Watch Out! That Lion Bites!

Week one has come to a close and it’s amazing how fast it flew by. A week ago we were still jet lagged and completely unfamiliar with our 5-week home. Today, I can say that I know what the Waterfront is, how hard it is to hike Table Mountain, and what type of water to ask for at a restaurant (always tap). Everyday has held a challenge and an adventure, whether it be sitting at the dinner table for 30 minutes trying to figure out how much we need to pay or watching the sun set from the top of Lions Head. Although I still feel like a tourist, I hope that by week 5 I’m giving a visitor directions. To be honest, I’m having a hard time figuring out what to write about right now. I’ve seen and experienced so much. Where do I begin? I think I’ll tell you about Lions Head peak, since there were only a few of us who decided to hike it one afternoon.

Lions Head is a peak that is to the right side of Table Mountain (if you’re looking at Table Mountain). The locals call it Lions Head because, guess what, it looks like a lion’s head and the hills off of it look like the lion’s body (although, they don’t call this Lions Body) and the lion should look like it’s laying down. The afternoon that we climbed it, 7 of us girls met up in the lobby, backpacks on and cameras charged, and we took a taxi to the foot of the peak. Before we even started the hike, we were snapping pictures. We were high enough up to overlook some of the city and it was beautiful. We started up a rocky, dirt road and 7 minutes into the hike we were breathing hard. Between the heavy breathing we would stop, take pictures, and rave about the spectacular view. We couldn’t have picked a prettier day to hike. The sky was bright blue and there were only a few clouds. The path got narrower and rockier as we got higher. I thought the path was set up perfectly. It swirled around so that you could see every degree view of Cape Town. We passed a few men who were setting up their paraglide shoots so that they could fly off the mountain. One of my favorite parts was passing the people hiking down (or being passed by people on the way up) and saying hello and listening to the different accents of the people who replied.

As we reached the shaded side of the mountain, the hike turned into a climb. There were ladders and rungs actually attached to the sides of rocks so that you could help yourself up. One slip and you could be heading for a hard landing. It was challenging and adventurous to figure out where to step next, as if it were a puzzle for my feet. When we got to one of the steeper parts, I pointed to a larger man standing next to me and I said, “I’m going in front of you, that way, if I fall, you’re going to catch me”. He laughed and stepped aside. Once we got closer to the top, I think I asked every person coming down how much longer we had to go. I was so happy when one person replied, “just a few more steps”. We reached the top and it was breath taking (literally). I couldn’t believe what I was looking at. I had a 360 degree view of Cape Town and not just Cape Town, but Cape Town at sunset. I was looking at the sea and the mountains all in one view. We had numerous Kodak moments and then we decided to head down so that we wouldn’t be hiking in the dark. This was another one of my favorite parts. On our way down, the sky was every shade of red, yellow, purple, and pink and the sun was setting behind the ocean. It was beautiful. Surprisingly, we still passed many people heading up to the top. I thought that was strange, since they would be missing the sunset and hiking in the dark, but then a local told me that many people hike up when there is going to be a full moon that night because it lights up the path to climb down. Hopefully I’ll get another opportunity to see the Lions Head view at night. When our group reached the bottom of the mountain, the sun had just set. Our faithful taxi drivers were waiting for us and took us back to our humble Cape Town abode. Our legs were telling us to call it a night. I’ve never slept so well.

-Madelyn Rowlett

Just Another Fantastic Day in Cape Town

This morning was our community group’s WOW morning- Now, I’m not exactly sure what that means, but I’m guessing it’s just a reason to get people up in front of the group and professors and speakers and have us make fools of ourselves. Or maybe just to pump everyone up? Have a good morning laugh to start the day out right? Get us out of our comfort zones? I dunno. Doesn’t matter, really- it was fun! We made up a Global L.E.A.D. song to Smash Mouth’s “All Star.”

Today we had the honor of having Vince and Barbara Dooley visit with us and speak in class. They were absolutely fantastic speakers – charming, engaging, witty, genuine, and just all around enjoyable to listen to. Mr. Vince Dooley started us out talking about some of the things he’s learned about leadership through the years as UGA’s football coach among other things. His main points included the acronym P.R.I.D.E. and he was sure to specify not the kind of pride that crosses the line into arrogance.

P is for preparation. As one team member put it- “proper preparation prevents poor performance,” the 5 P’s. R is for risk. His example of risk was UGA hiring him at age 31 to come be the athletic director. He said he and Barbara realized years later that they were the only two people who thought that was a “good hire.” I is for integrity. It is the most important thing to have and it just takes one small move to ruin it and you may never be able to get it back. D is for drive and determination. Mr. Dooley taught us that drive and determination are more important than talent. He noted that amongst some of the most successful people in the arts, sciences, sports, etc., usually were not the most talented in their family. It was their drive that set them apart and allowed them to be great. E is for everybody. This is where working together and truly being a team comes into play. It really was such an inspiring lecture (if you want to call it that). Mr. Dooley colored his speaking with splashes of funny stories about football, life in general, and his wife- his inspiration he says. How sweet is that?

Moving on to Mrs. Barbara Dooley, she seemed to be such a witty, wise, positive, strong, and well-grounded sweetheart of a lady. I only hope that I can have her great attitude and outlook on life. She spoke mainly about overcoming obstacles- both the kind you can control and the kind you can’t do anything about. And her philosophy is that it all depends on one thing- your attitude. Attitude is really the only thing we can control. For example, she had breast cancer and remained positive throughout the chemo and radiation. She said once she saw the look of terror on her kids’ faces, she knew she would have to be strong and positive through the whole process.

A couple pieces of her advice include: everything you do has a ripple effect on your family, hit any obstacles you meet head-on, and never stop working on relationships.

For the rest of the day we’re free to do whatever. As for my roomies and I, we will be resting, grocery shopping, doing yoga, and going to dinner at Mama Africa. Just another fantastic day in Cape Town!

-- Laurie Jackson

A Day in the Life

Welcome to Saturday in Cape Town everybody. It's a little gray today, but still nice and made for a beautiful afternoon of market hopping. This morning, a large group of us went over to the Old Mill Market in the center of Cape Town to experience the local food and shopping in this gorgeous square. The market only sets up on Saturdays from 11-2 and the locals flock there for groceries, lunch, clothes, art, etc. It was like a smaller crafts fair combined with an outdoor mall combined with a fresh food market the likes of which I have never seen before. We honestly walked around all the food stalls for at least 30 minutes before settling on what exactly we wanted to get for lunch. I went to the vegetarian stall and got an amazing wrap with hummus and all different types of vegetables and a coos coos spread. Sounds strange, but it made my day. I bought a large loaf of ciabatta bread for the week because I could not resist its smell and I can assure you, it's the kind of bread one must mention on a blog. Good thing I'm hiking mountains all the time or I would come home from the trip weighing an extra 100 pounds!
Next, we did some shopping around the market and I found my South African gift to myself -- the most beautiful hand crafted canvas and leather backpack I have ever seen. The guy who makes them does them in his small shop here in Cape Town with only local materials and takes them around to various markets like this each week. I really wanted a unique South African bag and while this one doesn't necessarily look like how one might picture a bag from Cape Town, it is definitely one of a kind. It will be glued to my body for the next 4 weeks. Everyone seemed to find little treasures today!
Around 1:30 we all piled into another set of taxis to go to the Green Market. Now this market had a lot of cool stuff. It's another square in the city filled with tents with everything from jewelry to soccer jerseys to used books to scarves. It's not a fixed price market and everyone had fun stretching their bartering muscles today. I'm not sure how good some of us were at it, but most everyone felt like they got a good deal so kudos to the American tourist. I chose to just look today as I know I will be back there at least once more before the end of this trip.
I am now back at my apartment and sitting on my back porch with a big blanket, enjoying the sound of the ocean. Maybe a walk later? Cooking in with some of the other students? Probably going to keep things low key tonight which is just fine with me.
Here are some pictures from the Old Mill Market this morning -- pretty crazy place, huh? And the lady who made my lunch said this was a slow day!!
https://picasaweb.google.com/gcgwood/OldMillMarket#

And look at that, the sun just came out! I think I may go take that walk now actually…

- Grace Greenwood

Integrity

On Friday, we started off the day talking about the importance of our core values. We began by talking about what our generation values: success, efficiency, education, social media, health, etc. We then were given 5 slips of paper and told to write down our top 5 values that we hold closest to our hearts. Integrity, joy/happiness, loyalty, respect, and relationships. Easy enough. Our TAs then walked around with trash bags. We had to throw away

3 of our slips of paper. This was no easy decision, but into the trash went my loyalty, respect and relationships and I was left with just integrity and joy. Awesome. Then we had to throw away another slip so we were left with our highest core value. None of us liked having to deliberately throw away something that just a mere two minutes before we were holding up to our hearts. I threw away my joy because I decided that if I have integrity in every aspect of my life, all of my other values will come into place. The point of the lesson is that it is hard to throw away our values when someone directly tells us to do it, but everyday we easily make decisions that contradict our values. How we spend our time and money should align with what our values are. Our values are our anchors, and without them we will drift.

We then embarked on the most challenging adventure I have ever faced. Table Mountain. On Wednesday we climbed Lion’s Head and that was hard, but it was nothing compared to Table Mountain. We started off all together, but it wasn’t very long until people started to fall behind. Friday was really hot and the sun was beating down on us the whole first half. We had to stop a lot because it was really hard to breathe at that high of an altitude. I was pretty much at the end of the first half of the group the whole time. It took us right around 2 hours to get to the top. It was like doing a very intense session on the stair master, except I’m pretty sure the stair master doesn’t have a “Table Mountain Setting.” It was literally the hardest thing I have ever done. I ran out of water about ¾ of the way up. I’m not sure what was worse: how sore my legs were, my inability to breathe, or how thirsty I was. When we finally got to the top it was breath taking (not that I had much breath to be taken.) You could see Cape Town from all angles. There was a restaurant on top and I had the best tasting PowerAde I have ever had. It changed my life (maybe an exaggeration). We then took a cable car down the mountain (some brave souls chose to hike back down but I was not having that). The ground spun around so you could see it from all angles which was pretty neat.

I can’t believe that a week has already flown by, and I hope everything is going well back in the States!

-Devon Pagoaga

The Many Faces of Cape Town

A week in, and already I have decided that Cape Town is the most incredible place I have ever been. I feel like my entire center of gravity has been shaken, as I can’t quite piece together all of the fascinating, unique and profound parts of the city as one synchronized body. Cape Town is a sort of city of multiple personalities, which offers so many different attractions. By taking a step out onto the balcony of my apartment I can look across to see the picturesque Table Bay and mountain scene shaped in the background. However, hopping in a cab and taking the ten-minute ride in the City Center, I am surrounded by the huge industrial harbor, and the massive ships that serve as the major import and export centers of South Africa. Upon arriving in the city, one is able to walk into the scenic “V and A Waterfront”, a shopping center that displays one side of Cape Town’s commercial offerings. At night, the city comes alive with a vibrant energy, incredible food and incredible music. Its no wonder I am exhausted by 10:00pm every night- there is so much we can do all in one day!

However, despite its beauty and energy, Cape Town is also home to a type of abject poverty that stands completely in contrast to the fun and upbeat tourist attractions it is famous for. This darker side to the city was something that we were able to experience first hand this week during our tour of the Townships provided by the Amy Biehl Foundation. Knowing a little bit of the background history and information about the townships, I knew that entering them would probably be a very emotional and profound experience. I expected to be overwhelmed by a sense of hopelessness and depression at the physical manifestations of the lasting affects of Apartheid. However, my experience could not have been more gratifying and positively moving; I left the township feeling more grateful and uplifted than I have been in quite some time.

The immediate reaction to the shantytowns that line the major highways headed to the airport is obviously horror, and even fear. At first, I was horrified by the living conditions, the children walking around with no shoes on and with no parents or adults in sight. However, all this was washed away when the first group of children we saw were looking up at the tour bus, grinning from ear to ear and waving to us. This trend of openness and warm-welcome only continued, as almost every person that we passed made us feel welcome and appreciated in some little way. When we arrived at the after school programs that the Amy Biehl Foundation has created for children in the Township, we were able to watch groups of children from seven different school perform different dances for our group. All of the children were so happy and warm, and not to mention talented! I have never been in an area or neighborhood that is subject to such adversity and destitution, but you would never know it from the people we encountered. They were full of a sort of hope and goodwill that I have never seen before, and that is very rare in the world today.

I left the township of Guguletu feeling so thankful for the many things I have be fortunate enough to have in my life. I felt inspired by the optimism I encountered, and I feel truly blessed to have the opportunity to go into the townships again, and help try and provide some small help to people who are truly in need, but who are also so appreciative of just having someone to hear their story, and share their life with. Only a week into my time in South Africa, and I already feel like the culture, the experiences, and mainly the people, have affected the way I will live my life in the future!

-- Chesleigh Fowler

An Enchanting Forest

Yesterday a group of us went to the Kirstenbosch Gardens. I didn’t really know what it was before going, but I had heard past students say, “It’s like going to Jurassic Park.” With an open mind I entered the gardens and was immediately immersed in its beauty. It is one of the world’s oldest and largest botanical garden covering over hundreds of acres. My roommates and I started exploring and we were constantly faced with the question of which way to go due to the numerous paths. We decided we would just walk and see where we ended up. After watching cute little kids run around and chase a guinea fowl, we eventually ended up in an area called the enchanted forest. Huge trees with curvy intertwined branches surrounded us. It was almost like we were walking through a forest in a fairytale. We also walked through an area called the Cycads that had foliage growing that existed before dinosaurs. Seeing the beauty of the gardens just reiterated what an amazing and diverse place Cape Town is. Never would I have expected to do so many unique activities in just one week of being here. I look forward to my next adventures and hope they are just as enchanting and amazing as this one.

-Carey Duda

A Day In The Market

Today was one of our first days that we were able to explore and get acquainted with our home for the next month. Our room has made a list of things that we can’t miss during our time in Cape Town that ranges from sky diving to a picnic in the park. One of the things we had all put down as a must-do activity was visiting Old Biscuit Mill on a Saturday morning. Old Biscuit Mill is a market set up every Saturday morning that is filled with international vendors selling foods, spices, and teas from their homelands. French pastries and cheeses, Italian pestos, Indian gyros, and fresh produce lined the walls while people streamed through the aisles, looking for something new to sample.

From Old Biscuit Mill many of us went to Green Market where vendors were selling jewelry, wood carvings, bags, scarves, and other crafts from around Africa. It was such an experience getting to barter with the merchants and seeing their work. It was a great way to get to talk to some locals and experience a part of their daily.

It was a great opportunity to get to know Cape Town better and buy some things that will remind of us our time in South Africa after we return home.

--Amy-Morgan Mycoff

PRIDE

Today we had the honor of having Vince and Barbara Dooley as guest speakers here in Cape Town. To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect from their speeches. I was just assuming Coach Dooley would only talk about football and reminisce on the golden years at UGA (Go Dawgs!). I was pleasantly surprised to find that he did quite the opposite; he opened my eyes and inspired me this morning.

Coach Dooley first talked about Cape Town and how he and Barbara were honored to be here again. He also mentioned some cool facts about South Africa, such as that it is the smallest floral kingdom in the world, and that was really neat. It was exciting to see how he and his wife were excited to be here and how much they loved South Africa. After telling us numerous jokes and amazing victory stories, Coach Dooley told us about PRIDE. He said in order to be a good leader, or even just a good person, you need to have PRIDE in what you do.

The P in pride, as Coach Dooley was telling us, represents preparation. He said, “you have to teach yourself to be lucky,” which means preparation is a must in order to do something well. You never know when you are going to be cast in a leadership role and the best way to succeed in life is preparing for it. You must do everything to your best ability, is what Coach as teaching us. He also told us about the 5 P’s: proper preparation prevails poor performance.

The R in pride represents risk. You gotta take risks in life sometimes. Coach told us the inspiring story about his friend Billy who wanted to try and bring the 1996 Olympics to Atlanta. And as we all know, his friend succeeded but it wasn’t without him taking a big risk.

I represents integrity. Integrity is the foundation of everything you do. Coach called it the golden rule. He said, “treat people how you want to be treated” and he is absolutely right. You cant get anywhere in life walking all over people or hating others. I like to think of integrity in relation to ubuntu, which means we are human because of other people. We would be no where if it wasn’t for others and we, as humans, deserve to treat others the way they deserve to be treated.

The D in pride represents drive and determination. More important then talent, these two d’s will get you further in life then anything. People who are talented express and share their drive and determination instead of gloating about their talents. Its drive that gets you far in life and its determination that helps you accomplish your goals. Looking back to this past Friday, its drive and determination that got me up Table Mountain. I couldn’t have done it unless I put my mind and body to it. It was the hardest experience I have put myself through physically, but I overcame that challenge with my drive and my determination.

And finally the E in pride represents everybody. Coach was reminding us that it takes a team in order to win. Winning is never an individual effort and you have to remember that. “It’s the ability to work together that separates the good from the great,” Coach said during his speech. I think he reminded us to set aside our differences and remember that at the end of the day we can only accomplish what we are here to accomplish if we truly respect and believe in one another.

After Coach taught us about PRIDE I felt inspired. I felt as though he had passed on a set of tools for us to use in life to succeed. As I look at each letter and diagnose its meaning and value to life I think to myself why haven’t I thought of this sooner? I truly believe in this acronym and that it can and will take you far in life as long as you stay true to it. I am so thankful that Coach Dooley took the time and taught us something so useful in life. He is such a good hearted soul, him and his wife, and it is truly an honor to have them here with us in Cape Town.

-- Brooke Weintraub

Kirstenbosch Gardens

Sundays are usually regarded as lazy days, spent relaxing, doing laundry, and catching up on reading. Our first Sunday in Cape Town was no exception, but rather than relaxing in bed, we took a walk through Kirstenbosch – the national botanical gardens. The 1,304 acre park sits at the base of Table Mountain, about 15 minutes from the apartments in Milnerton. The gardens are world-renowned for their diversity and beauty. The tangled trees and giant tropical flowers and palm frond are vaguely reminiscent of Jurassic Park, and all throughout our walk we were wary of baboons lurking in the trees.

We explored various “specialty gardens,” such as the fragrance garden, where visitors are encouraged to pick leaves and examine their texture and scent. The historic Colonel Bird’s Bath is a natural spring that was adapted to purify water before channeling it toward the house in the early 1800’s. Other sites included the medicinal plants, useful plants, weed garden, and stone sculptures.

We ended our day with lunch at the botanical garden’s café, where the food (cranberry and brie baguettes), the view (

Table Mountain as a backdrop to the gardens), and the company (Coach and Mrs. Dooley) were all delightful. As far as lazy Sundays go, our first in Cape Town was incredibly enjoyable and enriching.

- Skyler Serenbetz

War Eagle From Cape Town!

Well I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to post this blog, since the world was supposed to end yesterday, but I’m so glad I’m here writing it and you’re here reading it.

This week has be a whirlwind. An amazing, beautiful, fantastic whirlwind. I am still in awe of the growth that has occurred in just this week alone.

Today, me and a group of girls went to the early service at Hillsong Church. Attending an actual service at Hillsong has been in the top 5 on my bucket list for a few years now and walking in those doors gave me goose bumps. It is such a great community and it was all just so welcoming.

If any of you all are looking for some good worship music, please go download some Hillsong. I listen to it all the time. When I’m studying, sleeping, working out, or just on long road trips. It’s all so amazing and the instrumentals are phenomenal.

The service itself was all about how us as a society spend so much time worrying and being pressured by worldly things when all we need is to hold on to God for strength.

It really touched base with me because this week we went into the townships one of the classes and the kids were singing “Our Father, Who Art in Heaven”, and I asked one of the teachers if Christ was a big part of their curriculum and she just looked at me and said “Of course He is, how could we not sing to the one who saved us all day, every day?” That completely rocked my world. These people literally have nothing and the fact that they are so grateful for everything and still praising Christ in the midst of all this pain and poverty. It really convicted me and shed some light into how I live my life back in the states.

On a lighter note on the complete opposite end of the spectrum and I kind of feel bad even mentioning it, but here I go. The girls and I went to Century City Mall after the service to just waste some time, and let me tell you, this mall was literally out of this world. This mall is the biggest mall in the southern hemisphere. Literally monstrous. Any store you want, name it, it’s there. The food court was hands down one of the coolest things I’ve seen.

Anyways, enough rambling for me, if you could follow what I was talking about, props to you, if not, you’re still a rock star. I am so excited for what’s to come and so excited to be a part of this journey with everyone. Together, I feel like we can all make something big happen.

Keep praying for us and keep checking back for updates!

Peace and blessins.

Meg Gheesling

My Week At A Glance

Got on a plane knowing no one (a little scary) and headed for South Africa…leaving all my best friends behind!

Arrived in Cape Town (already feeling like I was in the process of making new friends)

1^st full day (Monday):

Ate breakfast at our hotel (sandwiches anyone??? Strange for breakfast)!

Had a lesson.

Wrote down 10 things we wanted to do/accomplish before we left Cape Town

Went on a city tour (took a stop at Waterfront for a quick lunch)

Ate dinner at Moyo (an amazing African culture restaurant)

Went to a bar with everyone! (Awesome keyboard guy)

Day 2 (Tuesday):

Ate breakfast at the hotel

Had a guest speaker on Apartheid

Had the afternoon off (I got some much needed sleep)Ate at Quay Four

Day 3 (Wednesday):

Lesson on strengths

Scavenger hunt (great pictures…but unfortunately we didn’t use my camera)

Sunset/Champaign Cruise

Ate at Quay Four (again!!)

Day 4 (Thursday):

Guest speaker (Kevin Chaplin) spoke about the story of Amy Beihl, The Amy Beihl

Foundation, and leadership/service

Drove by and through some of the townships

Went to an afterschool program and watched the children as they put on a dance show for

us (they were all so cute…can’t wait till service week!!)

Day 5 (Friday):

Ate breakfast at the hotel

Had a short lesson on values

Hiked Table Mountain (it was intense)

Ate lunch and the top of Table Mountain

Ate dinner at a Mexican restaurant (yummy!)

Went to long street and hung out with everyone at the bars (even met some cool locals)

Day 6 (Saturday)

Went to Old Biscuit Mill (a place where people set up a bunch of food

venues…AMAZING food)

Went to the Green Market (got some presents for the fam/friends)

Walked from the Green Market to the Waterfront (we didn’t even get lost!!)

Ate in for the night (bread and pesto from Old Biscuit Mill)

Everyone hung out in some of they guys room and went to the hotel bar

Day 7 (Sunday)

Went to Hillsong Church (such an amazing experience)

-the sermon was on pressure and your soul

Ate lunch in my room

And now I am writing this blog

We also have a group dinner tonight!

I think we are going salsa dancing tonight!

-Anna White

Week 1 Recap: City Tour, Strengths, Values, Table Mountain & More!!

This past week, the Global LEAD Team welcomed 101 students from universities to the beautiful city of Cape Town! For the staff, this is our favorite time of the year—the opportunity to impact students’ lives by challenging them to pause, understand their potential as a leader, connect with another culture, serve, and strive to be great stewards of their gifts, time, and passions.

The week began with a city tour, which took students to the V&A Waterfront, Sea Point, Camps Bay, up Signal Hill, through downtown, and past the Parliament building. Students saw how truly eclectic the city is during the tour, and began planning all of the places they wanted to visit during their five weeks here!

That evening we went to Moyo for a welcome dinner and to taste a traditional African cuisine! During dinner, we had our faces painted and were serenaded by African drummers.
Tuesday, we were fortunate to have a historian from the University of the Western Cape join us to discuss the history of Apartheid and the forced removals that occurred. Her wealth of knowledge and passion for this topic provided an incredible introduction of the struggles that South Africans have experienced.

While abroad, we want every student to gain a strong understanding of South Africa. In addition, a key component of Global LEAD is to also leverage this time to understand yourself and your personal leadership style. Each student took the Strengths Finder assessment as a tool for them to discover their top five core strengths. This exercise was not only a great way to learn more about yourself, but also the other students who are on the program. We will be referencing the Strengths Finder throughout the program as we dive deeper into our leadership curriculum.

The week continued with an amazing lecture from Kevin Chaplin, the director of the Amy Biehl Foundation, which runs afterschool and empowerment programs in the townships around Cape Town. Kevin challenged each of us to live fully, embrace others, and always give of ourselves! We were able to get a glimpse of the incredible work his organization is doing during the afternoon tour of their programs. Despite the extreme poverty around us, we saw the rich and invigorating talent of the students in the Amy Biehl programs. As the children danced, sang, and played the drums for us there was an overwhelming sense of amazement of the impact this organization is making in their lives.

We ended the week with a discussion about core values. Before we can lead others, we must understand ourselves. Our values are those ideals that we choose to anchor us throughout our days and should drive and direct our decisions. Following the lecture, we reminded the students that one of Global LEAD’s core values is WOW and adventure, and so as a group (for those who wanted to), we would be hiking Table Mountain! Despite the option to ride the cable car to the top, all 110 students and staff made the long journey up Platteklip Gorge to the top of the mountain. The emotion at the top when everyone had completed the journey was amazing!

We are looking forward to another action packed week. As always, feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions!

Amy Biehl Bracelets!

Today we got to hear from the president of the Amy Biehl Foundation. Amy was here in Africa working to help them with the 1994 elections when she was brutally murdered by black activists in August of 1993. Her parents established the Amy Biehl Foundation in 1997 which currently has 5 centers around Cape Town that serve 1800 children each year via after school programs. The programs educate the children about from AIDS prevention and healthy eating to ballet and music. Unfortunately, their funding has been seriously reduced in the past 10 years so they rely on individual donations and profits from selling “Amy’s” wine and bread as well as the bracelets pictured. We all got the chance to buy the bracelets today for $4 so I’m sure a lot of you all will be getting them as gifts! Here is the website if you want to check out more of the work the foundation is doing. http://www.amybiehl.co.za/

Callie Williams

Hello America!

well I am sitting here eating my lunch after an exhausting scavenger hunt, which we obviously won. the past few days have been better than I ever expected. we have seen a tour of beautiful capetown, and spent a whole day exploring south africa. Nothing makes you feel that you have reached heaven when look down on camp's bay and just taking in the beautiful atlantic ocean. We saw where the world cup was played, which makes me wish I had come last year and gotten to see some of the games. We saw the town, which was huge and packed with people and buildings. Capetown is much more industrial than I thought it was going to be. Yesterday, we listened to a lecture on the apartheid and hearing first hand experiences were truly touching. Today we went on a scavenger hunt around the hotel and south africa. We experienced everything from the lighthouse, bacon POPS, a never ending search for nelson mendel, and a dead seal. It was so much fun to see the town from a different perspective. We learned our strength's this afternoon and i discovered my biggest strength is adaptability, meaning I live in the moment and don't focus too much on the future. I am truly so excited for everything to come, tonight I am hiking lion's head and later we are going to take a tour of robbin's island and I absolutely cant wait for adventure week. africa is honestly one of the most interesting places on earth, and the culture here is captivating. more to come, and I can't wait for all this trip will teach me. Below is a picture of carrie deal, anally googol, me, and ellen stark at the camp's bay. hakunnah matata!

xoxo,

Lauren Regan

Blazing a Trail in Cape Town

It’s hard to believe that tomorrow (Saturday), we will have been here a week. Coming from someone who is used to sleeping well past noon when I am back at home, it actually feels good to wake up at 7:30 every morning and get so much done in a single day. The last thing you want to do when you’re in a place like Cape Town South Africa is sleep the day away.

The great thing about the trip so far is that each day we’ve been here has been unique in it’s own way. To name what we’ve done on a few of the days, there was the city tour on day one, which was incredible in every way, an eye-opening and thought-provoking trip to the townships on Thursday, and our group hike up Table Mountain earlier today.

Since it’s the most fresh in my mind, I think I’ll take this opportunity to talk about the hike up Table Mountain. For starters, there is good chance I might not be able to walk by tomorrow morning. I won’t dwell on the fact that the mountain’s pretty steep grade took a toll on my knees as well every muscle in my legs, because all of that was overshadowed by the incredible beauty that we all witnessed on our hike up the trail. Every few minutes I found myself turning around to take in a view that was unlike any I had ever seen before. The combination of the mountain, the city below us, and the ocean stretching out on the horizon was a sight that is hard to put into words. It was a really neat experience for every single person in our group to accomplish something that was by no means an easy task.

If the views on the way up the trail weren’t enough, the view from the top of the mountain was nothing short of breathtaking, and that view was supplemented by the delicious grilled ostrich sandwich that I got at the restaurant at the top of Table Mountain.

After only one week in the program, it has been become very evident that our group here in Cape Town is really going to come together and unite through the experiences that we share. The first week has set such a high precedent for the remainder of the trip, but I have absolutely no doubt that each week from here on out will be better than the last.

To all of our family and friends back at home in the U.S., it really means so much to us to be able to share this experience with all of you. So on behalf of the rest of the students here, whether Springbok or Bafana Bafana, I say “Thank you.”

“You make a living by what you earn, but you make a life by what you give.”

-Sir Winston Churchill

--Ryan Bayersdorfer

The View from the Top

Yesterday, we were told we had a surprise activity planned for Friday, and we were instructed to show up well-hydrated and wearing workout clothes. Everyone assumed a hike was in store, but little did we know what we were about to get ourselves into...

The activity was hiking Table Mountain, a gorgeous and extremely large landmark in Cape Town. The hike is 2.1 steep kilometers up, and it took a little under 2 hours to complete. “Hiking,” however, doesn’t fully illustrate what we did; trekking up large boulders, sometimes on all fours, gives a better description. At times, I did not think my short legs would make it over the rock in front of me without my feet slipping off. Luckily I was wrong! Needless to say, the hike was tough and exhausting, but the view not only from the top but also throughout the entire hike was well worth it! When the sun was beating down on my face and I was struggling to catch my breath, I would pause for a second, move my stare up from my feet, and admire God’s miraculous creation surrounding me. I do not know where to begin to describe the view. Words and even pictures could never do it justice. As a group of us stood at the edge of the top of the mountain, it seemed like we were staring at the end of the world. It may have been a challenge for me today, but I am very thankful I had the opportunity to witness the beauty of Cape Town.

--Mary Caroline Hunt

Reaching the top

Today my morning began with a breakfast pizza. Although not what you would normally expect for breakfast, it was delicious all the same. Class was all about identifying our core values and discovering their importance. We learned that they are what keeps us grounded and how we stay sane in this crazy world that is constantly changing. We were challenged to write down 5 values that we consider important and then asked to hold them to our heart, and throw away three of them. Next, we had to throw away another one so we only had one value left! It was definitely hard to let go of things like friends, integrity, or honesty. However, it made us realize that we do this in everyday life and aren't really that concerned about it. If these are things we truly feel keep us grounded, it is important to live our lives by these values and make sure that they are never thrown under the bus. The highlight of the day was hiking Table Mountain with the entire group... all 101 of us!!! It was so much fun and we had the best view. It was definitely a challenge and we all felt so rewarded when we reached the top and looked down at the beautiful Atlantic Ocean and surrounding mountains. In comparison to Lion's Head, which I hiked a couple of days ago, it was a completely different experience. It was more of a steady incline than Lion's Head, which started off easy and at the very end was a vertical climb. Table Mountain is much higher and you are hiking at a pretty steep incline the entire time. I am definitely going to be sore tomorrow. I think we are all excited for the weekend and everything that we have to look forward to in the next 4 weeks. I cannot wait to get to know everyone better and continue on this incredible journey. I hope everyone at home is doing well!! Keep reading, I'm sure we will have many more exciting things to make you jealous about! I have included a picture of Tim and Romo at the top and a picture of Lion's Head from the top of the mountain.

Rosie

Crawling up the Lion’s Head

Today, while the majority of the group was on a sunset cruise, 6 others and I decided we would go on a hike. I was super excited about this leisurely stroll up this mountain called Lion’s Head. We planned to sit at the top and enjoy the incredible sunset of Cape Town. I have always enjoyed hiking and taking in the scenery around me. Lion’s Head really showed me who was boss. All the hiking that I thought I had done was a joke. Our nice hike turned into rock climbing or more like rock crawling for me. When I made it to the top I felt like I had achieved something great. Rock climbing is not that easy for 5-foot tall girls like my self and I really hope I can move in the morning.

Our hike, including the unexpected intensity was an incredible experience (good thing I like surprises). On the way we got to see many angles of the breathtaking landscape of Cape Town. We could see the entire city, ocean, and table mountain. I’m telling you… pictures just cannot do this place justice, people! You’ve got to come see if for yourself!

We met many new friends- all with different cultures and accents. Everyone was enjoying the sunny and warm weather of Cape Town whether they were running, walking, crawling, or paragliding around Lion’s Head. It was a challenging and memorable experience- thank you Lion’s Head.

Sophie Burge

UBUNTU

Ubuntu is a thought process defined by the phrase “I am a person because of other people.” This idea has been the focus of our day as we listened to the CEO of the Amy Biehl Foundation speak and then traveled to townships and saw the work of the foundation first hand. The story of Amy Biehl is the most powerful story of Ubuntu. Amy was an American who was living in Cape Town and helping the people prepared for their first multi-racial election in many years. Amy saw the injustice that was happening and did everything she could to fight the segregation. Sadly, Amy was killed in a riot by 4 men who stoned and stabbed her. She was killed by men who thought she was trying to keep them down, but in fact she was a person trying to help them.

Her killers were sentenced to 18 years in prison but when the government changed hands a new program was developed called the TRC, the Truth Reconciliation Commission. The TRC offered the killers an opportunity to admit their wrong and be released early because they understood the hurt they had caused. The Biehl family showed incredible strength and forgave the killers of their daughter, explaining that it was not the men that killed their daughter but the apartheid. Amy’s parents became extremely involved in the townships in South Africa and carried on Amy’s work. The Amy Biehl Foundation was created in order to provide the children of townships with education and empowerment programs. This Foundation is where the children in the townships receive proper education in all kinds of activities. They learn to dance, sing, play musical instruments, and sports. These activities help the children develop a focus and meaning in their lives. Now they have something to live for.

Today we had the opportunity to see the children dancing and playing instruments. The joy on their faces was overwhelming for me. Visiting the foundation program today has been my very favorite experience so far on this trip. Seeing the poverty in the townships and then the delight of the children in the program filled me with Ubuntu. Living for others it what it really is all about. Amy’s parents clearly live their lives with Ubuntu, by putting others before themselves. Not only did they forgive Amy’s killers but also they started a program to help young people have better lives. It seems that so much good has come from the terrible killing of Amy Biehl.

I was very moved by my experience today because of the incredible story of Amy and the work of the foundation. It seems to me that Ubuntu is really the essence of humanity. Taking care of others and the community around you is the most rewarding thing. Kevin outlined some ways for us to adopt the mindset of Ubuntu with the acrostic WATCH. W stands for our words, we should watch what we say to others and make sure that our words build others up instead of tearing them down. A stands for attitude, we should watch our attitude and make sure that we have a positive outlook on life and experiences. T stands for your thoughts, we must watch our mindsets and make sure we remember that each of us can make a difference in the world. C stands for company, we need to watch our company and make sure that we are surrounding ourselves with people who encourage us. Lastly, H stands for heart, we need to watch our hearts and cultivate them to be someone that wants to help others. After hearing Kevin’s words and experiencing the children in townships I am motivated to help these people. This purpose makes me even more excited for Service Week!

-- Catherine Ellis

Well Mom and Dad

Well mom and dad, you can breathe again. I am not starving over here. You

can all sleep tonight knowing we have found lots of delicious food. I can imagine my

mom was not the only one worried about what I would eat. I am quite a picky eater

and it’s hard to find things I like. But, South African food has been amazing so far.

After our first full day in Capetown we took a group wide trip over to dinner at

Moyo. I’m sure previous bloggers have mentioned Moyo, but it really was a great

experience. The food there was a bit different. The food was served family style.

They served flat bread as an appetizer, and also a salad.

This is when it got a little strange. As I filled my plate with salad I noticed it

has a strange meat-ish looking thing on it. It looked like beef jerky, and I honestly

still don’t know what it was. It didn’t taste like ole American beef jerky so I just

decided it could have been ostrich. The main course was lamb and chicken. I had

never eaten lamb, most of us probably had not. It tasted similar to pot-roast and was

actually really good. Madeline, who was sitting next to me, was not a big fan of it.

The chicken was pretty much like anything we could find back home.

On Tuesday, my roommates and I made it to the grocery store. I have an odd

addiction to coke zero so it was my first concern. They had everything we were

looking for. After we got groceries we stopped and ate at a restaurant on the

Waterfront. It was kind of like an Irish pub, I forgot to remember the name. Morgan

ordered a pizza and Alden had a hamburger- so American. We haven’t really tried

anything too much out of the comfort zone, but you should all know we are eating.

Wang Thai, a restaurant at our hotel, was the best. If you’ve ever had P.F.

Changs it was similar to that. Anna Beth, Megan, and I had a table but there were a

million LEAD kids at the same place. We ordered the honey chicken and it was great.

A lot of people got sushi, which apparently was also just as good. It was shocking to

find all the food we could find at home. I just felt it necessary to inform you all that

we were finding great food. So mom, don’t worry about mailing me that cereal.

- Gabe Bush