"There is not one black person that is accepted in this world."

I apologize for not writing in a long time. All of us have been going, going, and a lot of us are starting to get a little run down. I will admit, I am getting a runny nose. But that doesn't stop me. Not yet.

I just want to talk about the driving for a short moment. I don't know why I have not noticed it yet, maybe because I've been admiring the beautiful scenery and looking at houses and people etc. But, our shuttle drivers (Shafiek and Craig, and no his name is not SHAFREAK, thats another embarressing story of mine I need to tell you) have almost hit people in the middle of the road at like 4 times now that I have noticed. They just keep driving, expecting the pedestrians to move out of the way. But, I don't think pedestrians have the right of way in South Africa. Everytime I watch the road, there's a gasp and I grabbed onto TJ and Nate I was so worried we were going to hit this child. So, another note to self: just keep admiring the beautiful scenery.

So Saturday I went on a safari. Which was very fun. I will say the coolest thing I had seen were giraffes, and two males were "practice fighting". They do this and fight with their long necks, but since they are so young, they call it practicing and playing. I might have a video of it, so I'll post it on this blog if I have time. Also, it was Nate's birthday the night before, but since we had to get up so early, we went to our first African restaurant to celebrate and had a night out on the town. TJ and I shared calimari, pasta, and cheesecake. There was live music. Night life is different here than it is in the States. You get pickpocketed so easily there. Not to mention the crime rate is pretty high here.

Sunday was my first day in Gugalethu. We attended a church service and I must say I had the best feeling inside of me after the service was done. I don't know if it was because I hadn't been to church in a while, but Chief if you are reading this, from our talk before I left, I feel like I had experienced the same thing you had. The music was amazing, they have such rhythm, and its just so much warmer than the churches that I have attended. I also met my host mom, Thombeka. This woman is 55, and lives with her grand daughter. She works in Cape Town and travels by taxi. She is such a warm, genuine person. I can not wait to hear about her stories and share them with you. The rest of the day was spent at the waterfront, we had to get some last minute things, and last but not least, I got to go see Sex and the City movie. I loved it. I recommend it, and Stella and I wanted to buy another ticket to watch it again after we had just seen it. Let's just say, two tickets is the equivalent to one in the States.

And today. Today was our first full day in the township. It started off with three lecturers, a fabulous performance group, one of the best meals I've eaten so far, a tour of Gugs (what the locals call the township), and spending time with children in an after-school program. The title of this blog is a quote from one of the lectures, the reverend of the church we are working with this following week. He said it was a realization he had come to. I was shocked to hear this statement, but as I start to ponder through my mind I almost think this makes sense. In order to make a difference in our lifes, we are responsible for our own lives, and no one can change it but us. He said we need to have people dream, to think that they have the potential. And this one was one of my favorites from Spiwo, "if you can't see far, you won't get far." I actually agree. It reminds me of dad's quote that he tells me, about hope, if you have hope you can dream. You can get anywhere with hope.

Another man we talked to was Edwin. Edwin is the head of the community center. Very nice man. He comes from a mixed mother with a Xhosa father. His goal is to see change in the community, wants to contribute positively, but HOW does he do that? He says you need to start with yourself, take the opporutnity, and you won't really ever know what to expect. You can always hate, but how does that open new avenues and windows for you to enter. I REALLY like this man.

A discussion happened, and I want you to ask yourself these questions as you read this. How are we any different from the people here? What do we all do to prove ourselves? How do we determine what type of success is good? Is it embaressing? Throughout this discussion, I basically went on a rampage (I was VERY frustrated and thinking in my head and just let it out) We are looking at a culture, and thinking it is so different, but its probably the same here. We have not evaluated our culture yet. We don't know what we have.

Just picture this. A floor that is covered with different types of wood, plastic and linoleum. The siding of your house is metal. Your whole house is twice the size of your standard bathroom. You share a room with all of your family members. Your bike is hanging in your living room. You have one chair to sit on and a bed too. But that bed is supposed to be slept on. There are tires on the roof to hold down the roof from flying off. There's no backyard, no side walk, the wall next door is another shack, another family, in another living similar living situation. Again, I do have pictures.

That is a common house hold. But the house we visited, was of a seventeen year old girl who is taking care of her younger brother who is either 11 or 9 (I can't remember sorry). Her parents died two years ago, and she is left to take care of her brother. She was being denied from schools until the community center found out about the two and is helping them out.

And, I'll say this, and I have pictures, some shacks were forced to leave because they had to clean up the sidewalks and roads, because Gugs is a main way to get to the world cup from the airport. Now where did those people go?

One last thing about today. Sometimes I think I should be a family social science major, here's why, I LOVE KIDS. Beth, I thought about you today because I know you like them. The afterschool program is to help them with homework and give children the resources they need. I worked with a girl, Thandile, and how to write "This is a boy" and pronunciation over and over again. I have a picture of here, I have yet to upload pictures. Which I might just have to do. No, I'm getting sick, nevermind. They are just happy spirits, and being with them makes me forget hardships and want to be with them ALL the time.

The past days I have been doing a lot of thinking and feeling. I am trying to be vulnerable and putting myself in that uncomfortable position. I am known to be a thinker, but I don't always put myself in that uncomfortable position, hence the title of my blog. The question came up by Elisa, "What do you hope to get from this trip?" My thoughts were, building better relationships with people, deciding on a damn major, and finding that faith. And last but not least, having that personal growth in a global perspective. My thoughts are starting to evolve. And I can't quite put my finger on how to incorporate that into my lifestyle. But that could probably take a while I think.


Just a reminder to you all that I won't be posting until Friday night. I'll be writing down instances that occur, but I don't have a computer until then. I might get to my email because there is a computer center there, so we will see. This is what I have been waiting for. Wish me luck.

Again, pictures and giraffe video to come.