I Ordered “Adventure” for Christmas

This Christmas was unlike any other for many reasons: (1) its hot; (2) I have seen 0 real Christmas trees, 1 fake Chrismon tree, and 3 fake Christmas trees; (3) I’m not with my family for the holidays; and (4) there’s no such thing as eggnog in South Africa. So instead of rushing around trying to buy presents and sitting in traffic on I-26 heading West this holiday season, I decided to have an adventurous Christmas—one that I would never forget.

Determined not to return to the States until my year in Cape Town was over (June 2011), I asked one of my friends who currently lives in South Korea to come over for the holidays. Reid had a few days of vacation to take, a pocket full of money, and a desire to be adventurous with me, so he flew over on Christmas Eve. I had decided not to tell him exactly what our adventures were until he was safely in South Africa because I think he would’ve “missed” his flight had he known. Jetlagged and semi-conscious, Reid arrived and we decided the best thing to do was recover with a drink at the beach (pictured). We spent several hours lying on the gorgeous beaches of Cape Town where I first spotted Santa (pictured). The waters of Cape Town are a frigid 14 degrees Celsius (about 58 Fahrenheit), so there was no swimming, but there was plenty of resting.

After Reid was rested, I took him to Lion’s Head (pictured) where we hiked to the top (in 90 degree weather) and looked out on the city and beaches of Cape Town. Drenched with sweat, I explained to him that we were going to cool down by running off a cliff while trusting in complete strangers, the paragliding instructors, to land us safely on the ground. Like a deer caught in headlights, Reid just looked at me and nodded. The instructors’ specific directions were, “Whatever you do, just run. Don’t jump. Don’t sit. Don’t decide at the last second you don’t want to run because if that happens, we both will plummet to our death. And that just doesn’t look good for the company.” Wanting to please my instructor, I did as he said—I ran off the cliff into the sky and trusted in the glider and wind. It was an amazing experience to see Cape Town from so high up. We flew in the air for approximately 25 minutes while my instructor took pictures of us flying (pictured). While he was filming and taking shots he made comments such as, “This is my first time doing this” (not true of course), “Do you know how to fly this thing?”, and my favorite “I hope the wind doesn’t just all of a sudden stop”. As we landed, he decided to swing us back and forth a few times just to make sure that I got my money’s worth. Once safely on the ground, we watched Reid’s rough landing which resulted in a cloud of dust and dirt. Note to self—don’t stick your feet straight out when landing.

After paragliding, we went to view penguins at Boulders Beach (30 minutes outside of Cape Town). The “Jackass” penguins (named for the sound they make) are located in a protected area. No one is allowed to touch or be near them (pictured). So viewing from a boardwalk, we took some pictures and then headed onto our next activity—harbor cruise at sunset. The harbor cruise aboard Sea Princess was absolutely stunning. We boarded the boat from the Waterfront area at 7pm. The cruise served us free champagne and gave us plenty of opportunities to take pictures of the harbor, mountains, and scenery of Cape Town. The sun set at 8pm (pictured) and then we headed back to the dock. What a day!

At exactly 3:30am the following morning we woke up to start our next adventure—shark diving! I had wanted to go great white shark diving for a long time and now the time had come. Droopy-eyed and tired, we got into the rental car and drove to Kleinbaai (just over 2 hours outside of Cape Town). We arrived at 6:30am and received our instructions for the dive with a group of 40 other people. The boat that we took into the bay (pictured) had a cage attached to the side—perfect for checking out the sharks—and trailed fish oils to attract the animals. On board everyone put on their wetsuits, booties, masks, and weight belts. Then seven people at a time got their chance to view the sharks up close. To do this, one entered the cage, scooted down to the end of the cage and waited until the “shark spotters” (pictured) yelled to get down, “shark in front” or “shark on the right/left”. Between shark sightings, you could bob your head at the surface and breathe. Then during the sighting, you would hold your breath, and lower yourself in the cage to get a good view. Several times, the sharks came right up to the cage and bit it. There were at least 4 different sharks and the viewing was spectacular (pictured). The sharks were big, but not scary. I felt completely safe and protected the entire time. I highly recommend this experience to everyone!

After enjoying such a thrilling experience, we drove to Cape Agulhas which is the southernmost tip of Africa. On our way to the Cape, we passed Mount Pleasant (which of course reminded us both of Mt. Pleasant, SC) and many other cute towns. Cape Agulhas is a rocky point where the Indian and the Atlantic Oceans meet (pictured). We stayed there for about ½ an hour, contemplated the meaning of life, and then made the 3 hour journey back to Cape Town.

My adventurous Christmas ends there, but hopefully there will be another in the future waiting!

To view more pictures, please facebook me at: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=720378814

Church in Cape Town

Churches in Cape Town are unlike any I’ve ever attended in the US. While I’ve been here in Cape Town I have visited two Anglican churches, one downtown and one in Sea Point. This morning I went to St. James Anglican Church in Sea Point. The service this morning went a little something like this:

10:45- I arrived at the church for the 11am service
10:46- I noticed I was the only one there
10:48- Some other visitors from the UK came into church
10:50- All of us wondered where the bulletins were… we were told that they don’t print any. The church uses a big screen that pops down during the service.
10:55- I was welcomed by a man in the church who asked me to write down my name because he wanted to properly introduce me during the service.
11:03- Other people arrived for church (African Time is a reality... nothing starts "on time")
11:05- That same man who wanted my name walked up to the front, fiddled with a microphone, and asked who was leading church today. The preacher, who was sitting with the congregation in the pews, told him that he thought he (meaning the man with the microphone) was going to lead. 11:10- The man with the mic said, “Sure, I’d be happy to do it. Who’s going to read today?” A woman in the first pew said she would.
11:12- That man with the mic introduced me and told everyone I was from the States... they all clapped.
11:15- The man with the mic asked for testimonies… Several people stood up, took the mic and spoke about a recent event in their lives that made them grateful, happy, etc. Some spoke in English, some in Afrikaans.
11:30- Testimonies ceased and the piano player began playing church music. Someone controlled the screen so we could all see the words.
11:40- A woman felt moved and wanted to tell us all about her recent encounter with a rude waiter at a restaurant in Cape Town. During her meal there with her bible study group, this waiter was apparently rude and obnoxious. The woman felt as though she needed to talk with him and tell him that the Lord loved him… end of story was the man became incredibly nice.
11:45- The preacher got up from the 3rd pew in the congregation and preached.
11:53- People that needed to be prayed for went up front while the preacher prayed for them.
11:55- Peace time. Everyone got out of their pew, walked in the aisle of the church and held hands. Then people proceeded to hug and kiss everyone saying “Peace Be with You”. I met everyone.
12:05- Communion (pretty standard)
12:13- Prayers were said—The Lord’s Prayer and some other general prayers
12:15- We sang the last hymn Joy to the World (because someone requested it right then)

As you can probably tell, this service was unstructured and probably violated a few codes of the Anglican Church; however, I have to say that I never felt more welcomed by a group of people whom I had never met. I find it fascinating and refreshing that the churches here are mixed race… black, white, colored… everyone. No one worries about the color skin when you’re under God’s roof… just like it should be. Church here is an experience that you must have here in Cape Town!

Spoiled on the Garden Route

This past week has been absolutely amazing. Thanks to my Host counselor Henry at Claremont Rotary Club and Howard, member of the Mossel Bay Rotary Club, I was able to travel along the southern coast (heading east) to visit various Rotary clubs along the “Garden Route” in South Africa (pictured-- also, notice the name of the town in the upper righthand corner of "Sutherland" :)). After taking such an incredible journey, I can now assuredly say that I have fallen in love with South Africa. If it weren’t for family and obligations back home, I would seriously consider moving to South Africa. The people I met were the most hospitable people I’ve ever encountered-- which is hard to beat coming from Charleston, SC (aka #1 friendliest city in America).

When I was presented with this opportunity to travel along the Garden Route I immediately thought, “Oh no… I can’t drive on the left hand side of the road.” But I was determined to not let that stop me. After all, I’ve made it this far, so why not? So I rented a car for the week and set out on my journey. Surprisingly enough, driving on the left side of the road wasn’t that difficult. What was difficult for me was remembering which side of the steering wheel holds the mechanism to signal a change of lane and which side contains the knob for wiping my windshield clean. Needless to say, I think I drove with my windshield wipers on quite a lot and signaled very little.

Monday
After renting the car, I set out to visit the Rotary Club of Mossel Bay. The drive to Mossel Bay took me about 4 ½ hours, but the time passed quickly as I spent most of it staring at the beautiful scenery around me. On the way, I saw many cow, sheep, horse, goat, and ostrich (pictured).

I arrived in Mossel bay at 4:30pm and met Howard, a “swallow” from the UK (swallow is the term given to a person who spends half of their time elsewhere and then the other half in SA). Howard is a member of the Mossel Bay Rotary Club and was the organizer of my trip. He took me to meet my first hosts, the Marais family. The Marais family consists of Dr. Eugene Marais (Rotarian) and his wife Oma B, their daughter Genee (also a Rotarian), and her son Indy. Dr. and Mrs. Marais live next door to Genee and her son on the golf estate in Mossel Bay. They take turns cooking supper every night and have a wonderful relationship with one another. Upon arrival at the Marais home, I was greeted with such warmth from their family. I had my first home cooked meal and was given my own room and bathroom, complete with a view of the ocean (pictured).

After dinner, I went and spoke to the Rotary Club of Mossel Bay. I gave my presentation which lasted about 30 minutes and then listened to a second speaker. The second speaker was interesting in the fact that he wants Rotary to get involved in his project idea- Preserve Planet Earth. In short, he proposed that Rotary needs to control population growth in the same manner that they have almost completely eradicated Polio—i.e. sterilizing women (especially in impoverished areas). I won’t exactly comment and give my personal views on this subject, but I will say that I have never been so shocked at a Rotary meeting before. Needless to say, I don’t think his idea will come to fruition any time soon. In any case, the meeting was entertaining to say the least.

Tuesday
I traveled to Knysna in the morning to meet with the Rotary Club of Knysna for their lunchtime meeting. Arriving in Knysna is quite interesting because there is a long bridge you cross over a lagoon in order to reach the town. The drive was again spectacular because the scenery was unlike anywhere else I’ve ever been. I met with a real estate agent and Rotarian, Peter, who took me to the meeting at the Sailing Club. The venue was situated right on the water, in fact I felt the wind against the building as I gave my talk. I gave my presentation to a room full of Rotarians and then toured the city with the President, Franc. He took me around the city and up the mountain to the “Heads of Knysna”. I had a wonderful view (as you can see from the pictures). I really do believe that I could live in Knysna—everyone was so friendly, the city was charming, and the nature was incredible (pictured).

After the tour, I said goodbye to Franc and headed out to George. That night I arrived and spoke to the Rotary Club of George and toured one of their projects—an assisted living facility. I usually get questions at the end of my presentations, but I have to say that the members from George really were very curious about a number of issues such as: the death penalty in America, successful fundraising strategies, and politics. The “questions” part of my presentation is always my favorite part because it forces me to think on my feet—gives me good practice for being a politician;).

That night and the following two nights I was hosted by Ian (Rotarian) and his lovely wife Ferdi. Again, they were incredibly welcoming and made me feel right at home.

Wednesday
I went to Oudtshoorn, just north of George. The drive was incredible and also adventurous. I actually had to stop in the middle of the road for baboons crossing (pictured). Baboons have a mind of their own and are quite vicious at times. They’ve been known to scratch and bite people, so needless to say, I stayed in my car.

I eventually made my way up to Cango Wildlife Park. There I was able to see flamingos, crocodiles, lemurs, lions, tigers, white tigers, bats, fish, and cheetahs. The park was amazing and I actually got to go in the large cage with the cheetah cubs (about 9 weeks old) and play with them (pictured). I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to top that experience!

From the Wildlife Park, I went to Cango Caves (pictured). The Caves were astonishing—millions of years old. I took a tour that lasted about an hour and we traveled about 2km throughout the caves. I did the standard tour because I was running short on time, but apparently there is an adventure tour where you have to crawl and slide through rocks—not for the Closter phobic. Our guide told us that recently a rather large woman went on that tour and got stuck. The group then had to wait 10 hours to be rescued!

That night I went back to my hosts in George and ate another wonderful meal with the wives of the George Rotarians. Ferdi was an amazing cook and I felt so spoiled by her.

Thursday
Ian and I left in the mid morning and drove to the Knysna Elephant Park. We’re both big fans of animals and so we decided this would be fun to do together. We arrived at the Park and took a tour through the Elephant Reserve. All of the elephants here are “orphans”. Some had their parents killed by hunters and others had been rejected by their mother. The Elephant Park was opened in 1994 and has been very successful ever since. Ian and I were able to feed and play with the elephants (pictured). Again, this experience was incredible!

From the Knysna Elephant Park Ian took me to Plettenberg Bay for lunch. The hotel we went to was situated on an absolutely perfect spot, right on the bay (pictured). If and when I go back to Plettenberg Bay, I will most definitely stay at the Beacon Hotel. They have everything from scuba diving to volleyball to good food and relaxation there.

Friday
I was absolutely spoiled by an invitation to go for a private plane trip on Friday (pictured). Phillip, president of the George Rotary Club, owns three planes (and many other big kid toys). He took me around the area where I got the best view of George, Knysna, Mossel Bay, and everything in between. Flying in a small plane was actually a lot of fun—it was like being in a porche in the sky. Someday I think it would be really nice to learn to fly… completely relaxing.

After my flight, I drove back to Mossel Bay. My hosts took me around the town and to a cave where I saw dassies (pictured). I never knew that this animal existed! It looks like a big, smelly hamster. Apparently the smell comes from the fact that they pee on themselves so their feet are sticky which in turn helps them to climb rocks. Yeah… not all animals are cute and cuddly.

Saturday
I drove with Howard and Genee to a Rotary Conference in Swellendam (two hours back in the direction of Cape Town). There I was able to meet many Rotarians and exchange contact information. I now have many more presentations lined up for the coming months. The conference focused on building a better and boulder community and touched on areas like membership and branding. After the conference I said goodbye to Genee and Howard (who felt like family to me at this point) and headed back to Cape Town.

I arrived in Cape Town at 5pm, but my mind stayed in the Garden Route. I honestly can say that was one of the best trips I’ve ever taken. I was so spoiled by everyone… no wonder I would like to move there!

School is Hard

University life in Cape Town is very different from College of Charleston or Clemson. I am constantly in the library, studying, reading, and writing. The work load is seemingly endless. And the worst part… the grading system here is impossible. For instance, a 60 or 70 is considered good which equates to a “B” or “C”. And I know a “C” is average, but sometimes it feels like a failure. Professors see things differently than American professors.

Today I gave a presentation on the African Union and whether or not I feel it has been effective. I read numerous articles, wrote an 11 page paper, and stated my opinion which was that conflict eliminates resources and divides citizens. In order for the AU to succeed in its mission, I believe that the peacekeeping efforts have to take precedence. I’m not sure what grade I will receive, but I can tell you that I worked harder on this essay and presentation than on anything I ever wrote in the US.

Growing up with two highly educated parents, the importance of receiving good grades was always stressed. Whenever I was preparing to take a test, my parents would tell me to get “rooftops” which translates into: get an “A”. My brother and I were cash rewarded for good grades—so the pressure was always on.

I’m studying International Relations (Political Science), which is a far cry from my natural field of Education, at the Masters level. I am learning quite a lot of Africa: the history, theories of development, conflicts, and the impact of colonialism. It’s just mentally exhausting to put in so many hours to get an average or slightly above average grade in return!

Mozambique

I was walking through my political science building on the University of Cape Town campus one day and picked up a flyer about a trip to Mozambique. Its funny how one piece of paper can completely change you and your experiences. I decided to give it a go with my roommate Gabi and venture out to Mozambique with a diving group from Cape Town for our Spring break. The trip took place September 3rd- 12th and promised to be fun, relaxing, and memorable. I can definitely say that it was all of that and much more!

After arriving at the Johannesburg airport on Friday, September 3rd Gabi and I met with the 15 other group members and piled into a very nice, but small van. We were headed for Kruger National Park, world renowned for its wildlife, but the only catch was that we had to travel throughout the night. Needless to say when we finally arrived at Kruger the next morning, “tired” wouldn’t even begin to describe how we all felt. Our driver and group leader Vanessa was amazing—6 Red Bulls throughout the night kept her going strong.

Our group arrived at Kruger in the wee hours of the morning—perfect viewing time for the wildlife. While in Kruger we saw many elephants, rhino, zebras, bison, giraffes, and birds. I was a little disappointed not to see any lions or leopards, but I plan to go back with my mom in January and spend more time there. After spending a few hours at Kruger, we drove through to the border of Mozambique from the park on the bumpiest roads I’ve ever seen and felt. Our group spent approximately 2 and a half hours getting through the border patrol. We passed the time by staring at one another, counting the number of mosquitoes, and calculating how much we would sleep that night. But finally our passports were all stamped and we were ready to go onto our next destination—a grass hut in the middle of nowhere. Our group drove for another few hours and we found ourselves at a camp site literally in the Middle of Nowhere, Mozambique. The camp site was bare bones, but very welcoming. I was able to see the Southern hemisphere stars so clearly—absolutely stunning. We all grilled out for supper, took our anti-Malaria medications, and went to bed early.

Sunrise in Mozambique happens quite early because the country doesn’t operate in its assigned time zone. I asked some locals why not and they replied, “We just don’t feel like it”. Now that is real “Island Time” :). So the sun woke us all up early the next morning and we were back on the road again for 9 hours to Tofo, Mozambique. On the road we passed through many villages—complete with grass huts, people gathering water in large buckets at watering holes, random farm animals (even a camel or two), and Coca-Cola signs everywhere. America has indeed touched absolutely everything. Also on the journey to Tofo I noticed many Chinese construction crews building roads (proper roads with asphalt). If you haven’t read the latest about the Chinese deals in Africa, check out this site http://www.heritage.org/Research/Lecture/Into-Africa-Chinas-Grab-for-Influence-and-Oil . It’s a little daunting for Africa.

Finally after a long and bumpy journey, we arrived at our vacation site, Bamboozi, in Tofo just in time for sunset (5:45- 6pm). The site of the beach and the Indian Ocean was absolutely gorgeous! I knew this would be a great vacation. Upon arrival, we settled in our hut which was no more than an open air cabin made of bamboo and dried palm leaves. The cabin had a few lights above in the ceiling, mosquito nets for each one of the 13 beds, and a pillow for each bed. Bamboozi shut off the lights every night around 10:30pm to save electricity (we found this out the hard way on the first night). The darkness was a little scary at times because you literally could not see your hand in front of your face until the sun rose the next morning. There were communal bathrooms and showers located a feet from our hut, but the best part of all was that the beach was literally steps away.

The next few days were filled with swimming, diving in the Indian Ocean, touring the Tofo area, horseback riding on the beach, venturing out in the ocean to a remote island to hang with the locals, shopping at the local market, and reading. For me the highlight of the trip was completing my diving certification. Diving is a sport which requires a lot of gear and a lot of patience. For example, to get ready for a dive I had to meet my group at the dive center and get briefed on the day’s dive: where we were going, how deep it was, what to look out for in terms of aquatic life, and how long we would be diving. Next, I had to get all of my gear together: wet suit, bcd (vest), regulator and other gauges, cylinder, flippers, mask and snorkel, and weight belt. Once everything was assembled, then it was time to go through all of the equipment checks (basically to make sure your stuff works before it’s too late and you’re underwater). Then, the boat is loaded and the drivers haul it down to the beach on a trailer. The boat was then pushed out the edge of the ocean and the divers have to work together to flip it around and ready to launch. Pushing the boat into the ocean can sometimes be very tricky. We had several huge waves crash into us that would literally knock you off your feet. Once the boat started in the water, everyone would jump on board and hang on for the bumpy ride (i.e. put your feet in the feet straps and hold on to ropes on the boat so you don’t fall off).

I was able to experience some really cool dives complete with sea turtles, manta rays, coral archways, tropical fish, lion fish, whale sharks, and jellyfish. The only part I didn’t like was completing my skills test for my certification; particularly taking off my mask under 60 feet of water, putting it back on, and clearing it. Before this task, I meditated underwater and prayed that everything would go okay. Thankfully it did and then I was able to enjoy the dives. Now I just have the problem of planning more vacations around places that I can go dive!

Saturday morning, September 11th, our group left Tofo and headed for Maputo, the capitol of Mozambique. It took us another 9 hours in the van to get there, but the scenery was so beautiful and unique around us that it didn’t matter. Arriving in Maputo was an experience—I think it was obvious to see the long lasting devastation from colonialism from the rundown buildings that the Portuguese left behind. The city people are now rioting due to the rising costs of fuel, food, and water. The unemployment rate is 21% and rising. The government is literally on the edge of collapse. We only stayed there for one night, but it was an experience I’ll never forget.

The next morning we woke up at 5:30am and headed to Johannesburg. The journey took us about 6 and half hours—much time to reflect on the whole Mozambique experience. On the way back we crossed the border control and noticed a sign that said “Arrive Alive” as we were headed back into South Africa. I guess that’s good advice to follow! We made it back to the Joburg airport and headed home to Cape Town. I found it strange to suddenly be back in a civilized, Western atmosphere with computers, cell phones, and cars. All of a sudden I could communicate again; which also meant that all of a sudden I would be back at school, studying politics.

This trip was absolutely amazing and I have Rotary to thank for giving me the opportunity study abroad here in South Africa!

Lessons in the Water

Growing up in Charleston, SC I would safely argue that I spent at least 50% of my childhood in the water. We were fortunate enough to live relatively close to the beach and to have a swimming pool in our backyard. I remember my summer schedule as such:

7am- Morning swim
9am- Read
10am- Run errands with dad
11am- lunch
12:30pm- afternoon swim
3pm- Clean up room
5pm- Dinner
6:30pm- Evening swim

Those of you who know my dad will understand that even during the summer vacation time, my brother and I had daily schedules that we were expected to follow. But my point in this is to show how much time we spent in the water. My brother and I took swim lessons, went through several certifications, and learned to be very good swimmers. Later on in life I learned to water ski and subsequently spent even more time in the water.

I think I subconsciously chose Cape Town because it is located on the water. Contrary to what some of my friends think, Cape Town is only located on the Atlantic Ocean, but the water here is much clearer than back home. The two things that are unfortunate about the Cape Town waters are that the water is VERY cold, but more importantly highly inhabited by great white sharks. At first I was just comforted by the notion of being near water, but then my curiosity took hold. I first experienced the cold, shark infested waters when I went surfing (or attempted to surf) with one of my roommates Frederik. We took the train to Muizenberg which is about a 25 minute ride and rented equipment at the beach. The wet suit and surf board rental equaled out to be $8, so it was a good price to try to learn. The minute I entered the water my body went into shock from the temperature. I was actually so focused on trying to control my shivering that I didn’t even think about sharks. Surfing was incredibly hard and I definitely need lessons and a lot of practice. So after experiencing how cold the waters here are I didn’t think I would enter them again for quite some time. But not true…

I was going to class a few weeks ago and passed a flyer on a bulletin board advertising diving. I picked it up and held onto it for a few days. The flyer listed the contact details of a local organization that taught people how to dive and showed multiple pictures of people having fun while diving. So after talking to another roommate of mine, Gabi, we decided to give it a go. The course that they teach at the organization is a PADI certification course. Basically PADI will certify you in diving for life, but a few refresher courses might need to be taken from time to time. Gabi and I went to an info session and watched a video that depicted the fun and enjoyment of diving. We were both psyched and couldn’t wait to try it, but first came the studying. The manual and diving tables were given to us and so we began our studying. Everything seemed incredibly clear in theory, but then it came time for the reality of diving.

The first session of diving was done in a swimming pool. I was incredibly excited about getting in the pool since I considered myself to be an excellent swimmer (plus I’m a Pisces, so even my astrological sign tells me that I should be in water). Upon entering the frigid water of the pool, my body completely froze. Then I was told to go for it—breathe underwater. It was the strangest feeling, not as comfortable as I had imagined. The day progressed slowly because some students (like me) were a little panicked about the fact that you’re under alot water and are totally reliant upon your oxygen source. But as the session went on I became more comfortable—that is until my oxygen source decided to blow up. It was a panic situation for me, one that the instructor claims has only happened once before in over 2,000 dives. I guess you can say that I learned by experience early on.

The second session took place in the ocean. I went with one instructor and one other student. We went to Long Beach in Simon’s Town which is about a 30 minute drive from Cape Town. We suited up on the beach—wet suit, booties, fins, cylinders, bcd’s, masks, and weight belts. Walking with all of this equipment on plus fins is incredibly difficult, but I’m sure entertaining for others to watch. Eventually we waded into the cold ocean and began our dive. I again wasn’t concerned about the great whites because my instructor assured me that they don’t like divers because of the cylinders we carry. If great whites are to attack, it’s generally swimmers and surfers (comforting right?). The dive was great—I felt much more relaxed and saw many sea creatures- octopi, starfish, fish, and jellyfish. After exploring we swam back to the beach, or at least attempted to. I noticed that on the way back I wasn’t moving much. The current was incredibly strong (as thus cut the rest of our session short because it was too dangerous), but also I apparently had lost a fin. I’m not really sure how or when it happened because the water was so cold and I had booties that I never noticed. But we made it back to the shore safely and took all of our gear apart. On the drive back my instructor decided to tell me that a few days ago a group was diving in the same spot we were today and swam into a great white. The group remained calm and the shark swam away. I’m so glad he told me this AFTER our dive.

I’m leaving this Friday, September 3rd to go to Mozambique with my roommate Gabi to finish my required dives there and also to vacation (it’s a work hard, play hard attitude here). I’m so excited because the water temperature will be at least 20 degrees warmer. People say that if you can learn to dive in Cape Town that you can dive anywhere. I hope they’re right!

So this Pisces has once again found water and is happy :).

Traveling Around Cape Town

One of my biggest worries before coming to Cape Town was, “How am I going to get around the city?” Prior to leaving for South Africa, so many people had warned me about the dangers in using public transportation and the fact that I would most definitely need a car. I am happy to report though that this has not been the case thus far. The cab drivers I’ve used (with one exception) have all been very nice and reasonable. I do find it a bit odd at times that they don’t know the city well, so it’s always best to know exactly where you are going. For example, last night my roommate and I went to an informational meeting about our upcoming trip to Mozambique in September. The meeting was literally 7 minutes walking distance from our house, but because it was after dark we had to take a cab. Before getting in the cab I looked up the address and location of the meeting and had a general sense of where we were going. Of course, the taxi cab driver got lost and I had to tell him that the building was most definitely on a different road than where he was taking us. Most of the time the taxi drivers in Cape Town are foreign, so they don’t know the area very well, but then of course you have others who know you are foreign and probably don’t know your way, so they’ll take you the “long way” to raise the price.

My one exception for taxis happened this past Saturday. My roommates and I were downtown for dinner at an African restaurant. As we were leaving downtown my roommate negotiated a price for a cab to take us back to our house in the suburbs (a little over $10). We all got in and were on our way and then suddenly the cab driver took a different route; one that none of us recognized. I told him that we needed to get back on Main Road, but for some reason he tried to convince us that there are two Main Roads—not true. We would tell him to turn right and he would turn left. I’m not sure if this cab driver was trying to raise the price or if he really just did not know what he was doing. In any case I learned a good lesson: before you get in a cab, tell the driver where you are going and ask if he/she knows where the place is; have them describe to you where the place is; and ask how they’re getting there.

The other popular mode of city transportation is the mini bus, or black taxi. The mini buses are actually really old 14 passenger vans that are literally falling apart. They run the main streets from Wynberg to downtown Cape Town. If you’re walking along Main Road you will most definitely hear them coming— the person driving the mini bus is always honking the horn and the other person is hanging out the window whistling and shouting for passengers. It’s not uncommon for one of these vans to squeeze 20 people in at a time. My roommate and I took one of these from the Main Road outside of our house to downtown Cape Town this past Sunday. It cost us 7 Rand each (a little less than $1) on a trip that would normally cost 100 Rand in a taxicab. Things to look for when riding a mini bus: 1. Make sure there are people in it 2. Make sure there are women and/or children in it 3. Trust your instincts to let you know if something is sketchy. Our experience was great, but it’s definitely only something I would do during the day time.

Lastly, the other mode of transportation I use is the Jammie shuttle (see picture). These are the University buses that have several stops throughout the city that take people to UCT campus. They are bright blue and are fairly similar to ones you would find in America. Every morning I wait for the shuttle at a stop that’s about a 4-5 minute walk from my house. It takes me about 5 minutes from there to get to campus. This is such a big difference from commuting in Charleston where it would take me 25-30 minutes to drive downtown to school, at least 10 minutes to find a parking space, and 10 minutes to walk to class. The Jammie shuttle is definitely my friend :).

South Africa’s National Women’s Day

Yesterday, August 9th, was South Africa’s National Women’s Day. National Women's Day is an annual holiday that commemorates the national march of women on this day in 1956 to petition against legislation that required African persons to carry the "pass”, special identification documents which limited an African's freedom of movement during the apartheid era. So in order to join in the celebration, my roommate Gabi and I went out for a full day to explore the downtown area of Cape Town.

Our day started at 6am as we had to be at a downtown theatre by 8am, in line to get tickets for a play entitled Waiting for Godot. The play starred Ian McKellan who played Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Since both us are big fans of his, this play was certainly high on our priority list. We arrived at the theatre 10 minutes early, but the taxi driver obviously had other things to do and let us out in the rain to wait. To pass the time before the theatre opened, we decided to find a place for coffee. Obviously we passed a little too much time because when we got back to the theatre it was 9am, but luckily we got the last two tickets (by a matter of 2 seconds). We found out that the play started at 7:30pm which of course meant we had the whole day downtown.

Gabi and I walked to the Alfred and Victoria waterfront area which is located in a very tourist friendly area of Cape Town. Some of the local attractions included: a Ferris wheel (titled “The Wheel of Excellence”), lots of shopping (the mall was comparable to, if not better than, South Park Mall in Charlotte, NC), movie cinema, live entertainment, restaurants, breweries, World Cup stadium, and much more. We ended up spending the day here—eating, shopping, drinking coffee, watching men parade around in dresses (in honor of Women’s Day), seeing Shrek 4 in 3-D, enjoying the many rainbows in the Cape Town sky (weather changes rapidly and there were many short rainstorms—thus lots of rainbows), and listening to live entertainment.
We made it back to the Fugard Theatre by 6:30pm where we thoroughly enjoyed the play Waiting for Godot. During the play I got a thought in my head that I couldn’t shake out—I had to meet Ian McKellan, somehow, someway. During intermission I told Gabi that we HAVE to meet him no matter what after the play. After seeing how determined I was, Gabi agreed and we waited 45 minutes after the play in the lobby. I had to see “Gandalf” and indeed I did (see picture). After the show we returned home at 11:30pm. Gabi and I had the best Women’s Day ever!

SHAWCO-- volunteering

I recently signed up for a student volunteer group at UCT called SHAWCO (Student Health and Welfare Centres Organisation) because the humanitarian side of the Rotary scholarship is just as important if not more than the academic side for me. People that volunteer with SHAWCO use their talents to go into impoverished areas to teach or tutor. I decided to teach art (which includes painting, drawing, music, dance, drama, and literature) because it’s one of my passions, but mostly because I remember the way art made me feel growing up. Art was always my favorite subject because you could express yourself using a variety of methods.

Today was my first day of teaching—if you could call it that. I feel like today was more about classroom management (i.e. trying to control the kids) and learning names. The class is full with a total of 30, 3rd- 5th grade students from Manenburg. Manenburg is a small town where people of color were forced to move to during Apartheid (i.e. “Kicked out of Cape Town”). Next time I go and teach I will most definitely take pictures because my words will not accurately describe what I saw. As our bus pulled into the town I saw rows upon rows of shacks (no bigger than a room you could put a twin size mattress in), children running barefoot in the filthy streets, farm animals on the street, dirt roads, and barbed wire everywhere. Children would literally cling to our van as we pulled into the school. The school was a one story building made of cinderblocks and the classroom doors faced the outside (like a motel). There were large classrooms, chalkboards, and desks, but the thing that struck me as odd is that I didn’t see any evidence of kids owning any part of the school. By that I mean I didn’t see any artwork, stories, books, any supplies of any kind—it was just an empty building. This school is a far cry from where I just did my student teaching—Ashley River Creative Arts in Charleston, SC—where every space was covered with a child’s work and the environment was friendly.

Overall though the kids were friendly and wanted to know my name, play with my hair and show me different dances and sing me their songs. I thought my day was going to be easy and that we would accomplish a lot, but sadly I was mistaken. After I started the lesson a grown male and older female walked into the room (the school officials). They had a presence about them that even I found terrifying. I continued the lesson and then some of the kids started to cut up. The older female took out her cane and hit several of the children very forcefully. The male started to scream and say what I presume to be nasty things to them in a different language. From that moment things just began to get more chaotic. My role quickly went from teacher to crowd controller. How can one expect students to learn and behave when the emotion of fear is present?

At the end of the day as I was leaving, many of the children gave me hugs and I assured them that I would be back next week. I started to wonder how many people they see come and make promises only to never return…

I will go back and I will try again.

For more information about SHAWCO, please visit www.shawco.org

Culture Shock

I arrived in Cape Town Wednesday morning at 9am local time after a very long 2 day trip from Asheville-Atlanta- London- Cape Town. Needless to say I was completely exhausted upon arrival, but found my energy quickly when I met my Rotary host Henry and my Rotary coordinator Helene. They were at the airport to greet me, complete with a Rotary banner.
My first impressions of Cape Town were from the airport. The airport was just completed in time for the World Cup. It was completely spotless, the people were friendly, and it was easy to navigate. After saying hello and goodbye to Helene, Henry and I were off to my new home in Mowbray (suburb of Cape Town and close to the University). On the way we passed many sites, including townships. I was shocked. I expected the townships to be far removed from the city, but instead, the people that live there are right in the city. They see the “other side” often. I plan to get involved through a service organization at the University.
Henry dropped me off at my new home and I met my landlord Rosalie who is also very nice and helpful. It was a bit shocking to see the security measures on the houses—I have a lock for the front gate, lock in the front door’s bars, lock for the front door, 3 locks for my room, lock for my closet, 3 locks on the back door, lock on the back gate, alarm system complete with panic buttons, and bars on all windows and doors. It took me a little while to learn all of the ropes, but now I think I have it down. All of the houses I’ve seen in Cape Town have a similar setup.
Rosalie was kind enough to help me settle in by taking me to get a cell phone. I bought a cheap phone at a local store, sim card, and a plan. Phones here don’t require contracts like they do back in the States which is nice. I’ll admit that I’m a little jealous because most of the world operates off this system. My European friends are able to use their phones here, but not us Americans!
I met 2 of my roommates, one guy is Norwegian and the other guy is German. I will have another roommate coming on August 4th, a girl from Germany. The house that we live in is a semi-detached Victorian cottage. The biggest differences in the house from one in America are the following: you pay for electricity at the grocery store and load it yourself, the washer and dryer (if you’re lucky enough to have one) are in the kitchen, the television has 3 channels (which I can’t seem to find any news on), and there is no central heating or air conditioning. I’m learning that differences aren’t bad, but just a different way of doing something. It’s easy to be overwhelmed by these differences and go into culture shock. I’ve noticed several other International students going through culture shock and instead of dealing with the differences, they complain. I’m trying my best not to complain at all, but just adapt instead.

Flying to Cape Town

I realized today that I've never traveled anywhere that took not hours, but days. In the past I've flown to Europe which ususally takes 8-9 hours, but flying to Cape Town will take a total of 30 hours. Today I arrived in London after a 8 hour flight from Atlanta. In a few hours I will then board another flight for Cape Town which will be 11.5 hours. All of this after a 9 hour layover in London. I admire people that travel the globe for work because it really takes a toll on your body! British Airways has been great so far-- I would recommend it to anyone. The staff all speak with a pleasant British accent and the planes are much bigger than other comparable flights. The only thing that I find a bit weird is that London-Heathrow will not post your departing gate until 1 hour before your flight leaves. That means that you have to watch the screen like hawk and hope that you don't have to travel too far to a different concourse.

Next time I blog it will be from South Africa!

She's Got Moxie

I approached the Post and Courier 2 months ago and asked them if they would write an article in efforts to thank Rotary International for this amazing opportunity. Yes, I approached them. Most people would have you believe that the paper goes out in search of great things, including them, but not so. The Post and Courier realizes that people who really want to share news or a story will come to them with their plea. So when I pleaded, the writers of Moxie told me that I'd be perfect for their Moxie section. What's Moxie?!? Well according to Wikipedia, moxie means: courage, daring, and energy. Example: "She's got Moxie!"


The article was published in yesterday's Charleston Post and Courier: http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2010/jul/09/betsy-sutherlandrotary-ambassadorial-scholarship/ and followed up by the Graduate School at the College of Charleston Blog: http://blogs.cofc.edu/gradschool/2010/07/09/student-wins-rotary-ambassadorial-scholarship/. As my friends say, now I'm famous! (well not so much, but it was worth the plea!) Thank you to Rotary, College of Charleston, and Moxie!

Falling into Place

I feel like things are finally starting to fall into place. Yesterday I received my housing information and host Rotary club (Claremont Rotary Club: www.rotaryclaremont.co.za). Now I'm just playing the waiting game with my Visa-- crossing my fingers that it comes soon!

Recently I was interviewed for an upcoming Moxie article in the Charleston Post and Courier. Yesterday I had my picture taken on the College of Charleston campus. They took a few photos in front of Randolph Hall and then moved to take a few in front of the Education, Health, and Human Performance Building. I'm very excited about the Moxie article because it gave me a chance to highlight what a wonderful organization Rotary is and that I would never have this opportunity without them. I will let you all know when the article is due to come out!

Beginning the Journey- Moving

I'm getting closer to my departure to South Africa- visa application has been submitted, shots have been scheduled, and I just rented my house (shown in picture) and moved from Charleston, SC to Asheville, NC. Even though I'll only be in Cape Town for a year, there is a tremendous amount of paperwork and preparations that have to take place beforehand. I've run up against many obstacles, but I know in the end it will all be worth it. This is just the beginning!