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!
No comments:
Post a Comment