Bittersweet

What a fabulous week/weekend! This has been our “dead” week before finals are in full force.  Each day I have studied, but made sure I did it glamorously! Sunday and Tuesday I went to the beach.  Monday, I went to Wood Stock Exchange.  Wednesday, I went to a little coffee shop tucked away in a residential area.  Thursday, I stayed close to home and spent the afternoon with my WahWah friends.  Friday, I went on a cleaning spree and our bedroom is now spotless! 

It has been so great to just hang out and focus on school/get random things done! Friday afternoon, Haley and I went into Cape Town for lunch then took a cab to a spa in Hout Bay.  We were pampered for the afternoon and then I came back for a quick shower and change of clothes before I went with my friend Caroline and her Mom to the “Test Kitchen,” one of the best restaurants in Cape Town.  We dined like queens celebrating her 21st birthday, round 2! I can not say enough great things about dinner.  It was phenomenal and I am such a fan of the experience.  We had a wine pairing with all five courses and it is beyond me how they can perfectly match each dish with a delicious wine so perfectly.  It is definitely an art! After diner, we went back to Caroline’s and then went out to Long Street with all of my friends to ring in Tito’s birthday.  Couldn’t have asked for a better day.  

This morning we were up and at em’ bright and early.  We left for OBM around 9 a.m. While we were there we met a whole new crew of Americans who are here for a summer program.  It was fun to be able to be the tour guide and tell them all the must dos.  This afternoon we turned our heater on for the first time and cuddled up in our cozy clothes to study.  For dinner, we went to sushi to celebrate friendship.  Suz, is leaving us on Monday and we are trying to make the most of the time left.  

While at dinner we reminisced on our time here.  We discussed our flight over and our fears before we came, our first impressions of each other, how we have changed, what life is going to be like going home, our reunions in Miami/Costa Rico, Thanksgiving in Boston, Christmas in Texas, our animal personalities...and much, much more.  We laughed and we cried.

Today, I have thought a lot about my time here.  Meeting the girls today at OBM and having to list all of my favorite things and trying to imagine how they are ever going to fit everything into the 4 weeks they have left is just crazy.  I am so so so thankful that I have been able to LIVE in Cape Town.  It has been such an awesome experience.  Before I left I remember everyone telling me how much this experience would change me and how great it was going to be.  I never could wrap my mind around the idea of “change.” I thought I was at a pretty good place in life and was quite complacent. 

I now fully understand what everyone was talking about.  Since I’ve been here I have been filled with joy, often giddy, homesick, lonely but surrounded by tons of people, frustrated to the point of tears, scared to death, miserably full, humbled, loved, and in pure amazement of God’s creation. I am leaving having learned a new language, three musical instruments, tutored high schoolers each week, hiked three peaks, been to 2 other countries, all three major South African cities, swam in 2 oceans, been to the bottom most part of Africa, and with 40+ new friends. 

The people here with me will always hold a special place in my heart, because they are the ones who truly understand.  They too, have had this special experience and no matter where we are in ten years I feel confident we will be able to catch up, grab a flat white or a glass of wine and chat about our precious memories here. 

I can not say enough that Cape Town has been one of the best experiences of my life.  It has made me realize how blessed I am to have June, Ang and Lane and all my friends at home and TCU. I am so thankful for my professors and fellow Horned Frogs. As much as I can not wait to get back home, it makes me sick to think about actually leaving here.  Exactly two weeks from today I will say goodbye most everyone and in 21 days I will be boarding a red eye to London to begin the next chapter of life.  The amount of both excitement and sadness is ridiculous.    

So this is the infamous "Tiger Tiger" ... A club located in a shopping mall. 

Keep it classy Claremont. 

Boggie Down. 

Joburg VIPs

Love them all! 

The bunny and the cheetah

So much love. 

Haters gona hate. 

WHAHH! Where oh where to begin! 

Life has been moving and grooving! 

Since our days are starting to dwindle down, I have been trying to make the most of everything.  Constantly on the go, out and about.  We don’t have any major trips/actives left which is nice.  It is great to just chill and do life here. 

I finished my last day of class last Wednesday, May 15 and all I have left is a research paper that is due tomorrow and 2 finals next week! I can hardly believe it.  

I haven’t posted in a while so I’m just going to go through the pics chronologically!  

We hosted 23 students from Egoli, the informal settlement I’ve mentioned before, at UCT for a Shadow Day.  I took these four chicas around campus, through the library, on a lunch date, and to Afrikaans class! They were so funny.  The one sitting next to me wants to be a Marine.  She is very bright and has dreams way bigger than living in Egoli the rest of her life.  (High kick, double back flip!!!) 

The Shadow Day took place on Tuesday the 7.  The following Saturday, my ECO Justice class presented our research projects to the citizens of Maitland Garden Village and Egoli.  The presentations went very well.  The people of MGV were very appreciative and responsive about the two ideas I presented them. 1. Rainwater Harvesting and 2. DYI Solar Water Heaters! Both designs are extremely simple and easy to install.  In the near future I am going back to MGV to give a session on how to actually make a solar water heater! ... (ha, we are ALL going to learn something in the process!) After the chilled vibes at Garden Village, we boarded the van headed straight for madness...EGOLI! One of my friends here has been working on a project for the children there.  He raised over $4,000 and bought 200 solar jars (see picture below) and we distributed them to the kids that day.  Since the residents of Egoli are technically squatters, people who do not own the land, they are not on the electricity grid.  The people cook on wood stoves, use paraffin, light their homes with candles, and do their best to get by.  Without the proper lighting, you can imagine how hard it would be for children to study after the sun goes down. These solar jar provide the opportunity for the kids to have their own personal light source to use for their studies.

All Smiles :) + supportive roommates! 

Brighter Homes, Brighter Futures! 

That Sunday, Mother’s Day, there was a half marathon downtown.  TJ and Suz ran in it and I went along as their biggest fan! The route was beautiful and they said they saw everything main attraction Cape Town has to offer! I cheered them on with two race marshals on what is literally translated as “Doughnut Hill.” It was such a fun day.  I watched the sun rise over the city and then witnessed the beautiful sunset on the way home from church.  

Pre Race! 

The beautiful Bo-Kapp

Flower Market on Adderley Street 

ROCKSTARS! 

The IES Symposium was on this past Friday, the 17.  Eco Justice, the Health Class, and the class from UWC (University of Western Cape) all presented over what they had spent their semester researching.  It was awesome to see and hear how everyone was individually leaving their mark on the city and what their biggest take aways were.  

ECO JUSTICE FOR LIFE! 

That evening we had appetizers and sentimental moments at Lyle.  TJ, Lana and I said a few words and Olly put together a video of our time here.  It was a great start to the evening! For dinner, we went to a hotel buffet in the Water Front.  Lynette and Liz (our Eco Justice teachers) presented our class with paper plate awards.  

Future Family Friends

The whole crew 

Roommates

Main Partners in Crime

Awards! *Note Feeney's finger he sliced open while chopping onions which resulted in 3 stitches! 

Saturday, Caroline turned 21!!! Suz and I took her to Starlings for a pre-birthday lunch on Thursday and then met up with her after dinner Friday night.  We had a blast! 

Birthday Princess

Celebrating at Blake's 

Ringing in 21 at Chimy's Beach Club! 

Thoughts/Reflections:

Its crazy to think back to how foreign this place used to seem.  Saturday, after indulging at OBM (Old Biscuit Mill) we went to town to the Castle of Good Hope and the Slave Lodge Museum, on the way home I fell asleep in the mini bus.  When we got out we were laughing at how 4 months ago I was skeptical of even taking a mini bus, much less getting in and feeling comfortable enough to take a nap!!! It is getting so hard to focus on school and it is such a blessing that I only have to stay hooked for 7 more days.  

Woohoo Worker's Day!

Wednesday, I ran my first half marathon! I honestly wasn’t sure how it would turn out.  I decided that I was not going to think about it at all before and then just do it this morning.  If I started thinking I was bound to over analyze and psych myself out.  I chose to not really talk about it and my philosophy was that I was doing this for me and only me.  My goal was to have a smile on my face the entire time and to above all else, have fun! 

The “race” was in Wellington, which is about an hour or so north east of Cape Town.  It is a small farm town that is in the heart of the wine lands. Haley, TJ and I went with two guys from my small group, Callan and Scott.  They picked us up at Fun Vegs at 5 a.m. and we set off on the grand adventure. 

At the starting line I was amazed.  There were over 8,000 runners in this race and I was one of them.  Callan ran with Haley and I.  This is not because he is slow, but he is a great guy who has ran 7 halfs before and wanted to be with us for our first! He coached us and offered advice and encouragement along the way.  There are men who carry flags and run at a steady pace to indicate when you will finish if you keep up that pace.  For the majority of the race we stayed in front of the 2:15 bus.  

The first 60 mins was pretty easy.  I had originally decided that if I could make it that long then I could run a mile and walk a mile until I finished. HA, that is not quite how it works! After 70 mins.  we walked for 50 meters and honestly that was more painful than running.  Stretching out the muscles that had been in a steady rhythm was not pleasant.  We picked back up to our pace and then all was well. 

The toughest part of the race was when we reached ten miles.  Then it was like, woah we have gone so far but we still have THREE miles left.  Ha, most of my “training” workouts have only been three miles. I managed to push on though and just went at a steady pace until I crossed the line!! WooHoo 2 hours and 16 mins later I had done it! 13.1 miles, 21.1 Kilometers! Done and done! 

L to R: Callan, Haley, Scott, TJ, Anna

Champs! 

This weekend was a weekend full of markets! Thursday night TJ, Feeney and I went to the City Bowl Market and had a fabulous time! Pictured above is my dessert of Shiraz and red velvet cupcake.

We ended the night at chill place that is known for their selection of craft beer.  After good conversation and great food we headed home to called it an early night.  

Saturday we went to the Porter Estate Market in Tokai.  

Pictured above is the awesome breakfast we feasted on! 

Proteas = new favorite flower

Suz and Feeney

Scott, from my small group at church, grew up near the market and met us there for breakfast! 

Wine Oh Wine

This past Saturday a random assortment of old and new friends loaded up with Rodney (a cab driver we met the previous Saturday) and set out on a fun filled day.  The first stop on our adventure was Groot Constantia.  It is one of the oldest wineries in Cape Town.  Out first tasting was at 9:00 a.m. ... ha, know the taste when you drink orange juice right after you brush your teeth ... it’s worse with wine!!! A few crackers fixed that and I was able to enjoy the scrumptious array of red and whites that they had offer! After the tasting, we went on a tour of how the grapes are harvested, sorted, fermented, blended and bottled.  This was really fascinating and I learned quite a lot.  

On our way to the Cheetah Outreach program we drove past Khayelitsha. It is the biggest township in Cape Town. Wrap your mind around this: there are 3 million people that live in Cape Town and 1 million of those live in Khayelitsha. Excuse me, WHAT?! It was absolutely NUTZ, the shacks pieced together went on for as far as you could see.  I was mind blown. The cheetahs were honestly very anticlimactic.  On the Garden Route we did the “wildcat experience” and looked a leopard in the eye and stood next to an adult cheetah in its “natural” habitat.  This wasn’t as cool.  We opted for the 2 cubs.  The more the better right? ... They were on leashes like dogs, which I wasn’t expecting.  It was still fascinating to get to touch the wild creature though.  You think their fur would be fluffy and soft.  Negative.  It is rough and course.  

Next up was lunch.  We stopped in Mooiberge at a local strawberry farm.  They are famous for their crazy, bright scarecrow creations! It was a great meal and a fun atmosphere. 

Feeling as if I should never eat again, we were off to Spier for a wine and chocolate pairing. The chocolate makers make the chocolate to compliment the wine and it was very interesting how each really did bring out the best in the other.  The first was a red wine that you took a sip of, then took another sip, because the second “is always better.”  Then you take a bite of the dark chocolate and VAWHLA! It is like you are all the sudden eating chocolate covered cherries.  It was pretty cool, but I was not too keen any one in particular.  

Around the corner, there was an “Eagle Encounter”. Haley really wanted to do it, so I joined in.  The first thing we witnessed was a porcupine. The little guy was named Sonic and was as tame as a house cat.  Contrary to popular myths, the spiky creatures do not shoot quills when they are defending themselves! ... That was interesting.  We also got to hold owls.  As uncool as it sounds those little furby looking creatures were awesome! Their eyes were mesmerizing!!

As if that weren’t enough...We sat off for another tasting at Vredenheim, where they also have a selection of crazy animals. The most noteworthy, the albino lion.  However, we were animal’d out by that point and opted out of the photo sesh. 

From there we traveled about 45 minutes to Franschoek.  It literally means “The French Corner” and it is known as the “food and wine capital of the Cape.” We tasted at the Grand Provence and were able to take in the beautiful scenery.  It was such a serene little town and I would love to go back for an over night stay! 

The day ended back at Spier.  There they have a restaurant called “Moyo” which serves traditional South African cuisine buffet style complete with live performances and face painting.  After two rounds of delicious, mouth watering food we moved to the couches to lounge and soak in the environment.  

The day was quite the whirlwind, as we left at 8:30 a.m. and arrived back home at 11 p.m. It was such a great, spontaneous adventure and I loved seeing all of the beautiful country side! 

Wine tour for breakfast! 

Hanging with the cubs 

Caroline is also a Kappa! 

Sonic snacking on a carrot 

Owl always love you! 

We are the three that met "Rodney" our driver on our way home from the Water Front last weekend! 

Pinch me, is this real?! 

Franschhoek - "The French Corner" 

Sunset in the Vineyard 

Friendz for eva. 

Science is Everywhere!

Maitland Garden Village is the little community that has captured my heart! I have been doing my research project there on the water usage in a random house holds and it is also the village that I am working to put the library in.  As part of my research proposal I vowed to have an educational afternoon with the children of MGV to promote education. Since the class I am taking is Eco Justice, it was only fitting to center the afternoon around science and our environment.  We talked about being global citizens, the effects of humans on the environment and introduced the idea of chemical reactions (only so we could do the Diet Coke and Mentos!!) We also built a solar cooker out of card board boxes and “roasted” s’mores! (success!)

I planned everything out knowing that anything I planned would go the complete opposite... South Africa has done its best to rid of me of the “plan to make a plan” mentality. We were supposed to have forty kids but we only ended up with around 25. We played my favorite CentriKid Rec games and I planned “scientific debriefs” around them. The kids absolutely ate it up! About 15 of my friends from IES went with me and they all had a blast too. 

The climatic moment was of course the coke and mentos.  We sat it up by playing “Groups Of” and talking about how different elements react when they are combined. Then, TJ and Jenny set up the show! The expressions on the kids faces were priceless! They all LOVED it! To end of a high note, I ordered a bunch of pizzas and we all feasted and hung out.  

I can not brag on the kids enough. They were so attentive and willing to learn.  They were full of energy and enthusiasms and extremely optimistic! I’ve been working with Sheila and Ronell, the founders of the Green Light Project (a sustainable community development program in the village that offers programs for all ages of the community).  Ronell had been telling me about a music class that they had started and were very excited about. Most of the kids in the music class came to the science afternoon and afterwards performed their mad trumpet skills for me. I had not really put to much thought into “musical class” and was completely blown away by what I saw.  20+ kids line up in one line and take turns blowing out of one trumpet.  They are so eager and so excited. My heart melted.  These kids do not “have it all”, most of them live in the back yards of other people and don’t even have the right size shoes.  The joy that they had was insane though.  They were just so happy and loving and that is what truly made the afternoon so worthwhile.  I doubt they remember anything I said, or tried to say about being a “global citizen” but what I do hope they learned was that Maitland Garden and that way of life is not all there is.  There is a world full of endless possibilities and they have the potential to be anything they want.  

My wheels are already turning about how to continue investing in the lives of these precious kiddos in the short time I have left here.   

Solar Cooker Demo

MONKEY SOCCER 

Groups Of... In English and Afrikaans

The look on their faces! :) 

"Let's celebrate!"

Solar Cooker Success 

Hungry

Priceless 

Go Frogs

The Music Class 

Toot Toot 

The smile says it all! 

Such a sweetie 

Beautiful 

Where memories where made...