Southwest U.S.A. road trip: San Antonio, TX!

I know it had been entirely toooooooo long since the last time I posted one of these, but I have finally found time to update everyone. 

Background: Summer 2011 I will be working summer institute for Teach For America in Los Angeles, CA. Hearing that the city is very spaced out, never having been to the west coast, and wanting to travel more, I decided to drive my car (Shaye, a silver 2009 Nissan Versa… she’s a beauty—gracias mis padres) to the city of angels. One of my closest friends, Karien and I had discussed attending the 2011 Sasquatch music festival in Washington state with some Canadian friends we had met in Baton Rouge the previous November.

Brief story: Three Canadian boys biked from Victoria, British Columbia to New Orleans, LA to learn about the devastating effects of the 2010 Gulf Oil spill on our communities and the possibility of such damage occurring to their beautiful environment via oil catastrophe. They made a stop in Baton Rouge the same weekend as the mammoth sized LSU vs. Bama game to couch surf with my friend Karien. She had to work quite a bit, so I showed them how Friday and Saturday nights in Louisiana go during football season. Needless to say, they soon thought Americans, specifically Southerners, were insane, but a great time was had by all. They are three amazing guys. Go check out their website: http://www.facebook.com/BikingUpTheMess?sk=info

Back on track, I knew I wanted my car in LA, and Karien wanted to join in on the road trip—simple.

On May 20^th, Karien graduated from LSU, and I spent my last night in Louisiana at the Minus the Bear concert with some of the best people on this planet: my siblings and cousins.

At six a.m. the next morning, Karien and I headed out west with the sun rising behind us and excitement on our faces—we both had had a very stressful semester. Our ride to San Antonio was filled with great conversation, great music, the license plate game (which I won by spotting an Alaskan plate in southwest Texas, yea), and peanut butter sandwiches.

First place we stopped was none other than San Antonio’s main attraction: the Alamo! 

We were so excited. As my grandmother warned, it is surprisingly blended into the city with large buildings making it appear minute. However, once you step onto the historic grounds, you forget that you are in a city at all. Being a huge history and museum buff, I really enjoyed learning about the last stand at the Alamo and seeing the original site. The most interesting aspect was that so many volunteers came from all over the US to aid the Texans. The elderly volunteers were adorable and proud of the site. All in all, a must see in San Antonio.

After this we strolled along the famous Riverwalk, which was pretty enjoyable. 

However, I do not know if this is from tourism in general, but the Riverwalk smelled eerily like Bourbon Street. It was hot and muggy along the paths, but there was no shortage of ice cream shops or pubs. Our couch surfing host, Chris, happened to work at a Ben and Jerry’s, so we paid him a visit to say hello and cool off from the heat.  We enjoyed a Shiner beer (Texas brewed) at an Irish pub waiting to go to his house.

For dinner, he took us to his favorite local Tex-Mex restaurant: Taquiera Vallarta. Let me tell you, authentic is the best word to describe this place other than amazing. It was cheap but even more important delicious. Karien and I both had “los camerones de Diablo” (Devil Shrimp)—phenomenal. 

After we went in search of a bar but ended up at a coffee shop that also had hookah thanks to Karien’s coffee addiction. We ended up staying for a few hours smoking “Kraken” flavored shisha/tobacco and even enjoyed a personal concert via the barista Wesley Claire—a young, rebellious, Tennessee girl.

All in all, I would describe San Antonio as nice because of the quaintness of the city and calmness of its people (also very family oriented with families at every corner). 

There is not many more attractions in San Antonio, so one day was all we really needed to explore it. But the visit was a pleasant surprise. 

The next morning, bright and early, we left at six a.m. again. The terrain was becoming dryer and mountainous. Our next destination was the Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico.  

High Tea at Mount Nelson

On Thursday all of our lovely group of ladies had a girls’ afternoon: high tea at Mount Nelson. Supposedly, this high afternoon tea is one of the 100 things to do before you die.

It definitely lived up to its expectations!

We all dressed up in our Sunday best. We headed to the hotel, which is gorgeous! You have to enter through massive white columns (something very uncommon in Africa) and then approached the pink, Victorian-style buildings.

We entered the lobby and could already hear the classical piano in the background. The room was massive: white with beautiful crown molding and crystal chandeliers.

A few friends and I sat at a table in a separate room with a fireplace (remember it’s winter here).

They have 30 different types of teas! You can order your own pot of tea and try as many different types!! So I ordered the house specialty, the Mount Nelson black tea blend. It was delicious! I could taste a flowery accent, which was correct. They use pink rose petals from the hotel's gardens. And the tea is a blend of 5 different teas from parts of Africa and Asia. My second pot of tea was the Classical Rooibos. The tealeaves are grown on the outskirts of Cape Town. It was my favorite. It had a rich, sweet flavor that reminded me of kettle corn… yep, kettle corn.

My friends tried the green tea, strawberry & vanilla, orange blossom, gunpowder & mint, and berry blends.

Besides the tea, the finger foods were phenomenal! We had mushroom empanadas, cucumber sandwiches, salmon cakes, quiches, and more desserts than the eye can see.

It was such a fun time. My Simoneaux family would have surely loved this because we have an usual love for tea unlike any other family.

This is my last weekend. So sad. It came so fast.

I have 2 days left but won’t be back in Louisiana for 4. This will probably be my last blog while here, but I will post as soon as I get home a few reflections on my trip. Thanks for following!

Love always,

Melissa

Adventure Week, 3rd Weekend, and Part of My Last Week

Heyyy You GUUUUUUUUUYYYYYYYYYSSS!!!!!!

First, I apologize for not having blogged in over a week. Cape Town is crazy and this is my last 4 days already. So sad L.

So, I will do my best to keep this blog short, but no promises! A lot has happened over this last week!

Last Tuesday through Friday was my “adventure week.” I was in the “mild group” as they call it, so we had a different adventure than the “wild” group.

On Tuesday morning, bright and early (7:00am), we departed from Laguna Beach to take on the Garden Route, which is the scenic, tourist route along the center bottom coast of South Africa—boy is it beautiful! Mountains everywhere, the Indian Ocean in sight! Wow!

Day 1: We drove and drove and drove and drove. It sucked!! I couldn’t even stretch out my giraffe envy legs! We had 18 people in one van like Mercedes Benz thing. Our tour guides name was Lowrence, and our drivers name was Peter. They are both Afrikaans (white, Dutch descendents). After some talking, we convinced the guys to stop at the elephant sanctuary, which was one of my favorite parts of the week! We began out elephant tour by riding the elephants. My elephants name was Thaba. Did you know that elephants have this wiry like black hair all over their body? Well I found that out the hard way by wearing capris when riding one! 

Several students then walked the elephants into the forest where they showed us elephants in their natural habitat. Funny thing is, when the trainers introduced the elephants, they each said, “This is [insert elephant’s name]. She is a good girl. She listen to me. I show you how. [Elephant] do…” It was hilarious! But the elephants blew out the dirt in their noses, stood on their knees, and shook off the dirt on their bodies. They were adorable! We then got to approach the elephants and look inside their mouths, touch their trunks, ears, feet, and tusks. I then had my turn to “walk the elephants” by taking their trunk in my hand and guiding them to the next destination. Its breath was so warm. Lots of snot and dirt found its way to my hand! We then fed the elephants their dinner! They ate it all so fast! But what a great time! And we learned a lot about them! 

Day 2: We woke up quite early because the #1 thing on our agenda for the day was to bungy jump… off the world’s highest!!!! It was finally time to jump off the Bloukrans Bridge!!! And I was so excited!

A group of 30 of us got harnessed at the entrance and headed on a trail to the bridge. (Several wussies decided not to jump… fear is temporary, regret last forever.. the t-shirts said that!) Walking onto the bridge was the scariest part! You could see all the way down below you and as you walked, the grating sank! I thought I was going to die! But the view was spectacular!

We made it to the jumping area and were greeted by such happy, energetic workers! They began blaring pump up music to get us excited! The first boy jumped, and several girls started CRYING!

If you know me, you know how impatient I am. Well, there was no order to their system. It was random. They would just call up a name or number and have you get strapped in. Well, after 27 people went infront of me, they FINALLY called “Melissa! Number 21!” FYI: I was jumper #21, like my age, and I weighed none other than that’s right Colby and Jacob: 69 kilos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

I kept hyping myself up since I got to Africa for how scared I would be. But I got to the area: no butterflies. I got to the bridge: still none yet. Saw many people jump: nuh-uh. Called my name: nada.  Strapped me in: nothing. I think my impatience got the best of me, and all I kept saying was, “I’m freaking ready to jump off this damn bridge!”

They finally had me ready to go, and guess what I was doing. I was dancing! The perfect song came in the sound system “Sexy Bitch” by Akon! I jumped without hesitation!

See the Bloukrans Bridge.

See Melissa prepare to jump off bridge.

See Melissa fly! 

The thing is, I was so focused on actually jumping without hesitation, I completely forgot about the free fall. So all of about 1/10^th of a second after I jumped, reality set in that I was free falling. It was an odd feeling. And I firmly believe that death by falling (like suicide) would be the worst way to go… just a scientific observation.

The view was beautiful, and everything was perfectly silent! I survived the jump! Don’t worry, I bought the dvd so we can laugh about it when I get back!

Immediately after we left the bungy jump, we went ziplining over the Tsitisikama Falls. What a beautiful, fun activity! It was so fun soaring over the tree tops, creeks, waterfalls, etc. The people were funny too! It was just a really quick thing though. But I was an expert by the time we finished!

After the zip lining, we headed to the Addo Elephant Reserve where we had a night safari! We hopped in open jeeps, had a tour guide who’s name I cannot pronounce, and headed into the darkness! We first saw a solo male elephant. Then some black jackals. It’s hard to spot animals at night, especially because of the dense “bush.” But we saw something amazing! A hyena was tearing apart a Kudo carcass all of 6 feet from our jeep! You could hear the bones tearing apart! It was soooo freaking awesome! The tour guide told us how lucky we were to even see a hyena because they have very, very small numbers of hyenas, rhinos, and lions. And to see it feasting was even better! We then saw the rest of its family, about 3 others. Then set off. The last animal we caught sight of was a water buffalo. The cool thing was it had fresh cuts on its butt, which our tour guide said looked fresh and like a lion would have done it only a few hours before!

But our tour came to an end without seeing lions, oh well! It was cold out, but the sky was so beautiful I paid no mind to it! 

Day 3: We woke up super early for our morning safari where we saw warthogs, kudos, zebras, elephants, etc. It was so different during the day! Our van sang the Lion King during the safari! It was so much fun!

We left the reservation and went “quad” biking (4-wheeling) on a trail in a forest. Well, since the numbers, I was stuck in the last group with the only 3 guys. But it turned out awesome! We went super fast! I was kinda nervous! When we took off our helmets, we had a dirt mask on everywhere! It was funny. And we had to wear hairnets, so please imagine me looking my finest at that point!

Then we went to a bay (Plattenbog I think?) where we went whale watching! We saw a Southern Right Whale!!!! It was soooo cool! No full breaches, but I even spotted it one time before the bird’s nest! As the sun set, we went watch the seals come off the cliffs and shuffle into the water! There were sooo many! What a beautiful place it was indeed!

Day 4: Ostrich farm!!! But it was raining so we weren’t able to ride them. I was almost in depression! But, I did get a “neck message.” Check out this photo of me feeding them! 

A few guys gave them kisses (putting food in their mouth to let them take), and some girls got hugs (similar to what I did). It was entertaining, and the ostriches were goofy as hell! No wonder they are not the brightest crayons in the box.

Immediately following that, we went to the Congo Cave for our adventure tour through it. Fyi: the main, large chamber used to hold concerts but had to stop 10 years ago because of vandalism. Coldplay had played there!

We crawled through tight spaces, squeezed through the “Tunnel of Love” and vertically climbed up “Devil’s Chimney.” It was so beautiful and fun! It reminded me of when my family used to go to the caves in Arkansas and Missouri!

Then adventure week was over! Yippee! We drove several hours and FINALLY made it back to Laguna Beach! Condo sweet condo!!

Saturday,  we woke up and went to the “Old Biscuit Mill”—my new favorite place in Cape Town! It was INCREDIBLE! It’s a place where food vendors set up shop in the old mill. I ate a crepe with nutella and bananas and had the most incredible mushroom kebob EVER! It was so PHENOMNAL, I had to have two! There was also cute and quirky shops are the area. Just an amazing place! It was also a kool hangout, lots of young people my age there. It was amazing, and we’re going back this Saturday again (it’s only open on Sats). After that, a few people and I went to Camps Bay (a super chic area in CT) to watch the Super 14 Rugby World Championship match between not just one, but TWO of South Africa’s teams! (First time in history!) It was soooo kool. And they just so happenly were rivals! Too bad the Cape Town Stormers lost! I was rooting for them. Camps Bay was so cool, the food and atmosphere was great!

Sunday, Carolyn (my roomie) and I lounged for a good portion of the day, and then decided to go to Kistenbosh Gardens. It was soooo beautiful! Imagine the place in the springtime because it’s winter here! Beautiful! We had so much fun frolicking throughout the place! We then had Sunday group dinner, which was delicious of course!

Monday, we had class, but after, I finally made my way to the Green Market! It was awesome! So many vendors with such random crap! “Looking and touching is for free!” “Come! Look at my lovely stuff!” “I give you special price!” “Closing time is best time for you! Best best price!” HAHA! The vendors were hilarious! But I am one tough girl to bargain with and I got my way/price almost every time—if not, I walked away and found it somewhere else! I have gotten GREAT souvenirs for my loved ones! Watch out mom, dad, and Rachelle: Peyton has got a new African drum coming his way!!!

On Tuesday, we went to Charlys Bakery—Oprah’s favorite bakery in the world! It was sooo cute! And all the food was sooo cute too! I got a lime green petit four (or however you spell it) and a vanilla cupcake with neon pink, fluffy, glittery icing topped with a flower. It was yummy! Especially the fondant on the petit four! BUT not the best I have ever had… just saying.

After Charlys, we walked to District 6, a museum created to commemorate the HUNDRED OF THOUSANDS of black people who were forced to leave their homes in the city and move to townships on the outskirts. Apartheid was truly an ugly, cruel thing. It was so sad to see the stories. And the people working the museum had actually all been victims of the travesty and spoke to us about their experiences. It was an amazing place.

Today, Wednesday, we went to the township for the last time. L We had a huge celebration at the town’s community center. The place was packed! I am not joking when I say that there were over 500 people in this tiny place!!!! Some of our students performed (I helped in our rendition of Lean on Me), but the true show was the township kids! The first boy up (about age 7) performed to “Bad” by Michael Jackson… phenomenal! He was like Michael’s child! This boy was that good!! But the best act was this group of boys ( about 10 of them all ages 9-13). THEY WERE RIDICULOUS! It was like I was at a live filming of America’s Best Dance Crew!! They were tutting, popping and locking, break dancing… you name it! It was RIDICULOUS!! They were sooooooo awesome! Watch out America! 

The closing group turned into this really intense, massive Africa hip-hop dance off/battle thing. People were competing and the crowd was going crazy. I felt like I was in one of those dance movies Patrice loves so much. “Step up to the streets” or whatever.

We said what will probably be our last face-to-face goodbyes. I almost cried. I wish so much for the best of my African family! They are amazing and deserve so much! I have learned so much about myself through them. I love them and feel as if they are really apart of my family. God bless them.

Well, this was long. I only have 4 days left. Trying to live it up and do everything humanly possible in the next few days. Before you guys know it, I’ll be back in America. I’ll try to blog on Friday... no promises though. Thanks for following my stories.

Love always,

Melissa

PLEASE READ!!

First, thanks for reading my blog!

Second, I meant to blog on Friday but got behind. This weekend was SO eventful that I had to blog about each day. 

So when reading, don't miss out on my trip to Robben Island. 

I hope you guys enjoy! I can barely believe this is my real life right now! 

For those who I was able to talk to on skype Saturday, it was amazing talking to yall! 

I love and miss everyone back home! 

I only have two weeks left already, so I will try to live out these next 14 days out like the first 14--incredibly. 

Enjoy! Email me if you have any questions or suggestions! 

Looking Into the Eyes of a Man-eater: CAGE DIVING WITH GREAT WHITES!

Sunday was THE BIG DAY: Cage diving with GREAT WHITE SHARKS!!!!!!!!!

Our group left at 5:30am on a 2 hour trip to Gansbaai, the world’s best cage diving site!

Around 7am someone walking in the isle knocked my leg and woke me up, but I’m glad I was because I saw the most beautiful sunrise of my entire life. I didn’t bring my camera, but don’t worry, I will steal everyone’s photos when I can.

Rolling hills leading up to tall jagged mountains were a beautiful site against the soft, flowing clouds completely covering the sky. The sky was this creamy orangey color, making the air seem orange. Then suddenly turned lemon yellow after a curve. I only wish you could have seen this site. Something I will never forget.

We finally made it to the office and were treated to a quick breakfast. We jumped on the boat and took off. Our instructor advised us on the ins and outs of cage diving. We were diving in Shark Alley!!! Where the great white sharks feed on seals going to and from the ocean to SEAL ISLAND!!!

As soon as we anchored the boat, we weren’t alone anymore. These were some BIG suckas!!!

Chum was all around the boat and the cage was down. We suited up. I was quick to get ready so the captain with missing teeth chose me to go down first!!!!!!

I was SOOO excited. I was not even nervous. So, one foot at a time, I lowered myself into the freezing, shark infested waters!!!

I was on the end so I had about 180 degrees view of my surroundings. It was sooooo awesome! My adrenaline was going full blast! I didn’t even notice how cold the water was after my initial entry.

They put a weight around my shoulder to help me submerse myself when a shark came by.

I was in the water for about 30 seconds and they yelled at me to do “DOWN!” A shark passed to my right. It was so quiet; it almost wasn’t real. I thought to myself, “I just swam by a freaking shark.”

The four other girls finally got in the cage, and they closed the lid and threw out the bait. We had at one time 3 sharks in view circling us! There were a total 5 different sharks that we had seen.

I was most scared when one came from below us up to the surface. Just the thought that I could not predict its approach freaked me out.

After a few passings, a shark came DIRECTLY head on towards the cage!!! It turned left RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME! I was about 2 feet from its insanely toothy jaws. I even saw the white under its jaws and its nostrils! AGH!

But the best thing that happened when I was in the cage was immediately after we had just come up from a passing and the guys yelled, “DOWN!!! DOWN, DOWN NOW!!!” A shark suddenly appeared at my right. It happened so quick.

When sharks attack, they momentarily pause then thrust their tales to shoot themselves as fast as possible towards their prey. Well this shark came right on the side of me and when he thrusted his tail fin, it actually came into the viewing area (which is a open area with no bars to not obstruct your view). 

I felt something knock me on the top of my head. I was in disbelief. We came up for air. The girl on the side of me and I came out screaming. We looked at each other, eyes wide wide open and asked each other at the same time, “Did you just get hit??????”

I got knocked on the head by a great white shark’s tail fin!!!! It was awesome!!

We had a few more passings and unfortunately had to get out L

We peeled the wet suits off and went watch the rest of the show from the top of the boat. 

Not once, not three times—SIX times did the sharks JUMP out of the water!!!!! It was intense!!!!

The waves began to get rough so we headed in an hour early because a second group still had to go. I didn’t complain because the waves were so choppy and rocking the boat back and forth.

We made it to shore and changed rotation with the second group. We were fed lunch with beer and wine! While enjoying our lunch, they showed us our video of action from the day. Then Cristo took us to a cave. The choppy rocks against the crystal clear water made a spectacular view. I think I might look into summer homes here! I wish!

After we packed up the bus and headed home. Today was truly an amazing day. I am still sitting him in amazement over what had transpired. Sharks are magnificent creatures, and I have a whole new outlook towards them.

If ever given the chance, I highly, highly recommend cage diving! It’s an adrenaline junky’s dream.

Tomorrow is our last day at the township. On Tuesday, the Springboks head out to adventure week. So I might get behind again on blogging. Check for updates. Have a great week!

Love always,

Melissa 

Penguins, Baboons, and the Most Beautiful View in the World

Saturday morning we woke up to another beautiful African morning ready for the adventure that was to come. Today, we were going to Cape Point, where the Indian and Atlantic collide at one of Africa’s southern most points.

We eagerly got on the bus and drove about an hour south to Simon’s Town—a very beautiful, quaint boating town. But what stands out about this place: it’s home to penguins!!!!!!!!!!

We visited the adorable little creatures at the perfect time! Their babies were growing up! Most were still the fluffy little gray balls of cuteness!! Seeing these cute buggers was worth the fowl smell! Enjoy my two favorite pictures of them:

After seeing the penguins, we had a delicious lunch on the pier overlooking the bay. The mountains are so majestic! On my way out I was just browsing at a street vendors stand when a vendor begged me to buy anything for any price. I felt so bad, but I only had R5 (5 rand<$1, like 80cents) and a US quarter. She accepted and gave me salad mixers. How can such a beautiful place host such poverty?

We left Simon’s Town and were headed towards Cape Point! That is until we were stopped in traffic… the local baboons thought it would be fun to layout on the road despite heavy traffic! The baboons were definitely the most entertaining animals of the day. One even tried climbing on a car in front of our bus!

Somehow after driving through the beautiful terrain (African foliage is so unique) and driving along the beautiful coast, we made it to the Cape of Good Hope.

We immediately began adventuring. Our group went past every other group there to take a picture on the rocks. Best part: there was a HUGE Asian group there at the same time, and they began taking pictures of us then WITH us! So we started doing smiley peace signs while posing with them one by one! It was sooo funny!

Graham, AK and I decided we wanted to go even further to the place where seemed to be the end. We scaled the side of the cliff to where the waves were crashing against the rocks. What a sight! What a feeling! Looking out to where the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans collided!

I was contempt where I was, but a few guys kept going and wanted a camera so I let them borrow mine. What a beautiful sight they saw! The cliffs extended way further and they saw a bunch of caves. Here’s a pic:

Funny story: I had just taken a picture and was by the edge talking to the people a few feet from me when I heard a MASSIVE whomp and saw the people’s faces I was talking to drop. Suddenly I WAS DRENCHED from head to toe by a super massive wave!!! I had just got slammed by two oceans!!!! It was awesome!!!  But I was the only person soaked on the bus for the remainder of the trip! Haha

We were summoned back to the bus. I was so sad to leave the beauty of the Cape of Good Hope, and I can only wish to return to it one day again. I have NEVER seen anything as beautiful in my life. I felt so alive smelling the sweet salty fresh air of the two oceans.

Another funny story: While I was adventuring dangerously on the cliff, several people back on the bus got the best entertainment of the day. The watched a baboon charge a car with an open window, jump on a sleeping Asian man, steal his crackers, and enjoy them from within his car!!! They said it was hilarious.

We got on the bus and headed about 10 minutes further to Cape Point. The first thing I saw when I got off the bus was a family of baboons sitting in front a baboon warning sign. Oh the irony.

We hiked up the hill to see such an amazing spectacle. The soft misty mountains in the background, the clear as day aquamarine blue water beneath, and the breathtaking cliffs around us stole my heart. I never wanted to leave. Do you blame me?

But we did have to, and on my way down I bought a soda from the cashier. She specifically warned me because it was the baboons favorite treat so I should hide it. I thought nothing of it until a baboon approached our bus and grabbed my friend Samantha’s butt while trying to steal her candy bar! She didn’t even see it coming!

We had a good laugh then headed back to Cape Town.

What a day! What a view! What a life!

This trip only keeps getting better. Africa never ceases to amaze me.

Love Always,

Melissa

Nelson Mandela's Long Walk to Freedom: A Visit to Robben Island

Woke up to the wonderful breakfast they serve us everyday (sarcasm). But I was super excited for the day because we were heading to Robben Island—the place where Nelson Mandela spent almost his entire prison sentence. 

A woman, Nomhle Canca (it’s pronounced with two clicks: nohm-cla), spoke to us about her grandfather Albert Luthili, the first black African to win the Nobel Peace Prize and was the president of the African National Congress for 30 years. She told us her view of democracy in South Africa and her struggle finding her place in the system.

We soon moved to the busses and headed toward the V&A Waterfront. Upon arrival, we hopped on the boat at the Nelson Mandela Gateway to Robben Island and made our way to the prison island. As soon as we left dock, we saw our first seal swimming around the boat! It was a quick boat ride, and we found ourselves on the island walking the same entrance that so many political prisoners had done only 20 years before.

We were greeted by a short, elderly Indian Man, who was so excited to see the 104 of us. This man was Ahmed Kathrada—Nelson Mandela’s prison mate for 20 years. He was also 1 of the 8 that were convicted alongside Mr. Mandela for conspiracy against the government. It was truly an honor to be in his presence. He had cancelled a dinner and flew in from Johannesburg to give our group a tour!

We walked through the initial archway and immediately into the prison. Mr. Katrhrada first showed us Mr. Mandela’s cell. It was so small; I don’t even know what to properly compare it too. We walked down the hallway they walked every morning for 20+ years to the cafeteria. We then heard Mr. Kathrada speak about his experiences. 

It was chilling. He spoke of being in exile, of the trials, of the day-to-day life, of Apartheid, of his release, and of his relationship with Mr. Mandela. He then took questions, and I eagerly asked him the first of many to come.

I asked him, “How did it feel to return to the island for the first time as a free man.” He grew silent and tears were in his eyes. The initial trip back was “terrifying” for him, as I could never imagine the pain of remembering the long years. But he said the main motive that kept them going was knowing that Robben Island was the only political prison where the police were not allowed to torture the prisoners to death. 

But mental attacks were a different story. These men, especially Mr. Mandela, never saw their children grow because no one under 16 is allowed on the island. When family members died, like Mr. Mandela’s mother and son, their request to attend the funeral was normally rejected. The mental anguish these men faced is something that should have broken a person, but they kept fighting for what they believed in—equality and freedom.

I really can't explain how amazing of a trip it was and believe it was one of the most moving experiences of my life. Walking the same paths as the political prisoners was an eerie, surreal feeling. The island was actually beautiful, but I could only think of the terrible oppression that occurred everyday there for so long.

We left Robben Island and returned to the mainland. It was a beautiful day and I had just walked the same halls as the most important South African and world human rights activist in history to date.

Friday was also my roommate’s 21^st birthday on the 21^st! So we just HAD to celebrate. We went get changed and returned to the waterfront to eat at Balducci’s restaurant, where the cocktails were amazing! The hostess overheard us talking about the bar we wanted to go to. She told us she only goes there and only needed to take off her pants after work. We were so confused but had a good laugh because she forgot to mention until after we laughed that she was wearing a dress tucked in!

 We then headed to Tiger Tiger nightclub. The age requirement was 21 even though the drinking age is 18. Well I am 21, my roommate was now 21, but the rest were not. But I didn’t have any form of identification on me. The bouncer asked us for our date of births, and the funny thing was that everyone said they were born in ’89 except the smallest girl in our group who said she was born in ’87. It’s pretty clear she isn’t 23 years old, but the bouncer let us in anyways.

This club was amazing! When we arrived, we ordered a round of shots and it just so happens that it was 2 for 1. So we ended up taking 4 shots each of jager and vodka. Yum. The dj even began passing out bottles of champagne to the crowd! This place was crazy, and I can’t wait to go back.

Fun fact: the bars in South Africa don’t have a set time for when they close. So we had arrived at 10pm and decided to finally leave around 3:30am! But when we called the cab that drives us everywhere including the bar we went to, they refused to come pick up us! We were almost panicking and had to call our program director at 3:30am. But don’t worry, we got everything settled and made it back to the hotel alright thanks to the American boys we met at the club.

This was only the beginning of my weekend!