Day 2 and 3 of Service Week

The past few days have been very exhausting both mentally and physically. This is our "service" week. We have class in the mornings on service learning, then in the afternoons we go to Sir Lowry's Pass, a township outside of Cape Town. Being in the township and seeing their circumstances first hand has been a very real and hard experience. It is one thing to drive past the shanty towns off the freeway, but to actually step inside one and meet the people who live day and night in them is shocking. My family that I have been paired with is Ms. Fiela and her daughter Samantha. They live in a small house in Sir Lowry's Pass, and almost four days a week Ms. Fiela passes out meals to around 60 to 80 children around the neighborhood. She blows her whistle, and they all come running to her house with their plate and cup. On Tuesday, I had the opportunity to help pass out "cake" and juice to some of the kids that were wandering around. They came all lined up smallest to largest. It was so humbling to help pass out food that could be that child's only meal of the day. Ms. Fiela barely has enough to feed her family sometimes, but when she comes across the resources she not only shares it with her house but also with the children around her. She truly is a woman of God. Today we got the chance to go back to the Amy Biehl Foundation after school program in Gugulethu, a township in Cape Town. There we picked up trash, planted a garden, sat in on a couple of classes, and most of all just played with the kids. Most of the kids do not speak English, but language is not a barrier when it comes to playing. They loved for us to pick them up and swing them around, or even just a hug brought a smile to their face! It was so wonderful to have the opportunity to work with this foundation again. Amy Biehl Foundation is making strides in the community by spending that extra two hours after school to further empower the children in all areas of life. This week has definitely been a fun but hard week. Tomorrow we return to Sir Lowry's Pass, and we look forward to spending the rest of our week with the families there!

 New friends! 

Helping make bracelets in Sir Lowry's Pass

First Day of Service Week

Monday we began Service Week by talking about the difference between service and service learning in class. Service as Chase, our professor, told us is the act of doing something to help others like many of us do in our communities. Service Learning is impacting others while also impacting yourself. It's gaining knowledge from that experience and reflecting on it. Joanna, our director, told us what the township would be like and we were warned about all sorts of situations and questions we might get in Sir Lowry's Pass. 

When we were pulling up to Sir Lowry's Pass that afternoon all the kids swarmed the streets and ran with our bus all the way till we stopped. They waited at the door of the bus for us to come out and as each of us filed out one of the kids would grab our hand and start walking with us. They were some of the most welcoming children. We all got placed with a soup mother in groups of 5 or so. My mother's name was Mrs. Hetta. Mary Claire's was Ms. Felia. We went with our assigned mother to their home and met each of their families and also cooked dinner for them. Each of the mothers opened up their homes to us and it was so cool hearing their stories. We get to go back almost every day this week to do activities with the kids or just talk with our soup mom. Can't wait to see what we learn through each experience!

This past weekend

We are trying to do a little bit of blog catch up before this week. Saturday we went to Old Biscuit Mill again. We both had eggs benedict, and it was incredible! That night we went with a large group to Mesopotamia. It was an authentic middle eastern restaurant complete with belly dancing and low tables with floor pillows as "seats." We ate nan, which is like flat pita bread, and for our main course we had chicken and lamb. Sunday morning we went to Hillsong Church again. The guest preacher was Mark Gungor who is actually from the United States and was hilarious. We ended the night with a buffet dinner at a local restaurant with all 150 students. Today we are starting our service week. This afternoon we are going into Sir Lowry's Pass, which is a township located about 45 minutes from Cape Town. We are split into small groups of about five and paired with Soup Moms around the community. Tonight we are going for a couple of hours to spend time with them and eat dinner with our families. We are so excited to have this opportunity to learn and grow from this experience. Be sure to look out for more posts soon!

Week Two in South Africa

Words can't begin to describe Adventure Week. Basically everything that is on most people's bucket lists I got to do! Absolutely incredible!

Monday: The week started off at 7 a.m. with a 6 hour drive to Sedgefield. 25 of us piled into this huge truck with no air conditioning or heat with only our guide, Mackiel, to keep us entertained. We stopped to eat lunch and took a hike along the railroad tracks by the beach. We stayed at our first hostel called Afro Vibe (yes, the owner had an afro and his dog was named Vibe...if that helps explain what this hostel was like.) We had a beautiful view of the beach and got to sit around the fire for the night. 

Tuesday: In the morning we went to an ostrich farm. Some people got to ride them and others got "neck massages" which was when you held a bucket of food in front of you while the ostriches pecked around your head to eat it. After, we went to the Cango Caves where we climbed and squeezed our way through our tour of the cave. We drove to Masithandane and learned about their Community Center and made huggables which are these little pillows they give to children in their programs. That night we sat around the bonfire and introduced s'mores to Mackiel and the other South Africans. 

Standing on ostrich eggs

Wednesday: Elephants! Definitely one of my favorite things of the week. I got to lead, feed, pet, and ride an elephant. I felt like i was in Water for Elephants except not near as cool as Reese Witherspoon. Next we went to the Cat Sanctuary where I got to stand inches away from a cheetah and see one of the most dangerous animals in the wild, a leopard. We had lunch at Monkeyland then drove to our next hostel destination. When we got there we played soccer and played games with the kids from a nearby school. The children swarmed around all of us and before no time at all were singing Justin Bieber and dancing with us. Some of the little girls braided my hair and started to give me cornrows but thankfully didn't make it too far... That night we sat around another bonfire and went to bed early after an exhausting day. 

Riding Mupanse

Thursday: We started off with a safari at the Tsitsikamma Game Reserve. We saw zebras, water buffalo, springbok, ostriches, hippos, crocodile, lions, rhinos, and giraffes. It was so cool to be feet away from some of the most dangerous animals. We took an afternoon hike in a national park and then made our way to the dreaded bungee jump. Bloukrans Pass is where the highest bungee bridge in the world is located. Even the walk to the center of the bridge was terrifying. I absolutely hate heights so looking down from where we were was one of the scariest things. Jumping off that bridge was probably one of the hardest things I'll ever have to do but the experience was so worth it! Can't say it's something I would willingly do again though!

Scariest moment ever

Friday: Got up at 5 a.m. to drive 7 hours to shark cage dive in the Indian Ocean. We pulled up right when a storm was coming in but they told us we could still go so we piled into the boat and went out on the choppy ocean. I got to see 3 different sharks as big as 13 feet come inches away from the cage I was in. It was awesome to be that close to great white sharks! Not near as scary as jumping off a bridge...

Now we're back safe and sound in Cape Town and loving a clean bed and hot shower! The week was incredible and the memories I have will be ones I will never forget! 

We're back!!!!

We’re back! Last night we finally made it back from Adventure Week on the Garden Route! Since Katherine and I were split up during the week we are going to post separate blogs about our experiences. So this is Mary Claire’s post! This week was probably the most eventful week of my life so putting it all into one blog post is going to be really hard, but I will try to do my best. The first day of adventure week we headed off on a “truck” which was a 25-passenger safari vehicle. We drove 8 hours to our first hostel, which was located in the Plettenberg Bay area. It was in the middle of nowhere and the stars at night were absolutely beautiful! We saw shooting stars, the Milky Way, and the Southern Cross. Tuesday, we started off the day at the Plettenberg Bay Game Reserve. We saw rhinos, giraffes, hippos, springbok, zebras, and lions. It was absolutely incredible! After the safari we loaded up on the truck and headed to Bloukrans Pass, which is the home of the world’s highest bungee bridge. It is 216 meters or about 710 feet high. It was probably the scariest but most awesome thing I have ever done! They count down and before you know it you have jumped off a bridge and are plummeting head first towards the ground at about 120 km/hr. It was the most exhilarating experience of my life.

The bridge we jumped off of! 

The craziest thing I have ever done.

Right after we all bungeed we headed straight to go play soccer with some local kids. They were about 10 years old and whooped us. Wednesday, we went to a national park and hiked for a little bit. Then we went to the wild cat sanctuary where we got to get our picture taken with a cheetah! Next we went to the elephant sanctuary. I got to walk an elephant and ride one!

We then traveled to our next hostel called AfroVibe located in “Slow town.” It was located on Myoli beach over looking the Indian Ocean. Later on that day we swam in the ocean, then had dinner on the rooftop overlooking the sunset. Thursday, we spent the day at the ostrich farm and at Cango Caves. At the ostrich farms we got the chance to feed them, give them hugs, and some even got to ride them. Watching the people ride them was absolutely hilarious. Everyone needs to YouTube it.

Getting a "hug" from Betsy! 

Finally on Friday we went shark cage diving. We traveled out about 2 miles from the shore, put on wetsuits, and got in a cage off the side of the boat. They threw bait off the side of the boat to lure the sharks in. Great white sharks literally swam about 3 feet from the cage. It was incredible!! I am so fortunate to have been able to experience all of these things in one week, let alone in a lifetime! Thanks Mom and Dad! Miss everyone and love you all!

Off to Adventure Week!

This morning a group of us went to Hillsong Church. So anyone who knows me (Mary Claire), knows that I don't like to wake up in the mornings. So true to my nature I woke up to our alarm turned it off and went back to sleep... We ended up getting a wake up call from the cab, and had to rush out the door in 10 minutes. It was a little hectic, but we made it! The service was great, and we are looking forward to going back.

Tomorrow we head out for Adventure week! We're ready for a week full of safaris, shark cage diving, caving, and bungee jumping. We'll be traveling on the Garden Route which we've heard has some of the prettiest spots in South Africa. Mary Claire and I will be split up for the week since we're broken up into smaller groups and we won't have internet during the week so just get ready for an explosion of stories and adventures when we get back! I know you have all been anxiously awaiting each of our posts so try to get yourself through this one week you won't hear from us. We can't wait to share everything when we get back...if we survive!

"It's rugby, they're men..."

Today we went to the famous Old Biscuit Mill! It is a world market that is held every Saturday from 8am-2pm. You can buy fresh produce, pastries, breakfast foods, sandwiches, ice cream, clothes, trinkets, and about anything else you could think of. We got crepes and omelets for breakfast. It was delicious! It was the most unique place to spend a Saturday morning. We can't wait to go back! Later in the evening we all went to a rugby game. We all were decked out in Stormers jerseys and blue and white face paint. Before the game they planned a "braai" for us which is just a South African grill out. We then headed into the game to watch the South African Stormers play the Australian Waratahs. Rugby is the most intense sport I have ever watched. I thought football was violent, but rugby takes it to a whole new level. Luckily we had some locals that sat near us and explained the basics. When we asked why the players didn't wear helmets or pads, like they do in football, the local replied, "it's rugby, they're men..." The Stormers beat the Waratahs 19-13.

 Bread at the Old Biscuit Mill

A scrum 

Go Stormers!