Surrender.: Rich With Love.

My heart is so rich with love, joy, and life. The guilt sets in at the end of each day. I feel so undeserving of these experiences, but am yet so grateful to all of the family, friends, professors, neighbors, and mentors who enabled me to go on this adventure. Thank you for believing that I was worth taking the time and money to invest in.

The last three days have been a whirlwind. Chantel, the founder and director of Volunteer Mzansi (http://www.volunteermzansiafrika.com/), has led us on an orientation of Ocean View (where we're staying with our host families) and the surrounding areas. For this post, I'm just going to give a quick overview of what we've done and what I've learned so far. Once I am able to process everything further, I'll be able to give more insight on what I'm actually witnessing on a daily basis. At the bottom I've posted some pictures from our adventures! Also, sorry for any spelling mistakes. I'm doing this pretty quickly at an internet cafe in Fish Hoek.

What we've done:

· Traveled to Cape Town by train on Thursday to gain a better understanding of South Africa's history. We visited three museums: Cape of Good Hope, The Slavery Museum, and The District Six Museum. At these places we learned about how the Dutch colonized this country, then brought slaves by boat from East Africa, and then how the apartheid era began with the white minority rule of the black majority.

· Visited the Atlantic Ocean in Fish Hoek (a nearby town to Ocean View) and saw dolphins swimming out about a mile from shore. Chantel said that we were pretty lucky to have that happen!

· Ate an authentic South Africa meal at Chantel friend's house, Bernie. We had a dish similar to lasanga, salad, potatoes, broccoli and cheese, and pudding with sponge cake for dessert. We also heard Bernie's story of how she came to where she is today and the prevalence of abusive husbands in Ocean View.

· Visited the township of Maziphumalele (Ma-zee-pu-ma-lay-lay). The people of this community were displaced from their original homes during the apartheid era and moved to this impoverished area. I have never seen poverty to this degree and am still struggling to put into words what I saw.

· Lunch at Chantel's house and our first session together as a team. We wrote down personal expectations for ourselves and made a sad, but energetic attempt at singing "The Man in the Mirror" accapella as a team. Don't worry...we have it on video.

· Figured out how to learn the taxi system here. Note to self: never ride in the front seat if you don't know how to make change in rands...because the other passengers will hand you their money and expect you to give the correct amount of change.

· Visited the volunteer sites where we will be serving. I’ll be starting as a teacher’s assistant in a sixth and seventh grade classroom at Marine Primary School on Monday.

· Went to the mall in Sun Valley. Suprisingly, it was extremely modernized and I felt like I could have been back at Oak Park Mall in Overland Park, KS.

· Attended a fundraising dinner at my host family's home. My host mother (Auntie Alice) runs a daycare out of her home of 80 children. Yes, 80 children. We wake up to their wonderful little voices every morning. I don't think Kaitlyn and I will ever need to set an alarm again. Anyway, Auntie is trying to raise money to finish putting plaster on the brick walls, putting tiles on the floor, and replacing the tin roof of the daycare. Once she does, she can obtain government funding to provide better supplies and resources for the teachers and children.

· Taken a bath for the first time since second grade. Because of the water shortage here, most households have bathtubs instead of showers.

· Visited the South-Western most point of the continent of Africa. This is also where the Atlantic and Indian Ocean meet. Additionally, we got to see the penguins on the beach. See below for pictures!

What I've learned:

· Never pet the dogs here. Dogs are the cheapest form of a security system here, so they are pretty feisty. There are also plenty of pit bulls that freely roam the streets in Ocean View.

· Always assume that the forecast is predicting rain. You'll be right 99% of the time.

· These people don't need us. They can certainly utilize us, but we're not needed. These communities are full of strength, hope, and resilience. They have faith that can move mountains.

· What a 'need' really is. We've seen people living in shacks, and we immediately think they need money, a car, a better house. How are they surviving? But they are. What they really need is sex education, a home for abused women, etc... There are people dying every week from HIV and Aids.

This is the place where Nelson Mandela gave his first speech to the people of South Africa after he was released from prison.

Cape of Good Hope. This is the fort that the British built when they invaded the area of Cape Town.

This is The District Six Museum. District Six is an area where Afrikan and colored people were forced from during the apartheid area. White people moved there, but people are now allowed to reclaim the land their families once owned.

This famous bakery has its own television show in South Africa. Some famous visitors have been Oprah and the Obamas. I split a piece of chocolate cake with two of my teammates. The chocolate here isn't as sweet, which was a nice suprise.

Jumping for joy during our first trip to the Atlantic Ocean - off the shore of Fish Hoek.

Great quote by Mandela on the side of the library in the township of Mazipumalele.

A typical row of houses in the township of Mazipumalele.

All clothes are line dried here...which proves difficult with all the rain the get during the winter.

This is the view from where we hiked to see the place where the Atlantic and Indian Ocean meet. Like most pictures from this trip, this does not due the view justice.