End of Week 2

Friday 3/20 – Really good day at Sarah Fox. Some students from one of the local high schools came to do some community service and about 10 of them were sent to help me in the toddlers’ ward. We took all of the kids outside for the first time since I’ve been there. I laid out a blanket on the grass and three little toddlers curled up on my lap and fell asleep.

It was Jessica’s last day today :( . She has been volunteering at Sarah Fox for six weeks and it was so sad to see her say goodbye to the kids. She was bawling as she was feeding them, and I think she was seriously considering adopting her favorite little boy. To make it worse, the nurse told us as we were walking out that her favorite is leaving Sarah Fox to go to a foster home this weekend. He has been there since he was a tiny baby, so it was a big deal to see him leave. Jessica cried the whole way home because they haven’t been able to find him a family.

After placement, a couple of us got on the train to St. James which is about 35 minutes south of Cape Town. We went to the beach for a couple of hours and then got back on the train to Kalk Bay which is one more stop south. There we had a goodbye dinner for Jessica in this little restaurant on the ocean, lost track of time and missed the train back. After calling a million taxi companies we finally found one to bring us back to Cape Town.

The view from our table at dinner. So pretty.

Saturday 3/21 – After last weekend and our crazy busy schedule, I needed a weekend to lay low. Today Whitney and I went to Green Market Square downtown where tons of local vendors come and set up tents where people can barter for cool trinkets, clothes, and handmade African art, jewelry, etc. I was really overwhelmed so didn’t buy anything but decided I really need to go back. We went to Camps Bay to the beach for a couple of hours after Green Market but felt like we were getting sunburned so hopped on the train back to Kalk Bay. There we spent the afternoon looking around at a bunch of little boutiques with clothes, scarves, jewelry, etc. We didn’t buy much but it was so fun to shop anyway.

Camps Bay

Sunday 3/22 – Half of our group went back to the beach today, and the other half went shark diving. I needed a break from group traveling and am a little sunburned from yesterday so I decided to explore on my own. I took the train downtown and walked around to find my bearings. I went back to Green Market Square and then ate lunch at McDonalds in the train station yumm.. The Human Rights Day celebration was this weekend so I walked around in Company’s Garden which is a 15-acre park in the middle of downtown. It was so nice to have time to myself. And I can’t wait to see the kids in the morning.