Hermanus

Saturday we took a trip to Hermanus, about 2 hours away from Cape Town. It is a great place for whale watching, which is why we went. We saw a few of them, but didn't get close enough for pictures. The scenery was beautiful!

TB Hospital

Everything at the hospital has been going well. At times it can be depressing to go but I have become close with many of the children and they look forward to us coming in everyday. We have done several art projects with them such as painting, drawing, stringing cheerios to make necklaces, decorating cookies, and making collages. We have also been playing soccer and frisbee with them and other games such as relay races and tag games to get them running around. Yesterday when we arrived, one of the girls ran up to me saying that she had a dream about me. She dreamt that I took her home for the weekend and we went to the beach and she said it was the most wonderful weekend she has ever had, which was really sweet. Later in the afternoon, I was speaking with a 13 year old boy outside of the ward. He asked me if I had a mother and a father, I said that I did and asked if he did. He replied "Neither". He then took a stick from the ground and lightly sketched "2003" on his arm implying the year that they died. When I asked how, he sketched "HIV" on his arm. He then told me he was HIV positive. Because of the stigma attached to HIV/AIDS, people keep their status very private. I definitely feel like I am building relationships and trust with the kids if he feels comfortable enough to tell me this, which was the only silver lining in that conversation with him. Four of the girls in the ward are being discharged today, which is very exciting! They have all been here at least 6 months if not longer. Their beds will be filled with new patients tomorrow because there is such a long waiting list for this hospital. The girls are excited to go home to their families but I think it can also be stressful because they have to go back to their school after such a long period. The teacher in the school told them the other day that "once their school finds out they have been in a TB hospital, everything that goes wrong in the school will be their fault, so they have to be prepared for that". Again, this is due to the stigma that is attached to having TB and another reason why one's HIV status and other diseases such as TB are kept so private.

Wine Tasting

Saturday, we drove out to Stellenbosch which is about 45 minutes outside of Cape Town, for a wine tasting and tour. They explained how they made the wine as well as let us taste several different kinds which of course was the best part. We then had a picnic on the property, it was such a beautiful day! There were also some adorable dogs there!

Addo Elephant Park and Scotia National Park

After a few days in Jeffery's Bay, which is a beachy surfer town, we got to Port Elizabeth. We went on a safari in Addo Elephant Park as well as Scotia National Park. It was absolutely amazing. We saw four out of the big five animals with the exception of the leopard. We got so close to all the animals in our open aired jeep, we even had the excitement of being charged by a rhino!

The Bungee Jump

For our Spring Break, six of us took a backpackers bus from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth stopping in 3 other towns along the way! Our first stop was in a town called Tsitsikamma where we jumped the world's highest bungee jump. The bridge was 216 meters high (over 650 feet). You are tied to the rope by your ankles and you dive head first off the bridge. It was terrifying but so amazing! The first drop is about 5 seconds and the swing for a while until someone comes down to pull you back up. It is great scenery too!!

Green Point Stadium

Last night we went to a soccer game at the new World Cup stadium in Cape Town. The stadium was absolutely amazing. The game was Ajax Cape Town vs. Bloemfontein Celtics. Cape Town won 2-0! People really do blow their vuvuzelas throughout the entire game too!

Athlone Towers

The Athlone towers were part of a power plant in a suburb of Cape Town. This power plant is about 50 years old but has not been in use for a while. These huge towers were a well known landmark in Cape Town because you can see them from virtually anywhere in the city. The towers are very close to Langa (where we were this weekend) and the demolition of the towers was scheduled for Sunday at 12 noon. This was very emotional for Capetonians because it was such a significant landmark. Since the towers were not being used, they were tearing them down to build more housing in the area. We got out of church at 11:30 right in time to change and hurry to watch them come tumbling down. I was positive they would not fall at exactly 12 noon because we are on African time here. There is basically two ways to give someone a time. There is "now now", which means pretty much right now or in the next few minutes and there is "just now", which means in the next 20 minutes to some people and in the next 2 hours for others. Needless to say, things are rarely on time and often late with no consequences. People get there when they get there. Well, the whole city assumed we were on African time as did I. The demolition of these towers that we had been waiting to see since we arrived in Cape Town in July occurred at 11:56am, 4 MINUTES EARLY. Everyone missed it including the people who won a free helicopter ride to see it. We were running down the street when we heard the boom and saw the smoke. I was disappointed that I missed it but now it is more comical because of the uproar it caused for going off early.