Cape Capers

I apologize for these blogs being out of chronological order. I will do my best to steer you in the right direction, datewise. This particular blog will have four parts.

PART ONE: Day One Feb 18

Arrival in South Africa was a little later than expected due to fog, but we made it, albeit a few hours late. After a diplomatic briefing, I had about an hour before my official SAS trip to Robben Island so we checked out the mall that is right on the waterfront where our ship is docked. It is a huge mall, the likes of something found in the USA. We got pizza for lunch for really cheap then headed out to Robben Island.

Robben Island is off the cost of South Africa and was a prison Island for many many years. A long time ago, sometime in the 19th Century they threw all the lepers there, but after that it became a prison for criminals and political “criminals.” It is where Nelson Mandela spent many of his years in jail. Our tour guide was an inmate when he was a teenager, and he had some very insightful things to say. The island is now a museum, creating jobs for many South Africans, where the unemployment rate is somewhere around 43%.

After Robben Island a group of 7 of us went to a restaurant called Moyo. This was an incredible place! First, our taxi driver, Esmun, was the best guy ever. He charged us a really reasonable rate and even waited for us while we spent 3 and ½ hours at this place.

We get there at we can see fire on sticks and tents and music playing and smoke and succulent aromas tickling our noses. Inside is a maze of trees and stepping stones weaving their way through tables covered by tents (or covered by leaves, for the tables that were in the trees). There were fountains, mood lights, and couches around fires.

We got to our table under what looked like the main dining tent and had appetizers, priming or bodies for the intake of awesomeness we were about to consume. It was an all-you-can-eat buffet, and hearing my mom telling me to eat as much as I can to make sure it was worth the money, I ate SO MUCH food.
I had beef, springbok (a type of gazelle-it was good!) potatoes, corn, couscous, lots of types of bread and some chocolate cake for dessert!

During dinner they paint your face with little patterns of dots, perform some traditional African dances, and even have a real stage performance. A man with a guitar who was wirelessly plugged into the system walked around the whole place, singing, and somehow we all ended up dancing.

The bathrooms were funny. The urinals in the men's room had ice in them. I was so surprised, after I finished my business, I ran our and found Butters, “Butters! The urinals- you pee on ice!” The metal door to the men's room had some raised bulbous types of sculptures coming out of the door, but in the middle was something that unmistakably resembled something that every man who walks into the restroom had in common. On the girl's bathroom (I did not see, but Butters did, but I could only assume) was the female version of this, with all too much detail.

After almost four hours we decided it was time to go, so we paid our bill, and it was between $20 and $30 a person, depending if you had appetizers or tried the wines. It was unbelievably cheap, and worth every Rand Cent. The taxi ride there and back cost almost as much.

One thing that struck me was on our way to Moyo we passed a township. It's the township I am going to be visiting on Sunday. A township is where many of the lower-income/no-income South Africans live, and they are not the nicest places to be. The houses seem to be made out of scrap metal and crime is high. As I sat eating my venison and enjoying the music, I thought about how lucky I am to be there, and how people by whom I just drove in a taxi will never even get a chance to do anything like that in their lives. There isn't all that much I can do to make a big difference right now, but what I can do is be thankful for what I have, and not take anything for granted.

PART TWO: Day 2 Feb 19

A large group of us walked around the city, making our way to Long Street, the main attraction of the city. We spent some time checking out shops and things, ran in to some friends at a market, and did that whole thing.

But the most interesting thing was how we were FOR SURE targeted for pickpocketing. While I was escorting some of the female members of our group to the bank, a teenaged kid was bugging me to give him a little change. I told him I had no change and kept walking, but then he started to say “one small note, please.” I just ignored him like they said.

When I made it back to where the rest of the group was, I told them what happened and to not give any money because the kid was still watching us, now with another kid around the same age sitting on a corner across the street. It was obvious that he was trying to get me to reveal where I kept my money so that he or someone else could pickpocket us. We left that area.

Then we split up: the girls went to the beach and Me, Taylor, Isaiah, and Butters went to the Two Oceans Aquarium and saw some incredible things. By far the scariest things ever were the giant spider crabs. These things were huge and terrifying. I got some video of them fighting and walking and they send shivers down my spine. We were at the aquarium for about an hour before getting ready to go out to eat and then go to a club that was recommended to us by a friend of a friend who is studying abroad here where there is sand on the floor and is a relaxing place.

Our cab driver was Musta, one of the guys who took us to Moyo the night before. We negotiated a rate for him to take us to the restaurant, The Blue Peter, then to the club, Roots, and then take us back. It was a nominal fee and we were all happy.

The Blue Peter was great! Me and Isaiah split a really intense pizza, and everything was good and cheap. We ate in a large group, half Chapman kids half people we've met on the ship. After dinner some people didn't want to go to the club so they took the other cab back and Musta drove us to Roots.

Before we got there, we entered the neighborhood and it looked a little dodgy (South African for sketchy), but we trudged on. Well into the neighborhood, Musta said he didn't feel safe parking there and we drove past Roots and it was empty anyway. Now we're all uncomfortable because the taxi driver wanted to get the hell out. We saw some people arguing on the road and that was the last straw.

He drove us to a main road where there were clubs on every corner. He parked, waiting for us whenever we were ready. We first waited in line for Tiger Tiger, the hottest club. There was a looooooong line to get in. We learned that we might not get in because I wasn't wearing a collared shirt and some other guys weren't wearing the appropriate shoes. I must have stood out like a sore thumb because all the guys around were really tall and had long hair and were wearing collared shirts, all things that I was not.

We met two colorful characters in line. The first was a tall black guy around our age, who called us “wankers” and I thought we were going to have some trouble but he was just drunk and joking around. It was hard to understand what he was saying through his accent and his drunkenness, but we had a conversation about the US and South Africa, and he went away after about 10 minutes.

The next character was a white guy named James who was very enthusiastic about meeting us and telling us how he has recently gotten into American football and loves to watch the Fantasy Football adverts on youTube. He was a funny guy, very informative and a great ambassador of the South African youth.

We heard a rumor that the line was going to take an hour and a half so we went across the street to a dirtier club called The Tin Roof. Nobody bought drinks, and when James showed up (the only reason the Tin Roof stays in business is because Tiger Tiger can't fit the whole world in it) he was disappointed that we weren't drinking.
“I don't know about these Americans, but we're getting trashed tonight!”
“Don't let me cramp your style!”
“And we're bringing you down with us!”

We left before he had the chance. Before we left though, we danced and had a moderately fun time, but it really wasn't worth all the trouble. Whatever. I'm in South Africa.

Musta took us back and then charged us more than we expected, his logic being that we drove more than he expected, which I understood because of the way the taxis work. But it still seemed a little expensive.

PART THREE: Day 3 Feb 20

Today me and Isaiah were part of the Habitat for Humanity group. Habitat is an organization that builds houses. I'm not sure how it works worldwide, but at least in South Africa, you apply to have a house built. If you qualify, you help build your own house and then volunteer for 60 others hours.

So there were 24 of us and they split us up into two groups. The projects of the day were finishing the roofs. We got to our site and got right to work.

Our leader was a South African man who had been working with habitat for three years, and was positively hilarious, I got some great video of him singing and dancing and saying his catchphrase. We called him “Numba One!” because he always said it when something went well or he finished something.

While half the group was passing tiles, me and a new friend Jordan started measuring out the roof. I walked up on top, across thing rafter of wood, and spent a lot of time hanging up there, handing nails to the workers.

There isn't too much to describe besides climbing up and down, passing tiles, and doing manual labor, but the best part of it was seeing the kids come and watch us and knowing that because of our work today, somebody gets to live in a house more quickly. In fact, that somebody was there, working on it with us. I learned a lot about construction that day, actually, and learned more about township life.

After we were done for the day (we worked for 6 hours straight) some women of the township made us an excellent meal: rice, carrots, cabbage, chicken, and potatoes, and it was all great. Numba One's catch phrase was “alrice!” instead of “alright!” so when we got rice for our meal he said “alriiiiice with chicken!”

That night I was tired but when out to the synagogue anyway (see blog Wherever You Go).

PART FOUR: Day 5 Feb 22

Just a note: township sounds like it means a small, small place, but the shanties go on and on and on and on. They are huge.

My visit to the Khayelitsha township. They warned us to be careful about taking cameras because the townships are intensely impoverished and it is rude to be taking pictures. I took my camera anyway just in case there were some opportunities.

There were. Our first stop was Vicky's bed and breakfast, “Africa's smallest hotel!” She started the bed and breakfast trend in the townships, inspiring other women to make money and create jobs. She told us that the people of the township know that we aren't there to invade and take advantage of them, but are there to learn and educate ourselves and the world about the situation in South Africa. Rather that shy away from photos, the citizens were asking us to be IN photos!

I met so many cute little kids, showed them some hand tricks and bought some art at a craft store. We got to see two church services, since it was Sunday, and we pretty much walked right through a political rally.

Some SASers gave the kids stickers and pens and pencils and they went wild for them. I hung on the monkey bars and played instruments with a few. The smiles of these children brightened up the day.

We walked up to an observation point and saw so much of the township. It seems like it goes on forever. We saw some intense poverty; people living in shanty shacks made of scrap metal. Apparently, we didn't even go into the most impoverished areas, but I have a feeling that it wouldn't have been appropriate.

At the craft market where I bought some art, the people make their sculptures and other things out of all recycled material, and I bought right from the woman who made the piece out of cardboard and Coke cans. It's a small representation of the township, with a few buildings, a sunset, and the tell-tale power lines diving down from the top of a pole servicing several households.

THE SURPRISE PART FIVE: Summaries

We are leaving South Africa tonight, I'm actually sitting on the waterfront right now getting free internet. I have had an amazing time here, seeing people of all races, socio-economic groups, shapes and sizes. But I did not meet a single unfriendly person, even in the townships where everyone was so welcoming. I am sad to leave South Africa, but I know I have a home here if I ever come back because the Rabbi said so. I do hope to come back one day. And I will.