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 :)