Tuesday, January 25, 2011
A snapshot of District 6…
Time certainly is flying by…today at placement I helped in the beauty salon. Two other volunteers and myself went to one of the female wards and the women got to have some pampering time with make-up and nail polish. You should have seen them light up when we came in to the room. It’s amazing how a little makeover and nail polish can improve their mood and perception of themselves. I had the chance to talk with some of the woman who asked me to paint their nails and apply make-up and they too were fascinated with the fact that I was from America. They asked me about New York, Miami and of course California. Apparently Wisconsin did not make it on the list of must see places for many in South Africa. I loved being able to see the smiles on their faces when you let them look in a mirror. They looked simply marvelous!!
After lunch we headed to the District 6 museum. As you might remember from a previous blog entry District 6 was a cosmopolitan neighborhood that was very culturally diverse. Upon the Apartheid they deemed this neighborhood as a “white only” community and uprooted to the Cape Flats in 1965. The museum gave us a better history of this horrific act and how it affected this vibrant community and the lives of those who lived there. There are several of the staff from my home base who are from District 6 and one of them took us today and showed us the house he was born in which was one of the only houses not bulldozed. We also had an opportunity to meet one of his school mates at the museum who wrote a book on his experience. I bought his book and he autographed it for me. We also took a picture together which you can see. The museum gives the history of this era as well as actual artifacts that people have donated that were left in the rubble that was once their home and community. The closest thing we have to this in America in many ways and most recently in our more recent history is racial segregation. Upon the end of Apartheid in 1994 people were given 5 years to put claim back on the land that belonged to generations of their families. Some wanted to move back, others had spent the last 30 years in a township or a new community and didn’t feel they could go back. The government vowed to build new homes and create a community again but unfortunately the houses aren’t going up like they promised and there is a lot of empty lots are not being used. If you would like to read more about District 6 please do so…http://www.southafrica.info/about/history/districtsix.htm
Right around the corner from the District 6 Museum is a well known whimsical bakery that is popular and one of a kind in Cape Town called Charly’s Bakery. I immediately thought of my infamous cousin Susie and her best cakes in the world business Brookfield Wedding Cakes. Yes…this is the remarkably talented woman who has made all of my graduation and birthday cakes and made me in to the cake connoisseur or snob that I am today. If I didn’t live in Madison…I would ask to be her apprentice because she is phenomenal and I want her to teach me all of her secrets. The building has lots of eye catching colors and the minute you walk in to the shop (especially in South Africa) you feel like you should be watching something out of the Food Network, Cupcake Wars or Cake Boss. They had cakes with fondant and all sorts of petit fours, cupcakes, cookies, brownies, other sweets and even cheesecake. This is not common down here or at least this is the first of its kind that I’ve seen since being here. I ended up getting a double fudge brownie but needed to share pictures of this place because it made me want to call my cousin right away and tell her all about it. I also had a chance to speak to the owner and told her that she should have a show down here since it seems like a specialty shop. Ironically they were filming outside as we spoke for a show in England and then are going to be on TV in South Africa with hopes of maybe getting picked up in the US. I asked to take her picture and of course talked baking and cakes. Back home this might not seem like that big of a deal but down here this is something you don’t see and the shop is super cute. Hope you like the pictures of the store. You can find them on Facebook and they hope to open a retail shop in the next 6 months upstairs. The brownie was very tasty but brownies down here are more like chocolate cake than a brownie back home. You can never go wrong with chocolate right?
We then headed back to the house and off to isiXhosa lessons. Today we focused on learning words we needed at our placements as well as practicing our clicks a little bit. Our teacher is the biggest sweetheart ever and always brings his 5 year old grandson Lihle to class who is so adorable. I want to kidnap him and bring him back with me! He is seriously one of the cutest little boys that I have ever seen and he loves to sing Waka Waka with me. I’m posting a picture of he and I playing outside together.
It was really hot here today so we also talked about the weather. I will leave you with a new phrase to practice. Kushushu namhlanje means It is hot today!
Well…off to get some sleep. We have lots more planned in the afternoon tomorrow after volunteering and I am sure I will have lots more to share with all of you. Be well!
XOXO from Cape Town-Melissa
Monday, January 24, 2011
A day of respite and the amazing Table Mountain…
First off...I need to give a very special shout out to my Daddy today! Happy Birthday Dad! I hope you have an amazing birthday and know that I love you very much!
Today was a day of healing for me. My placement had planning meetings and the staff as well as the Dr. suggested that I sleep in here today. So…I laid low this morning, slept in and tried to rest so that I can start feeling better. Today is the first day despite everything that I am finally feeling like the antibiotics are truly kicking in. Thank god!
I ate lunch and then some of the other volunteers and I took a cab to Table Mountain. Most of us took the cable cars up to the very top and spent some time taking pictures and taking in the landscape of Cape Town. They are actually trying to get Table Mountain to be voted as one of the new 7 wonders of the world!!! It should definitely win this competition! It is absolutely incredible here and the pictures simply leave you speechless. I could spend days up there! Hopefully you will think the same when you see some of my pictures. I can tell you that researching cameras has paid off 100 times over! I saved up for a camera that has a panoramic sweep option which is allowing me to take some picture perfect scenes to share with all of you. I am so happy that I went with this camera so I have something to remember this by!
The other really exciting thing is that while I was sporting my Packers t-shirt at Table Mountain today I met a guy who gave told me he liked my shirt! I started talking to him and found out he is from Manitowoc, Wisconsin! He is the first person from Wisconsin that I have met down here who actually lives here. I actually took a picture with him I was so excited! I guess that means there are at least 2 Packers fans in Cape Town! Hope you enjoy the blogging! As always…lots of love from Cape Town!
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