Four Weeks of Cape Town

So today I've officially been in Cape Town for four weeks (I'm calling it a month) and already I feel that I've experienced, discovered, and loved a lot. Today actually started out rather abruptly and early as we had a fire drill here at the res at 3:45am. Needless to say that was less than pleasant, and I'm told we'll be having another within the month. Oh boy.
But classes today were relatively low-key, despite my utter panic when I thought I was in the wrong classroom for my tutorial. I guess when I literally ran out of the room hoping to check online what classroom I was supposed to be in the boy who thought he had Econ in Leslie Social Science 4G realized his mistake, and I made it back to the right classroom with moments to spare before the class began. I was quite relieved that I hadn't missed my first tutorial and permanently tarnished my attendance record.
The most exciting thing I experienced today was my first day of volunteering with SHAWCO, UCT's oldest student-run volunteering program that takes UCT students out into the townships to work with students in the classroom and out on the fields, interacting and educating and just having a good time with kids ranging from pre-school to high school. I'll admit I was a bit nervous about the whole situation, as I haven't had a lot of experience with middle school-aged kids, but SHAWCO provides lesson plans and supplies for us, so all we had to do was follow the plans and things would run smoothly. Yeah, not quite.
I was assigned with three other volunteers to work with the fifth graders, and while their reception of us as we walked off the bus was excited and enthusiastic, they were more than a hand-full once we got into the classroom. For ten kids you would have thought each of them had the energy of three: they were bouncing off the walls, grabbing magazines and scissors from each other while we made name tags and decorated them, they threw beads at each other despite our admonishments, and when we tried to get them to set down some rules for the rest of the semester they couldn't have cared less what we thought or what rules we made for them.
Despite all of this however, the four girls I and another of the volunteers worked with while we made name tags were actually quite sweet, and were super interested in knowing everything they possibly could about us. One of the girls I think has my whole family tree memorized, based on her eagerness to know the names of everyone in my family. Another was thrilled when I let her wear my Celtic rings, the ones I got in Dublin/Scotland and the one that matches Mom's ring, and I was rather embarrassed that they fit her snugly! I was afraid I wasn't going to get them back because I couldn't get them off her fingers, and she wasn't overweight and probably measures about a foot shorter than me. Proof that I have little kid hands.
I found it rather interesting how the children at the center like to touch: when they first meet you they like to touch a part of you, like your leg or your arm. When we shared our name tags with one another and introduced ourselves, I went up with one of the girls because she was embarrassed to go up alone, and wouldn't talk unless I put my arm around her shoulders. She knew all of the students in the classroom, so I don't know what she was so afraid of, but as long as she had some physical contact with me she was willing to share a little bit about herself. The other girls were fascinated by my hair and my earrings, touching and playing with them while they should have been paying attention to Lauren, our volunteer leader today. I think next week our warm up should be ten minutes of just running around outside like crazy people to try and get some of that overwhelming energy out!
There's no guarantee that all of them will be back next week, but I'm hoping that they all return so I can start to get to know them. I feel a bit drained and a little like a victim of a hurricane or something, but surprisingly enough I'm excited to go back. Hopefully now that the kids have met us and the anticipation has abated a bit they'll be a bit more receptive to direction and structure. I'm not putting too much money on that theory however:)
I'm sorry I don't have any pictures to show from today, but I left my camera at home so I'll definitely try and bring it next time so you can all see Manenberg and the kids we're working with.
In some ways the last four weeks have really flown by: it seems like every moment is filled with some sort of excitement or we're doing something fun and entertaining. I guess because this city is still so new to me I feel like almost everything has been fun and entertaining, which I suppose is a good thing, but I'm getting the sense that that's just sort of the vibe of Cape Town. Everything's very chill here, it's not like any city in the states that I've been to where thing's are rushed and you're always in a hurry and time is money. Here people are just relaxed, and they take time to stop and chat and see how things are going.
And it's absolutely beautiful here: I mean, the weather of course is wonderful but the scenery too. There are parts of the city that I'd love to just amble through, because the houses are painted these bright electric colors or the architecture is so varied from one place to another because of the back-and-forth colonization between the Dutch, the French, and the British. I love learning about the history of a place that I know nothing about. It's incredibly refreshing.
In some ways the last four weeks have really dragged by: sometimes the whole relaxed atmosphere drives me absolutely bonkers, because I have places to be at and people to see and when the Jammie isn't running on schedule or people are walking incredibly slowly in front of me I want to rip my hair out. Having to do everything in person regarding classes and school is a huge pain in the butt when you have to walk back and forth across campus four times in an hour or less. I miss my friends at school and get very nostalgic when I read Facebook posts about stuff that people are doing that I'm not a part of. I miss my parents and brother a ton, and it's hard not being able to just pick up the phone and call them when I'm having a rough day or when I'm super excited about something. I miss my little Jellybean! Not having a car is terrible! And there are Yaris cars all over the place here, so it only makes me miss my little red golf cart all the more.
But I do love being here, and I'm am ecstatic that I made the decision to come to what some people thought was the end of the earth and I put in the work to make this happen. Even if I were to leave tomorrow I think I'd come away with a lot more than I came here with.