Life is so good.
I am loving this festival. I kind of crack myself up because regardless of wheather the pieces are good or not I just love them. I love the atmosphere and the energy. So far the most amazing things have been a movie called "Triomf" (don't be misled by the title...it's rather Ironic) and the Modern dance version of Romeo and Juliet we saw today. It's difficult to go into too much detail here...Basically Triomf was traumatic and heartbreaking while enlightening (it was a metaphor for a incestual family and apartheid...). Exciting thing was we were the first real audience! and the director was there! I'm a sucker...
Anyway this was brief, but I'll post more later. Now we have to go watch the Euro Finals!!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
A South African Mash Up
Addendum: here in South Africa everything seems to be a mash up. There's so much diversity. Also just in stores you can buy a phone and socks and food...just mash ups...So in that spirit here is my post :-D
Well, we finished our house!!!!!! My team was wonderful and much of the credit goes to Bon-Bon our builder. He was amazing! The house is beautiful and worth every ounce of effort we poured into it.
I can't remember what I wrote in the last post, but our group couldn't stay for the last day which was the dedication. I was really sad about that because that's when we give our home owner the keys and everything. Williem (our homeowner) also wanted me to print out pictures for him, but there was no place to do that so I had to send him a message instead of seeing him face to face. I felt like I was definitely letting him down...It's ok though because I think that I'll be able to visit him again in the month after the study abroad trip. John, my team leader, will be returning with another group of Irish students and he said that he'd pick me up in Cape Town and take me to see our house again. Hopefully we'll make that happen :-D
Leaving Stellenbosch was very strange. I think I was ready, but it just felt sad to leave all of our friends that we had made and who had been such a big part of our life for a week. It was also sad since the rest of the group had another day and night together. Ah well, I guess everything must come to an end.
We did get a GREAT sending away party though...Kareoke?!?!?! how much more up my ally can it get?!?!?! My team sang "Because You Loved Me" by Celine Dion, which was HILLARIOUS. My favorite performance was definitely Grant and Mark (an Irish boy) singing Whitney Houston together "I Wanna Dance"...It was wonderful and I have videos. Then we all hit our fave hang out the "Brazen Head" and I finished my challenge so my name will be on the wall!!!!! (Also something I'm excited to go back and see when I visit Stellenbosch again) Then we all went out to Mystic Boer this really strange "scene" bar and danced until 3am. It was really special that everyone stayed out with us since they all had to go back to the houses and do more work the next day. It definitely expressed the connection that we had with one another. Luckily for us the next day we had a 6 hour bus ride, so we all got plenty of nap time to catch up a little from an exhausting week.
Now we're in Plattenberg Bay which is a beautiful beach town. It really reminds me of Carmel or Monteray so that's fun. We'll only be here until tomorrow and then we're off to Grahmstown!!!!!!! I'm mostly really excited about this! It'll be interesting to see what theater and dance are like on the other side of the world. I've heard only good things from local South Africans. It's funny because so far everything that I've expected the elements of this trip to be like have been completely wrong, so who really knows what this next phase will look like.
Today I watched 13-ish of my teammates jump from the tallest bungy place in the WORLD! That was pretty cool. I didn't do it myself...I figured I wouldn't be regretful and I'm not so that's good.
What else...The homework is ramping up again which I'm not excited for...Kind of in a procrastinating place right now. I just feel mentally drained...so I'm not sure of the quality I'm going to produce. I did get back the papers I wrote in Cape Town and those went really well, so that's nice to know, relieves a little pressure.
Every once in a while I just get this overwhelming sense of happiness about being here. It feels so great to be fulfilling this desire to go out into the world and meet people and serve people and learn about people. I was talking to one girl and she said she loves travelling and meeting people from other cultures because she remembers and learns about how much we all have in common. It's a pretty phenomenal thing that I can come half way around the world and have some of the conversations and interactions with people that I have had. It renews a great sense of love for humanity and hope for the world. At the same time I am a little confused when I have these experiences because I think of how much injustice is undergone by people just because they're presumed to be different. It seems to me if someone took one hour to ask that person about their hopes and dreams and values that they would learn that they too want similar things...how does anyone overlook that? At times when I am feeling so much love it's hard to understand how so much hate and pain can exist. It seems far easier to extend love than hatred...
Well, we finished our house!!!!!! My team was wonderful and much of the credit goes to Bon-Bon our builder. He was amazing! The house is beautiful and worth every ounce of effort we poured into it.
I can't remember what I wrote in the last post, but our group couldn't stay for the last day which was the dedication. I was really sad about that because that's when we give our home owner the keys and everything. Williem (our homeowner) also wanted me to print out pictures for him, but there was no place to do that so I had to send him a message instead of seeing him face to face. I felt like I was definitely letting him down...It's ok though because I think that I'll be able to visit him again in the month after the study abroad trip. John, my team leader, will be returning with another group of Irish students and he said that he'd pick me up in Cape Town and take me to see our house again. Hopefully we'll make that happen :-D
Leaving Stellenbosch was very strange. I think I was ready, but it just felt sad to leave all of our friends that we had made and who had been such a big part of our life for a week. It was also sad since the rest of the group had another day and night together. Ah well, I guess everything must come to an end.
We did get a GREAT sending away party though...Kareoke?!?!?! how much more up my ally can it get?!?!?! My team sang "Because You Loved Me" by Celine Dion, which was HILLARIOUS. My favorite performance was definitely Grant and Mark (an Irish boy) singing Whitney Houston together "I Wanna Dance"...It was wonderful and I have videos. Then we all hit our fave hang out the "Brazen Head" and I finished my challenge so my name will be on the wall!!!!! (Also something I'm excited to go back and see when I visit Stellenbosch again) Then we all went out to Mystic Boer this really strange "scene" bar and danced until 3am. It was really special that everyone stayed out with us since they all had to go back to the houses and do more work the next day. It definitely expressed the connection that we had with one another. Luckily for us the next day we had a 6 hour bus ride, so we all got plenty of nap time to catch up a little from an exhausting week.
Now we're in Plattenberg Bay which is a beautiful beach town. It really reminds me of Carmel or Monteray so that's fun. We'll only be here until tomorrow and then we're off to Grahmstown!!!!!!! I'm mostly really excited about this! It'll be interesting to see what theater and dance are like on the other side of the world. I've heard only good things from local South Africans. It's funny because so far everything that I've expected the elements of this trip to be like have been completely wrong, so who really knows what this next phase will look like.
Today I watched 13-ish of my teammates jump from the tallest bungy place in the WORLD! That was pretty cool. I didn't do it myself...I figured I wouldn't be regretful and I'm not so that's good.
What else...The homework is ramping up again which I'm not excited for...Kind of in a procrastinating place right now. I just feel mentally drained...so I'm not sure of the quality I'm going to produce. I did get back the papers I wrote in Cape Town and those went really well, so that's nice to know, relieves a little pressure.
Every once in a while I just get this overwhelming sense of happiness about being here. It feels so great to be fulfilling this desire to go out into the world and meet people and serve people and learn about people. I was talking to one girl and she said she loves travelling and meeting people from other cultures because she remembers and learns about how much we all have in common. It's a pretty phenomenal thing that I can come half way around the world and have some of the conversations and interactions with people that I have had. It renews a great sense of love for humanity and hope for the world. At the same time I am a little confused when I have these experiences because I think of how much injustice is undergone by people just because they're presumed to be different. It seems to me if someone took one hour to ask that person about their hopes and dreams and values that they would learn that they too want similar things...how does anyone overlook that? At times when I am feeling so much love it's hard to understand how so much hate and pain can exist. It seems far easier to extend love than hatred...
Friday, June 20, 2008
Buildin!
I'm here in Stellenbosch, South Africa right now on a miserably rainy afternoon. Seriously, the weather has been awful here.
Stellenbosch is kind of a strange place. The evidence of colonization is unbelievable. Everything is white washed and dutch looking. It's very eerie and I don't particularly like it. The university we're staying at actually still makes their students learn and speak Afrikaaners which as a white Afrikaaner put it last night is connontated with heavy oppression. I enjoyed Cape Town much more for its seeming diversity and integration, but that's just a first impression I guess. The students from here are really amazing and don't fit the stereotype at all, so maybe they just need to change up the colors of the buildings and I'd like it better. It IS known throughout the world for it's amazing wines...some of the oldest vineyards in the WORLD, so I'm hoping to go wine tasting on Sunday.
We started building our habitat houses yesterday!!!!! It's nothing like the houses I've built before...they're entirely cement and cinder blocks. That means most of the job is mixing "dagga" which is cement....a back breaking job and moving cinder blocks. There are community builders that actually do the work of laying down the bricks and everything so we pretty much do the things to assist them with their job. My whole body aches! It's REALLY fun though. Unfortunatley because of the bad weather the days have been cut in half...it's pretty annoying. Many of you know what it feels like to be discouraged about not doing as much as was expected and I'm worried that's where we'll end up.
My team is great. We've got a mix of South African University students, Irish and Americans and we all get along well which I just am thankful for. Our leader, John, is great...he is good about delegating and making sure everyone is working on something so that's nice. He's also just a lot of fun.
Our homeowner is Williem who is 22. I was SHOCKED to discover this. That is not that much older than me! He has at least 2 children and no wife and he works as a policeman in the township. We've talked to him about his job and he says he doesn't like the violence of it. He was talking about how pulling the trigger of a gun is the worst thing anyone can do because when you shoot you shoot to kill. I don't know if he's had any personal experience with this, but I'm sure he comes in close contact with a lot of violence. His ideal job would be a business man. Something that didn't have anything to do with violence he said. His best friend is his television...?! which is silly. He's really a great guy though and I'm so excited to be giving him a house that he can live in for the rest of his long life!
Mfeleni is the township we're in and habitat had done a LOT of work in it. THere are paved roads and a good amount of habitat houses. It's fun because they're really brightly colored and festive and seem to liven up the community. I feel safe there...whcich I don't know about. I don't know if that's false security or what. Anyway, I'm REALLY enjoying the time there!
This week has been particularly fun because habitat organizes groups of international students and a big group of them are Irish. They are a blast. It was funny because they were actually at the hostle we were in, but we were all so busy with homework that we were REALLY anti-social. Now we're shown them that we're fun loving Americans :-D I'm learning some Irish slang....which is fun. Also! a group of them have lived in Portland, OR before going on an exchange program! so they are really great to talk to and get to know. A lot of them have expressed wanting to live there again someday, so that'd be awesome. Grant and I actually may end up hanging out with a few of them in our extended stay, maybe road tripping up the coast. True to form their speech patterns and accent are rubbing off on me alittle bit. I'll be curious to see if it's noticable when I come home...
Anyway, I'm just having a blast here this week. Not really sleeping enough (at all), but really soaking up the experience.
I love you all!
Stellenbosch is kind of a strange place. The evidence of colonization is unbelievable. Everything is white washed and dutch looking. It's very eerie and I don't particularly like it. The university we're staying at actually still makes their students learn and speak Afrikaaners which as a white Afrikaaner put it last night is connontated with heavy oppression. I enjoyed Cape Town much more for its seeming diversity and integration, but that's just a first impression I guess. The students from here are really amazing and don't fit the stereotype at all, so maybe they just need to change up the colors of the buildings and I'd like it better. It IS known throughout the world for it's amazing wines...some of the oldest vineyards in the WORLD, so I'm hoping to go wine tasting on Sunday.
We started building our habitat houses yesterday!!!!! It's nothing like the houses I've built before...they're entirely cement and cinder blocks. That means most of the job is mixing "dagga" which is cement....a back breaking job and moving cinder blocks. There are community builders that actually do the work of laying down the bricks and everything so we pretty much do the things to assist them with their job. My whole body aches! It's REALLY fun though. Unfortunatley because of the bad weather the days have been cut in half...it's pretty annoying. Many of you know what it feels like to be discouraged about not doing as much as was expected and I'm worried that's where we'll end up.
My team is great. We've got a mix of South African University students, Irish and Americans and we all get along well which I just am thankful for. Our leader, John, is great...he is good about delegating and making sure everyone is working on something so that's nice. He's also just a lot of fun.
Our homeowner is Williem who is 22. I was SHOCKED to discover this. That is not that much older than me! He has at least 2 children and no wife and he works as a policeman in the township. We've talked to him about his job and he says he doesn't like the violence of it. He was talking about how pulling the trigger of a gun is the worst thing anyone can do because when you shoot you shoot to kill. I don't know if he's had any personal experience with this, but I'm sure he comes in close contact with a lot of violence. His ideal job would be a business man. Something that didn't have anything to do with violence he said. His best friend is his television...?! which is silly. He's really a great guy though and I'm so excited to be giving him a house that he can live in for the rest of his long life!
Mfeleni is the township we're in and habitat had done a LOT of work in it. THere are paved roads and a good amount of habitat houses. It's fun because they're really brightly colored and festive and seem to liven up the community. I feel safe there...whcich I don't know about. I don't know if that's false security or what. Anyway, I'm REALLY enjoying the time there!
This week has been particularly fun because habitat organizes groups of international students and a big group of them are Irish. They are a blast. It was funny because they were actually at the hostle we were in, but we were all so busy with homework that we were REALLY anti-social. Now we're shown them that we're fun loving Americans :-D I'm learning some Irish slang....which is fun. Also! a group of them have lived in Portland, OR before going on an exchange program! so they are really great to talk to and get to know. A lot of them have expressed wanting to live there again someday, so that'd be awesome. Grant and I actually may end up hanging out with a few of them in our extended stay, maybe road tripping up the coast. True to form their speech patterns and accent are rubbing off on me alittle bit. I'll be curious to see if it's noticable when I come home...
Anyway, I'm just having a blast here this week. Not really sleeping enough (at all), but really soaking up the experience.
I love you all!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Fly By Post
Hey,
Just a quick shout out! Still alive here in South Africa.
Right now I'm feeling pretty tired. Tomorrow is our last day in Cape Town and we've had a couple really big days of homework. One more paper due tomorrow and then we get a little break. Kind of. Then we're off to habitat, which will be exhausting on a whole other level. I really am looking forward to it though.
We visited our first township yesterday. We went into an orphanage and played with the kids for a few hours. It was really hard because I knew that it wasn't any sort of sustainable connection with these kids, and it seemed unfair. I guess it was a good first glimpse at what's in store though. Mostly I'm really excited for Habitat because we'll get to have a solid time intentionally connecting with one family in one township. It seems more fair to everyone that way.
I guess something I'm struggling with right now is how my mind interacts with home while I'm abroad. Honestly it's so strange to think of everyone going about their lives while I'm here. I love to hear from people and get a tangible connection because otherwise it just doesn't feel like it even exists. Also, one of our class mates joined us a little late and brought us some bad news about a student from home, and that just made it even more clear how disorienting it is being abroad. Big things are happening all the time everywhere. It's strange though, maybe it makes me realize how ego centric I am at home. I have my whole world so contained and neat at home and only have to think about things far away when I want to. Here I am living "things far away" and my world can't be neat and contained.
That said, I miss every one and hope that you're all well and good.
Just a quick shout out! Still alive here in South Africa.
Right now I'm feeling pretty tired. Tomorrow is our last day in Cape Town and we've had a couple really big days of homework. One more paper due tomorrow and then we get a little break. Kind of. Then we're off to habitat, which will be exhausting on a whole other level. I really am looking forward to it though.
We visited our first township yesterday. We went into an orphanage and played with the kids for a few hours. It was really hard because I knew that it wasn't any sort of sustainable connection with these kids, and it seemed unfair. I guess it was a good first glimpse at what's in store though. Mostly I'm really excited for Habitat because we'll get to have a solid time intentionally connecting with one family in one township. It seems more fair to everyone that way.
I guess something I'm struggling with right now is how my mind interacts with home while I'm abroad. Honestly it's so strange to think of everyone going about their lives while I'm here. I love to hear from people and get a tangible connection because otherwise it just doesn't feel like it even exists. Also, one of our class mates joined us a little late and brought us some bad news about a student from home, and that just made it even more clear how disorienting it is being abroad. Big things are happening all the time everywhere. It's strange though, maybe it makes me realize how ego centric I am at home. I have my whole world so contained and neat at home and only have to think about things far away when I want to. Here I am living "things far away" and my world can't be neat and contained.
That said, I miss every one and hope that you're all well and good.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
So, I guess I'm not that into blogging.
No, but really, we have had a jam packed schedule!
The plane ride went really well. On the second flight (19 hours) I completely lost track of time which I think worked out to be a good thing. I probably slept for around half that flight. Also, I as sitting next to this girl who had never been on an airplane before!!! Can you believe she chose a 20 hour flight for her first one? I would want a warm-up experience I think!
The first day we got here we didn't do much. Just got the the hostel and pretty much went to bed. It's an extremely nice place we're staying in, really close to the heart of Cape Town, so that's fun. I'm loving the hostel culture. People are so laid back and everyone seems so adventurous! A huge group of people left this morning for a 6 week safari through Africa! It seems so daring!
Our first real day here we went to a holocaust museum which was really interesting and as usual harrowing. It was a different experience seeing the museum through a South African lens that has such a similar history. While there was no extermination there was still radical racism here and the similarities are too close for comfort.
That same day we also went to the art museum (Yay!) which was really neat. There was a crazy architect on display and a really interesting photographer. Their permanent collection was my favorite though. A complete mash up of different artists from Dutch to British to South African...all in the same room. The juxtaposition was kind of incredible. We also had a class IN the museum!!!! that was pretty great.
Yesterday we went to the District 6 museum after our Robben Island tour was cancelled. District 6 was a neighborhood that was wiped out during Apartheid. Literally the whole neighborhood was demolished. This was in 1966 so there are still a lot of survivors and they have donated their experiences and stories to this museum. We had one tour guide who was actually from District 6 and he was such a sweet man. The way he talked about the place made it sound so beautiful and good. My favorite part was when he was talking about praying in the Synagogue with his Jewish friends even though he was Muslim. He said it didn't matter what religion they were, they were all people. During Apartheid every different race was sequestered to their own "homeland" (ring any bells?) and so this integration was ripped apart. It seems like this is the embodiment of how I imagine the world functioning in the most idealistic world and the fact that it was torn apart is really hard to understand.
Last night we went out on the town! We met Capetonians from pretty much every walk of life you can come from in Cape Town. Without having to ask any leading questions people were bringing up what it was like to live under Apartheid and how they think their country has progressed (or not), the challenges they face in the future and how they live their lives. I am excited to have more of these conversations. One group of people that we ended up hanging out with the whole night was quite the diverse crowd. 2 original Capetonians, one white, one colored. One white Botswanan, One French woman and one man from the Congo. They all work together in Cape Town and are a motley crew that we just fit right in with.
Today was a delight. We went to the southern most point (Cape of Good Hope) and that was beautiful. We pretty much climbed out butts off though! Probably one of my favorite parts here was sitting on this rock and I said hello to an Asian tourist. Next thing I know all of them are wanting to talk and they're ALL taking pictures of me on this rock. Then each had to get in the pic with me. It was pretty hilarious. It makes me laugh to think of where those pictures will end up. We picniked on a beach which was being racked by a wind storm, so that was fun. Then on our bus ride out a baboon literally CHARGED our bus. There had been all these signs all day to watch out for these CRAZY baboons, but we didn't see any, then on the way out Segall whips around and yells "BABOON" and everyone jumps up and yells. It was pretty awesome. Will wanted to throw a banana at it...?! Then we stopped to see some Penguins. In the parking lot there was this a cappella group singing and you will never believe what they were singing....Paul Simon's "Homeless". I was actually crying I was so excited. (Brady if you're reading this, I have a video of it...) Talk about amazing. Then we saw the penguins which were actually pretty cute and fun to narrate fun stories about. (There were a few forever friends Laur.)
Well...I need to go do some school work (Def my least fav part of the trip, regardless of how interesting and powerful the literature is). I miss you all and love you tons! Keep posted for another update!
No, but really, we have had a jam packed schedule!
The plane ride went really well. On the second flight (19 hours) I completely lost track of time which I think worked out to be a good thing. I probably slept for around half that flight. Also, I as sitting next to this girl who had never been on an airplane before!!! Can you believe she chose a 20 hour flight for her first one? I would want a warm-up experience I think!
The first day we got here we didn't do much. Just got the the hostel and pretty much went to bed. It's an extremely nice place we're staying in, really close to the heart of Cape Town, so that's fun. I'm loving the hostel culture. People are so laid back and everyone seems so adventurous! A huge group of people left this morning for a 6 week safari through Africa! It seems so daring!
Our first real day here we went to a holocaust museum which was really interesting and as usual harrowing. It was a different experience seeing the museum through a South African lens that has such a similar history. While there was no extermination there was still radical racism here and the similarities are too close for comfort.
That same day we also went to the art museum (Yay!) which was really neat. There was a crazy architect on display and a really interesting photographer. Their permanent collection was my favorite though. A complete mash up of different artists from Dutch to British to South African...all in the same room. The juxtaposition was kind of incredible. We also had a class IN the museum!!!! that was pretty great.
Yesterday we went to the District 6 museum after our Robben Island tour was cancelled. District 6 was a neighborhood that was wiped out during Apartheid. Literally the whole neighborhood was demolished. This was in 1966 so there are still a lot of survivors and they have donated their experiences and stories to this museum. We had one tour guide who was actually from District 6 and he was such a sweet man. The way he talked about the place made it sound so beautiful and good. My favorite part was when he was talking about praying in the Synagogue with his Jewish friends even though he was Muslim. He said it didn't matter what religion they were, they were all people. During Apartheid every different race was sequestered to their own "homeland" (ring any bells?) and so this integration was ripped apart. It seems like this is the embodiment of how I imagine the world functioning in the most idealistic world and the fact that it was torn apart is really hard to understand.
Last night we went out on the town! We met Capetonians from pretty much every walk of life you can come from in Cape Town. Without having to ask any leading questions people were bringing up what it was like to live under Apartheid and how they think their country has progressed (or not), the challenges they face in the future and how they live their lives. I am excited to have more of these conversations. One group of people that we ended up hanging out with the whole night was quite the diverse crowd. 2 original Capetonians, one white, one colored. One white Botswanan, One French woman and one man from the Congo. They all work together in Cape Town and are a motley crew that we just fit right in with.
Today was a delight. We went to the southern most point (Cape of Good Hope) and that was beautiful. We pretty much climbed out butts off though! Probably one of my favorite parts here was sitting on this rock and I said hello to an Asian tourist. Next thing I know all of them are wanting to talk and they're ALL taking pictures of me on this rock. Then each had to get in the pic with me. It was pretty hilarious. It makes me laugh to think of where those pictures will end up. We picniked on a beach which was being racked by a wind storm, so that was fun. Then on our bus ride out a baboon literally CHARGED our bus. There had been all these signs all day to watch out for these CRAZY baboons, but we didn't see any, then on the way out Segall whips around and yells "BABOON" and everyone jumps up and yells. It was pretty awesome. Will wanted to throw a banana at it...?! Then we stopped to see some Penguins. In the parking lot there was this a cappella group singing and you will never believe what they were singing....Paul Simon's "Homeless". I was actually crying I was so excited. (Brady if you're reading this, I have a video of it...) Talk about amazing. Then we saw the penguins which were actually pretty cute and fun to narrate fun stories about. (There were a few forever friends Laur.)
Well...I need to go do some school work (Def my least fav part of the trip, regardless of how interesting and powerful the literature is). I miss you all and love you tons! Keep posted for another update!
Monday, June 9, 2008
On the Eve
It is the eve of departure.
This week has been legitimately out of control. Until last night I had a feeling of running around like a beheaded chicken.
In the last week I've been to Portland and back, finished finals, started summer quarter, hung out with Grant's high school friends, hung out with Mark (my dad), Scrambled to get everything I needed for the trip, packed and repacked and Finally got to Seattle yesterday. The first hour in Seattle was out of control. We got to a place to stash our stuff and no one was home, so we hid it in the space between the basement and the lawn and then went to the library. Which was closed on a Sunday (duh). So we needed a place to write our papers. Called everyone alive in Seattle and finally found a place (thanks Evan). Picked up Kendall on the way and miraculously made it to Dr. Segall's house on time.
Walking into that house was overwhelming at first. There was a lot of energy and anticipation and it really overwhelmed me. Eventually we got into a group and started talking about our first novel (Age of Iron) and really got settled. Finally this sudden calm came over me and I was able to just take a breath. All of a sudden I relaxed and realized that this is happening! I never thought I would get to this place. I never thought I would get to this place before I got there. I'm so thankful for the whirlwind to slow down. A more adequate description would probably be that it's the eye of the storm.
I'm not trying to anticipate what's to come. I'm living in this moment of peace.
5 hours until we leave for the airport! 25 hours on the plane! So basically in a little over 30 hours I will be stepping foot in South Africa!
Wish us luck :-D
Monday, June 2, 2008
One Week
So, there's one week to go before we take off for South Africa!!!
As I prepare for finals I find myself distracted by all of the preparation and excitement leading up to this trip. It's surely going to be a whirlwind of a week.
Just incase I haven't told you personally here's the plan for the summer:
June 11-ish: leave for South Africa
Month 1: Study Abroad. This is a program through SPU. There will be 14-ish students on the trip and we'll be spending time in Cape Town studying, building houses and learning about the history of the country. Then we go off to an African theater festival for a week and then a week of sightseeing and fun!
Month 2.5: After the group leaves I will be staying in South Africa for another month and a half. A friend (Grant) and I will be meeting up with people we've contacted over the year in Cape Town and Pretoria. We're looking forward to meeting some great people and getting connected with the work they're doing in South Africa. Some of that might be working with the homeless in Cape Town, hanging out in an orphanage, meeting university students, learning about the townships and just really immersing ourselves in the South African culture and experience.
So there's the rough itinerary...I'll be back to Seattle on August 22nd and back in the Bay shortly there after.
Like I said in my opener thing, I'll be close to the internet at most times, so please feel free to email me updates and keep in touch. I'd love to hear how your summers are going :-D
Much Love.
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