7am Game Drive

We woke up bright and early today and got onto the jeep for our second game drive. It was freezing and dark, but they gave us blankets. The first part of the drive wasn't very eventful, I think the animals were still sleeping or something. We went into the lion cage and they were feasting on a cow caucus, I'm glad I didn't eat before we went out. The sunrise was amazing, the different colors kept peaking out from behind the mountains. We also saw warthogs, cheetahs, and crocodiles this morning. The breakfast buffet was ready when we got back, it was almost better than dinner! We had to checkout right after, and we decided not to go horseback riding since we already went on the trail twice. It's more money I will have for home. After the reserve we took a three hour bus ride back to Wellwood :( and had a sum up class at 7:30. We all sat around and gave input to Professor Andre so the Study Abroad office can make the trip even better for next year.

Welcome Drink

YAY Safari day!!!We headed off on a two and a half hour drive to Aquila Game Reserve and stopped at the Language Monument for lunch and pictures. We also received our grades for our time at Rocklands Camp. Meganne and I received a group grade of a 94, which is great. However, while at the monument and eating lunch we heard that others had received 98's. We both felt that the groups that received these high grades did not do as much or put forth as much effort as we had. But life's not fair I guess, oh well.
Champagne was waiting for us as we got off the bus and arrived at Aquila. We then went to our cottages, two people in each. The cottage was adorable, two full beds, built in closet, fireplace, rock bath, and outside rock shower. At four o'clock we went on the first drive, the jeeps were awesome, felt like a roller coaster at times because it was so high up. We saw Water Buffalo, Hippos, Rhinos; Springbok, Zebra, Giraffe's, Lions, Jekels, and Ostrich's. We pulled into a big patch of dirt and waited for the other two trucks, the drivers then pulled out a cooler and trays of snacks. We all ate and drank in the middle of the reserve, it was amazing, there were mountains all around and the sun on one side, moon on the other.
The 7pm dinner buffet was the best! I was so sick of the chicken patties at Wellwood, this was a nice relief. One aggravating part of the day was that they told us due to the World Cup, they were not doing ATV or Horseback riding! They changed their mind and then said only six could go horseback riding. Many of us were not told of this, including myself. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

Bloody Chicken

I was expecting today to be really boring, we had three different sessions to meet with people from various businesses in Cape Town. Our first stop was at the Platteklip Wash House in Table Mountain National Park. We met with Quintin Vaughn, the tourism manager at the one point in the park. He described the different things people can do at the park and the different places they can stay overnight. The location of the meeting was so cute, it was a lodge, but had contemporary fixtures and two lofts with steel stairs. After, we met back up with Ivan Groenhof and he spoke to us about The Rim of Africa and the various trips he takes people one. He started this business with one other person, they are in the beginning stages. I really enjoyed listening to him, although it was a little slow at time, we got to hear about his different careers and how he ended up
in the one he is in now.
We then drove deeper into Cape Town and stopped for lunch before meeting with Cape Town Tourism. A couple of us went to Spur, a local sit down Rib/Burger joint. I went the safe route and ordered a chicken burger, since I don't think the beef burgers are real. I took one bite into my chicken burger, looked at it and saw blood. I guess they don't clean their chicken as well as we do, that was the grossest thing ever, I spit it right out!!! The tourism meeting was by far the best of the day, we met with Lianne Burton the Director of Marketing and she talked to us about the effect of the World Cup on Cape Town. She did a forty-five minute presentation, and at no time did i check the time or want the presentation to be over. Her information was very interesting and appealing.
Meganne and I broke off from the group after the meeting and met up with her friend at a bar on the Water Front. We stayed for a couple drinks and were able to catch the USA game and England game at the same time. Go USA!! We eventually took the train again, and that is the last time we take it at night. It took us an hour, the train had to stop at every stop and at random times, that were not even stops.

Hiking!!

Went on the best hike of my life...so far!!! Today was amazing, we started at 9:30 and headed up a 750 meter (.46mile) high mountain that overlooked a valley and the ocean. The trail was full of twists and turns that had the occasional look out point. I decided to wear Capri leggings, bad idea, my legs were all marked up from the brush that we had to walk through. I was terrified that I was going to see a snake, but we were lucky and didn't run into any. When we finally made it to the top, after about a two hour hike, the views were unbelievable. Seriously, when you guys see the pictures, your going to think they are backdrops. At the top, our guide Ivan read us a poem and then told us to find a spot about 20feet away from any other person. We had to stay in that spot for an hour and reflect on the poem and think about a couple questions he asked; Is it the journey or the destination that is important? How did the trail reflect your life? I think that the journey is the most important part, the destination is always amazing, but the journey is memorable and made up of many great experiences.
After descending the mountain and looking up at it for the tenth time, we all walked away with a sense of accomplishment and many memories. I'll probably take away the memory of one of the girls talking on the phone for 15 minutes while climbing down the mountain, complaining to her father about how she hates hiking. We also went to see the Penguins at Boulder Beach, there weren't as many as I thought but they were still really cute!!!

Today was probably one of the top five since I've been here.

FIFA World Cup Game!

Today was the day! We went into Cape Town around 10am, Meganne and I went separate from the group so we could do a little shopping. I picked up a couple T's for Hepher and Cameron, hope they like them. As soon as we left the store it started raining, but we headed down the Fan Walk anyways. We ended up running into part of the group at a really cool bar, so we stayed for a couple of Cider's(fruity beer) and dried off. I think we were the loudest group in the bar! We all left to go to the stadium around 12 and joined the parade of people walking towards the gates. Oh I forgot to mention, when we got on the bus in the a.m. we did a drawing for who would get the lower level seats, there were only five. Meganne and I were both picked!!
The stadium is amazing!! I took lots of pictures, so don't worry, they will be up soon. Our seats were parallel with the field, 25 rows up. The game started of slow, 1 - 0 at half time. Portugal ended the game 7 - 0!!! It was their biggest victory so far in the Cup. The best shot of the game was taken by Ronaldo when the ball rolled off his back, over his head and he just simply kicked it into the goal. You guys should try to see if it is on YouTube, it was hilarious. We booked out off the stadium a little early and headed to The Waterfront to do some more shopping and left shortly after at 5.
So we dropped off laundry in the a.m. before leaving, we had piles of clothes and nothing left in our closet. We walked in for dinner and were told that not all the laundry was done, of course....ours wasn't done!!! Tomorrow we are hiking and we have nothing to wear! No idea what to do, we'll see how it goes lol

Rocklands Camp

Finally, the day ,most of us have been waiting for...camp week!! We arrived at Rocklands around 11am today and had a discussion with Shaun and Vyan, the camp leaders. We talked about all the activities we were going to do with the kids and we also brought up new ideas that were incorporated into the schedule.
After lunch, I volunteered to be the dishwasher, of course. I didn't mind doing 30+ dishes since the window over the sink looked out over the ocean and mountains. We then played a team building game of Human Foosball, which was a lot more fun than I thought. Since it rained all day we couldn't do the outdoor rope course so we did a 30' rock wall instead! I decided to tackle the easy side first then went over to the outward sloped wall. We all cheered for each other as we went up. We went to the adventure center common room to do group bracelets to unite each person. Meganne and I had team Switzerland, white bracelets. A couple of the girls had choreographed a dance that we performed when the kids arrived at camp. We got the dance down after about an hour of practice, Shaun and Vyan loved it!!
The whole day was a great bonding experience for the group, we saw each others strengths and weaknesses and helped each other through them. We found out who could or couldn't dance, what music they liked, and if they liked to clean. The kids arrive tomorrow.

Update

Hey everyone, just wanted to let you know I will not have phone or Internet until late Friday night. We will be at Rocklands camp leading about 60 kids from townships in activities for three days. On Friday we will be going to Robben Island with the kids and then a fan park to watch a game for the rest of the night. For the most part, things are going well here. I am sick of getting woken up at night by people that go out to the bar and think its okay to come back screaming. I can't wait to sleep in my own bed and know what food I am eating. The weather has been decent for the most part, only 4 or 5 days of rain. I'm a little worried about the weather at Rocklands because it is situated on a hill overlooking the ocean with a mountain behind it....really windy. Looking forward to the sun back home! More blogs next weekend.

Camp Planning

What I like about this trip so far....
1. Meeting new people
2. Experiencing a new culture
3. Making new memories
4. Stepping out of my comfort zone

Today was a class/camp planning day. After breakfast we all met and talked about the trip so far. What expectations haven't been met, what's been good, how we can change things, etc...We also did a fun exercise that resembled the seven steps of management. I was the leader, while Meganne and Kaitlyn were the blindfolded workers. We had to build a tall sturdy cup tower, they could not see and I had to direct without touching the cups. Our team won. The group as a whole met in the living room to discuss what we wanted to do at Rocklands, I felt that we discussed the plans very well, I wish we had more group time like that, instead of spending money and drinking.

Vino!!!!

Today I really feel like the group bonded as a whole. The day I've been waiting for :) Our first stop was at J.C. Le Roux. The setting of the vineyard was beautiful. We took a mini tour of the winery and then sat down to sample about five different sparking wines. I ended up with five bottles when I got on the bus to head to lunch. Meganne and I thought ahead and bought some cheese and crackers to munch on during the day so we didn't have to purchase lunch. Instead we walked around the cute town of Franschhoek/Stellenbosch, I got a gorgeous pair of earrings, I decided to splurge...mom if your reading this, you can wear them too :) After lunch we went to tour Solms Delta. They had set up a table outside under the sun for us to sample their wines. Everyone is so hospitable here, I love it. We really enjoyed the day as a group, there was a lot of bonding going on today, maybe because of the wine, but either way, we had a great time.
After dinner, I was worn out, we had a great dinner and then I caught up on entries. There was a plan set to go to The Grand West Casino for the night, because we sometimes get bored at night, since we are staying in a "sleepy" town. Meganne and I decided we did not want to go because we were tired and did not want to spend money. Unfortunately we were told we had to go because we asked for group bonding time. Not in a good mood or dressed for the occasion, we headed for the Casino. We went ice skating, bowling, had another glass of wine, and played in the arcade. I made the best of the night. We ended up leaving two people at the casino because they were not at the bus in time, hopefully it will teach them a lesson.

Sports, Sports & more Sports

First stop today was the Rugby Stadium located in Newlands, we saw the museum and glimpsed into the stadium, it was closed to the public. We were then given a tour of the Sports Science Institute of South Africa. The facility was amazing, they had top of the line equipment to cater to every ones needs. We went on the Cricket grounds also, not too interesting, considering I know nothing about the sport. It was in a great location, cute little restaurants and mountains in the background.
We also sat through a lecture about the Two Oceans Marathon and Cycle Tour. The marketing manager, Stefanie Schultzen, did an excellent job of informing us about the "world's most beautiful marathon." David Bellairs, the force behind the Cape Argus Cycle Tour also gave a very informational session.
We ended the day with going to the Fan Fest in attempt to experience the opening events of the first major event in South Africa. We managed to see a parade, not as elaborate as American parades, maybe because it was last minute. We were then scrutinized for not wanting to drink, so we broke off on our own and waiting two hours for the bus. At this point, I do not feel like there is any group, we are just broken into little mini-groups. Hopefully this will turn around after or before Rocklands Camp, where we will be leading kids...so excited!!!

Beautiful Views

We enjoyed a great breakfast of tea and "fat cakes" at Vicky's, they sound funny, but taste amazing. After thanking Vicky for her amazing hospitality, we headed for the District Six museum located in Cape Town. It was very interesting to walk around the museum and learn the history behind why they demolished the township and how it affected thousands of people. The families that were affected are still, to this day, trying to get back their land. I've noticed that a lot of people around here, take action instead of just standing around. They don't think about what they do not have, they make things happen and move on with their lives.
After District 6 we got a quick bite to eat and headed to meet with John, head of Cape Town's Communication Department. He spoke to us about the different things involved when planning an event as large as the FIFA World Cup. As he was speaking, I was thinking about how much all of his information related to all the different classes I've taken at JWU. It's nice to see how class material relates to the real world.
Taking the cable car up Table Mountain was amazing, wow, I feel like I've been using that world a lot, it was the worlds second largest rotating cable car. It's very hard to get great views on Table Mountain, it always depends on if the fog is rolling in or not. One minute you get crystal clear pictures on the city, mountains, and oceans and the next minute its as white as snow and you can not see 50 feet in front of you.

Once in a Lifetime

We visited the second largest township today, Khayelitsha, it's much easier to pronounce than it looks. We were shown three different schools and toured one of the fan parks that it situated on the outskirts of the township. It's great that the people of Khayelitsha have a place to go and see the game for free. They get to experience something amazing that is happening to their country.
When we arrived at each school, we brought lollops and coloring books for the children, which was a great idea, they loved it all. When we pulled up on the bus, they greeted us with song, dance, and huge smiles on their faces. It's amazing how happy they are on a daily basis, when they have very little. Americans wake up each day and are able to do so many different things, I feel that we are not as grateful as we should be. We have so much stuff in our lives, yet we don't seem to be as happy as the people in Khayelitsha or Masiphumelele.
The one school that I really enjoyed going to was the Women for Peace one. As soon as we got there we were greeted with a dance and then had an amazing lunch, much better than at the lodge. The kids then put on a great skit that consisted of dancing, singing, and acting. The schools in the townships are not as fortunate as ours, they have so little supplies, yet their students are so great at what they do. If parents want their children to go to school, they have to pay 150 ZAR ($25 a month), that seems like very little, but parents only make about 80 ZAR a day. Imagine what these kids could do if they had the supplies we have in the states.
We stayed at Vicky's Bed & Breakfast for the night, which is in the actual township. I admit, it was a little scary staying in a place that had animal intestines drying on clothes lines and lamb jaw bones scattered throughout the streets. Meganne and I were supposed to stay in the other one story B&B across the street, but we felt more comfortable to stay upstairs on the couches at Vicky's. I really enjoyed staying here, Vicky was very welcoming and understanding, her kids were a joy to be around, and her food was Delicious. I just still Can not get around the fact that the people in the townships are so happy and welcoming, it's amazing.

Amazing Experience

Controversy began early today when we decided to figure out what to bring to the township of Masiphumelele. I figured that since we were going to walk around their streets and take pictures, we could at least bring something to give to their school. Meg and I went to Pick-n-pay to buy a 10kg bag of rice and some milk that they could use. I guess some people thought it would be rude to show up without asking what the people need...but everyone has their own opinions, it was just a little disappointing/aggravating that everyone couldn't join together.
When we drive into Masiphumelele I had a mix of emotions. At first, I was really excited to see the township and school, I wanted to experience what they do on a daily basis. I felt rude that we were driving in on a coach bus and walking around with Northface jackets, Uggs, name brand jeans and backpacks. I was reluctant to take pictures of the houses and people because they do not come to our homes and snap away with their cameras.
We visited the primary school that was only ten years old. The hard part was watching the kids have a blast during their PT time. They were congregated on two areas of black top wearing their school uniform that cost 300 ZAR ($50,) they did not have gym clothes or proper shoes. Across the blacktop was a fenced off area/field that they were not allowed to use because it was too dangerous. The schools dream is to have a sports field, they drew up plans; the field will cost $250,000. Did I mention the kids get 30 minutes of gym each week?
Before we left the school we were able to visit classrooms, this was the highlight of the trip so far! At first the kids were reluctant to meet us, but within five minutes they were pouring out of classrooms to meet us in the hallway. MY sunglasses were a huge hit, every kid wanted to pose with them. At one point I was literally covered by 6 or 7 kids, I needed help by 3 people to get them off me when we had to leave.
I really enjoyed today because the kids were so welcoming. I hate how they need so much and I had nothing to give besides rice and milk. They need shoes, uniforms, pencils, pens, soccer balls, a field, etc. The government has helped with housing, but the $ only goes so far.
Tomorrow we are going to another township where we are all bringing coloring books and lollipops.

Cape Town

Today was a boring day to write about, but we learned a lot. We walked through an area of Cape Town that had all the government buildings. There was also a beautiful garden that had fountains, statues, and hundreds of different plants. It also had squirrels that's seems to follow us. The museum we visited had history on Africa as well as marine and mammal life. Enough said.
The V&A waterfront was fun because we got to eat lunch, we were all starving. Six of us decided to sit and eat lunch outside at a really busy restaurant. I ordered a safe meal of chicken stir fry, which was delicious. John had ordered ostrich, which was passed around the table. I am happy to say that i tried ostrich and actually enjoyed it! We also go to see the World Cup Stadium for the first time from Signal Hill. The views were amazing, just like everywhere else in South Africa.
I am enjoying the trip so far, everyone is getting along great. We were told that this may be the depression stage of culture shock, but Meganne and I had a roomy bonding talk, and we really understood where each is coming from.

Classroom Day

So... to sum up last night, I felt like I was a parent making sure her kids were home safe. I came to the conclusion that when I am a parent I will use the don't tell method when the kids go out. As long as i don't know, it won't bother me. Starting at 9am we were in the dining room turned "classroom" until 4pm. We listened to our tour guide Frans and another guy we are doing a survey for in a couple of weeks. Basically, we had a pretty relaxed day, learned a lot...more tomorrow :)

Bus Tour

After waking up at 10pm last night and thinking it was morning, I fell back asleep to try to catch up the the actual time here, instead of NY time. Breakfast in the a.m. was slightly better than last nights "meal," if you like bacon that is 90% fat and 10% meat. I stayed with a safe meal of toast, yogurt, and cereal with less than 1/4 cup of whole milk(grosss.)

Our first stop of the day was at Duiker Island where we met Peachy Boy, a 300 year old (animal years) seal that weighed about 500 lbs! A man that trained him had taught him a trick; which was to wait till he says "go" to eat the raw fish the guy hung from his mouth. You guys will get a kick out of the pictures we took with him, luckily we didn't get any fish guts on us. After the photo shoot, we took a 10 minute ferry ride to the island that was adorned with thousands of mostly male seals. So everyone knows who Ceasar Milan is right? Well if not, he is known as the "dog whisperer" in the US....but over here in South Africa, they have a guy that is known as the "Lion Whisperer." Either the guy is out of his mind, or he was put in front of a green screen to take a picture of him hugging a lion...guess we will never know.

WE arrived at Cape Point after being shown the difference between a male and female Ostrich ( either black or tan.) The views of the cape were amazing, but they got even better as we scaled to the top where the lighthouse was situated. Even though Meganne and I were out of breath because we decided it would be fun to run up to the top, we still enjoyed the breathtaking view. I could not stop looking at this one bay with white sand overlapped by hews of blue, turquoise, teal and crystal clear water. The highlight of the day was at the bottom of the hill when we got lunch. Christina had gotten a personal pizza for lunch and decided to eat outside. As soon as she went to take a bite, a bird swooped down and took the slice out of her hand. IF that wasn't enough, another bird saw a piece of pizza peeking out of the box, so it too, swooped down and took that slice along with the one connected to it. I haven't even mentioned the rat they saw before they moved to their second eating spot.

The same lumpy green/yellow, tomorrow night it will probably be orange, soup was served to us. As we gulped it down, Meganne and I decided to pass on the main course and just ate bread and peanut butter. The main course was burgers and fries, as John took a bite of his burger, he quickly figure out that it was not beef, I am so happy I decided to skip that meal.

All in all, the day turned out to be great. I'll touch on the night's festivities in tomorrows post because there is way too much to say.

What is this?!

I really wish I could fall asleep and stay asleep on planes. I was reading in "People" magazine that Ellen Pompeo gets her best sleep on planes...yeah right! I probably got a total of five hours of sleep, it doesn't help having long legs, because then you have to move every 30 minutes. We arrived in Cape Town at 8am...2am NY time, I was extremely tired, but excited for the next 25 days :)

After exchanging ,money and buying phones/calling cards, we took a 45 minute bus ride to Wellwood Lodge in Fish Hoek. Once we arrived, we were shown to our rooms, ours was the smallest one! The room is actually smaller than the first room I had at JWU, I have to sit on the bed while Meganne gets ready, because there is not enough room to move around. We crammed our stuff into the room and went straight to Main Street to stretch our legs and get a feel for the town. We really just wanted to get on the Internet to catch up with people at home :)

The ring of the dinner bell motivated us to gather like cattle into the dinning room, eager for food. A green lumpy soup was put in front of us, but it was surprisingly good/different. The buffet line started, and since I was first in line, he had a plate ready for me, with a huge portion. My plate consisted of vegetables, salad, bread, and a lasagna type dish that had a creamy gravy type sauce that supposedly substituted marina sauce. For all those that know me, I am not as picky as I used to be, so I cleared my plate of everything except for a pill of the lumpy beef? gravy concoction. One of the women came to clear the table, she took one look at my plate, asked if I was done (which I was) and looked at me with a look of disgust, anger and disappointment because I said yes. she then left my plate on the table, but cleared everyone else's. Five minutes went by, another women came to clear the rest of the table, looked at my plate with the napkin on it, and turned around! At this point, I felt horrible, and decided to start swallowing the mush instead of chewing it. Let me just finish by saying I will not be eating tomorrow night dinner!

I hope everyone enjoyed their good ol' American dinner!!

Very boring airport post :)

We finally arrived in London after a six hour flight on British Air, best airline that i've been on so far. I switched from the absolute middle seat of the 777 to the window seat next to Meganne. I watched Sex & the City, but fell asleep during the end of it, and was woken up by the person behind me kicking my seat.
When we got to into the airport we went to find the Yotel Meganne booked so we could shower and sleep in an actual bed. Little did we know, the Yotel was at the landside of terminal 4 and not the airside. It took us about an hour to find the tiny pod-like room that we could barely fit it. I was too tired to care about the twin size top bunk, I passed passed out for a full 4 uninterrupted hours!
I'm going to stop talking about what we did in the airport, because it is really uninteresting. Except that I bought a really cute pair of Havianna flip flops :)

Off to Africa!!

Hey everyone!

Today started off with a three hour drive down to JFK airport to catch my 10:40 flight into London. Thankfully Dad was able to drive me down so I didn't have to take a shuttle and leave even earlier. Dakota decided to join us in the ride! Unfortunately, I did not finish all three essays that I needed to do, but maybe I'll have time in South Africa...guess this teaches me not to procrastinate :) I arrived at JFK with about two hours to spare so I met up with Meganne, my soon to be roomate for my last year at Johnson & Wales, and we ate some Gelatto(mango and coconut, my favorite). Our flight was delayed about 10 minutes, but we have an eight hour layover tomorrow, so there is no rush. We'll see how the flight goes...