you know it's dangerous when you hear: Skeleton Gorge

Last Tuesday…nothing really happened it was kind of a dull day.

*PICTURE CAPTIONS: At our Braai (friday night), Molly and I at the concert (after lifesaving mission with Anna)

Wednesday for our core seminar we met Molly Blank and it was so interesting. She is American but came to South Africa to produce: Testing Hope Grade 12 in the new South Africa. The documentary film is about a 12th grade class in Nyanga township preparing for the Matric exam. The matric exam is what their entire education builds up to, if they don’t pass it’s as if they never graduated high school. I won’t lie I started crying…and for those of you who don’t know I don’t cry to movies! Talking to her was such a great experience and she was so informative. I spoke with her after class and got her card, I plan on getting coffee with her soon! That class is probably tied with the TAC- HIV/AIDS class.

Thursday classes went by fast and then Anna and I wanted to get into the air conditioning because it was soooooooooooooo hot, so the only place we could think to go was the mall! :D The campus shuttle takes you right to the mall in Claremont. I bought a pair of shoes for R50. So cheap, but so cute! When we got home our really good friend Molly was on her way over to hangout with us, and she got mugged… she’s okay but it just freaked her out. .so we helped her calm down and call her parents. I then went swimming at Dave’s (the neighbour) the water felt so good! While I was there he told me about an article in the Varsity (the school’s paper) about people being held up on their way to campus at 10:30am a few days early. They were walking the same path I walk and it kind of freaked me out, but I have always been careful walking around, meaning I always walk in big groups and usually with a guy… (I was debating on adding this part but decided to just because it’s my daily life experiences. With that said no worries no one freak out…I will be okay ha). After swimming I took a nap and while I was sleeping I woke up to the noise of something rustling outside my window. I looked outside and there was something moving around in the garbage bag…Tyler and I went to go investigate and it was a RAT! Sick. Then of course I miss a phone call from the states and it was my mom so she then calls me back while I was sitting outside and while I am on the phone with her the rat comes crawling next to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I DO NOT DO RATS! So I freaked out and ran inside slamming the door behind me. Haha We went to hemisphere and it was fun. I ran into Mike, from Pitt and we talked for a little bit. Although I didn’t know him or Caroline before coming here when I see them it’s comforting to see semi-familiar faces who can relate to Pitt.

Friday morning came way too early! I downed some at half past 6 and manage to catch a ride with Dave and Brad (the twins). Classes were empty because of the heat; seriously NO one went to classes. The outside temperature was about 40 degrees Celsius = 102-103 degrees Fahrenheit…with ZERO wind, and no AC. In my one class I thought I was going to faint because of how hot it was. After classes I immediately came back in Dave’s pool. I then went to the UCT pool and swam laps and came back and took a freezing cold shower. As soon as I stepped out of the shower I was sweating again! At night we had a Braai and invited all of our friends. It was a great success! The food was delicious and we even made Skippy….which was a bad idea…needless to say none of us went out after.

Saturday I went to the V&A waterfront for breakfast at Mugs and Beans. I had a tasty omelette… After we just browsed the mall, the waterfront is this HUGE mall filled with great designer stores. (Natalie- you would have been in HEAVEN!...I went into Aldo’s :D) I then came home and caught up on sleep and just relaxed for the rest of the evening because I wasn’t feeling well.

Sunday I woke up and I was going to go for a run, but the city was a bit of a mess. The biggest cycling race- the Argus, was all day so traffic and people were all over the place. Basically every local participated in the race, and it was really windy. Apparently it was the worst day for the race because of how strong the winds were. Girls going down the mountains kept getting blown off their cycles because of the wind and it added on at least 30 minutes to everyone’s anticipated time. In the afternoon we went to Kirstenbosch for a concert. I was going to go hiking with the back house girls before but I had a lot of work to do, so I just went to the concert instead. When we got out of the cab, we called the girls, who were hiking, to come down and meet us but on their way down one of the girls, Emily, tumbled down a gorge and hit her head on a rock. Anna and I had to find a medic and then hike up the mountain (in our flip-flops) to meet them at SKELETON GORGE...the most dangerous of all the trails to go on! It was intense! And of course there wasn’t really any service so we were hiking though the mountains with our bags, a medic, and screaming their names. We eventually found them and I luckily got through to Andrea to have her meet us at the bottom of the mountain so she could take her to the hospital. She ended up with a mild concussion and about 8-10 stitches, she was really lucky not to have broken her neck on one of the rocks. The medic told them they were lucky, because a lot of people who get hurt don't come back. We were going to go with her to the hospital but we already had our concert tickets so she told us to go on without her and that she would be fine. The concert wasn’t as much fun as it would have been had the earlier events not had happened, but the band, the Rudimentals, were good. They played Ska African music. We brought cheese, grapes, and wine to snack on because the concert is a “Sunday’s in the summer” concert inside the botanical gardens. I didn’t have a chance to look around because we barely made the concert but from what I could tell it was really pretty. I am going to go back some day soon and spend the day in the gardens.

Monday I had classes and then SHAWCO. SHAWCO was exhausting because of the heat! Yet again, another scorcher!! :D I had 15 kids, it’s always the same kids, but sometimes some don’t always show. We worked on a reading passage and then played a math challenge with flash cards….all I can say is that those kids are so competitive!! I had to stop the game a few times so that they would calm down. I thought this one little boy was going to start throwing punches at one point when I didn’t call on him! He jumped up onto the top of his desk and starting screaming in Xhosa. At that point I had to settle everyone down, and told them that if they didn’t calm down the game was going to be over, it worked.

Tuesday I spent the entire day on campus in classes and then in the library. It was a really hot day yet again, so I wanted to stay out of the sun. I have 2 really big papers due Friday so I have been working on them. After dinner I went on a run with the girls in the back flat, Hannah and Alex. We ran 5km and it kicked my butt! My legs at the moment are so sore. All of my flatmates are yet again getting ready to go out for the 5th night in a row but I can NOT handle going out on the weekdays not with 8am classes. Going out on Thursday’s is a stretch for me…but the majority of them don’t have classes until 10 or 11…so they can manage. I am not really sure when they actually do school work because I feel like I am constantly doing something for school. Oh well. Who knows :D I would rather be awake in my classes than falling asleep.

Coming up: Wednesday we have class, Thursday night we are having a Braai after class, Friday our neighbours are having a 100’s party (100 shots of beer in 100 minutes – team effort), I was invited and am going to attempt to participate with a few of my digs mates (flatmates)…