Anna enjoying final weeks/reflecting on harsh realities

It’s now the second week in April, meaning our time in Cape Town is rapidly coming to a close.  As sad as I am to know we’re leaving so soon, our impending departure has provided motivation to go out and make the best of the time we have left.  For me this has meant leaving Mowbray to experience a little bit more of the areas around us.

Last weekend a group of us decided to take the train to Simon’s Town to see Seal Island.  Seal Island is essentially a small rocky island completely covered with seals.  It has been featured on Shark Week on the Discovery Channel and on the series Planet Earth, mainly because it also functions as a feeding ground for great white sharks.  When we first got to the dock, none of us really knew what to expect.  Soon we were ushered in to a tiny boat, really more of a life raft, and given rain coats.  We took off towards the island, spray in our faces, with the beautiful coastline and mountainsides disappearing behind us.  After about a fifteen minute boat ride, which really felt more like a rollercoaster, we were approaching Seal Island.  No more than two minutes after we arrived alongside the island, a twelve foot great white shark leapt out of the water no more than five feet away from us to attack a piece of seaweed it thought was a seal.  The entire experience was incredible.

The next day some of us decided to start off the morning at the Neighbourgoods Market in the Old Biscuit Mill not too far away.  The market is full of local traders, farmers and food vendors selling delicious and relatively cheap meals and goods.  It is definitely a bit of a sensory overload but the food is so fresh and delicious that I always leave stuffed.  After breakfast/lunch, Brenna, Leanne, Tom, and I went to a soccer tournament our friend Bongi’s teams were playing in.  The teams recently received a ton of slightly used cleats from Tom’s hometown, and I was awed to see their amazing foot skills on the field.  Unfortunately the difference in racial classification and economic status of the different soccer teams participating in the tournament was still glaringly obvious.  To some extent activities like soccer can provide somewhat of an equalizer, but there will always be teams with better equipment, more support, and more resources for transportation or even halftime orange slices.  Bongi’s dedication to coaching the teams is beyond inspiring, I just wish there was more I could do besides provide an audience and the occasional donation.

So the beat goes on.  Life in Cape Town continues to exist in two irreconcilable worlds for me – the incredible experiences we are privileged enough to be able to afford and enjoy, and the realities of poverty and marginalization we experience at our internships and inside of local communities.