Sunday 4 March 2012

The Adventures Begin






Arriving in the dark, i woke up feeling rather disorientated this morning and unsure of what to expect for my first day. To my relief, i had nothing to worry about, as i was warmly welcomed by my fellow volunteers; Jess, Grace, Lance, Travis and Neil and the Grabouw community who i attending church with this morning.

This church was something different to what i have been used to; extremely lively and powerful. The church was not like a church as you and i would imagine, it was a downstairs room of somebody's house- which moments before the service lost power- so Travis was up on stage to play guitar, before we knew it. 

We then drove over the mountains to the french corner of Cape town, Franschhoek and enjoyed a LOVEY meal. Where i was confronted with the reality of the hard divide South African living, dinning in 5 star style and being called 'My Lady'. From there we headed to Stellenbosch, for afternoon tea at a cuban cafe, where Grace and I alerted waiting staff that there toilets were flooding as water rushed out of the wall and quickly towards our feet. 

After a long day, and still felling a tad jet lagged, we joined  Tim, Maz, Nana and Rodger around the camp fire for a cup of tea.

A truly wonderful fist day. 
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4 comments:

  1. Knightrunner4 March 2012 at 13:18

    Katia, So pleased you arrived saftly, A few hairy scary moments but your there and i know you will just Love it! Tim and Maz will be there for you(or else ther have me to answer too!!!! )And having Nana and Roger there will be so lovely too. They say the volentears as great so thankful you had a great 1st day of many im sure Love you lots Vicki Chris Faith and Joel XXX

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    1. katarzyna5 March 2012 at 07:52

      It was such a relief to see nana and Maz at the airport and to be welcomed with a hug. The orphanage is amazing but i do still feel a little out of step. Today i have done a craft inventory and saved some books which were in tatters. There were riots in the town today, so we were unable to do sports which was a shame, but the 3 of us girls went for a run and then got attacked by the kids with face paints. I can't wait to see you and faith in S.A and chris and Joel when i get to the UK. lots of love katia. xxx

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  2. Tony Dorcey4 March 2012 at 16:59

    Great to hear you have arrived safely and that you are enjoying your first glimpses of South Africa and the people with whom you will be working. I have visited Cape Town a couple of times while I was working as a mediator for the World Commission on Dams in 2000. Plu came with me on the second trip and we stayed in Stellenbosch for a week where we held our meetings. Afterwards we spent some time driving around the Cape - a really amazing experience and we hope to go back some day and spend more time in SA. Keep on blogging about all your experiences, we are looking forward to hearing ALL about them.
    Love from Zosia, Jeff, Plu and Tony

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    1. katarzyna5 March 2012 at 07:58

      Stellenbosh was a nice place, but it strikes me how areas with very little are so close to areas in which you think you are in a first world country. Despite some riots today and the men going on a snake hunt under the windyhouse, i feel very safe. The locals which i have met are so friendly and welcoming. I have been here 72hrs or there abouts now and i am slowly settling in, today was my first real day and i did the craft inventory and repaired books; there are so many donations, its wonderful. i will defiantly keep blogging away, Love katia. xx

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