can't already be 9 1/2 weeks can it?

Before I get to the details of what I've done for the past long ass time, just want to say that I am so appreciative of my family and friends for all of their support throughout this entire trip and throughout my entire life. At first, it was so so hard (as I mentioned in the first post), but ever since then, it has gotten even harder. And not in a sense that I am scared, homesick, etc. It's getting harder and harder because of the family and friends that I am making here. The friendships the are so short lived, but last a lifetime. That's what this entire experience is all about. 

6TH WEEK: not the greatest weekend start to this weekend. Friday and Saturday I was in and out of bed, waking up with the chills and a fever sweating all night. I did however go on the VACtivity on Friday to the Kalk Bay Caves and we pretty much army crawled through the caves once the hike was up. Once we got down, it was a relaxing afternoon with some mojitos on the beach with all the interns. Sunday I was feeling much better, not completely but it was enough to go explore Robben Island! We first took a bus tour around part of the island, which was alright. But the coolest part was actually exploring the prison and our tour guide being an ex-prisoner. He toured us throughout the entire prison, explaining to us the entire process from black prisoners to coloured, from the beds (realistically mats) that they slept on, the cells they stayed in, the food they ate, the place they worked, and so much more. But the much anticipated part was Nelson Mandela's cell was something different. A man that no one knew, but one man that affected so many lives.

7TH WEEK: This was an epic weekend. It was our turn to go on the Garden Route. Essentially it is the drive along the coast towards the Eastern Cape. Straight after work, was a 6 hour drive to our backpackers that we were staying at. Sketchiest drive into the hostel...no lights, just one sign from the main road. We drove into the wilderness, just us and the darkness. Lets just have a moment to talk about the WildSpirit Backpackers. Lets just say that it puts Portland hippies on a WHOLE new level. This place was out of control, and in a sense that there was no control. We could have left the place without paying a penny, but once you enter the WildSpirit Zone...it's just something different. Everyone acts as if they are high (which they probably area), 3 fat dogs just roaming the place, but probably some of the nicest people that I have met. We started off from the go! We visited Knysna Elephant Park and had a wonderful time interacting with a bunch of elephants. Had a great time with a TON of monkeys all over Monkey Land and Birds of Eden. Then we ventured on our first safari...on horseback! The only thing we didn't see were lions and leopards, but we saw the rest of the big 5! It was awesome...and then I also ziplined for the first time over waterfalls in the famous Tsitsikamma Forest! It was absolutely beautiful and a bit sketchy...but realistically what isn't? The following morning though...was the much anticipated Bloukran's Bridge Bungy!! It is the worlds highest bridge bungy at 216 m (approximately 706 ft)..and it was insane. Everyone is either pumped or pooping their pants, all the employees are dancing and having a good time, and one by one each of us go down! Let's just say that it may have been one of the scariest moments of my life, but also one of the very few times that I have just felt SO free. (LINK TO WATCH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8J1TIOvQIic ) But anyways.....then we went to an ostrich farm! Much cooler than we anticipated - got to watch the entire process, all the manufacturing and everything. and...we got to ride an ostrich! And that was one weekend, jam packed with so many things.

8TH WEEK: Relatively relaxing weekend..but we did have an EPIC braai! So the American BBQ and the South African Braai are two different things. Similar concepts, but the way South Africans braai is almost like another culture, as true BBQing is in the states. We had an EPIC HUGE braai with all the housemates and friends and a ton of people from VAC. And it was an AWESOME time. It's starting to get tougher and tougher to think about leaving as I get closer and closer to everything and everyone here. But enough of that pouting for now. The other big thing we did this weekend was hike Devil's Peak! So now I can say that I have hiked the big 3 in Capetown...Lion's Head, Table Mountain and Devil's Peak. Not only was it a hike, it was essentially a climb! Jumping from rock to rock and climbing to reach the summit. Beautiful views as it is from all the other places.
Heritage Day - was also another day that we did a different hike of Table Mountain, but before we get into that, this day is a national holiday, aka Braai Day (because everyone braais). On this day, was when the apartheid ended years ago, thus everyone comes together for epic braais and to celebrate. So what did we do?...we hiked Table Mountain in the morning and then we had another housemate braai in the afternoon and evening! but lets talk about this hike, because this hike was the most intense and insane hike that I have ever done. Climbing up chains, squeezing through crevasses, inching across rocks while we are traversing the side of table mountain. absolutely ridiculous.

9TH WEEK: VACtivity was awesome! Went SURFING for the first time and it was awesome! I managed to get up a few times...only to have it turn into a tragedy of me consuming a ton of salt water. But can't blame a guy for trying right?? It was so much fun though and I got over my fear of water quickly (if you guys didn't know, I have a slight phobia of open water), because I wanted SO badly to ride ONE wave! Unfortunately I wasn't able to - though I did catch a sweet wave on my knees..if that counts at all? Oh long street..what have you done. Another weekend full of some crazy adventures and our wonderful butt munch Shawnae has her golden birthday! Started off the weekend with a beautiful birthday dinner which turns into a lot of dancing on long street. What else do you need to do for birthdays? Saturday was just another chill day, we had an epic day planned out to go watching the South Africa Springboks play Australia! but some technical difficulties and we couldn't do it. No big though...as much as I would have loved to be there. But Sunday was another Mzoli's day!! except...SOOO MUCHHH MEEATTTT!! it was amazing! dancing, drinking, eating, and everything in between.



Anyways, sorry for the lack of pictures...I will get them up soon! But I wanted to post one before I leave for 10 days and delay this even more! Off to Botswana and Zimbabwe!! 

today is the one month mark!..when I started writing this a 1 1/2 weeks ago

Molo / Molweni! (hello! in Xhosa)...well I'm actually learning more Afrikaans than I am Xhosa. so..Hallo! can't say that my Afrikaans is coming well at all, half the time the kids are laughing at me when they are trying to teach me. But I am kind of learning all the slang that is making me fit in a little bit more :)  so if you catch a few things in my blogs, I apologize..sorry not sorry.

Let's be honest though, I hardly fit in at all here, and it's even more evident when my accent comes out. All good though. Most Asians you see here, are those tourists with big hats to block the sun and you can see them taking pictures EVERYWHERE (with no smile on their faces, except for the kids). A little stereotypical, but it is all true. And then you will also have the local Asians who typically own "China Shops", as they are known here. Not many of them, but you will see them on occasion. 

Less on that, more on some other big things I have noticed. Cape Town was a huge shock to me when I arrived...more or less. I had an image of Cape Town as this beautiful city, largely white-dominated society that flourished in all its resources....which is the case, but only to a small portion of Cape Town. Cape Town is an absolutely gorgeous city, South Africa is a breath-taking country. The largely white-dominated parts are only in certain parts of Cape Town, but much of what I have at least witnessed and experienced have been areas dominated by blacks and the coloured (I am considered coloured here or just asian). The segregation of whites, blacks, and coloured - the apartheid - that "ended" in the 90's, is still very much present in the current conditions. Having been able to drive through the townships and even go into a couple townships to have a braai (BBQ in SA terms) with the locals, is a truly different experience. The locals build their houses with whatever they can absolutely find, I have seen rooftops made of car hoods. There are so many electrical wires from one electric pole to get electricity. There are only a set number of communal porta-pottys for hundreds of families. There are large amounts of families that don't even have running water through their house. Not to mention the large amounts of gang violence and crimes that dominate much of the townships. Khayelitsha being the notorious for crimes and murders, Mitchell's Plain and Nyanga not far behind, but you really don't want to stick out like a sore thumb in a township, especially at night.
The past two weeks, one day after work we have gone to a local braai in Khayelitsha and Nyanga with our driver, who is a local and knows his way around. It was quite hilarious as drivers in Nyanga were stopping their cars to take pictures of us. All the kids are laughing and pointing with no manners whatsoever. All the teenage boys are hitting on our girls. It is really not too bad being in a township, but I don't think I would want to take my chances. Regardless, we are very fortunate to have what we have at home.



Anyways! The past weekend was probably the most epic so far.
4TH WEEKEND: So since our paragliding got cancelled last week, we had to skip the Friday VACtivity to go paragliding over Cape Town. We had to do a partial hike up Lion's Head and that was our take off point. These guys are strapping in these HUGE gliders and then hooking us up into them. All my instruction was...was to run and fast as I could off the mountain, and that is exactly what I did. The first step off was a huge adrenaline rush, that I am flying off of at mountain. But as my pilot was gliding up and down and around Lion's Head, it was one of the most peaceful things I have ever done. To top it off, it was at sunset. It is such a different view of the city and is something I'll never be able to experience again. // Saturday: SHARK CAGE DIVING was a full days adventure. They grabbed us in the morning and it was a 2 hour drive to Gansbaai (home of shark week!). So while everyone has been watching shark week at home...we have been living it! Pretty much the normal snack time, orientation, etc... and then SHARK TIME! They had us get into a
cage of 5 people and just chummed and lured in sharks towards the cage. Shawnae, Nikki, Joe and I were in the cage together...Joe and I came face - to - face with a great white and it may have been one of the most terrifying things ever, but it was one of the most majestic animals I have also witnessed. We spent a good amount of time on the boat, waiting for everyone else for a turn in the cage...I managed to also catch some sweet pics. // Sunday: Mzoli's braai in Gugulethu! Pretty much a huge tourist attraction in the township of Gugulethu. It is such a good time, and all it is, is braai, drinking, and dancing. You walk into the meat market with a HUGE array of meat to choose from, choose your meats, give it to the braai master, and then just wait and drink and dance until the meat is ready. Also, I didn't mention that the meat that fed 6 people only cost $20 total..so we ended up paying approximately $3.50 each person for a platter of meat. and it was amazing.

5TH WEEKEND: Friday: started off the weekend great with a beautiful visit to the most southwestern tip of Africa, Cape of Good Hope! Another great hike to go with it as well. The weather has been cooperating with us so nicely...rain during the week and sunny during the weekends. All in all - it was a great day with great company. The evening however...that was a night of MANY selfies. It was our good friend, Melyssa's, last weekend and she wanted to go out with a bang. Lets just say that the entire night was full of wine and selfies // Saturday:  ...recovery day - great breakfast at Old Biscuit Mill and went to Mount Nelson Hotel for High Tea. We gorged on delectable bite sized finger food, a desert buffet, and an unlimited amount of tea. It was so nice and the hotel was gorgeous.

// Sunday: celebratory day for Joe's birthday! We ended up doing an epic hike up Table Mountain. We started at the Kirstenbosch Gardens and the trail up is called Skeleton Gorge. Pretty much 3 miles up Table Mountain and another mile or so across to take the cable car down. It was a brutal hike. . . pretty much nature's version of a stair master x 983242 but it was such a fun hike. After the first half of brutal steps, we all had to navigate our way up and around miniature waterfalls. Once we got to the top, it was unreal...just as every hike here has been. To see the things that we overcome just shows what we are really able to achieve. And we ended the birthday day with a wonderful dinner at our favorite South African restaurant, Cafe Ganesh!

more coming soon!

a bit late to the start...

so obviously I am a bit late on this...but I have decided to start blogging my adventures in South Africa. this first post will be a tad bit long since I've already been here for 2 1/2 weeks. all good though.

#OMGSA

I don't even know where to start, the anxious night before I left? the endless 20+ hour travel time to Cape Town? Let's just say that the first two weeks that I have spent in Cape Town has been nothing short of one of the biggest life lesson's that I have been through. I have felt every emotion from crying up a hell storm to laughing my ass off and everything in between.

I'll be honest, the first week was really, really tough..and it still is. I always knew that the first big trip away from home would be hard, but I didn't expect it to be this hard. Living in a house of 16 others and not knowing one of them, living in a beautiful city and country, all on my own (with the help of some wonderful classmates) is exhilarating and terrifying all at the same time.

My time here so far has been amazing. My roommates have been awesome and there are a ton of them...16 did I mention?? But realistically, my 3 classmates have been keeping me on my toes and am so thankful that I have them here..travel girl gal pal Nikki, Ranger Joe, and butt-munch Shawnae-nae. We are all doing our clinical internship for physical therapy school through a company called Volunteer Adventure Corps..VAC for short. They set up internships in Cape Town for students all over the world, so there are a ton of people here from the states and Europe.

The first few days was all about orienting myself to the area. Currently, I am staying in an area called Observatory in Cape Town, South Africa. It is a really cool area with University of Cape Town just around the corner, downtown Cape Town just a short taxi away, but still a quick scare with everyone saying that there was a stabbing down the street a few nights ago and that a friend just got held at gun point! and one of our VAC interns got jumped the other night too! but as long as we have the buddy system, it's all good.

Besides that, everything else is great! I am currently working as a physiotherapist (cool right?) at EROS School for the Cerebral Palsied. My first day of work, I was given the 7 children that I will be responsible for, for the next 10 weeks. It is so interesting to see the differences of how physical therapy students are taught here compared to home in the states. But I knew it was going to be different, that was one of the main reasons why I came. The children here are absolutely great. They always see me with a smile, most of the time in disbelief. Every child that looks at me, looks at me as if they have never seen an Asian in their life! It's quite hilarious and I have been given multiple names at the school - Uncle Evan, Teacher Evan, Evan me bru (bro in Afrikaans), and Jackie Chan. Realistically though, that's the look that I have been getting by all the locals. Back to the kids though- they have been wonderful. Every child that I work with has some form of cerebral palsy, but they are all different and unique in their own ways. They LOVE coming to physio sessions, because to them, it is play. I would say that most physical therapy dealing with the pediatric population has to deal with play, you can't necessarily ask a child to do 3 sets of 10 repetitions of "x y and z". PT with children requires creativeness and play in the session. But for these children, it just feels so different for some reason, and it is so hard to put into words.

As far as experiencing Cape Town, we have already done quite a bit, but it feels that we still have SO much to do. Every person that we meet suggests something new, so our list just keeps getting longer and longer. and my food list is pretty much just as long as my to do list. be on the look out, I will most likely end up writing a blog of the food that I eat here as well.

Petting a Cheetah!

Anatolian Shepherd

Wine tasting in Stellenbosch

FIRST WEEKEND: CHEETAHS!! the internship company that we are going through, Volunteer Adventure Corps (VAC), host a VACtivity every Friday where they take all their interns on an activity. They took us to a cheetah sanctuary where we were able to pet cheetahs! These animals were so majestic, and the babies were adorable. We also saw Anatolian Shepherd dogs, which make my two pups look tiny (keep in mind that my two pups are 90 and 120 lbs). I will get one eventually and it will be great! Next we went to Triggerfish Brewery for some beers. When you have been spoiled like we have been in Oregon with our beers, it's just not the same. Beer here has not been up to standard, but we've found a couple that are alright // Saturday night we ended up going wine tasting and grabbing some pizza! The food here is AMAZING...I'll probably end up writing a blog on the food eventually. But the wine here is pretty damn good, though I am no wine connoisseur, and it's super cheap. // Sunday I ended up just relaxing and getting to know the area a little bit more. I did a bit of grocery shopping and just relaxed before the first day of clinic!



SECOND WEEKEND: epic adventure filled weekend. VACtivity on Friday was hiking Chapman's peak, which was absolutely gorgeous! It pretty much looks out onto the ocean where the Atlantic and Indian ocean meet. There really is nothing more beautiful than sitting atop the peak of a hill? small mountain? just over looking the entire bay. // on Saturday, we rented a car to go visit Simon's Town and Fish Hoek to see the African Penguin Colonies! They are adorable little buggers but there aren't too many left, shame man. Anyways, we also had some damn good fish n' chips and tried to venture out to Cape Point, the most south western point of Africa, but it wouldn't have been enough time. So instead, we went to Nordhoek Beach and stopped there for the Sunset, which could not have turned out any better. It ended even more perfectly when we saw a whale's fin wave up in the sunset! // Sunday was the night of the supermoon! We decided to do another hike, except this time up Lion's Head in the evening, to watch the sunset on one side, and watch the moon rise on the other. It was an absolutely spectacular view and over looking all of Cape Town at night was amazing. Though there were hundreds of people going up and down, which made it take too damn long. But the view was totally worth it.

View of Cape Town on top of Lion's Head with the Supermoon, Devil's Peak, and Table Mountain

THIRDWEEKEND: VACtivity for this week was sailing out in front of the waterfront! It was absolutely gorgeous out and it was my first time sailing! It was a lot of fun and I would love to do it again sometime in the future. There is something about being out on the water that puts me at peace. Although I am scared of open bodies of water, being on the water it just a different experience. I hardly talked to anyone but just enjoyed being out on the beautiful ocean. Just reminiscing on everything, it was great. // Saturday went to our first rugby game ever! and it was a big one too. Pretty much it was two big provinces playing against each other...Capetown vs. Johannesburg...DHL Western Province (CPT) vs
Vodacom Blue Bulls (JHB). It was a lot of fun and rugby is brutal as hell! I wonder how NFL vs Rugby players would go...it would be an interesting match up for sure. // Sunday we were planning and hoping to go paragliding!! but the winds were blowing in the wrong direction so we ended up having to reschedule it for another time. Instead we went to Camps Bay and just stayed at the beach all day. It was actually very relaxing and just what I needed to end the weekend.




Until next time. . .