Finished out the week and am loving every minute of it, to say the least. Thursday was a full day in Red Hill - kids club (ages 3-10) before lunch and teens club (11 & up) after lunch. The team from Knoxville that was there for the week was leaving, so we tore down all of the olympics decorations in the shelter to prepare for a new theme of creation for next week. After meeting with my team of Life Skill Educators and long-term volunteers, I was put in charge of making the moon and the stars to hang in the shelter next week. I feel like a school teacher having crafts to do over the weekend! :)
During our planning meeting, we were spoiled with lunch. They bought us 3 different kinds of Gatsby's, which are what Americans would consider supreme sub sandwiches - get this, a hoagie bun with the typical fillings but also...wait for it...french fries!!! That's right, there are fries ON the sandwich - YUM!! Then my team finished up our last bit of orientation with a study of Nehemiah and how it is a good parallel as to how we, as outsiders should approach the communities here - or any community of which we are not a part. Living Hope has really begun to be intentional in making sure that their volunteers are in fact helping the communities they enter, rather than accidentally hurting them even though their intentions are good. This may not seem to make sense, but it's so true that "helping can hurt" if you go into a foreign community with pre-conceived notions about how they need to be "fixed." Anyway, the study and exercise we did was wonderful, and I feel sure I will apply it to other situations in the future.
Then last night was an amazing night, full of laughter! After yet another incredible meal made by our cooks, Ms. Bernadette (Bernie) and her mother, Ms. Anita, the five lovely ladies of my 6-week crew sat in front of my roommate's macbook taking crazy pictures with PhotoBooth. We were all laughing so hard we were crying...great memories being made!! I also had my first experience out on the town. One of the Samford girls is from S Africa and knows her way around, so we all (8 of us...yes, it was a circus car!) hopped in her car and traveled about 10 minutes away to a pub in Kalk Bay. It was such an interesting experience...people look different, dress differently, dance differently, and anything else you can imagine! We had a great time together and thoroughly enjoyed our people watching! :)
Today was an incredible day of sight seeing. We drove around the mountains on Chapman's Peak, which is an absolutely breathtaking drive. Check out the album I posted on facebook - my first album ever! Unfortunately it was pretty foggy this morning, but by the end of the day, it had completely cleared up. Then we drove through Hout Bay, saw the Imzamo Yethu township, overlooked the town of Llandudno, then came upon Camp's Bay...and wow! This is the location where Hollywood stars and such supposedly vacation in Cape Town. The homes and views of the Atlantic were spectacular! Then we carried on through Signal Hill and then to the Open Market in Greenmarket Square for some souvenir shopping. I was the only one not to buy anything because I was so overwhelmed and not ready to barter!! Our last and longest stop was the Victoria & Albert (V&A) Waterfront, which has a large mall. We ate lunch in the mall at the Mugg & Bean, which quickly became my new favorite place!! HUGE menu with anything your little heart could ever desire! I had a BLT&E (fried egg on top!) with a side salad and a bottomless cup of filtered coffee - and if you don't know, filtered coffee is a BIG deal here, because normally it's just instant! Anyhow, it was delicious and so inexpensive!! After lunch, we spent all of our time outside, walking and shopping along the waterfront, which was so beautiful!
On our drive home, then again once we got home, we saw some gorgeous rainbows. For Cape Town, this is so normal. The incredible natural beauty of this place makes me wonder if the people who live here enjoy and appreciate it as much as we do or if they take it for granted. I say this because I know how much I take for granted at home! This pic you see here is from the doorway of my room...I discovered this rainbow with my head on my pillow when my roomie opened the door to go make a cup of rooibos tea (aka the best tea on the planet!). Tomorrow, the plan is to attend King of Kings Baptist Church, which is the church where the founder of Living Hope is a pastor. After that 9:00 service, we are headed to Masi Baptist Church, which is apparently a 3-4 hour lively church service in one of the largest townships. The plan is to show up a little late, then leave a little early because apparently if you stay until the end, they try to get you to stay for lunch, and as kind as that is, we would rather not take food from them when we have plenty at home! Such incredible people here...so loving and hospitable - I feel that we Americans really have a lot to learn from their sense of community here...I love it. Until next time...Cheers! :)
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