Today is my last day in Cape Town, and unfortunately it is misty and COLD!!!! Tomorrow we jump on an 8am flight to Johannesburg, and then drive two hours to our first game drive (safari) in Pilanesberg...we'll be spending the night at a lodge on the reserve, so I doubt I'll have any Internet access from there! I hope you can all make it through a day without my blog :)
As I mentioned yesterday, last night we went to dinner at a restaurant called Moyo...and I think dinner does not do it justice...it was an overall "experience". We drove about an hour through Stellenbosch, through a lot of the wineries and vineyards, and finally to a winery calle Spier...the restaurant is part of the winery. It is under a massive tent, with fires all around. As we were seated for dinner, the waitstaff came around and painted our faces in traditional white paint designs and washed our hands at the table. The dinner was a buffet of about 15 stations with every kind of African food you can imagine. During dinner, there were singers who came around to our tables and performaces going on throughout the tent. Everyone had a great time, and one of the girls on the trip actually got up on stage to show off her own African dance moves.
Today we visited the University of Cape Town and had a really interesting lecture on university and community partnerships and the transformation of the university post-apartheid from a white university to an integrated university...I think there may be an opportunity to do some collaborative work from the US with some of their youth programs. After that, I decided not to go to the wine tasting and botanical gardens (I know, shocking!) and a few of the girls and I have been enjoying our first full three hours of free time walking around the waterfront.
Tonight its off to a reflection meeting and then a Kurdish restaurant called Mesopotamia...apparently, the group went last year and belly dancing is a mandatory part of the evening...we'll see how this goes! And yes, in case you are all wondering, eating has been a main focus of this trip...and I would not have it any other way :)
Bye bye Cape Town, I can't believe this trip is halfway over already!
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Next stop Antarctica....
Today was all about heights and amazing views...the morning started with a visit to Table Mountain, which has a beautiful view of Capetown, especially on a clear day like today...we traveled up in a cable car - reminiscent of Montserrat for any of you who know about my adventures with my mother there, thats all I could think of (sorry Mom, no pricker bushes this time!). We hiked around there for a while, then drove about an hour to visit the Cape of Good Hope, the most Southwestern point of Africa...hence the next stop Antarctica :) Again, more hiking and amazing photo opps. We made a quick stop at the jackass penguin colony, but they are dangerous so unfortunately, no happy feet and I couldn't steal one to bring home! and now its off to Moyo, a African campfire bbq out in the mountains somewhere....We are having some amazing adventures, but I'm exhausted!!! Tonight will be an early night and hopefully get some sleep before another 6:45 morning! I never thought I'd be this tired on a vacation!
Sorry this is short and sweet, but they keep us on a tight schedule!
Love, Breezy
Sorry this is short and sweet, but they keep us on a tight schedule!
Love, Breezy
Monday, July 9, 2007
Champagne on the Beach
I will start this email off on a positive, vacation-ish note to make sure that you all know that despite my reflections and powerful experiences, I am also having a lot of fun!...I spent the afternoon sipping champagne on the beach with a bunch of my fellow travelers...and found out that it is a very small world after all! There is an older couple on this trip who are hysterical and have adopted me (N, think uncle jack) and just happen to be the best of friends with my buddy Seth's family! And, my new friend Rodney lives two blocks away from me at 2nd and Queen...and we all traveled 24 hours to meet each other. The people in my group are lots of fun, which always helps the experience!
The day wasn't all fun and bubbly...we spent the morning (another 6:45 wakeup call) at the University of the Western Cape, where we had a really intense lecture on HIV/AIDs and its impact on Africa and particularly college campuses....Its estimated that as many as 1 in3 South Africans may be HIV positive, which is a devastating statistic! Its rampant on college campuses. A guy named Bonilla told us all about his own personal experiences with finding out he was HIV positive and coming out to his family and friends...Again, he managed to find the positive in his situation, telling us that he felt that revealing this to his family had improved his relationship with his dad. I held it together but was definitely pretty emotional after getting back on the bus, as most of us were. From the University, we headed to the beach....and after drinking lots of champagne forced on us by our awesome Australian/South African tour guide Justin, we had to come back and have a serious group discussion about our experiences so far....let me tell you, no one was making many revelations, but I think we all really needed the downtime to process the morning.
Tonight we went to a performance by a group of youth from Kliptown, who we will also visit next week. They were full of energy and tons of fun.
Finished up the night eating an Ostrich burger (yup, ostrich!) and getting drinks on the waterfont with the group...all in all a great day! Tomorrow, its on to the jackass penguin colony where I'm pretty sure I will kidnap some wildlife to bring back to J & J, per their requests! :).....
The day wasn't all fun and bubbly...we spent the morning (another 6:45 wakeup call) at the University of the Western Cape, where we had a really intense lecture on HIV/AIDs and its impact on Africa and particularly college campuses....Its estimated that as many as 1 in3 South Africans may be HIV positive, which is a devastating statistic! Its rampant on college campuses. A guy named Bonilla told us all about his own personal experiences with finding out he was HIV positive and coming out to his family and friends...Again, he managed to find the positive in his situation, telling us that he felt that revealing this to his family had improved his relationship with his dad. I held it together but was definitely pretty emotional after getting back on the bus, as most of us were. From the University, we headed to the beach....and after drinking lots of champagne forced on us by our awesome Australian/South African tour guide Justin, we had to come back and have a serious group discussion about our experiences so far....let me tell you, no one was making many revelations, but I think we all really needed the downtime to process the morning.
Tonight we went to a performance by a group of youth from Kliptown, who we will also visit next week. They were full of energy and tons of fun.
Finished up the night eating an Ostrich burger (yup, ostrich!) and getting drinks on the waterfont with the group...all in all a great day! Tomorrow, its on to the jackass penguin colony where I'm pretty sure I will kidnap some wildlife to bring back to J & J, per their requests! :).....
Sunday, July 8, 2007
The Beginning
Howsit? (That is the South African greeting that our tour guide has forced us to repeat in unison before he will start the day). I have officially finished my first full day in South Africa and I'm loving it. It is definitely worth the trip. First, a quick run down of my adventures in getting here...
11:30am, Friday - Lezlie, Anita and Kristen meet at my house. (A fourth traveler, Jennifer, who I don't know, is running late because three taxis have stood her up, and ends up having to chase the shuttle around Philadelphia and finally leave her car parked in a random gas station somewhere in North Philly..but that is a long and very funny story that I won't get into now!)
12:00pm Friday - time our airport shuttle is supposed to pick us up
12:30- time the shuttle ACTUALLY picks us up
12:30-1:50- time spent driving around Northeast Philadelphia picking up other passengers that we didn't know would be sharing our shuttle
2:15- time we FINALLY leave Philly and realize that our shuttle is also making a stop to drop people off at Newark airport first...(sidenote, this is also the time Brie starts to flip out and stops speaking to people out of sheer nervousness about missing the flight!)
3:00- time we realize that our flight is at 5:20 and not 5:55, as we originally thought (see above sidenote)
4:05 - arrive at JFK and make it through ticketing and security in a record 13 minutes!
4:18 - RELIEF, boarded the flight.
I have lots of funny stories about the flights, including fights with flight attendants and sitting next to the Minister of something or other from Guinea Bissau.....but I'm sure thats not what you are all reading this blog for! So the SA adventures begin...
Of course, it would not be a Tangney vacation if it didn't start with rain! This morning was really foggy and misty, but turned into a beautiful and busy day. At 8:00am we headed out on a tour of Cape Town and visited the District 6 museum...District 6 was a mixed race neighborhood in Cape Town where people were forced to relocate in the 1960's based on race and had their homes destroyed, and are finally able to start moving back. The museum is now a gathering space for activists and a way to remember and rebuild the neighborhood. We had a private tour by some former residents of District 6, and they shared their stories and photographs.
Next, to lighten the mood, we headed on a tour of Camps Bay (one of the worlds top ten beaches) and drove along the water. This is probably one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen in my life. From there, it was lunch on the waterfront, followed by a 45 minute choppy ferry ride to Robben Island, which is the former prison where political prisoners like Nelson Mandela were held.
Robben Island was definitely not what I expected from a prison...the island has an unbelievable view of Table Mountain and Capetown, and tons of wildlife (penguins, peacocks and bunnies, frolicking side by side!) and vegetation. In the midst of our ooh-ing and ahh-ing and flurries of camera flashes, it dawned on me the irony (maybe thats not the right word, contradiction?) of the lives of prisoners on this island. Here, many of these men who were sentenced to solitude and life inprisonment because they fought for freedom and peace, were also forced to look out at one of the most beautiful sights I've seen.
The most moving part of my day was definitely coversations with Noor, the tour guide at District 6 who had been relocated and physically watched his home bulldozed, and our tour guide at Robben Island who was a former political prisoner. Both of these men, who had been so oppressed and suffered so much, spoke about forgiveness and reconciliation. Neither had any hatred towards the white people who had treated them so badly and truly believed in peace and harmony.
After a very busy and moving day, we had some down time and a group Welcome Dinner at a Cape Malay (think Indian food) restaurant nearby and got to experience some local cuisine. On that note, I am stuffed and sleepy and ready to get some rest for our first University visit and Champagne Beach Experience tomorrow!
I can't believe this is only the first day, and looking forward to the next 9!
Love,
Breezy
11:30am, Friday - Lezlie, Anita and Kristen meet at my house. (A fourth traveler, Jennifer, who I don't know, is running late because three taxis have stood her up, and ends up having to chase the shuttle around Philadelphia and finally leave her car parked in a random gas station somewhere in North Philly..but that is a long and very funny story that I won't get into now!)
12:00pm Friday - time our airport shuttle is supposed to pick us up
12:30- time the shuttle ACTUALLY picks us up
12:30-1:50- time spent driving around Northeast Philadelphia picking up other passengers that we didn't know would be sharing our shuttle
2:15- time we FINALLY leave Philly and realize that our shuttle is also making a stop to drop people off at Newark airport first...(sidenote, this is also the time Brie starts to flip out and stops speaking to people out of sheer nervousness about missing the flight!)
3:00- time we realize that our flight is at 5:20 and not 5:55, as we originally thought (see above sidenote)
4:05 - arrive at JFK and make it through ticketing and security in a record 13 minutes!
4:18 - RELIEF, boarded the flight.
I have lots of funny stories about the flights, including fights with flight attendants and sitting next to the Minister of something or other from Guinea Bissau.....but I'm sure thats not what you are all reading this blog for! So the SA adventures begin...
Of course, it would not be a Tangney vacation if it didn't start with rain! This morning was really foggy and misty, but turned into a beautiful and busy day. At 8:00am we headed out on a tour of Cape Town and visited the District 6 museum...District 6 was a mixed race neighborhood in Cape Town where people were forced to relocate in the 1960's based on race and had their homes destroyed, and are finally able to start moving back. The museum is now a gathering space for activists and a way to remember and rebuild the neighborhood. We had a private tour by some former residents of District 6, and they shared their stories and photographs.
Next, to lighten the mood, we headed on a tour of Camps Bay (one of the worlds top ten beaches) and drove along the water. This is probably one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen in my life. From there, it was lunch on the waterfront, followed by a 45 minute choppy ferry ride to Robben Island, which is the former prison where political prisoners like Nelson Mandela were held.
Robben Island was definitely not what I expected from a prison...the island has an unbelievable view of Table Mountain and Capetown, and tons of wildlife (penguins, peacocks and bunnies, frolicking side by side!) and vegetation. In the midst of our ooh-ing and ahh-ing and flurries of camera flashes, it dawned on me the irony (maybe thats not the right word, contradiction?) of the lives of prisoners on this island. Here, many of these men who were sentenced to solitude and life inprisonment because they fought for freedom and peace, were also forced to look out at one of the most beautiful sights I've seen.
The most moving part of my day was definitely coversations with Noor, the tour guide at District 6 who had been relocated and physically watched his home bulldozed, and our tour guide at Robben Island who was a former political prisoner. Both of these men, who had been so oppressed and suffered so much, spoke about forgiveness and reconciliation. Neither had any hatred towards the white people who had treated them so badly and truly believed in peace and harmony.
After a very busy and moving day, we had some down time and a group Welcome Dinner at a Cape Malay (think Indian food) restaurant nearby and got to experience some local cuisine. On that note, I am stuffed and sleepy and ready to get some rest for our first University visit and Champagne Beach Experience tomorrow!
I can't believe this is only the first day, and looking forward to the next 9!
Love,
Breezy
Saturday, July 7, 2007
One hellish airport shuttle ride, 3 flights, (and 4 delicious airplane meals) and a bus laterI'm here in Cape Town! Its 11pm South African time, about 5pm US time and we just got to the hotel. That means I've been traveling for about 24 hours. Tired, but very excited....tomorrow is a 6:45 am wake up call for a tour of Cape Town and Robben Island, and lots of other activities weather permitting.
My bed is calling my name, so I'll write more soon!
B
My bed is calling my name, so I'll write more soon!
B
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
SKY
This is the community center I'll be visiting in Kliptown:
http://edition.cnn.com/video/player/player.html?url=/video/specials/2007/06/21/cnn.heroes.bob.nameng.cnn
http://edition.cnn.com/video/player/player.html?url=/video/specials/2007/06/21/cnn.heroes.bob.nameng.cnn
Butterflies
Minjhani! (Thats Tsonga/South African for hello....I do my research!) I decided to start a blog for my trip to South Africa to keep you all posted about my adventures and also to use as a sort of journal....I am not sure how great my Internet access will be, but I think that I should be able to write from most of the hotels in Capetown and Johannesburg. (But don't hold it against me if I promise to post and then you get nothing!)
The name of this site (ubuntubrie) comes from the South African word "ubuntu", the essence of being human. I recently read an interview with Archbishop Desmond Tutu from South Africa in which he talks about the significance of ubuntu. Tutu says "We say a person is a person through other persons. You can't be human in isolation. You are human only in relationships. We are all interconnected". I thought it was a beautiful concept and unfortunately there is no comparable word in English. :( Says a lot about our cultures!
Right now, it is about 48 hours until my flight and I am a mixture of excited, nervous and anxious. The more I've learned about this country, the more excited I am to visit. I have a lot of expectations for this trip. but I'm trying to keep an open mind and just take in as much as I can.
I hope you guys enjoy hearing about my experiences, because I'm excited to share!
The name of this site (ubuntubrie) comes from the South African word "ubuntu", the essence of being human. I recently read an interview with Archbishop Desmond Tutu from South Africa in which he talks about the significance of ubuntu. Tutu says "We say a person is a person through other persons. You can't be human in isolation. You are human only in relationships. We are all interconnected". I thought it was a beautiful concept and unfortunately there is no comparable word in English. :( Says a lot about our cultures!
Right now, it is about 48 hours until my flight and I am a mixture of excited, nervous and anxious. The more I've learned about this country, the more excited I am to visit. I have a lot of expectations for this trip. but I'm trying to keep an open mind and just take in as much as I can.
I hope you guys enjoy hearing about my experiences, because I'm excited to share!
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