We don't want to leave the Cape...

Sorry that we have not updated in a while but it’s been quite busy over here on the other side of the world. We are currently traveling to India, so I’ll update you on our time spent in beautiful Cape Town, South Africa.

friday we arrived and I had an FDP at 2pm so i couldn't stray far from the boat, but luckily the dock for our ship is at this place called the V&A Waterfront which
has a lot of cool shops and restaurants so it kept me pretty busy. I went on a Township and District 6 tour. The townships are an amazing site- in a different way.
Basically, right outside of the wealthy portion of Cape Town are shanty towns all over the place. The people who live there literally build their houses out of whatever they can find- wood, cardboard, tin, etc. It's crazy. It's mind blogging and eye-opening to see that people live that way. We walked around the township and played with the kids (whom i am falling in love with quite quickly and at this rate I might smuggle an orphan onto the ship with me). I have already distributed all my stickers- i need to go buy more. You should see how much they LOVE stickers!Then saturday we woke up early and went to the winelands which are breathtaking. It was about a thirty minute drive to the winelands to this college town called Stollenboche.
 It was picturesque, quaint and so much fun. We went to two vineyards where they had all you can drink wine tasting for free. And at this one called Beyerskloof they had
 the most delicious cheese platter that our group ordered 4 of them haha! then we went to the Uni. of Cape Town vs. Stollenboche rugby game which was SO much fun!!!! We met a lot
 of (cute) locals who took us to their afterparty at some bar when Stollenboche won the game. GO MATIES!!! We
 immediately fit in with the college crowd and it made me miss USD. We even put on face paint and wrote MATIES on our arms to
 show support for Stollenboche University.Sunday- I can't tell you about. Just so you know- I survived ;) whatever it is that I did and you, dad, and I are going to do it again sometime because it was the most amazing experience I have ever had in my entire life. So get excited!!! We also hiked table mountain yesterday which had the most amazing views of the city ever. It was the most difficult thing physically i have ever had to do. The trail was pretty much straight up the entire mountain and all rocks and boulders that you had to climb. It was basically rock climbing.
Today we went on a trip sponsored by Operation Hunger. We went to two different townships- Los Angeles and Green Park. It took all day from 9am to 5pm. Operation Hunger is an organization that assesses the malnutrition of South Africa's younger population. We arrived in Los Angeles for our first stop and were informed that we were going to the school there, called a "crash," where the little kids between infants and 8 years old stay during the day while their families are working or older brothers and sisters are at work. Our job was to not only play and interact with the children but also weigh all of them and chart their weights on a graph to see how the township is doing with nutrition. Again, Maggie and I brought packs of stickers to give out to the kids and needless to say by the end of our time with them, the kids' faces were covered in little star, heart, and animal stickers. It was so funny to see that thats the first place they stuck a sticker. The balloons were a big hit too. It was sad to say goodbye to the kids so that we could move on to the next township. We all had formed strong bonds with one or two of the children who parked themselves on our laps or in the piggy-back position so as to keep us from leaving. Even just after an hour, we all felt so attached to the children. However, we moved on to Green Park community which was a little worse-off than Los Angeles. We learned upon arrival that the school house that we were going to had just been broken into and robbed the night before. Nevertheless, we proceeded through the mud and rain to the little schoolhouse in the back of the community. Once inside the dark little room, the shy and wary kids at first started to warm up and find a "companion" among our group. We weighed these kids too and found that they were more malnourished than the last community. At this community we were supposed to feed the kids from food provided by Operation Hunger in a big kitchen that they had on-site but the person in charge of that forgot to go grocery shopping. Now we had a dilemma. What food we re we supposed to give to the starving children? Well, provided to us, we had packed lunches from the ship- sandwich, cookies, cake, chicken, apple, and juice. It wasn't appealing food to us so we gave all of our lunches to the kids. When the 45 children were maneuvering through the food line, the smiles on their faces lit up the gloomy day and warmed our hearts. Those smiles and laughs made the long day worth it. Leaving Green Park, the children chased our bus and waved wondering when the next white people would venture into their neighborhood. Little did they know that it would be in only a day or so.We had absolutely nothing planned for Tuesday, September 30th, so we decided to sleep in and use that day as a shopping day! At noon, we ventured out of the ship and had lunch at this great little cafe that had amazing food! The pizza around the world is phenomenal. After our long lunch, we headed to Long Street to hit up the stores. I won't bore you with the details of our shopping adventures but it was a very successful day. I wasn't feeling too well that day so after a late dinner at Mitchell's Pub and Grill, I went back to the boat for a long, overdue and refreshing night's sleep.Wednesday I was all rested and rearing to go. While Maggie, Sarah, and Allison decided to go cage shark diving, I decided to go back to the winelands for a lazy day of wine tasting and relaxation. I went to one vineyard called "Spier" and got to play with and pet baby cheetahs because they foster a rehabilitation center there. It was so cool!
Then, there was an especially unique opportunity that only Semester at Sea participants were able to partake in. Desmond Tutu, one of the most influential leaders during the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, boarded the MV Explorer to meet and discuss certain global issues with the students on board. It was an amazing experience and I even got to introduce myself and shake his hand as he was leaving. He is a great public speaker and had a lot of knowledgeable advice to give to students living in the United States. After he spoke to the crowd, two other African men stood before us. They were Amy Biehl’s murderers. Do you know the story of Amy Biehl? She was a white exchange student in the early 90s who was studying at UCT (university of Cape Town). She was brutally murdered while she was dropping a friend off at home in the township of Gugulethu. Everyone says she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time because on this particular day there was an anti-white protest and mob going on in the township. It was interesting to hear the story told first hand by the evil people who had committed this crime. However, after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission granted them amnesty, they have made a complete 180 on their feelings towards white people and on racism and apartheid in general. The two men now run the Amy Biehl Foundation which helps to promote awareness and acceptance of the mixing between white and black cultures in South Africa.

Needless to say, Cape Town is now my new favorite place and I can’t wait to bring my family there!

Only 8 more days til we arrive in Chennai, India!!