Adventures in Cape Town

Molweni!

It has been awhile since I last wrote on my blog – my apologies! Life in Cape Town continues to be busy with classes, volunteering, surfing, and other sporadic activities. Speaking of which, I am leaving on a 9-day trip to Swaziland and Mozambique tomorrow with two other girls in CIEE – it should be quite the adventure as we do not have any of our plans set, aside from the airplane tickets to Johannesburg. I’ll write about it as soon as I get back to Cape Town, but for now I just want to quickly update about some of the activities I’ve been doing around here recently.

Volunteering is going really well! My favorite day is Tuesday because I get to play with the children at the Tuberculosis Hospital. There are approximately 25 children between the ages of 1 and 7 in the ward at which I spend my time. The place itself is a state hospital – they are understaffed and there are not even toys, games, or books for the kids to play with – the place itself is rather depressing, but the children have such high spirits. I have become very connected with a couple of the kids, particularly Antonia, who is a very smiley and very sweet 7-yr old – she always jumps into my arms the second she sees me. I wish that there wasn’t a language barrier, as the kids often do not understand that we have no idea what they are saying – however, we have all found ways to communicate with each other simply through games and high-fives and smiles. It is easy to forget that they are facing such a serious illness – I often wonder about their own personal stories. The life that these kids have known is one full of struggle, as many are orphans, many have been abandoned, and the rest do not get to see their parents during their time there. It’s so hard to comprehend how these children cope with their situation, but it is truly amazing to see how well they handle everything.

Life in Cape Town continues to be amazing. Everyone, including myself, is starting to complain about how cold it is getting – cold being in the upper 60s. However, most days it remains in the upper 70s, low 80s. While it is still nice, I am trying to take advantage of the outdoor activities (there is rumor that the rainy season is coming before we leave). I recently hiked to around the Twelve Apostles region of Table Mountain and to the top of Devil’s Peak, which is the mountain into which UCT’s campus is built. Each time I want to go on a hike, all I have to do is find a trail right behind the school! Last Sunday, I went on a 40 km (24 mile – almost a marathon!) hike with Mountain and Ski Club through the mountains of Cape Town down to the peninsula. We left from campus at 6am while it was still dark, and hiked for 11 hours! It was extremely tiring, but it was BEAUTIFUL and definitely worth the soreness for the next few days.

Every Friday after classes, I head down to Muizenberg for my surf lesson with UCT’s Surf Club (it is so cheap at $7 for 2 hours, including the wetsuit and the board!). I now get up on the board consistently, and this past week we were blessed with the best waves yet! Ahh, I love it! I also love just hanging out at the beach as much as I can – however, I don’t go as often as many people probably think I do. There’s just too much else to take advantage of!

CIEE has also taken us on two field trips recently. Two weeks ago, I got to go river rafting 2 hours away from Cape Town. We spent the entire day paddling our rafts down a beautiful river surrounded by the mountains (although I spent a majority of the day swimming alongside the boats). Many people complained about the distance we had to paddle (about 7-10 miles), but I really enjoyed the day of peace and quiet (aside from the times that Taylor and I fought about how to row our boat). I also got to go to Robben Island (finally!) this past weekend. This is where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for almost two decades, along with many other political prisoners from the Apartheid. On Saturday morning, we took the 15-minute ferry ride there, from which I got a beautiful view of Cape Town – it was so neat to be able to take a step back and just view the mountains and the city from afar – I can’t imagine what explorers thought when they first arrived! The island itself was much bigger than I expected, and there is even a town where people live (15 children will be enrolled in the primary school next year). Being at the prison was quite interesting, especially after having read Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, Long Walk To Freedom – I got to see his cell and I even saw the garden where he did the manuscript while in prison. Former political prisoners give the tours – our guide had been imprisoned for five years as a young man after the youth protests in Soweto. I hoped that he would share his past experiences with us more closely, but unfortunately that was not the case. I cannot imagine how difficult it would be to ‘relive’ the experience, and he briefly spoke about not wanting to take the job as a guide at first for that reason.

Well, I must go pack for my trip. Hopefully I will be nice and tan from the shores of Mozambique by the time I write next... cheers!