I headed off to Valkenberg today and got to help with the Salon today. That is one of the services that the organization helps run for the patients. Volunteers from the community that are trained come in once a week to cut, style, and perm the patient’s hair. It’s a really nice thing that helps many of the patients feel better about themselves. It also helps because now is summer in Cape Town and it can get quite warm. Many of the patients have not had a haircut in a long time and are excited to get a cooler haircut for the hotter months. I met a nice retired gentleman named Rolf today. He is a volunteer who has owned his own hair salon and now comes once a week to give haircuts for free. We talked about how he began to volunteer and he helped show me the ropes in the salon. We had several patients come in for haircuts today and some just stopped by to talk and socialize. It was really neat to see how much a haircut improved their mood, self esteem and worth. They left smiling and really happy! I also had my first marriage proposal through the window of the salon today! It was quite funny!
After volunteering we had lunch and went straight to an African drumming class. This was so much fun!!! I loved it! I really would love to bring a drum home. We learned all about the history of drumming, where the drums we were playing were made or where they generally come from in Africa (Mali, Ivory Coast and Ghana) and then learned different techniques, beats and even got to do solo drumming. The time went by so quickly and my hands were red afterwards but it was a great time.
Then we were off again to head back to Lion’s Head Mountain. This time was to go…PARAGLIDING off of Lion’s Head! We met the company we were going tandem with and heading up the mountain with our gear. When we got to the first flat range of the mountain we had orientation, met our tandem partner (mine was Ivo from Bulgaria) and signed all of our waivers. We then geared up helmet and all and one at a time had to climb down a steep part of the mountain range. We had 3 rules…when I tell you to run…keep running as fast as you can and don’t stop, don’t sit until I tell you, and don’t jump. They repeated these multiple times. We then got hooked up with the parachute behind us and before I knew it he was yelling to run and my legs were still moving when I was already up in the air! For the first time I felt like I knew what it was like to be an eagle. It was incredible and the scenery around us was Table Mountain and Camps Bay…the ocean and Lion’s Head. It was surreal! We flew around for about 20 minutes and he took pictures and video during the flight and I also got to take pictures from the air. He then did some tricks in the air that made my tummy a little upset and as we were getting ready to land right in a landing field next to the ocean he told me to run a few steps as we hit. Being in the air and seeing my volunteer friends around me was awesome. It is silent and all you can do is take it all in! Simply incredible! When we landed we decided to walk up some steps to a beachfront restaurant called LeMed and watched the sunset as well as let our tummies settle a bit! It was an experience I will never forget! I also have pictures and video which I can’t wait to show you when I get back! I could have gone and done it again in a heartbeat!! Here is the website if you want to check it out… http://www.paraglide.co.za/
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