I am in shock about the fact that we have already been here for a month. The time is flying by! Everything has been going great and I am still as happy as ever. This weekend was great. After classes on Thursday, we planned to go see the opening of parliament in town which I was excited to see after doing my presentation on South African parliament and actually understanding it. But unfortunately, we missed the train we were supposed to take and by the time we got into town, the speech by president Zuma was already over. So we ended up staying in town and spending the rest of our night there which turned out great. On Friday, a bunch of us went to Muzinberg Beach again and I tried out surfing this time. I had so much fun! I was surprised when I was able to stand up and actually do it more than one time although I am still sore from it a few days later. I was skeptical to surf because of the great white sharks that are back and forth from the beach but with a lot of reassurance from my friends, I gave it a try and I am so happy I did.
Saturday, a few of us went to Claremont to do some shopping and then we spent the rest of the evening with each other outside, enjoying the beautiful day. I feel as though we (the people on this trip) get closer and closer every day which is something I love.
Today on Sunday, Meaghan, Kate, and I went with the nurse we work with at Beautiful Gate to her church. She had invited us to go on Monday and we were thrilled with the offer. It was nice because it was a catholic church and the 3 of us girls are catholic. I was very excited to see the similarities and differences between these churches and the way in which people practice. The church was in one of the townships called Nyanga and it is safe to say that we were the only three White people/Americans in the church. The mass was half in English and half in Xhosa but it was easy to follow along because there were many similarities between the churches. I found myself participating without even realizing it because there were parts exactly the same as back home. I was so happy to see that half way around the world, the catholic people practice so similarly and it made the experience truly special. Also, all of the people in the church were very happy to have us there. They shared their song books with us and showed us where we were at all times. During the offering of the peace, many people came up to us to shake our hands and say hello. It was nice to see such a close-knit community and to see the faith and hope that these people have. Towards the end of the mass, they asked us to stand up and introduce ourselves and say where we were from. It was amazing to see how accepting all of the people were and how happy they were to have us there. After the mass was over, many people came and introduced themselves to us personally and wanted to make sure we were enjoying Cape Town and to learn about us and how we were doing. The priest also extended his welcome and told us that we were always welcome and hoped to see us back before we left to go home. I think Meaghan, Kate, and I all agreed that we would love to go back. Being there brought a sense of home to me because of how similar parts of the mass were to mine at home and how welcoming and engaging the people were with us. After such a short time spent in that church, I had already felt a feeling of belonging there. I really loved the experience and plan to go again before I leave.
As I have said before, Cape Town continues to amaze me and I look forward to all the new things we are planning in our next 11 weeks here!
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