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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.