Catching Up...

So our internet has been down for the past week or so, and a lot has happened in that time! Last Monday was Woman's Day, a public holiday remembering a march led by women during the apartheid, so we didn't have classes or service. With our free day my housemates and I took the train to a coastal town called Kalk Bay where we walked around the quaint town, had delicious fish and chips and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. Even though it was a little chilly it was so nice to be back near the water!

The South African Public Sector held a strike for increased wages this past week so the teachers at Manenberg did not go to school at all on Tuesday or Wednesday so I wasn't able to go to service those days either. One of my friends Noah is working to develop a library at high school in the township of Khayelitsha so with my free time I've been going with him to various meetings to try and figure out where to start. Right now a full time English teacher has taken over the immense task of getting enough books, a computer, the correct software, a scanner, furniture, etc...so much work for one person to do, especially on top of teaching in a township! Noah's help will be a blessing to this school so I hope to continue to help him with this project as well!

On Friday we took a ferry to Robben Island which houses the former prison that was used during apartheid to hold political prisoners. Most notably Nelson Mandela was imprisoned there for almost twenty years. It was crazy to see how small the cells were and to know that so much history could still be created out of such a small space.

Yesterday was a gorgeous day, sunny and in the upper sixties, so a group of my housemates and I decided to hike up to Devil's Peak. It was an at times painful three hour hike to the top and three more tough hours down. Although it was an extremely challenging day both physically and mentally, the view from the top was absolutely unbelievable and made it all worth it for sure! When we reached the top we were extremely surprised to see a couch on the peak, who in their right mind would carry that up?! But we were thankful to have a place to sit!