"Cape Town: Giving in All Sorts of Ways" By: Julie Tafel

Today I had one of my best days in Cape Town so far. After having a very interesting night in the slums, we came back to the Lagoon Beach apartments tired and ready for bed. Garrett provided us with an enlightening lecture on the power of giving that helped us reflect on our night and realize a lot of things I hadn’t. The families in the community are the most giving people I have ever met. They live off a dollar a day, but find a way to give much more than that. They not only take care of their children, grandchildren, cousins, nieces, etc. But also any other member of the community that needs help. I think that if everyone in America was like this, then we would barely have any poverty at all. One of the little girls named Kay helped her little brother who was sick with stomach flu. She fed him medicine and rubbed his back to try and make him feel better. I feel as if kids that age in America don’t understand how to give so much, but these kids think that this is the way to live. This quality follows them throughout life and is shown in the parents through their generosity to the whole community. Women work hard every day to provide meals to everyone they can, even us. I felt spoiled while I was there with them. It was an experience that I will never forget.

After we finished the lecture, I was able to go on a tour of Cape Town. The rain finally cleared up and we could see every ridge, hump, and other aspects of Table mountain. It was BEAUTIFUL. We also traveled down to the waterfront which was a Charleston looking area with many shops and music playing all around. I look forward to going there on late afternoons and nights with friends. After Charleston, we went up Signal Hill, which is right next to Table mountain and got to see an incredible view of the whole town, the stadium, Table mountain, and lion’s head. We ended the trip in Camps Bay where we could see the back of Table mountain, referred to as the 12 apostles because there are 12 humps that stick out, and the beautiful beach was in front of us with surfers trying to catch a wave. Cape Town is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been and the most unique with all of its diversity.
Life in 3 words: Admiring, spirit-lifting, beautiful.

"In My Hands" by Alexandra Koehn

Mark that off your list. 22 hours 52 minutes and twenty seconds traveled via three different planes. A man lighting a fire on the side of the road. Table Mountain dressed in a white tablecloth of fog. A huge donut-shaped stadium with a rainbow gracing the sky.

In flight. After a long day of flying, anything sounded better than sitting in a cooped up plane any longer. On the eight hour plane flight from Detroit to Amsterdam, I met a man who was born in England and had lived in Detroit, Germany, and several places around the world. He told me how he heard Cape Town was one of the most beautiful places in the world, yet I cease to remember his name. As the English-man opened up and began to converse with me, he told me that his first wife and I had the same birthday. I found this sort of odd, and wondered how many wives he’d had in the past…but I didn’t ask. English-man also managed to laugh at me for being excited about my first airplane meal. I guess karma got him back when he missed his next connection in Amsterdam while the crew and I sprinted to the opposite end of the airport to catch ours. On the eleven hour and thirty minute flight to Cape Town, I managed to read a hundred pages of The Last Song and of course enjoy a few good movies including James Cameron’s Avatar. “Crack, crack, boom.” Although the plane made quite a unique landing sound, we made it.

Landed. I lugged my bag into my apartment, showered, hopped into bed, set my alarm for 8:30am local time, and woke up in time for breakfast. After a speedy orientation, one hundred and four of us hopped into tour buses and headed to the waterfront. On the way I noticed a man on the side of the highway who was burning some small papers and trying to cook maybe his first and last meal of the day. In that second, my mind wandered away as I thought about how blessed I am. It was unfathomable to me how the underprivileged people of this city dealt with their poverty stricken life.

The service week starts tomorrow and I can't wait to participate in the hands on service. As we continued to tour several different parts of Cape Town, I was especially disappointed that the rain and fog was covering the mountains. I hate rain. I wanted to see Lion’s Head and Table Mountain at their fullest. As we drove up Signal Hill to see a view of the Atlantic Ocean, the rain continued but I was too stubborn to stay in the bus. I got out (with my camera too) and began to take pictures. The second I walked to the side of the road to get a picture of the world cup stadium, the sun came out. In this moment I saw a rainbow. What a beautiful way to begin the trip.