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