free falling

sorry sorry sorry for the lack of writing lately. however, i (surprise surprise) have a lot of reading and essay writing to be doing now, so of course i'm taking a break to finally update you on my life.

first and foremost - i went SKYDIVING today! skydiving has honestly something i've wanted to do for as long as i can remember, and i'm so glad i can cross it off my list. also, i want to do it again. it was so incredible. first off, the view was amazing - the skydiving place was located about forty minutes up the northern coast from cape town, so the view included table mountain, the city from a distance, and the entire coast for miles and miles. somehow, i wasn't scared or nervous at all, even during the twenty minutes it took the tiny plane to ascend 9,000 feet before we actually jumped. then, they opened the side door and i (strapped to the instructor) inched towards the door, until he was sitting on the edge and my entire body was hanging out of the open plane door (the scariest part, i think). next thing i knew, we were falling towards the ground. it was insane. i couldn't stop smiling the entire time. we free fell for about 30 seconds, and then the parachute opened and we floated down for about four minutes. it was such a high, and i absolutely loved it.

yesterday we had an interstudy excursion all day. we started out going to the district six museum - district six is an area in cape town that used to be filled with houses, but during apartheid, the houses were literally bulldozed down (because blacks and colored people lived there) and the people were forcibly removed from their houses and moved into townships. the area remains mainly desolate today, as most of the people who used to live there haven't returned. the museum was beautifully put together and interesting, but we only had a half an hour there so i didn't get to see as much as i'd like to, and i'd like to go back.

next, we went to langa township, where we took a tour led by our tour guide who is from langa. it was really eye-opening, as it was my first time in a township. as a whole, it wasn't in as poor of shape as you might expect, but it is still in stark contrast to anywhere else i've seen. most of the buildings are pretty run down, and the families live in pretty close quarters. our interstudy leader, ouma, gave us candy to give to the kids of the township. it is unbelievable how exciting this was for them, and how aggressive most of them were when it came to getting candy. they literally swarmed. the kids were so adorable, but it was really hard for me to look at them without flashing forward to their future, and what it might or might not hold for them. their experiences are so completely different from anything i've ever had to deal with. the whole setup of the township warrants a double-take, but then when you step back and think about why the township actually arose in the first place, it's almost unfathomable. many of the people who were forced to move there in previous decades were moved by the government because they were thought to be harboring contagious illnesses. 

the government is now building a series of "better" homes in the township, in the area along the highway. they hope to have them completed by 2010 so that when swarms of tourists come to the country for the world cup, that's what they'll see. despite the poor conditions, and the sad history, the township somehow wasn't as devastating as i thought it would be. as poor as some of them are, the people are resourceful and most seem happy. many of them have been given chances to move out of the townships, but they want to stay because they've developed a strong sense of community there. the kids that play in the streets are watched over by everybody, and because of the small sizes of the houses, people are outside talking to each other all the time. 

we left the township and proceeded on to robben island, an island about 12 kilometers off the shore of cape town that houses the prison where nelson mandela and other political prisoners were held during apartheid. our tour was led by an ex-political prisoner who spent seven years of his life at robben island. it was pretty amazing, and surreal to see it all - for example, there is a limestone quarry on the island where the prisoners were forced to dig rocks out and move them from place to place. after years of work, the limestone dust accumulated in their lungs, and the brightness of the light reflecting off the rocks led most of the prisoners to have permanent eye damage (flash photography isn't allowed to be used when nelson mandela speaks, for this reason). despite this, the prisoners secretly taught each other to read during their years toiling under the sun. to look at that quarry and try to grasp that nelson mandela himself had stood in that spot and secretly taught other political prisoners to read while performing manual labor for years on end was unbelievable.

it was a long day, but it was one of the most worthwhile days i've had here in a while. it was good to get out and actually see some things of historical and cultural significance. there is so much more i want to see and do here. and that is where my love of list-making comes into play.