Quick Note Before I Go

Hey guys! Sorry it's been a while since I've posted. I've been out and about travelling around this past month. Namibia was great--lotsa sandboarding and hanging out on the beach and dunes. Went to Durban for a bit, hiked in the Drakensburg mountains and saw bushman paintings that are 1000's of years old. So sweet! I also went up to Lesotho (a country on the top of a mountain that in completely surrounded by SA) and had a drink at the highest pub in all of Africa. We were above the cloud line and it was absolutely stunning! We also layed on the beach a bit in Durban. Other than that, I've just been living it up here in Cape Town before I leave tomorrow night. This place has changed my life and I don't think I would be the person I am today if I had not come here. I'll be stateside soon so just ask me sometime--I'd love to tell you all about it! I'll post some reflections on the semester when I get home as well so if there is anyone out there still reading this thing, you can hear my thoughts.

I'm not going to sleep until I leave tomorrow night (which might be difficult because I got about 4 hours of sleep last night), but I only have a few hours left and I don't want to spend them sleeping. Just to let y'all know, I'll be in New York for a few days before I actually get home, but come Wednesday evening at 9.13, I'll be landed in STL and taking on the the winter. Hard to believe because it's sooooo hot here! I spent 12 hours at the beach yesterday! Just trying to soak it all in before I leave!

Ok my good people, I'm off to enjoy this beautiful city for one last time. Next post will be from the other side. See you soon!!

love always,
lindsay

Making A Difference

Hey guys- just thought I'd give you a quick update on life in Africa....

As many of you know, my program ended on Saturday and most of my housemates went back to the united states. I've talked to all of them since they've been home and it's so weird to think that they are actually living over there now. I miss them so much! I didn't realize how much I loved them and how close I had become with them until they left. The house is so quiet....

Tonight we decided to make some noise in the house so we invited most of our African friends over for a braai at our place. We found a whole bunch of frozen meat left from the other housemates and since we're getting kicked out of our house tomorrow, we had to use it all up. It was so awesome to be hanging out in the kitchen with about 8 of my new African friends. It was crazy, I don't think I've been so at home with such a diverse group of people. I was sitting next to my good friend Gerald who is from Kenya...across the table from me was Tate and Imran, both friends from Zimbabwe. Thapz and Lindiswe stopped by for a bit (not entirely sure where they are from, but fun nonetheless). Lowena grew up in Cape Town and we spent most of the evening laughing so hard that our sides hurt. What an amazing community of people! Even though it's so hard being here without my housemates, I have friends here in Cape Town who will jump at a moments notice to come and hang out. It's times like these where I really appreciate this place.... :)

In other news, and let me tell you....this is the good stuff.....
This past week before everyone had left, I had my final Xhosa exam on Monday (which I think I passed! thanks for the prayers for that one). Tuesday our program director cooked us a fantastic homemade meal in our house. Wednesday was quite possibly one of the most rewarding days of my entire experience here. Wednesday we all had our presentations to show what research and service work that we had been doing all semester to others in the community. Marianne and I explained our IT class and one of our women gave her presentation which was absolutely outstanding! She had the crowd laughing at all her crazy jokes! Let me tell you, for a woman who is not confident in herself, it was such a proud moment.

We called all the women up on stage and gave them all certificates with pictures we had printed of our whole class. After they had all "graduated" one of our women got up to the microphone (her name is Nomsa) and started thanking us in Xhosa to a crowd of close to 2oo people. Now, I don't know what she said, but all the Xhosa speaking people in the audience kept nodding and applauding so I think it was a good thing....Anyways, she then turned to english and said,

"Thank you girls so much for what you have taught me. Now, because of you, I have a full time job using my computer skill for an NGO here in Cape Town."

I almost peed my pants right there on stage!!! Can you believe it??? One of my women got a job because of the skills we taught!!! Ahhh!!!! I was sooo happy for her!!! I knew that she had been applying for jobs, but she never told us the outcome because she wanted to wait until she could announce it to everyone. If the rest of my semester was a bust, it would all be ok because Nomsa got a job. I came here to help the struggling 3rd world community of Khayelitsha and now one woman has a job! She doesn't have to worry about feeding her kids anymore! I may not change the world, but I feel like I've at least left a small mark here in Cape Town. If nothing else, a few more children are full tonight...

Even a few days after that, another one of my women said that she had put me down as a reference on an application. Sure enough, I got a call from a potential employer the next day and had a nice chat with him. 2 days later, Pearl said she had started a job! TWO women have jobs now!!! I don't know exactly what Pearl's job is, but the fact that she has one now is incredible! I'm so proud of my women for gaining the confidence to go out and look!

It's been a long week filled with joy and tearful goodbyes...I've been reflecting a lot on this past semester and it has changed me in so many different ways. Definitely more than any blog post will allow....I'd be more than happy to chat about it when I get home, but for now, I must pack up my things and move out of this lovely house. I'm leaving for Namibia on Wednesday so I won't be blogging for a bit (not that I blog often anyways...sorry about that). Don't' miss me too much, I'll just be sand boarding and 4wheeling through the desert. No big deal. :) Hope you all are enjoying the cold temperatures---I'm headed to the desert in the middle of summer!

School, Bomb Threats and Flight Changes

So, I don't know if anybody still reads this or not....I haven't been very good about keeping it up, but for the few that continue to check this page, here is an update.

The elections happened--I woke up at 2am here to walk down to Starlight (a 24hour American diner with a large tv) to watch the votes roll in. There is an 8 hour difference between good old central time and south africa time so the timing was just right. I'm pretty sure every American living in Rondebosch (my suburb) was crammed into that diner watching CNN. I'm pretty sure everyone in the diner was cheering on Obama as soon as CNN projected that he was going to win. Time passed so quickly and before I knew it, it was 6.30am!! Crazy!!! That day, I was congratulated numerous times by Africans on my new president and for the first time in Africa, I was proud to say I was an American. (note-in some countries, being an american gives you star status....not here) My friend Thabo jokingly commented that we were a little behind the times...."I mean, come on! South Africa had it's first black president in 1994!" :)

Anyways, the rest of my days have been spent finishing up papers, studying for more exams (Xhosa is on Monday and is worth 50% of my grade!!!), enjoying Cape Town, hiking Table Mountain (yes, that's right, I climbed the mountain finally!), driving on the other side of the road (no, I didn't hit anything, thank you, I did quite well), being ushered out of the mall because of bomb threats, having dinner on Monday evenings with my new Dutch and African friends, eating pasta (budget is running low), and breaking doors at the Nygaards house.

So, I guess you could say I'm pretty busy. I think I said this before, but most of my housemates move out on November 15th which is a week from tomorrow. I can't believe that my program is almost over and that they will be stateside in a week! How weird! This semester has gone by so quickly. It's going to be so sad to see them part, but I've changed my plane ticket to see a few of them when I go home. Instead of coming on the 16th as originally planned, I will now spend 2 days in New York with Liz, Marianne, and Drew and be home on the evening of the 18th. I've always wanted to see New York at Christamstime and the fact that 3 of my housemates live so close is the perfect excuse.

I should probably get some sleep now. Tomorrow we are all going to town to go market shopping!!! I am so busy this next week it's crazy! I've been getting up sooo early and going to bed sooo late because we are all just trying to get the most out of what little time we have together. Hope you all are enjoying the fall colors in the States! I'm enjoying the new summer here!!

Much love!

VOTE TODAY!!!!!

It's that time again! And this time, the whole world is watching.....

This was the front page of the paper today here in Cape Town, South Africa. If you opened up the paper, there were 3 more pages with US presidential race articles. Don't worry, some of them talked about McCain, but everyone here in South Africa LOVES Obama. The title of a half page article yesterday read--"Obama will become the 44th president of the United States tomorrow." It seems people are very confident over here. Obama runs through the billboards, stenciled grafiti on almost every stop sign of Main Road, and through so many people's converstations. Now, I'm not one for politics, but being here in South Africa has made me more aware than I ever have been. South African's know more about US politics than I do.....sad reality, huh?

Anyways, I'm not going to tell you who I'm voting for or who to vote for, but I am reminding everyone reading this (if you are in the United States) to go out and vote today! Don't forget! It's my first presidential election to vote in and it's a HUGE one! So get off the computer and VOTE!!

HAPPY ELECTION DAY!!!

ps- I did vote, but absentee...could someone send me an "I voted today" sticker please? :)

YAY PICTURES!!!!

I have reached the conclusion that any sort of long term commitment to post on this blog on a regular basis is extremely difficult for me. As of late, I have been busy with finishing up my service, writing papers and taking exams.


Funny Story- There was a confusion about my Sociology exam on Monday which was kind of a mess, but now I'm sorted. The UCT schedule said that the exam was at 5pm, when in reality, it was at 12.30pm instead. I had studied about 15 minutes when I received a call from my program director saying that the professor had called wondering where we were. I was in town at the time so had to rush up to campus to complete my exam! Thankfully the professor allowed me the full 2 hours to write and I used every last minute of those two hours. I think that was the least I have ever studied for an exam in my life, but I feel like it went very well surprisingly enough. We'll see when the grade comes in! :)


As for the rest of the week, a few hours of sleep and 39 pages later, I finally have finished my research report for Sociology. I really don't like how it is right now, but I think it will be sufficient for a grade. I plan to continue to revise and rework the paper until I feel it is adequate even though I already turned it in. Kind of nerdy I know, but I want it to be perfect! My paper is a report on all of my semester's work and research in Khayelitsha so you can imagine it was quite a big task. I've been working on it for the past 3 weeks and feel no where near where I want it to be. I plan to come back to South Africa to do research later on and I need to have something to show for the research I have already started.

Anyways, that's pretty much what I've been up to recently. My next exam is on the 10th of November and then presentations for my research are shortly thereafter. Crazy! I can't believe this semester is winding down already. I still have a month and a half here, but most of my housemates leave in just a few short weeks :(

Here are the pictures promised that correspond with the last post--hope you enjoy!
***note-if you click on the pictures, you can view them in a larger size!***

Khayelitsha School Girls with Homemade Signs



Table Mountain provided the perfect backdrop for this march


Housemates at Moyo for final dinner
L-R: Deepa, Marissa, me, Alyssa, Liz, Marianne, Rachel, Drew



The girls in black--Marianne, me, and Liz
(I teach in Khayelitsha with Marianne and travel everywhere with Liz)



Sitting at dinner with painted faces!


Nygaards backyard with recent awning addition


Kelsey, Liz, me, and Alyssa


Wishing Ubs a Happy Birthday African style!

I Think It's Been Awhile.....

So I was chatting with the 'rents last night when I was informed that people have been asking about me here in Africa due to my lack of blogging. I apologize to any person who has been diligently checking this blog only to find that I have not posted in a good 2 weeks. I'm sorry if any one of you has suffered from any sort of anxiety, stress, or loss of appetite as a result of lack of communication on my part. Rest assured, I still have NOT gotten mugged, stolen, kidnapped, or hurt in the past two weeks. My lack of blogging is strictly due to the amount of work and fun which have been occurring here in this lovely city. My deepest apologies.....

Now to inform you on the past two weeks:

1. On October 10th, I participated in a "march" (I will explain the quotes in a minute, just be patient) for an organization called Equal Education. It is an activist organization which is dedicated to improving the area schools in Khayelitsha. This particular "march" which received ample tv coverage, was to demand that the Board of Education fix the windows in Luhlaza Highschool in Khayelitsha. I went there about 2 weeks prior to the march and counted over 500 broken windows to the outside. They have promised to fix these windows by 2010 (a lot of things have been promised by 2010 because of the World Cup), but that means that the students must sit through 2 more winters with broken windows. The teachers said that it is hard to teach because of the rain and wind and cold and the students find it extremely hard to learn in those conditions. Anyways, 200 kids from school all over Khayelitsha showed up and sang songs they had written, performed a dance that they had choreographed themselves, and read poetry about their experiences at school. We had a bit of trouble with the police allowing us to march so it actually ended up being a peaceful gathering rather than a march. But, the president of the Board of Education was there and so were some other Cape Town hotshots so it ended up having a great turn out. The students' work was incredibly inspiring and hopefully it struck a chord with the Board.

2. Final Dinner- On Friday, my service-learning program had its final dinner with everyone. It's kind of strange that it is so early because we all are still doing service and have a big presentation at the end of the semester, but it was on the calendar and no one was about to argue for a free meal! Anyways, we drove out to Stellenbosch (the wine country) to a place called Moyo's which is an incredible African restaraunt. The entire restaraunt in outside underneath huge tents with big fireplaces and trees all around. It was kind of like a big bedouin campsite. Now, remember how I said there were trees all around??? Well, it ended up that our table was actually in the tree!!! Yeah, we had dinner in a tree....no big deal :) The food was buffet style and you had every kind of meat to choose from---I had ox tail, ostrich, springbok, calamari, buttered line fish......It was incredible! The food was soooo good and soooo rich! And yes, they had 3 tables for dessert! It was pretty much fantastic! During the dinner, they had traditional tribal dancers and musicians walking around this place for entertainment. They also had people painting tribal designs on faces as well. This place really had it's whole experience figured out because as soon as the sun set, it got pretty cold there so on the back of every chair, there was a huge blanket to wrap up in. How cool is that?? Since we were out in the wine country, the sky was crystal clear and if you looked up you could see a million stars. It was a fantastic way to end the week and we all really enjoyed each other's company.

3. Bruce Turns 50!- Ubs (short for Uncle Bruce) had his 50th birthday party on Saturday which was a huge success. About 60 friends came through the newly renovated house which had an incredible awning over the back patio. It was a no talent contest party so people brought instruments and had a blast playing them, whether they were good or not..... There is a crazy (more traditional) African way to wish someone happy birthday and all the people in my Bible Study wanted to wish Ubs a happy birthday in this way. Somehow, I got roped into this tribal dance/song and had absolutely no idea what I was doing, but it was a lot of fun. Several of us stayed around after everyone had left and we sat drinking wine by the pool and reminicing about the day......

So, that's what I've been up to recently. Besides all of that great stuff, I've been going to plays in Afrikaans (not a good idea), leaving the house at 3am to go watch presidential debates at the 24hr diner, and attempting to finish my research for the entire semester. My last day of actual classes was a week ago today so I'm pretty much done with school now. I have 2 exams and this paper and then I'm finished. Yay! Well, I'm not too excited about being finished....I really don't want to go home (sorry mom and dad, you can come here for christmas!!! :) ). I'll post some pictures later today from the past few weeks. Hope all is well with you guys back in the states (or wherever you are reading this from). I haven't forgotten about you! Much love!

The Parentals Have Left the Country....

Yes, it's true--mom and dad left the wonderful and glorious city of Cape Town on Saturday evening. For those concerned, I talked with them last night and they arrived home safely. The past two weeks have been incredibly refreshing for me and their visit has excited me for the next half of my stay here. I loved simply spending time with them and enjoying their company. My parents spent a good deal of time with my housemates too so that they could get some good parental lovin' halfway around the world. I know my housemates really enjoyed having them here and always refer to them as "such a cute couple!" One of the days they were here, all of us boarded a bus and went out to Hermanus for Wine tasting and Whale Watching. Let me just tell ya, those were some good looking whales! :)

It was great to show my parents around Cape Town and let them peak into what life is for me in South Africa. We went out to most of my favorite places to hang out, spent time with the Nygaards, and they got to come (and help!) in my IT class one day. I'm pretty sure they enjoyed their stay and even though it was sad to see them go, I know it wasn't the last time we will be hanging out in Cape Town. I will (hopefully) be living here again at some point in my life and they are going to have to visit me to see what I'm up to then. If ANYONE wants to come to Cape Town, you are more than welcome to! I would love to show you around! So, start booking your flights now folks because I miss y'all! Hope you are having a great monday!

Mom and Dad walking the streets of Khayelitsha with a new friend.

Housemates in the bus on the way to Hermanus--can you find mom and dad?? (note-please don't mind Marriane in this picture, I'm not sure what she was thinking, lol)

At lookout point overlooking Khayelitsha with Table Mountain in the far background.

By the sea at Hermanus watching whales!

Freeing mother-daughter moment in a field of african wild flowers.

Parent Township Extravaganza

Well, they survived my surprise weekend. It definitely wasn't what they were expecting, but they made it through...

This Friday I took my parents on a surprise weekend adventure which they had a bit of an idea about, but never knew the specifics. I took them to Khayeltisha (the township where I work) to a nice shack B&B for the night. There is this incredible woman in the community named Vikky who has renovated her shack for guests to come in and experience life in the township. Let's just say it was a weekend they will never forget. We arrived late afternoon to find 2 Christian American girls staying the night there--one of them works for Young Life! We all became fast friends and then walked around the neigborhood a bit, drank some traditional shack-brewed Africa beer(see my post on Langa for details) and then had dinner with Vikky and her family. There were tons of kids around so most of the rest of the evening was spent playing hand games, tickling, playing with hair, and talking to Vikky about Apartheid and her whole story of the B&B.

They next day I arranged for my friend Thabo to come and pick us up for a larger in depth tour of 2 townships. He did a fantastic job of showing my parents around (he grew up in Langa and now lives in Khayelitsha). The parents did pretty well until we went to a traditional healer--Thabo and I both agreed that that might have been a bit much. I guess all the animal skins and bones hanging on the walls with the dried herbs and one random string of condoms might have been too much culture shock for our little adventure so we finished the touring part there.

We then headed to yet another township called Guguletu (goo-goo-LAY-too) to an huge outdoor Braai (BBQ) place called Mzoli's. We were met by most of my housemates and friends for a huge braai to hang out talk and just be in the township community. There were close to 200 other Africans at this place and it wasn't even that busy! (We were there on a Saturday and Sundays are the crazy day) Anyways, they made it through my township extravaganza and I think they learned a lot (which was a huge part of why I had them come). They saw that the township wasn't just a place of extreme poverty, but a place of intense community where people live and just do life. They are the same as you and I only in worse conditions. Just people doing community with what they have.

All in all it was a successful weekend. To get the real first-hand emotions, I will tell you to ask them about their trip. They are the ones who were out of their comfort zone all weekend so they have way more stories about how they are feeling! Happy Monday!

They're Here!

This post is a bit tardy, but the parents arrived safely on Monday afternoon! They will be here hanging out with me until next weekend---that's 2 whole weeks, folks! It's so good to have them here and just sit and talk with them, I guess I kind of like them :) Anyways, I'm off to class before suprising my parents with a weekend adventure. Have a fantastic weekend!

Service Work

Wow, I just logged in today to see that I haven't posted in quite a while. Sorry about that guys! I know you always are waiting with baited breath for my next post....well, maybe not really, but it's a nice thought anyways.....

I've recently been just going about life as usual in Africa. Ya know, going to class, going to Khayeltisha, waiting to do laundry until it's sunny because we don't have a dryer, hitchiking home from the American Consulate, sending roommates on scavenger hunts all over Cape Town for their birthdays, spending too much money at Cocoa Wah Wah and spending afternoons at the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens or the beach. Life's rough, huh? :) I have so many little stories here and there and I guess I should post about them so that I actually have record of them happening, but I just haven't taken the time. Part of that is because I'm being stingy with my internet. You see, here in Africa everyone pays for internet by the megabite. Now I don't know a lot about computers, but I do know that websites like Facebook, YouTube and any other site with large graphics takes up a ton of megabites. Hence, I haven't gotten on my internet recently at my house to post. Ok, enough of excuses.....

Now that I've gotten my rambling out of the way, I thought I would let you guys know about my service work. I've talked to several of you via email, phone, facebook, skype, etc so I guess I just assumed that I had posted about. ANYWAYS......I'm taking 2 classes at UCT which means I'm done by 11am with school. Then, a bus comes to pick me and housemate, Marianne up and takes us to Khayeltisha, one of the largest townships in Cape Town. There are just over 4 million people in Cape Town and 1.2 million of them live in Khayelitsha (kai-a-leet-sha). Anyways, on Mondays and Wednesdays from 1-2.30pm we teach a beginners class in information technology. There is a wide range of abilities of the women in the class anywhere from never using a computer before to barely knowing how to open Microsoft Word. We spend a lot of time in that class with double clicking and clicking and dragging, both very hard concepts for someone who is never around computers before. We started with about 15 women in that class, but our numbers have slowly dwindled down to about 6 regulars. It's kind of hard because most of the women walk to class and the last two classes it has been pouring down rain. The time before that, the power was out at the center (also something that happens randomly and there's no way to get it back on). So, hopefully the weather will be nice and more women will want to come back.

Then on Tuesdays and Thursdays we teach our advanced class. I LOVE our advanced class!!! Some of the women were in a previous IT class so they kind of know the basics of what's going on the computer. But these women have such a passion and determination to make a difference and break out of the cycle of poverty. One woman wants to start her own catering business and so we spent a week on Excel and the importance of budgeting. Another woman wants to get a job as a secretary and so we work with her to improve her typing every week. This class is required to do a powerpoint presentation for the rest of the class at the end of the term which they are terrified of, but it will be so good for them. They really try to learn the concepts and the skills because they realize how much it can help them.

Working in Khayelitsha has really opened my eyes to how much everyone her in South Africa can help to end such horrible poverty. White South Africans DONT go into the townships, the only white people you see in Khayelitsha (if you see any white people) are ususally foreigners who are volunteering. But I take an hour and a half out of my day every day to teach women how to use computers. I don't really know that much about computers, but it's more than they have ever learned and so I can help to teach them the basics. This gives them the confidence to go out and look for a job and the skills to be qualified for a job. IT skills open up a whole new realm of possiblilities for jobs for these women and then they can set an example in their community of how they took an initiative to make a difference. I know I'm not saving the world over here, but if one woman gets a job because of this class, then my time here was worth it. It just blows my mind that giving just a little bit of my time and knowledge can literally make a world of difference to these women. If someone gets a steady job, then they don't have to worry about if their kids can eat at night or if they are able to go to school. I know this sounds pretty cliche, but I see poverty every single day. They need inspiriation and encouragement and a few skills to make it in the world. If everyone here just took a little bit out of their day to teach or empower these people, think about what a different place we would live in.....