South Africa, Country of Contrasts

Molo! Greetings from Cape Town, South Africa! Finally, right?

Now, more than ever, I'm reminded of how busy one's first three weeks are when you arrive in country and volunteer with Cross-Cultural Solutions. My first week has been jam-packed with cultural classes, tours of the city, history and language lessons, and (most significantly) my work placement... not to mention the all-important trips to the beach. Hello summertime in Africa!

Cape Town itself amazes me -- full of extremes and contrasts. Everything from the most beautiful sights (like a cityscape cradled inside an epic Table Mountain and Atlantic Ocean) to the most depressing views (like the former jail cell of Nelson Mandela on Robben Island, which I visited on Saturday, and the shack-style housing twenty minutes away, as far as the eye can see, which I pass every day) surround me on a daily basis, to the point where it's really hard to reconcile. Every weekday morning, I hop in a van in our slightly-suburban-but-crime-riddled neighborhood near University of Cape Town and then cruise to the outskirts of the city center where the townships (former Apartheid segregated neighborhoods which now, as it was only a few short years ago that democracy and the "long walk to freedom" and multiculturalism took place, look like a gangster's paradise, at best, and straight up shantytowns, at worst) are located. There, in the neighborhood of Bridgetown, in the township of Athlone, lies Cypress Primary School -- my professional "home away from home" whilst in South Africa. And I gotta tell you, it already feels like home.

On Day One of placement a week ago today, I walked into the 1st Grade classroom 1B and have never felt more simultaneously welcomed and overwhelmed in all my life. Picture a room with minimal resources (and I mean MINIMAL, for an urban school, though it IS an actual room, unlike my former placement in Tanzania, as you might recall), a rising heat index, and nearly fifty 6-7 year olds, all with beautiful golden or dark brown skin -- and that's my class/personal heaven. Luckily, I am also blessed with a terrific partner in crime -- the teacher-extraordinaire Mrs. Peterson, who seems to have boundless amounts of energy and a keen sense of humor. Thus, all is well and good in South-Africa-Sarah-Land so far. I'm getting back into my "Teacher Sarah" mindset and quickly figuring how my limited knowledge and expertise could be utilized best. More on my teaching adventures ASAP, however.

In the meantime, I've started dropping Swahili bombs less and less (bittersweet) and am TOTALLY getting used to the idea of not having to use a bed net (no malaria threat -- hooray), having cool nights for sleeping, and sending my laundry out to a laundromat instead of using a bucket and line, weather permitting. Life is good.

Happy Valentines Day to all you lovebirds out there. I received a silk rose, a coffee mug, and an avalanche of hugs and kisses from MY six-year-old valentines -- what did you get?

With love, Sarah