[blessed by rain].

so i might start blogging every night because trying to summarize two days is a difficult task. today is thursday.. and i will start with wednesday.

wednesday (5/28/2008):
we started off the day with a lecture at the uct campus. actually.. the day started when we freakin hiked vertically uphill, across a highway to our classroom. haha.. it was okay.. we took the "scenic" route. the lecture was covering a brief view on the history of south africa and the apartheid. it was such a brief lecture and there was so much that was probably left out. i could have spent hours learning about the history of south africa.

the next thing we did was go to the district six museum. district six is a section of cape town, where during apartheid, thousands of people were displaced. they were forcibly moved from their homes.. and their homes were destroyed. the museum was a memorial of all those who had lived there. the centerpiece of the museum was a map on the floor of district six, and the former residents came back to sign their names on the place that they used to live.


we then moved on to long street and to the markets. it was interesting to see all the stalls and the items that were for sale. i wanted to buy everything.. but i held back. hilary and i need to work on our haggling skills. i felt like we had "sucker" written across our forehead. it must be the minnesota nice!

oh.. and for dinner.. we went to nando's. very delicious chicken. enough said.

thursday (5/29/2008):
today.. was.. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. this is where i have to slowly try and organize my thoughts. first of all, i would like to mention that these first couple of days seems very touristy. we are taking tours and just taking in the beauty of the country. today was our tour of the cape. we had several stops during the day.. all of which were maybe once-in-a-lifetime kinda thing.

our first major stop was a boat ride to see the island where the seals mate/breed/make babies. it started off sunny and great.. and were just coasting in the atlantic ocean. then all of a sudden, it grew very gray and wet. haha.. here in south africa, rain comes horizontally due to the winds that meet. so it was raining sideways! although, one of our tour guides told us that is a blessing to be rained on in south africa? or in general? anyways.. the waves got rough so we had to go inside the boat (which was filled with awkward-aged children and the odor of stinky fish). we got to were the seals were hanging out.. and there were so many of them. they were just floating on the top. but it was hard to watch them because the waves were tossing the boat around. so that is the first time that day we got rained on.


then! drum roll.... dee dee dee. PENGUINS. we saw penguins. amazingly cute penguins! up close and personal. they were amazing! we went to a shore where all the penguins just hang out. and this little guy let me get a close up of him. we bonded.

.. and frolicked in the indian ocean! now.. i have been in three oceans! the water was so clear and blue.


i will give a very brief summary of what happened next because there is something i really want to talk about.. but i refuse to go out of order. we also so baboons.. and oh wait.. that might be it until the next little bit. our next stop was cape point. cape point is the southern most part of the continent of africa. it is like the last thing to stand on before you hit antarctica. we had to take a hike through some trails to get to cape point. it was a tough for someone who is very out of shape (me). but it was worth it!

halfway to cape point, there was a beach.. with white sand and no footprints.. we frolicked on the beach and waded into the indian ocean. it was gorgeous. i never imagined in my life that i would be in such a beautiful and surreal place. i am just so blessed to even get to be where i am right now. anyways.. we continued to hike the rest of the way through the peak... and pretty sure it started rain SIDEWAYS again during the second half of our hike. blessed twice in one day!

one thing i found interesting was something our tour guide had said on the bus. as we were passing the site were district six used to be, she mentioned a few facts about it. she said that the people were forcefully removed from district six due to the fact that they were slums. but at the district six museum.. they said that district six was in fact, not slums. it was just an excuse to remove colored people from there. so i thought it was interesting, that a white woman would say that about district six. not a judgment.. but interesting.

anyways.. i can officially say.. that i have been to the southern most part of africa. like if you are looking at a map of africa.. and you see the bottom tip.. i was there. mind blowing.