Ching Chang Chong (South African Rock-Paper-Scissors)
Wow! It's already been almost a month since I've updated this thing. Time is flying by! Unfortunately I can't load any pictures here to show you the amazing things I've been doing, but i'll find a way soon!
Well, I spent only 5 days in the township of Khayelitsha and then left because of the situation with my host family. I don't think they had been completely honest in their interview and they were not really in a capacity to host another hungry mouth. I've gone back in twice for a meeting and to do a women's workshop but I'm not sure what will happen next. It was unbelievable to me that such poverty can exist just 45 minutes from main Cape Town. It was another world. The people however were amazing, and although I picked up very little Xhosa, I managed to make a few friends. It was definitely a challenge but a cool experience now that I look back. One day I even saw a lady carrying a huge microwave on her head - Amazing! Unfortunately I picked up some kind of bed bugs or fleas while I was there and they've been tormenting me ever since - I'm so itchy!!! Please make it stop.
The Norwegian volunteers with SCORE came to Cape Town for a week to study - it was so good to see them and exchange stories. One of the girls, Randi, stayed with me an extra 2 days to sort out her visa... oh man - what a mission that was. We were both applying for a voluntary & charitable activities permit which we thought was a simple application but it turns out you need a chest x-ray, a doctor's certificate, R425, a ticket home, and 30 days to process! I was in a rush and didn't have 30 days so I came in every other day after they accepted my application to see if it was approved and finally this week, after a letter of apology and another to request a rush- I got my visa!!! I was so happy, the SCORE office ladies celebrated with me for lunch - we ate BIG gaspy's (a Cape Town thing) - it was breaded hake (fish) with hot chips (fries), sauce, salad on a big roll. Woohoo!
Today the Homeless World Cup started in Cape Town. Homeless teams from 48 countries come here to compete - and they play on the pavement rather than on a field!! The Canadian team is actually staying at Nedine's hotel so I'll have to go and greet them. I'm also playing soccer tomorrow with girls from my church, and we're playing a team from Australia?? I'm not sure how we got hooked up with that but whatever.
Today I took a beautiful drive along the coast to a small town called Fishoek with my 'other' roomie, Linde. It was such a great day - we stopped and took pictures, saw a whale jump, had ice cream and shopped around. We ate at my fave resto (Kauai) and played hacky sack along the beach! Doesn't that just sound like the perfect day? It was.
On Tuesday I'm bussing with Siphokazi to East London (another city about 5 hours away) for SCORE midterm training. Then Nico and I are heading back to Cape Town, arriving at 7am only to board again at 10am to Windhoek in Namibia. From there we get back on the bus to go to communities. It will be probably almost 50 hours total on a bus! Woah - I'm going to get really good at eye spy! I can definitely finally finish 'Long Walk To Freedom' (Nelson Mandela's auto-bio)...
I hope I can load pics from today soon because the view today was breathtaking. The combination of mountains, palm trees, sunny weather and gorgeous beaches was just too much for words. Anyways, things here are good, I miss all of you Canadians!
Well, I spent only 5 days in the township of Khayelitsha and then left because of the situation with my host family. I don't think they had been completely honest in their interview and they were not really in a capacity to host another hungry mouth. I've gone back in twice for a meeting and to do a women's workshop but I'm not sure what will happen next. It was unbelievable to me that such poverty can exist just 45 minutes from main Cape Town. It was another world. The people however were amazing, and although I picked up very little Xhosa, I managed to make a few friends. It was definitely a challenge but a cool experience now that I look back. One day I even saw a lady carrying a huge microwave on her head - Amazing! Unfortunately I picked up some kind of bed bugs or fleas while I was there and they've been tormenting me ever since - I'm so itchy!!! Please make it stop.
The Norwegian volunteers with SCORE came to Cape Town for a week to study - it was so good to see them and exchange stories. One of the girls, Randi, stayed with me an extra 2 days to sort out her visa... oh man - what a mission that was. We were both applying for a voluntary & charitable activities permit which we thought was a simple application but it turns out you need a chest x-ray, a doctor's certificate, R425, a ticket home, and 30 days to process! I was in a rush and didn't have 30 days so I came in every other day after they accepted my application to see if it was approved and finally this week, after a letter of apology and another to request a rush- I got my visa!!! I was so happy, the SCORE office ladies celebrated with me for lunch - we ate BIG gaspy's (a Cape Town thing) - it was breaded hake (fish) with hot chips (fries), sauce, salad on a big roll. Woohoo!
Today the Homeless World Cup started in Cape Town. Homeless teams from 48 countries come here to compete - and they play on the pavement rather than on a field!! The Canadian team is actually staying at Nedine's hotel so I'll have to go and greet them. I'm also playing soccer tomorrow with girls from my church, and we're playing a team from Australia?? I'm not sure how we got hooked up with that but whatever.
Today I took a beautiful drive along the coast to a small town called Fishoek with my 'other' roomie, Linde. It was such a great day - we stopped and took pictures, saw a whale jump, had ice cream and shopped around. We ate at my fave resto (Kauai) and played hacky sack along the beach! Doesn't that just sound like the perfect day? It was.
On Tuesday I'm bussing with Siphokazi to East London (another city about 5 hours away) for SCORE midterm training. Then Nico and I are heading back to Cape Town, arriving at 7am only to board again at 10am to Windhoek in Namibia. From there we get back on the bus to go to communities. It will be probably almost 50 hours total on a bus! Woah - I'm going to get really good at eye spy! I can definitely finally finish 'Long Walk To Freedom' (Nelson Mandela's auto-bio)...
I hope I can load pics from today soon because the view today was breathtaking. The combination of mountains, palm trees, sunny weather and gorgeous beaches was just too much for words. Anyways, things here are good, I miss all of you Canadians!
posted by Myriam @ 10:00 a.m.
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