Cape Town, South Africa

I will admit, Cape Town was the port I was least looking forward to. I have already been to South Africa once, and although I really enjoyed it 6 years ago, I was looking forward much more to the asian countries. However, my expectations of the port were extremely surpassed and Cape Town quickly became my favorite port we have visited yet.

The first day I chose to do participate on a Habitat for Humanity trip. At 9am we drove out to the townships in a van of about 15-20 of us, dressed in jeans and t-shirts ready to get our hands dirty. The crew met us with warm smiles and prayed with us before we got to work on adding a roof on to a house they had already been building for 4 days. We were split into two groups- those who want to go on the roof, and those who preferred the solid ground. As much fun as the roof sounded, I chose to keep my feet on the floor, so I was assigned to clean up the surrounding area of large rocks... what a job! I felt more useless than ever. My skills were hardly up to par, since I don't have the largest arms to carry things in, I tried to use my other talents of interacting with kids. There were maybe 20-30 young neighborhood children watching eagerly as the roof was being erected just before their eyes. They seemed fascinated by everything we did.

The minute I stepped off the work site i was bombarded by children. They played with my hair, took my camera, and a good handful attached themselves to my legs and back. I felt like I was a celebrity, though I certainly had nothing to be famous for. they crawled on me like monkeys while I tried to teach them new dances and songs. They were genuinely happy just to have someone to play with. On our lunch break many of us shared our extra dessert that we had in our boxed lunch. It was clear they were hungary as they grasped at the left over cake. It was hard to look them in the eyes, and I could only hope that my one day of playing and sharing with them would give them comfort that they needed. I knew it wasn't much though.

Habitat for Humanity was a great time- they actually got the entire roof up! Skye was a big part of that, he was one of only about 4 people other than crew that were allowed up. I was so proud of him! The night was just as eventful as the day, however it was a stark contrast to the townships. In the evening I stripped off the grimy jeans and dawned a fancy dress to go to the opera with my dad. They were showing Grease, so naturally I was ridiculously excited. We were given a backstage tour and got to meet some of the actors because one of the interport lecturers was the owner of the opera house. He had even set up a nice spread of orderves and wine before the show started. The show was amazing! It was put on by all South African actors, but they used an American accent flawlessly. What a way to be introduced to Cape Town! Working in the day and then going to the theater at night. And it was only the first day... who knew what the others had in store for me.