BaFanA BAfAnA!!

It’s been two weeks since I arrived in Cape Town and I feel like I’ve already been here for a month. I’ve learned my way around the city pretty well now and I definitely feel like I belong. I guess it helps that I blend in really well with the ‘Colored’ race in South Africa. In case you don’t know, South Africa’s racial groups consist of Blacks, Whites, Coloreds, and Indians. The Colored people of South Africa normally have a very confusing blend of ethnicities in their family tree, so (based on physical appearances) they can often be easily confused as Whites, Blacks, or anything else.

South Africa is definitely the most diverse place I have ever visited, not only in terms of race, but also in terms of religion, social class, and geographic landscape. It’s strange being in a place where there is no obvious ethnic or religious minority – South Africa really is the Rainbow Nation. The scenery is also amazing! Every morning, I walk out of the front door of my house in Observatory (a small ‘college student’ suburb of Cape Town) and find myself staring at Devil’s Peak, a beautiful mountain peak that is part of Table Mountain. As you travel through Cape Town, you are always surrounded by mountains on one side and water on the other. The landscape reminds me so much of Lebanon – mountains on the beach. Oh and the driving reminds me of Lebanon too haha. There are not really driving rules here; they’re more like guidelines. It makes the roads seem scary at first but you soon realize that people are attentive and cautious when they drive, even though they might be crazy.

Of course, the World Cup is another big aspect of life here. FIFA is definitely impacting everyday life here in South Africa and the South Africans don’t like it too much. Construction is everywhere and major cleanups are going on just to prepare for all of the tourists. I feel like a lot of the South Africans see the World Cup as a big event that’s just imposing on their everyday lives. Most of my South African friends here do not actually have tickets for any of the games because of the high price of tickets. It’s exciting that the World Cup is coming, but at the same time, it seems like FIFA is forcing changes on a nation without the people’s consent. On the other hand, people are definitely getting excited. Everywhere you look, South Africa flags are hanging and waving. Every Friday, South Africans wear Bafana Bafana (South Africa’s soccer team) gear in support of their team. I bought a jersey for myself J. I’m anxious to see what life is going to be like once the Cup starts. No doubt it will be nonstop fun for all of us!

Anyways, Sunny and I have been working with the Amy Biehl Foundation for seven days now and we’re making big progress. Every morning, Sunny and I take a mini-bus (a ghetto old van with about 16 people packed into it) into town. We head into the ABF office for a few hours to do some planning for our afternoon classes. At around 1pm each day, we are driven into the townships where we work with the children in afterschool programs until 5pm. I have been working with an HIV/AIDS Peer Education class. But actually, for the past week, we have been preparing for a debate competition that my class will be competing in on Wednesday, June 2^nd. The last day of school is on June 9th, then they begin their winter holiday. While on holiday, we will be organizing several camps for these kids as well as a Soccer World Cup for the township. Right now, Sunny, Andrew (an intern from Miami), and Darren (an intern from Holland), and I are finalizing all of the details for our 2 ½ week long World Cup. It’s a lot of work to plan but it will definitely be a lot of fun!

Okay, here’s the paragraph where I talk about all that I’ve done so far in South Africa. Life in Cape Town is never boring; there are so many things for us to see and do and I’m worried that we wont be able to do it all. On my first weekend in Cape Town, Sunny and I were lucky enough to get a personal tour through most of town by Faizel (one of our great friends who is also a program coordinator for ABF). This past weekend, we rode a ferry to Robben Island with a new friend from Holland. In case you don’t know, Robben Island is where all of the prisoners were held during the Apartheid regime, including Nelson Mandela (check out my pics on Facebook!). After our trip to Robben Island, we checked out the Castle of Good Hope in the center of Cape Town. It’s a really old Dutch castle in the shape of a star. The Castle of Good Hope was built when the Dutch first settled in Cape Town. We’ve also visited the beautiful Waterfront a few times. The Waterfront is a very nice, high-class, touristy area along the Cape Town harbor. There are a lot of expensive stores and restaurants there to attract all of the tourists, especially for the World Cup this year. It’s a great place to hang out but it basically sucks because it does not feel like South Africa at all…just feels like I’m back in America when I go there. On weekend nights, we’ve enjoyed going out on Long Street (the ‘night life’ street which is amazing!) Long Street has a bunch of great clubs, bars, and restaurants. Last weekend, we went to a restaurant on Long St called Mama Africa where I tried an Ostrich steak and Crocodile meat….delicious!!! We’ve also checked out St. George’s Cathedral in the center of town. St. George’s is the huge Anglican Church where Desmond Tutu often holds mass when in Cape Town. Also, on our first Sunday in South Africa, Sunny and I joined Faizel and a few of his friends for a morning hike up Silvermine Trail in Table Mountain National Park. The trail eventually led to a gigantic cave called ‘Elephant’s Eye.’ We sat in the cave for a while looking over all of Cape Town…probably one of the most gorgeous views I’ve seen so far. So…that was a quick wrap up of my past two weeks :)