There is no hiding it. I am horrible at this whole blog thing. I have been here in South Africa for almost 2 months, with 5 weeks under my belt in Hawston, and I've barely updated my blog since my arrival in Hawston. It's not like I haven't been doing and experiencing things. Quite the opposite in fact. I have had many new experiences and adventures. Truth be told, the problem is my desire to present my time here to the best of my ability.
I have started writing at least 4 separate blog posts about various events I have attended. Each one ends up saved in my documents, with the intention to come back later to finish it. I never seems quite happy with my work. I am always wanting to add more to it, to express myself better, to find some greater truth in my experience and find the best way to represent it. I never end up finishing the post, because the next one begins to form. Eventually, I feel like the information is too out of date to post. which is a shame, because I really have had a wonderful time here, and some of my activities make such great stories. Instead, I will just try to give a quick list of my highlights with very little details, so as to keep this post short.
1) HOPE Africa, the program I am working for, purchased a bicycle for my use while here, since I have no other form of transportation. This has been invaluable both as a means of getting myself around as well as being a stress reliever and a great way to see the beautiful area I am in (I am currently working on a Facebook Page to share all of my pictures of my time here).
2) A few weekends ago, I cycled into Hermanus, which is roughly 14 km one way. For those of you using the imperial system, that is a little over 8.5 miles. I don't think I have even biked for such a distance before, and I was very proud of myself for doing it. accomplishing this means that, if the need is great enough, I can make it into the closest thing that has a substantial amount of activities to keep myself busy. Most people in the area do the majority of their shopping in Hermanus, and it has some wonder spots to observe the ocean, as well as plenty of activities and shops for me to visit (the draft of the blog I have for this one speaks at length of the metaphor of freedom and independence and blah blah blah).
3) Keri, the YASC member that was in the placement last, put me in touch with some of her old friends when she was here. They have been life savers. They immediately accepted me with open arms and I received multiple invitations to dinners and events from them. Malan and Ria (short for Maria) where the first ones to reach out to me. I spent my first Saturday in Hermanous enjoying a Braai at their house, where I got to meet their son and his family (wife and two children). We watched the South African Rugby team unfortunately lose to the All Blacks, knocking them out of the Rugby World cup. We also watched the championship game of the South African rugby League. We then enjoyed some wonderful braai along with some stimulating conversation. Overall, I could not have asked for a better first Saturday in Hawston (thought they live in Vermont, which is the town right next to hawston towards Hermanous. It is less than 3.5 km away from Hawston). Next, I was invited by Hanaja, Keri's best friend here, to a dinner at Stefan's, another one of their mutual friends, houses. There I was able to meet the entire friend group. It was an evening filled with delicious food and an opening and welcoming atmosphere. They then invited me to a film on the 30th of October (that Friday) in Cape town. It was an interesting collection of outdoor/extreme sport short films from a Film Festival. Most of them were very interesting and exciting.
There have been many more highlights, and I could go on and on, but I must stop. This blog is starting to fall to the same failures of previous ones, in that I am starting to go on and on. So instead I will just end it here, with a promise to do betting with updating my blog. Hopefully. I will get into a routine of a few short blogs ever week or so.
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