Swagger like us

In first taking notes on all the things I want to tell you about from the last few days, I realize just how much we've done. I'll do my best to keep it all brief and highlight the good stuff, but this will be a long one...
Thursday with the kids was nondescript, except I got to work with the older boys for the most part. These boys are always the most engaged kids there, and we've really bonded with them. So when they started to zone out I suggested we go outside and have them teach us some gumboot dance moves, which they had told us about in passing and I jumped on. Youtube it, it's pretty cool.

After classes we all drove straight to a winery, which Cape Town is full of as the wine capital of Africa. We got a tour, the estate was incredible, and the wine was "earthy"--meaning it kind of tasted like dirt. Or maybe stone. Either way not my fav. I thought it was really interesting driving down the road just a ways from Imizamo Yethu and seeing all these huge vinyards and estates. There were even 'watch for equestrians' signs and people riding their perfectly groomed horses down the side of the landscaped street. I'm not sure how these people can live in such opulance knowing what kind of poverty is just down the road.

We bought some more wine at the grocery store and slowly kept drinking while we waited to go out. We had heard that there was salsa dancing Thursday night at a local fake-Mexican bar called Pakalolo, and were planning to use our tasting buzz going to that. However later that night we heard they didn't do salsa nights anymore, so we hung out talking about American food. This of course led to an intense french fry craving, and a few of us on a whim decided to walk a block (in our sweats mind you) to a pub called Pirates and get some late night fries. Best. Idea. Ever. I can't wait to go back.

We started off Friday by getting up at our normal early hour, though this time it was just Tess and me--we know, we're troopers. That was when we realized we had forgotten to write a response to a kid's anonymous question. They were asking on behalf of their sister, who has just found out she is HIV+. She has a 9 month old baby at home and lives with her boyfriend, and she's worried that if she tells the bf he'll kick her and the child out. Tess and I wrote her a pretty good response letter I think, telling her she's not alone, to have him and the child tested, if it goes poorly to get help from James House, and that you can live just fine with HIV. But our hearts still break for this girl, what a tough possition.

The last day with the kids was really hard for all of us. In only 5 days we have all gotten much more attached than we thought we would. I personally love the group of older boys, like Thobane, C'Ko, Smash, Mandla and Vuyo that have really seemed to bond with us. Also a girl named Azile, who I last wrote about getting tested. We wrapped up the day by all getting in a circle and going around thanking each other. Then the kids got together and sang the most awesome African song for us, which brought most of us close to tears. We kept telling them to come visit us next week after they get out of school, and I really hope they do. Next week we are working with older kids, about 18 year olds who have finished or don't go to school, which we're looking forward to after our bonding with this group's older boys.

Already missing the kids, we went back to the house and packed our stuff up to spend the night out in Cape Town. Our hostel manager, Shannon, had arranged for us to stay in a hostel on the party street in town called Long Street. This street is literally lined with bars, restaurants, and clubs all the way down. The hostel was GIGANTIC and acclectic and just plain awesome. But as soon as we got there we left right away for dinner reservations at a place called Mama Africa's, which serves traditional African food. And of course I had to try the game. Jackiy and I split a mixed grill of crocodile, ostrich, kudu and springhaas which was quite the experience. Springhaas was my fav, it was like a good sirloin, while the crocodile was like a mix of chicken and fish, kudu had kind of a liver flavor to it, and ostrich wasn't too memorable. We'll probably get some opportunities to eat game meat again in Kruger, maybe I'll give zebra or warthog a shot next time.

About half of our hostel has gotten sick at the end of this week, and I think it finally caught up to me. I have some mean larengitis now, probably courtesy of Tess, which makes us both sound like pubescent boys on helium. Regardless we both went out on Long St like champs last night. We started off as a group of 7 girls going to Bob's bar where they have 10R shots (about $1.50?). We moved on then to Dubliner's, which was a packed pub with a great live band. It was at Dubliner's that my camera either fell out of my bag or was pinched, and after we searched and retraced our steps in vain I think it was stolen. At the time I was not all that worried about it because all of my pictures are backed up on my computer, and I can always get a new camera. Which it looks like is what I'll have to do. But now I'm beginning to realize that will be more of a challenge than I thought with the stores around here, and I'm starting to get supremely irritated. Cross your fingers that it works itself out soon.


We capped off the night at some trance club where Shannon knew the DJ. It was definitely not my scene so I rounded up a few girls and Shannon walked us up a few blocks back to the hostel. I made it into bed right around 3, not bad when the clubs close at 4 right? And of course we planned a trip to Robben Island in the morning, which may not have been the best idea. Some of us were a little hung over (though by some miracle I was doing fine) and the ferry over to the island was rolling like crazy. A few got queezy, and I now know to bring Dramamine for the shark diving. Robben Island was interesting, the tour was led by a former political prisoner, and it reminded me a lot of a spread out Alcatraz. Now I need to read Mandela's book A Long Walk To Freedom and get some persepective.

Oh, and we saw penguins on the island. Finally!

We were all hungry, exhausted, and incredibly cranky for the cab/walk/bus back. Briana was a doll and offered to stay back in Cape Town with me while I went looking for a shop Shannon reccomended to find a camera. Apparently it closed at 1pm... along with every other shop in the city on a weekend. So we made a couple really large loops around the city together and got to see it in a way no one else in the group did. However I definitely did not feel very safe in downtown Cape Town, though I can't explain why, so I will not be doing that again. Thankfully we made it home without incident via taxi. Pretty adventurous sounding, huh? Longest day ever.

And now I get to wake up at 4am tomorrow to go out cage diving with great white sharks. How epic is that, right? First repelling off Table Mountain, now swimming with great whites? No one can say I'm not making the absolute most of this. And with no camera...