Thursday, June 17, 2010

Hiking a Table






Hello again everyone,


I hope you are doing well. Thanks so much for your continued prayer and support, I really am so blessed to have you in my life! While writing this, I am watching the Mexico v. France game. I have to admit, much of the World Cup has been disappointing so far. Most games have had a very slow pace and have ended in draws. Watching Bafana Bafana lose to Uruguay last night was unbelievably frustrating! The only way S.A. can pass through the group play stage is for Mexico and France to tie. So I am actually hoping for a tie!


Well since I have this free time, I figured I would write about a couple of the fun opportunities I have had while in Cape Town since arriving here exactly three weeks ago. You may or may not know, but as a volunteer here, we are off on the weekends and are free to explore this beautiful city. Some have gone shark-cage diving and others are planning on going sky-diving this Saturday (I am limited to the cheaper options but it has still been an unbelievable experience).


My first Saturday I was “recovering” from jet-lag by stupidly taking naps all day. However, on the

second weekend here a group of us decided to head into Simon’s Town and the surrounding area to look around. At a very nice restaurant I paid about 11$ for this bowl of chicken and pasta, along with a glass of wine; all while looking out onto the water. Food is, for the most part, much cheaper here... And for those of you who know me, this is a wonderful thing for me! After some looking around at a few shops we decided to go for a drive around the coast. I can honestly say (I think) that this day I was more amazed at the beauty of creation over any other day in my life (I think). There was one beach near a town called “Camel Rock,” that we decided to stop by. It was just gorgeous. The clear water crashing against the rocks with the sunlight gleaming off the shallows was... Well it was very calming. There was this awesome blonde haired, blue-eyed kid jumping around the rocks. He would pick up muscles and eat them raw. When he ran all the way to the furthest rock in the sea he flexed and screamed “I am the king of the sea!”



(see picture to the right -->)

-- pretty cool



We continued to drive around the coastline aimlessly, enjoying every moment and sight we encountered. Even saw a couple baboons! I already told you a little bit about our trip into the center of Cape Town for the opening game of the World Cup. I must admit I was very guilty of using a vuvuzela and defining all of those around me. Watching S.A. score the first goal of the WC along with dancing and singing “Waka Wake” and “Wavin’ Flag” with thousands of South Africans is truly something I will never forget! (You can see the video of this below!) The next morning after the opener, Hannah, Justine, Stewart, and I decided to hike up Table Mountain. Table Mountain of Cape Town is essentially the Eiffel Tower of Paris or the Statue of Liberty of NY. It is a pretty amazing display of nature. The very top of this mountain is almost completely flat. Obviously, the tops of most mountains are peaks, but on Table Mountain it is flat for hundreds of yards! It was an absolutely beautiful hike into the clouds. Unfortunately it was very overcast, but thankfully we did get to overlook some of the city. And since I couldn’t see much, it just means that I’ll have to climb it again!


This really is an amazing place and I am so grateful to have this opportunity to be here. It is still amazing to me how within all this beauty and wealth there can still be such horrible living situations. I wondered how many children I am working with in Ocean View have never seen the amazing beauty I got to experience the other day, despite the fact that they have been living here their entire life. Just doesn’t seem right. Just doesn’t seem fair. How blessed so many of us are to live in America. I simply hope that I will remember how blessed I have been over the course of my life and to do my best to use this blessing to help others! Ok, well thats it for today. I hope you all have enjoyed reading all these posts and that you know I am doing my best to take advantage of all your support!


God Bless,

Josh


This is a video of some of the Fan Fest on the WC opening night:


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