Adventure Week!! Day 2

We woke up at 6am for breakfast and climbed up our safari bus and were off to a rainy day on the road. "like a Rolling Stone" would be a pretty good slideshow song for today. We went to Nieznahead which is some cliff but I wasn't dressed well for the weather so it wasn't an awesome experience. More of a yep, yep, okay moment. I just snapped a few pictures and headed back to the bus. I'm on the way to the zipline now and trying to decide if it's worth the money with the sucky weather.

Dustin, our adventure leader, convinced me to zip line and the weather ended up being sunny. Zip lining wasn't exactly as extreme as riding an ostrich or bungeeing but it was a lot of beautiful scenery: waterfalls, rivers, cliffs and i'm really glad I did it.

We arrived at our hostel around 5pm but it looked more like a summer camp. trampoline, swings, mini ziplines and little cabins scattered around a lake.

We got changed into warmer gear and headed to our night game safari at Addo elephant park. Lions!! Elephants and their babies!! Kudu!! Hares!! Owls!!

It. Was. So. Cold. but seeing the lions was a once and a life time experience. Apparently, the guide we were with has only seen the lions on a tour three times in his 4 years working at the park so we felt very honored.

Adventure Week!!! Day 1

Monday

After less than an hour of sleep, we headed down to the lobby at 5am. To our surprise, two Africa safari buses were waiting for us outside.

We drove for6 hours, stopping in small towns for snacks and bathrooms along the way. Our final destination: CANGO CAVES. I've learned this week is supposed to be full of surprises as they told us we were supposed to be touring the caves and we ended up spelunking and army-crawling through rock tunnels no bigger than my head. Leaving the cave, I was convinced I wanted to become a professional spelunker, but as usual that dream changed as soon as we reached our next destination, which brings me to THE OSTRICH FARM.

Here I was inspired to become an ostrich jockey. At the farm we had the privilege to get acquainted with Betsy, the friendliest ostrich on the farm. Betsy posed for pictures with the girls and got a little more frisky with the boys. Our guide put ostrich pellets in each of the boys mouths and Betsy proceeded to pluck them out one by one, giving the allusion of a kiss. Adorable. We also met a dwarf ostrich named "pick me". Kind of sad but pickme didn't seem to notice or care about his dwarf size. Next, we went tot he jockey pen where ostriches had sack like saddles on their backs. He asked if anyone was brave enough to ride an ostrich and lucky for me, my hand shot up first. The jockeys caught the relatively temperamental ostrich, but as soon as they covered its head, it became extremely obedient. Then, they led it towards a tiny pen where I mounted it. Our guide pulled the blind fold off and the ostrich went crazy, running around with the jockey chasing it and me struggling to hang on. They pulled me off after a minute of riding and caught me. Definitely one of those experiences that you look back a few minutes later and ask yourself "Did I really just ride an ostrich?" We then got to look at some ostrich eggs. Our guide described that they are extremely durable and we could all stand on them without breaking them. So one of the biggest guys in our group, Harrison, takes a running start and jumps onto an Ostrich egg and it cracked. That was awkward. We left shortly after and took a long bus ride where I fell asleep.

Robben Island

sorry my posts have to be strictly summary in order to catch up BUT

We headed out to Robben Island on Friday.

We took a ferry out and back.

It was a really cool experience. We got to see Robert Subuqwe's confinement area on the island along with most of the furniture and letters he wrote to his wife. His wife and their romance along with his drive to end Apartheid really moved me.

We were able to see the limestone fields that Nelson Mandela dug in everyday. Then we went through the prison and saw the cells of the political prisoners and read some of their stories.

We then met with a man named Thulani and he was inprisoned along with Mandela and knows him personally. He spoke of the hardships they endured in jail as well as his admiration not only for Mandela but all of the prisoners as they all contributed to Mandela's journey and mission.

The whole room was silent when he started to tell us about the mental and physical torture he endured on Robben Island. He explained that when he father came to visit him in prison, he was shot in the back and the prison guards came to Thulani to taunt him and tell him they killed his father, even though he had survived the attack. He also told us that the guards would pull him out of his cell for play time and string him up and mess with him. "Messing with him" consisted of shocking him, putting cigarettes out on his private parts, punching and hitting him when he could not defend himself, and yelling at him. The guards dehumanized these men in every way and it's hard to believe this sort of abuse went on so shortly ago just because of someones race. Robben Island and Thulanis's story really opened my eyes to Apartheid and how awful it was for the people that were willing to stand up and fight.

Barbara Dooleys speech

Barbara Dooleys speech was about overcoming obstacles. The thesis of her speech was that attitude is the only way to solve obstacles and also the only thing you can control in life. She then told many anecdotes that supported her claim on attitude. She explained how coming to UGA in the midst of the big football drought, the school spirit was very low, especially lower than Auburns. She then decided to fix this she would start a tradition of painting the town on homecoming and this tradition still exists today. She also suffered 11 broken ribs and a punctured spleen in an awful car accident during her first few years at UGA. She made it her goal to get well and make it to the annual Georgia Florida game. She ended up still being incredibly weak and sick but she came anyways and had a ball sitting in a trailer outside of the game watching it with her closest friends. She also spoke of a miscarriage she had and the positive attitude she contagiously spread to her family and community that was expecting another baby when she dealt with it so well. She also fought breast cancer and during her chemotherapy, she would have "chemo parties" with her family and friends to keep her spirits high after treatment. She feared losing her hair but when the time came she had a "head shaving party" and had a blast. On her last day of chemo she walked into the lab with all the patience enduring chemo and announced she was done and throwing a champagne and marijuana party. I hope to implement Barbaras positive attitude through out the rest of my trip. She spoke of having no control over so many obstacles and the only co try give way to deal with them is with a positive attitude. She also spoke about how a woman's attitude is like the thermostat for the home as she sets the mood. Barbara was both inspirational and hilarious and I really enjoyed her speech.

Day 12 Haut Espoir vineyard tour and tasting

The day after Cape Point we headed to a vineyard less than an hour outside of Cape Town called Haut Espoir. The owner of the vineyard, Patrick, was nearly 7 feet tall and had a precious little boy that tagged along on our tour. Patrick walked us around the land and explained the process of growing grapes and showed us the different vines that make certain wines and the strategies to grow them. I learned that different cultievers need different amounts and intensities of sunlight so each row needs to be planted strategically based on landmarks around them such as the mountains and trees that would affect their sun exposure. He also gave us big samples of plants that cure hangovers and told us he shreds them into his tea every morning.

We got to the winery and were broken up into teams to first taste different wines and then come up with a blend and submit it to Patrick for a chance to win a free crate of wine. With this type of prize a stake, our group was pretty intense. We blended some dark reds to make a velvety, smoky red wine blend and we ended up getting 2nd place. So close. We weren't too disappointed as we had a nice happy wine buzz and headed back to cape town with only the wine we bought, not the wine we wanted to win.

Day 11 Cape Point tour

For sake of time I am going to quickly summarize my 2nd week.

We had no class today and a group of 50 of us headed to Cape Point. So so gorgeous and we saw an ostrich and wild baboons all around us. This is one of those sights that words and pictures don't do justice and you just have to see. The cliffs reminded me a little bit of southern California except this area was a national park so no buildings or houses were anywhere to be scene. Our group hiked up the cliff and to the lighthouse. From the light house you can see for miles and it's so cool to think that you are actually on the very tip of Africa. The beaches below are pristine and clearly are not touched by humans often.

The Dooleys

The Dooleys came to our morning class and each gave equally motivational speeches. Vince Dooley spoke about being a leader as a football player, coach, and community leader in athens. To describe his techniques he used an acrostic poem of PRIDE: Preparation, risk, integrity, determination, everybody. He told us that he would tell the UGA football team that "proper preparation prevents poor performance". Then he touched on risk. He used a quote that went something like this:

“To dream anything that you want to dream. That's the beauty of the human mind. To do anything that you want to do. That is the strength of the human will. To trust yourself to test your limits. That is the courage to succeed.”

He then went on to tell a story of how he was behind the bidding for the Atlanta Olympics and how he and his partners risked a lot of money, time, and ego to bid for it but it ended up paying off. The quote/ this part of the speech really inspired me because I realized I have taken very few risks in my life. This feeling came at a good time because adventure week is the following week and my opportunity to take some risks like jumping off of the tallest bridge in Africa with just a flexible rope attached to my feet. oh and swimming with great white sharks with only a few metal bars between you. I'm super excited!! Vince also eluded to risk when he told the story of being just 31 and the junior coach at the rival school of UGA, Auburn, and then taking the head coaching job in one of the biggest droughts in football in UGA history. (sounds like we need another young vince to come along again for this season).

I also liked the segment of his speech on determination (and drive). He described that through his experience as a football coach he learned that talented people work. Period. Hershal Walker was not the fastest in high school and did not have access to a gym but did hundreds of pushups every night until he collapsed to the ground. Vince spoke about how Olympic athletes are not always the most talented athletes in their family but all have the common theme of working the hardest.

Vince also spoke about the concept of "everybody" and selflessness of a team. He said that when he was coaching, no one could ever accept an award as an individual. You must always contextualize your defeats and realize how you got there.

His speech definitely motivated me to be a more powerful leader. I was able to figure out what skills I lacked and what skills I could sharpen and am really excited to see how his advice aids me on the rest of the trip.

Day 9 -- the Waterfront

In the morning we attended a leadership lecture and learned about different leadership paths and strategies. Mallory taught us that in situational leadership there are three stages in the path to success: self awareness, congruence (walking the talk), and then commitment. I feel like I am pretty well aware of myself and am starting to act on the issues I stand for but I could definitely enhance this part and increase my commitment and dedication. We also learned that in groups, controversy with civility is crucial. A leader must consider and integrate multiple perspectives from their fellow team members. For all that know me well, this is definitely an important step in need to take in my journey to be a better leader. 
After class Chris, Gabe, Madeline, Jake, Jack, Zach and I all took a cab to the waterfront and soaked up the harbor scene and grabbed lunch. I tried the South African burger joint called Steers and my chicken sandwich was surprisingly even better than the Hotel sandwiches. It was nice to get a gold old greasy meal so far from home. We then walked a mile or so to the Green Market square and bartered some more. I helped Jake barter for a springbok fur (typical) and helped Jack get a good price on his painted ostrich egg (not surprised). Andrew Sugrue definitely would have been proud of me carrying on his bartering skill legacy. 
We then met up with Deej and Anna and walked back to the waterfront to go grocery shopping. Highlights consisted of buying box wine (equivalent to 6.5 bottles) for only 55 rand (8 US dollars). Yahzee. 
We got back to our apartment just in time to shower for Trivia. We brought our box of wine and were ready for victory. We were doing pretty well at first and were even in the lead for most of the beginning but then the wine set us back a little and we ended up coming in last place. Good fun nonetheless. 

Day 7-- Old Biscuit Mill

We had the day off with classes today so we headed to a food market called Old Biscuit Mill. So far the food has been subpar on my trip but this market definitely changed my opinions. I got out of the cab and i immediately caught a whiff of 100s of delectable scents. There was a big building with local food vendors stationed near the walls. The middle was bustling with people pushing and shoving to get to the next vendor. I went to town on the food to say the least. I got a slice of garden fresh pizza that had avocado, cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, and some other tasteful spices. Then I got this African chocolate smoothie/ milkshake. I bought African cheeses and the local bread for later. Then I walked by this stand that all the kids were crowding around. A young man was selling miniature pancake puffs with powdered sugar, maple syrup, and fresh African butter. He made the pancake puffs on the spot with this portable stove with rounded cupcake like indentions. Definitely want to bring this back to the states! They had sangria made with lemonade, white wine and a medley of fruits. Yum. I also got some mango juice which went well with my nutella and banana crepe. Yes, I ate all of this food in one sitting but I definitely want to go back to try the rest that I couldn't squeeze into my stomach.

After the food market, we went to an African vendor market. There was a lot of poverty around us and was hard to overlook it to go about spending more money. One old women came up to me and started telling me her daughter had my eyes and that she wanted to take them from me. She looked very intoxicated/ on some sort of strong drugs so I was unsure of how to respond. Then, a security guard came to see the commotion as she reached across me and tried to take a carved rock I was looking at purchasing. He ended up dragging her away as she yelled and I lost my appetite for shopping and we went home shortly after. When we were waiting for a cab, there was a group of 8 young African children dancing with cans tied to them and rags covering their body. They were asking for money and while I wanted to help them, I was reminded that they were most likely getting exploited and my money would by no means help them.

The whole scene was rather discouraging so when I got home I definitely needed to clear my head and go for my first run in cape town. Emily Gregory and I ran up to the light house and back and ran a good 2.5 miles. It was really easy despite our fast pace because the whether was around 60 degrees and there was a nice beach breeze as well.

Day 6 Table Mountain

We were told to come to class in exercise clothes well hydrated and with a good breakfast in our stomach. We got there and had a short lecture on values and keeping them in check by examining what you spend your time and money on and how well that correlates to those values.

Then, they told us we were getting on a bus and driving to table mountain and we were going to climb it. I was actually really excited despite me only having 3 hours of sleep under my belt. The climb was a lot more intense and longer than I expected but the view and the experience of the journey was definitely worth it. I started out slow because i wanted to "just enjoy the scenery" but then of course competitive Kelly came out and I decided to race up the mountain for the next hour. As if that wasn't enough of a workout, i decided to climb back down the mountain with a small group of us while the rest of the program took the cable car. Needless to say, I am still sore two days later. The experience was incredible because on the way up I got some good time with Jake (even though he about had it with my competitiveness) and I hiked down with a big group of people that I hadn't spent as much time with this trip and got to know them better. Oh yeah. And of course the scenery at the top was definitely the highlight. I'm going to return for a sunrise hike (yes, I'll have to get up at 3am) later in the trip.

Day 5 part 2-- the township

After Mr. Chaplins inspirational lecture, we loaded up two coach buses and headed towards the township of Gugulethu. The bus was buzzing with noise as we crossed over to the other side of the mountain but as soon as the township came into view, the bus was absolutely silent and our eyes were glued to the sobering sight we saw through a glass window. The shacks went on for as long as we could see and consisted of a few mangled pieces of metal nailed together and resembled a rusty dog shed. These shacks sheltered entire families. As soon our bus came into sight, dozens of tiny children ran out from underneath their shacks. They ran towards our buses, some holding American flags while others jumped up and down with excitement waving. The most noticeable feature at first sight of these children was their bright smiles. This show of happiness perplexed me and I was eager to meet the children instead of viewing them through the glass windows of a tall, air-conditioned coach bus. We stopped at one of the Amy Biehl centers and entered a sanctuary filled with music and the same happiness I saw in the white smiles of the children flooding the streets. The children danced for us and I swear one of the little girls that looked about 5 years old gave Beyonce a run for her money in her "Single Ladies" prance. Love, laughter, and bliss filled the courtyard and Amy Biehl's vision was displayed in front of me. The children invited us to dance, hugged us, kissed us, and showed us their own version of "paddy cake". I felt truly fulfilled for one of the first times in my life and I did nothing but observe and barely interact with these children. I cannot wait for service week in a few weeks where we will each be assigned a family and have the opportunity to form intimate relationships with people living under the same conditions of poverty.

Leaving these children close to sunset was difficult because all I could think of is them traveling back to their shacks in the dark. I had to remind myself that this was a daily occurrence for them and was probably the least of their worries. I did take comfort in watching their extreme care for each other. On many streets their were no parents to be seen and six year olds cradled infants in their arms while nine year olds carried 3 year olds around on their back. This was a scene I have never witnessed and really encapsulated the love these children have for each other. It was absolutely beautiful and definitely brought some tears to my eyes. It was hard crossing back through the mountains knowing a four star hotel and fabulous dishes of food awaited us while the children I just left were scrambling to obtain just a small scrap of food on the other side of the pass. Today put a lot of things in perspective and while I'm thankful for the life I was born in to, I can't stop thinking how unfair these contesting lives are. These children are innocent and kind. Why should they have to face world hunger, disease, and violence? I hope to develop more thoughts on this issue later as I learn more about the country's history, politics, and culture. Today was one of the most moving yet heart-wrenching days of my life.

Day 5-- part 1: Leadership lecture

Day 5

"You make a living by what you earn, but you make a life by what you give" -Winston Churchill

This morning we had the CEO of the Amy Biehl foundation come and talk about his experience with service and leadership and about success stemming from the utilization of both of these aspects. He started out with telling us the story of Amy Biehl ( who as most of you know was fighting apartheid and was stoned and stabbed to death by freedom fighters who mistake her for the enemy). Her parents started a foundation in her name that focuses on keeping children in poverty off the streets by involving them in after school activities that can spark a passion for life and knowledge and avoid gangsterism, aids, substance abuse, and violence. He spoke about what kind of leadership it takes to run a company like this or any other powerful business. He said that emotionally well rounded leaders possessing passion, a good attitude, and energy for their area of leadership is the best path. He said that in any business, social responsibility is integral as it, invoice, and product are a three legged stool.

Besides the service aspect, he reaffirmed everything that Pat Sugrue has drilled into my head since little league baseball in a tu-tu about leadership and running a company. You must employ people with passion and most also evoke that passion as the leader. You resect the people working for your company but not bad work. He also commented about the importance of visiting every store and being the down to earth leader which also brought me back to dad switching cars and going to each store and meeting the people who ran them. Thanks dad

day 4

In the morning we had a lecture on our strengths as individuals (after taking a strength finder exam and seeing our results). We learned that sharpening your strengths and focusing on them is a far more effective tool than dwelling on our weaknesses as our culture nurtures us to do. That night we went on a sunset champagne cruise. I've seen some mighty beautiful sunsets from sun set point in the blue ridge mountains but this picture of the sun setting on the cape was truly magnificent. A big group of us went to the front of the boat and were jumping the waves and taking titanic-esque pictured at the tip on the ship. The whole experience felt like a movie and no picture came close to capturing the scene we saw with our eyes. Let me say this one more time I LOVE THIS PLACE

day 3-- apartheid

We started our day with a lecture on pre, during, and post apartheid from a history professor at the West Cape. She explained the facts of apartheid and also brought a lot of emotion into it as she was a classified "coloured" and experienced being a second class and segregated citizen in south Africa under apartheid first hand. As a group, we all had a very emotional moment as the speaker broke down into tears when she spoke about the impacts it has had on the communities she has studied. The lecture evoked a new found passion in me in this part of South African history and I cannot wait to visit Robben Island this weekend.

That night a group of us went to a Greek Restaurant for dinner and ended up talking to a south African couple for 4 hours. The couple truly exemplified the hospital culture here in Cape Town as they took 4 hours out of their night to get to know the obnoxious American tourists, giving us advice, culture lessons, and just sharing stories. They invited us to their villa and are having a brye (BBQ) for our group of 10 next Sunday. I can't tell you how at home this couple made us felt and so welcomed to their country, unlike any other experience I've had in my travels. I'm never coming home!!!

Day 2

After just 3 hours of sleep we were up at 8am to attend our meeting. We talked about ugly Americanism and how to prevent being an ugly American. We spent the rest of the day catching up on sleep and exploring around the hotel. We went to an authentic African restaurant called Moyo. The decorations were absolutely exquisite and the food was oh so scrumptious. every piece of furniture and really every detail in the restaurant was very ornate and made for an excellent atmosphere. There were tables that are built out of surf boards that sit over a small pool of water for the summer time when it's warmer. We sat inside near the heaters and the natives danced around our table with maracas, drums, and tribal head gear. The man singing to my table invited me up to dance and let me where his tribal hat (pictures to come the Internet is too slow to put them up). He let me use the maraca to their performance of "in the jungle". The women came around and painted faces and served the food. we started with a lemon seasoned flat bread and a native salad comparable to a Greek salad. All the food is preservative-free and you can really taste a difference. We then had what looked to be a Thai marinated chicken and lamb. It was very tender and was lovely with the rice and fresh vegetables they served. For dessert, we had the special south African chocolate in fondue form with pineapple, grapes, and melons. Obviously I LOVED that. Overall wonderful and relaxing day and great to try so many new dishes and be in such a culturally rich atmosphere.

First day in Capetown!!

We woke up to a foggy but noneth

eless beautiful day in cape town. Kind of in love with this place. We've got an incredible apartment with a balcony overlooking the ocean and it feels very homey already.
We went on a bus tour of the city and I've never been to such a diverse yet beautiful place. We drove up to the top of cape town and were able to snap some fantastic pictures of the riel view of the city. The soccer stadium is humungous and looks like one big toilet bowl. There is skyscrapers in the center of the valley of the cape and the hills around them are blanketed with smaller colorful buildings and homes.
On the bus ride we went from mountain carved out villas overlooking the ocean (laguna beach style) to mere shacks with dozens of children scattered everywhere and betters lining the streets. The visual juxtaposition was very moving and reaffirmed to me that there is still a very strong class divides and hardly an in between from wealth to poverty. I'm really excited to learn more about the history of South Africa and apartheid that has made this class divide so evident.

May 15, 2011 9:43 AM

Kelly said...

Our plan tonight is to go to a restaurant in town called Cubanas and then hit the clubs (on a sunday... they do that here). Very excited and will report back later.

Day 2-- amsterdam

We have finally landed and have a few hours of a layover in Amsterdam. Observations about this place:

-McDonalds costs approx 12 dollars per person (Jake was in shock). They also took longer than an american McDonalds and Jake concluded, "they must not have assembly lines here yet".

-While walking through the airport as the group of boys were epitomizing the "loud American" stereo-type, I overheard some French men trash talking about us and finally my 5 years of French seemed to have some significance. I turned around and smiled at them and said the first French word that came to my mind-- "Bonjour". Embarrassing, I know and they laughed even harder. My on the spot vocab may have been rusty but I was proud of the effort? Thanks Westminster.

-Note: they do not speak German. It's Dutch as I so disappointedly discovered when I tried to be all high and mighty and utilize my German 1001 skills from this past year.

-They give delicious carmel ice cream out on the Dutch airline (winning in my book) and the seats are extremely comfy (partially because Jack and I conned our way into sitting in economy comfort instead of just regular economy with the rest of our friends).

Sat next to a local from Cape Town and he had a lot to tell us. Jack Konas was in shock when he flashed his Auburn National champions pen in the man's face and he didn't understand the magnitude of the title. We then preceded to have a 30 minute conversation of comparing and contrasting American vs. South African sports. Enlightening.

day 1-- the journey

The flight started out peaceful and easy (just like the Eagles so elegantly described). I decided to drink a nice glass of white wine to drift on to sleep and get ahead on the time change. After just a few sips of wine and one Norah Jones song deep, I feel a head plop onto my shoulder. Low and behold the sweet Polish girl (shout out to you Aunt Bern!!) next to me is convulsing violently and I quickly reason that she is having a seizure. So much for the sleep. Just kidding, I'm not quite that much of a narcissist as Ryan has suspected. But it was a whole ordeal and thankfully she was okay after 4 doctors, an oxygen tank and some OJ.

I am writing this on the plane because sleep seems to be hopeless at this point-- as only my mom can attest to me driving her bonkers in years past on international flight with insomnia/hyperactive problems. Good news mom: it's not you that has to deal with me this time (VICTORY, you cry). i am comfortably wedged between a rather large Indian man and the Polish girl. God Bless them. They have no idea what's in store for them for the next 8 hours of the flight. Sweet Polish girl's seizure will be a mere hiccup comparative to her 9 hours in two foot confines with Kelly Sugrue!
That's all for now...
Love you all
Kelly

Day 1-- the journey