Thankful for all that I have

Journal #17 February 22, 2009

So we officially arrived in Cape Town South Africa on Wednesday the 18th. Unfortunately because of the really bad fog we arrived 2 hours late. I knew this was going to be some what of a problem because a lot of the trips that were planned were leaving right as we got to the port. This was including one of my trips. I signed up for a trip that takes you to a township, the poorest place in SA, and students work on homes to help the people. This trip is through habitat for humanity.

Well anyways, we arrived late so right when the ship pulled in my group left for the township, we had to miss the diplomatic briefing, but that’s no biggie. So it took us about 30 min to get to the homes. There was 30 of us and we split into two different groups. On the way there we passed by the neighborhoods doctors office. I am not even joking when I say that there was over 150 people waiting in line. Our bus driver told us that people arrive there at 5 o clock in the morning in hopes of seeing a doc. He also said that they wait in line until around 4 in the afternoon.

Already 5 min in the township and my heart was already broken. As we drove by the homes I realized how blessed I am. Almost 6 people live in homes that are about 6x6. The homes are also made from left around scraps so they are not very sturdy.

As we arrived to the house I was getting very excited. I was happy that I was going to be able to help a family live in a home that will supply for all their needs. When we arrived the family that we were building the house for was there and we were able to talk to them and get to know them. They were really nice and so happy that we were going to help them. So our job for the day was to put on the roof. We got the trusses and carried them onto the roof, nailed them on, and placed a sheet over the roof to keep the rain from getting into the house. We also painted and patched up holes in the cinder blocks.

I was on the nailing the sheet on the roof duty. This was probably the hardest. The wind was really strong and we were on the roof for probably about 3 hours. Very tiring and hot but it was for a good cause. So when I was on my break I decided to play with some of the kids who were watching us. I met a boy named Floy and he was 3 years old. I gave home some of my cereal that I had taken from breakfast and he ate it sooo fast. He was so cute and loved running around with me.

Another thing I did on my break was watch the neighbors. At around 1 a car drove by and gave them about 15 live chickens. Then the family built a fire and placed a pot on the fire. As the water boiled the women placed the heads of the live chickens in the fire and drowned them. It was soo sad. Then they skinned them and cooked them. It was quite gruesome but I could not take my eyes away. Its just so different how these people live. They do not have the accommodations to go to the grocery store and by a rotisserie chicken, but they deal with it.

So by the end of the day we were finished with the roof. It was awesome seeing the homeowners reaction as to how fast we got it done. I was extremely proud of what we did. When I got back to the ship I decided to go out with some of my friends and tour around the port. Cape town is really cool at night, it kind of reminded my of the port Atlantis. We did some shopping and then went to dinner. Dinner was pretty cool. We met the two couples that were sitting next to us and they were from Germany. They had arrived in December and they were leaving in March, what a vacation!!!

After dinner me and Elise went to use our phone cards, but unfortunately we could not figure out how to use them, so we headed back to our ship. On our way we met a man named Fuad. He was a teacher at a school and wanted to know some things about our ship. We talked to him for about an hour and got to know how insightful he was. He told us his feelings on Obama and a lot of US policies. Its crazy how people who do not live in America know more about our government then a lot of us. Listening to Fuad made me really think about where I am in my life and what I want to do with it. He told us that he wanted to give us some books he had at his house and wanted to know if we could met him outside our ship after we got back from our safari. I was very skeptical so we wrote a note to our Academic dean wondering if he would come with us. We thought Fuad would be a great person to have on our ship and talk to other students. So at around 1 I finally got packed and went to bed for my 4am safari. Man was I tired.

Love
Michelle