Hike and a half!!!

Today I woke up exited to finally be out and be active. Today was the day that we were to be led up the Table Mountain Range by a hiking guru Ivan. At the begining a few people were struggling and our team work was not visible at all. The terrain was rough and totally up hill for over 2 hours, tough at times and I have some awesome pictures to prove it. Once making it to the top the most rewarding feeling came over me as with every other hike ive done. This one was more special because it was a totally different envioronment then im used to. The rocks are different, the brush is different and the views are like nothing i can ever explain, completly breath taking. At the top we were told to find a spot and seclude ourselves from each other and think about the hike we had just completed. We were asked to think about which you believe matters more, the journey or the destination. How the hike relates to our life. We had an hour to just sit in nature and think about life, it was the most relaxing time of this whole trip that ive had, it was amazing!!!
The hike down was an adventure in itself, it was tough because a majority of the climb up was straight up. Some people were nervous getting down so it backed up a line which was difficult because for me it is harder on my knees to take little steps than it is to walk at a normal pace. We all got down eventually and I have some scrapes and a swollen knee to remember the trip oh and allong with the most amazing pictures of the whole trip. Today I learned that our group really has an issue with teamwork which is unfortunate but it will all be over soon so I can be back with the people that I work well with!!!!
Ill update the rest of the week soon. Boring day of meetings tmw. Maybe off to a real Braai with Donovan tomorrow while hes in Cape Town!!!!!!
Night,
Meganne

Class and Research

The first thing we talked about in class this morning was clarifying that everyone had the professors numbers in case of emergency.
We covered the logistics of shark cage diving for tomorrow including when to eb on the bus, who should take dremamine, and what the day would consist of.
We discussed the 5 stages of group dynamics, forming, storming, norming, preforming, and adjurning. We also concluded that our group is still in storming stage :-/
During class we also did a short personality test. I turned out to be an East, Im detailed and have to have a plan for everything before moving on. Amber turned out to be a north, wants to get things done asap. We complement each other so well as partners. During camp we were able to balance out eachothers strengths and weaknesses. For example, if we were in a rush to get something planned Amber could take the lead and get it done while convinsing me that it would work out without a deffinite plan. By taking a look at this we also analyzed our campers in regards to this personality test. We concluded that Yvonne was a west, dreamer, joanne was a north, get it done, and Lindo was a south, caring. so we had a mix of personalities but did not seem to have much clashing.
At 11:00 we headed out by bus to the Cape Town fan park to do some research on the International perceptions of South Africa.
Once we had completed all 12 surveys Amber and I grabbed some food and drinks then headed out to Green Market Square for yet some more shopping! And in search for a necklace thats pendant is the shape of africe with 3 figures inside. Greenmarket Square is a large area where people set up tents to sell their products. We bartered with some people but didnt succeed in getting the prices we wanted so we moved on. At about 4:20 we found a cute stand with jewlery that was already reasonably priced so we took a look around, mind you we had to get on the bus at 5. Amber ended up being able to take the prices down incredibly, she left with 2 necklaces and two bracelets for only R200 roughly $30.With only minutes to spare Amber spotted the necklaces we had been looking for all day. I tried to stop her because I thought she just wanted to look at more jewlery. We left the tent with 2 africa necklace for R250, not bad considering they are sterling.
Back to Wellwood for dinner and internet!

Week at Rocklands Centre

Monday-
We arrived at camp at about 11 and settled quickly into our orientation cabins before meeting the rest of the Solid Ground team. The day was a bit chilly and there was tea and biscuts (my fav!)waiting for us when we got to the lounge area. Shaun and Vyan, who run the camp introduced us to their team, marius, kirk, and tessa before having a quick brainstorm and lunch. We got the opportunity to face some fears and work on group dynamics by trying out the rock wall. Everyone did an awesome job and got all the way to the top, even both of our professors. Instead of being shy like I usually am in new surroundings I decided to tell Shaun that I have experience in belaying to see if he would let me help out the team during the week. HE was thrilled and had me show him what I could do, he was impressed to see that the training is the same internationally. We ended the day with an amazing braai, south african BBQ, of chicken sausage and assorted salads. Time for a good nights rest before the campers arrive.
Tuesday-
8:00 breakfast, French Toast!!!!! Thats a first.
We all brought our stuff into the cabins that we were assigned to for the rest of the week and settled in before the campers started to arrive around 10. We were expecting around 60 campers, unfortunately only 35 showed up. This in the end was a blessing we had a few that were hard to keep track of. We all met as a group and the JWU students put on a small welcome dance for all the kids, they loved it. The campers were divided into their countries, cabins, and we went off to get everyone settled. Our girls were great, they all wanted to be at camp and learn and do as much as the could from the short amount of time they had there.Camp photos were by cabin infront of our flags, our country was Switzerland. Tea break came next where we made braceltes in our group color, white. The girls got to know each other and us during this time. Freetime was pretty much a free-for-all where all our girls split up and joined their friends from school. Lunch was great, burgers and fries! We shared some icebreakers with the kids after lunch in the sports hall.
We broke into two groups and worked as a team to get a hulla-hoop around the circle with out letting go of eachothers hands. The first time it took quite a bit of time for the kids to grasp how to get the hulla-hoop around, once they caught on it only took 2min to get it around roughly 25 people. We broke for tea, again, then enjoyed more icebreakers such as the human knot and trust falls. We decided it would be fun to teach them how to play kickball. Everyone caught on quickly and had tons of fun playing until supper. The group of leaders met with Shaun and Vyan after supper to reflect on the day and solve any problems we found during the day. This was a great idea that I was surprised was scheduled into each day. I enjoy bing able to recieve and give feeback and meeting with Shaun and Vyan everyday was a great way to achieve this. A movie and popcorn was on the schedule for evening activity. Popcorn was homemade and the movie was "Cool Runnings", about an olympic Jamaican Bobsled Team. A great choice for teachig kids more about leadership, strength, and courage. Our group chatted after the movie about what they saw. Yvonne was eager to look further into the movie and give her thoughts. The others, Lindo and Joanne, seemed to sit back and let Yvonne do all the talking. We urged them by asking which character they would relate themselves
with, this helped them open up a bit.
Cocoa and Biscuts, then bedtime. All the girls showered before bed. Amber and I were thrilled with this because it meant we would be able to wake up later and shower ourselves in the morning.
Alarm at 7

Wednesday-
To our surprise the girls wanted to shower in the morning as well. They didn't mention this until both Amber and I had finished and it was already 7:15. Breakfast was at 8, we made it on time but without much to spare and a lot of pushing the girls to move faster when getting ready. Needless to say we will be waking up earlier tomorrow. We were spoiled with French toast this morning. Rotations of activities began at 9:00. Activities included, climbing wall, crafts, first aid, and concert prep. I was stationed at the climbing wall with Kirk so I can't explain to you what the other activities were like. From the sound of it everyone had a blast throughout the rotations. I enjoyed being at the climbing wall belaying for the first 4 hours of the day. I was totally in my element. I enjoyed helping the kids face their fears and get all the way to the top. At the begining of each session Kirk would do a short briefing with the kids with analogies of the wall being their life and all the safety rules. The last rotation Kirk had me give the speech. This gave me an idea of my leadership skills and proved to me that I could run the wall by myself. I will deffinately take this away with me and utilize it back at home where I work the adventure program at Lake Greeley Camp.
After lunch the Reptile Man came and gave a presentation on snakes. It was cool to see what kindof snakes live in South Africa. A lot of people were afraid and I was impressed with how many people would volunteer to hold the snakes even though they were unsure. I took a picture with a 6' Iguana. Once the snake man left we all gathered and took a hike up the mountain. It started off really well. It was sunny out the trail was fairly dry and everyone was in the group. It started spitting so Kirk, who was leading, decided we should take the
short cut instead. SInce we had already passed it the group was told to turn around and follow Tessa. Some people assumed this meant go back the way you came so the group got a bit split up. Everyone eventually figured out that we were going a different way and saw where to go. At a muddy section one of our leaders and his camper stayed to help people get past. The group was really spread out at this point. Amber and I stopped to take pictures at the top of a huge boulder. All the leaders met breifly with Shaun to quickly brainstorm which electives to do and how to best control how the kids decide where they want to be. We all agreed on soccer, kickball, human foozball, and chill zone. The kids had to pick one and stay there for the duration of the time before supper.
Supper was a traditional Braai which I have explained earlier.
Evening activity was a talent show. Our girls came up with a skit about accepting everyone.
Cocoa and Biscuts then Bedtime!
Alarm 6:30

Thursday-
We did a lot better this morning getting ready. We were first to breakfast. The initiatives (low ropes) course began at 9:00. Each leader was either manning a station or traveling around with a group of kids during this time. I was at a station called Break Out, where the group is a family of ants living in a house that had just been raided and the need to crawl on the washing line and over the wall to safety. I found that the groups that had guys in them just went for it and planned as they went along while the groups of all girls planned first and adjusted the plan to what wasn't working. I only found one group that did not think out how to get everyone over the wall. They just went for it and forgot to plan for how they were going to get the last person over. During breaks Donnie and I completed our station with some help from Shaun and Vyans oldest son (9), he gave me a boost to get up over the wall.
During tea Amber and I distributed face paint to each group so they could support their country for the upcoming game of human clue. The game was a lot of fun but Im not sure all teh kids really understood the concept of the game. It was a trial run so we knew it wouldn't be perfect. Our group had some girls that tried really hard to not have to play, they tried asking to use the toilet expecting us to let them go alone, but we saw right trhough it so we went as a group. Unfortunatly this didn't solve everything, A lid of a toilet got flung off and crashed on the floor. Apparantly this happens easily.
Lunch was awesome mac & Cheese.
We then had another presentation, this time on birds. More people were excited about this one, though some did scream when the birds would fly close to them. My favorite bird was an owl named goggles.
Tea break/meeting, we met with Shaun to figure out what would best fit the schedule next. We decided on taking a walk down to the beach until supper then doing a personality test. The walk to the beach was about 30 minutes. Once at the beach the kids could walk around and explore. I found some seaglass and some cool shells. There were a few penguins hiding in little caves walking out on the rocks to jump into the water. They were soooo cute.
After dinner we staying in the dinning hall and took a short personality test before heading up to the forum for certificates and the drum cafe. Each camper recieved a certificate stated they had completed a week of leadership at rocklands centre.
The Drum Cafe is an interactive drumming session. Each person gets their own drum and the band teaches you how to play. It was a lot of fun and was great to learn something cultural. A couple of my campers fell asleep though so after they were wide awake and decided they did not want to be the good quiet girls anymore. I had to ask them multiple times to get the cocoa and take it to the cabin. Amber and I wanted them in bed because we hadnt had time to pack up and we needed to leave in the morning at 8:30. This was the only time that I lost my temper with my girls. There was no way to get them to listen, one of them actually decided that she wanted to hide from us which made matters worse making us think we had a lost camper. We finally got them into bed and asleep by 11:30.
Alarm 6:00

Friday!-
We woke everyone up at 6 so they would start packing while others were showering and vice versa. We were the second group to get to breakfast. At 8:30 both groups got onto their buses and headed for the ferry to Robben Island. The ferry left at 11:00 and we were touring the island by 11:30. Our tourguide was a man that had been imprisoned on the island. He gave a lot of information but I was so over tired and a lot of it was so dry that I did not get much out of the trip. It was stunning to see how small Nelson Mandela's jail cell was, about 5X5, And where they worked in the quarries. After the tour we headed to V+A waterfront to watch the USA vs. Slovenia game at Quay Four, a local bar. It was packed with people, mostly England fans that had been there all day awaiting their game starting at 8:00. Unfortunately we tied 2-2. We met people from the states and joined them for a few drinks before we left at 8:30 for wellwood. We were told to meet at the V+A parking lot we had met at before. Somehow in the trek to the bus Katie, a fellow student, was left behind. We waited and searched for her for almost an hour. As the bus was pulling back into the parking lot after driving around looking we recieved a call that katie was safely back at Wellwood. I was so proud that she thought quickly to find help and get herself back to Wellwood via taxi instead of waiting helplessly around for an hour and being left in Cape Town alone.
We got back to Wellwood at about 10:45 and went straight to bed.
Class Tomorrow

Class time and Rocklands Planning

About half of us showed up to breakfast this morning. Which wasn't a surprise since we didn't get in until 2:15 and most people were out drinking until 1. I am getting pretty sick of not getting a full nights sleeps whether its because i was forced to go out or because i am being woken up by people coming in late. There needs to be some serious structure changes!
Class started at 10 and we had a discussion about group dynamics and attitude. I felt like i was being blamed for the group not working together or being on time or respecting everyone. I'm not sure how others felt nut I definitely wasn't in the best mood throughout this conversation. We broke off into groups of four to do an activity that represented the 7 steps of management. We were given 35 cups, assigned a leader, observer, and two workers to build the tallest and strongest structure out off the cups in 5 minutes. The catch: only the leader could talk, the workers were blindfolded and the only ones who could touch the cups, and the observer watched and took notes. Our group worked together the best with no frustrations or complications while building.
We met as a group at noon to plan out our week ahead at Rocklands Camp. It was successful and we got our schedule planned out and we are meeting later tonight to come up with a welcome show for the campers on the first night. We are finalizing everything after dinner tomorrow and we head off for Rocklands at 11am Monday morning. There is no Internet access so I may not be able to blog until next Saturday, bummer, but I'll keep a journal no worries.
Talk to you soon,
Meganne

WINELANDS TOUR

Our first stop of the day was The House of J.C. Le Roux who is a major producer of sparkling wines in South Africa. We had a brief tour of the facility including the production line. We got to try 5 different varieties of their Sparkling Wines. There wasn't a one that wasn't delicious. They all had the perfect amount of bubbles and the perfect range of sweet and tartness. Amber and I went a little crazy buying bottles but we couldn't resist the prices were sooooo good. About $7 a bottle. It is such an easy gift for friends. The only issue is how to get it all back to the states. Wont worry about that right now. Today was definitely a relaxing day to explore new areas and taste amazing wines. We stopped in Stellenbosh for lunch and some shopping around. Amber and I had brought snacks along with us so we wouldn't have to spend money on lunch. Unfortunately this just gave us more time to shop, I didn't buy anything that I didn't believe was needed. I got some amazing paintings at a little tent fair and some cool salad spoons.
Our last stop was at Solms Delta. The setting was amazing!!!! We all sat at a long picnic table with a view of the vineyard. We sampled 5 different wines there, each was very different from the other. They were all good just nothing stood out too much to me.
Dinner was back at Wellwood
A group trip was planned on Wednesday to go to the casino tonight. It is an hour away an we were planning to leave wellwood at 7:30 and the casino at 2:00. Looong day.
When the time came to leave Amber and I were not in the mood to go out. We weren't told about this until arriving so neither of us didn't pack clothes for this type of event. Apparently since we all requested trips like this we were forced to go out and stay up until after 2 am. Since I was already getting sick this really pissed me off, I should be able to decide for myself whether or not it is good for my health to be out and about, which it definitely was not a good idea. We decided to make the best of it and went ice skating and bowling while most everyone else went drinking and dancing. When the time to leave rolled around we were waiting for two people and it was decided by the professors to leave them and since they are adults they can find their way back to Wellwood. My argument to this is that if they can make the decision to be late and fend for themselves for a ride why cant I make the decision to stay in and sleep. Tonight started a whole discussion on how if we all want to have a good time and get the most out of our trip we are going to have to step up and lead ourselves and start sticking together on decisions.
Hopefully no more drama to come,
Meganne

Sports Day

Woke up with a sore throat this morning. Everyone seems to be getting sick, I'm praying this is just allergies but I'll have to get a lot of sleep the next few days to stay healthy.
Today we got the opportunity to see the Rugby Museum, a high-tech health gym, and a local cricket stadium.
Even though I'm not a big sports nut it was still interesting to see how another country runs their sports and fitness. I was amazed by the gym, it had the best equipment, a pool, fitness instructors, they even give you a personal fitness test when you first sign up. I would love to find a gym like this at home but I bet it cost hundreds a month.
I don't understand cricket at all but it was cool to see the stadium. It was sunny today so I just enjoyed being in the sun for the first time this trip.
After a quick lunch we met with the organizers of Two Oceans Marathon and Agus Cycle Tour. It was fascinating to learn about all that it takes to put on a large event like these for a community. These event draw in participants form all over the world. Even though I'm not a runner, Stefanie inspired me to make it a life goal to complete a marathon.
Winelands Tmw!!!
Meganne

First Township Visit

First off I will explain what a township is. A township is what we would think of as a shanty town in the Great Depression. A plot of land is cluttered with little shacks that are constructed of any building material that could be found. The people that live in townships are living in poverty. When I would think of poverty in Africa I would imagine the commercial that asks people to sponsor starving children. I don't want you to think I am saying that townships aren't bad to live in but the commercials show us the absolute worst part of them. The people are always happy and proud to be South African. In all legal townships each shack has electricity and running water which they don't have to pay for. They are better off than the commercials depict but nowhere close to acceptable.
Masiphumelele is a township in Cape Town that houses 25,000 people but should only house 15,000. The unemployment rate in Masi is over 50%, therefore most children cant even afford to wear new school uniforms which go for about $50 each. We had the opportunity to visit one of the schools in Masi. We visited with the second grade. They were so well behaved while sitting in class. We had the chance to interview a few of the kids to put in a video about our trip. The kids all filed into the hall and immediately pummeled anyone they felt like for a hug and a picture. They were fascinated by everything we had from pamphlets to cameras. They loved being able to see a picture of themselves immediately. the smiles on their faces are still engraved into my memory and probably will be for the rest of my life.
More townships to come,
Meganne

Khayelitsha Day 2

We woke up and had tea and donut like pastrys before packing up and leaving Vicky's.
We headed out to the District 6 museum to see what it was like to be forced out of your house and into segregated areas in a short time. It was shocking to learn that once segregated into different areas the different groups werent even allowed to associate with each other. I couldnt image living in a world where you couldnt talk to friends you have had for years just because they were a different color than you.
We had an early lunch today since we didnt have much at Vicky's. We had about 45 minutes to grab something before we had to meet with the City of Cape Town's Communications Department where we got to learn the ins and outs of planning for a FIFA World Cup. I wasnt aware that it takes over 4 years to get it all sorted out.
It was finally nice enough outside to go up Table Mountain. It was about 35 degrees at the top but well worth it. The view of the city from that high is incredible, unfortunately the cloud cover comes in really fast so it can ruin some pictures. dont worry though I got a few. There is a little cafe/restaurant at the top where you can grab a coffee to warm up.

Khayelitsha

Day one of our overnight township experience.
Khayelitsha is the second largest township housing over 1 million people. Many people live in the same type of shacks that I described before but some have actuall houses. Vicky runs a B&B out of her house year round.
When first getting to khayelitsha we toured the fan park that was organized within the township. A fan park is a place where people who couldnt get tickets to world cup games to watch them on big screens and get together to represent their country. I think it was a great idea to have a fan park within a township because than everyone can get a chance to witness the world cup no matter of your social status.
We met with Elise, a woman who volunteers within khayelitsha, to visit local schools and community centers. \when visiting the schools we brought along coloring books and lollipops to give to the kids. It was a rush to see how excited the kids got over a lollipop, something we think of as so simple and available to us.
We got to visit with an organization called Women for Peace where they served us an amazing authentic lunch and performed cultural dances. The teenagers that are involed gave us a short walking tour of the township to give us an idea of their life.
For dinner we headed over to Vicky's B&B. This is where the lifechanging experience really began. While waiting for dinner to be served we took another walking tour around a different part of Khayelitsha. There was a little girl that latched on to a couple of our students for the duration of the tour, we werent sure whos kid she was but she wanted to come with us for whatever reason, it was cute.
Dinner was another authentic meal which I wasnt really a fan of this time. I dont do well with spices so I didnt eat much. Everyone else seemed to enjoy it though. Vickys house only has 6 bedrooms so some people had to stay other places within Khayelitsha. I was deffinitley nervous to see if I would be one of those. Luckily Amber and I were assigned to stay at Beauty's next door, we werent comfortable with this and ended up sleeping on vickys couches which turned out well. Some people got sent to a random persons house, turned out to be vickys cousin, and ended up coming back because they werent comfortable witht the situation. We'll just say that some people got luckier than others  but we all got a shocking experience out of the night.
Meganne

Technical Difficulties

Hey guys for someone reason Meg can't post right now. She should be able to start posting again around Wednesday!! Sorry to those of you who have been following her on your trip!!

-Tammy