Trip Update: Days 10-15

3/20 - Samer

Yo, it is going to be quite hard to surpass the quality of yesterday’s blog, but I’ll do my best. This morning we woke up early at seven for coffee and tea before leaving on our second safari adventure. We saw all the same animals as the previous day but more: we had encounters with a pair of elephants, a herd of ostriches and three full grown lions chilling in the shade. Our guide Tracey knew absolutely everything and had an exact answer for all of our questions. When we arrived back at the Game Lodge we headed over to the restaurant for our best breakfast of the trip. We had pancakes, bacon, homefries and omelets made for us along with everything else we had been craving since we have been in South Africa. After that we visited the cheetahs in their enclosed area where our other tour guide Ashley was dared by Patrick Toomey (Class II!!) to enter the cage to photograph the felines up close. Before leaving we walked through the snake exhibit and hit the road to get to our next destination, Cape Town.

Four hours and a near accident experience later we arrived at our hotel and went out to dinner at a nearby restaurant. We are all looking forward to these last couple days in what Chris calls “the most beautiful city in the world” and can’t wait to see you guys in less than a week…Word.

3/21 – Amy

We woke up to what looked like a gloomy first day in Cape Town, but it turned out to be beautiful! After we dropped off the van and car, we spent the morning in the mall by the waterfront waiting for the sun to shine through. When it did around lunchtime, we headed out with our new driver, Alan, to Table Mountain. Although we had a couple of nervous kids, they braved the heights as the cable car took us to the top. At 1067 meters, we could see the entire city of Cape Town, and it was absolutely breathtaking.

We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening on the Beach in Camps Bay. Chris had actually pointed out to us the beach when we were on Table Mountain, so it was cool to drive down and spend the day there. Chris, Clem and Samer found some South Africans to play soccer with. Briana, Darla and Pat buried Anthony in the sand. Haley and Stacey showed us their ultimate frisbee skills. Jaida relaxed and read her book and Jonathan took some more amazing photographs.

We finished the relaxing and scenic day with a delicious beach front dinner as we watched the sun go down. Probably one of the best Monday’s we will have all year!!

We are excited to work with Chris’s former organization Grassroots Soccer tomorrow in the township of Khayelitsha. See everyone in 5 days!!

On top of the world - Table Mountain, Cape Town:

3/22 – Chris

Alan, our hilarious South African driver, tour guide and lost wallet-tracker extraordinaire, took us out to the Cape Town township of Khayelitsha for a day-long experience with Grassroot Soccer (GRS), an organization that remains very important to me after I spent a year working with them as a volunteer field intern. It’s hard to describe Khayelitsha in words but I’ll try: as you head out of Cape Town on the highway the wealthy, rolling ocean-view suburbs turn into cramped middle class residential areas, which then morph into rows of dusty, beat-up houses and, finally, flatlands full of lean-to shacks as far as you can see. Out in the shacklands lays Khayelitsha, an impoverished township of about a million people where South African blacks and coloreds were forced to live during the apartheid era. This is where we were going to spend the entire day.

We arrived at the FIFA Football for Hope Centre around 9am. The FFHC was built by FIFA during the World Cup and handed over to GRS to manage as a community center for Harare, one of the worst neighborhoods in Khayelitsha. The FFHC was actually built on a specific field which had been notorious for stabbings and gang violence right up until construction started in 2008. Now the place is much, much safer and the FFHC seems to have had a positive effect. The days’ activities were still coming together (and we arrived a little early), so a group of us kicked soccer balls around on the FFHC soccer pitch, a beautiful green patch of Nike field turf which sticks out from the surrounding township like an emerald in the desert. A little while later a group of 20-30 kids showed up for a series of morning activities we had planned. Now, nobody is exactly sure how it happened, but some amount of miscommunication between me and GRS resulted in our group planning activities for 8-10 year olds. You can imagine our surprise when 30 4-year old preschoolers showed up for activities. We had to make a few quick changes but, in the end, we had a really fun morning of “little kid games” like Duck, Duck, Goose, Red Light, Green Light, and Spider Eggs (re-named “Steal the Amagwenya” – an Amagwenya is a township doughnut). We also taught the kids some songs to work on their English (Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, etc.) but they were so young we weren’t sure exactly how much got across. Regardless, it was a really fun morning and the kids from the local preschool received a ton of attention which might have otherwise been lacking.

We then walked around Khayelitsha and visited one of the local primary schools to watch GRS coaches implement the Skillz HIV-education curriculum with South African students. I’ve been to Khayelitsha before but it was still shocking for me to walk around it again, seeing the shacks, the people, the stray dogs, and everything just going on and on for miles and miles. Back at the FFHC we ate lunch and got a game of pickup soccer going with two local kids whose nick-names were “Big” and “Small.” Then a group of high schoolers from Kwamfundo High (a local Khayelitsha high school where GRS works) showed up at the FFHC and a few GRS coaches led the mixed Nobles/Kwamfundo group of students through some GRS HIV-educational games and activities. I was really glad the Nobles students were able to see the GRS curriculum in action, but I also thought it was so powerful for them to see it and go through it with local kids for whom HIV-education is literally a life and death issue. Pico, one of the GRS coaches who led our activities, was a definite highlight…Hamba Bolla!

Once the Kwanfundo guys had left, we played a few friendly soccer matches on the FFHC field as part of their community soccer league. The local fire and rescue brigade showed up and we played a few round-robin elimination rounds between the 3 squads: Nobles, GRS and Fire/Rescue. Nobles was well-represented, going up 2-nil in our opening match, but we eventually lost all of our games. About 30 local kids surrounded the field and were cheering everyone on; I tried to convince a few of them that I was David Beckham and Samer was Samir Nasri but none of them took the bait, despite the talent on display. The fact that Amy and Darla were playing so well certainly raised some township eyebrows not used to seeing girls play soccer, and even less used to seeing talented female soccer players. At one point people started yelling “Banyana, Banyana!” – the name of the South African women’s national team.

By the end of the matches it had started raining so we loaded up in the Alan-mobile, our huge 17-seater bus, and headed back towards Cape Town. The day was a rush of emotion for me, and I was really glad the group was able to interact with an organization as cool as GRS. After a dinner of ordered-in pizza, my good friend Kai showed up at the hotel to talk to the group about the research he does on crime, gangs and violence in the townships (he’s a research fellow at the University of Cape Town) and answer questions we had about any of it. He’s a really smart, interesting guy so it was a nice way to finish the day. And, of course, we ended everything with a round of Glums and Glows where everyone talked about their favorite and least favorite point of the day.

A "cultural exchange" at the GRS FFHC:

Samer and Clem playing soccer with local kids at the FFHC in Khayelitsha:

3/23 - Group Highlights

Penguins at Simon's Town.

Hiked up to lighthouse at Cape Point.

Lots of Germans.

Took picture at Cape of Good Hope – “the most southwesternest point of Africa”

Alan’s legendary jokes; Alan on the in-van mic.

Baboons on the road.

Picnic lunch at visitor center. Picnic feast – leftover pizza. Freezing cold and raining a little.

Tour of Masiphumelele from Jill.

Went to Nondyebo with Jill to look at paintings.

Went to Creche to play with little kids. Chris and little girl will be talented architects someday.

Split into Library and Sports. Pat, Jonathan and Haley read to kids, Briana, Jaida and Stacey did a coloring project. Samer, Tony, Clem and Darla learned to play field hockey and played a bunch of soccer – met the next big soccer star Nicholas and the school soccer coach Ncebe.

Went to Waterfront mall for dinner – the seafood group was attacked by hungry seagulls. Others ate at Asian place and had amazing Pad Thai. Toomey lost his bag with others’ wallets and sprinted through mall to recover successfully. Disaster averted.

At Cape Point, on the edge of Africa:

3/24 - Group Highlights

Woke up “bright and early” – Jaida Judge.

Went to Robben Island – met Emmanuel the safety czar and former-life civil war general on the Robben Island fairy. Haley got video of his safety demonstration and amazing southern accent.

Arrived at Robben Island and had a personal tour on our own bus with a great guide. Saw Robben Island. It was educational and we received a later tour from a former prisoner, though we struggled to understand his accent. He kept calling us "my team, my team."

A little queezy on the way back, had a Sudoku competition.

Got back to waterfront/ferry launch, and had lunch at Mugg & Bean, our new favorite spot. Everybody got their Mint Crush fix.

Hiked up Lion's Head peak. Saw really cool paraglider launch point.

Quotes from Lion’s Head:

“Oh my god oh my god” – Stacey

“On top of the world” – Bri

Some people were really scared but made it to the top. Beautiful views of Cape Town. Got some stunning pictures.

Came back down Lion's Head the difficult way, led by Samer. Cliff, chains and rope. Tony ankle scare.

Doppio Zero feast for dinner. Came in under budget even with "5 zillion milkshakes." Back to hotel and passed out.

3/25

At the airport with Alan, on our way home:

Trip Update: Days 7, 8 and 9

3/17 - Clem

Today was our last full day working in Kurland. The majority of the time was spent scraping dirt and bird poop off of the roof. We also put two coats of light blue paint in the bedroom and a second coat of the orange paint in the kitchen. Stacy painted furniture while Briana painted the address onto the house. During a break we played cricket in the street using paint cans as wickets, a duct-tape ball, and a piece of wood as a bat. The teams were Pat and I against Samer and Anthony. After our short break, Hetley, Glen, Chris, Samer, Anthony, Pat and I went to check out another house that has a few broken windows that need to be replaced. Hetley and Glen then gave us a tour of the town. All of the little kids were very happy to see us and came up to give us high-fives. Chris tried to get a hair-cut but the electricity was out. When we passed Hetley’s house his daughter saw us and when we were about fifty yards away she came out of the house yelling “Papa” and sprinted into his arms.

For lunch, we went to Johanna’s Soup Kitchen. Johanna is a leader in the Kurland community and feeds kids after school every day. We ate “Samp and Beans” that basically tasted like beef stew with pinto beans in it. We headed to the beach after we finished lunch but as soon as we got there it started pouring rain. We stuck it out for a few minutes, just long enough to get soaked. The trip was worth it though, because on the road between Rocky Road and the beach we saw about a dozen baboons just hanging out in the middle of the road.

The guys from Kurland came to Rocky Road for dinner. We ate a seafood dish called “Poitjie”. We played a South African version of “Crazy Eights” and we played “Mafia” with everyone. We gave them Nobles trip hats to thank them for helping us with the work this week. After they left we had a real quick team meeting and finished the night by hanging out in the hot tub.

3/18 - Jaida

After spending a week at Rocky Road and working in Kurland Village, it was time to say goodbye. Leaving was very emotional and many tears were shed. It was incredible to see the progress made in four days and how close we became with the guys. The house looked wonderful when it was all finished. We also gave Auntie Fyena and Susan a new chair and clothes chest. Since the guys in Kurland were such a big help to us we decided to give them some rand in addition to what they are paid since they do so much for such a little price. After our goodbyes in Kurland we went to Rocky Road for lunch and our last goodbyes there. Then we hit the road and headed to George.

After driving for a little over an hour we pulled up to Whispering Oaks. The house was very quaint and we had to be extra careful while staying there. Some of us had the pleasure of washing our clothes. The beds were very comfortable and I’m pretty sure everyone slept very well. The lady that was hosting us, Maretjie, seemed very nervous about a bunch of teenagers staying there. But she was very surprised to see how well mannered we are.

After settling in at Whispering Oaks, we headed out to the local mall. We were given 100 rand for dinner and able to go where we pleased for dinner. Darla, Briana, Jonathan, Amy, Chris and I ate at Spur. It had a variety of food to choose from and our waitress was very nice. The staff had to sing songs and dance which we all found very funny. It was Jonathan’s birthday yesterday so Chris and Amy had our waitress bring him dessert and a few waitresses sang happy birthday to him. During dinner we found out all the shops closed at six and it was really unfortunate. But at the end of the day we went to the movies and saw “Red Riding Hood” as a group. It was a late movie and a few of us fell asleep but overall it was a good time.

3/19 - Anthony

Hello everyone we made it through another day here IN South Africa (yay). It has been so much fun the entire time. After reading the earlier posts it may seem like it has been a lot of work, it was. What you may have missed, while reading through the blurbs was the idea that the house we worked on was a real house with a real person. (Which was very hard for me to fully comprehend while working on it.)

Well today specifically was a very chilled out day, which allowed for us to get some in on some of the more touristy attractions. It started off with a terrific breakfast at whispering oaks in George, which helped us, recover from a late night yesterday. I had eggs while many others chose the French Toast with some strange roundly bacon. After downing that we proceeded to Mossel Bay for our 10 o’clock boat tour of the bay. As we pulled into the city it became obvious why we didn’t stay, it was filled to the brim with biker bros with tents that stretched the shoreline. The tour was extra fun because the ship rode the waves well. When we hit shore we had some awesome fish n’ chips with a full length fish! (woah)

After our water fun we hit the road to the Game Lodge in Albertinia where our second, land-based fun began. We moved into our chalets (bungalows, as we like to call them). We got to spend time in the pool to fill up water log (haha). Followed up by an awesome safari for a couple of hours, which led to spotting a rhino, zebras, wildebeast, springbok, and most excitingly the cheetah at dusk.

Awesome day through and thorough props to Amy and Chris for choosing cool stuff to do without forcing it on us. They’ve been doing a great job and deserve a medal for their dedication to the team. Put the team on their back rightfully so. Well 'a goeie naag - we hope we get to blog at you again tomorrow!!!

Trip Update: Day 6 and Pictures

3/16 - Darla

Hey everyone! It was our third day working in Kurland today. We’re seeing so much progress on Auntie Fyna’s house. After the work we put it, it is basically all painted and looking so bright. Samer and I were lucky enough to go with Katie to her after school program today. She did this exercise, “Song of The Week”, where she plays a popular song, has the kids read the lyrics, and then has them relate it back to Kurland village. Because they’ve been talking about drug use for the last couple of weeks, she told them to think of the song, “Turning Tables” by Adele, as a song between a person and their drug problem instead of a person’s relationship with their partner. After the “Song of the Week” exercise, we went to the newly fixed computer labs where Samer and I helped the kids practice typing, set up gmail accounts, and those who had facebook sent us friend requests =)

After our day in Kurland, we were taken to a nice little “surprise” by Chris and Amy. They took us to “Enrico’s”, a waterfront restaurant in the outskirts of Plett. They had delicious pizza, seafood, and pasta. We followed up our trip with a stop to the Plett Bizarre, where we got to listen to some live music and were encouraged(well basically forced) to buy things in order to stay. We left sooner than we planned. To end our awesome day, we celebrated Jonathan’s birthday(early) with some delicious S’mores by the fire. Another awesome day in Plettenberg Bay.

(Rocky Road has been an amazing home away from home, and it’s sad to think we have to leave soon =/)


Auntie Fyna's house at the start of Day 1:




Getting to work inside the house: Jonathan, Haley and Stacy sanding, scraping and prepping for paint



Samer, Darla, Glenn, Clem and Shane working on the outside of the house:

Trip Update: Days 4 and 5

Parents: All is well and we've begun working in the township of Kurland Village (we'll be renovating and rebuilding homes here until Friday). A lot of tough, dirty work for the kids but they've managed really well. Fun group dinner at a restaurant on the beach tomorrow night...so that should be a nice break. Sorry we can't get any pictures up with this post but expect some on the next one. Best, Chris & Amy.

3/14 - Briana

Today was our first day working in Kurland. We were up bright and early and on the road before 9AM. We spent the morning getting oriented in the house that we’ll be refurbishing. Fyna, the elderly owner of the house, and was really anxious about letting us make changes. She milled around the three rooms smiling nervously at us as we moved her furniture outside so we could start working.

We began by scraping paint off the walls of the kitchen and the main room. We proceeded to brush and sand the walls, both inside and outside. A corner in the kitchen is completely blackened with soot from the stove, and cleaning this area was a challenge today – It’s going to be one of the toughest and most important tasks of the week.

Samer soon became good friends with the guys in charge of our construction, Glenn, Graiwin, Shane, and Hetley. We worked to the sounds of an eclectic South African radio station that played everything from Phil Collins to British pop. At the end of the day when we were putting Fyna’s belongings back in her house until tomorrow, it was tough to realize that no matter how clean and beautiful we can make her house after we scrub and paint, almost all of her furniture is still going to be falling apart. We still have lots of work to do, but today was productive and a great start.

After we came home and took some much needed showers we ventured into the Plett Bay village where we indulged in yummy gelato. Back at Rocky Road, we sat down to a feast of roast chicken. Right now, we’re lounging around a fire in the porch area and Rocky is showing us awesome magic tricks. Everybody has been sleeping and eating well! I know my parents worry about those simple things. Pat and Jonathan moved into a room in the house last night, opting out of their rustic tent accommodation for fear of creepy crawlers.

We miss everybody at home but we’re having tons of fun. Hope all is well over there!

3/15 - Pat

Hi everyone (Mom especially)! I hope everything is going well in the states. Today was our second day of work in Kurland Village. We’ve gotten a ton of stuff done, and we finished the day by painting the first coat of red paint onto the outside of the house. Most of the work today was dedicated to covering the ceiling with a layer of cement, which sadly fell into the eyes of one Haley Deluca (luckily she’s fine). The ceilings and the walls of the kitchen are pitch black because of the wood burning stove that’s been in the home for decades, so when the cement dries we’ll make the walls an earthy orange.

We finished at around four o’clock and everyone rushed to the showers. The most difficult part of the day was trying to scrub the cement and paint off of our faces, arms and legs. I still have globs of the stuff on my hands and shins, and tomorrow I should be covered in even more red paint. Samer, Clem, and Anthony went back to Kurland and played some rugby. During the practice with the local team, Anthony was doing push-ups when his chest smooshed into some fecal matter; so for the remainder of practice the Kurland players referred to him as “poo-poo.” We think the nickname will stick.

We had some really good Tagliatelle with fish and mushroom sauce, which we ate by the fire pit. Tomorrow we’ll have dinner in Plettenberg Bay after we finish working on the house.

Wish us luck!

Trip Update: Days 1, 2 and 3

3/11 - Stacy

Well, our African adventure has gotten off to quite the eventful start! We began our day with an extravagant entrance by Darla and her dashing date, Bobby Bear. We arrived in New York in practically no time, after a slight delay because of a technical problem. But this was quickly fixed and we proceeded with excitement!! Luckily, we didn’t have too long of a layover, where Samer and Clem entertained themselves and the rest of us with a lovely meal of Chinese food at 10:00 am, until the largest chunk of our trip-the fourteen hour flight to Johannesburg, South Africa-could finally commence! And can I tell you, that was something else.

The flight began with a little time to relax and get adjusted before we were served a lovely dinner of either beef or salmon, both of which were positively delightful. Every seat was equipped with an individual television where we could all enjoy a lovely selection of movies such as The King’s Choice, Burlesque, The Blind Side, and Tangled, the last of which Stacy, Haley, and Anthony greatly enjoyed.

On the last leg of our trip, a short hour and a half flight from Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth, we were given a scrumptious lunch while Jonathan and Anthony got a little Afrikaans, Zulu, and Xhosa vocab studying in. Before we knew it, we were in Port Elizabeth ready for our trip to really begin!!!

But alas, it could not. Three of our twelve suitcases went missing when we were making our connection from Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth. Anthony, Jaida, and Haley’s bags have been misplaced, hopefully just temporarily. We do know that they are in South Africa, so they cannot be too far.

When we finally concluded the aviation part of our trip, we waited for what seemed like forever, yet again, to get our cars; however, we did entertain ourselves in an adorable candy shop, rightly named Cosmic Candy, where we learned that we weren’t in Kansas anymore and had to pay in Rand!!!!! This was sign number two that we were in South Africa, after the incredible warmth that enveloped us after we left the plane. We got a small Chevy sedan, driven swiftly by Amy, and a Volkswagen van, driven valiantly by Chris and rightfully named Veronica by Pat.
We are now safe and content at our rustic accommodations at Plettenberg Bay, where Briana was quickly the first to take a short nap. Dinner was delightful, the fire was large, and thank goodness for the hot tub!


3/12 - Haley

Hello, everyone! Our first full day in South Africa has been, as Stacy would say, SOOOOO EXCITING!!!!! We started the day slowly, sleeping in a bit and eating breakfast together at Rocky Road. We played a little game of soccer (Amy’s team, Team 12, won a decisive victory over Chris’s, Tigerblood Machete. Darla was our MVP with 5 goals), Samer taught us a new card game, Assassin (again, Darla wins MVP for her Lord of the Flies-esque technique), and then we set off for our first visit to Kurland village. We did a walk-through to see some of the sites we will be working on this week, and for many of us, it was a sharp wake-up call to the realities of poverty. Our work will be on housing refurbishment projects: renovating homes, installing solar water heaters, and other odd jobs.

After the village walk-through, we returned to Rocky Road to make sandwiches before setting off for some of the wildlife attractions nearby. We spent some time at Monkeyland, a rescue center for primates raised in captivity, where our guide claimed to have the longest suspension bridge in the southern hemisphere (we’re not sure we believed him, but it was definitely rickety and quite the adventure to cross – with our little lemur buddies!). Our next stop (after breaking a fence while taking a group picture - embarrassing) was Birds of Eden, which was absolutely beautiful. There were exotic birds everywhere, including flamingos and a particularly friendly little parrot, who made quick friends with both Chris and Stacy (it was quite the photo op).

Then, we returned home and watched a playoff match in the Cricket World Cup – South Africa triumphed over India! After a presentation from Katie, our representative from Dollars for Change/WWISA, and dinner around the campfire, we’re settling down to a movie before calling it a night. Totsiens!

P.S. – The missing suitcases showed up last night, much to our relief, so no worries!


3/13 – Jonathan

Greetings from South Africa! We woke up around nine this morning and ate breakfast together under the wooden canopy outside the house we’re staying in. Katie, the woman coordinating our volunteer work with WWISA (Willing Workers in South Africa) then led us on a hike a fifteen-minute drive away from where we’re staying. After fifteen minutes of steep climbing, we had a virtually unobstructed view of the ocean below, waves crashing against high black rocks jutting out of the earth. The beach itself was surrounded by mountains, green with trees. It was, undoubtedly, the most beautiful beach I have ever seen in my life.

We then hiked down to the water and stopped to eat lunch and swim. We continued on an hour later, hiking on the rocks above the sand and ocean and arriving at another beach, where we stopped, swam in a lagoon (the lagoon was on one side of the beach, the ocean on the other), and played a game of soccer. Some of us then went to play boulee (a variation of bocce) with Rocky, the owner of Rocky Road, while others sat and talked by the lagoon, having some South African snacks. Trying the snack food here has been especially exciting. Liqui-fruit, a popular brand of South African juice, is delicious, and the three flavors I’ve tried so far of Simba brand potato chips (cheese and onion, chutney, and smoked beef) have all been a tasty change from the American standards.

We got back to the house and showered, some of us in the one indoor shower, and others in the two outdoor bathrooms, which are complete with a shower, toilet, sink, and mirror. After a dinner of spaghetti Bolognese (with sautéed fish and a side of peas for our two pescetarians, Darla and Stacy), Katie showed us all the materials we will be using to renovate houses in Kurland village tomorrow. I’m incredibly excited to begin working, and look forward to blogging about it soon. As they say in South Africa, cheers!




The group on Day 2 at Monkeyland...
















Day 3 on the Nature's Valley hike:









Seniors photo at Nature's Valley:

We made it!

After 32 hours of traveling we are at Rocky Road guest house in Plettenberg Bay. Internet really bad but longer update soon.
Our cell phone numbers are O1127827739786 and 01127827740409. Will update soon!

The trip blog has been created!

Check here for updates before and during the March 2011 Nobles South Africa Trip!