Beach Bummin' (Literally...)

Yesterday CIEE took us on a trip to visit the volunteer sites we are going to be working at during the semester. This was a shit show of a trip- the driver had NO idea where we were going the entire time and we were trapped on a full bus with no air conditioner in the scorching heat. By the time we made it to the actual community centers, we could only have like 10 minutes long rushed tours through the facilities. Even though they were really short-lived, it was pretty cool to see the type of work that non-profits do here. One center called the Ark is a Christian Community Center that houses a school, nursery, senior citizen home, convalescent home, and so much more. I was so impressed by the amount of work they do~ it makes me realize what I like about Christianity. The babies at this home are the prettiest things I've ever seen- children are so beautiful, so fresh faced and bright eyed. They wave shyly at us the whole time we take the tour. Maybe my hatred of children is turning around? haha, let's not be too hopeful... The senior citizens are also so cute~ their beds are all piled high with old stuffed animals and colorful quilts. They are all sitting outside and gossiping with each other, it's great that community centers like this offer a place for older people to live out their days in comfort and company. We also went to Leap high school which offers math and science classes to disadvantage black youth who historically have been denied this type of advanced education. The last place we visit is a hospital for patients with TB. We barely get to see it though before we have to get back on the bus because we had no time. 

Now we're off to Muizenberg Beach- the closest beach to our area of Cape Town. Clearly, me and Lindsey are SOOO excited to go to the beach, being true California girls at heart. But by this point we're so exhausted from the shit show of a bus ride that I fall asleep with my head hanging on the bus and Lindsey is part dying from starvation. Once we finally get to the beach, I completely poo-poo the surfing lesson I was supposed to take and instead go find some food. The beach's waves don't look that big anyways so I think that I can do surfing some other time in Cape Town's sharf infested waters. Also, the "beach" is basically a 4 foot strip of sand along the coast... where the heck is all the beach to this beach? whatever, time to find some GRUB. We go hunting and gathering for some food and finally find this surf shack with cheap fried food. Linds gets a burger and "chips" (they call fries "chips" here, so what the hell are chips called??) and I get fish (the fish is called SNOEK? haha, but I try it anyways...)and chips~ all this food was about $3, but turns out you get what you pay for because this was THE WORST MEAL I'VE EVER EATEN! I think that my digestive system still has not recovered. We take our food to eat on the beach but the beach is so gosh darn windy that the sand is whipping our legs and our hair is out of control. We attempt to do the cool beach thing but so much sand gets into our food that we quickly retreat with our tail between our legs. We eat on a concrete stoop instead. with pigeons eyeing us evilly. Yes, pigeons. in South Africa. I also have sand plastered to every part of my face and body and hair and I want to slap someone. I'm eating the sandy snoek and fries fast because I'm starving, but they taste AWFUL. They're overly salty and greasy and the fish has the skin on and bones in. i eat with my fingers. pure class. I can't stop thinking that I should stop eating but I can't because I'm so damn  hungry. I'm STILL talking about this meal to Linds saying how disgusting it was and how traumatized I am by it. Thank god we find a cute gelato shop next to the beach and get some DEEEElicious gelato- cookies and cream, chocolate brownie, and coffeee... yum yum yum! (ironically the chocolate brownie flavor was called "Very Yummy"!) 

Now to the best part of this beach trip. My stomach is pissed at me, my body is covered in sand and i have never been more ready to BOUNCE. We're supposed to take the train back to Mowbray (where the dorms are) and Rondebosch (where a lot of the international houses are). The train is R$4.20 (which is $.42) and I'm confused at how cheap this is considering the CIEE leaders told us to bring R11 for the train. Turns out our SOLmates told us to buy third class tickets and so we're like "eh, whatevs, we don't need to sit down! we're in freaking Africa!" Little do we know that we will be in the worst possible train experience ever. ever. EVER. Let me preface this story by saying that I have been in crowded subways before. I've survived LA, NYC, Boston, Seoul, and Latin American public transport and NEVER have I endured trauma like this train. We were fine and dandy for a couple stops and then more and more people started getting on the train. Then at the stop of death, a HUGE MOB of working class people (or more like smelly unemployed homeless people) literally RAN onto the train with a look of terror and panic on their faces. They kept coming until we thought they were going to break Lindsey's bones and we were squished up against the wall- practically on top of the women sitting down in front of us. Lindsey said that she thought the people entering the train were running away from something or being chased because they ran on in such a fervor. The women sitting in front of us were really sweet and told us to sit on their laps, but we managed to stand up- they still held onto our bags for us though. This experience reminded me of the Girl Talk Pep Rally at Harvard which was the most crowded place I've EVER been in (where Rox got pushed under the stage and had both her shoes knocked off and Sophie was off her feet the entire time between two people while her bag was squished between two other people a couple feet away...) This train MAY have beat that. Yea. it was bad. Plus a homeless man breathed his very gross breath in my face. Yea. Welcome to Africa. 

Later that night after me and Linds had taken showers and gotten over our PTSD from the train incident, we started planning our trip to see the world famous sand dunes of Namibia. This has always been the number one thing on my list that I've wanted to see in the entire world ever since I read the Little Prince (the whole book takes place in an enormous desert and I always fantasized about the beautiful sand dunes~). We're going with a travel agency on safari to the Sossuvlei Desert and though I cannot even begin to pronounce the name of this desert, the woman at the travel agency manages to figure out what trip I want. So excited- we're leaving Sunday and will get back Thursday. 24 hour bus ride... yay. Namibia is apparently the only African country that was once a German colony- Namibia was also invaded by South Africa in the mid 1900s and remained under SA's control until the 1960s... weird, eh? Will report more on this trip later~ :)

After planning, me and Linds head over with Chelsea (Brooklyn friend) and a couple other girls to a bar where Chelsea's Zimbabwean farmer roommate and his friends are chilling. I want to take up any offer to meet/talk to African students and so even though I'm exhausted, I throw some clothes on and turn on krunk mode. This ends up being the most fun I've ever had since I got here. I never meet Chelsea's roommate, but I do meet so many African students. This bar is apparently the spot on Thursday nights cuz the DJ is awesome and the crowd is down. Everyone is black expect for the few Americans there and it's great to finally mingle with some South Africans. Everyone is really friendly and interested- I meet an inspiring rapper named Tehn who looks and acts just like a buffer version of Dave Chappelle. He's awesome and so funny- he insists we have to come see him rap tomorrow night at another club, and we sing the lyrics to every hip hop song together.  All his friends are fresh and we have a great night just chilling with all different kinds of people in the club. My first taste of legit krunky town Africa and me likey.