Since Spring Break, I’ve been very busy. I started going to a local hot yoga studio, completely changed my capstone project at Yabonga, went to the annual Hermanus whale festival, and got some visitors from the States!
I am still helping to run the theater workshops at Yabonga, but now my primary project is that I am writing a manual for the people who run the Orphans and Vulnerable Children’s Program (OVC) support group. I’m writing a booklet that covers all of the information about different support group topics, along with activities to help open discussions or teach about the different topics. The subjects range from grief & mourning for children to personal hygiene. It’s definitely a learning experience.
I’ve also gone to lots of cultural events in Cape Town over the past few weeks! I visited my first professional soccer game, with the Cape Town Ajax against the Sowetho Pirates. We dressed up in Ajax colors, painted our faces, and went crazy when the team won! It was a lot more fun than I had expected and I had a great time. We also went to the annual Human Rights Film Festival, where we saw a documentary called “I Was Worth Fifty Sheep.” This past weekend, we spent our Saturday at the Whale Festival, browsing the craft market, eating, and listening to live music. When we wandered towards the ocean, we could see whales’ tails out in the water.
The weekend before the festival, we had a township homestay in Langa. Two of us went to each homestay house, but they were all neighbors and friends, so we saw each other a lot through the weekend. My family was a lot of fun – I had a mother, brother, brother’s girlfriend, and nephew. Hlomla, our brother’s son, had his 8th birthday the day that we arrived. We had a great time there. My homestay family lived in a little 4-roomed brick house, and they fed us more traditional Xhosa food than we could imagine. Saturday was Heritage Day in South Africa, and we spent it exploring some of the other townships. We visited Lookout Hill and the beach in Khayelitsha, and spent six hours at Mzoli’s Meat in Gugulethu. That was a wild experience, but definitely longer than I would have spent. Needless to say, I slept well that night.
Last week, my mom and Aunt Betsey came to visit. I’ve had a great time getting together with them, chatting about South Africa and showing them the things that I like here. We went to the Kirstenbosch Gardens and Mzoli’s, rode a minibus taxi, and spent many meals in beachside restaurants. It has definitely been a nice break from all of my cooking! This week, they spent several days on the Garden Route and today they came to stay in a guesthouse just a few minutes' walk from my house! I'm excited to spend a few more days together before their trip ends.
No comments:
Post a Comment