Final Party for the Babies

For the past 3 months I have been volunteering at Brooklyn Chest Hospital working with the children that have TB.  The children that I worked with are mostly babies and have endured so much in their life.  These children are brought to the hospital where they receive treatment for their disease.  The hospital tries their hardest to provide the necessities for these children, but the government does not provide them with enough financial means in order to run efficiently.  They are only provided with a certain number of diapers a month, with leaves these babies in dirty diapers for hours.  The children also have a very limited amount of toys, and the playground outside has dangerous hazards that can cause harm to the toddlers.

For two days a week I went to the hospital.  We were only given two hours there, but during our time we were able to play with the babies and feed them.  They seemed so happy for the short time we were there and cried every time we left.

Inam

Last Saturday we had our final party for the children at the hospital.  The volunteers raised money to buy toys, diapers, and treats for the kids.  These things brighten up their day.  While we were playing outside with bubbles, balls, stickers and trucks, all the babies had smiles on their faces.  Even though these objects will not last the patients forever and most of them will still be in the hospital for months trying to overcome this life threatening disease, it was a great feeling to make all these children happy for a day.

Jacqui and her baby

Saying goodbye to them was extremely difficult.  It was very sad to know that the next time I will be in Cape Town, these children will no longer be at the hospital and I will have no way of finding out if the children were able to overcome TB, or where they are in their lives.  After putting the babies back in their cribs, we had to leave as they cried themselves to sleep.

Crazy Paul Harris

I truly appreciate the work that the nurses and volunteers are doing for these patients.  They are not making a lot of money, but they are helping children that have their entire life in front of them. I believe that this hospital will find sponsors in order to continue their operations and continue saving lives.

Crystal Pools

When reserving a car in South Africa, be sure to make you clarify that you need an automatic car.  On Friday morning, there was a group of ten of us getting ready to go to Crystal pools, which is place where you hike to a fresh water pool with waterfalls and rocks that you can jump off into the water.  I heard about Crystal pools the first week I got to Cape Town, and could not wait to go.

Finally the day arrived and we went to pick up our car and begin our day trip to the pools.  When we arrived in Cape Town to pick up our car, we ran into a problem.  The car that we reserved was a manual, and nobody knew who to drive stick.  This specific car agency did not have any automatics, but there were a few car rental places in the area that we were going to try to get a car at.  We did not find out luck until the sixth car dealership! At this point we were nervous that we would not get into the hiking trail because they only allow 100 people in a day.

We decided to take our chances and hit the road to the pools.  During the drive the views were spectacular. The ocean had an aqua green tint and glistened in the sun.  When we made it to the hiking trail, our car was the only one there and we easily got in.

The hike to the first pool took around 45 minutes.  The most spectacular view (which is now my desktop background picture), was looking on a bridge with the ocean beyond it that turned into a stream that went into the mountains. Greenery and rocks surrounded the bottom border, which concluded the postcard picture.

We made it to the first pool and it was more than I expected! The water was clear and when the sun shined down on the pool, it looked like crystals.  At the point of the pool was a small waterfall that we eventually learned connected to the other pools.  I was so eager to jump in the water, but was stopped by the rigid temperature.  I jumped in and the water was so cold, but extremely refreshing at the same time.

After hanging out at this pool for while, we hiked up to the other ones.  The second was much bigger and beautiful. We hung out here for some time, soaking in the sun and jumping of the sides of cliffs into the water.  I camped out on a rock at the side of the pool and ate my new lunch of choice; a hummus, tomato and cucumber sandwich on wheat bread…. so good!

By the time we got to the third pool, we had to rush because we had to be back in Cape Town by four to return the car.  My friend Benny, Jamie and myself jumped in the water and swam to the other side toward the waterfall.  We climbed up the slippery rocks of the fall and reached the top to see the small fourth pool.  It was a great climb and hike, and I only ended up with a few scratches on my legs!

When we returned to Cape Town all our stomachs were growling so we went to get some grub at Mexican Kitchen.  Here we slurped down delicious strawberry margaritas, and I enjoyed chicken enchiladas, my go to Mexican dish.  Before hopping on a mini-bus back to Rondebosch, we made one more stop, and that was to McDonalds.  I got an Oreo McFlurry with hot fudge, which brought back memories of being back at home with my friends, enjoying a late nights snack!

This Friday in South Africa has been the best one to date.  All of my favorite things were involved in this day; hiking, swimming, enjoying beautiful views, and of course, eating.

Quote of the Day:  “It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another- Nelson Mandela

Tofo, Mozambique: Final leg of Spring Break

The trip to get to Tofo was an experience I will never forget.  The first leg of the trip started out well.  We boarded a greyhound bus in Nelpruit, SA, to take us across the border to Maputo, Mozambique. The bus was a double decker, had a few TV’s and I had my own row of seat, so I was able to stretch out.  Once we crossed the border, the problems began.  The girls and I needed to purchase our Visas at the border because we had not done so before.  This entire process took a good hour waiting in a small room that had to be at least 100 degrees with no breeze.  We were freaking out that the bus was going to leave without us, but when we went outside it was thankfully still there.

Once all the passengers were at the bus, there was another hold up with leaving. Apparently the driver had brought on the bus at least 50 boxes of ‘long-lasting’ milk. Customs had a problem with this, for the fear that he had an agenda of selling this milk when he got to Mozambique.  They ended up arguing and finally allowed him to cross the border with the milk after we waited 2 hours in the hot Africa sun.  We ended up arriving in Maputo at 7; when we were suppose to be there at 4!  The funny thing when we got there was that a man in an Escalade came to pick up the boxes of milk.... sketchy!

The next morning we got picked up at 5am by a ‘mini-bus’ to take us to Tofo. We were stuffed in this van like automobile with the 5 of us girls, plus 15 other locals.  So uncomfortable! I tried sleeping, but the roads in Mozambique are so bad, that it was too rocky and there were so many bumps in the road that made it extremely hard to fall asleep.  After about 5 hours we began to see the Indian Ocean. At this point all I wanted to do was get out of the bus and jump in the warm water!

We finally made it to Tofo and entered paradise. For the week we stayed in a house with mosquito nets over our beds and fans next to us. We had a total of 3 rooms, 2 bathrooms, a full kitchen, living room, and dining room…definitely an upgrade from the hostels we previously stayed at.  Oh yeah, and the view; from our porch we looked out to see miles of beach and the clear, blue water of the Indian Ocean.

After changing into our bathing suits we raced down to the beach and jump in the ocean.  The ocean felt like bath water, which was a definite upgrade from the frigid Atlantic Ocean off of Cape Town.  The waves were perfect for body boarding and learning surfers.  It was so nice to be able to relax on the beach after the long week we had before we arrived in Tofo.

The highlights of my week were being able to relax on the beach while reading the new book I was addicted to called Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (This is part of a 9 book series and the first book was amazing. If you are looking for a enticing series, check out the Outlander series on Google!), going to the market and buying presents, bread, purple avocados the size of mangos, cooking crayfish with the girls, chatting with an Afrikaans family who gave me free drinks and a pretty bracelet, and enjoying the night sky, where for the first time in my life saw the stars in their fullest.

Tofo, Mozambique is truly a hidden treasure in this world.  It is the most beautiful and relaxing place I have ever been too.  Even though we struggled to get there, every hour of frustration was well worth it.  The next time anyone is planning a trip where you wish to relax by the beach, Tofo Mozambique is the place to go!

The Sounds of Rondebosch

While trying to fall asleep last night I woke up multiple times to interesting noises coming from my window.  My houses faces the main road in Rondebosch, so all through the night there seems to be interesting things going on.

1. Loud conversations coming from my roommates and the security guard

2. Inappropriate door slams

3. Techno music blasting from the cars at the stoplight

4. Men cursing at each other in the road

5. Men having some kind of 'ceremony'/ being extremely drunk and annoying for a good 30 minutes. (I was so frustrated at this point that I got out of bed and was going to tell them to shut the f*** up, but I did not want to deal with their drunkenness)

6. Castle beer semi truck going past our house, sounding like an Earthquake just hit

7.  Roommate falling out of bed screaming thinking there was a spider in her bed.

The peaceful sounds that I have the pleasure of falling asleep to…. One thing I will not miss when I go home!
  

Johannesburg and Kruger

Johannesburg

Johannesburg is the largest city in South Africa and is completely different from Cape Town.  Joburg resembled LA or New York and was a bit overwhelming.  It was storming the night we where there, which was the first storm I had been in since being in South Africa.  After we ate dinner in the city, we were walking around trying to find a place to buy shampoo and other toiletries. All of us got a bad vibe from the city and felt scared walking around as white American girls.  You have to be careful in Cape Town as well, but I just felt much more vulnerable being in Joburg.  After Harry, our hostel owner, picked us up we begin an intense conversation with Harry about race.  He told us how his parent left to move in America because they had personal experience with violence growing up and how he went to a school with all white people and felt like he had to constantly prove himself to the white children.  He also mentioned to us how Cape Town is seen as extremely more racist than Joburg and that fact keep a lot of black people to stay in Johannesburg. 

    The following day continued our cultural experience as we went to the famous apartheid museum.  Its hard to describe in the world the effects you feel from the museum.  It was an extremely eye opening experience and I learned the difficulties that blacks had to face during this time.  It is great that apartheid has ended, but after living in South Africa for two months, racial segregation is still extremely prevalent, and the country has along way to go before it can forget about it horrifying past.

Kruger National Park

The third leg of our trip was off to Kruger to experience our first safari.  We started our day off bright and early at 6 am.  For the next 12 hours we were in safari car searching for the Big Five.  The highlights of our day included seeing zebras up close, watching a family of giraffes feeding on leaves, witnessing the feeding of a hyena cub by its mother, and feeling like I was in Jurassic Park!

The animals that we saw included impala, zebras, giraffes, buffalo, elephants, rhino, baboons, hippos, dung beetle, hyenas and multiple relatives of the deer.  Sadly the lions and leopards were not caught by any of our eyes, but that just gives me an excuse to go back to Kruger later in my life!

SPRING BREAK 2011: PART 1

I missed out on Panama City this year for Spring Break, but instead I had the opportunity to travel around Africa! At UCT, what we call Spring Break is considered their holiday.  Most student stay around Cape Town and chill with friends and family, but being a student from America, I know that I had to go big for the week I had off.  I traveled with 5 other girls and in twelve days we manage to see Victoria Falls, experience the city of Johannesburg, Encounter a majority of the big 5 during our safari at Kruger, and relax on the beach in Tofo, Mozambique.

Victoria Falls

Our trip began bright and early on Wednesday morning, when we boarded the airplane to take us to Livingston, Zambia.  We Arrived at JollyBoys in the mid afternoon and relaxed by the pool after a long day of traveling.  The hostel was very nice; it had a funky bar, an area of pillows to lie on, and a memorable quote by Ernest Hemingway that describes this trip to a tee, “I never knew of a morning in Africa when I woke up and was not happy”.

That following night, we went on a boat cruise that took us on the Zambezi River.  Here we met some very interesting people who were staying at JollyBoys with us.  There were the 3 Belgian girls, who were traveling after they volunteered at a school in Zambia for 2 months; Brad, from New Zealand, who is a pilot in Tanzania; two America guys, who were clearly in a frat in their former college days; and 2 Japanese guys exploring Africa.  This crazy mix of people created a very fun night! We got to know different people from around the world, and on the cruise we saw a handful of hippos, and a beautiful sunset.

 





The following morning we went to see the one of the seven natural wonders of the world and it turned out to be more than I expected!  During this time of year, the currents are fast so the falls were covered in a coat of mist. What amazed me, was the amount of water that was falling down.  The force of the waterfall was so powerful. When we walked through one trail, we had to cross a bridge that was in front of the falls.  When I made it on the bridge, I could not open my eyes, due to the extreme excess water from the falls; it made it seem like there was a monsoon for us on the bridge.  By the time me made it across, there was not a dry spot left on my body.

As we continued through a different trial, which I name the ‘monkey trail’, I was overwhelmed by the amount of baboons we encountered.  These baboons were huge and are known to be aggressive, so I tried to keep my distance.  I loved this trail because it was in the middle of the jungle and all the greenery surrounding me was a sight to remember.

After this trail we walked to the bridge that would lead us into Zimbabwe.  This walk gave us a view of the falls from further distance away, and we saw multiple rainbows during this time.  While on the bridge I was in two places at once.  We had one foot in Zambia and one in Zimbabwe. I guess that technically means I have been to Zimbabwe.... I can now check that country off my world map!

Victoria Falls was all I had anticipated and more. I feel so lucky that I was able to see this natural wonder during my time in Africa.  Leaving Zambia was bitter sweet, but the next step of our trip was to the ‘city of gold’, Johannesburg.

MZOLI'S

Every Sunday in Cape Town, Mzoli’s is the place to be.  This is a meat butchery in the Gugulethu township outside of Cape Town where tourists, college students and young professionals gather for the live music, a party atmosphere and of course the meat! Out of all the meat I have eaten since being in Cape Town, this is by far the best. Sunday was the third time I have been at Mzoli’s and we had a group of about 12 people with us.

To order the meat you have to go in and pick out the raw meet from the window at the front.  Once the meat is chosen (options include steak, pork, chicken, beef, and my favorite Boerewors, which is an Italian sausage), you take your huge tub of meat to the back where they braii it on the massive grill they have.  The timing for food to come out is completely unknown to the customer, but once it does, the drunken people dig into the meat as if they have not eat for days.  Everybody uses their hands and there are no napkins or plates.  This may seem unsanitary to some people, but everybody is in the moment of eating all the meat their stomach can hold and do not care about the germs from the people around them.

Once the bucket of meat is devoured, the partying in the streets becomes close to overwhelming.  By 5pm, the streets surrounding Mzoli’s is packed and everybody is socializing.  People are drinking, having a good time, and going hard one last time before the workweek begins.




The interesting thing about the concept of Mzoli’s is the lack benefits the town receives from it.  Mzoli’s makes great profits, but the town never sees any of this.  They have to deal with the drunken people who roam their streets and the mess to clean up when the day is over.  Mzoli’s only have a few locals working for them, which also seems unfair to many of the locals. 

Living the Simple Life

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of staying with a family in the Oceanview Township.  When I first heard that we were doing a home-stay, I was excited, but had my concerns.  At first I wasn’t sure if I wanted to give up a weekend in Cape Town to stay with a family I did not know.  Second, there were rumors that we would get bed bugs from staying in the Township.  I am so happy I let these concerns past me, because this weekend was one of the best one’s since I have been in South Africa and it was amazing to see how much love a family can give a complete stranger.

The Family

The family I stayed with was wonderful.  Margret, who also goes by Maddy or Ouma (Afrikaans for grandma), is an adorable 52-year-old woman who came up to my chest! Ouma made the weekend.  She was constantly checking on Magoo and I seeing if we needed anything.  She was also cooking for almost the entire time we were there! She made chocolate chip muffins, chicken, pork, potatoes, rice, beans, and cake! Everything was amazing; it was so great to have a home-cooked meal in Africa. 

Wilma is a 24-year-old mother of two.  Her oldest s a 6 year-old by named, Molto. Her newest addition is baby Tabo.  He is 2 months old and was born one month early and weighs no more than 5 pounds.  The love that Wilma gives to her baby is an amazing sight to see.   She nurtures him and I was able to see all the struggles the baby had to overcome by the gentle and loving touch the family had for this miracle baby. 

Mila is 9 years old and will be a star one day! She is a great singer and has sexy dance moves as well! I spent a lot of time with Mia and her friends; playing games and watching them sing and dance. You would never guess who their favorite singer was…Justin Bieber! Preteens love him all around the world! 

Ouma’s husband is named Nicolas or Opa (Afrikaans for grandpa), he is a former pastor and seemed very shy in front of us Americans.  I think part of this fact was that he did not speak a world of English. 

Morgan is 21 years-old.  The family took him in their home about a year ago.  He plays Rugby, loves to joke around, and dresses like a stud.  I think he had small crush on both Magoo and myself.

The Neighborhood

The weekend as a whole was extremely relaxing and it was great to see the interactions between the people in this township.  During the day, all the families kept their doors open, and neighbors often came in to say hi and have a quick conversation.   When we would walk around the town with Morgan or Amy, they seemed to know a majority of the people who were sitting outside enjoying the beautiful day.  The children in Oceanview made the best of their situation and would come up with fun games to play, even though they did not have any fancy toys.

Watching this reminds me of my childhood. Growing up on Chidester Avenue, I was always running around with the other kids coming up with games that would give us hours of entertainment.  My neighborhood was extremely friendly and opening as Oceanview was.  We would jump from house to house and the doors would always be open and the adults welcoming. It is very sad to me that many people in America do not even know their next-door neighbors names.

The Cape Town Cycle Tour

On Sunday morning we woke up bright and early to watch the Cape Town Cycle Tour.  This cycle race is 109km long, and with around 31,000 cyclist taking part, it is the world’s largest individually timed cycle race. The atmosphere of the race consisted of the Oceanview residents Braiing.(American barbecue/ grilling), along the street where the bikers’ rode past, drinking, and kids running around.  Watching this race inspired me to participate in an endurance race.  I am setting a goal today that within 5 years I will have either completed a marathon or triathlon.  My brother Brad, has the job of ensuring that I complete this goal!

In 3 days I became accepted and loved by this amazing family.  They invited us to come back to their home anytime we wanted and Ouma even said she loved us when we left.  All the children I made friends with walked us to the buses and gave me probably ten hugs before I got on the bus. It was Mia’s friend McKayla, who really touched my heart before I left.  Her birthday was on Sunday and I was playing silly games with her.  When we were walking back to the bus she was holding my hand and she said to me, “Thank you Emily for making this birthday my best ever”.

I am so glad that giving her attention and being around her on her birthday made it the best one to date.  This just shows how the little things make all these people so happy.  It wasn’t a present that made her day, it was me. I will always remember this weekend and am so happy that I got to experience how this family lives their everyday life.

Cricket Update

Good news! I learned a few more rules of cricket this weekend! On Saturday South Africa had a match against India and we were watching the game on and off throughout the day.  In the beginning of the match, a coin is flipped in order to determine who bats first. India won the tossed first and chose to bat.  India will bat until South Africa gets all of the batters out.  The person up to bat will stay at the plate until they get out. (It is much harder to get a cricket batter out than it is a baseball batter, for example, one player on India scored 111 runs during his time at bat).   After the bowler (pitcher) and fielders’ get all of India’s batter out then they switch spots. 

If a batter hits the ball over the fence they score 6 runs, 4 runs if the ball rolls and hits the fence, 1 run if the ball is hit to the fielders.  If a ball is caught then there is an out. 

I still have a lot to learn about cricket, but after this weekend I am able to follow the games! I can not wait to go to the gym next week and watch the World Cup while I run, I will finally be able to understand it!

SPORTS

My one issue with Cape Town has been viewing sports.  When I go to the gym, the thing that is always TV is cricket.  What I have learned thus far about this sport is that currently the World Cup is happening, the pitchers can bounce the ball to the batter, and the team up to bat stays there for an extremely long time.  Soon I will look up the actual rules.  The second sport that is huge with South Africa and UCT is rugby.  I actually have been enjoying the sport; it takes a real man to play this game.  Finally soccer.  All the bars in Cape Town play soccer.  The other night, the big game was Arsenal vs. Barcelona.  The bar in town was packed due to this fact.  While all these new sports are great to watch and learn about, I miss my American sports.

First off I dodged I bullet that the Bears did not make the Super Bowl.  If they did, I would have been walking around the streets at 2am trying to find a bar playing the game. Second, I have been going through SportCenter withdraw.  Everyday this Christmas break my routine would be to watch SportsCenter in the morning and see the Top Ten plays and stay up to date on the current news.  While here I have to relay on ESPN.com, which isn’t terrible, but just and adjustment.

The most frustrating thing however, has to be the fact that I have not been able to watch a Bulls game since I have been here!  Over Christmas break I got really into basketball because I would watch all the games with my ex-boyfriend and now I can’t watch any ☹. American Basketball is one sport they never play at the bars, and with the Bulls being second in the Eastern Conference and just having a huge win over the Heat, I want to watch them more than ever!  The first good news I have heard in regard to sports was that there has been talk with the local bars in getting them to show the NBA playoffs. I would be forever grateful if this happens, and would stop complaining about the lack of American sports in Cape Town!

Catch Up!

After weeks of debating, I have finally decided to make a blog for my time in Cape Town.  Since I have been here for over a month I wanted to give everybody a brief catch up on all the great things I have been doing since arriving in Cape Town. I live in a house, called Roxy, with 16 other Americans’ from all around the country and have one RA named Hope, who is a student at UCT.  The first 3 weeks in Cape Town was basically a party.  When we first arrived we stayed in the dorms at UCT.  For the four days I was there, I got to meet a lot of CIEE students and began to explore Rondebosch (a suburb of Cape Town where I live), and downtown Cape Town.  Rondebosch is a cute little town that consists of two stores, many “fast food” restaurants a few higher scale restaurants, and two bars.


My diet since being in South Africa has been very interesting.  It has consisted of hummus, tatziki sauce, tomatoes, and Pita.  Occasionally I will stop being lazy and make some chicken and salad to go along with that as well.  I also have been enjoying the pizza that Cape Town has to offer.  First off, I will go on the record saying that it does not compare to my beloved Chicago style pizza, but after a few drinks it hits the stop.  My favorite pizza I have had to this point was at Babbo in Claremont.  The pizza I got had bacon, feta, avocado, and I believe tomato. So good! And the best part was that it was 2 for 1! I was in heaven.

After two weeks of exploring Cape Town, my friends and I went rented a car and went on the Garden Route.  This is a beautiful drive from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth.  My car consisted of Jacqui, a diva from LA, Maddy, Jacqui’s best friend from school, Magoo, a future politician from Columbia, and Dan Hughes, a boy originally from GLEN ELLYN, who moved to London during elementary school.  What a small world. The highlights of this trip was going to see elephants, petting cheetahs, relaxing on beautiful beaches, having a crazy night in Jeffery’s Bay, and best of all going off Bloukrans Bungee jump!

Once returning home from our trip, reality hit and classes began on the following Monday.  Classes have been a challenge getting used to. In the beginning it was very difficult to sign up and drop classes because everything had to be done in person.  Now the struggles are the workload.  At IU I had a lot of tests and got used to that form of testing students knowledge.  Here I have to write a total of 6 essays, each being over 1500 words! The last time I had to write an essay over 6 pages was freshman year of college.  But I have competed one! Yeah, only 5 more to go!