spring in cape town: after one week
dear family & friends,
greetings from south africa!
yup, it’s been a week already. on the morning i arrived, the locals informed me that it was indeed the first day of spring. spring, i’m reminded is about newness, life and growth. it is a call to come out of a “winter” of rest & rejuvenation, or in my case -- a full & fruitful summer spent in europe!!
the accommodation we confirmed felt through. so during the past 7 days, i have lived at a bed & breakfast place, a youth hostel, and now moved into a furnished apartment that my 2 classmates and i rented for the next three months. on the work front, i am still learning my role as the social work intern at the hospital. but so far, i have already visited children affected by TB, HIV & malnutrition, accompanied a mother of six to court who has witnessed domestic abuse, counselled a young father whose wife is said to be a binge drinker, and more.
on the tourist side of things, i have walked along the beautiful seaside, the world renowned v&a waterfront, the busy city centre... all the while trying not to pull out my map and be as street smart as i know how. i have also travelled in a van with my housemates’ organization, ikamva labantu (www.ikamva.org), visiting the poverty stricken townships where people live in shacks and perhaps 90% of the people are unemployed. in the foster homes that we visited, the children generally seemed happy, but twenty of them could be crammed into a space smaller than my bedroom.
cape town is a city of contrast & contradictions. the infamous minibuses that i decided to ride to work each day are called “taxis” by the locals, since most of them probably never would consider riding on the “real taxis” that my housemates and i used last night to get back from v&a waterfront, which only cost about $6 canadian, or a twoonie each. very cheap by our standards really. at the restaurant we ate at, my friend noticed that most people eating were white, while almost all the servers were black. and yea... there are quite a few italian, japanese & chinese restaurants around, but i have yet to find out what captownian food is all about.
well it is the weekend, so i should stop writing and go enjoy more of this beautiful city! table mountain here we come!
hope all’s well with you!
peace&love,
josh
greetings from south africa!
yup, it’s been a week already. on the morning i arrived, the locals informed me that it was indeed the first day of spring. spring, i’m reminded is about newness, life and growth. it is a call to come out of a “winter” of rest & rejuvenation, or in my case -- a full & fruitful summer spent in europe!!the accommodation we confirmed felt through. so during the past 7 days, i have lived at a bed & breakfast place, a youth hostel, and now moved into a furnished apartment that my 2 classmates and i rented for the next three months. on the work front, i am still learning my role as the social work intern at the hospital. but so far, i have already visited children affected by TB, HIV & malnutrition, accompanied a mother of six to court who has witnessed domestic abuse, counselled a young father whose wife is said to be a binge drinker, and more.
on the tourist side of things, i have walked along the beautiful seaside, the world renowned v&a waterfront, the busy city centre... all the while trying not to pull out my map and be as street smart as i know how. i have also travelled in a van with my housemates’ organization, ikamva labantu (www.ikamva.org), visiting the poverty stricken townships where people live in shacks and perhaps 90% of the people are unemployed. in the foster homes that we visited, the children generally seemed happy, but twenty of them could be crammed into a space smaller than my bedroom.
cape town is a city of contrast & contradictions. the infamous minibuses that i decided to ride to work each day are called “taxis” by the locals, since most of them probably never would consider riding on the “real taxis” that my housemates and i used last night to get back from v&a waterfront, which only cost about $6 canadian, or a twoonie each. very cheap by our standards really. at the restaurant we ate at, my friend noticed that most people eating were white, while almost all the servers were black. and yea... there are quite a few italian, japanese & chinese restaurants around, but i have yet to find out what captownian food is all about.
well it is the weekend, so i should stop writing and go enjoy more of this beautiful city! table mountain here we come!
hope all’s well with you!
peace&love,
josh
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