Final Posting

As they say, all good things must come to an end. And in the next 48 hours, this journey will be complete. I don't know that I'll ever fully be able to measure the impact of this trip on my life. But I do know that I am coming back to NYC (I hope) a little wiser, a little more aware of the world around me, and a whole lot more thankful for all of my blessings.

Saying goodbye to the people I've met has been difficult. But I do so hoping that I was able to make just a small difference here in South Africa. At Sibanye, I was so lucky to find a friend in Jo-lene and the rest of the staff. And through my work on funding proposals (we were able to finalize a template for grants and sent out 4 in the past six weeks), developing a vision statement, and revising and enhancing many of the online and offline marketing materials, I've found that my skill set has grown. Who knew that would come from this? I think I may have gotten back more than I gave--including a very sweet going away party on Tuesday night at a restaurant in Stellenbosch (wine country) called Moyo which included Jo-lene and her husband Patrick, 3 of the other volunteers at Sibanye (Marcy, Sallie, and Stephanie), and Brian and myself. It was a wonderful way to celebrate this crazy and wonderful couple of months.

As for the CCS volunteers, I was a little surprised at how sad it is to leave the house. While I will not miss any of the following...:
1 - 1 1/2 hour long van rides to and from work every day
2 - Standing in approximately 5 inches of water while showering at all times
3 - Trying to be a good sport about the mystery meat and fish I'm ingesting ("Remember Carol, this is a learning experience for you...")
4 - Hearing the Vicki's talk about their latest booze soaked evening (OK, well maybe I'll miss that one a little)

...I will miss living with a group of people who have enough heart and enough awarenessto take a break from their everyday lives (mothers, students, working professionals) and try to make a difference in a place where they will not reap any direct benefit. That is, if you don't count the extreme gratification that comes from volunteering in this way.

So besides all the sappy stuff, the last week has been hectic but a whole lot of fun. While finishing up work, I've given Brian the 4-day tour of Cape Town. We've seen Table Mountain at sunset, Camps Bay, drove to Cape Point and back, went wine tasting in Stellenbosch, hung out at the waterfront. On Thursday, we took off for a 4 day Safari to Kruger National Park. And we saw the big five, the small five, and the ugly five (anyone who's seen a warthog or hyiena knows what I'm talking about). I won't even try to put into words the extreme beauty and peacefulness of the game lodge that we stayed at. While on our first game drive (5:30-8:30am every morning and 4:30-7:30pm every evening), we met a great couple name Jill and Jeff from where else but NYC. All in all, a fantastic trip!

Today, we spend one last night in Cape Town. It's definitely bittersweet but I am looking forward to coming home.

Thank you all for keeping up with this trip and showing your support through this blog and emails. It has meant the world to me. Hope to see you all soon!

Much Love,
C

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Hope all is going well.

Things are still moving along here in Cape Town. It's almost the end of my 5th week. Next week is the end of the road which I can't believe. I end my placement next Wednesday, the 20th and then Brian and I are heading on Safari to Kruger National Park. I can't wait--it should be pretty amazing to be at a private game reserve for 4 days.

On Tuesday night, we're having a going away dinner with the staff from Sibanye. Jo-lene and Sallie put a dinner party together at Spier in Stellenbosch--which is in the middle of wine country. Should be fantastic and i'm guessing we'll all have a little buzz (understatement) by the end of the night...

Today, I had a very romantic valentine's day with 5 of the ladies at the Mount Nelson Hotel in Cape Town. We made reservations for high tea and had a fantastic time. It was a beautiful afternoon and the hotel is gorgeous. We ate ourselves silly...and we all drank with our little pinky's in the air! Very classy.

This week was a bit more challenging from a work perspective. It's the first week that frustration set in. I will no longer yell at the printer and photocopier at work in NYC, as it is much more coopertive and helpful than the one here in south africa. We also work on dial up internet (which hopefully will change as we get more funding) and I don't believe I've had to deal with that on a regular basis since 1998. Also, the work pace is very different here. It's definitely slower which I was expecting, but when you are up against deadlines, it's tough to be on an african's timeline for getting you information you need. For example, we needed 2 letters of reference for a funding proposal and I can't tell you how many reminders we needed to provide in the form of phone calls, emails, faxes, and sky writing. Being the intensely patient person that I am, this was not at all frustrating... :-) But as I'm trying to grow as a person here in africa, I took some deep breaths and all was well in the world!

Well, that's it for now. Brian gets here on Saturday night which is going to be great. We have four days in cape town, 4 days in kruger, and then one more day in cape town. Between showing him the city, trying to finish up work, and saying goodbye to the girls, it's going to be a bit crazy over the next week and a half.

For those who were intrigued by the ostrich riding, here's some fun video of all the girls (including myself)...

http://gallery.mac.com/stephaniebull#100240

Enjoy!

C

Fear is temporary, Regret is forever…

…reads the wise and profound saying on my t-shirt. “What t-shirt?” you ask. The t-shirt that I bought after I bungee jumped off the Bloukrans bridge--incidentally, the highest bungee jump in the world… (Mom and Dad, I decided to save these plans until after I jumped and was still alive.) “What?” You ask. “Are you for real? The Carol I know would never do that.” Well, I thought that too but I have photographic proof… (Oh, and by the way, there’s a very funny video that you’ll all get to see when I get home)

And it doesn’t end there…Here’s the play-by-play of our weekend on the garden route.

We took a 7 hour drive from Cape Town for the adventure weekend of a lifetime:

Friday 2pm – 9 of us leave for 6 hour drive to Wilderness, a town about 320 miles from Cape Town. Trip includes: Me, Stephanie, Malory, Heidi, Danielle, Kaitlin, Alana, and Amy

Friday 9pm – Check into the African Sun Hotel

Friday 9:30pm – The ladies hit the bar

Friday 9:31pm – Stephanie, my roommate at home and for the night leaves the bar because she thinks she might be sick (the CCS stomach flu)

Friday 11pm – Carol walks into her room and Stephanie is not in good shape. But we do have a very comfy King Size Bed

Saturday 12am, 2am, 4am – Carol awakes to the sweet sounds of Stephanie in the bathroom

Saturday 7am: Stephanie’s made it to bed for 45 minutes. We need to get up. And she’s determined to bungee…And she does (She’s my hero)

Saturday 7:01 am – Carol is losing her mind. She doesn’t like heights, she thinks it’s silly to purposely throw yourself a bridge unless…
A – It’s already falling and you don’t have any alternative but to jump
B – Someone’s about to shoot you and your only choice at the time to get out of the way of the bullet is to jump
C – You actually want to kill yourself

Saturday 8am – We’re on the road heading for the Bloukrans Bridge in Tsitsikamma (it’s in the Eastern Cape)

Saturday 8:01 – 9:59pm – I’m feeling vomitous

Saturday 10am – Oh Christ! We’re here.

Saturday 10:01-12:45—sheer torture. A 2 hour and 45 minute wait including getting suited up and having to be the 3rd to last to jump. They do the jumping in weight order. In this case it was NOT awesome to be the 3rd lightest…

12:46pm – I’m doing a weird jig (wait ‘til you see the video) before I’m about to jump. I am not sure if it was to keep me warm (it was freezing on the bridge), to keep me from thinking about the jump, or to keep me from passing out

12:48 – 5-4-3-2-1 JUMP!

12:49 – This is the coolest thing (hanging upside down)

12:50pm – Someone please get me down. Now!

12:52pm – Pulled up…and safely on top of the bridge again. It was awesome! (but I NEVER need to do it again…unless someone decides to build a higher bridge that people can jump from)

After bungee….a frenzy of oh my gods and can’t believe its. 7 of us (Me, Malory, Steph, Heidi, Danielle, Haley, Kaitlin) jumped and there are no words for how fun, scary, crazy and silly it was.

2pm – 5pm - We hit the canopy tours---essentially 10 zip lines from the top of trees 200 meters high. For a girl who HATES heights, it was a trying day. Of course, my fear makes me a total spaz. Zip lining is no problem…I feel very safe on the actual line. Standing on the platform 200 meters up from the ground waiting for 8 other people to get on to the platform…not cool.

9pm - We get to the hotel in Outsdhoorn and passed out… (another 2 hour drive)

Sunday 7am – another early wake up call

Sunday 7am – 9am – Still buzzing about jumping off of the world’s highest bungee jump (still am buzzing if I’m honest)

9:15am – Arrive at Cango Caves for Caving Adventure Tour…a real tour through the caves with spaces no more than 27 centimeters and spaces called “the chimney”, “the coffin”, “the letterbox”

9:30 – 11am – Take the most amazing tour through these caves and fit through spaces that you never, ever thought you’d get through…

…On top of that, you need some upper body strength to pull yourself up through crevices that you have no room to maneuver in

11am—Take off for ostrich riding. Ostrich riding you say? Sounds awkward, dirty, and uncomfortable…it was all those things and I have some video to prove it....hilarious video to come--our wireless connection is not cooperating right now.

12pm – Leave ostrich riding and head to Kango Wildlife reserve. As you all know, I’m a HUGE animal lover (that’s sarcasm)…so seeing a white tiger and pygme hippo weren’t all that exciting for yours truly

2pm – on the road home (another 5 hour drive)

7pm – Drop Danielle off at the airport. It’s very sad…she and Steph are two of my favorites in Africa.

7:30pm – Put on my game face to face a whole new set of “the Vicki’s” (sorry Vic). 14 new volunteers have joined us and I fear it may be too much for me to take…

In conclusion, it was an amazing and fantastic weekend.

Only 2 weeks left here…I am equal parts sad and happy about that. Definitely missing the creature comforts and of course all of you. But I think this is a once in a lifetime experience and in that way, I never want it to end…

Hope you are all well!

Love,C

Since we last talked...

hi guys, hope all is well. Just a quick update on the goings on here in cape town. We've been busy still, but trying to take it easy the last few days. About 4 or 5 people here have gotten sick including yours truly...there's a stomach thing going around and I think I got pretty lucky in that I had the best of it. Just been feeling queasy and really tired. Some people have had a full on stomach bug. I'm starting to feel much better now which is good. At the beginning of the trip, they said people start getting sick around week 3...and it seems they were right.

Speaking of week three, I'm about halfway through this trip. I can't believe it! I will be ready to come back to new york--where i have my very cute, very quiet, very clean apartment. Living dorm style takes some effort some days.

Here's the update from my week:

We went to the Kirstenbosch gardens on Thursday afternoon. These are absolutely gorgeous botannical gardens with Table Moutain as a backdrop (what else is new...Table Mountain is the backdrop for everything here in Cape Town). It's become a running joke that all of our pictures, whether taken at a tourist attraction, the house, or at the townships, have table mountain in the background. Anyway, it was good to go and explore a bit. It's a beautiful hike and they were setting up a private area of the gardens for a wedding. It looked absolutely amazing.

On Friday, I had to work a full day (I know, poor me). We had a group of students who are doing a volunteer/study abroad program from Marquette University come to Sibanye and we needed to cater the event and host a program for these students about the Xhosa culture. The nice thing is that they spent their american $$ on some very beautiful things. So, that's always a win for us.
That night, we had a going away dinner for the first group to leave CCS--the 3 weekers. Everyone who participates in the program can stay a minimum of 3 weeks and a maximum of 12 weeks. 3 girls stayed 3 weeks and we had a little going away party for them. Although dinner was at 4:30--I feel old enough here without going to dinner for the early bird special. At about 9pm that night, we felt the effects of the continuing power crisis as our lights went out without warning for 5 hours. So, like the old lady i am, i went to bed at 9:15 :-)

On Saturday, we braved Table Mountain. Check out the pictures. Imagine climbing stairs for 2 hours straight...that's what our ascent was like. It was a little nuts but very fun and very satisfying to get to the top. Then, we took the cable car down. That night, we went to dinner for Steph's birthday--it was the big 27 for her. I was feeling a little under the weather so I didn't quite party like everyone else. But, it seems that they had enough fun for me so it all worked out!

On Sunday, we laid low. Went to the movies and to dinner. Here's an interesting fact, in Cape Town, you reserve your seats in the movie theater. You actually have assigned seats and you purchase them when you get your tickets. I quite like this system and think we should adopt it in the US.

Today, Danielle and I went out after placement and took a crazy walk from the middle to cape town to camps bay. It was probably a 7 mile walk up and over table mountain. We rewarded ourselves with a pitcher of "sundowners" (a cape town tradition) at a great little cafe on victoria street called Cafe de mer. We watched a beautiful sunset and had a lovely dinner. Not a bad way to end a day!

At work, I'm working on finishing up a funding proposal for Pick 'N Pay -- a huge food store (like a Giant) here in Cape Town. I've also been working with the board of directors on vision statements for the organization. We are landing somewhere around "Crafting a better future for South Africa"--get it, get it. That's a Carol Capece special.

Well, I hope you are all well. Enjoy the new pics and my ever-darkening tan.

Love
C

Two Quick Things

If you want to see what it's like for me to drive through the townships to work every morning, check this link out.
http://gallery.mac.com/stephaniebull#100148
My roommate and I took video of our drive (excuse the cuts and the music--we are not professionals). Here's just one minute of what we see every day.

Also, there was a great article in the NY Times about the power outages here in South Africa. They started upon our arrival (3 weeks ago) and it looks like they are going to continue. It affects us at Sibanye almost daily and at the house. This is doing major damage to the economy.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/31/world/africa/31safrica.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Some History

Greetings from Cape Town! We've had another busy few days. It's been great having a bit more free time to explore the city, although we've also had a number of CCS programs as well.

There have been a couple of requests for some more township pictures so I took some video and pics. I'll post them today so you can get a better sense of the living conditions here. In some ways, they are making strides. They are working on transforming the townships from all shacks to what we would consider low income development housing.

That said, I'd say maybe 5-10% have been moved to date. I believe the government's goal is to have these new developments built and inhabited in the next few years. We'll see what happens--I don't know that it is realistic or achievable goal. But they're up against the wall since Cape Town will be home to the 2010 World Cup.

We've learned a lot more over the last few days about how the townships came to be. Yesterday, we had a wonderful tour of the District Six museum. This is really the time to come to cape town and learn about the impact of apartheid, because the people recounting the history lived on both sides of it. They can give you insight that will be lost in 40 or 50 years time. In that way, we are so lucky to be here now.

Also, our staff at the house has been fantastic. We had a talk today during lunch where they discussed their heritage (clan name (if Xhosa), ethnic background, whether or not they were initiated (for men, this is a process by which they become men including circumcision in the late teens, early 20s....I'm pretty sure I've made a number of you males uncomfortable just now). Unknowingly, they recount such personal stories that give more information and a greater sense of what it was to live in apartheid than any text book possible could.

Side note: I'm reading Nelson Mandela's (aka Madiba [as he's known in cape town]) "A long walk to freedom". It's the best autobiography I have ever read. It's very well written, fast, and very informative. If you're looking for a great read, pick it up. You'll learn something and really enjoy it. I promise!

Side note 2: They have "Madiba is my homeboy" t-shirts with a huge pic of Mandela's head all over Cape Town. They're hilarious. Some of you are getting very special presents when I return...

Back to the important stuff:

District Six was a thriving, integrated area of Cape Town that was home to blacks, colored, Jews, whites, and Malay people. This area of Cape Town was harmoniously integrated--it seems to be a model which would benefit all of us today. Our tour guide yesterday grew up in district six and told a story of his parent's telling him to come inside and stop playing at certain times in the day because the Muslim families were praying. From the sounds of it, there was more than on great "melting pot."


Well, when the apartheid government took over and the 4 separation acts were put into place, which essentially divided ALL races from interacting, not just white and black, all non-whites were displaced. This happened from 1964-66. In the museum, they have testimonials of people from district six detailing the police showing up at their houses and telling them that today was their day to move and the government would be putting them in a specified location.

Here are the race distinctions as defined by the apartheid government. These distinctions were etched in the walls of the District Six museum:

Europeans:
Are regarded as persons of pure European descent. The offspring of all mix marriages which are of the parties not of European are to be regarded as coloured.

Asiatic:
The chief asiatic nation's represented in South Africa are Indiance, Chinese, Japanese, and Burmese.

Coulored persons:
This embraces all people of mix race and the census classification includes amongst others Hottentots, Bushmen, Cape Malays, Oriouas, Korawnas, Negroes, St hellenians, and Cape Couloured

I guess everyone else was black... (there is no description for that group).

For the first time, I realized that the apartheid system was as bad, actually worse (if that's possible), than the Nazi system.

The black population, which was the largest displaced population, was relocated to the Cape Flats which is where the townships are located to this day. The first township, called Langa (meaning sun) was created and from there additional townships came to be (including Khayelitsha which is where I work today and is comprised of over 1 million blacks alone). All of the townships were comprised of people of 'like' black backgrounds - Xhosa, Korisan, etc.

This huge upheaval led to financial hardship--increased costs to get to work everyday and fewer jobs for a black or coloured man which meant women needed to start working. This resulted in a lack of supervision in the townships that gave rise to gangs and the associated gang violence. Today, Cape Town is the most violent city in the world for this very reason. (You should see where we live and go to work. Our volunteer house is like fort knox and each house in and out of the townships has armed response security. It's a way different world here!) Also, when you put so many "unsupervised" young people in one place, it leads to increased sexual activity and drug use. Unfortunately, the AIDS epidemic began at the height of apartheid and therefore you have not only the issues of violence and poverty, but a health crisis that is unfathomable.

As a local South African, you ASSUME that every person you come into contact with has HIV or AIDS, and you treat them as such (physically, I mean). If you have a cut or open wound, you are extra careful. And if someone else is bleeding, you take plenty of precautions. It's a pervasive issue that has had me and many of my fellow volunteers checking out our hands for cuts or wounds we would never even think about back in the states.

I heard a great quote today from a speaker we had today named Themba who is a musician and humanitarian here in South Africa. He works for the Institute for Healing of Memories.

"Poverty is damaging because you lose self respect. And the moment you lose self respect, you lose respect for other people."

And that's what is fantastic about what we've been doing at Sibanye. We're giving people the opportunity to find ways to support themselves and their families financially...and that security leads to increased self-worth and humanity. Well, it may just be impacting a few right now, but it's certainly better than nothing.

Hope you're all well!

Love,
C

“Good Friends, Good Wine, Good Music”

Lots to update you on over the last few days. Things are going well in Cape Town. The weather is beautiful and we’re trying to fit everything in which means we’re constantly on the go. We finally figured out the secret to truly loving a CCS program—eating out! You will see lots of new pics of me (and the girls) eating. Really good food is VERY affordable (e.g. I had an entire filet entrée—with veggies and sides—for $15), and as I keep repeating, so is the wine!

Here’s the update:
Thursday:

We had a CCS “program” after our volunteer placements which included a trip to Bo Kaap for lunch and a museum tour. Bo Kaap is an area of Cape Town which is populated with a largely Muslim population. The Malay people living there now are descendants of the Muslim’s brought to Cape Town as slaves back in the 1600s and 1700s. Really beautiful architecture—very much Dutch inspired (which is interesting because these people were largely Indian/Asian).

After that, we walked around downtown Cape Town (Long Street, waterfront), and Stephanie and I had a great meal at The Green Dragon in the waterfront. I had prawns and crayfish (lobster)—both were huge, delicious, and had their eyes. The food was fantastic! But it was tourist central so a bit more expensive than usual…

Friday:

Had a great day at work. I was asked to attend the board of directors meeting for Sibanye. We were developing vision statements for the organization and developed a pretty detailed SWOT analysis. It was great to meet the board—very, very intelligent people who are involved in numerous NGOs across South Africa. What’s difficult to see, though, is that these board members are so stretched that there is very little day-to-day support for the organization. And it’s needed. That said, they are very serious and committed to making this organization a success.

After that, we hit the beach at Kalk Bay down on the Indian Ocean (in False Bay). After searching out the sun, we were able to lay out for a while (the weather in cape town at the beach is so odd—every quarter mile can have completely different temperature, cloud cover, wind, etc.). After the beach, 6 of us hit a South African tapas restaurant called Fork on Long Street. The food was fantastic and I tried Ostrich for the very first time. It was really well prepared—although I do feel a little funny about eating an ostrich so I’m not sure that will become a regular part of my South African diet.

Saturday:

Jo-lene, the director of Sibanye, came and picked us up and took us to an organic market in Woodstock (funny, right?). There was amazing food and really talented local artists selling glass, furniture, art, pottery, etc. I did a little damage at that market…

In the afternoon, we attended the J&B Met horse race, a huge annual event in Cape Town. I was the BIG WINNER here. I bet on lucky number 14, “Our Giant” in the big race and won 145 rand (about $20). Our Giant was chosen in hopes that Eli Manning and the NY Giants won’t have a horrendously sad game against the Patriots. Based on my winnings, I’d say we have a shot…

It was a lot of fun. It’s the most dressed I’ve been since I’ve gotten here – putting on a dress was really kinda nice…

Sunday:

WINE TASTING!!!! So fun. We left around 9am—our regular tour guide Farid, who also drove us last week to Cape Point, continued his reign as the best tour guide in South Africa. We hit the 3 primary wine regions in the western cape: Paarl, Franscheok, and Stellenbosch. All three were beautiful. We made it to 3 vineyards: here’s my analysis of the South African wines we tasted. (feel free to take this or leave this)

Location: Paarl: “Good Friends, Good Wine, Good Music” is their motto in this region

Vineyard 1: KWV

Tastings:
1 – KWV Chenin Blanc – very dry white. Didn’t do much for me. A little too fruity.
2 – KWV Reserve Sauvignon Blanc – also too fruity (hate fruity wines)
3 – Café Culture Pinotage – Pinotage is a type of wine native to South Africa. I don’t love them but I did like one or two. This one was more like a desert wine—heavy banana and chocolate flavors. It’s a new wine so it may mature over time (only been out for 5 months). For a desert wine, it would be great. But, you wouldn’t want to drink this with dinner.
4 – Cathedral Cellar Shiraz – Very strong with a lot of bite. I love Shiraz but didn’t love this one.
5 – KWV Tawny Port – Very sweet but I enjoyed it. And I typically don’t like port.
6 – KWV 10 year old brandy – what do you think???

Location: Franscheok

Vineyard 2: Chamonix

Had lunch here at the cutest outdoor restaurant. It was picturesque and I had a huge filet (much needed red meat) with asparagus and potatoes. For desert (because I’m currently binging on food), I ordered the chocolate mélange—chocolate cake with raspberry sauce, white chocolate mousse, and chocolate sorbet. Very, very chocolaty and just what the doctor ordered!

For wine, we had a bottle of 2005 Pinotage. Really good with a very smooth finish.

Vineyard 3: Solms Delta

Tastings:
1 – Vastrap – a “cape” blend of Chenin Blanc, Cloiretto Blanche, Semillon. Didn’t love this—too fruity.
2 – Solms Lekkerwijn – Rose. It was very tasty.
3 – Solms Amalie – a great, dry white. Bought a bottle.
4 – Hiervardaan – Shiraz. Very smooth with a great finish. Bought a bottle.
5 – Africana – Shiraz. Also great. Stronger flavor than the Hiervardaan with a very smooth finish. Bought a bottle.
6 – Koloni – Muscatel. Good if you’re eating spicy foods. Acts as a neutralizer.

Other random points of interest:

-Saw the prison which Nelson Mandela was released from

-Saw the Unisys South African headquarters on the way to the vineyards

-No one mans the train station office most of the weekdays and weekends so the city of Cape Town is losing millions of Rands because they are not charging people to ride their trains

-I now know how to say hi, how are you, and what is your name in Xhosa. There are 3 kinds of clicks and I sound "special" when I try to speak the language

So, that’s my update. It’s been busy and really fun, but back to work tomorrow.

Hope all is well!

Love,

C

Patience Really Is a Virtue

If there's one thing in particular that Capece's do not excel in, it's patience. Especially this Capece. I admit it--I may have a small tendency to get hot under the collar about certain things.

Well, I'm learning a thing or 2 on this trip. And boy, am I learning quick... A glimpse of my day for your reading pleasure:

-6am - a breathtaking run in Cape Town with a fellow volunteer, Danielle. Fog over Table Mountain with a bit of sun peeking through to illuminate the apex of the mountain--picturesque....

-7am - All hell breaks loose. The girls learn "Heath Ledger has died"

-7:45am - One of "the Vicki's" (sorry Vic) screaming in the van on the way to our volunteer placements: "Like oh my god, i can't believe like about heath ledger. like oh my god. he was like so hot. I mean he was AMAAAAAAAAAAAAZING in A Knight's Tale. Like oh my god."

-8:15am - on our way to work in the townships, one woman states in complete amazement (this happens daily like we're not working the actual townships, driving to and from every singly day): "hmm, hmm, hmm (shakes her head in disapproval). Here we are in the ghetto again. such a shame, (slower this time) such---a---shame... ". Ok, I think we got it.

-1pm - "The Vicki's" (sorry Vic) on the way back from our volunteer placements: "oh my god, i wanna like get so wasted tonight. what are you doing tonight?" "Me?" "Like yeah you." "i'm gonna get wasted tonight too. This volunteering thing is, like, so hard..."

-6pm - Innocently eating my salad at dinner and watch a three inch worm, the color of our arugala, being pulled out of the salad bowl by the woman sitting next to me while I'm chewing a mouthful. The fried bread and lentil dinner (top quality) are not sitting so well...

-6:15pm - I walk into the maids quarters (our bedroom) and tell Steph that we need to escape for a drink. But we need to be stealthy to get out without any additions to our party. Stephanie and I decide a bottle of wine at our local restuarant, the fat cactus is completely necessary.

-6:30 pm -Order a bottle of Excelsior Cabernet Sauvignon, local south african wine--79 Rand (about $11)

-8pm - wine gone

-8:05pm - Homebound. All along the streets of cape town, daily newspaper headlines are mounted on the streetlights. An unusual, but very cool, phenomenon. Carol and Stephanie come across one mounted on cardboard with the big bold headline "Heath Ledger Dies". It is brought home for "the Vicki's" (sorry Vic)--in memoriam....

-9:15pm - I decide to blog about my typical, somewhat ridiculous day and I appreciate my little sister much, much more...

I guess you need lots of personalities to make a trip memorable--and we've got them.

Hope you are all well!

Love
C

Sibanye

Well, after many requests, here are the pics of Sibanye. I hope you can make out the quality of the goods. Most of it is really amazing.

Also, we went to a workshop today for a business called African All Sorts--they create wire and hand beaded safari animals, people, key rings, etc. I got a beautiful elephant which will be displayed prominently at 100 Remsen Street...

Hope you are all well!

Love,
C

The Weekend

It was a really busy weekend. We fit a lot in--new pics posted to the left.

Friday night was our first real night out in Cape Town. We put on makeup and everything--a first for this trip! We were supposed to go to dinner at a restaurant named Fork on Long street (the most popular/touristy street in cape town). However, as you may know, Cape Town is experiencing a pretty big energy crisis and the power at the restaurant was out. So, we went out for pizza instead. And I'll tell you, it was some good pizza. Things to know: wine and beer are very cheap. You can pay 17 rand for a beer (about $2.50) and anywhere from 42 rand up for a bottle (not glass) of wine (about $6). And, it's good wine.

We went out on long street to a bar called the Dubliner (super touristy and a little cheesy) and then across the street to a more "authentic" bar called Jo-burg. Both were fun. It was good to get out.

We got up really early on Saturday to take a nine hour tour of the Southern Atlantic and Indian Ocean coasts. What beautiful scenery--south africa has amazing vegetation and beautiful beaches. It was extremely windy. I've learned that they do mean it when they say that you can experience all 4 seasons in one day. It's cold in the morning and night, and really warm in the middle of the day. (And I'm already starting to get a pretty sick tan!) On Saturday, it was just cold...and the winds were gusty enough to make you feel somewhat uncomfortable hiking up to the top of cape point--the point at which the atlantic and indian ocean meet.

How cool it was to see the indian ocean--it's something I've heard about my entire life and to finally see it was breathtaking. Plus the water on the indian ocean side (or False Bay side) is much warmer.

We also hit the famous "penguins"--I have about 30 pics of penguins and some movies for anyone interested. Also, we made it to an ostrich farm. They are really ugly animals.

We went to the beaches on the indian ocean side but it was freezing. While the young girls (heidi, danielle and myself) were taking shelter from the sand storms in the car, the older ladies (alana and debbie) braved the cold and went in the water. They said it was great but I'm pretty sure we made the right decision.

Today was much more relaxed but we were still up and on the go. This morning, Danielle and I went for a run to Cape Town University--about 5 minutes from our house in Rosebank. There are 3 parts to the campus--upper, middle and lower which are all at the foot at Table Mountain. But you feel like you're climbing a mountain as you go further up their campus. About a half mile after running up the hills of campus, we decided to walk. The campus is very large and beautiful. A bit different from my days at GW.

This afternoon, we went to Green Point market--a huge market where all sorts of goods are sold. It was great to see what everyone was making and there was some great art. That said, I'm going to buy most of my goods from Sibanye since I know that the funds go directly to the people of South Africa.

After Green Point, we brought a picnic dinner to Kirstenbosch botannical gardens (which are so amazing that we are going to go back to see more) and went to the Watershed concert. Watershed is a South African band I had never heard of but they were really good. It got really cold about half way through so we left.

So, the weekend is over and we're back to work tomorrow. I'm coming down with a bit of a cold so tonight I'm laying low. We are going on a little field trip after our placements to make some crafts tomorrow afternoon. Hope mine doesn't look like a five year old made it...I have a feeling it might.

Hope you are all well!
Love
C

I pity the fool....

Paul, you are going to have to learn to read at some point. Maybe the months preceeding the birth of your first child is the best time to master this valuable skill. However, if I do see Mr. T walking around the streets of South Africa, I'll be sure to ask him if he'll record my blog so my 33 year old brother can listen to it. Sabonana (see you later in Xhosa!)

C

End of Week 1

For those of you who don't believe I am actually doing work and think mostly I'm on vacation (Steve), I figured I'd give a little update on what I did this week at Sibanye. I will work to get some pictures posted next week -- at most of the volunteer placements, they discourage taking and posting photos on blogs because children and patients infected with HIV are involved. I have a little more flexibility at my placement so I'm sure they'll be cool if I ask to take and post some photos.

As I mentioned, Sibanye is a non-profit organization committed to providing free raw materials, training, business skills education, and market access to HIV-infected and affected South African communities producing homemade crafts. It is located in the Khayelitsha township (about 30 minutes away from where I'm staying), and most of the local crafters are from Khayelithsha. They also sell goods from about 20 craft-based NGOs from around South Africa. It is hoped that acquiring these crafting (sewing, beading, glass-making, pottery, paper mache, etc.) skills will be the first step to economic independence for the majority of people in these low-income areas (and by low income, I mean shacks, no electricity in some cases, multiple families in a 2 room "house").

This week, I was able to put my skills to the test. I've been a copywriter, retailer, trainer, consultant, coffee-maker, handyman, and bookkeeper. I've learned that Jo-lene, our director, is an absolute saint playing all these roles (and others) every day since 04.

Currently, we're working on making the Sibanye "brand" cohesive. We're working on a new brochure that customers receive when they walk into Sibanye that really gives the history of the NGO, and lets people know that a purchase at Sibanye directly supports the local craftmakers. I'm also working on a branding style guide so everything looks cohesive going forward.

We've also been focused on getting the craft shop in order. It's a retail store so the 4 volunteers (all females) have had a blast moving things around, seeing all of the beautiful things that were made, and making sure they're prominently displayed. We tried using a drill today in cement walls--i learned i may not have my mother's knack for handywork, but i'm determined to learn.

Also, we've worked on developing a welcome speech for when local tour groups come that provides an overview of the organization. We are training the staff from Khayelitsha to deliver the speech in English and they have been AMAZING. These two women, Pulani and Noliolo, have been drilled over and again by yours truly to deliver the speech. "Make sure your projecting, do it again, pretend I'm a customer." And it's been truly the best part of my week. Not pushing them around--but really seeing them take ownership of this speech and gain confidence in their ability to speak to the customers.

There's a lot to do and we're just scratching the surface but it's nice to go to work everyday and feel like you've made a difference.

Dad and Uncle Vic, I see a CCS trip in your future. Who could see Dad and Vic with the cooks monitoring the cleanliness of the kitchen and sweeping the floors compulsively? I could!!! (But you'll be happy to know they scrub the bathrooms daily....) The food is a bit lacking...if i eat bran flakes and wheat toast one more day, I may lose it. But there are plenty of restaurant's here in cape town and I will experience my first tonight.

Hope you are all well and have a great weekend. I'm off to Cape Point (the cape of good hope) tomorrow and will be going into the city sunday (green market square, live concert in kirstenbosch to see a south african band. Will let you know all about it sunday night.

Love,
C

So some of you were wondering where I was in all of these pictures I've posted. So, here are a few of me and the girls down at the Waterfront in Capetown. Enjoy!

Working

So, I went on "vacation" and I have to work. Bad part: getting up in the sixes to be there at 8:30. Great part: working for Sibanye with the NGO director, Jo-lene. This organization does such great things and it really is the perfect fit for me. I am going to be helping the director out with some of the marketing activities at Sibanye including helping formalize the Sibanye brand, develop and refine grant requests, identify potential organizations for grants, and develop some collateral materials for their store. Lots to do in 6 weeks!

I was placed there with Marcy, another volunteer at CCS. There was a nice surprise when we got there in that 2 other girls are volunteering. They are from Scotland and London. Both are 19 (part of "the vicki's") but they seem great and have some really great ideas. So, that should be really fun.

Right now, I'm just trying to get my feet wet and understand the organization. I was so amazed at some of the goods that were developed by these local artisans. If you saw these townships, you'd think that nothing beautiful could come out of them. And you'd be totally wrong. I was. The website (sibanye.org.za) does no justice to the goods they've created and the store they've set up. It is so cute. Also, it is located in a government building right in the Khayelitsha township where there were local glassmakers, beadmakers, bagmakers, artists. It's like Williamsburg--but real (sorry to all you hipsters out there).

That's it for now. Going to head out tonight and grab some drinks with the ladies. See you soon!

Orienting...

Today was another interesting day. Still jet lagged but powered through most of the day (save a 20 minute power nap in a van on the way back from one of our excursions). Spent the morning learning about my and my fellow volunteer's job placements. It sounds like I'm going to have an opportunity to put my marketing skills to the test. Will write more about that tomorrow -- start my placement at 8:30am. Am super excited!

This afternoon, we took a tour of the four main black townships in and around Cape Town. The tour guide was a local woman (Ivy) who is a native of the township. It was really eye opening. There's an incredible amount of poverty here, but there's a very strong, proud heritage of black and coloured South Africans that gives these areas, however modest, a surprisingly upbeat feel.

It may also have something to do with the spirit of the children living in these areas. They are fun, funny, and really loveable. No wonder Angelina keeps coming back with a new one every time she's here. (Don't worry, I'm not getting any ideas.)

I'm posting some pics of the townships and have embedded a video of the "Gum boot dancers"--a young South African boys dance troupe who put on a pretty amazing show for us. http://youtube.com/watch?v=qBhDXupl2ms

C

JET LAG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's 3am South Africa time and I am supposed to be up in 3 hours for a run. Everyone else in the house seems to be sleeping...but not me. I'm going to now see if tales of Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, and Lindsey Lohan will lull me into a good ol' deep, satisfying, American paparazzi-inducing sleep.

Arrived!

Well, it was a little bit of a journey but I did finally arrive in Cape Town this morning (Sunday, 1/13) at around 10am SA time.

The Flight: The eighteen hour flight wasn't quite as bad as I thought it would be. South African airways is a pretty nice airline--I recommend it. The food was even edible. That said, missing our connecting flight, waiting in an airport for 5 hours in Johannesburg, and having to go to a hotel to sleep for 5 hours before boarding a plane at 7am for cape town was a bit painful. But I met some really nice people (including a fellow volunteer, Regina) along the way and I'm here now and Cape Town is lovely.
The House: We are staying in an 170 year old "estate" in South Africa. It's pretty breathtaking from the outside. They've done a pretty good job keeping it up inside considering it sleeps upwards of 33 people. I lucked out with my room an roommate. There are only 2 of us and we have our own bathroom. Score! She is 26 and from San Francisco--her name is Stephanie.

The People: Stephanie was working at an investment bank, quit her job and is trying to figure out what she'll do next. She's very down to earth and sweet, and I think we'll get along just fine. The rest of the girls seem great--21 of us to be exact. Lots of college students which is definitely something to get used to (it's like living with 15 vicki's--oy!). But we have a few ladies into their 40s, 50s, and 60s who are really interesting women with diverse backgrounds. All of the volunteers are women which proves again that women are the superior gender :-). I'm sure there will be some interesting things to report once all the estrogen begins to rage.

Our first day of orientation: Really great orientation program today. Learned so much--from the history of south africa (from 2 south african natives--really moving) to what to do in case the power goes out in the house. It was a lot of info to take in. We had a Braii (barbeque) for lunch. And I learned that I'm either going to be taking language classes in Afrikaans or Xhosa (the click language) once a week until I leave. Watch out--i'll be clicking away once I'm back in the states (debby, that's for you).

Day 2 is tomorrow. We learn about our volunteer placements and visit a black township. South Africa is such a contradiction. We took a tour today and I can't explain the differences in the living conditions between the "haves" and "have nots". I'll be posting some pictures so you can see some examples of the shacks that South African families live in. So much different than I ever could have imagined.

Start my volunteer placement on Tuesday. Will send more info later. Pictures to come...

Love,
C

Before Leaving...

I will be in Cape Town, South Africa for 46 days. I leave on January 11th and will return on February 27th. I am participating in a volunteer program called Cross Cultural Solutions (crossculturalsolutions.org). CCS is an international volunteer program with a global infrastructure that supports over 4,000 international volunteers each year and over 250 sustainable community initiatives. More than 250 CCS in-country staff members are working year-round, ensuring that participants are volunteering with a project that interests them and contributing directly to the goals of each community.

While in Cape Town, I will be volunteering each day at a non-profit organization called Sibanye. It is a NGO set up in the township that sells crafts to support those who are living withHIV/AIDS in their community. You can read more about it here: http://www.sibanye.org.za/

On the weekends and after work, I will be exploring Cape Town and South Africa. I will post pics and a log of my experiences. So, feel free to e-mail me or send me a message while I'm away. Would love to hear from you... -C