The last few days have been a lot of fun. On Friday we went up table mountain and the views from up top were amazing. Then yesterday a small group of us went shark cage diving and survived. Today we went to cape point which had another amazing view and then we went and saw some really cute penguins. The next few days we are going back Delft. I think everyone is excited to get back there to do some more work for them and to see the kids. Keep warm back in Minnesota.
Derek Bryant: January 2011 Archives
Today we got a lot of work done at the township. We painted a room, pulled a lot of weeds, and taught the kids some dances. The last few days have been physically and mentally exhausting. Tomorrow we get a nice break from the classroom and are going to table mountain. We might do a little shopping for all you back home also. I think everyone here is having fun while learning a lot. Take care and keep warm in Minnesota.
Today we visited a couple townships and it was very depressing to see. I have known that these places existed but it was another thing to actually experience it. It was a jammed packed area of shacks with dogs and little children all around. The hardest part was the fact that this neighborhood is in the middle of a rich area. You have a beautiful city with nice buildings and homes nestled between mountains and ocean and then you have these areas with horrible poverty. It is hard to understand why this happened and is not an easy thing to experience. It is hard to put it all into words and am still a little shocked. Tomorrow is the first day we are doing our service learning so I am excited to work with children and help those communities that need so much. And to those in Minnesota most people were complaining of it being too hot here today, i think it got up to 90.
Cape Town has been amazing so far. The only problem I've had is not being able to sleep. So if anyone has suggestions to help let me know. The first few days we have just been relaxing, enjoying Cape Town and getting to know each other. Cape Town is easily the most beautiful place I have been to. We have all taken lots of pictures but they really don't do it justice, so I would definitely recommend coming here at some point in your life to experience it. The diversity here is pretty incredible. There are people from all sorts of ethnic backgrounds and races. You also have the extremely rich and extremely poor. You can definitely see an American influence on things. They listen to American music, eat KFC, and drink coca-cola just to name a few. This next week is when we begin class and start our service learning so I am really excited about that. I think this is a great experience for me to learn a lot and hopefully become a better person. I hope everyone back in the states is staying warm and shoveling the snow for us and i wish everyone a happy new year.
