1 year in pictures

I wanted to officially end this blog with a 'year in pictures' type of thing but as I started making it I realised that the greatest thing that I could show from this year in South Africa was the person that I have become. So here it is in a somewhat chronological order, my face over the last year. See if you can notice any growth.

I have started a new blog for the continuation of my adventures which see me currently in Spain

If I Were A Spaniard

The End of The End

This morning I arrived in Madrid, officially closing my year of adventures in South Africa. I had the opportunity to say goodbye to all the wonderful Joburgian friends I had made on Sunday night and on Monday evening I flew out from O.R Tambo airport.

I wanted so badly to not express my emotions on this matter using any cliché terms but it really was bitter-sweet leaving SA. On one side I was so happy and excited to move on to the next adventure, I was overjoyed at the knowledge that a reunion with my family and friends in Australia was approaching and I was impatiently waiting for the moment where I would get to see my uncle, aunty and cousins in Spain again. On the other side I was saying goodbye to so many wonderful, amazing and inspiring people and that took so much out of me I can't even put it in words.

But here we are at the end of what has been an insanely, emotionally intense year, where I have learned more about myself than I had collectively in all the years before. I arrived in South Africa as Martha and I have left South Africa as Martha 2.0, the better version of myself.

I want to end this series of blog posts by thanking everyone who played a part in this experience and a great thanks to anyone who bothered to read these extracts of my mind.

The next adventure has taken me to Madrid, Spain where I will be staying with my uncle and family until the 26th of May and in that time I will be spending 1 week in Haifa visiting my big sister Melody and the Baha'i Holy Land. By the end of May I'll be back on Aussie soil, trying to regain my Australian accent which has been severely retarded by so much time away and South Africaness, before hopefully starting my masters at the end of July.

I am planning on continuing blogging so I'll put a link up when I make the next one.

Cheerio then.. and there are still some pictures to come :)

South African Survival Kit

Here are some points that may help anyone who wants to visit South Africa.

Disclaimer: All of these points are based on my personal experiences and may not be a factual or accurate representation of South Africa but consider that I’ve been here almost a year so I’m pretty sure for the most part I know what I’m talking about.

Culture
 There are several different racial groups in South Africa: Black which covers anyone who is a Black South African, this includes Zulu, Xhosa, Vender, ... White which can be broken down into 2 groups one being Boer White who were the Dutch colonists and the other be all other white like the English colonists. Coloured which as a word means anyone who has a mix of Black and White origins but as a culture means a specific group of people who share the same type of lifestyle and who talk with the same accent. Indian is Indian and seems to also include people from Pakistan and the last main group is Asian.
 There are 11 official languages in South Africa, they are: isiXhosa(the one with the clicks and tock sounds) which is predominantly the language of the Eastern Cape, isiZulu which is the most widely spoken language, English(with some minor variations) which is the language used in Universities and in business, Afrikaans(a retarded version of Dutch) which was forced upon the people during Apartheid, isiNdebele, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga and Sign Language
 If you look like me most coloured people will think you can speak Afrikaans.
 In South Africa it’s not racist to call someone black or white that’s actually what they are called here
 Parents in South Africa also tell their children to finish their food as there are starving children in Africa
 If you come from any country of the world outside of Africa to South Africa you are considered a visitor but if you come from an African country you are considered a foreigner
 In South Africa when people say they need to bath they actually mean bath, for some reason showering hasn’t really taken off

Language Tips (forgive me if I miss spell anything)
 Hello in isiXhosa is Molo and for a group Molweni
 How are you? – Injani
 I’m fine thanks – ndi pilile ingosi
 When addressing an older woman say mama and a younger woman say sisi, an older man say tata and a younger man ubuti
 If someone says “I’m gonna learn you” what they mean is I’m going to teach you
 If someone says “I can borrow you” what they mean is I can lend you
 If someone calls you macie it means girl In Afrikaans, hello macie
 To say how are you in Afrikaans is ‘Hoe gaan dit?’ and to say I’m good thanks you say ‘gaan goed danke’

Food
 If you eat at a restaurant you are expected to pay 10% tip but no one will force you to do so.
 The stereotype is true, black people love chicken
 If you want to have a bbq in South Africa you call it a braai
 If you want take out Steers has the best chips, the Spur here tastes just as bad as the Spur in Australia, McDonalds is exactly the same, the KFC chips and gravy are awful, Wimpy is nothing to rave about, Nandos is the same as in Australia and unfortunately there is no Hungry Jacks
 If you are a vegetarian then good luck however Steers has a great tasting veggie burger
 My favourite places to go for food are Cubana, Dulcies and Kuwai
 If someone in South Africa offers you tea first ask what kind of tea it is, if they reply with Five Roses then drink away however if they offer you Rooibos tea politely decline because it tastes horrible

Transport
 Cars drive on the left side of the road
 A traffic light is called a robot
 South Africa is not pedestrian friendly at all, do not walk out in front of a car and expect it to stop even at a pedestrian crossing
 When reversing out of a parking spot you may notice someone directing your car, these are car guards and usually people just give them a couple of coins for their efforts
 The best mode of transport here is to have your own car, the second best is to have a friend who has a car, the third best is to live right next to all the things you need each day and walk, fourth best is to have a friend of a friend with a car, fifth best is to get taxi, sixth best is to get a bus
 Travelling long distance there are several options, hiring a car and driving yourself, getting a bus, flying, getting taxi or hitchhiking
o Hiring a car can be expensive especially with petrol prices at close to r10 a litre
o A bus is one of the worst options but sometimes the only way especially when you have a tight budget. The best bus is Intercape Sleepliner because it is the most roomy and you can push your chair back really far but on average you will spend 16hours in a bus if you travel distances like PE to JHB and twice I’ve been in a bus that broke down
o Flying I think is the best, if you book at the right time you can get really good deals. For domestic flights these are the available airlines: South African Airways which gives you a meal on the flight and from my experience is usually the cheapest, Kulula which actually means take your top off but also means freedom in another sense, 1time which has a habit of being delayed and you have to pay extra for food, Mango who I have never used and British Airways which also gives you a meal.
o Getting taxi is a good option only in specific circumstances and you would probably only consider when your destination is a few hours away. Taxis don’t leave until they are full so this can sometimes mean waiting hours in a taxi before you leave. There are also no guarantees for safety when catching taxi but at least you get dropped off at the door of your destination.
o Hitchhiking is a very common mode of transport, you will often see people sitting on the side of highways with signs for where they need to go and the best part is that it’s free.
 If you are walking through a taxi terminal don’t step in any puddles... enough said?
 If you do catch taxi be wary of sitting in the front seat, if there is no taxi guy to collect money all the money will be passed up to you and you will have to sort it out and give everyone their change
 The best seats in the taxi are window seats on the driver’s side but not in the back row. Usually taxis try to cram in as many people as possible into the taxi and this may mean losing all your bum space. The most comfortable people in these situations are next to the window on the driver’s side. This also means you don’t have to get out of the taxi if someone else needs to get off

Townships
 Townships are the governments solution to the housing problem, people build shacks and eventually the council will build them a house
 When walking in the townships you are expected to greet all the people you pass by, if you do not greet people they will think that you are rude and over educated.
 It’s probably not a good idea to wear your best shoes in the townships, for the most part all the roads are dirt roads and one way people know you’ve been in a township is when your shoes are covered in mud
 If you are a ‘non-African’ it’s probably not the best idea to venture into townships alone, although in my experience I have never had any problems there are people that will take advantage of a situation
 Again I have never had an issue walking around the townships with my Blackberry out or with my camera but it’s probably better to be discreet about your personal belongings

Tourist Stuff
 My favourite game parks were Addo Elephant Sanctuary near Port Elizabeth and Pilansburg Game Park in Rustenburg. I did not like Kruger, it was too big and you could go hours without seeing any animals and I did not like the Lion Park in Johannesburg. If you want to see a bunch of lions trapped in cages then it’s the perfect place. I don’t think they are treating the animals very well there and it felt so unnatural.
 The only animals you’ll see wandering the streets are cows, goats and donkeys. If you want to see elephants and lions go to a game park
 If you are travelling from South Africa to other African countries don’t be surprised if people, give you warnings about travelling in Africa especially people working in health care, many South Africans seem to think they are living on an island of some sort that is not part of the rest of the continent
 If you don’t get a joke that someone has made just watch Trevor Noah
 The must see South African cities are Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth.
o Johannesburg is less of a things to see city, it is great for restaurants, cafes and galleries and museums. In Johannesburg you will want to see Monte Casino, the Apartheid Museum and Gold Reef City. There are loads of places for shopping and hanging out like Melrose Arch, Sandton City, Greenside, Rosebank and so many more. You probably don’t need to dedicate too much time to this city
o Cape Town is by far my favourite city of South Africa. It is beautiful and has such an amazing atmosphere and vibe. It also has a huge restaurant and cafe culture but there is much more to do. It is surrounded by mountains that you can climb and hike, there are amazing galleries and museums, it’s great for shopping and there are lots of markets and festivals. The only downside with Cape Town is that it has beautiful beaches with a look but don’t touch policy. The water is ice cold and your limbs will actually fall off if you go in the water.
o Port Elizabeth is a good city for relaxing. It has beautiful beaches which you are able to swim in and just 40minutes out of PE is Jefferys Bay which is one of the best locations for surfing. You don’t need to dedicate too much time to PE as it is very small.
 If you are into road trips then you have to do the Garden Route. This is the drive from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town and there are so many amazing stops on the way
 The mobile phone network carriers here are Cell C, Vodacom, Mtn and Heita and if you want to buy a sim-card you must have your passport on you and a proof of address from either the hotel you are staying at or whatever accommodation you have

FAQ


What is BEE?

BEE is Black Economic Empowerment which was created to give black people a step up to compensate for the massive injustices of the past. From what I understand this means that if a black person and a white person are going for a job the black person will get it.

How do you identify a taxi?

A taxi is always a van, the way you know the difference between a regular van and a taxi is by how many white people are in it. If there is a white person driving it’s just someone’s car. Also taxis usually have someone with their head out the window yelling out the destination of the taxi. You will notice that a taxi takes no consideration to road rules or other cars.
There are also different types of taxis; those driven by coloured drivers and those driven by black drivers. Coloured taxis can be identified by how much they have been pimped out, usually with lots of stickers on the windows and paint jobs. They also have insane sound systems which are blasting Nikki Minaj, Drake and South African House Music.

Black taxis can be identified by the gospel music they are usually pumping however minus the sub woofa and 5 speakers in the back. Usually these taxis are also playing Celine Dion or Mariah Carey.
Different cities also have different signs for catching taxis, Johannesburg is the most complicated with so many different hand signals to stop certain taxis. PE and Cape Town have very easy taxi systems which I figured out within a few days. Also South Africans are very friendly and will help you out when you need it

Is there a dental problem in South Africa?

You may notice a large number of people who have no front teeth. This is not as a result of some kind of dental issue in South Africa. These people have removed their own teeth. Yes, strange, I know. In the coloured culture it became fashionable to remove your front teeth. I heard that it started out as a gang thing and then it just spread. Now you will see both guys and girls with no front teeth and it can start at any age. They call it a passion gap.

Will I get mugged?

There is a high rate of crime in South Africa but it really depends on the individual. I have had very little experiences with crime. One time in Pretoria I was driving with my windows down and at a red light a guy leant into my car and told me to give him my ring or he would kill me. I was so surprised that he wanted my ring and not my GPS that I just stared at him and when I looked into his hand and saw that he had no weapon I just went to put my window up when he walked off saying he was only joking. Another time at a club I felt a hand go into my side bag, a guy was trying to steal my wallet but I managed to catch him doing it so nothing was taken.
Really it depends on what kind of environment you are in and I guess to some extent the luck of the draw. Mostly be cautious of your sling bags and handbags as these are easy targets, also car windows get smashed if valuables are left inside and always be aware of personal safety.

Sometimes I see girls hitting themselves in the head, why are they doing this?

If you haven’t heard of a weave before be ready to be exposed. A weave is a wig that is sown wonto a woman’s head with a giant needle and wool. First they braid the hair really tightly into rows and then sow the weave into each row. These rows are called tracks and you can see them when it is windy and girl’s weaves go flying up. Because of how tight it is and the fact that you can’t really wash your hair girl’s heads start to itch and also hurt but scratching will result in moving the weave or loosening it from the head so girl’s have resorted to hitting or patting their heads to alleviate the pain. So no, it is not self harm.
Another type of hair extensions is twists where smalls locks of hair are twisted into existing hair to make it longer.


So I hope that gives you all a little bit of insight into South Africa so you can better prepare yourselves when you come to visit.

Saying Goodbye

Today the Baha’i community of Port Elizabeth had a farewell lunch for me and it is at events like these that reality starts to hit you. I am leaving South Africa. There is a chance that I may not see many of these people again or at least not for a very long time and it actually hurts.

Today a remarkable thing happened, I was giving a small goodbye speech and I almost cried, I know big bad Martha shedding tears? Well no tears were shed but my voice did that wavering high pitched thing and I had to stop for a second but tears or not is besides the point, the point is that I’m leaving and I’m saying goodbye. I’m saying goodbye to people who have been my only family for the last 11 months, who have been my only friends, who have been my whole life. I have a wonderful family and friends at home who have made sure I know that I am missed in Australia and the Port Elizabeth community have been filling the space where they would normally be. It’s not easy to say goodbye to them.

There has been a question which people have been asking me again and again throughout my time here and which I have been giving pretty much the same answer to; Are you enjoying your time in South Africa? Every time I answer with the same thing but with a different intention. Sometimes my answer is because it is truly how I feel and other times my answer is because I don’t want to go on about my time in SA or because I don’t want to tell a South African how much I dislike their country. The answer is always that while I am still in the middle of my time here it’s hard to know what I feel but when I leave and when I’m outside looking back I’ll be able to see and be able to reflect on my experience here.

I have an answer for that question now. I know how I feel about South Africa and it’s not a feeling of hate or resentment or disappointment, although I still see all of these emotions within myself, but now when I think of my time here I think of joy, of growth and learning and I remember all the great people that came into my life.

I was always worried coming into this journey about how difficult it would be when I would have to leave. I know the pain of saying goodbye especially once you’ve fallen in love. I feel in love in 2008 with a place that has impacted my life so much I would not be even half the person that I am if it wasn’t for that place. I fell in love with Vanuatu, I fell in love with its people, with its purity, with its simplicity and with its love. The light in my soul which for so long had been flickering was set to glow in Vanuatu and it will forever be a part of me. I was in Vanuatu for just under a month doing service at the Rawhani Baha’i school. In that time I made friendships that will last for eternity, I found a piece of myself that I thought was gone and when it came time to leave it tore me apart. I was an absolute wreck and it took months to not feel the pain of separation. I knew that if I could hurt that much after only a month how much more could I hurt after a year? This thought has been plaguing me since before I even arrived in South Africa and I think it is as a result of that fear that I have not allowed myself to love as freely and as openly as I did in Vanuatu. I honestly didn’t think I could handle the part where I would have to say goodbye.

Now I am saying goodbye and I am seeing that just like in Vanuatu, although I fought it, South Africa too has taken a piece of me.

My heart and soul are in pieces scattered in the different places that made me whole. In Vanuatu where I found my light, in Sydney where I house my soul, in Haifa where I go for refuge and now in South Africa the place that taught me to grow. I wonder how much more I can tear apart my heart, how many more places will claim a piece?

I feel as though I am not done with South Africa, I feel as though there is more that I have to do here but it is not for now but for another stage of my life. My soul tells me that this is not the end of my African journey. Still soon I will have to say goodbye for the last time, I will have to tear off that piece of my heart as I leave this place. I will try to hold back my throbbing pain as I hold the ones I’m leaving behind and pretend I’m not breaking apart as I turn around and walk away.

Almost Gone

I started packing. Packing is symbolic of the realisation that soon I will have to say goodbye... again. 2 weeks and this segment of my life journey ends. It’s an interesting and strange place to be in. I feel almost as if I’ve come full circle, the emotions and feelings and modes of thought that are playing in my mind now are a replica of what I experienced before leaving Sydney to come here. Funny how predictable we are.

I’m feeling that same sense of unreality, like it hasn’t sunk in yet that I’m going to get on a plane out of SA and not come back, at least not any time soon. I’m feeling that same sense of excitement about doing something new and starting another adventure, the same feeling of anticipation for the date when I finally leave and at the same time that sinking feeling of regret that I’m going to say goodbye to people I care about. I feel that same sense of time being endless and me not feeling that the end is actually near and at the same time knowing that I have only 14days left and that there isn’t enough time to do all the things I need to do. Still, even though I can sit and write about all these emotions, it still hasn’t really hit me yet that it’s over, these last 6 months have gone especially fast compared to the first months that went tediously slow. I’ve finally got a pattern going, a rhythm, a momentum and now I’m leaving.

It will be interesting to see what it will be like for me once I’ve left South Africa. Will my feelings towards this country be different once I’m outside of it? At the moment, considering that I’ve adopted a rather reflective state of mind in these last few weeks, I feel love for South Africa and gratitude for what’s it’s given me which is a stark contrast to some of the more hateful or angry sentiments that I have previously held. There is a certain comfort in leaving that softens you, makes you notice things that before had absolutely no value to you. The way that all the taxi guys yell out the name of their destinations exactly the same and in the exact same tone “Town, town, town, towen, towen, town” or the way that young kids come up and touch my hair because they think it’s so beautiful and of course all the insanely lame pick up lines I’ve had the pleasure of hearing like “Can I be your fairytale?”

I think knowing that you’re leaving makes you take on the form of a sponge, you just start absorbing everything, filling yourself up and hoping you can keep it all in but eventually, maybe in a few months or even a year or more, most of what you’ve soaked up will drip away or dry up and what you’re left with is not memories of the place or what it looked like or what it smelt like but the people and the impact they had on you and the friendship that continues on and the memories you created with them and the emotions you shared together. That’s what I know I’ll always keep from South Africa but I’ll still soak up as much as I can and hope it stays with me for a while.

1 Month To Go

The 18^th of April marks my last day in Port Elizabeth and my last day of service. In one month from today I will end what has been a whirlwind of events, a vortex of emotions, a dialectic of crisis and victory, an amazing time of growth, self understanding, wonderful new friendships and above all a time of service.

As this day was approaching I looked back on photos of myself from this time last year and reflected on what I was doing then and what I’m doing now. The funny thing is at both times I was travelling, I guess that side of me will never change. This time last year I had just come home from visiting Vanuatu, the first place I ever went for service in January 2008. I had made some of the most wonderful friendships of my life there and so I went back to visit the friends I had made and to be back in the place that my soul calls home.

Looking back on other photos there were times I could hardly recognise myself, not only because my hair colour has changed or because the clothes I was wearing are still in Sydney but because I remembered the way the world looked to me back then, I remembered what was the most important to me then, I remembered what kind of person I was. None of these things were bad but the growth that I have experienced recently is so great that I feel like that girl that said goodbye to her family in Sydney all those months ago is not going to be coming home.

Normally when I notice that I have developed as a person it’s based on a year by year scale but this time I can look back on myself a few months ago and see that I’ve changed. I looked at photos from Johannesburg when I first arrived here and I was having the same feelings about myself as I did with the photos from when I was still in Sydney. Amazing what service can do. It reminds me of this quote from Shoghi Effendi...

"The more we search for ourselves, the less likely we are to find ourselves; and the more we search for God, and to serve our fellow-men, the more profoundly will we become acquainted with ourselves, and the more inwardly assured. This is one of the great spiritual laws of life."

                (Compilations, Lights of Guidance, p. 114)

I didn’t come to South Africa to find myself, when I left Sydney I thought the person I was was pretty great. I didn’t think I needed much self tuning or any major personality repairs but the more I was tested during this service, the more hardships I faced, the more things went wrong or people treated me badly, the more I realised that there were things about myself that I wasn’t happy with and it wasn’t even a process of change requiring tonnes of effort that made me develop from these weak points that I saw but a natural reaction of me realigning myself to counter the things that were going wrong around me. I can’t pinpoint a specific time or place that this change began or be able to note when the greatest change occurred, it just happened and one day I looked at myself and saw that I was different.

It really is true that you see the best and the worst of yourself when you are serving. I’ve seen things within myself that I am just shocked at, how easily I lost control of myself and fell into black pits of despair and I’ve also been so amazingly proud of myself for how I’ve managed to survive through everything and continue to go on with almost no support from anyone. I’ve seen myself reach my heaviest weight while in South Africa, tipping the scales for the first time in my life over 50kgs when this time last year I was in the best shape of my life. I won’t detail everything that I’ve noticed because it is personal reflection but I will say that for those who I will see again in Sydney you’re going to notice that this Martha is not the same as the one you said goodbye to. I am the upgraded version of myself, fully installed with new life handling powers and an ability to kinda cook (mum will be happy about that one).

So now maybe just an outline of what will happen after this month is over. From South Africa I am flying to Madrid, Spain to visit my uncle and his family who I haven’t seen in a couple years. I’ll be spending a month in Spain and potentially going to Haifa, Israel in that time also for a few days to visit my big sister Melody and spend time in the Shrines. The arrival home will be towards the end of May and I have already started my application to do my Masters in Building and Sustainable Design for second semester of this year at the University of Sydney. That gives me 2 solid months to work and pay off all the debt that I have accumulated over this year, which means I also need to find a job and I’m open for suggestions on what I should do.

Honestly, I know it’s cliché, but I cannot believe that it has almost been a year already and at the same time I can’t believe that it’s only been almost a year, it really feels like forever.

Truth be told I can’t wait to get to Spain and see something new, although I’m sure it’s going to be difficult to leave. As much as I’ve stated my dislike for South Africa I actually think I’ll miss it.

Hey White Gal

As previously mentioned I live in the township. For the most part this has been fairly normal, there hasn't been anything in terms of how I live that is different to living anywhere else but there have been some very noticeable elements about township living that have stuck out for me. As well as living in Motherwell I also spend at least 3 days a week in Kuyga township and what I am about to explain applies in both places.

Looking at me and most certainly while living in Australia I am not a white girl but in South Africa what colour you are branded as isn’t so much about the actual colour of your skin but more what class you fall into or group you belong to. Being ‘coloured’ is more of a culture than the fact that you are mixed race. For example your father could be an Anglo-Saxon Australian and your mother a Xhosa South African but that doesn’t automatically deem you as coloured, people in this circumstance usually refer to themselves as mixed  race. It’s hard to explain because every case is different but pretty much what I’m trying to say is that just because my skin isn’t white doesn’t mean I’m not classed as white, especially in the township.

So I’ve been living in Motherwell for over a month now and as I had originally stated there aren’t that many non-black people here, or any at all for that matter. So yes I do get a lot of attention, people stare when I walk down the street or look at me funny and this naturally I expected. I expected people to be curious as to what I’m doing here which is normal as it is completely uncommon for ‘white’ people to be in the township let alone live there. What has been happening in both Kuyga and Motherwell, however, has been completely foreign to what I expected, it has been strange to say the least.

It actually started in Kuyga, the attention I had been getting in Motherwell was very similar to what I’ve been getting in Kuyga since the first time I stepped foot in that area, boys calling out to me and kids getting excited when they see me “Hey, come see the white girl”. In Motherwell I have boys often calling out “white gal, white gal! Come here!”, “Hello white gal, what’s your name?” which I got a lot of in Kuyga also but then recently something changed about the attention I was getting. It became personalised.

So one day I was in Kuyga going to a devotional gathering that was being held by some of the Ruhi book 1 participants and as I was walking to their house some kids walked past me “hello”, “hi”, “hello Martha”. First reaction is this must be one of our Jy kids but I’m looking at this child’s face and I have never seen any of these boys before. Then it happens again, after devotional I’m walking back to the taxi stop and “Hello Martha” who are these people? Now it keeps happening, I’ll be walking in Kuyga either on my own or with Bayan and people are calling my name, most of the time I have never seen these people before. I have been visiting this area for 6-7 months now so it is more than likely that people have been talking and asking ‘who is this girl who always comes here?’ and then they here from this person that I do something at the school and my name is Martha and so it spreads. Township life is very closed especially in Kuyga which is so isolated from other suburbs. People know everyone that lives around them, they know each other’s business, they observe everything that is happening  and they talk, talk, talk. I just hope that in their whisperings about me they are passing on the right message.

What has been happening in Motherwell has been slightly different. I guess because I don’t see myself as any different to anyone else I don’t notice how much I stand out. It all started when I was in Korsten which is an area about 20min from Motherwell and I was getting a taxi to Lorraine which is another 10min from there. A girl got into the same taxi as me and said “Do you live in Motherwell?” I said yes, “I know you”. I was like ohh ok cool, I thought that was an exciting story so I made it my Facebook status. Then it kept happening, again and again and again.

I would get into taxi in Motherwell, someone would ask me “Where’s your friend?” meaning Bayan. I would be in taxi going back to Motherwell, people call out the name of my stop for me, they know where I get off. I got into taxi leaving Motherwell, “so you living in Motherwell? I always see you everyday”. I can’t walk to the local shops without having someone follow me home or take a taxi ride without someone asking me who I am living with or why, I have men young and old calling out to me or asking me my name. I can’t be discreet, I don’t blend, everything I do is being noticed by someone because to them I’m different. I became a little concerned about this especially because a lot of people were asking me if I was living with my boyfriend. I guess this is the most rational explanation for them as to why I live in the township, so I have to keep verifying to people that I am living with a wonderful family as I am doing service for the Baha’i Faith and I hope people spread that around.

I love the look of shock on people’s faces when I speak Xhosa, it makes me want to learn more, I love when people ask me where I live and then they get excited because they live near me and they say they’ll see me around. What I think is the most wonderful thing about me living and spending so much time in the townships is that it’s hopefully bridging a gap. There is a stigma about the township from ‘white people’ and there is a stigma within the townships about ‘white people’. I hope the impact that I am having is positive, that is shows that there are people in this world who don’t notice the colour of your skin first and the person you are second, there are people who defy stereotypes and who don’t see everyone else in terms of their stereotype either.

Again recently in Korsten Bayan and I were walking to get the taxi to Kuyga and a guy said “There are the Baha’i ladies”, we had never seen this guy before. I had a girl get off the Motherwell taxi at the same stop as me in town and she asked me to say hi to Bayan for her. There are honestly so many examples that I could list of random people knowing who I am in both Kuyga and Motherwell. The last little remark I’ll share with you was when a guy we were walking past said “Hello Jessica” to me. I think he was just trying to guess what my name was.

Sometimes I find it annoying especially when I’m in a taxi going to Motherwell and people ask me where I live and I say in Motherwell and then they tell me I’m lying, like really? What else would I go to Motherwell for? Sightseeing? But I guess it is quite different. Strange thing is as shocked as everyone else is I don’t find it strange or shocking at all that I live in the township because like I said before I don’t see myself as different to anyone else. I actually like being in the townships.

I had a remarkable moment in the taxi the other day as I was driving out of Kuyga, as we drove through and I looked out the window, taking in this place that has become one of the areas I am most comfortable in, I started to think that I would actually really miss Kuyga when I’m gone and then I put this question to myself.. What would I stay in South Africa for? I smiled as the taxi pulled out of Kuyga township, it’s my favourite place in P.E.

Love for God

A concept that arises quite frequently in the Baha'i Faith is the love for God. We, mankind, have been called upon to obey the laws of God for the love of Him, to serve humanity for the sake of God's good pleasure, to pray out of our longing to be in the presence of God. As we have matured in our spiritual capacity and our understanding is greater we are no longer expected to do these things out of fear of punishment or out of a desire for reward but purely for the sake of love. This love is born of a conscious knowledge of the religion of God rather than mere acceptance for the sake of acceptance or acceptance out of fear or tradition or habit. We are called on by God to investigate His Revelation through the Divine Teachers or Manifestations that He sends and once we have accepted these Teachers to obey and follow their commandments for our love for Them and for our love for God.

This love for God has been a term that I grew up with and when something is part of your vocabulary from the time your vocabulary was created you can sometimes, and this is what happened in my case, fail to understand or grasp what the meaning and implications of that term actually are. The love for God. Through my reading of the Holy Writings, through my acts of service and through my attempts to deepen my knowledge of our spiritual journey and the implications of this life on our souls I began to notice that I was having a hard time putting into practice this concept of love for God. Suddenly, as if reading it for the first time, my mind was deviling into what this love actually is and was I able to feel it? Did I do things out of love for God? What does love for God look like? How exactly do I show it?

I started to wonder why it was only now that I was struggling to grasp this concept, why now was I so unsure about how to love God? Then it dawned on me.. the more I learned about God the more I realised I knew nothing about Him.

It is easier to feel like you know God when you say that God is like the sun or that God is this great being because you are giving physical attributes to God which our finite minds can comprehend. A God that looks like the sun, I can relate to. I can picture in my mind a God that is a great being or a man or one of the other images that we have created for God so that we can fathom who and what He is but the more I learned about God the more I realised I knew nothing about Him and so it became harder for me to find a way to connect with this force or spirit or essence that our human words have no power to describe and even the 3 letters we attribute as His name are nothing compared to what God is. We limit God because we are limited and I felt lost in trying to find a channel to God.

How do you love God when you don't know what God is? Although it was never that difficult for me to feel His love I was stuck on how to reciprocate that love back to God.

It was hard for me to fear God, when you feel unable to channel that love for God then it hinders you in feeling that fear of God. The fear of disappointing Him and of not being able to receive His love. These are concepts that I can't fully understand because I don't know how to show them or feel them for an essence that I can in no way comprehend or conceive.

As my time in South Africa has progressed I began to notice that I did have a channel to send and receive that love from and it was as a result of being so distant and far from that channel that I was able to realise its existence and that channel was through my mother and my little brother. These are the channels that I feel like I can reach God through because of the love that exists between these 2 people and myself.

I feel the the love of God through my mother as she has given so much for me, as she does everything in my best interests even when it doesn't seem that way. She gave me life and she will always be a source of unconditional love for me. This is how I can feel love of God and for God; through my relationship with my mother. Through this I can feel the fear of God as I fear disappointing my mother. She knows my capacity and my potentials better than anyone, she watched them develop throughout my whole life and for her to ever have to see those capacities and potentials go to waste because of my actions would shatter me.

The greatest expression of love that I have ever known is the love I have for my little brother and with this love comes a responsibility to him that I will be the best that I can be for his sake. I never want to let my brother down and I strive to be a better person because I love him so much and I want him to see me as a positive force in his life.

This is how I feel the love for God and the fear of God. This is how I can make sense of these immense concepts and create a pathway to God. They are my channels. Now I find it easy to pray out of love, to serve out of love, to obey the laws out of love. It is as if my mother and brother are mirrors which reflect my love for God to Him. Whatever love I feel for God I send to them and they reflect it to Him.

I know that I have my own personal relationship with God and I communicate directly with Him all the time, this is different from the expression of love that I feel for God which is where I find the difficulty. Now whenever I am in moments of deep thought or reflection, whenever I take time to meditate on my life and my actions I think of my mum and my baby brother and think of what I would become if I lost their love or if I disappointed them and then I know what I have to do with my life and how I have to improve because I know that I would become like utter nothingness, that my existence would be meaningless and my soul would shrivel up if I lost their love and that's how I know what I have to do for God because I know that losing God's love would feel so much worse and I wouldn't be able to survive.

This is how I know God. This is how I can love Him.

Road Trip Days 5 & 6

Day 5 - Friday the 11th of February - Heading Back - Total Kms: 550


When I assumed I would be in pain on waking up this morning I was wrong. The pain didn’t wait till morning to hit, I was in pain the whole night. I could barely make the trip off of my bunk and down to the floor as I was so stiff and in so much pain. It hurt to walk, it hurt to turn, it hurt to do anything that required movement from my body and so unjustly and in horrible contrast Bayan was in very little pain whatsoever. So I suffered alone, aching as I went up and down the stairs in the backpackers to take bags to the car, struggling to bend down to the ground to pick the bags up in the first place. At least this morning I decided that nothing would get me out of bed before 9am so there wasn’t another horrible early morning wake up.

We left the backpackers and Cape Town somewhere around 11am and started our trip back to P.E which we would stretch over a day and a half.

There isn’t much to be told of this day, we were on the road pretty much non-stop from Cape Town to Plettenburg Bay. There were tonnes of road works stops which actually were a blessing for my cramped and aching body as we would sit at a stop for maybe 10minutes at a time so I would always get out of the car and stretch. After a solid 5 hours of driving we reached Plettenburg Bay where we decided whilst driving would be where we spent the night. We phoned a couple of backpackers we found in a road trip guide and picked the best sounding one. We got to the place and as we approached the front door we realised the shock horror of the accommodation we had chosen. There standing in front of us was a staircase which we would have to ascend and descend every time we came and went. The pain we were in, my oh my, the pathetically slow pace at which we climbed those stairs. Yes, finally, the pain caught up with Bayan and I couldn’t have been happier. I was even more delighted when our climbing companions called to say that their muscles were also stiff and they couldn’t move. It was wonderful news to me to know that I was not suffering alone. The girl working there was at first confused and then amused by our stair climbing ways. We took each step slowly, holding onto the railing and pulling ourselves up to ease the stress on our legs. Finally, after a noisy and slow climb we reached the top and signed the paper work. Then we had to go back down to get our bags. This was plain hilarious. We were crying from laughter at ourselves for howling in pain as we were going down. We could hear the people upstairs laughing too and then Bayan pushed me so I went down a couple of stairs really fast and that was so painful. We were both humiliated by our sorry state and also extremely entertained by it as well.

Leaving Cape Town..

Bayan and Me and the view of Cape Town behind us

The view from my rear view mirror

cool blue house

The sun was slowly making its way down so Bayan and I decided to go to the beach. A Brazilian girl was also staying in the same dorm as us so we took her with us to the beach. She laughed as Bayan and I attempted running on the sand to help our muscles and the pain we would cry out in with every step. We frolicked on the beach for some time and I drank some dirty pond water to prove to Bayan that it would not result in death before heading back to find food. We got a Steers veggie burger for Bayan and a wood fire pizza for me and sat next to a Marimbaz band on the main street. We enjoyed our food and the free music and watched some kids dance to the music.

Bayan and me on the beach in Plett

Beautiful sunset

Day 6 - Saturday the 12th of February - The Last Leg - Total Kms: 250



We woke up this morning and lazily prepared ourselves for the day. We were tired and still sore and a little grumpy and I think we were both glad that this was the last day.

We started the day at the beach claiming to each other that we would swim but getting there and deciding that it was too cold. We went in about half way. Then we hung out with the lifeguards one of whom was very attractive, can’t remember his name though. We talked a bit and they asked about Australia and our trip. Then we packed ourselves into the car and headed off for our last stop before P.E. We were going to Tsiki tsiki forest. It’s actually called Tsikama forest but I kept forgetting the name and called it tsiki tsiki instead, I think it sounds better.

The guy at the entry gate let us in for free, nice guy, and we drove down to this beautiful coastline. It was so nice, so so beautiful. There were these suspension bridges hung across the water that we could walk over and so Bayan and I did that and of course we put our hands in the air and run across one of the bridges while screaming because that’s how we do. Then we saw the sign that said no jumping on the bridge, in all fairness we had done all our jumping before seeing that sign.

We needed to be back in Port Elizabeth by 4pm and so we didn’t get to spend too much time here. After seeing pretty things and me and Bayan not talking for a good 15minutes because we were angry at each other about something silly, we left.

The next bit was the last stretch of drive before P.E and we drove straight from our road trip to Sonja’s house for Unit Convention which is a Baha’i gathering. We arrived exactly on time and we had a very nice convention.

Next stop was King’s Beach which is in P.E and then finally at around 10pm we drove home, ending our road trip.

Ups and downs are expected with an endeavour like this, 2 people in each other’s company non-stop for 6 days straight can cause a little strain on the sanity levels and being the only driver I was completely exhausted and had no time to rest. There were times while driving that Bayan would fall asleep and I would stare at her with such envy almost wanting to wake her up because I didn’t think it was fair that she should sleep while I couldn’t. Lack of sleep and lack of food make me very grumpy and so there were times that I’m sure I wasn’t the best company but all that aside we had a great road trip.

In the future Bayan and I have decided that we actually want to take a back pack with us should we travel in this fashion again because at every backpackers we went to we were the only ones without backpacks, instead filling the storage space with several different types of carry bags and hand bags and plastic bags.

Also although we couldn’t choose our own soundtrack for this trip our road trip song became Liquid Deep’s “You don’t have to be alone” which played on the radio at least 5 times a day.

And so ended this adventure as chaotically and unorganised as the way it began.

Storms River

Suspension bridge

ready with her hands in the air to run down while screaming

Just the 2 of us

Bridge

A frog

Me :)

Road Trip Day 4

Day 4 - Thursday the 10th of February - Climbing Mountains - Total Pain: lots

The day of the big climb and yes another 6am wake up.. woe to me.

Bayan, although having accomplished this great task once before and swearing that she would never do it again, wanted to climb Table Mountain and me just going along with things as I do said yes. We had to leave early to drive and pick up some friends of Bayan and soon we became a climbing party of 4; myself and Bayan and brothers Dominique and Angelo. The morning started with me being super tired, driving 40kms away from the mountain to pick people up then driving 40kms back to the mountain (on a side note Table Mountain is a 5min drive from our backpackers) being stuck in peak time traffic and then finally reaching the base of the mountain 2 hours later than we had originally hoped to. As you might imagine I was not in a good mood.

So we decided that since we were behind schedule we would opt for a shorter route up and down the mountain but one that was very very steep. When someone tells you that the route is steep in your head you're like "yeah no worries" but when you start climbing man oh man do you realise how difficult it is.

We started climbing and it was after about 5minutes that I realised this was not going to be fun. It was all stairs, not like pretty stairs with hand rails and even heights, it was rock stairs that went up the mountain like the secret stairs to Mordor in The Lord of the Ring. Having only slept 4-5hours and on an empty stomach because we were running late Bayan and I felt the strain very early on and the boys weren't helping as they are both like 2metres tall and had lots of energy so they were setting a really fast pace.

I won't go into the details of the climb as it took about 1.5hours except to mention a few key words... pain, suffering, despair, sweat, aching, desperation, exhaustion, torture, tribulation, lack of motivation, anguish, loss of hope, overwhelmed.

The number of times while climbing that mountain I wanted to lay on the floor and just die were insane. Like I actually thought that I wanted to die. I really don't believe that any words or pictures can describe how difficult and energy consuming that climb is. Honestly you had to take it one step at a time. I would take one step, I would pause, I would take another step, I would pause, I would take the next step, I would pause. There was no other way for me. Angelo was leading the group ahead of me and Bayan and Dominique were just behind me so as I tackled this climb on my own I started to drift off into thought and I came up with the following analogy. It is very much cliche but what can I say? When you're climbing a mountain, you're climbing a mountain.

The analogy I created of my climbing this mountain was that this climb represented my time serving. How did I come to this bizarre conclusion you may ask? I know it's obvious, but there was just so much in terms of my mental state while climbing that I could specifically relate to moments during my service. The enthusiasm to which I embarked on this trip, the lack of thought I gave to how difficult it would be, The realisation that this was harder than I had anticipated, the fear that I would not be able to complete the climb, the stern determination that I was capable of finishing, the set back of the path never flattening out to ease my climb and give me some relief, the creating of excuses for why it's ok not to finish, questioning why I decided to do this in the first place, the contemplation of quitting and going back down, then seeing that the way back down is longer than the way to the top, finding the strength to keep climbing, support and encouragement from friends keeping me moving, reaching a stage where I can see the finish and suddenly being filled with a new burst of energy, knowing that the finish is coming but feeling like it's still so far away before finally the moment of jubilant joy and accomplishment as I reached the top.

I'm sure without me explaining you see how this 90minute climb so distinctly related to my last 9 months of service. The parallels are obvious and really, really, really I have felt every single one of the above statements during this time even that of reaching the top. 

At the top of the mountain the view was nice and we took some photos, then I inquired about the cost of the cable car to take us to the bottom and found out that it was R95 each so of course we climbed back down the mountain. There is no analogy, no wonderful understanding, no moment of clarity or journey to perfection that can be associated with this segment of the climb. Going down Table Mountain after having just climbed up is just plain stupid and the worst thing I have ever done. It kills yours knees, destroys your ankles, hurts your toes. Again thoughts of death pervaded my thoughts and I wanted to just lay myself down and wait until the time of death would come but I was the only driver and everyone was relying on me so I kept going. At one point the step was a little high so I decided to jump down, my knees and legs also realised that I wanted to jump down but felt that they had suffered enough already and so they would help me at all and so when I jumped my legs gave out and I just fell to the floor. All I could do was laugh at myself for how pathetic I was in that instant and try and get up and keep going.

All of the adjectives I listed before can be attributed to this descent and finally the road was reached.

While everyone else got to relax I had to drive us and so with aching and weak legs I drove us to our backpackers. Every time I had to put the clutch in or press the break a shot of pain would race through my leg, it was horrible. Then with no power steering I reverse parked into our tiny awkward spot and breathless from the effort of turning the steering wheel I went to shower.

With the mountain climbing behind us and Bayan again swearing she would never do it again we headed off for our next stop which was the Iziko Museum where there was a photographic exhibition that Bayan and I really wanted to see. Wow it was so worth it. It was an amazing exhibition, it was breath taking, it was spectacular, awe inspiring, transcendentally beautiful, majestic in its content and exquisite in its detail and leaving me in a state of absolute wonderment reinforced with each image. The exhibition was of the top photographs of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition for 2010. If I was allowed to take pictures of the pictures I would have because these are images that deserve to be shared however if you google search the name of the museum and exhibition you can find some pictures in the image search.

Unfortunately my legs were still weak and aching so I was sometimes distracted by these beautiful photos by the throbbing sensation but otherwise it was wonderful.

Next another great and wonderful experience.. FOOD! My first meal of the day and it was now 6pm. I had been craving Masala Dosa like crazy and have not been able to find it anywhere in P.E but thankfully Cape Town is much more diverse in terms of culture and so there are many Indian restaurants that I could take advantage of. At only R20 (about $3) I got some pretty great Masala Dosa. Every time my hand reached my mouth and deposited that amazing food onto my tongue I fell into a sweet state of ecstasy, only disrupted when each bite had been swallowed and my now empty mouth would cry for more. 

The day ended with me driving out to drop Dominique home and with perfect timing we arrived just as his family was about to start a devotional gathering with some other friends. We sat together and said prayers, completed a day filled with every emotion possible from annoyance to zeal. I was annoyed in the morning but I ate my food with zeal at the end of the day so there you go A-Z.

 My first time driving in the dark on this trip and as I expected I fell asleep a little bit which is the reason I had intended to avoid driving at night in the first place, nothing to worry about though I have become quite skilled at driving with my eyes closed due to so much practice whilst driving in Sydney.

This night I slept very well but my sleep was tainted knowing the pain I would be in in the morning.

The 4 climbers at the base of the mountain

me and Angelo

the Platteklip Gorge was the route we took

Bayan pulling Dominique up

One of the beautiful views that motivated me

View from the top

4 climbers finally at the top

Road Trip Day 3

Day 3 - Wednesday the 9th of February - Driving, Driving, Driving - Total Kilometres: 450

Bayan and I decided to begin this day in Mossel Bay with exercise once again, however this time it was an act of spiritual exercise rather than that of our bodies. We set our alarms to bring us out of sleep just before sunrise so that we could have dawn prayers on the beach and as my alarm sounded I wondered to myself why we couldn't just pray on the beach at 9am instead of at 5:45am. Still I lazily pulled myself out of bed, dragged myself to the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face and finally awoken with prayer book in hand I was ready for some spiritual nourishment while watching the sun rise across the ocean. 

As you may remember Bayan and I were spending the night in a train which had been transformed into a hostel and so we went to the head of the carriage to open the door when alas! The door was locked. They had told us that the doors would be locked from 10pm but we assumed that they would be unlocked by now. No worry, I decided I would just open one of the carriage windows and call out to the security guard to open the door as we were advised to do in such a situation. So as silently as possible without wanting to wake the other guests I pulled the window down and stuck my head out and... he was no where in sight. Never fear, Bayan and I would succeed in finding a way around this. We went back to our room and put forward the option that we could see both the beach and the sky from our room so it would still be the same if we just prayed from our beds. A valid option, another great option would have been for me to just go back to sleep as I was on about 4 hours sleep a night and I was the sole driver so sleep was sounding like a stupendous option for me but our resolve to pray was too great and Bayan was set on dawn prayers ON the beach not looking at the beach and so I jumped out of our window. 

Jumping out of a window seems like nothing major and in most cases it isn't but in our case we were jumping out of the window of a train which was some 3metres off the ground and there isn't much to hold on to. So I jumped out of the window as silently as possible and I laughed as silently as possible while watching Bayan try to achieve the same feat. As she dangled her legs out and started sliding down it suddenly dawned on me that our cabin door was locked from the inside meaning we wouldn't be able to get back in so Bayan had to pull herself back inside to unlock our door and then try to get out again. Success! We were free and we went and found a spot on the sand to pray. 

Bayan trying to get out of the window

Dawn Prayers

Waiting for the sun to rise in Mossel Bay

When we were finished with our spiritual breakfast we went for a walk along the beach and then back to our room to try and sleep some more. As we were wanting to get to Cape Town by this afternoon and we still needed a place to stay when we got there we decided not to dawdle any more and by 10.30am we were on our way out of Mossel Bay and on the road again. This strip of road from Mossel Bay to Cape Town is the most boring, there are almost no nice stops along the way and it is just a big stretch of highway so not all that much happened. At the same time tonnes of stuff happened. It's really strange how in all that nothingness so much was going on. When I look back on this day we barely took any photos, we hardly stopped anywhere, we spent almost the whole day on the road.. drove 450kms and I have almost no stories to tell from this day and yet to me lots of stuff happened. Funny how nothing can be so eventful.

So we drove to Cape Town, the drive was made all the more tedious by the road works going on. This highway (the N2) has only 2 lanes and so when there are road works one lane is closed and cars have to sit and wait while oncoming traffic uses the remaining open lane. This offered me a few opportunities to get out of the car and stretch but it also extended our time on the road by about an hour. As we were driving we would look out for towns or attractions that might interest us to either visit on this day or stop at on the way home. When we reached Swellendam I was desperate for an opportunity to get out of the car so we turned in to see what we could find. We followed a sign to a berry picking farm but when we got there we realised that berry picking season is over so instead we just tried all the jam (blackberry was my favourite) and bought some blueberry ice cream and then asked the girl working there what else Swellendam had to offer. "The Fairy Garden" she says. "The what?" I reply, "the fairy garden" she repeats. Confused, a little weirded out, in my own head trying to decide whether she means the boat type ferry or the mythical creature type fairy and deciding to myself she must mean the boat type because she appears to be in her 20's and couldn't possibly believe or expect us to believe that there are fairies and if there are that I would be interested in seeing them so I ask her again.."you mean like fairies like this?" I say this while flapping my arms like wings. "Yes, fairies" she responds with a bewildering confidence, not even a grin or a slight hint of a smile has come across her face to suggest to us that this woman is pulling our leg. "And what exactly do you do in this garden?".. "you walk around and see fairies everywhere".

So we go, to the fairy garden which turns out to be exactly what she described.. a garden with fairies in it. Hundreds of figurines and statues of fairies. What this girl failed to mention to us was that there were also wizards and dragons and Harry Potter himself in this garden. As it was free we went inside and took the garden walk. This garden is the initiative of a lady who has created a garden in her home and transformed her whole house for the sake of allowing people to come in a be inspired by the positive and uplifting spirit of the garden. Fairies, in her eyes, are little guardians who are always there to guide and protect us and help us see the best in everything. It is a very beautiful idea and I'm sure I would have had a much more profound appreciation for this garden if I was 7 but for the most part I was not impressed with a grown woman advising us to come here. 

So we left the fairy garden and Swellendam for that matter with the understanding that there is so little to do in this town that people would send you to a fairy garden when you ask for advice on what Swellendam has to offer. 

Me with a dwarf in the fairy garden

and this guy was there too

Bayan and Harry Potter even though Bayan claims this statue was a girl

 Next was the last long stretch of highway before finally arriving in CAPE TOWN!!!! It was 6pm when we touched down and after googling 'cape town backpackers' we checked in at Cape Town Backpackers which turned out to be a great backpackers and only R80 a night thanks to their February special. 

After getting settled we tried to snooze for a bit and then got ready to go out for dinner. I have been trying to convince Bayan to try Asian food as they have great options for vegetarians and they use tofu which amazingly for a vegetarian of 4months she has never tried, and so we went to eat at a place called 'Simply Asian'. Bayan proved her natural skills at using chopsticks and enjoyed the tofu in her food. Then we walked to Long St (the main strip in Cape Town) and found a place to have desert. This place also offered karaoke so of course we had a turn. Bayan wasn't familiar with many of the songs on their list and Beyonce being her favourite artist of all time she picked DeJuvu. I asked her about the part where it says Beyonce featuring Jay Z and she just said that he only comes in a little at the end. So we're singing away when suddenly there's an entire section of the song with Jay Z rapping, so I did what rappers to best, I just repeated "What what what, whatta whata what" again and again until his part was over accompanying my rap solo with gangster rapper hand movements. 

Later when we went downstairs on our way out one of the bar attenders asked if it was us who sang the Beyonce song and then told us we sounded great.. kudos to Bayan and I and our amazing Karaoke skills.

We took our time walking back to our place and on the way a hobo who makes his own flowers out of beads asked if we would buy one so I bought one for Bayan. Then when another begger asked us for money I told him how he should try and actually work for it like the flower making guy.

As most nights go it ended with sleep and so went our arrival in Cape Town.

Arrival in Cape Town!!

Bayan using chopsticks for the first time

nom nom nom nom