Waking up Friday morning I was very excited to get the day underway! We first were going up to upper campus for a lecture with Steven again. There are really no words that describe this man. He began to give us a brief background on his life and I was completely amazed. His dad was a part of the ANC (African National Congress) and when it was banned in South Africa he was exiled from the country. Steve grew up all around the world and he made it out to be a pretty normal life style, however I found it far from ordinary. He told us how his house had been bombed twice, how he was constantly on the move, could speak 10 languages fluently, and how he has had his hand in just about everything. This man is full of knowledge and experiences that I would love to dig into. He told us how he and some of his friends had started a hostel called backpackers and all of the organizations he is a part of as well. He has gone to school at UC-Berkley and is now going to get his PhD in Geneva, Switzerland here in the near future focusing on China and South Africa and how conflict and resources are interrelated. After the lecture Jesse, Nate, and I went over to talk to Steve a little more and since it was Nate’s birthday we were in search of something to do for the night. He told us of a local band that was playing and said we should meet him there. More to come in a bit.
We then went down to Victoria Wharf to grab some food and head to Robben Island. After the Cape Point experience A few of us decided to buy some rain gear. I am pretty sure we were partially sponsored by Cape Storm with all of the gear we had on!
I have also finally decided I do not appreciate the rocking of boats on the water and definitely get sea sick so the 45 min ride to the island was NOT a pleasant one! Once there began our tour with a man who had been a prisoner at Robben Island for 7 years for bombing a government building. He was a very interesting man and I wish I could have had a one to one with him. We heard many things the prison in general and a lot about Nelson Mandela and his stay at Robben Island. Below is a picture of his cell.
Besides the history of the island and prison my favorite part was the absolutely gorgeous view of Cape Town and Table Mountain!
That night a few of us decided to go out for Nate’s birthday and meet up with Steve at the Assembly for the local band. Once we got there it was hectic! There was a 90 rand cover…roughly $13 for a concert…wow! All I can really say is that I am in love with everything that is South Africa! The music was absolutely amazing and the people were extremely friendly. I loved the wide array of different people represented there. There were young, old, male, female, white, black, short, tall and really everything in between. As my first real experience with South African night life it really left my dying for some more!
I want to end on a quote from Steve’s lecture earlier Friday. He said, “We need to take over for our parents because they messed up.” This was really in regards to AIDS/HIV and apartheid and how we now need to step up and be a generation of doing!
Cheers
We then went down to Victoria Wharf to grab some food and head to Robben Island. After the Cape Point experience A few of us decided to buy some rain gear. I am pretty sure we were partially sponsored by Cape Storm with all of the gear we had on!
I have also finally decided I do not appreciate the rocking of boats on the water and definitely get sea sick so the 45 min ride to the island was NOT a pleasant one! Once there began our tour with a man who had been a prisoner at Robben Island for 7 years for bombing a government building. He was a very interesting man and I wish I could have had a one to one with him. We heard many things the prison in general and a lot about Nelson Mandela and his stay at Robben Island. Below is a picture of his cell.
Besides the history of the island and prison my favorite part was the absolutely gorgeous view of Cape Town and Table Mountain!
That night a few of us decided to go out for Nate’s birthday and meet up with Steve at the Assembly for the local band. Once we got there it was hectic! There was a 90 rand cover…roughly $13 for a concert…wow! All I can really say is that I am in love with everything that is South Africa! The music was absolutely amazing and the people were extremely friendly. I loved the wide array of different people represented there. There were young, old, male, female, white, black, short, tall and really everything in between. As my first real experience with South African night life it really left my dying for some more!
I want to end on a quote from Steve’s lecture earlier Friday. He said, “We need to take over for our parents because they messed up.” This was really in regards to AIDS/HIV and apartheid and how we now need to step up and be a generation of doing!
Cheers
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