Table mountain, pictures
Trip Start
Feb 05, 2007
1
21
25
Trip End
Apr 28, 2007
Cape Town,
South Africa
Sunday, April 15, 2007
"Okay, drive over here and take pictures of that, alright now, let's go out to eat there, want to go on a tour bus?"
I went to Camps Bay, which is one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen let alone been on, but I actually just got sad and grossed out with the whole tourist world, and maybe the whole world in general. If you have money and you are in Cape Town this is where you will spend your time and money
camp's bay
. So there are all these beautiful people laying out in their beautiful bikinis, lounging about in big sunglasses. and i am sitting among them, one of the beautiful people, or at least trying to be. and then there are all the people bustling about trying to sell 'african' things to the tourists, selling ice cream, water, or asking for money... and I won't be able to put it into the right words but I just didn't want to be lounging at the beach at all, I felt a bit sick and I just ended up walking up and down the waterfront. the feeling has been lingering as i walk through the markets and stores of cape town.my position has always been a privileged middle class westerner, but i guess now i am able to see it a little bit more clearly than before. i came to teach and help the community I was living in... and i feel like i was able to accomplish a little bit in that time. perhaps what i have really gained through my work is the opportunity to glimpse the world and my position in a different way. i think what drove me crazy on the beach was that i was turning up my nose to people that i wouldn't have if they were walking down the location in barberton, or i'm sitting there more worried about if this guy is going to bother me or try and take my bag... it's amazing how quickly i step back into my old position.
i went to table mountain, it was amazing
hokey pokey again
. i had to stand in the middle of the cable car and not look out because i was convinced that it would fall for the first time the day i got onto it. i went into the market today, and walking through the busy streets of cape town. there are a lot of beautiful things and people in this town. i also went out to dinner with an acquaintance from seattle who is studying abroad in cape town. it was nice to get a confirmation of why i didn't do a study abroad. the classes are easier and you just make friends with other americans.
i also thought i was going to mass, but i got tricked. it was an avengelican church, but it was where archbishop desmond tutu served at, its a beautiful cathedral in the center of cape town and where a lot of resistance of apartheid took place. its inspiring to talking to the leaders of the anti-apartheid movement, who truly believed in the power to forgive- which directly led to negotiating a peaceful transition to democracy when the nation was on a brink of civil war. they concuducted the service in afrikans, english, and xhosha, in the only way possible- awkwardly. though, it is good that they try to have an inclusive service, though it doesn't make it coherent.
and i am trying to put some pictures up on this thing.
the "welcome picture" i put up is of Makie, a girl in Pinkie's class. she had the most infectious laugh, and while i can't capture it in a picture, i love this picture because it wasn't often she smiled or laughed. she seemed to be a little bit of a sad and preoccupied girl, but part of the beauty of children i have found is their resilience.
