a broad abroad

"Quo Vadis?" is on quite a few billboards and signs in South Africa. I finally looked it up today. It is Latin for "where are you going?" and it is very fitting for the past two weeks. I feel like I heard a decent amount of complaining on my trip. Complaints about the hotels, the food, the tour guides, the packed schedule. I found myself often reminding the others that WE ARE IN SOUTH AFRICA. We came here at minimal cost for two weeks of education and sightseeing, and we got that a thousand times over. I am so beyond fortunate to have experienced innumerable once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. Even if I do go back to South Africa, I will likely never experience the same things I did this time. I climbed mountains. I fended off scammers and pickpockets. I came face to face with elephants.  I bargained with street vendors. I met political legends. I sat on cliffs. I met countless inspirational people.  I heard Toto's "Africa" song in every restaurant. I pl...

Hey friends and family! I've been working on a couple posts, but I keep falling asleep before I can post them, and the past couple days have been hectic. I'm at the airport now heading home. I'll try to post when I have a few free minutes, otherwise I'll post tomorrow about Thursday and Friday. Much to say! I'm looking forward to coming home though!!!

I know this post is overdue! We've been busy and the lack of sleep caught up to me. Okay, so we ended up going to the Cape Town jazz festival on Wednesday night. We saw a free concert in the downtown square - it was a really popular band, kind of a reggae/jazz combo. Wish I could remember the name of the band! It was a beautiful night and a lot of fun. We had a much more uplifting day on Thursday. We had a free morning, so I went with a bunch of people to a little plaza called green market square, where vendors sell locally made crafts and whatnot. We got breakfast at a cute little cafe (you know how I love those) and spent the morning bargaining for souvenirs. I am normally pretty shy, but I became an excellent haggler by the end of the morning and left with a big bag of goodies :) We spent the afternoon on a tour with Uthando, a nonprofit organization sponsoring disadvantaged communities here. Uthando basically provides a safe tour of townships, while bringing visitors to inspira...

Hi friends and family! I don't have any pictures at all to share from today, but we had a super busy day. This morning we headed to a lower-middle-class township to play with kids in a daycare.  Working with children in disadvantaged areas is very moving.  Although these kids all seemed to have clean clothes, fresh haircuts, and lunch boxes with food in them, many of the kids came from single-parent homes. Many of the parents had drug and alcohol problems, were unemployed, or left their children in the daycare so as to not have to deal with them during the daytime.   The kids could all speak English and Afrikaans. Many were interracial. They were age 4 and younger.  They sang us songs like the itsy-bitsy spider and that silly "I love you, you love me" Barney song.  They said the Lord's Prayer. When it was snack time, the kids all willingly broke their sandwiches in half and shared with other kids who did not have lunch that day.  It was so fascinating to wa...

Here are some more pictures from yesterday's hikes!! Seal island See the baboon by the flag? Seriously, they'll eat you!! Clouds encroaching a mountain Climbing cliffs!!! View from the top Life at the edge.... It's a long way down! On to the cape of good hope! It was sooooo windy!!! Lotsa penguins! Today was a more relaxed day. In the morning we visited with FutureGrowth, an investment firm that works to encourage social justice.  It was an interesting insight into the mind of a businessman. Women are historically underrepresented in business, and even more so in South Africa, but companies like this one work to change that.  After a morning that made our heads spin with economics concepts, we headed out to spend the rest of the day touring winelands in Stellenbosch. I'd never been to a winery, and it was a really lovely afternoon. The area was so cute, and i hope I can make it back there before I leave.  We had lunch outside and toured the grounds of the vineyards. Red...

Yesterday was amazing!!! Every day brings more unbelievable sights than the last. I can't believe this scenery is real. I don't have much to talk about for yesterday, but I do have loads of pictures.  We spent the whole day touring the cape, from Three Anchor Bay up north near Cape Town all the way to the cape of good hope (the southernmost point on the continent). It was a really clear day and we could see so far out that at the end of our line of vision, the ocean blended in with the sky in a blue haze. Everything is brighter here... All of these pics are no-filter :) Our first stop was a boat ride to seal island, where loads of seals go to sunbathe all day. What a life. Also, it is completely different to see wild seals than it is to see them at the zoo. They are fascinating and I wish I could post the videos I took of them showing off! On the way back from seal island, I admired the scenery and then I felt a moment where everything seemed kind of different. Brighter, maybe....