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