Week
one in South Africa went by in a flash, and I completely understand why
previous volunteers have extended their stay. Although the kids at the
orphanage were very welcoming when I arrived last Monday, by the end of the
week they were much more lively – just small things like wanting to hold your
hand as they walk to class, leaning in for a hug during story time, or telling
you random pieces of information (that usually make no sense because they speak
half English/half Xhosa when they’re really excited or frustrated). My work
with the special needs children last week was pretty simple because I was
trying to gauge their abilities so I spent time coloring with Gertrude (a young
girl who doesn’t speak but smiles when you make eye contact and nods when you
talk), reading to Ruben (the boy with cystic fibrosis), and helping Alutha walk
around the room (he has poor eye sight and hearing, and his legs are very weak,
so he needs to hold onto something at all times). This week I’m hoping to get a
few projects going with Gertrude to stimulate her mind and the weather is
supposed to finally be nice so I’ll get them outside for some exercises. On
Friday’s we only volunteer until 1pm, but its “Fun Friday” so after song/story
time we have 2 hours to either play games or do crafts. This past week we
decided to bring cupcakes and let them decorate with icing and sprinkles, which
they loved! Before we even got the completed cupcakes on plates they were
climbing over each other in excitement. However, when the time came they licked
the icing off and proceeded to take one bite of cake, say “ew teacher” and
crush them…ultimately starting a food fight. There were crumbs in every corner
of the room. Let’s just say this Friday no food will be involved!
I
spent the weekend in Cape Town with 4 of my friends and had a blast! It was a
side trip offered by GVI so the package included transportation to/from the
city as well as 2 nights at a nice hostel near downtown and a tour on Sunday.
We arrived around 5pm on Friday so we just walked around a bit then went out to
dinner at a restaurant named Arnolds which is known for its authentic cuisine. I
got adventurous and ordered the game platter – crocodile ribs, warthog ribs,
ostrich fillet, and gemsbok fillet. When in South Africa, right? I surprisingly
really enjoyed the ostrich, and the warthog wasn’t too shabby either. The
gemsbok tasted like a cheap steak from home, and crocodile (in my opinion) is
repulsive. On Saturday the plan was to take a tour of Robben Island, but we
arrived at the harbor at 8:30am to find it was cancelled due to weather.
Although I was really looking forward to it, the day was salvaged. We bought
tickets for the double decker bus which ended up having a wine tour included so
we took a little ride around the city (in the pouring rain) then went on the
wine tour/tasting followed by an afternoon of shopping at the waterfront. There
are multiple worthwhile markets in Cape Town, but at the waterfront there are 2
huge “sheds” – the blue and the red craft market. The red was mainly food, none
of which looked appetizing, but the blue one…oh my gosh. The vendors had
everything from cultural music and jewelry to unique art or random odds and
ends. I woke up to sunny blue skies on Sunday for the first time since last
Sunday, hooray! The bus tour began with a drive by the soccer stadium where the
2010 World Cup took place (of course, I’m already looking into the possibility
of going to a game there before I leave!). From there we took a scenic cruise
along the coast to the Boulders National Park, home of the African Penguins!
They were rather adorable little creatures, and quite lazy haha Next we arrived
at the Cape of Good Hope National Park where the bus dropped us off at the
entrance and gave us bikes to take a 6k ride to the visitor center! It was a
great way to see the sites, including a wild ostrich in the distance – yes, I
rode a little quicker when I saw it. After a lunch break we journeyed on to
Cape Point, which had the most picturesque views of the Atlantic Ocean on one
side and the Indian Ocean on the other. On our way to the Cape of Good Hope,
our last stop of the day and the most Southwestern point of Africa, we stumbled
across a unique roadblock – baboons! All weekend I had seen signs stating,
“don’t feed the baboons” but I somewhat assumed they were joking. It was very
surreal; all traffic came to a complete stop as a pack of about 8 baboons
walked down the road looking for open windows to jump in and the scent of food.
Ultimately
I’d say it was a perfect first weekend in South Africa! Minus the rain on
Saturday, but I’m going to try and reschedule the Robben Island tour for the
morning I leave. Next weekend should be just as thrilling (weather permitting)
and I’m excited for another great week of volunteering with the children so
stay tuned! Here’s a few pictures of what I just rambled about (the internet is awful so hopefully at least 1 comes through) – if you’re
friends with me on facebook there’s many more!
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