I'll tell you about Saturday and Sunday, because those two days I think have been my favorite days on this trip so far.
On Saturday, the group woke up very early to check out of the hostel we were staying at in Cape Town. We were up so early because that morning we were going to hike up to the top of Lion's Head, which is a mountain that is about 2195 ft above the city of Cape Town. From the top of the peak, you can get a 360 degree view of the city. This hike is something that I've only dreamed about for the past year. Now I was actually going to be able to go up to the top and I was feeling a wide range of emotions: happy, excited, nervous, exhausted.
Here's a picture I took of Lion's Head. From this view, you can't really tell that it's a lion, but trust me when I say that it definitely is a lion. Google it if you don't believe me!
We were told before hand that this would be a relatively easy hike. In fact, and I quote, our academic director told us, "Five year olds do this hike all the time!" So I think, being from the Midwest were one hill is a big deal, oh no problem. I can hike up a mountain, if five year olds can do it, so can this 21 year old.
I think they must have been to Olympic athletes for five year olds because let me tell you, I have never done something as difficult as hike Lion's Head.
I like to think that I'm not afraid of heights. I've flown in an airplane at 36,000 ft, so surely I can hike up something that's a little over 2100 feet. Well, in an airplane you have the option of closing the blinds so you don't have to constantly see how high up you are. You don't get that option while hiking. You are forced to look all around you to see where you are going and where you still need to go.
Each step I took made me more and more afraid, but I knew that this was something I've never done before and something I may not have the opportunity to do when I go back home. So that alone made the hike up worth it. It took us about two hours to get to the top, but once we were up there, it made everything we did to get up there so worth it:
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| Me on top of Lion's Head! |
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| View of Cape Town from the top of Lion's Head |
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| On the edge of the mountain! |
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| Panorama of Table Mountain and Cape Town |
After the hike, we boarded the bus and drove to Langa Township to meet our host families for the next three weeks. I tried to go into Langa with zero expectations about where I would be staying, but of course I was worried. I didn't need to be. My host mama, Kholeka, came out to get me and gave me the biggest hug I have ever received. She gave me my Xhosa name, Thandeka or Thandi. That's a Xhosa name for "love" or "one who is very loved." Sometimes I catch them talking about me in Xhosa using my new name. But pretty much everyone speaks at least basic English so I can communicate no problem. They are also helping with my Xhosa!
Besides Mama Kholeka, there is her mama, my grandma, who is almost 90 years old! She is the matriarch of the family: she always is served food first and gets to sit wherever she wants in the house. I call her my Grandmama, but I'll find out what the Xhosa name for grandma is soon, Mama Kholeka has a daughter and a son, Zizipho is the daughter and she is about 24, and Simpiwe (we all call him "ToTo") is about 27. They both work during the day. Mama Kholeka has a sister named Nosipho and she's my auntie. My auntie has an eight year old daughter named Yondipha, who we call Yondi. She is a giant bucket of sass and has quickly become my new best friend. We do everything together. Yondi and my auntie live about two doors down from Mama Kholeka, so they are over at our house all the time.
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| Meet Yondi! |
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