Tuesday, May 26, 2009

As of now, this was probably one of the better days. We did SO much.

First thing we went to was a Creche at the district 6 museum that we had visited on Friday. When we walked in there were about forty 4-6 year olds sitting in a circle. Each of us stepped in the circle and introduces ourselves. When we did, they responded “Good morning Cristen.” After introductions we had little dental lessons. Then they sang for us and we all joined in on a couple of songs and games. The kids are so cute and so smart. At that age most of them already speak two or three languages. If I haven’t mentioned already, there are 11 official languages here. EVERYONE speaks at least 3: English, Afrikaans, and their tribal language. Anyways, we also just played around with the kids for a long time. They were climbing all over us and they had SO much energy. When it was time for us to leave, they didn’t want us to go. It slightly broke my heart because one of the girls kept telling me to come back to her school and they all kept saying they were going to miss us. I reallllly had a lot of fun at the crèche this day.

After this we went to the waterfront and went through the aquarium. The Indian Ocean (warm water) and the Atlantic Ocean (cold water) meet at the Cape so this aquarium had both warm and cool water fish. They were really pretty. Oh and there was this crab that was literally 3 feet wide. They were huge! Also we ran into a group of middle school age on a field trip. They had come from 3 hours away. Me and 3 others stopped and talked to them. They could not believe we had come from so far away to be in South Africa. When they had to go they all gave us hugs. The kids here are so affectionate and so down to earth. They understand how to really be happy and that possessions aren’t what really make you happy.

Soooo then we had lunch outside. Nothing exciting and really not even worth mentioning haha

Out next adventure was a tour of Robben Island. Robben Island is a jail on an island a lot like Alcatraz. We first got a tour of the actual jail. Our tour guide was named Sparks and he was actually a prisoner there for 7 years. We saw the cell that he lived in for those 7 years and saw Nelson Mandela’s cell. Nelson Mandela was a prisoner on Robben Island for 18 years then 7 more somewhere else then 2 more somewhere else. We then got a bus tour of the island. Before getting on the bus we met a group of guys from Moorehouse University/College? which is in Atlanta. These guys were making a video/documenting their trip that was sponsored by Oprah. Im pretty sure they were going around to townships in South Africa talking about HIV/AIDS awareness. I don’t know all the details but we might get together with them on Friday so Ill update then!!

For dinner we decided to make dinner! We had a family dinner! It was really cute! We just made pasta and a salad.

Its getting really tiring because we’re always so busy. But I’m hanging in there! We’ve been going to bed early lately but are on the go all day long! But its great regardless ☺