WOW what a day it has been! When we heard the news yesterday in class that our rain-checked visit to the top of Table Mountain was moved to this morning, it created an insane amount of excitement and anxiety for all of us. We braced ourselves and traveled up an EXTREMELY STEEP mountain peak via cable car with a crazy rotating floor. I was sooo excited to get to the top! The view was absolutely astounding. So it's not surprising why there were ads everywhere around the site asking to vote for it to be one of the 7 world wonders. I took a seat and used my beautiful surroundings as a vice to allow me to just "be". The reflection was very much needed; these past two days have been extremely trying - emotionally, physically and mentally.
After lunch at the café on top of the mountain we went to the V&A waterfront - a tourist-esque area with a lot of great shops. When I was in the V&A shopping center, I was fortunate enough to find out some of the stories of the venders that I went bought trinkets from; which is something that I have really really enjoyed. A group of us also went through the Two Oceans Aquarium - also located at the waterfront. It was sweet because the surrounding oceans are a mix between the Indian and Atlantic which creates some craaaazy wildlife. I am not a fan of fish, but I love aquariums and this one is definitely in my top 3. I touched all kinds of underwater plants, saw the biggest crab I have ever seen in my LIFE and hung out with some penguins.
I don't feel like an invading tourist anymore - it's a great feeling. I am incredibly comfortable here! (don't worry parents I AM coming home). Some people here will ask where I'm from and are always extremely friendly when I say I'm from the states, which is so welcoming. I love how our trip as been - little but necessary "touristy" excursions, and hard core social justice work other than that. I also know I am not by myself when I say that I miss our kids from MaAfrika Tikkun. We've only had 2 days with them and I can't wait until Monday when we get to see them again.
Have a great weekend everybody, I know we will! :)
-Mary
