South Africa - Days 1 & 2

My first 2.5 days in Cape Town have been anything but dull. Hold on for a moment though, I have to backtrack for a second and tell you that it was actually very difficult to leave Manila. This past trip back “home” has felt more like home than ever before. I’m not completely sure why I got this sentiment over the 3 weeks I visited vs. 3 years I lived there, but it has been great. Thank you everyone in the PI ☺ Also, my Dubai flight and layover was absolutely great. Again, I had no one else in my row during the flight, so I got to lie down and take a much needed nap…until I got a good night’s sleep at the Dubai Intercontinental Festival City. A big thank you to you-know-who-you-are for hooking me up with a sweet hotel pad for the night. ;) Even the gorgeous bathroom had blinds controlled by buttons…it was the best extended layover ever (including the pink taxis for ladies driven by ladies) haha…











(Intercontinental Festival City Dubai)


Okay getting back to Cape Town…I have been so very blessed. I landed early and in good weather. It’s the rainy season right now but I have had sunshine and about 50-60 degree Farenheit weather during the daytime. However, central heating is not normally used in average businesses or homes here, so you remain layered for most of the day, and then it’s flannel pj’s at night. I’m sleeping under 10 lbs of down feathers (ok I’m exaggerating…I’m lucky enough to have a hotel with heat for now! Yay!)

It is absolutely beautiful here! I’m staying at a pretty cool suite on the mountainside – Table Mountain, that is, which is absolutely stunning (the mountain). This morning, on my way to work I watched the sun come up over the coast and hit the mountain. The Lion King theme played over and over in my head (I was thinking about you, KTG, miss ya!)…It’s still kind of surreal to think, “I’m in AFRICA!” Once I either hike up the mountain or take the cable car, I will post pictures ☺

So far, my first two days here have been uniquely memorable. I started off my grad internship on my first full day here, at an organization called Mosaic (Women’s training, service, and healing center). It is a pretty phenomenal org – please read about it here if you get the chance. My first two days have been spent in one of their ongoing Male Counsellor training programs (mainly for domestic violence, sexual assault). The topics are pretty complex and the issues are very diverse, especially here in South Africa where there are so many different cultures (see- 11 official languages!). With the many cultural barriers, race and gender issues, economic hardships, and political-legal system challenges, the work that they do is filled with obstacles and potential frustrations…yet they are still such fabulously bright, warm, caring, and generous people. They have open minds and hearts, and truly recognize the importance of compassion as well as reflection in today’s whirlwind world. They are amazing and inspiring; they have made me feel like part of their family already, in my first two days with them, helping me realize that I am also another step closer in my journey to finding a true “connection to a cause”…

I commuted today. I’ve been exploring my different transportation options here in CT because there are a myriad: buses, taxis, trains, private hire drivers, mini-buses, mini-bus-taxis, you name it basically. Some of my colleagues said that I would be able to do it (and keep safe despite my obvious tourist appearance), so after work today, I hopped on a mini-taxi. These are hi-ace 16-passenger vans that operate like jeepneys (for those of you in the Philippines), and take surface streets that look like Harlem (for those of you in NY). So my mini-taxi stopped 70 bajillion times to drop off and pick up passengers on my 15 or so kilometer route, until I got to Grand Central Station (more than an hour later on what could have easily been a 30 minute trip) where I wandered around for 20 minutes until I could find a metered taxi to take me back to my hotel. Note – most taxi drivers here don’t know all streets or destinations! Of the 4 taxis I’ve taken so far, my drivers didn’t really know where they were going. They aren’t like NY cabbies who can get you to any address. Here, they ask you for directions. This last one I took to try to get from the station to my hotel was the worst. He quoted me 30 Rand for the trip (reasonable) but got lost and then tried to charge me more money to go further than the area we were lost in. By that time, I was so exhausted that I just had him drop me off on a familiar street and then I walked up the mountain the rest of the way to my hotel.

I’m going to learn how to drive a manual car on Sunday. Please pray for me (and my patient, patient friend Matt).

Pictures to come soon… :)