Katherine's visit with her mom

This past week my mom came to visit me.  She arrived on Friday, April 9 and stayed at the Cape Grace Hotel on the Waterfront.  That evening we dined at a wine bar called Caveau.  Once again, Ben (our resident advisor) knows how to recommend restaurants.  Two of the tapas we had were dishes you may not find at home.  We had the ostrich carpaccio on bruschetta and the kingklip fishcakes.  In normal Cape Town fashion, our dinner took two hours because nothing is to be rushed- especially a good dinner.

Our 6am wake-up call on Saturday was well worth it.  We went on a Bike N Wines tour of the Stellenbosch region.  Stellenbosch is the main wine lands area about 25 minutes outside of Cape Town by car or an hour outside of the city by the train we took.  We ended up having a private tour with our guide named Van.  We went to three wineries and a brandy seller for tastings.  My favorite was at Spier winery because they paired cheeses to go with the white, rosé, and red wines we sampled.  We had a garlic goat cheese paired with our white wine; a cheddar cheese with the rosé, and a creamy cranberry cheese with the red wine.  We biked 14 kilometers along the railroad, through fields, and past vineyards.  On our way we spotted many ostriches, cows, zebras, antelope, and more.  To top it off, we each received a free bottle of wine at the end of the tour. 

On Sunday my mom and I hiked Lion’s Head Mountain in the morning.  It was much warmer than we expected, considering Cape Town is now supposed to be into the fall season.  After making our way down from Lion’s Head, we head to Bo Kaap.  Bo Kaap is the Muslim quarter of Cape Town that is full of brightly colored houses.  Afterward my mom had her first minibus experience.  The minibus taxi screaming “SEA POIIINT!” was the one we hopped on and travelled to Camps Bay in.  I introduced her to Kauai when we arrived at Camps Bay.  Kauai is a great smoothie place that I will dearly miss when I return home in three weeks.  We sat by the beach at Camps Bay for awhile and then cruised back to the Waterfront on another minibus.  That evening we were invited to Marita’s flat for dinner in Rondebosch.  My mom was able to meet Marita, Ben, Vernon, and Esmé (Vernon’s wife).

On Monday we walked around downtown Cape Town.  I showed my mom several places including Parliament, the Book Lounge, Charly’s Bakery, Green Market Square, and my internship placement at Black Sash.  In the afternoon we took a taxi over to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens.  It was very hot, 88ºF, with no breeze so we did not stay too long in the gardens.  My mom’s Tauck Tour tipped off Monday evening.  Begrudgingly, the tour guide allowed me to dine with them; she did not seem too enthused to have me as a guest.  However, it was fun to talk to some of the other people on my mom’s tour who had visited places such as Kenya, Tanzania, and India.

On Tuesday and Wednesday my mom’s tour kept her busy.  She toured places including Robben Island, Table Mountain, wineries, Cape Point, and Boulders Beach.  I went to my internship on these days.  Normally I take a minibus to Black Sash but on these two days I arrived in style because the Cape Grace Hotel provides complimentary driving services anywhere within twelve miles of the hotel.  Little did they know that I was not actually a patron of the hotel, but the Cape Grace is not cheap so they could afford a mile trip over and back to my internship two days!

Wednesday evening my mom and I dined at Jardine Restaurant.  Ben had recommended this to me and my mom had even known about it after finding a write up about the restaurant in the New York Times.  After dinner I said goodbye and returned to 10 Loch Road because my mom’s tour was leaving at 6:30am on Thursday.  She is now travelling to Kruger, Johannesburg, and Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe).

Kayley confronts a heart-wretching reality

Even after these 3 ½ months  my mind still can not comprehend the following; Prof and I driving through Khayelitsha in a fancy car listening to classical music while carrying out an in depth conversation about the current and future major health issues that South Africa faces. Everything is a learning experience here. But going into Khayelitsha each week is one of the greatest learning experiences ever. I am forced to acknowledge heart wrenching real issues that people face. I know I always talk about my experiences in Khayelitsha but I learn and see so much that I just need to share. The following experience is pretty sad, but I have been thinking about for a while. I think whoever reads this blog should know some of the realities here.

Today in Khayelitsha this 7 year old girl came in with her mother. She had the brightest spirit I have seen, full of giggles and smiles. She just kept dancing  around the room and randomly she would run over to me, I would tickle her then she would run back to her mom and repeat the act.

Prof stepped out of the room to make a few calls, while I played with the baby girl for a bit. When he came back in, he told the mom to wait outside of the room until he finished with the rest of the patients. He said he would then direct her to the proper clinic.

After they left he told me what happened to this baby girl. She came to the Clinic today because her vaginal warts came back. This 7-year-old girl has vaginal warts because two years ago she was raped. She was raped by a man who thought that by raping a virgin he could get rid of his Aids. Prof said he has talked to men that actually believe that if you have sex with a virgin you can get rid of your HIV/Aids. So now this 7-year-old baby girl is HIV (+), has vaginal warts because of being HIV (+) and was raped at 5 years old.

I would have never known that anything like that happened to this girl she just looked so bubbly and happy. A part of my heart will be forever with that baby girl and with all of the kids I have met in the Khayelitsha Clinic. 

Adam can't wait to go home with his new perspective

Going to see two practice soccer games in the brand new World Cup Cape Town stadium was a great experience.  Before hand we went to a place called New York Bagels because we had heard that the owner had traveled to New York to learn how to make bagels.  Needless to say the bagels couldn’t compare to a real New York bagel.  The fans at the game were crazy, many of whom were waving flags supporting their teams (mostly South African flags) and constantly blowing these obnoxious horns that I forget the name of.  Unfortunately in the first match South Africa lost to Nigeria, three to one.  Feeling all of the energy in the stadium and hearing all of the noise when it wasn’t even full it is hard to imagine how crazy the actual World Cup will be.   

I’m very excited to return home to America.  At this point I have begun to long for my home country.  I miss the food, the media, the pop culture, family, friends, my dog and just home in general.  Cape Town is wonderful and I definitely intend to come back one day but there’s just something about America that is home and I now realize that I will always feel this way.  I am glad for all these friends that I have made and will surely not forget this place and these people for the rest of my life

Reflecting back on my time in Cape Town I realize how much this trip has changed me.  I have become more mature, informed and open-minded.  Coming from a very “white-bread” background living in South Africa has helped me to see what I had previously only read in textbooks.  I can’t wait to go home with this new and exciting perspective that I have developed.  I can only imagine that this new outlook on things will be beneficial to me as I assimilate back to life in America and eventually enter into the real world.

Brett on a day in his life .....

Alright. Its been a short while since I have checked in. I have surely done a lot within that time frame. My mind is busy with thoughts of work and school and activities and the book that I am finishing, so let us just dive in. I am at the office right now. I am waiting to talk to Christina or Anell, two of my superiors, about implementing my activist project. I am hoping to implement two small changes. One, I wrote a list of healthy affordable foods, and other unhealthy foods to avoid that we can hopefully give to refugees with their food stamp vouchers. The other is that I hope to give away writing journals, for the refugees to document their stories.

I suppose it has been a long day and I am a bit tired. By lunch time each day I am always a bit tired, from seeing clients in the morning. Every week I get between eight and twelve new clients, whom I interview for an initial social work assessment, and then make recommendations regarding their situations, for my supervisors to approve. It is not a bad tired, or a sad tired, just more of a mentally drained tired, time for a nap. 

I'm reading a book, by Bill Bryson called 'a short history of everything'. So, most of the thoughts in my mind at present concern the migration of early humans throughout the world. In Africa, there are stone tools that are approximately 1 million years old, hand axes, from a species of intelligent primates. For the time period of, if I remember correctly, 800,000 years, in a location in the Great Rift valley in Africa, hominoids worked in a sort of cooperative venture where they would harvest the stones from a mountain 10 kilometers from a site, where they would be made into axes, and sharpened. I forget the name of the species, maybe homo erectus or australepithecus or something. 

It just brings to mind that the history of human history in which we now live is so very small, this idea of civilization, which we frequently understand to be the length and breadth of the world, is so small. Nothing to keep things in perspective like the history of the natural world.

I'm not sure what I'm going to make for dinner tonight, maybe a pumpkin leaf stew. Buying spinach from the market yesterday on my way home from work, I asked the vendor what the prickly leaves next to it were. 'Pumpkin leaves' she replied. I nodded, newly informed. 'how do you cook them?' I asked. 'You peal them like this' (splitting the ends) 'and then you boil them in tomatoe sauce. And then you put soda in it' I nodded my head. She went on, 'You can also put peanut butter, it tastes very good'. I let out a laugh, to which she looked at me a bit confused, but then joined in and started to laugh as well. I told her I would have to come back to try it another time. Maybe today...

Erica's mixed emotions

Today is April 12th…only 20 more days in Cape Town, South Africa. That doesn’t feel real. I think all of us are feeling an array of emotions unlike anything we’ve ever experienced before—some people are just ready to go home and others are probably going to be so unwilling to leave that they’ll have to be dragged to the airport. I think what’s been so hard for me is being somewhere in between those two emotions—I don’t think I’ve ever felt this torn. It has been 3 ½ months since I’ve seen my family and friends, and I really do miss them more than anything. Some days I think about how comforting it would be to just sit in my kitchen at home with my family or go to breakfast with my Nana or listen to my brother play guitar. In other words, doing normal things with the people I love and miss would be so comforting. However, living here has become normal…Cape Town has become home for me...the people and places here have become familiar, and I am attached to this country in a way I never thought I could feel for a place that wasn’t my home back in Connecticut. 

Yesterday, we had an incredibly fun and hysterical mini-bus taxi ride all the way from our home in Rondebosch to Llandudno Beach, about a 30-minute drive away from where we live. As we drove along the coast, so close to the edge of the cliffs that you could smell the ocean, with loud, house music playing and the windows open, sunshine and wind pouring through, I almost began to cry with joy. I was so happy. Every time I look at the mountains here, they still take my breath away. Every time I see the coastline I’m still mesmerized. I thought that as time went on, I would get used to the beauty of this country and it wouldn’t affect me as much, but I was obviously wrong. Even as I become more and more familiar with my new home, I still look at its beauty as if it were Day 1 in South Africa. That just goes to tell you how incredibly beautiful this country really is. 

A few nights ago, we all went to the World Cup Stadium to see an international challenge. If someone told me a year ago that I would be sitting in the World Cup Stadium in Cape Town, South Africa, I wouldn’t have believed them for a second. I feel like that’s how many of my experiences here have been—unreal, unbelievable, exciting, and life changing. I don’t really know how I’m going to adjust to life back in the United States. I was talking to someone the other day and they said to me, “As much of a culture shock as it was to come here to South Africa, it may be even more of a culture shock to return to life back in the United States.” I think that it’s because of this that I’m so afraid to go back home. I’m scared of feeling disconnected from my own country after attaching myself so strongly to South Africa. I’ve changed, and I don’t plan on changing back. But then where will I fit in when I return? I know that the change is internal—that it doesn’t matter which country I am in because these experiences and the way I’ve changed from them are inside of myself. I’ll carry them with me for the rest of my life. But what if they impact me less when I have to return home and adjust back to life in the United States? Maybe these questions don’t need answers right now, and maybe I’m being too dramatic for my own good. But, to put it simply, I’m scared.

When the time does come for me to get on that plane, I want to leave here at peace with myself and at peace with my journey here in South Africa, knowing that I took from this experience everything that I possibly could have taken and given everything that I could have possibly given. For now, I’m just going to have to be as moment present as possible and enjoy every second I have left in Cape Town. I don’t really plan on resting for the next 3 weeks—there’s still so much to do…

Meredith's memorable Easter

                                                 

Easter has always been one of my favorite holidays over the course of the year.  A classic Easter for my family consists of the following: Waking up early in the morning and driving forty-five minutes to attend our church, then after the service, driving over to Essex, Connecticut to visit our relatives where we anxiously wait for the remainder of our family to pour through the doors with the wonderful chaos of barking dogs, Swedish meatballs, Easter eggs and some sort of vegan pie.  All of my cousins and I literally have countdowns until we see each other so Easter is definitely no exception.  When we all come together it is absolutely impossible to have a bad time.  We normally have some sort of an “extreme” Easter egg hunt involving my dad somehow managing to get eggs at the top of forty foot trees. He puzzles me ever year with his crazy egg placement.  I would say that about three eggs probably go missing every year.  After the hunt, we are called in for dinner and yep, once again I walk past the fancy china and swan-folded satin napkins to find my nametag on the kids table in the side room.  I don’t think I will ever get promoted to the adult table and somehow that is perfectly okay with me.  After becoming fully stuffed to the brim, we trade our fancy Easter attire for more suitable outdoor clothes and take a hike down to the lake as we enjoy one of the first beautiful weeks of spring.  Normally some variation of a plant or water fight takes place.  Ahhh.  Just another perfect Easter Sunday.

                                                              

When I realized we would be in South Africa on Easter this year, I knew that April 4th would probably be the day I became homesick.  There is such a variety of different people with different beliefs living in this house together so I wasn’t sure how people would feel about the idea of possibly having a little Easter dinner.  To my surprise, everyone was incredibly supportive and wanted to do anything they could to help make this dinner come together.  Pamela and I planned the dishes that the meal would consist of and went shopping for the various items at our favorite grocery store Pick n’ Pay.  The Saturday before Easter, we began the intense food-prep.  Au Gratin Potatoes.  My mom’s recipe that I though I would bring to South Africa with me.  Cheesecake.  Kayley and I delicately crushed cookies by hand for the crust as Pamela whipped the filling.  To fully put the Easter traditions in motion, we bought about 40 eggs to dye Saturday night.  Everyone got creative with the Easter egg dying to the point where a few of the eggs looked like works of art.  The following morning, everyone in the house was up and ready for the Easter egg hunt.  The house went from cheery to competitive in under 30 seconds as I witness a few incidents of shoving and badmouthing to get ahead in the egg count.  After the competition it was time to get cooking.  It was wonderfully surprising that everyone helped out in some way, shape or form.  Whether it was cooking the lamb or a side dish, setting the table, clearing the table, washing dishes, or last minute shopping trips everyone took part in the Easter dinner prep and celebration.  Then when it was all done, we sat down together for a nice Easter dinner around the table on the patio.  Not only was the food incredible, but we all came together for my favorite holiday in a not-so classic setting, I really felt like I was amongst my family.  And the best part is that I didn’t even have to sit at the kids table.

Kayley's visit with her mom

Two weeks ago my mom came to visit me. She arrived the day we got back from the Human Rights Conference. Right when we got home I called the hotel to see if my mom was in. Ben was able to drive me into town after dropping Rachel off at the hospital for her foot. That night my mom and I got dinner and I told her as many stories and experiences that I could think of.  Later that night we planned the week, trying to fit a much in as possible. I tried to create orientation week for my mom.

The first day, I took my mom to the waterfront bright and early to try and get on one of the Robben island tours. They were all booked up, so we just spent the day in Cape Town buying souvenirs for the rest of the family. The next day I went to my internship while my mother went to the District 6 museum. Unfortunately Joe was not there to give one of his amazing tours, but she still said she learned a lot. Visiting the museums is just the beginning of understanding the history of South Africa.

The following day we were booked for an all day tour of some of the beauties of Cape Town and Cape Point. The tour began with a cable car ride to the top of Table Mountain, it was a sunny clear day, and so we were both able to see the different towns. The other interns and I hiked to the top of Table Mountain earlier in the semester, but it was cloudy so after the 4 hour-long hike we could only see the cloud we were in.

After Table Mountain, our bus drove us to Hout Bay where we took a boat out around the bay to watch the seals. We were then on our way to Cape Point. On the way we saw baboons, ostriches and randomly camels (not wild of course), I was glad my mom was able to see these animals because they are a crucial part of the Cape Point experience.

When we arrived at Cape Point we got lunch, we ordered two pizzas (thinking they were small), turns we could only finish one. The old British couple that was on our tour found it quite amusing that we ordered two pizzas, and had a whole pizza left over. My mother made me carry the left over pizza as we walked to the lighthouse on Cape Point, for fear of a baboon attack. Honestly I was quite nervous about the baboons myself, every rustle in the bushes made me jump a bit. Walking back down from the lighthouse we happened to bump into the old British couple that again commented on our pizza situation.  When we then got on the bus, the entire tour group erupted with laughter as we entered with the pizza box (all thanks to the old British couple). 

After leaving Cape Point, we proceeded on our journey to Boulder Beach, where an African Penguin Colony lives. It was a really windy day so we were getting whipped with sand; it was quite painful but so good to see the penguins. Our next and last stop before we hit the hotel was Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. Our bus driver was giving a tour of the gardens, naming some of the different plants and showing us the pretty ponds. As she stopped to talk about this one plant, I looked above her only to spot about 4 different spider webs and probably 6 HUGE spiders directly above her head. I immediately interrupted her lovely explanation of the plant with my terrified shrieks followed by my stealthy sprint to the other end of the field. As everyone was watching/laughing at my little show my mother translated those actions into words and told the tour guide to move because there were spiders over her head. After an embarrassing visit to Kirstenbosch, we headed back to the hotel; right after entering the hotel we realized the we left the pizza on the bus with the old British couple. That pretty much ended that day.

The following day my mom did the Robben Island tour while I attended class at UCT. After that I gave her a tour of the house and of Rondebosch. We bought some South African chocolates (P.S. I Love You bars) and South African cookies. That night we had a lovely dinner at Marita’s flat, where she met all of the professors and Zoë who held the human rights conference. The next day Meredith, my Mom and I took the train to Kalk Bay, where we walked around, shopped and ate enormous amounts of food (Kalkies).

The next day my mom left Cape Town and headed back to the states. After a watery goodbye I began to think about going home, and although I miss my family and friends so much I can’t even imagine leaving Cape Town. I showed my mom around this place, took her to my favorite spots, assured her that the train is safe even though the Hotel concierge says it is not and ensured she was safe and having fun. It was a weird feeling; it felt like I was showing my Mom around my home. I don’t know how I am going to be able to leave this place.

Rachel on roaming

When I got off the plane in Jo-burg, we were driving on the high way.  The first billboard I had seen of course, was for Simba’s, South Africa’s brand of potato chips. Then after that I passed another billboard.  It read: “When in Africa, Roam.” 

Roam [rohm]: Verb. To walk, go, or travel without a fixed purpose or direction; ramble; wander; rove: to roam around the world.

A song/poem I wrote regarding roaming:

Grab my bandana wrap it around my head walk out to the streets

Who know what I’ll do, who the hell I’ll meet

I could climb the mountain walls

The high is so good please don’t ever let it fall

I could plan to go where the ocean breeze sprays water on my face

Who care the sun is shining all over this fucking place

At times it might be a bit overwhelming

But doesn’t that just feel so refreshing

Got my sunglasses on and hop into the taxi

Common mans way so I grab myself a seat

People are all starin’ and feet full of sand

It’s a feeling that only I understand

Grab my guitar and head out to the braai

If I can only slow down time

It was a fun rendezvous

But now we are through

           

And then I said

And then I said

Its time to pretend

I am not going home again

There are an endless number of things I can do in Cape Town.  I feel like I haven’t done nearly what I wanted to.  It is soon time to go home.  Should I come back to visit? Or are there too many places to go in the world than to come back to the place that I already know and love?

Michelle counting the remaining days

Twenty-two days. It doesn’t seem like a long time, and I can’t imagine that I will only get to see the sun set over Table Mountain twenty-two more times.

 Or see the clouds completely engulf the mountain, as the weather is changing. There’s a lot more rain and clouds lately than sun and warmth.

I had a little freak out on April 1^st. It was tough hitting the month of April, for many reasons. I was coming to the realization that my time here really is coming to an end, and I began evaluating my expectations for the trip, how I have functioned here, and if I am happy with both. At first I was very hard on myself. I haven’t really made any friends while I have been here, I feel out of place most of the time, and I have had to confront some of my own character flaws, like not being assertive enough, feeling awkward a lot of the time, and confronting my own irrational fears of being left out. Its been really tough, but I think I have come through it a stronger and more mature young woman. I usually don’t do “alone” very well, as I tend to get irrationally lonely when I am alone for just a night. Instead, now, I am more secure in myself, and am excited to spend the summer up at UConn (almost) by myself. I think I will be more independent and secure in myself

 I have also been a little nervous about not experiencing enough. I know we have done so much, but I can’t help but think that I still haven’t done it all. I know that I can’t possibly do everything, but I simply wish that I could either have much more time, or I will just have to make the most of the next three weeks.