JBay Surf Pilgrimage, Nov 12-16

I woke up early Friday morning (5:00 am) to begin the five-day surf pilgrimage to Jeffrey’s Bay, South Africa. Jeffrey’s Bay is by any means a surf “Mecca” of the world, as it is claimed to be the best surf spot in Africa, and one of the top in the world. I set off on this surfing pilgrimage with my two fellow Californian surfer friends Bryce and Vinnie, and my closest companion Liz Mandle, who took on the role of “beach mom”/photographer - as she sat patiently on the beach through all of our surf sessions, and took awesome pictures of us shredding up the waves.

Our first day consisted of driving from Cape Town to Jeffrey’s Bay. We had rented an automatic little Nissan - a pretty classy car considering the last rental that we had taken out from “DayWay car rentals” was held together via plastic zipties. I drove the whole way, of which I am needlessly proud to brag about. We completed listening to all 8 burned CD’s, of which Bryce and I had made. I was on the edge of my seat for the first twenty minutes of driving, as I drove through Cape Town traffic. I felt as if I was driving with a bizarre growth on the left side of the car - a growth of which the dimensions I was unsure of. Liz, my dutiful co-pilot for the first part of the trip, was constantly reassuring me that I in fact had room on the left side, and that I was in the right part of the lane. I can proudly say, that I did not once turn the windshield wipers on instead of the blinker (haha Dad, I must be a sharper driver than you!). After we got out of the main Cape Town business, I began to enjoy this new challenge of driving on the left hand side of the road.

I drove for about five hours until we reached Victoria’s Bay - at which we got off the road and went to find some food. We ate the best greasy calamari and chips that I have yet had in South Africa. After which, Vinnie and Bryce went for an after-lunch dip in the warm Indian Ocean, while Liz and I napped on the beach. After I had made it driving for five hours, I felt compelled to push through and drive the whole way. Most memorable about this drive, besides the occasional ostrich or baboon on the side of the road, was the manner in which South African drivers convert a two-lane highway into a four-lane speedway for passing slow cars. An unwritten rule in South Africa is that if you are a slow car, and a faster car comes behind you on the highway, you should drive as much to the left in the shoulder as possible. Luckily the shoulders are relatively large, almost the size of an entire lane. The faster car then proceeds to drive at a fast speed (of around 120-140 kms or 70+ mph) in the remnant of his lane, but is often forced to also pass with part of the car in the opposite side of the road. Often large trucks spend the remainder of their time driving half way in the shoulder, and half way in the lane. After a car passes a slower car, they flash their hazards, as a way of saying “thank you for helping me easily pass on this two-lane high way.” I did my fair share of passing…and being passed, as it was windy and I was afraid of the three surfboards being hurt that were precariously held onto the roof of the car via soft-racks.

We drove along the Garden Route through many cute small towns. We also drove through some townships. It was interesting to see how townships differed once outside of Cape Town. It was also an indication of how greatly apartheid shaped the whole country, not just the larger cities like Cape Town and Johannesburg. After a long 10 hours we finally reached the exit ramp for the Jeffrey’s Bay. We were all very jovial at this point, relieved to have finally made it to the “surf Mecca”.

We arrived and the offshore winds were howling. After briefly checking into our hostel, Island Vibe Backpackers, we got back into the car to go and find “Super Tubes” - the world-renowned JBay break. We eventually found it and suited up quickly before the sun set. The waves were not large, but nonetheless Super Tubes still was quick and setting up little barrels along its point. Because it wasn’t big, I decided I’d try paddling out there with the boys. This might have been a mistake, as I was the only longboarder (and girl for that matter), and the locals did not quite seem to accept me being there. It was definitely not a longboarding wave as was quick and super steep and powerful. It also was crashing nearly right on the reef. After a few times of trying to compete for the smaller set waves with the local shortboarders, I made the paddle of shame, and went in without catching any good waves. I felt a bit defeated walking up, but once I was out of my wetsuit and in warm clothes, I felt happy that I could say I paddled out (and at least tried to surf) at Super Tubes. I knew that “The Point,” located a short walk north of Supers, would be the place for me.

The next two days followed a similar pattern of surfing, eating, sleeping, surfing again and eating. I surfed The Point for the first time the next day. The paddle out was a little tricky, as you had to paddle out through a channel between the reef. The offshore winds were howling (probably like 30 knots), making the waves shapely, but hard to get into. The spray off of the back of the waves felt like being blasted with a fire hose. The first wave that I caught was very memorable. It was probably head high, but slow and good shape. It lived up to its reputation and I felt like I was riding for 20 seconds. It was a great wave, and I knew that I would greatly enjoy this point break. In the afternoon the surf got even better. The wind died down and it was only me and two others out there at the point. With this pattern me and the boys had surfed almost four surf sessions in the last 24 hours. It was super fun, but my feet definitely took a beating. The breaks were all shaped by reefs, and getting in and out was always slow going and painful. There was sometimes an easy way to get out, but coming in was always a battle. I cut up my feet on the reefs pretty bad, but it was definitely worth it. I also went on a walk with Liz up the beach one of the afternoons. We walked past the backyards of the abandoned summer beach houses and talked about life and life plans. It was a good break from surfing. When we got to the end of the properties, the wind that was blowing off the dunes was extreme, and the sand was painfully pelting us, causing us to turn around.

The next day we adventured to Cape Saint Francis located twenty minutes away. Cape Saint Francis is the home of “Bruce’s Beauties” - the famous “perfect wave” in the movie “The Endless Summer.” Bruce’s Beauties no longer breaks in the same way as it did in the 1960’s - due to housing development changing the way that the dune sand blows into the ocean. So we surfed at Cape Saint Francis Point. It was super sketchy getting out to the point as we walked out on rocks, then jumped out into the water when a big enough wave came, and paddled around the shallow rocks. Luckily we made it out without any problems. The wave was pretty fun, but a bit sketchy as the tide was low, so certain parts of the wave sucked out to expose a jagged rock. We made sure not to take the wave at these spots. It was overall fun, and I can say now that I surfed Cape Saint Francis! After surfing Liz and I walked to the lighthouse, where we explored and I collected a ton of shells (correction: I collected a plethora of shells - Liz was not a shell collection enthusiast). It appeared that the Cape was a “shell Mecca.” There was no sand, only shells - it was awesome!

After this we went to find the true “Bruce’s Beauties” location. We drove through a bizarre upscale housing development (where the boys thought about jumping off of a bridge and into a canal, but decided against it) and eventually found the beach that 50 years ago was a completely deserted landscape of dunes and perfectly forming beach break waves. The waves were pretty much nonexistent at this location, but it was awesome to think that we were at the same part in the ocean as Mike and Robert surfed in the 1960’s. We decided to find shelter on some rocks and lay in the sun. We slept and made peanut butter sandwiches while watching the local kids play with fishing poles on the jetty. We got adequately sunburnt, while Bryce and Vinnie played the guitar. It was a splendid time spent lying by the sea. (On a side note, we ate peanut butter sandwiches for 2 out of 3 meals a day during this trip - I was so sick of this nut/bread combo by the end of our trip, I still haven’t eaten it since.)

The next day we said goodbye to Jeffrey’s Bay and drove three hours closer to home to Buffel’s Bay. We stayed at the hostel “Buffalo Bay Backpackers” which was by far the cutest backpackers I have ever stayed in. It was by no means nice or clean, and was quite sandy and old/rusty. But it was located amongst the most beautiful dunes and rocky landscape of the Indian Ocean with gorgeous white sand. It looked like a Northern California landscape, except for the ocean was a lot warmer. The hostel was adorned with shell art, rusty beach things, and was made of wood. It was awesome, and I will definitely post pictures up on facebook when I get a chance. Unfortunately there was no swell so we didn’t surf for the last two days of the trip. The next day we drove the long way home back to Cape Town.

What an enjoyable surf safari throughout a part of South Africa :)

Adios UCT! Nov 9

Wow, I feel really bad. I haven’t posted a blog in over two weeks. I was doing so well the first three months, but my blogging inspiration has of late, just fallen apart. But do not fear trusty blog-following friends; I will hopefully be blogging a lot more in these next two weeks, because I am finally done with my studying experience at UCT! I just got out of my last final for Memory History and Identity. I am officially done with my time of “studying” in South Africa. I have over the course of this semester been immersed in random snippets of South African culture through my three courses. I have written 8 papers, spent a depressing number of days in different assorted Cape Town libraries, given a presentation, and written three finals. I am definitely worn out on “the humanities” and, as nerdy as it sounds, am looking forward to resuming my ochem and biology studies winter quarter (which will probably only last for the first two days of my time back at UCSD). It is such a bittersweet experience to be done with finals. I am happy to be done with classes, but at the same time am sad that I will soon be leaving South Africa. I miss everything about home, but I know that as soon as I leave I will miss everything about here too. I am really starting to feel like I live here. I will miss the culture, friends, and exploring that I have been fortunate enough to have here. But enough of this sentimental stuff, I am still here for two more weeks :)

So now I am out of school for about two months! Yay! It is the summer I never had. I feel very burnt out on school right now, seeing as I have been studying for 14 months strait. No bueno. So now I get to spend two weeks here in South Africa without worrying about studying or writing papers. The sun has been hiding itself for the past two days, which has assisted in my studying efforts. But now that I am done with classes, I hope that the notorious Cape Town summer weather will soon reappear. I plan on spending my two weeks laying in the sun by the pool, hanging with friends, and surfing.

On Friday I am going to partake on a surf adventure up the Garden Route Coast with the end destination of Jeffreys Bay (“JBay” in surf lingo). For those of you who aren’t surfers, JBay is one of the most famous/best surf spots in the world. It is known for its perfectly formed tubes and the lengthy time period that the barrels last. As you all know, I am a longboarder, so I will probably (hopefully?) not be getting barreled too much. Lucky for me, JBay also has a spot called “The Point” - which from what I can gather is a perfect right point break just north of Super Tubes. Sounds good! I will be partaking on this adventure with my closest friend here - Liz Mandle Candle. Liz doesn’t surf…. yet. I plan on teaching her during our trip. She is also planning on soaking up the rays on the beach and going bungee jumping. South Africa has the largest bridge bungee jump in the WORLD! I will definitely not be jumping off of it. A seven second free fall does not sound like my idea of a good time. As of right now, I am unsure of who else is going to be going on our trip. We will most likely be joined by a couple of my surfer friends, but the particulars are still to be worked out. I am so excited for this five-day surfing adventure, and I will definitely post all about it upon my return.

Peekay and Sunshine, Oct 26

So I must begin this post by apologizing to all you (mostly my parents) who are following my blog. I haven’t posted in quite some time. It is not that I haven’t been doing anything; it is just that everything now is starting to feel very ordinary. I feel like I am actually living here like a local. So here it goes, this is a post that has been in the making for almost a week:

This past week was the last week of classes. I did a lot of paper writing, and am now on the final drafts of both of my final papers. I have written a total of nine papers this semester, and am so thankful to be done with history forever! I cannot wait to get back to studying biology. I know, I am weird. Over the next two weeks I just have to study for my finals, and then my semester at UCT will be over!

This past week I did a lot of running and hanging out with friends. I have started running on a path beside the highway that borders the Newlands forests. There are lupines (I think?) growing alongside the trail, and numerous other flowers. It is a good break from my normal track running. I cooked Thai Yellow Curry on Rotis for Liz and Jaclyn this week. It went a lot better than it did the previous week, and I am now proud to say that I have Yellow Curry officially in my cooking skills. This week I will be trying to make some Sweet Balsamic Potatoes and a Salmon dish.

On Thursday I stopped by the Student Y to say hi to friends. David Wells, a theologian from the US, was visiting for tea. He talked with us for a good hour and we got to ask him some questions. What stood out to me the most in his talk is when he gave advice to us as Christian college students. He told us that we must start fully trusting in God as young people, so that it will become a lifestyle. He emphasized the importance of fully trusting in God’s plan, especially when things are unknown and we are unsure of where he is leading us. I really enjoyed his talk. I feel that I have learned more about what it means to fully trust in God in my time here. While here I have been removed from everything comfortable about my life back home, and have had to trust on God for all parts of my life. It has been hard, but I am so thankful for this experience.

Later on Thursday I ran around town with my roommate Kate. She just left South Africa, and returned to New Zealand yesterday. I miss her! It is a bit lonely to be in the flat all by myself. But before she left we walked all over Rondebosch and UCT taking pictures or our “daily lives.” Kate videoed me at key spots in the walk, where I utilized my tour guide skills. I will make a video when I get back home. It was a very fun outing.

I had a great day on Friday. I went to class, which was not too exciting. After class I stopped by the Student Y where I met a new friend Gabby. Gabby and I instantly connected. She is a South African surfer, who rides a Vespa and wants to study abroad next year in the US. Needless to say, we clicked really well (and I am definitely jealous of her scooter!). She invited me to go surfing with her on Saturday morning to Muz. After the Student Y I went down to my favorite café that just opened up, called Everest Café. I am somewhat of a regular there, as I go and get a coffee a couple times a week and use their Internet. I take advantage of the free Internet to download most of my music and pictures. I ordered a mocha, extra strong. That was probably not the best idea. I had so much caffeine in my system I felt like I was going to have a heart attack. After working on my paper at the café, Liz, Kate, and I tried to go walk through Newlands forest. Little did we know, there is no walking through the forest, only hiking. We didn’t make it very far. After the walk I came home, took a nap, and then went to the Lover’s Walk house to celebrate Jaclyn’s 21^st birthday!

On Saturday I went surfing with Gabby at Muizenberg. The waves were the best that I have ever surfed here, and it reminded me a lot of Tourmaline. Just as we were getting out the shark flag was being raised and the sirens went off. There are “shark spotters” whose job is to sit up on the mountain and look for sharks coming close to the shore. The flag is put up when a shark is spotted in the bay. The siren is sounded when a shark has been spotted in the same depth as the farthest out surfer. Needless to say, when the siren is sounded, all of the surfers quickly get out of the water. We didn’t get to see any shark fins. It was a good reminder that I am surfing in very sharky waters.

Today is Tuesday. It was an amazingly sunny day. I woke up early and went running for 45 minutes. Then I came home, worked on the final draft of my papers, and rushed up to campus to turn it in. I am now in the process of my final draft of my last paper. After coming back from campus I went into Kate’s room to steal a hanger, and mope about how sad it is to live on my own. I looked at her bookcase, and low and behold was a copy of “The Power of One.” This was my favorite book I had to read in high school. It is about South Africa, and it was my goal to reread it when I was here. I feel like it probably subconsciously helped push me to want to come here. It is a popular book here, and I hadn’t been able to find it in any of the bookstores. I was so stoked that I found this copy! In celebration I decided to go read it outside by the pool. So I spent my afternoon lying by the poolside, reading about Peekay and his adventures as I ate dried mangos. It was a marvelous afternoon :)

Go Western Province!!! Oct 16

Tonight I went to the rugby semi-final match between the Western Province (Go Cape Town!) and the Cheetahs. Liz, Kevin, Collin and I walked from our house in Rondebosch down to the Newlands stadium, located a convenient 15 minutes jaunt away. We arrived just after kick-off. We paid 50R (about 7$) for standing tickets. Because we were a bit late, we had to stand in the back, but we got a pole to lean against, so that was nice. The rugby game was very exciting, and the crowd was very into it. Although I could not understand much of what was happening, I thoroughly enjoyed the game, and cheered on Western Province wholeheartedly. We learned some new cheers, some of which were in Afrikaans. We also learned that Western Province fans love their crowd wave. Our section loved it so much that for fifteen minutes they tried to start up a crowd wave, focusing upon it more than the game. We were surrounded by crazy Western Province fans in blue and white striped polos who were waving the WP flags. We ended up winning by 24 points, which was very exciting. If the finals are in Cape Town, we are going to try to get tickets to see them.

Earlier today I went to downtown Cape Town and the Old Biscuit Mill with Liz. We ate delicious food at the Mill, did a bit of shopping (I found this really cute coat on sale because it is the end of winter here…lucky for me, I am returning to winter, so I felt justified in getting it :), and then travelled via mini-bus to downtown. Our day consisted of a lot of walking up and down and around government walk. We went to the old Slave Lodge, a place where the slaves of the Dutch East India Company were kept during the original settling of Cape Town. It was very informative and depressing. We also went to Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s church and had a coffee (Tutu was a key figure in the TRC following the end of apartheid). After this we went and walked around the company gardens. Unfortunately we missed the last bus back home, so we had to walk a long distance to swindle a taxi cab to take us back to “the bosch” (aka Rondebosch). By the end of the day I was starving, about ready to pass out, and my feet hurt very badly, but I thoroughly enjoyed our adventures in downtown Cape Town.

Apart from this weekend, nothing too exciting has happened this week. I spent a lot of time working on my homework and papers. Finals are coming up soon, and I cannot wait to be finished with all of these history classes. I have written 8 papers this semester, which is more than I wrote at UCSD in my two years. I know this sounds bizarre, but I am actually looking forward to returning to my hardcore science studies…I even feel like I miss Ochem. I know, I’m a nerd. Besides studying, I went running everyday. I also got to walk Anuk, which was fun. I ate dinner on Main road a few times with friends. And on Tuesday I made Thai yellow curry with coconut milk from scratch. It was pretty good if I do say so myself. I did not get a chance to go surfing again, but I plan on fixing that and going tomorrow to "the berg" :)

“Do you stand on that thing?” Oct 9

Prior to today I hadn’t surfed in almost three weeks! I have been feeling anxious and depressed because of it. I knew that if I didn’t go surfing soon I might just explode. Today I was going to go to SHAWCO paeds clinic, but it was cancelled. It was a gorgeous and sunny day. I could not go back and do homework inside. So, I decided that regardless of if I had anyone to surf with, and despite the fact that my surfboard was in my house in Rondebosch, I would go surfing today! I called a few friends, but everyone was gone at a weekend concert, so I decided that I would trek it on my own to Muizenberg for a surf sesh.

My board was in my room, (thanks to George, who took me surfing a few weeks ago) No one who could drive me today. So, being the adventuring spirit that I am, I decided to haul my board through Main Street to take the train. This entailed walking my nine-foot board through Rondebosch to the train station. This drew a lot of attention, and I felt a bit silly. I reached the train station, and after waiting for 35 minutes, a train came. I barely managed to get my board in before the train started to move again. Once I was in the train I had the task of maneuvering it around all of the people, and putting it against some of the seats. The train was unnecessarily crowded for a Saturday, so this was quite the task. Everyone was really nice about it though, as I apologized to everyone walking by, who had to step around it. The people I was sitting by thought it was amusing that I was bringing this huge board on the train. One man asked what I did with it. I told him that I stood up on it in the ocean - he thought that was funny.

After 45 minutes we reached Muizenberg where I prepared to get off the train two stops prior. After much maneuvering and help from multiple people on the train, I was able to get my huge board off. Taking the train with my board was a definite adventure, one that I don’t think I will repeat. The waves were pretty crappy at Muizenburg - but just getting out in the water made me really happy. I caught some fun ones. The experience was definitely worth it.

Other than surfing, my week has been pretty uneventful since the last time I blogged. (Which was when I met Gerard Butler!!!! Crazy….still can’t get over it :) I have been working on my paper, and plan on finishing it by Monday. Then I will move on to my last paper of the semester. YAY!

Yesterday I decided in the moment to go down to Main to get a haircut. Some friends had recommended this cute Indian woman, named Nadia, for getting a haircut. I went to Nadia and explained that I wanted to keep it long, and wanted a little bit of layering. She went a little scissor happy. She cut my hair pretty short, and put in a lot of choppy layers…Not what I was hoping for, but now my hair is a lot more curly! I just have to remind myself that hair does grow back, and its not the end of the world :) So much for spur of the moment haircut decisions...

Jerry and Ostrich Burgers, Oct 5

Tonight I went to the SandPoint restaurant in Camps Bay with the girls. As we were walking in, Liz and her friend started whispering. Come to find out Gerard Butler was also dining at the restaurant! The waiter placed us in the table right next to his, (coincidentally?) and I sat directly across from him (on purpose, of course :) We were exceptionally giggly throughout the meal, acting like true Americans. I ordered an ostrich burger (my first one yet!). It was good, but extremely messy. Regardless of the fact that Gerard Butler was sitting in direct view 4 feet away from me, I continued to stuff my face, and engulf my extremely messy ostrich burger. It was so delicious! Upon leaving the restaurant my friend asked him if she could get a picture with him. We all met Jerry and took a picture with him. We then chatted with him for about 5 minutes about what we were doing in Cape Town. When we left the restaurant, we were in complete shock, and couldn't stop talking about it. Best celebrity to meet ever! (I loved the movie "PS I Love You":)

Besides meeting Gerard Butler, this week has been pretty normal. It has been really hot here (in the 80's), which has been nice. I love wearing shorts! I have gone swimming in the pool twice in the last 24 hours despite the fact that it is 65 degrees. Last night I went swimming after my run instead of showering. Don't judge me. And then after class today I went swimming again. I laid in the sun while doing homework. It was marvelous. I absolutely love looking at the view of Devil's Peak, as I lie underneath the huge tree in our garden.

I am continuing to do research on my SANTA topic. I spent the whole day at the National Library on Monday, and I was super depressed. It is not a very fun library. Tomorrow I have to go there again (for my third time in 6 days...). Hopefully it will be the last time that I have to spend in the stuffy and old library...I only have three more weeks of classes, and then finals! YAY!

Research, baboons, ubuntu, and other Cape Town randomness, Oct 2

On Friday I woke up and went running. I am very proud of the fact that I have been waking up before 8 am every day for over two weeks. My favorite part is running through the small park on the way home. There are always lots of squirrels and awkward pheasants running around, and the way the sun shines through the green leaves makes me happy :) I normally just run around the track in the morning, because I am lazy. If I am feeling adventurous I will either run to Rondebosch commons, which is a huge open field with trails and flowers, or I will run along the highway. I have yet to run on any trails, but since my routes are starting to seem a bit stale, I expect that I will soon be branching out.

After I went running I quickly got ready and rushed off to class. I practically had to run up the hill, because I wasn’t as quick as I thought I was. I entered class a few minutes late, sweaty due to the summer weather that we have been having. As much as I enjoy the heat, it is making this walk up the hill a lot harder. In class I watched a documentary screening about women subjected to violence during the Apartheid era, or at least that’s what I figured it was about... I was late, parts of the film were in Afrikaans, and it was filmed in the 1980’s on a low budget. All of these components made if very hard for me to actually decipher what the film as about.

After class I decided to get started on my research for my first paper due this month. For this I had to go to the National Library of South Africa. It is in downtown Cape Town. Unfortunately, I have to write a 3500 word paper on the South African National Tuberculosis Association, so I had to go all the way to the national library to do some intense research. I took the Jammie down to the Hiddingh campus. From there I walked along the government avenue to the National Library. The Government Avenue was gorgeous and was lined with huge green trees. I walked past the Company Gardens and art galleries. I will have to come back here after my research is over and have a summer picnic with tea.

Unfortunately, the National Library was very disappointing. It barely had any of the journals/news articles that I needed. The librarians were not very nice either. I will have to go back on Monday to finish looking through the material there, so hopefully the Friday librarians don’t work on Mondays...

But now it is the weekend, and because the libraries are closed, I don’t have to worry about research! On Friday night we celebrated Jen’s 24^th birthday. Jen is from Norway, and is one of the girls that I connected with on my Botswana trip. Liz, Jen, Ann, two other friends, and I went to a dinner restaurant venue called “Stardust.” I use the word venue because it was a two for one dinner and performance deal. We were served Mediterranean food by waiters that were also performing arts students. In between taking orders and bringing our food they would sing and performs for us. They performed music ranging from the musical Chicago to Buffalo Springfield. It was a lot of fun, and lasted until 1 am. Unfortunately I had to wake up at 5:30 am the next morning…I didn’t know that Stardust would be such a long dinner experience, but nonetheless I am very glad that I went.

On Saturday morning I woke up at 5:30 am. I was invited by my friend Kate to help out with a volunteer project with the Mountain and Ski Club (a club which I am singed up for, but had yet to get involved with). We got up at this ridiculous hour on Saturday to set up a treasure hunt for a group of high school students from neighboring townships. We drove to a forest near Constantia and set up a course for the treasure hunt, using a map of the forest that the students would later follow to gather the clues. While we were setting up the clues we came across a massive troop of baboons. There were at least 30 of them. Baboons travel in large familial groups called “troops.” Baboons are really very strange looking, but I must admit that the baby baboons were pretty cute as they rode along on their parent’s backs. Although the massive amount of monkeys was a bit intimidating, especially since they have been known to attack people for food, we were not too scared because the “baboon watchers” were nearby. The “baboon watchers” are a group of local guys that are paid by the national park to follow the baboons around everyday and make sure that they don’t cause too much trouble or damage. The baboons were fighting which was fun to watch. One baboon also climbed to the top of a huge rock wall and proceeded to climb down the artificial rock wall using the handholds. It was really funny to watch. The same baboon then tried to steal my friend’s jacket, which he had carelessly left on the ground next to the wall. The “baboon watchers” had to intervene at this point, as the baboon started to run off carrying his jacket. Baboon do not senselessly conduct their muggings. They will take anything. After the baboon experience we headed back to our basecamp where we met the high school students.

After a brief introduction we sent the high school students off on the treasure hunt. While they were busy hunting, we walked to the nearby farmer’s market. It was the most magical farmer’s market I have ever been to. The food was AMAZING, as always, and there were so many samples…Imagine Costco, but with gourmet home-cooked foods. I bought a homemade quiche and a brownie…very healthy. I loved it! I will definitely miss the amazing farmer’s markets of South Africa. After the students finished the hunt we had a brai, where we cooked some boerwors and bread on a stick. (you cook the bread just like you would a hotdog over the fire….but instead it is bread dough. delicious.) The baboons returned at this point and tried to steal our boerwors. We threw rocks at them, and they retreated. After eating we lounged around the picnic area in the woods. I was extremely tired at this point, since I only had slept for 4 hours on Friday night. The large amount of food consumed also didn’t help my tired state. We left the forest at 4 pm and travelled through the scenic route of Constantia back to Rondebosch.

Once back home I immediately fell asleep for 2 hours. I woke up to what I thought was Liz knocking on my door. I opened the door only to find a huge dog wanting to come and hang out with me. His name was “Griffin” and he was Hanli’s friends dog. He was huge, and was literally jumping up on my door to try and open it. Because my door is glass, I thought that this probably wasn’t the best idea. Griffin wouldn’t listen to me.

After partially waking up from my two hour nap I went up to the Student Y for the Potjie Indaba, where they were discussing the concept of “ubuntu.” The Potjie Indaba was a traditional style dinner where they made Potjie stew. They were talking about the notion of ubuntu, an African humanistic philosophy about recognizing and celebrating the importance of community and the humanity of those around us. It was an inspiring talk, prompting us to find our identity in Christ, and urging us to share his love with those around us through service and care of our fellow humanity.

And now it is Saturday night and I am planning on going to sleep soon. Tomorrow I will go to Church on Main again. At 4 pm I will be meeting up with Liz, Ann and Jen to have a Jane Austen marathon/dinner cooking party (and no, we are not having Jane Austen themed food). I have been place in charge of making the dessert…brownies? I think yes.