling us the differences between a real German Oktoberfest and this one.  Many drinks and fun times later, we decided to catch a cab to a club that was having a Halloween party.  Aqua was a gay club, which made for some excellent people watching, and eventual extended interaction with 'Lady Gaga.'  Finally we all stumbled back to the hostel (but not before a quick stop at McDonald's).  A crazy, but fun night in South Africa.