First Day Back at Work...

Today was our first day back to work, and our first day in the office since we have been out documenting the crèches and senior centers in the townships. Matt and I had a really productive meeting with Helen Liberman and Ishrene to discuss where we currently stand and where we see ourselves being at the end of our project. After that meeting, we had some stuff to do in the office to progress our project. It’s kind of nice to be in the office for once, things are slower and not as hectic as when we are out in the townships.

We had a guest today at lunch; Michael decided to join us at The Kitchen, as he had a slow day and was bored. If you remember, The Kitchen is where Matt and I used to eat everyday when we were in the office more (they make the amazing sandwiches with the tomato and basil pesto on them). We haven’t been to The Kitchen in awhile, but I am proud to note that the food there is still just as good. Michael is now also a fan.

We also made some headway today with the Microsoft Access database that we had constructed. Matt and I spoke with David Blake, the IT consultant, over the phone and he walked us through how to use the database that he made. Now that we know what all of the fields and terminology he uses means, we feel confident in our ability to use the database going forward as we continue our work here. Aside from that, it was a pretty slow day, just the type of day you need after a long break.

It is also worth nothing that the weather outside is beautiful today. It would be, on the one day we are in the office all day, haha. The last few days we were in the field were really wet and cold, and today it is warm and beautiful. That’s Cape Town for you.

Tonight, we are going to see Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. There will be a review of that later, as well as a review of Tailgating, Sacks, and Salary Caps. Stay tuned everyone!

More Pictures...

Hey everyone, I added two new albums (Senior Centers 6/24, and Elephant Reserve), as well as added new photos to Tisika Animal Preserve, Robberg National Park, and Kwandwe Game Drive and Melton Manor. You can all thank Matt Kernan for his help in documenting the trip here, as he is responsible for photographing these new pictures. Later!

Drive home...

The only bad part about a vacation, is when it ends. Before we started our way back to Cape Town, we drove back to the area that Tisika Game Preserve was, to see an Elephant reserve. While we were there, I got to walk with an elephant, holding its nose in my hand, as well as being able to pet it. We also learned some things about the elephants, but we all know that is boring once you’ve gotten to do something cool like walk with one.

After we left, we tried to make our way to Cango Caves. We hoped to be able to go on a tour of the caverns, but realized as the drive went on that we wouldn’t make it before 3:30pm, when the last tour left. We have decided to make a weekend event of it and go back later on in July.

After realizing this, we changed our course and got back onto the N2/The Garden Route, and made our way back to Cape Town. Michael, Tara, Matt and I were in one car, and had some adventures of our own along the way. For instance, we apparently degraded a national monument. On our drive, we turned off down a side road because we saw a sign that said something in Afrikaans on a plaque. We decided to get out of the car here and have a photo shoot. Needless to say, some of our photos are quite interesting, if not slightly stupid, but hey, we’ve been crammed together in a car for the past four days, we’ve reached that level of comfort.

In the process of taking some pictures, a car pulled up to us and the people inside got out to talk to us. Their names were Roy and Daphne Hill. The proceeded to tell us that the monument was in place to remember all of the blacks and coloreds who had been oppressed and died while under apartheid rule. As we were “whites”, they thought we were making fun of the monument; Roy and Daphne are considered “colored” under South Africa’s laws. We quickly informed them that we were American and that we don’t understand Afrikaans, and that we meant no harm, and then proceeded to have a chat with them. After 15-20 minutes of said chat, we were getting a bit antsy and hightailed it out of there as fast as we could.

A bit further on down the road, we passed an ostrich farm. We pulled off to get a closer look at the birds, and nearly got attacked. When we first got there, the birds ran away, frightened by our walking towards them. After they ran away, we looked away ourselves and had a little chat about what to do next. When turned around, the ostriches were creepily walking toward us in formation, wings outstretched and heads bobbing up and down. We then noticed the ostrich tracks on our side of the fence and realized that these guys could easily hop over. We got a quick picture of them, and left.

After leaving the ostriches, we got on the road and made our way back to Cape Town. After being on the road for almost eight hours, we were excited to get home. It was a bit weird getting back into town, almost as if we had never left. I’m not sure now if the whole weekend adventure I had was a dream or not. Oh well, it was a good dream regardless. Now it is time for bed, as I have to start working again tomorrow. G’night everyone!

Tisika Animal Preserve and a Soccer Match...

I pet cheetahs. There, I said it. On Sunday, our group went to the Titsika Animal Preserve, near the Tsala Treetops area. Their big attraction is allowing people to pet big cats, which we did. While there, I got to pet two young and two adolescent cheetahs, as well as some caracals. I’ll post pictures of these events as soon as I can.

Petting the cheetahs was awesome. I’m not going to lie, seeing the picture of Brianna doing it really made me want to pet a big cat, and now I have. It’s such a sweet experience, being next to something that is so elegant and lethal, and then getting to pet it like it’s a house cat; a house cat that can kill you whenever it wants. That said, once you get over the fear, its pretty amazing to be able to say you pet one.

I’m sure people are wondering what a caracal is. Well, if you look at my pictures, they are the animals with the brown coat and long pointed black ears, and they also have stubby tails. They are pretty sweet cats. They are not endangered, but are being hunted by famers because, as the cats’ natural habitat is being replaced by farmland, they are hunting the farmers’ sheep and livestock. It is interesting to note that farmers will accept having a leopard in the area, because it will keep caracals away. They, apparently, are more of a nuisance than their larger relatives.

We also saw a baby leopard. It was really cute. At one point, it climbed up into a tree; broke the branches because it was too heavy; fell onto the ground with a thud; and then ran away, embarrassed. Later, when they were taking the leopard inside (it is apparently too young to stay outside in the rain at night), the leopard “attacked” the attendant, and then, as they were walking inside, he jumped up on a trash can and just lay down (you can see the picture in the album).

After we left the reserve, we drove to Knysna to check into the hotel. After we checked in, we walked down to this local pub called Olde’s to watch the USA/Brazil Confederation Cup Championship match. Michael, Collin, Mike and I all got ribs (which were excellent). We also struck up a deal with our waiter to bring us a round of Jeiger-bombs whenever a goal was scored. That’s right: a goal. Not when the US scored, whenever anyone did. It was, unfortunately, a high-scoring match, haha. After four rounds of Jeiger-bombs, we did our last round with SoCo and lime.

When we were done, Matt and Dag went back, while Michael, Suvrat, Luke, Tara, Collin and I stayed behind to hang out for a bit. After a bit, Michael, Collin, Tara and I decided to leave. On our way back to the hotel, Mike thought it would be funny to play a prank on us. He went “Solid Snake” on us, and hid. I saw where he hid, and we approached this person lying on a picnic table bench. We shook his leg and said, “c’mon Mike,” at which point he responded, “I’m not Mike!” After this revelation, we ran back to Olde’s to tell Suvrat and Luke that Mike was missing.

We went back outside, and Mike was now walking towards us. He later revealed to us that he had been squatting next to the homeless man. Have I mentioned that Michael is the craziest person on this trip? Oh, then, he is. Well, that’s all for now everyone. Later!

Robberg National Park

Today, after we left Tsala Treetops, we drove along the N2 heading to Knysna. While Suvrat, Collin, Luke, and Dag went to go do the World’s Tallest Bungee Jump; Michael, Tara, Matt and I went to Robberg National Park. We hike around the peninsula for a bit. When we got to the beach, we saw a lot of “nature” (inside joke).

Mike and I climbed out onto some rocks that lead out into the Indian Ocean, and saw some pretty cool things. In some of the pools on top of the rocks, we found some corals and some anemones. Once we pressed on a little further, we found some rocks that were covered (and I mean covered) in clams. The rocks were black with them.

After being amazed by this, we continued our trek around the island, hiking up some rocks. Mike and I had some issues with this part of the trip, as the path was winding around the mountain, and was probably only two to three feet wide, and the fall to our left was incredibly far and steep. After a ways, we turned around and made our way back down the mountain and to the car. It was an amazing time all-in-all, as just about everything on this safari has been.

PIctures

Hey everyone. I just uploaded pictures of our stop at the World's Tallest Bungee Jump, and some pictures from Tsala Tree Tops. Dag, Collin and Luke are going to attempt the bungee jump today, while Matt, Tara, Suvrat, Michael, and I are going to explore the area around TTT. We are planning on going to an elephant reserve that is nearby, and also to do some hiking. Enjoy the pictures!

Tsala Treetops

Today, we drove from Kwandwe to the Tsala Tree Top Lodge. It’s a beautiful place; it’s really eclectic and posh. I have seriously never stayed at anywhere as nice as these hotels in my life. The fact that I’m getting to stay at all of these, for a huge discount, is even better. I’m not sure when the last time I had this fun, maybe when I went to Disneyworld when I was little, or when I went to my first Notre Dame football game.

So, anyway, Tree Top is awesome. We’re not actually on top of a tree (false advertising), but we’re in bungalows that have private fences around them, and each one has a private pool. There are two rooms in each bungalow, and the bathrooms are awesome. Each has a massive tub, as well as a walk in shower, which is also attached to an outdoor shower. As it’s dark, this is pretty much the only items of note that we can see.

We just watched Braveheart, and are now going to go to bed. I’ll probably stay up a bit and read Blood Mist, one of the South African fiction books I bought. I finished Tailgating, Sacks, and Salary Caps, so expect that review up soon. I also uploaded all of my safari pictures online, so you can see everything I’ve been up to. G’night my friends!

Last Game Drive

Hey everyone, we just got back from our last game drive, and we are getting ready to leave to head to the Tsala Treetops. On our game drive, we saw the same lion as yesterday, except this time he was on the hunt for two other females. We watched him search for them for awhile, but to no avail. We saw him later with the two original females, and when they realized what he'd been trying to do, one of them slapped him in the face. It was hilarious.

We also saw a female white rhino and her calf. They were HUGE. I got a lot of pictures of them, so I hope you all enjoy seeing them. Alas, we saw no black rhinos.

We also didn't see any elephants. We hunted them down for a good hour and a half, found many tracks, but never actually found them. Oh well, guess I'll just have to come back here again. We aren't too upset about not seeing them as there is an elephant reserve in Knysna, where we will stay on Sunday night, so we can just go there and see them on Monday before we head home. Well, that's all for now guys, we have to leave. Hope everyone is living vicariously through my pictures! Ciao!

Last Update Tonight

Just thought I'd share this: tomorrow, our goals are to see elephants and white and/or black rhinos. I hope we are successful in all three. That's all.

Irish Lions are Smiling...

We went on our second game drive around 3pm. Our new game driver’s name was Alfie. He’s an interesting character. Apparently he lived in America for 10 months or so, working in the carnival there. Told me that he’d bee all throughout the southeast and Texas, and up into Canada. He was a great guide, as he would stop the Land Rover and actually taught us stuff, instead of just pointing at an animal and going, “that’s a giraffe, they eat this.”

So, yeah, the second game drive was excellent. Right off the bat, we got to see some water buffalo at, where else, water. We watched their herd move down this hill and then engulf this little lake. After a few minutes, they became agitated by our presence and started to make their way back up the hill. Alfie thought that they were going to a nearby, different lake to drink, so we backed the Land Rover up to move to that location. As we were heading there, we saw that the buffalo had really just tricked us into leaving, as they were now quickly returning to the original watering hole. We were lucky that they did.

Why were we lucky, you ask? Well, because we decided to leave them alone and move on, we got to see some lions. Kwandwe has a pen where it is currently housing two young lions (a brother and sister), who they are preparing to ship off two a different game reserve. As we drove by this enclosure, we saw three wild lions outside the fence (one male, two females). Alfie told us that this pride doesn’t like the two enclosed lions because they are on the pride’s territory. After watching the lions nap for about 20 minutes, they got up and went to the fence to heckle the other lions. Had we followed the buffalo, we would’ve missed seeing these lions up close.

Anyway, the three lions were amazing. They were mostly napping while we were there; Alfie told us that it appeared that they had recently eaten. The male lion was awesome. He finally woke up and started moving around, allowing us to take some awesome photographs. The one that you see in this blog post is my favorite. Hanging out and watching these lions sleep and then wake up and do nothing may sound boring, but it has been far and away the most incredible part of this trip.

After we left the lions, we drove around a bit more, and then came upon a cliff where Alfie stopped the car for some “sundowners.” This was basically a chance for us to get out of the Land Rover, drink some hot chocolate with Amarula, and see the sunset. It was nice to get out of the Land Rover and stretch the legs for a bit. This also provided the opportunity for some photographs to be taken, as you can see in the album I’ve posted.

After our “sundowners”, we continued on our game drive, now looking for nocturnal animals. We didn’t really see all that much, save for a few porcupines, which were rather large. Aside from those, we saw nothing else of note, and returned back to the Ecca Lodge for dinner.

That pretty much sums up my day. If I were to describe my day in one word it would probably be: wowwhatanawesomef’ndayican’tbelievei’monsafari. Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. Totsien, my friends!

First Game Drive

Today we went on two game drives. The first one we went on went out at 7:10am. You may not believe this, but I may have gotten frostbite in Africa while on Safari. Okay, maybe not, but it was around 32-40 degrees when we left. To battle this, I wore a long sleeve shirt, a long sleeve layering shirt, my Notre Dame fleece, and my raincoat. Apparently I should’ve packed my down coat. Luckily, the Land Rovers we were in came with blankets and hand warmers. I felt just like Brett Favre… on a safari… and maybe not as wishy-washy on my future, but I digress.

Anyway, we hit the road at 7:10 am, and for a while, animal sightings were slim pickings. We finally saw our first animal, an antelope of some kind (name is escaping me), around 7:40am. Soon after this, we realize that the early morning drive was worth it.

Around 8am, we found two cheetahs. They are two brothers who work together and maintain a large territory. We got a lot of pictures of them, as they kept walking near the Land Rover. We mostly watched them walk around and mark their territory, although our tour guide told us that they were hungry as they kept looking around, sniffing the air. He told us that the wind was making it hard for them to find a scent, hence their constant surveillance. We stayed with the cheetahs for almost thirty minutes, just watching them be cheetahs.

After we left the cheetahs, we drove around for a bit and saw a menagerie of other animals. We saw warthogs, some different birds, some zebras, and giraffes. I really enjoyed seeing the zebras. I’ve never really noticed how much the resemble donkeys or asses more so than horses, but all the same, they are beautiful animals. I was also thrilled to see more giraffes, as my camera was dead when we saw them the night before. This time, I got plenty of pictures of them, even practicing some different photography effects on them (see the sepia shot, that I might frame when I get home). Later on, we saw some ostriches, more warthogs, and some black wildebeest.

After our game drive was over, we made our way back to the Melton Manor to eat and pack up. Due to a scheduling conflict, we had to stay one night in the Manor, instead of two consecutive nights in Ecca Lodge. I have to say they are both the most extravagant hotels/lodgings I have ever been to. I hope my pictures do justice to the awesome-ness that is this place. So everyone, this is the update for my first game drive of the day, haha. Now go read my second update!

Pictures

Hey everyone, just wanted to let you know that I have uploaded some new pictures from yesterday and today. I'll do a proper update later tonight detailing everything I've done and seen. Hope y'all enjoy looking at them!!

Safari!!!

Today, we made our way to Kwandwe Game Park. We left the Garden Centre Apartments at 6:30 am, and made the long, nine-hour drive to Kwandwe. The drive was fun and scary. There were a few times, especially when we were really close to Kwandwe, where we were driving down really narrow roads that winded around the mountains. To add to our fears, the car that Collin, Tara, Michael, and I were in was running on Empty at the time. But, by coasting down the hills and some luck, we made it to Kwandwe safely. Getting back, however, may be a challenge as there is obviously not a gas station on the reserve, and all of their reserves are diesel reserves.

Anyway, we got here around 4:30, and after signing in, got into a open-top Land Rover at 5:15 pm. Along our way to the Lodge we are staying in, we quickly got to see some animals up close. There was a giraffe that walked across the road behind us; it couldn’t have been more that 20 feet away. I tried to get a picture of it, but unfortunately my camera died. My tour guide reassured me that if there is one animal we will see without fail on this trip, it is giraffes, as they are very used to the cars and will come up to us.

We also saw a red hartebeest, a type of antelope. For more information go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Hartebeest. They, apparently, are much more skittish to cars, because as soon as we were near it, it scampered away. Our tour guide told us that it did that because it was so windy, and the animals’ sense of smell is thrown off by the wind, and therefore will run away at the slightest noise.

After a twenty-minute drive, we made our way to the lodge we are staying at for the night. I have taken some pictures that I have posted for everyone to see. This is, seriously, the nicest hotel I’ve ever been in (and I stayed at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles with the football team). The pictures are the best way to understand what it is like is to see the pictures. It is a $3,200 a night room, that we are only paying $1,200 a night for ($250ish apiece). We find this is a steal.

We also have our own tour guide. His name is Murray. He has worked here at Kwandwe for three years now. He told us that we are going out for a game drive at 7 am until around 11 or 11:30 am tomorrow. We were going to go out tonight, but it got late and the weather was still bad. Instead, we stayed in (at our all-inclusive hotel) and had dinner. We ate a bread pudding, some corn chowder, ostrich steak, and then had soufflé for dinner. We also got lots of hot chocolate with Amarula. Well, I think most of us are going to head to bed, as we are getting up so early in the morning. Good night everyone! I’ll try not to get eaten by a lion tomorrow! Also, expect lots of pictures after the early morning drive, and another blog update!!

It's The Circle of Life!!!!!

Today for lunch, Matt and I ate with Tutu and Pumula at a restaurant called Spurs: Steak Ranches. It may possibly be the most unintentionally racist restaurant I have ever been to, haha. The restaurant is a Native American themed restaurant that is covered in layer upon layer of “Native American” crap such as plastic teepees,seat cushions that were made of fabric resembling cowhide, and everywhere you looked there were Native Americans doing Native American things painted on the walls. It was amazing.

For dinner tonight, we went to a place called Marco’s Place. It served authentic African cuisine. It was super touristy. It was good though. I had a kudu (antelope) steak, with pap (it’s a dish made of ground up maize and mixed with water), as well as a spinach dish. It was really good. I also got to try someone’s ostrich. I was also very tasty. For dessert, Suvrat, Tara and I shared an ice cream dish that was covered in chocolate sauce and Amarula. Yummy.

To drink, Tara, Suvrat, Collin, and I shared some local beer made in the township of Guguletu, a township that I work in a lot. It wasn’t my favorite. Tara told me that she thinks it was made of fermented corn or cornhusks, as that’s what the beer in Uganda was made from. It had a very weird taste and consistency. It was interesting, but I don’t think I’ll be trying it again.

So, tomorrow morning at 6am (midnight eastern time), we all head out for our safari. We are leaving so early so that we can make an afternoon/evening game drive at Kwandwe National Game Park. We will be staying at the game park Thursday and Friday night, and will have four drives (one Thursday, two Friday, and one Saturday) to get in. On Saturday, we head to Tsala Treetop Lodge (google it), where we will spend the night, as well as takeadvantage of some of the spots around Treetop. On Sunday, we head to Knysna, an ocean-side city, where we will spend Sunday night. At Knysna, we will have access to other events (elephant riding, bungee jumping, etc.), but we must pay for them individually. All in all, it should be a ridiculously fun event, and I will be sure to post the hundreds, nay thousands of pictures that I will probably take.

As such, I’m sure all my faithful readers are wondering about when they can hear from me again. Well, I will be taking my computer with me to upload all of my pictures everyday, and we’ll see if the hotels have WiFi or not. If they don’t, I’ll keep a log of my days, and post those when I get back on Monday afternoon/evening. This is the update of all updates everyone, so please stay tuned! G’night, my friends!!

Awesome day!

Today, Matt and I took a break from documenting crèches, and instead worked on documenting senior centers. We got through seven of the centers, and when we start back to work on July 1, we will finish out the remaining seven centers. It was nice to have a break from the crèches, which are very informal and sometimes very run down, to work on documenting the senior centers, which are much newer and more developed.

Leading us today, were Tutu and Pumula. They are both amazing women. Tutu actually started Ikamva’s Senior Centre branch. She has been with Ikamva for over 30 years. Originally, Tutu was working with the Red Cross, going through and helping the people in the townships. Over time, she noticed a glaring need for the seniors of the townships to have a place to go. Before, she said, most of the attention was given to the younger generations, while the older people were mostly forgotten. She started working with them because of this. Eventually, she met up with Helen Lieberman, and the two of them began working to fund and construct these senior centers.

Over 30 years later, her work has definitely paid off. The centers are amazing. They provide solid, safe structures for all of the senior citizens to come together and interact with one another. They do exercises with the seniors, as well as lead them in knitting groups. All of the seniors there are so happy. They sang to Matt and I at one of the centers.

There is also another aspect of the senior centers that we just learned about today. Apparently, the local schools have a program where they send groups of students to a senior center once a month. The students, usually a choir or singing group, will come to the senior center and perform for the seniors. We witnessed one of these singing groups today. They were really good. The seniors were up dancing and singing with them. The students are also encouraged to listen to the stories of the seniors. Pumula told me that this is done so that the students will get a glimpse into their culture and heritage. As many of the students do not have grandparents, this is a way for them to have that experience and to learn and understand the past.

This is a great program, one that I wish was implemented in the US, as so many of the seniors in the senior centers back home rarely if ever get to interact with the younger generations. To see how energetic and happy the seniors are here, and to see how most of the seniors are back home who live in retirement homes, there is no comparison. Here, everyone is lively and happy. I’ve rarely seen anyone in a retirment home be this happy and jubilant back home.

Anyway, back to our guides. The other guide was Pumula. She has been working with Ikamva and Tutu for the past 20 or so years. She is in charge of the Noluthundo Senior Centre, located in New Crossroads. Pumula has a daughter who lives in America, in Florida actually, which is where Matt is from, who works as a nurse. Her son, meanwhile, is a detective here in South Africa. She is a very interesting woman. Matt and I really enjoyed working with them, they were very warm and welcoming, and we look forward to working with them when we get back to work on July 1.

The Hangover...

What. A. Day. So, we went to the improv show, as my earlier blog detailed, and then afterwards we went to a bar called Jo’Burg. Around two am, Mike and I decided to go on a Nando’s hunt. We didn’t find Nando’s, and I’m not at liberty to say what happened to us online, but I will gladly tell anyone who emails me and asks.

Anyway, Matt and I had to work today, despite our night out. Due to only getting four hours of sleep, Martha and Notemba thought we were hung over. I can honestly say, I wasn’t. Just extremely tired, haha. They proceeded to laugh at us many times and then tell us to make sure that we got some sleep when we got home after work. Martha looked at me and said, “You’re not going to go to sleep, I know it.” Oh, how right you are, ma’am.

No, instead of taking a nap like I had planned to all day, we went to see a movie. We saw The Hangover. I recommend it to anyone who hasn’t seen it, as it is hilarious. At the same time, however, Michael, Tara, Collin, and I have decided that some of our adventures aren’t that far off from the ones in the movie. The sad (good?) thing is that we are still here for another month, so those adventures will only get crazier. I’m frightened. If Mike dies, I already have his eulogy planned. It has to do with the story that I’m not at liberty to discuss online, but will gladly discuss in email (hint hint, wink wink). Okay, time to read. G’night everyone.

Stop! In the name of love...

So last night we went to an improv show, called Theatre Sports, on the University of Cape Town campus. It was like “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”, with two teams competing against one another. It was hilarious. One of the games was called “I’m having a party”, and the main person had to figure out what the other four guests were simply by their actions. The other four participants were given their roles by crowd suggestion. One was a submarine. Seriously, there was a guy pretending to be a submarine.

The audience also had a role in determining when a skit should end. If a skit was going on for too long, the host would signal for us to all stand up and sing loudly, "Stop, in the name of love!" We never actually had to do this, but it was fun practicing it. Overall, it was hilarious. That’s all for now. Ciao!

Songs about rain...

So today’s update is pretty short. It rained all day. Being in the townships while it is raining is a bit depressing. Before, when the building owners and principals would tell you that there was a leak, you would note it and move on. When it is raining, you actually see the leaks. All of them.

Matt and I have decided that actually judging the buildings is the worst part of our job. We love going to the townships, and I personally love never being in the office. Judging these buildings, as if I have any right or expertise, does weigh on you some. We’re basically in charge of deciding how urgent a need is. They’re all urgent, but we have to rate them, from one to five, on how quickly they need to be fixed. “Your leak is only a two, because this other crèche’s leak is so bad that the ceiling is caving in. I know that it is leaking, and your children are cold and wet, but there are worse ones.” We don’t actually have these conversations obviously; so much as we play them out in our heads when we rate them. As I said, it will weigh on you after awhile.

I did have a funny experience with our guides today. We went to Nando’s to get lunch and I got Hot flavored chicken. After I’d finished eating, they both looked at me and go “why don’t you cry?” At first, I wasn’t sure what they meant, then I realized they meant that the chicken didn’t make me cry. I told them that I’ve had Nando’s a few times and that it no longer really bothers me, but that it had made my eyes water in the past. They just shook their head and go “young people.”

Well that’s about it for today’s update. I hope everyone back home is doing well and having adventures of their own. Bye everyone.

That's what I love about Sundays...

So, today was a pretty relaxing day. While the some of the other interns went to another township mass, I decided to sleep in. It was the first day I’ve slept past 9am since May 31^st, the day after I arrived. To put it mildly, I have been exhausted, so sleeping in was a great life decision.

After I woke up around 10:30 (I have no idea how I used to sleep in until nearly 1pm), I started reading my book, Tailgating, Sacks, and Salary Caps, a book about the history and current state of the NFL as of 2006. After reading for awhile, I decided to go down to the mall for some lunch and some people watching. I took my book along with me just to be safe. While enjoying a cappuccino (I seriously drink so much coffee and tea here) and eggs benedicts, I took in the sites of the mall I live in (I need to post pictures of the mall at some point, so people can actually understand that I do live in a mall).

As always, it is interesting to see how differently people dress here. Yes, there are your usual gangs of hipsters, but it seems that everyone dresses so much “nicer” than we do in the States. We truly are “ugly” Americans, at least here in Cape Town. Apparently my sweatshirt, shorts, and sandals look does not cut it here like it would in South Bend.

After I got back upstairs, I met up with Michael, Suvrat and Collin, and we went down to the V&A Waterfront again. While there, I got a safari hat. It’s the one you see in the picture there. I call it my Indiana Jones hat. We head out for safari on Thursday at 6am and get back sometime Monday night. There will be epic blog posts when that I get back on Monday night. Well, that’s pretty much it for now. I’m going to go read some and hit the hay so that I can be rested for another full day in the townships. G’night folks!

Long Walk to Freedom...

Hey everyone. Today we finally made it to Robben Island. That was the most amazing part of the day, but today was an overall pretty interesting day. For starters, we woke up at 8:15am to make it to the dock by 9:00am when the first boat left (this boat is 100 rand, while every other ferry out is 180 rand). By the time we got there, however, this ferry was already full, so we had to wait for the next boat, which went out at 11:00am. To pass the time, we went to get some brunch at a restaurant called Mug and Bean. I got a breakfast burrito, but it wasn’t as good as the breakfast burritos that I get at Tony’s in East Lansing. The coffee was outstanding, however.
After we ate, we went back to the ferry and made our way to Robben Island. For those of you who don’t know, Robben Island is an island off the coast of Cape Town. It is where the apartheid rulers would send the black and colored (these are actually politically correct to say here, so don’t think I’m racist) prisoners. Specifically, it was where they would send the black and colored political prisoners. Such prisoners include Thambo Mbeke, Mbeke’s father, Jakob Zuma, and, most famously, Nelson Mandela.

Our two tour guides were two men who were previously political prisoners on the island back under apartheid rule. So many years of their lives were taken away as they spent time here, and now they work here. Their stories were amazing. To know that we were in the presence of people who stood up for human rights, were punished for it, but never quit believing in what was right, and now get to see their dreams come to fruition was a very special moment in my life.

Hearing the story of Robben Island is incredible. The prisoners actually built the prison that they would someday inhabit. It was also interesting hearing how apartheid treated the guards of the prison. The guards weren’t allowed to wear sunglasses because sunglasses weren’t part of their official outfit. It was also interesting hearing about how Mandela would hold meetings with the other political prisoners in their toilet cave because they were safe there, as white men weren’t allowed into black men’s restrooms.

Overall, it was a very humbling experience. To see where men lived, and some died, because of the color of their skin and the ideas in their heads is something I find hard to comprehend. We got to see the cell where Mandela lived for the 30 years he was imprisoned there. As I said, it was a very honoring, humbling experience.

After we returned from Robben Island to the mainland, we made our way to a restaurant called Mitchell’s to watch the British-Irish Lions play the South Africa Springboks play in a rugby match. Well, my friends did. I made my way to a bookstore in the mall nearby and found two books to add to my collectioin. One is called Blood’s Mist, by David Donald, while the other one is called Twenty Chickens for a Saddle, by Robyn Scott. Both are pieces of African fiction. Twenty Chickens for a Saddle is a memoir of author Scott’s, detailing her childhood and life in Botswana, and all of the events that transpired while she was there, such as the AIDS epidemic.
After I bought these two books, I met my friends at Mitchell’s. We watched the Springboks get off to a commanding lead by halftime before we left. Matt, Tara, Collin, Michael, and I wanted to go back to the apartments and relax, while Dag and Suvrat stayed behind to watch the match. Apparently, the Lions made it interesting, but the Springboks held on for the win.

After we came back to the apartments, everyone took small naps and we then made our way to Camp’s Bay, a local beach. We got there right at sunset, and saw a lot of people playing with their dogs. I cannot wait to get home and get settled so that I can get a dog. Seriously, I want a dog so badly. It made it even worse that one of the dogs was a weimaraner. Brianna, I thought one of the dogs was a basset, but as it got closer I realized it was just a really short beagle or beagle mix.

At the beach, we walked and found these huge boulders that lead out into the ocean. We scaled the boulders and all set and watched the sunset. After this, we went to a local bar to people watch. After one round of very, very expensive and very, very weak drinks, we returned back to the apartments for dinner. Michael, Collin and I had spaghetti with hot dogs. Mmmm, right?
Tara, Matt, Michael and I decided to keep it a chill evening. We watched V for Vendetta, and then we all went to bed. That’s the day everyone. Hope you enjoyed it, haha. I’m off to read my football book. G’night everyone!

Happier note

Sorry guys, but that last update was just too depressing, haha.  And, as anyone who really knows me knows, I cannot leave well enough alone and end with things on a bad note.  

Today, I ate at this place called the Eastern Foods Bazaar.  It is this hallway of small booths where you can get different kinds of Indian and/or Chinese food.  The process you go about getting your food is really complicated, however.  So, first you walk up and down the Bazaar and look at the menus and decide what you want.  There is a menu above each station.  After you have decided, you go down to the cashier, which is located in the center of the Bazaar.  You tell them what you want, you pay, and they give you a receipt for each order.  You then take that receipt to the different booths with the menus above them.  Oh, did I mention that the menus don't actually correlate to what each booth serves?  No?  Well, they don't haha.  There were six booths on the left side of the Bazaar, and Matt and I went to each one, showing our tickets and each one told us it was to the right.  We finally went to the booth to the right of the cashier, a booth we'd never even seen before that had a menu for sweet and sour chicken and other Chinese food, and gave them our tickets.  They, in return, gave us curry.  It's like going to McDonald's and finding out they actually only serve Taco Bell, despite having a menu for McDonald's, haha.  So, Matt and I wandered around, thoroughly pissing everyone off who knew how the system worked because we kept cutting in line to thrust our tickets to the wrong chef, and finally made it to the right place.  Oh the joy of being a tourist, haha.

Also on a happier note, Matt and I have finished two townships!  Two!!  Two townships in two days!  Sounds like a Dr. Seuss story.  Anyway, we have successfully visited and documented twenty-one sites over the past two days.  As I said before, in our previous two days out, we were able to document four total.  Our productivity has gone up over 500%!  Woot woot!

Rough day...

Today was a really good, but hard day.  I won’t lie, going out to the townships everyday is very exhilarating and is much more exciting than sitting cooped up in an office all day.  At the same time, however, seeing these structures and these children and how they have to live really weighs on your soul.  I met a boy today at one of the crèches, Lilitha Educare I believe.  He followed me around wherever I went while we were doing our inspection of the crèche, the whole time he holding onto the backflap of my jeans’ pocket so that he could follow me. His teacher smiled at him and told me that, “he can’t see or hear well at all, but I love him so much.”  I nearly lost it there.  I stopped what I was doing for a bit to play with him.  He was a really nice little kid.

Today I finally felt like I was in “real Africa”.  Cape Town is this mirage, this ivory tower that makes you think different of a place than what it really is.  I kept telling my friends here that it still hasn’t hit that I’m in Africa.  Today it did, and it hit hard.  Seeing that little boy and how many health problems he has, and realizing that he is just one of many, and that they are all in these informal pre-schools which are nothing more than day cares, it hurt.  I know that my project is to go to these pre-schools everyday, and that I should be prepared for this, but I’m not sure that’s possible to prepared for what you will see.  No matter what people want to say about the American education system and what it lacks, it is so much better than this. 

This fact doesn’t make me proud or happy, it makes me angry.  Given the chance, these kids would love to have an opportunity to learn.  You can see it in their eyes.  They’re so bright and curious, and to see them when they have grown up, and seeing that brightness become dulled is heart wrenching. 

It’s the same with the dogs in the townships.  They are all running around, pet or stray, it doesn’t seem to matter, they’re just names we bestow upon them that have no real meaning to the animal.  It just runs around searching for food.  The puppies are all puppies we’d see in the States, little rolly-polly, jovial balls of fur, eyes full of brightness and youth.  Then you see a dog a bit older, and it hangs its head and walks cowardly, afraid of people, afraid of not finding food.

I’m sorry that this is such a downer of a blog update, everyone.  But, I guess this blog is supposed to represent my thoughts, and these are my thoughts right now.  I think everyone needs to know these things.  Please don’t take anything for granted, my friends.  We all lead great lives in our own ways.  Please be thankful.

My day :D

Hey everyone, so this is pretty much the most amazing day of work since we have been at Ikamva for the past three weeks.  In two days in the field previously, Matt and I were able to visit only four sites.  Today alone we visited fifteen.  FIFTEEN!!!  We might actually be able to accomplish something spectacular here.  When we were leaving Ikamva after our long day of work, Matt and I were saying that we truly believe that we can create something special that Ikamva can use going forward in continuing its mission of developing within the townships.

So, as I said, Matt and I visited fifteen different sites in two different townships, the townships of Wallacedeen and then Bloekompos.  We finished all of the crèches/preschools in Wallacedeen and got a great start in Bloekompos.  We worked today with former “foot soldiers” Martha and Notemba.  There is something humbling about being in a car with two friends who speak a different language and know that they are making fun of you, haha.  We know this because we learned some Cosa and Matt and I both heard some words that we know were directed at us. 

After we had lunch at KFC (which are EVERYWHERE here) with them, they warmed to us.  We told them about us, our life stories, and they told us there.  For instance, Martha has been working with Ikamva since 1992, working as a footsoldier, as well as maintaining her own two crèches.  She told us that she has three children, and one grandchild.

Notemba is also a former footsoldier who runs her own crèche.  She has been with Ikamva since 1993.  Notemba has had three children, but one of them died.  He died while as a student at the University of Cape Town.  He was studying graphic design.  She also has a daughter who is a teacher at her crèche.  She has four grand children.

As I said, they really opened up to us when we told them our life stories.  They especially enjoyed hearing that both of my parents are former teachers, and that my girlfriend is going to be a teacher.  They were stunned when I told them how hot it gets in Arkansas.  I’m not sure if they understood that I was talking about Fahrenheit and not Celsius when I said it would get over 100.  I’m going to assume that they did, but the way they reacted was quite interesting. 

Anyway, back to the original story.  We went to fifteen different crèches.  Some of these sites were amazing and some were very sad.  Not sad as in I look down on the people who run them, but sad that this is where children must go because this is all that is available.  Some of these sites are structures constructed out of plywood, and some even cardboard, and all had leaks.  They are more day cares than schools, which is no slight to the women who run them.  They are providing a great service to the townships, but the education curriculum is devastatingly lacking.  I think this is what makes me the saddest about the townships; in my opinion, education is the great equalizer and these children are given NO chance to compete with an ever-globalizing world and economy.  It is truly sad. 

Sorry, mini-rant.  Now we are back to the original story.  As I was saying, with regards to our project, the day was fantastic.  We are finally getting going, and we are hitting it hard.  If we can average 10 sites a day even, we believe that we will really create a very useful and detailed database of the over 300 sites that Ikamva is invested in.  We got the plot maps today and the Access database is completed, so we are now going full throttle with project.  Thank you everyone!  Good night!

Whose yo mama?

Today Matt and I met with the mamas and former footsoliders.  Once again, Matt and I are Helen’s “new boyfriends”.  Our first task of the day was to travel to Monwabasi to sit in on a mamas meeting.  It is a great honor to meet with these “mamas” as they are the matriarchs of the townships, and without their permission and respect, we would be hard pressed to complete our task of documenting all of the buildings and sites in the Ikamva portfolio.  They all laughed at Helen’s joke of us being her new boyfriends, and a few gave Matt and I some waves and a few winks.

After we left Monwabisi, Matt and I followed Helen to the Rainbow Centre in Guguletu.  Here is where we had our meeting with Jubu, Martha, Notemba, Xoliswa, Meisie, and Mildred.  A woman named Benigina was unable to make the meeting.  They are all former footsoldiers for Ikamva who are currently in charge of the preschools and crèches in the numerous townships of Cape Town.  We go out tomorrow with Martha and Notemba to see the township of Wallacedene for the first time.  We only have 23 days with these footsoldiers, so we must be extremely efficient with our time in the field.  We have only seen four sites in two days thus far.  Going forward, we are aiming at getting to see an average of ten a day.  We think this will be easier than it sounds, as normally we have been traveling to multiple townships a day, and these sites are all in the same townships so travel time will be much shorter.

I’m so excited to actually get working tomorrow.  Now that crunch time has set in, we will be blazing through this project.  This is exciting to me, as homesickness is starting to hit a little bit because work has been a bit slow, but now that we will so frantic everyday, I’m pumped.  This will be an exciting time going forward. 

I’m really excited to start interviewing some of my co-workers at Ikamva.  I think I will start having a “meet my co-workers” update occasionally.  We’ll see how well it goes if it actually happens, but just keep your eyes open for it.  Alright everyone, I’m signing off now.  Totsien my friends!!!

Would you like to take a walk through the gardens with me…

Today was National Youth Day.  For information visit this link: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soweto_riots .  It is a national holiday here in South Africa, and as such most of us did not have work today (Collin and Luke helped at an AIDS event for their organization, GrassRoots Soccer).  In order to do something fun on our day off, we decided to head up to Kristenbosch Botanical Gardens, a garden/park located near Cape Town.  The Gardens are beautiful.  I hope that after reading this update, you take the time to view the albums I put up that is dedicated to the KBG.

We saw so many beautiful fauna and flora at the gardens.  The area was overrun with guinea fowl, which are hilarious birds.  More on that later.  Anyway, we spent around an hour to two hours walking around just admirning the different plants and animals, when came to a sign that said “Skeleton Gorge.”  We had to explore this.

We followed the path, and we climbed.  And climbed.  And climbed.  And then, because we were bored, we climbed some more.  We traveled up the path, following the signs, and moving further and further into the darkness of the foliage.  Eventually, we realized that we weren’t going to make it to Skeleton Gorge because some of our party wanted to make it to Khayelitsha to see Collin and Luke work the AIDS event.  At our stopping point, Suvrat saw this amazing waterfall.

The waterfall was amazing.  We all climbed out onto some rocks that were at its base and took some pictures, and just generally relaxed and enjoyed ourselves in this secluded, relaxing location.  After maybe 30 minutes at the waterfall, we left and made our way back down the trail.  When we reached the location where we had branched off to find the waterfall, we found a sign that told us how dangerous it would’ve been to continue climbing up to Skeleton Gorge.  I took a picture of the sign, so you can read it when you view the album.  Needless to saw, we never noticed the sign the first time we were there, and we would’ve continued on and found ourselves in a picky situation.

When we made our way back to the entrance, we saw two children chasing a guinea fowl around the patio surrounding the restaurant.  It was hilarious.  The children were throwing food to the fowl and then chasing it.  The bird wasn’t sure if it should eat or run, it kept pausing and starting to the food, or even eating some and then running away from them.  As I said, It was hilarious.

After we left Kristenbosch Botanical Gardens, we headed to Khayelitsha to see Collin and Luke.  The event was really cool.  It was a soccer tournament for local teens, and as part of the event, they could partake in voluntary AIDS testing.  I can’t imagine the fear in those children as they awaited the news, yay or nay.  I’m eagerly awaiting graduate school news, but either way my life won’t be suddenly turned upside down.  The news these children might hear is potentially life shattering.  I cannot begin to describe how brave they are for volunteering for this procedure.

After Matt, Tara, Mike and I left, we all came back to the apartments.  Mike, Tara and I then proceeded down to Nando’s to eat some chicken.  Nando’s is AMAZING.  I’m in love with their peri-peri chicken, and especially their peri-peri chips.  It was an amazing dinner.  Alright, ladies and gents, that is all for tonight.  I really want to finish reading Life of Pi tonight (been 30 pages from the end for the past two nights) so I’m off to do that.  G’night everyone!!!! 

Drinks with Che Guevara...

Yesterday after work, Matt approached Mike and I with an excellent idea.  Let’s go to a bar and people watch he said, maybe take a book along so that we can read.  To think I nearly took along Life of PI.  Anyway, we drove down to Long Street and parked our car, and then made our way to the Che Bar, named after the famed (infamous?) Che Guevara.  For evidence of this, please see the pictures.  Anyway, we went into the bar and had a seat.  Matt and Mike ordered mojitos as they were having a buy one/get one sale.  I wasn’t sure what I wanted to so I simply sat back and looked at the menu.

Shortly, a woman joined us at the bar.  Her name is Hillary, and she is a 28-year-old PhD candidate from Canada.  The emphasis of her study is on sex.  That is important for later, haha.  Well, after she started talking to us, I told the bartender that I wanted something that had Amarula in it.  He obliged me, and told me that he is a “mixologist”, and his hobby is making new drinks simply from his mind.  He made me something, something extremely sweet.  I asked him what it was called, and he told me that it didn’t have a name, because he’d made it up.  I named it “Sex Talk” in honor of our new friend.  After having a beer (the Sex Talk was FAR too sweet for me to enjoy more than one), we made our way to an authentic African cuisine restaurant.

At the restaurant, Khaya Nyama, we ordered our food.  I got a “game skewer”, which had a variety of different antelope (kudu, springbok, and something else), as well as some vegetables.  The mean was amazing.  I was a little disappointed, as Hillary had told us that the restaurant served zebra.  No zebra for me.

After we left the restaurant, we made our way to a college bar, The Shack, that Hillary recommended.  After Matt and I had returned to the restaurant to get his wallet and then made our way back to The Shack, and found Matt’s newfound favorite bar in Cape Town.  It was a total hipster, emo-scene, but very friendly.  The Shack is made up of two separate buildings, with two levels each, and an outdoor area covered by a tent.  It is huge.  We had a great time.  After Hillary bought us drinks, Matt and I went to explore.  At some point after we left, Hillary and Mike left the Shack and went to a local gentleman’s club, Mavericks.  The stories we heard from Mike later are quite hilarious, and are stories I will glad share in private someday, haha.  I will only say this; there was no “happy ending.”

Anyway, as I said, Matt and I went exploring and met some new friends.  We met a man named Rory and his girlfriend, Roxanne, as well as her brother and her brother’s girlfriend.  Rory really liked Matt and I, as he bought us two beers apiece.  We hung out with them for quite awhile.  They left us later in the night, and Matt and I hung out until Collin, Tara, and two of Collin’s friends from work showed up.  The six of us continue to enjoy The Shack, and then left around 2:30am or so.  All in all, Mike and I have decided that whenever Matt wants to go “people watching” we will make sure to not bring any books, as well as to constantly leave “paper trails” all night so that our friends can find us should something happen.  I’m not sure if I can “people watch” again anytime soon, haha.  

Yet another amazing day of work...

So today was really awesome, yet again.  Matt and I are actually continually getting out into the field to see the locations and getting the information we need to compile our data and help create our analysis.  We visited Enkululekweni, a garden site located in the township of Khayelitsha.  The gardens they had were quite large.  They grow crops ranging from cabbage and lettuce, to beetroot, to even peppers of varying colors.  The gardeners were really hard workers, but also very happy people.  Given the climate they find themselves in (it’s winter and high 60’s), working outside doesn’t seem as grueling as landscaping in the 100 degree, 100% humidity Arkansas heat.  I hope no one reading this takes this as my making light of their work, I know that they are very hard workers and are providing a great service to their community.  And also, they were really nice men who were very welcoming to us and open to answering any questions we had, be they related to our work or more generally about the farming practices.

The next site we visited was the Monwabisi Senior Centre.  Matt and I visited this senior center on our first day into the field way back when (June 5, to be exact).  The seniors at this site were very welcoming and kind.  They loved seeing us, and I got many hugs and hand kisses from the seniors.  It is such a great feeling knowing that despite the racial atrocities that took place in the past, that these men and women suffered for most of their lives in, they hold know grudges and welcome us openly.  It really makes me sad when I think about racial tensions in the US, and how we don’t seem to have come as far as they have despite the much longer passage of time.  I know that not all of the native Africans feel this way, but the overall majority have been very excited to meet us and welcome us into their homes and private lives, telling us their stories.  When we left Monwabisi, the seniors came out to send us off and sang us a song in Cosa.  We asked Ntsika what it meant, and he told us it was a song about Nelson Mandela and hope for the people of South Africa.  I feel honored that they would share this piece of their own private history with us, we outsiders who know next to nothing of the strife and injustice they suffered in the past, and still suffer today.

All day, Matt and I rode around in a van, to and from each site, with our guide, Ntsika Maleni.  Ntsika is the program manager for Ikamva’s garden centers, which are located at the majority of Ikamva’s properties.  We got some insight into the life of someone who lives in the townships.  Ntsika loves rap music, and hearing him analyze and discuss their music was very interesting.  We learned that he really likes it when rappers will blend in a real worldview with a gospel tone.  He informed us that he doesn’t enjoy rappers who only talk about drug deals and focus more telling a story about real life.  We taught him that, in America, farming is a much larger scale operation, and that generally we have hectares upon hectares (acres upon acres) of fields that grow only one crop at a time.  We also told him that due to the climate of the U.S., it makes it hard to be self-sustainable off of a garden for all of your vegetables, because it is hard to grow crops in certain climates in the winter (see:  South Bend, or Antarctica-U.S.).

As an anthropology geek, this trip is fascinating.  Cape Town is such a strange amalgamation of Western- and traditional African cultures.  V&A Waterfront is perhaps the best example of this.  What appears, at first, to be any pier you could expect to see in the states (such as Navy Pier in Chicago, for example), is at the same time very African, with various street performers performing traditional African songs and dances, to the food you find, to the gift shops.  It is such a weird blending of cultures (one that was unfortunately lopsided, as most are) but it works perfectly here.  I hope that these thoughts and viewpoints are coming through in my pictures.  I promise that I will create comments and tags on my pictures when I get home, where internet is cheaper/more effective, but for now, maybe just viewing them as outsiders is the best thing for everyone.  Be an anthropologist for God’s sake and figure them out for yourselves!  At least until I get home to detail them all for you.  Totsien!!!

Rugby and Church, and a Naked Man on a Horse...

So, it was a really sweet weekend.  Yesterday we saw the Vodacom WP Stormers take on the British-Irish Lions in a rugby match.  The B-I Lions are what we would consider and all-star or all-pro team, made up of the best players from the UK and Ireland.  They are here in South Africa doing a tour of the country, playing all of the local teams.  The Vodacom WP (Western Province) Stormers are the Cape Town team.  As someone who has never really watched rugby, I loved it!  So much hitting and diving into groups of people head first!  I think we might try and go to another game later on in June, or attend a match during the Currie Cup in July.  I do need to wear my South Africa Springboks (the national team) jersey again.

Anyway, the match was really fun, and really exciting.  It came down to the wire.  As I said, the B-I Lions are an all-star team and are undefeated in their tour thus far.  With four minutes to go, however, the game was all tied up at 23-23, when the B-I Lions kicked a 3pointer (maybe they also call it a field goal, it’s the same idea as a field goal in American football) to put the Lions ahead, 26-23.  The Stomers almost came back, but were unable to pull ahead or tie.

After the match, we went to a pub that is attached to Newlands Stadium (the rugby stadium) and had a blast.  Apparently, I’m quite popular with South Africans and British alike.  At one point, this guy started talking to me in Afrikaans (one of the official languages, mixes Dutch and Cosa, I think), and I had no idea what he was saying to me.  I just kept nodding my head and shaking my head when I felt like it was appropriate.  After a 10 minute spiel to me during which I didn’t know a flippin’ thing he said, he ran off and I just stood there watching him.  The next thing I know, he was being escorted out.  It suddenly dawned on me what he was talking about.  I just started laughing hysterically when I realize what had almost happened.

The older British-Irish fans were really welcoming to me, haha.  They kept asking me to be in pictures with them and to wear their hats.  I even saying a round of some pro-Wales song, standing locked arm and arm with two old women.  Once again, I had no idea what was going on, but they seemed to enjoy my presence.  Later, an older British couple started speaking with me.  When they left, the woman did the whole kiss-cheeks goodbye, except that on the second go-round, she headbutted me instead of getting my left cheek.  I think she was too drunk to realize what happened, but I was left a bit dazed from the shot, haha.

Later, we made our way back to the apartments to have dinner.  Mike really likes to cook apparently.  He made eggs.  How many you ask?  Well, to quote him, he cooked “12 + 9 + 3 eggs and 32 pieces of toast”.  I must admit, they might be the best eggs I’ve ever eaten.  Unfortunately, Mike convinced me to go to Percy’s to get fish and chips an hour afterwards.  I ordered two huge lamb shanks, and as soon as they were placed in front of me, I regretted this.  We ate as much as we could of our meals and walked back trying not to think about how much food we had in us.

This morning, we woke up and went to a township mass in Guguletu.  I was supposed to go to this mass last week, but didn’t wake up in time, as those of you who follow my blog know.  Well, today I did make it.  It was actually a pretty special mass, as it was the first communion that a group of the children were allowed to have.  I loved hearing the traditional African music and hymns being played.  I will say this, it is really disorienting to be at a church service that is so similar to one that you are used to attending, but spoken in a language you have no chance of understanding.  It was a lot of fun, though.

Later today, we all went up to the Rhodes Memorial, a local memorial built onto the mountainside of Table Mountain.  It is a really odd looking place, resembling a Greek monument with its tall columns and Greek-looking statues.  It was a lot of fun, though, and was nice that we could see it on such a rainy day.  It is a very famous memorial because there is a statue of a naked man riding a horse.  We never really could find a reason why this man was riding a horse while in the buff, but hey, who are we to judge?  

We’re really hoping to get to Robben Island soon, as we are afraid that the weather is going to get worse and worse, and they don’t run the ferry to the island if the waters are rough.  We might have to take a day off of our work to make it there.  Well, that’s it for now I think.  Time to get back to some reading.  Bye for now, everyone!

First real, real day of work...

So today, Matt and I were actually able to go out into the field and see some of the properties.  We only got to visit two senior centers, but we were able to get all of the information we needed from them, which is far more awesome than I think anyone reading this will understand.  Getting to this point, and then being able to get everything we needed is beyond what we expected to be able to do on our first visit.  I realize that other sites may not be this easy to document, but it's a great feeling knowing that some are.

It's really sad to see the things that take place at these centers.  The areas they are in are very poor, and as such, there is an extremely high crime rate.  Both of the two centers have been broken into, one having been broken into even this week.  The first one we visited is an "insulated tin" building (we'll post some pictures later) where some one had actually taken some industrial scissors and gone and cut an opening in the wall to enter in and see what there was to steal.  The manager of the building told us that they stole many of the gardeners tools, as well as some of the tools and items that the seniors use while at the center.

The other center was a center that we visited on Friday, June 5th.  It wasn't in perfect shape then, but sometime between then and today, someone broke into the building and ransacked it.  They destroyed the kitchen, for apparently nothing more than vandalism.  No appliances or cookware was missing, but the cabinet doors had all been beaten and ripped off, while it looked like they took a sledgehammer to the counter top in some places.  We also so that they had ripped a sink off the wall in one of the children's restrooms.  It is really disheartening to know that these centers are built for the community to use at no charge to the community, yet someone from there is driven to do these kinds of acts.  I can understand the citizens who break into the gardens and steal the food (this centre had all of its carrots stolen, for instance), but the destruction for destruction's sake simply baffles me.

On a happier note, I made friends with the gardener at the first site.  He was very proud of his gardens, and he should be.  They were amazing, and full of so much produce.  He gave Matt and I a few peanuts that he grew.  In a rather amusing event, he gave me two large carrots.  I know he was trying to tell me thank you as he realized that Matt and I are trying to help him and the center, as well as being very proud of his produce.  He was a very nice man, and it's great to know that the majority of the civilians in the townships are good people like him.  That alone makes this job worth it, despite the vandalism we'd seen throughout the day.  Matt got some pictures of the man giving me the carrots so I'll be sure to post those once he gives them to me.

The man had also made some small mounds in the shapes of hearts.  That is a terrible description of them, haha.  They function as a part of the landscape, and the curves of the hearts border the trees and flowers in the gardens of the center.  We got a few pictures of him showing us these hearts, and they will be posted as well.  

Lastly, it looks like we are officially on the ground running.  We sat down with Helen and set up a schedule for the remainder of our days here, and scheduled drivers and workers to go out and help us.  We will be in the field everyday from here on out, and we are ecstatic.  I'm too young and "angsty" for an office job, and sitting cooped up in here everyday has been rough.  Being out in the field really got my anthropological blood going, and I'm pumped to know that the rest of my time here will be spent out there working.  Woohooo!!

New pictures

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to let you know that I added two new photo albums to my blog.  I hope you all enjoy them!  :D

Like Giving Food to a Baby...

So, today was a really interesting day, the kind of day that you need when working for a NGO, the kind of day that really drives home that there is some purpose, some point to sitting in an office working on something that you really see no point in.  Today we went to a senior centre in the township of Philippi East.  The centre recently had all of its electricity wiring stolen, and there was evidence that some of the township’s citizens had tried breaking into the building to steal other things (security doors that were nearly destroyed, appearance of fencing being tampered with, etc.).  We went with Helen, as her guests (there is something flattering about being referred to as a “new boyfriend” by a 70 or so year old activist, as if activist truly captured everything that she has meant to this area and its people) to visit the senior centre because the city of Cape Town is trying to reclaim part of the land it rests on, and Ikamva is fighting them because we believe that we own the land.  It is this squabble, this unclearness on ownership, which brought Matt and myself from America to Cape Town.  We hope that we can provide them some sense of ownership before we leave.

On our way back from the site, we made a stop at the Philippi East Food Bank (not actually the name, but work with me here).  Helen wanted to speak with the manager of the food bank to introduce herself and make some connection between Ikamva Labantu and the Food Bank.  We ended up finding out that they have an excess amount of baby food/formula, which they (the Food Bank) agreed to give to Ikamva.  Helen proceeded to ask me if she could use my “boot”.  After a perplexed look from me, she thought about it and goes, “your, um, your, um, um, your trunk.”  After realizing what she meant, Matt and I quickly moved our car up to the building to be loaded with the formula.  We ended up taking with us, in two cars, 86 boxes (each having 6 canisters of formula for a total of 516 canisters) of formula that Ikamva will now take to the numerous orphanages and crèches in the townships of Cape Town.  There are many many more boxes of formulat at the food bank that they will deliver to us, as this was all that we could fit into our two cars.  I hope that there may be a chance for Matt and I to help deliver these boxes, as I would really like to see the crèches and orphanages from a different perspective than the one I have while actually working on my project.  Also, do not worry; we will put up plenty of pictures later this evening.

We also got to speak with a man named Johan and his associate David.  They are consultants to Ikamva (Johan for business/management and David for IT) and are now working with Matt and I to install a database for the properties.  They actually took down all the spreadsheets that we had created and are using them, so its really amazing to think that we will actually have some lasting footprint, even if we are given no credit for it.  It’s a great feeling to know that you are part of something special to so many people.  David told us that he believes that the database will be loaded up inside Microsoft Access by perhaps tomorrow afternoon.  If this is true, this will be amazing news, because we are going out to the townships tomorrow to actually start documenting everything we see, and it will be extremely helpful to be able to quickly enter the information into a secure location on a computer server.  Helen gave Matt and I full disclosure to discuss our projects and to share pictures with all of our family and friends, so expect future posts to detail more of what we’re doing, as well as more and more photos in the following weeks.  Everyone, please say a prayer for us as we prepare to embark on this incredible journey.  Over and out.

Last update before bed

Not gonna lie, I really like blogging.  I can tell everyone what I'm up to, and not feel creepy like all you Twitter-fiends.  Anyway, as you can see if you look to the right, I have made some Picasa albums with all of my photos of my trip thus far, so feel free to look.  I hope you all enjoy them.

On a side note, we played Scrabble tonight, and after round 5, I was down 50 points to the player in 2nd, and by round 8 I ended up tying for the win.  Woohoo!!!

On another side note, I haven't played Scrabble since sophomore year when I played Native American Scrabble.  I wish I'd brought my headdress that I made for that game here so I could wear it while I play.

I work at an NGO...

We have decided that, as a group, this is the phrase that best describes our adventures here.  Whenever a project you are working on gets dropped, changed, or forgotten about, only to be restarted, changed again, or remembered aft the most inopportune time, this phrase is what you say to calm your nerves.  I’ll use today as an example, haha:

8:45:00 am.  So, despite the past few days’ welcome of new found direction and hope, we got to work today to discover that now they wanted us to put our project on hold while we worked on a side project.  Without going into any details, it will take at least a week, perhaps two, to complete this project.  As we are already on a time crunch, with only six and a half weeks remaining, this is unwelcome news.  Oh well, we were told to be prepared to wear many “hats” when we took on this jobs, and if anyone knows me they know that I love hats.

10:00am.  We have been approached again and our project is back on!  Woohoo!  It even sounds like we can get started tomorrow or Friday on actually going out to the townships and documenting what we see.  Once again, excitement is in the air, and a sense of purpose has been attained.  Matt and I have begun the first wave of our project, which is to help Ikamva become more organized.  As we go through each township and site, we will document its location and then gather all the files regarding that site to keep them all in one safe, organized place.  I’m sure Brianna is rolling her eyes at the thought of me being organized, but I promise, it’s true!  We are on a mission to get them in gear, and get them able to expand their portfolio!  Do, or do not, there is no try!  And we will do this!  Thank you!

So, today’s example had a happy ending.  As Matt and I can attest, every other day thus far, has not.  But, what can you do?  Just gotta remind yourself that you are here to help them make themselves better, and roll with it.  As I said, Helen Lieberman advised Matt and I to be able to wear “many hats” and thus far we have the hat hair to prove we can.

On a less work related note, we bought rugby tickets today.  Rugby is, apparently, the sport of choice in South Africa (right ahead of cricket and soccer, er, futbol).  ESPN, oh how I miss you.  Can someone please tell me any, and I mean ANY, news about ND Football, Arkansas Football, or the Carolina Panthers?  Hell, I’ll even accept some Michigan State news at this point.  So long as it doesn’t mention a whicket, scrum, or red card.

That aside, we are ecstatic to go to the match.  It will pit the British-Irish Lions (their all-start squad, ie:  best players from the two countries) against the South Africa Springboks (the national team).  Dag and I will be wearing Springbok jerseys and waving a flag as we do not wish to die.  Their fans are like soccer hooligans, except without any of their charm. 

Tomorrow, Matt and I are scheduled to meet with Helen again to discuss actually going back out to the townships on Friday to start documenting our work.  The sooner we get out there, the better.  We’ve calculated it out and we only have 6 more weeks left of work (we’re missing next Tuesday because it’s a national holiday and two days later on in June for our Safari).  Don’t worry everyone, there will be more safari information coming soon, just as soon as we book it.

Last, but not least, I downloaded a program called Picasa.  It is a photo-share program made by Google, so it should allow me to share the pictures I’ve been taken straight through my site, for those of you who don’t have facebook (ie; parents, girlfriend’s parents, relatives, rando creepers who use StumbleUpon and find my blog and are now hooked, etc.).  As soon as I get this program sorted out, I’ll let you know and you can start viewing my pics to your heart’s delight.  Keep reading, everyone, things are about to get interesting.