It’s starting to hit me hard that my time here in South Africa is coming to an end. Finals are quickly approaching, as is our end of the semester photography exhibition and our international student closing event. Traveling plans, mine and friends’, for the end of the semester are being booked and solidified. This means potentially saying goodbye to some people in just over a week. Where the heck has the time gone?! It seems like just yesterday that I was writing my “one month check in.”
Last Tuesday was my final day working with the kids at the nearby school, and saying goodbye to them was heartbreaking. Amanda and I watched these kids really change over the course of three months. When we first started, the class was crazy and the kids had hardly any discipline. It was madness trying to handle forty kids with so much energy and so little focus. But each week, we could see that they were getting better and better at listening and following directions. It’s a second grade class and for many of the kids it’s their first year in school. They learned appropriate classroom behavior, and things became less hectic (at least most of the time!). I wish I was able to share pictures that I took, but I’m not allowed to put them on the internet. So if you ever want to see those cuties, let me know and I’ll show you in person. When we were pulling away in our bus, the kids ran after it waving and yelling. It felt like a scene from a movie and I got all the feels.
Lately I’ve found myself reflecting on all the things I’ve done during my trip here and I can’t believe that this is really my life. This country has filled my heart in so many ways and I absolutely cannot imagine parting ways with it.
April was another busy month filled with: more trips up Lions Head, watching over Cape Town at night, exploring markets, celebrating birthdays, taking lots of photos during photography practicals, eating food from all over the world during our international food evening, spending late nights stargazing in Kogelbaai, braaing (a lot-what else is new?), taking the ferry to Robben Island, tasting lots of different kinds of wine and trying lots of cheese, and visiting a nearby township. We did a lot of things so I’ll just highlight on some of my favorites.
On the 3rd, I went to the local weekend market, called the Root 44 market, with a bunch of friends. There was a certain point when we were all sitting out on the lawn, chatting and listening to live music, while eating and basking in the beauty of the day, that the moment just seemed too perfect to be real. It was such a simple moment in life but it filled me with the absolute best feeling, and I really can’t describe it in any way other than that.
For two consecutive Mondays, we went to rugby playoff games at our school stadium. Our school team was really good this year and made it all the way to the final, but unfortunately lost… after time had already expired! It doesn’t make sense to me why rugby can work this way but it does. That was a bummer but the games were lots of fun as usual. They even had a “chug cam” that showed people on the screen during the game, to challenge them to chug their beers as fast as they could. Yet another thing I couldn’t imagine happening in the U.S.- and it was awesome!
International food evening: where all of the international students cooked food from their home countries and came together to share it with each other. I was in absolute heaven. I had food from over nine different countries, including Pakistan (my favorite!), China, Kenya, Belgium, Jamaica, Lesotho, Ethiopia, Finland, Thailand, and a couple others that I can’t remember! I had thought about making food to represent America (I talked with some friends to try and brainstorm what we might make- it was a little hard), but it’s a good thing I didn’t because there were two American tables. If anything I would have made cookies (the ones here in ZA are so dry!!), but I forgot… haha oops!
I got to do some nighttime photography with Cooper and Markus at my favorite beach: Kogelbaai. It was dark and in the middle of nowhere, so we had to stay by our cars above the beach, but it was absolutely worth it. I think you’ll see why this is one of my favorite places in the whole world. (Click on these pictures so you see them as big as possible!)
On the 16th, we went to Robben Island and had an official tour of the island (it’s right off the coast of Cape Town). On the island is the prison where Nelson Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years of imprisonment. It was used for over three hundred years as a place to isolate the mentally ill, lepers, paupers, and criminal. Many black people were kept in the prison during the Apartheid, many of which were political activists. The coolest part of the tour was definitely visiting the cells of old inmates. There were quotes or stories from many of the prisoner hung on the walls of their cell. Seeing and touching Nelson Mandela’s cell was riveting. At a glance it just looks like any other cell, but when you think of the significance of the person who was once where you stand, touching the things that you’re touching, you feel such an awesome connection to it.
Nelson Mandela’s cell.
Amanda, Johannes, and I hiked Lion’s Head the day after the full moon, because it had rained the night before- but the view was still awesome. We stayed on the mountain peak until the sun had completely set, and then we started to climb back down. The moon was still not visible when we started descending, but all of a sudden we looked up and there it was- this huge, yellow circle rising over the mountain tops. I probably sound so repetitive but it was once of the most breathtaking sights. So we sat in a little cave and watched it completely rise, and we just looked out at Table Mountain and the rest of Cape Town.
We had Wednesday the 27th off because it was Freedom Day, a national holiday. It is celebrated on the same day every year and commemorates the day that the first democratic election was held in South Africa, after the end of apartheid. People party like crazy for this holiday- as they do for most of them! This year there were a lot of protests against the current president, Jacob Zuma, pressuring him to step down. The slogan was “Zuma Must Fall” (the common slogan for protests here are _____ Must Fall). President Zuma is an extremely selfish and corrupt man who, in my opinion, does nothing good for the people of his country. He is motivated by his own desires and has no concern for South African citizens, especially the poor. He has caused a terrible economic and unstable situation for the country, yet continues to spend government money. Just to give you an idea of what a filthy guy he is, Zuma has 738 charges of corruption against him. But he’s the president and everyone who works for him is his friend, so he has not had to face the consequences for any of them.
Last Saturday I went to the Stellenbosch Cheese and Wine Festival with a bunch of friends and other people from the International Student Organization. I’ve never been a huge fan of cheese but I decided that if there was any time to try some, it was now. And guess what? It was so good! Throughout the course of my trip, I’ve realized that my tastebuds have really changed. When I was really little, I was a picky eater and my mom used to always tell me that one day my tastebuds would change and I’d start liking things. I never believed her up until now (sorry Mom!). There was also tons of different olive oils and spreads to sample, and tons of different kinds of food to buy as well. My belly was definitely happy after that day.
On Sunday night (technically now we’re into May) I went into Khayelitsha with Amanda, Johannes (who worked there a few years ago), and two of his other friends, Anton and Thandeka. Khayelitsha is a township near Cape Town- in fact, it’s the one that I saw just after I arrived, on my way to Stellenbosch from the airport. Khayelitsha was established during the Apartheid, and is the second largest black township in all of South Africa (the population is over 90% black, and most of the remaining 10% are coloured). It houses nearly 400,000 people within a 26,000 sq mi zone. We went to two different clubs/lounges within the township that evening. My experience in Khayelitsha was not what I expected, and in the best way possible. It was obvious that we were in the wealthier part of the township, but we were still in the township nonetheless. Besides Johannes, Amanda, Anton and I, there were only about four other white people that we saw the entire night. Despite being the minority, I never felt uncomfortable or out of place. Everyone we met was so friendly and warm. We made a lot of new friends and we plan on going back there soon- it’s a real party.
A lot happened in April, a lot is going to happen in May, and in June. Time is going to seriously start flying by so I’m going to take advantage of it as best as I can. I fall more and more in love with this country every day.
How we braai in the rain.
An amazing Ethiopian restaurant in Cape Town, recommended to us by friends.
Food from Addis in Cape, Cape Town.
Seen at the V&A Waterfront, Cape Town.
Bo-Kaap, Cape Town.
Bo-Kaap, Cape Town.
Wine tasting at Asara, before we went to get pizza and wine at Brenaissance.
Joey trying chicken’s feet in Gugulethu.
Lots of love from South Africa!
xo
Kim
Doing the kImpossible 