Students at my advocacy project at the University of Western Cape!

A braai (aka a barbecue) at our friend Patrick's house in Khayelitsha. It became a whole neighborhood event!

This is when I spent the night in Khayelitsha, a township where my friend from University of Western Cape lives.

Here are the neighbors that took care of us in Khayelitsha and we have become close friends.

Hlengisa's 3rd graders

Girls in my 8C classroom.

Boys in my 8C classroom.

Mrs. Portia Chase, the teacher I work with and love with all my heart!

Linduka, the EMEP coordinator to helps me with my reading club.

Desmond Tutu

Where the Wild Things Are...

Kalk Bay

Kalk Bay fresh fish market.

Orange River/Service

Khayelitsha

This past friday I spent a night in Khayelitsha, a township close to Cape Town. Townships are settlements that are typically pretty poverty stricken. This is where shacks are set up and houses are constructed with tin and the floor is cement however, in townships there are also nicer house that have been properly constructed and have electricity and running water. Another girl from the program and myself stayed with a friend we met in our ethics class at school. Andiswa lives with her mother and two younger brothers on the developed side of Khayelitsha. On Friday we went to a love service at her church and we danced, sang and were blessed with holy water. When we got home her mother had a delicious South African dinner for us, which included chicken liver! The rest of the night we chatted with neighbors and visited with her family. Then on Saturday we went to another church service. The service was much different than anything I have experienced because they strongly believe in chasing out evil spirits within people and they chant their prayers. It was very culturally eye opening and I learned a lot about Xhosa traditions within this particular church. 

Carlyn and I were the only white people sitting amongst the congregation and everyone came up hugging, kissing and  telling us we are blessed. I have never felt so welcome and part of a family at a church. Their sense of community was overpowering and I felt like I had known these people my whole life. At the end of the service which including a lot of sining, dancing and clapping of hands we were escorted to the front of the church and had to dance in a circle and sing in front of everyone. I was having the time of my life dancing in front of all these strangers without a care in the world.

Then in the afternoon we met up with another friend from school and he took us to the more undeveloped side of Khayelitsha. He showed us where he lives and we walked around the block just soaking it all in. Townships are predominantly still all black so once again we stood out but everyone we encountered was excited to see white people in Khayelitsha.

Service

Service is going well but I haven't been there in almost a month! My university was on break a week before theirs and then they had two weeks off and I then Easter break rolled around so after just over a month I went back this Thursday. Right when I walked in the office, a teacher informed me that the English teacher who I teach for is out on sick leave for 2 weeks. This does not effect me much since whenever I am at school he does not come to the classroom but it means that my students will only be taught English the two days of the week that I am there. I have really been struggling with the South African education system and how difficult it is for teachers to properly educate the students due to lack of resources and the sheer number of students per class. Because teachers feel helpless they then become unmotivated and tired and do not go to class or simply give the kids busy work. It is also difficult knowing some of the kids only one meal a day, which is provided to them by the government so they physically and mentally just do not have enough energy to pay attention in class. Overall though I really enjoy being at service and my students are great!

Easter

For Easter I went on a 5 day rafting trip in Namibia on the Orange River! Namibia is about 8-10hrs from South Africa including the time you have to go through customs. Two nights we stayed at a base camp and slept on the grass and the other 3 nights we would just stop along the river and find some nice sand to set up camp. We slept without tents directly under the bright and beaming Milky Way. There were three guides with us and they made breakfast, lunch and dinner. We paddled each day for about 8 hours through still water, rapids, head wind and a hot sun! So far Namibia has been one of my favorite adventures. We had no running water (we filled our water bottles up in the river), no toilets, no cell phones/internet; it was just us in the wilderness and simply enjoying the beauty of nature without any external distractions.

P.S. Kevin and I also celebrated our 2 year anniversary over the Easter weekend! (April 6th)

Durban/Joburg

Next we went to Durban for a night and then on to Joburg. In Joburg we went to the apartheid museum, SOWETO (the largest  township in South Africa), Nelson Mandela's and Desmond Tutu's house, and soccer city (where the world cup final game was held).

Then to end our trip we went to Kruger National Park, which is the size of New Jersey. We took a night drive through the park and then we woke up early the next day and did game driving the entire time. During the day we saw tons of giraffes, elephants, monkeys, zebras, hippos, crocodiles, a rhino, 2 leopards (very rare to see) and two lions in the distance. Kruger is the largest open land reserve so it really depends on the day what animals people see.  

Coffee Bay

One of the nights we stayed in Coffee Bay, a small rural town where everyone knows everyone. The first night we arrived the backpackers cooked us a traditional South African meal of rice, beans and beef; it was delicious! During dinner I sat next to a woman who used to manage the backpackers but then got restless and decided to build a montessori school. She invited me to visit the next morning and see what the kids have been up to. After visiting the montessori school we went on a 5 hour hike to the hole in the wall. A naturally made cave in a mountain where the waves crash through it. It was one of the most beautiful hikes I have ever been on, we walked along the coast through cow pastures and fields and it was a nice warm day. When we got to the hole in the wall, as you can see in the picture below, we went for a swim and built a fire to make lunch. That night we walked to the top of a hill in town and watched a gorgeous sunset. 

Spring Break

For Spring Break we drove along the Garden Route up the eastern coast of South Africa. We stopped at different backpackers along the way meeting people from all over the world traveling. It was fascinating seeing the more rural side of South Africa and hearing about the different styles of homes. Homes in the eastern cape are circular huts because people believe evil spirits hide in corners.

The second day of Spring Break we woke up early and drove two hours to the world's highest bungee jumping bridge. Much to my mothers dismay I jumped 216 meters!! (The equivalent to 700ft). The jump was thrilling and the only scary part was the bridge we had to walk across for 5 mins to reach the jumping platform. It was freaking looking down and seeing just how far we were going to be jumping.

Mid Semester Break Cont...

A view from our hike in Coffee Bay!

We did a 4 hour hike to Hole in the Wall in Coffee Bay.

African dancing in Durban.

Apartheid Museum in Joburg.

A preschool in SOWETO, the largest township in Joburg.

One of Mandela's homes was turned into a museum in Joburg.

Baboons blocking the road in Kruger National Park.

Our accommodations in Kruger.

The big tank of a truck we drove in all week!