Brittany
Anderson
1 January 2012
Title:
Comfort in Rocks.
After
dinner at the Obz Café, we went to Long Street. A group of us girls went to get
milkshakes at the Royal Eatery. We headed home and packed up for
bush camp. We met Mark from Educo Africa at our houses and headed up
into the mountains of the Western Cape. On the most frightening ride of my
life, we drove a good three hours, passing ostriches and listening to Matt and
Scott's woes with women. When we first arrived, we picked houses,
grabbed sleeping bags, unpacked the vans and explored our new area. Logistical
stuff. As we were given a tour, I thought to myself, this is a total
hippie compound, Morris people would be at home here. They use only
biodegradable soap, they have a biodigester they use, I'm pretty sure they
compost, they recycle everything. Just...very Morris. From that moment on, I knew
that I would be comfortable here. From hiking, to watching the sunrise,
to watching the sunset, to swimming in a little hole in the middle of the
mountains in Africa, everything blew my mind how willing I was to
participate. If someone at home tried to get me to hike in the
mountains or swim in a natural pool, I wouldn't think twice about saying
no.
I just want to take this time to say a few words about Mark and his
family. His kids, Emma (11) and James (7), spent a good
chunk of the time on the mountain with us. They live in Cape Town
and go to a Waldorf School, which is more like an arts school. We were so lucky
for them to have the ability to spend some of their holiday off of school with
us. They live with very little media influence; they don't have a tv
or a computer. Its amazing to me how intelligent they are, and I'm
telling you its not just the accents. I very much so envy their lifestyle.
Without the influence of tv or computer, and being able to escape with their
parents to the mountains, I can just imagine how close their family is.
After interacting with both Mark and his wife, as well as
Emma and James, I really began to miss the members of my family that aren't
here with me in Africa. While I will always talk about how fortunate
I am to have the Bean here with me, I cannot express in words how much I long
sometimes to be in Disney World with my parents and little sisters. It's so
strange how homesick I was when I first came here; a freshman, moving out on my
own to Africa. I was always talking (or complaining about one thing or another)
to my parents at St Cloud, but I lost all of that ability here. I, for once,
had to rely on myself. It was an eye-opening experience.
xoxo,
b
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