Spiritual Warfare Happens Daily; I chose God

CHRIS AUGUST - Battle lyrics


There's a battle between good and evil
And it's raging inside of me
There's a struggle, it's God and the devil
It's love against the enemy

Whoa, no
I'm not giving up now
Whoa

Life's a fight of wrong and right, that's tearing me apart
Oh, but what the cross has done
Yeah, the world will try to battle for my heart
But the war is already won

There's a snake that's hiding in the garden
There's a beautiful apple tree
There is trouble on the horizon
But I'm claiming victory

Whoa
I'm not giving in now
Whoa

Life's a fight of wrong and right that's tearing me apart
Oh, but what the cross has done
Yeah, the world will try to battle for my heart
But the war is already won, won, won

Whoa, whoa
I'm not giving in

Life's a fight of wrong and right that's tearing me apart
Oh, but what the cross has done
Yeah, the world will try to battle for my heart
But the war is already won, won, won


There's a battle between good and evil
And it's raging inside of me
There's a struggle, it's God and the devil.

Life is...

I realize these past two blog posts I have written have been a bit harsh. I am still learning here and sometimes my emotions get a bit haywire. For now though, can I please tell you all about the beauty I have found here? This past weekend my house along with about 10 more people went on a sunset sail, in celebration of our friend Sam's 21st birthday. Her dad had flown to Cape Town to celebrate both of their birthdays together in style. Sam is the type of person who I feel so incredibly grateful to have met because of her sweet spirit and funny personality. We all breathed in the ocean air, gasped at the views that were laid out in front of us and of course took pictures of the seals lounging on a buoy. Champagne was brought out for everyone and as we all clinked glasses in honor of our friendships, the sun painted the whole sky and ocean and city and mountains golden. It was a beautiful moment and an amazing time to build and strengthen the relationships of all who were among us. The stars and moon came up and twinkled down on us and the warm ocean breeze left me feeling so grateful for all of these people and this amazing opportunity. We headed back to the house and celebrated with cake from Charly's bakery and of course a terrible rendition of Happy Birthday. We all headed back into some cabs and went down to Long Street. It was my first experience going to Longstreet at night known for all of the bars on the street, it is supposed to have an incredible night atmosphere. I met some really interesting people and although it was a fun night, I'm glad for me it's only a once in a few weeks type of thing, it's exhausting to stay up until 2 a.m!

I almost forgot! Friday I volunteered at the Ark again and although I was planning on working with the students in drama club, I ended up painting the base coat of the entrance near the Ark. We were told that it was burnt and blackened because at night, young girls sell themselves in the streets and in order for the men to see them, they burn large fires to catch the attention of many. Many times people at the Ark offer them a place to stay, and some warm food, but their offers are declined usually. We painted for four hours and something I've realized with painting is that you get instant gratification for the work you have done and it was so nice to step back and take a look at it all.

Sunday was one of my favorite days. My morning started off with Simon picking me up to buy a load of balloons. It was kind of him to drive otherwise I'm unsure of how I would've gotten there on my own. It was quite comical trying to shove all of the balloons in his car but somehow we managed. Last year, my friend Tessa was killed in a car accident, and as my way of honoring her, I invited all of my friends to write letters to people they've loved and lost, or just people who they feel distant from. We attached those letters to balloons and released them at sunset over Lake Michigan. It reminded me of how lucky I am to have the friends in my life that i do, and to appreciate everything for exactly what it is. I want to make it a yearly remembrance, and so I invited a few of my friends I have made here in Cape Town to come along. Though Sundays tend to be the busiest days of the week here with people going to church, or Mzoli's, or doing homework, I felt truly happy that anyone even came at all. We hiked up to Rhodes Memorial, I gave a short speech as everyone had prompted me to do so, and we all released the balloons while overlooking the whole city. Later that evening I had a few people message me with how meaningful it was to do something like that and immediately I felt Tessa's spirit again, reminding me that this is what life is about. Life is about the simple things like coming together with friends, honoring each other, loving each other, and watching the sunset. Life is about the simple pleasure of laying on the grass and looking at the sky feeling the breeze wash over your body. Life is about music, sounds that share feelings and emotions. Life is about smiling, just smiling. As much as I could type about what life is, I am leaving that for all of you to contemplate. What, truly, is life all about. Life is......

Hoping, Waiting, and Believing.

We live in a beautiful and broken world. Many times I don't understand it. I don't know why the boy in the gang has to murder to keep himself safe, I don't understand why teenagers don't go to school to keep their street rep, I don't understand the hardships that a person has to go through on a daily basis just to get food for themselves let alone others. No, I don't understand. I don't understand why I was given the life that I have been, traveling to places around South Africa that many people who live here haven't even gotten the chance to see. I don't understand how to process it all but I am gradually learning. I've learned that when a child sees balloons they will smile and their eyes light up. I've learned that the only form of fun one little girl may have will be to spend the day chasing the butterfly that is fluttering around the dust streets. I've learned that the David, the homeless man on the street, loves to tell his story, to someone who is willing to listen. I've learned that learning is a beautiful thing, but it is also difficult. It is difficult not knowing how to process what you have learned or seen as you may be dealing with things that are completely different from anything ever experienced, seen, or heard of before. I have learned that once I have learned something, I can never take that knowledge away. I want to share that knowledge with the world and yet, realize that some already know what I know, and much more, whereas others haven't had the same experiences as I have had. Each person comes into life with a different perspective shaped by experiences whether positive or not. We can all learn and grow from one another and I realized I have much more room to grow.

When speaking to one of my closest friends at home today, whom I love and cherish and truly respect and look up to, I realized the mistake I have made with my learning process. I want people to understand everything I have experienced that I haven't even looked at what someone else has to bring to teach me. Yes I have more room to grow, as does everyone, and who better to learn from then each other from our own different and yet similar experiences. I am not the same person I was before coming to South Africa, and I am thankful for that. I am also thankful to have the opportunity to come to this incredible place and learn from all that is in front of me. I am excited to come home and apply what I have learned to a place that seems so very far away from me at the moment. This world IS a beautiful place, and I intend to find the beauty in even the most broken of places, people, and experiences. I intend to find the hope that sometimes seems so far away. I don't intend to change the world. That would be a bit ambitious of me. No I won't change the world but I expect the world to change me. If it doesn't then what have I learned from my short time here? The world is what it is, and if I can let my positive ways of thinking have an impact on just one person, and if I can bring a smile to one persons face I feel as if I have done my job. For our greatest duty is to love and be loved in return, giving and receiving, the circle of life, love, and all that jazz ;)

A quote that I received today proved as a reminder of two very important things I am coming to terms with here, patience, and faith...or as alexander dumas puts them, waiting and hoping. “All human wisdom is summed up in two words,-wait and hope.”
-Alexander Dumas’s
We wait for progress, change, answers, love, people ect. and we hope for the best. We hope that we CAN make a difference. We hope for a better world. We hope and hope and hope and eventually the spread of hope ignites this passionate fire where hope turns to action and change starts to happen.

From a hopeful believer in the goodness of this world,
sending my love to you all, here there and everywhere.
<3 mia <3

Living and learning through frustrations.

There are many things I have learned here so far. I have realized that there is no way I could ever go back to being the person I was before this trip. I have grown in ways that I didn't expect and have learned more from life experiences than I could ever get in my classroom. I am about to list a bit of my frustrations that my friends and I here have discussed. We also admitted to falling into at least one of these frustrating misconceptions before arriving in South Africa.

Frustration Number 1- Short term missions trips. People coming to some country in Africa expecting to help and change the world. This is frustrating because it is condescending to the people here, and many times when one is attempting to help someone here by bringing western ways into the world, or just giving up some of their time to volunteer it can end up leaving the people worse off. I have learned from many experiences and conversations here and have realized how necessary it is to do a fair share of research on the outcome of one's intentions. I do believe that one person can make a difference and help, but making it seem like you are better than the person you are helping is never the right way to go about things. You never know how much someone else can help you until you change your perspective and be open to new ideas and new people and new cultures.

Number 2-The term 'The Real Africa' and the categorization of Africa as a whole. First off Africa is a continent and not a country. Secondly, you cannot say something to the extent of "African men do this..or African people behave like this...African women live like this.." that is such a mistake that many people have made here and need to be aware that putting that big of a generalization on something as different as people and places is a huge no no, and is also very offensive.

Number 3-Having many people here judging America solely on the country rather than the individual being spoken to. There have been many instances here where I have been associated with the American terrorist who killed 16 villagers in Afghanistan, as knowing celebrities and coming from Hollywood, as being obnoxious and loud drinking entirely too much, as not exactly knowing anything about the world outside of American culture and much more. Just as assumptions shouldn't be made about all South Africans, assumptions shouldn't be made about all Americans. Always get to know the individual.

Number 4-The spread of the Kony Video. It is frustrating to many people here that so many Americans have spread this video all over facebook and youtube, and many may not even be able to point to Uganda on a map. If you are passionate about the cause definitely get in touch with people from Uganda or even people here to know their perspective. When asking around, the most frustrating part to others is that what is trying to be stopped in Uganda and what has become such a big deal to many Americans, is happening all over the world, not just in Uganda. If you want to know more in this perspective, feel free to shoot me an e-mail and i can get you in touch with some of my friends here :)

Sorry if this is a venting session but I needed to get all of this down.

Human Rights Day

This past Wednesday was a public holiday (Human Rights Day) so classes were cancelled. I started the morning off at 8:30 a.m to grab some breakfast with my friend Eldi. Eldi is one of the sweetest girls ever and it had been awhile since we've caught up. I met Eldi through my homegroup here (bible study) and it was so refreshing to see her. We talked about what I have been struggling with in my faith and caught up on each others lives. Eldi offered some truly amazing insight with wisdom beyond her years. It was like a breathe of fresh air to get the chance to catch up with her.

I walked back to my house and attempted to clean my always messy room. Annie and Simon and I decided to go to Kristenbosch Gardens to spend the day lounging in the sunlight, on the freshly cut grass, with the beautiful mountains standing strong in the background. Due to the fact that Simon didn't want to pay, he took us an another one of his adventures, sneaking into the gardens through a hole in the fence. We hiked through this forest, where the strap to my shoe broke as i had expected it to do so, about three weeks prior. We reached the spot in the fence where the bottom had been pulled just a bit from the ground, not even noticeable to me. Simon pulled up the fence and we laid flat on our stomachs wiggling underneath, barely making it. Wires from the metal fence catching on our shirts and dust and dirt dying our shirts a different color. We then hiked through thick grass, passing spiders the size of my palm and fingers combined. The spiders were the scariest part about this whole adventure until Simon nonchalantly gives us a warning about what to do if we encounter a snake, that added to my already rushing adrenaline. We finally made it to a pathway and hiked to the actual gardens. Boy was I thankful we didn't have to go out the same way we came in. We walked through winding paths with trees brilliantly decorating the view, sunlight just peeking through the leaves. Blue and purple flowers looking straight from a Van Gogh painting. The beauty of this place cannot be captured in any pictures, nor written in words, it must be experienced, and experience it I did. Cartwheels on freshly cut grass, breathing in the scent of the flowers, basking in the sun with the breeze softly grazing my shoulders. It was a beautiful experience and our adventure had just begun.

Annie had a craving for a good book, and of course chocolate (I mean don't we all get those cravings from time to time?). So we walked out the exit, and back to Simon's car where we drove to Kalk Bay. A beautiful place with chill vibes. The ocean spray crashed against restaurant walls as street vendors laid out their craftily made artwork for all to see. We strolled into the Kalk Bay bookshop in search for the perfect book and as I looked around from book to book, from poetry, to South African literature, to children's books, I realized how much I have missed reading for fun, and how much I love bookstores. The opportunities for writers to tell their stories, is such a beautiful thing and to have the opportunity to read their stories is amazing. We stayed in the bookshop for quite awhile with the ocean breeze coming in from outside it was hard to pull ourselves away..until we caught the whiff of something else...a choclatey something else coming from the Olympia Bakeru right next door. Annie bought an apple crescent, and I held off buying anything as I knew my house was having a braai that night. After leaving we blasted some tunes in the car, admired the incredible view and I headed home for some braaing with the house :)

Freshlyground

On sunday, immediately after returning from Flamjangled, I journeyed to Kristenbosch botanical gardens with CIEE students. Here is a link to what Kristenbosch is. http://www.sanbi.org/gardens/kirstenbosch.
I felt like I was in a beautiful dream, wandering through the soft grass with vibrantly colored flowers surrounding every corner. How could I not mention the huge mountains towering in the background with the sunset kissing the sides of the mountains with the beautiful orange and yellow colors. We wove our way through the winding paths until we turned the corner only to glance at the hundreds of people spread out on the lawn preparing for Freshlyground. Many people brought blankets, wine, and cheese to set up their picnics. I sat with my friends Annie, Anna, Kelsey, and Mairead. Earlier during the day I stopped by a market and brought some fresh break to eat during the concert, and I also bought an appletiser to satisfy my thirst. It was the perfect summertime concert meal and as the sun started to dip down a chilly breeze swept through the concert arena, so my friends and I went close to the stage to warm up and dance.

Freshlyground came on stage and they blew me away. The music and band members were so full of life and freshness. Freshlyground did the song Waka Waka Africa with Shakira, and when they played that song everyone went crazy, laughing and jumping and singing. There was one point where the lead singer and I made eye contact and we pointed fingers at each other, what a great moment! Everyone was dancing to the amazing beats and freshness of freshlyground giving everyone a taste of amazing African flavorful music. It was an experience of a lifetime and I truly felt like I was in a dream. I bought a t-shirt and a cd and I cannot stop listening to the cd, it is so amazing. Here is a link to the band'

s website, please enjoy in the amazing sounds of this truly unique,and vibrant band!!!

http://www.freshlyground.com/#/the%20band/

I hope everyone is enjoying some beautiful weather right now!
Love you all!
-Mia

Ten Reasons Why The Flamjangled Tea Party was Amazing

This weekend I went to a music festival called The Flamjangled Tea Party located in the beautiful winelands of Durbanville, 30 minutes from Cape Town. My friends, Annie, Alyssa, and Simon camped out the whole weekend, danced, ate, laughed, and listened to some amazing music, and best of all people watched. Here are the ten reasons why Flamjangled was so flamjangling amazing.

1. The name Flamjangled: Calling a concert the Flamjangled Tea Party makes it known to all that a good time will be had. I get to sport my neon green wristband with the words Flamjangled on it, and get to watch people's reactions when I tell them the name of the festival. There was also an iconic symbol of an owl, all throughout the festival. There was an owl at the mane stage with neon green twirling eyes. There were owl costumes and cutouts and even a bird cage hanging from a circus tent with an owl in it.

2. The people: The people attending flamjangled were some of the most interesting, chilled out, unique individuals I have ever met. I felt like I was in the U.S around the 70's when all I could see around me were people sporting flowered headbands, crochet tops, messy hair, and flowy pants. Of course though there was always the unique outfits of wedding dresses, angel wings, people on stilts, panda, giraffe, and wolf costumes, glow in the dark sunglasses, strange hats, teacup costumes, leprechaun outfits and much more. People were so kind, and sharing, and up for a good time.

3. The dancing: The first night we arrived there was old school music playing providing a great atmosphere to swing dance. There were also silent black and white films playing in the background for any nostalgic person wanting to get back to their roots. Simon and I also had fun dancing with our shadows in the moonlight. Sunday afternoon the bands were playing away with trumpets, violins, guitars, xylophones, and amazing vocals. I think everyone at flamjangled was dancing in the dust that day, feet making imprints on the ground as bodies swayed to the music that took us back in time. Also another side note, the way people dance here is much classier than typical teen american dancing called "grinding" which I am sure many are familiar with haha. No, people here leave room for uniqueness, space for your arms to swing and your bodies to sway. Space for your feet to stomp and your hands to clap. Freedom.

4.The music: Rap, big band, folk, acapella,singer songwriter, country, and a bit more. The music at Flamjangled had the dust flying in the air when people started moving their feet, linking arms and frolicking around barefooted. One of the biggest bands of the festival, Hot Water,played saturday evening. Hot Water is a band that released their first album in 2006. They seem to represent what life should look like after apartheid, and their music has brought many people together. An older woman with a hot pink wig on was singing and clapping next to us, and she turned and said "This sounds like freedom". And as the people danced and the band sang, my spirit soared. I was alive in the music. Throughout the festival many amazing musicians performed, some soulful, others entertaining, and it was the most interesting, amazing, moving music I have ever heard.

5. The decorations: This was the most well decorated music festival I have ever been to. Circus tents lined the lawn. Big pillows shaped like cupcakes and bananas and other various fruits and desserts were laid down under the tea tent for everyone to play on. A giant metal teacup placed in the middle of the festival was a jungle gym made for all. Clothing bins decorated like people were available for people who wanted to donate their crazy costumes. Wooden horses that people could sit on were placed around a play ground. My favorite part of all was the mysterious door placed in the middle of the lawn that people could walk through and pretend they were entering a different era of time. Colorful flags lined the lake, a giant glow in the dark shower could be spotted from miles away, and how could I forgot the giant VW busses,with gypsy tents surrounding the setup. It was a magical world we were taken to through the wide array of decorations that were set up.

6. The food: The food booths that were set up were one of my favorite parts of the festival. From a van that sold freshly brewed tea, to an ice cream booth with friendly people. Then there was my two favorite, a creperie, selling crepes with scrabbled eggs and sausages to their ever popular dessert crepes. My favorite was the Michelin Man with nutella, coconut roasted marshmallows,and almonds and melted and rolled into the thin pancake that was wrapped up and gone in an instant. And there was also the Pizzeria, making the pizza's right in front of us, freshly baked and put into the clay oven, margherita was my favorite kind overall.

7. The prizes: The announcer for the mainstage just happened to be our tent neighbor, so we definitely picked a great spot to camp. Saturday evening he would give the performers things to throw to the audience, and he himself threw out prizes as well. The perks of being in the front row meant that you could easily get the announcer's attention. I managed to snag ahold of a pink masquerade face mask, a lei,a headband with a feather attached to it like flappers used to wear,and my all time favorite because of the memories they held, would have to be the beer glasses that Brendan (the announcer) took off of his face and personally handed them to me. Now what's a girl to do with beer glasses? I think I will display them in my room as a proud memory of one of the only things I have managed to win in my life.

8. The location: Durbanville is set in gorgeous winelands. We camped right next to a vineyard with grapes lining the fences for miles. There was also a lake for many of the campers to cool off in and to a dip in the refreshing water. Rolling hills created the perfect scene to watch the sun paint the sky orange sand the stars and moon to roll up in the sky.

9. The cleanliness: No one was allowed to bring glass bottles of any kind which was so great because I was never afraid of cutting my foot on anything as I walked around the festival barefoot for the entire weekend. The port-a-potties always had a roll of toilet paper in them and they didn't even smell. Workers were picking up trash everywhere so immediately after anything was dropped, it would be picked up and tossed into the ever so creatively decorated recycling bins.

10. The fact that it happens once a year over my spring break....Sorry mom and dad...I may have spring break plans set...family trip to Flamjangled...I think yes :)

This is a video that was made last year showing what Flamjangled is all about. Take a look! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fX3LGsYbjk

love love love love loveeeeeeee
-mia

My weekend in Johannesburg and Pretoria

My weekend in Joburg and Pretoria

This past weekend, a group of us from the CIEE Seminar class as well as a few RA's traveled to Johannesburg and Pretoria for the weekend.  N We boarded our flight for a two-hour plane ride.  Touching down in Joburg there was already an immediate difference in temperature.  Joburg felt much more like Florida, with a hot yet dry feeling in the air.  We boarded those big busses that tourists all ride in, you know the ones where you are in big cozy seats and air conditioning while people on the streets stare up at you wondering why there is a huge bus traveling down such a small street.  Alright, as you all may have figured out, I truly dislike feeling like a tourist. 

            Our first stop was the Apartheid Museum.  We bought our tickets,noticing that each ticket separated the visitors by both race and gender.   My ticket said Blankes/Whites and then female which then guided me to a specific entrance into the museum.     We all went through the entrances into the first exhibition. The exhibition was new and was titled Nelson Mandela.   We were told not to spend all of our time in just this exhibition because there was still much to see.  I have talked to a few people who have said they dislike Mandela for taking credit of ending apartheid, when in reality so many other people took part.  I knew some of my friends here would have been a bit disgruntled with the fact that Nelson Mandela had an entire exhibition.  I still haven’t fully developed my views on Nelson Mandela, or as his nickname goes, Madiba, but I do recognize the large role that Mandela played in both shaping the country's past and present. I have tremendous respect for all that he has accomplished in South Africa but have also taken into account the actions that he took to achieve the outcomes that can be seen today.  I learned about rites of passage, Mandela's passions, his time in jail and the end of apartheid. There was plenty of information to take in.  I could have spent hours in the exhibit studying Mandela’s life, hardships, and accomplishments but I had to remind myself to move on to other areas of the museum.

            There were a vast amount of resources and information to make use of. I thought three hours would have been plenty of time for a museum, but I wish I had more time. The interactive stations never allowed for a dull moment.   The history of the beginnings of apartheid were discussed, dating back to 1651 with the arrival of Dutch settlers in South Africa. There were exhibits showing the violence and manslaughter that occurred, people who were involved, and the outcomes which are very visible today, were all plastered along the walls with pictures, or videos playing.  There was even a room with nooses hanging from the ceiling portraying political executions and how they went about.  There was a wall listing the ways that prisoners supposedly died, by accident, or by hanging themselves, when in reality almost all of the political prisoners were killed by the police, beaten to death, hung, electrocuted, or shot.  Personal stories were written with pictures next to them.  I read about Steve Biko, an anti-apartheid activist and the founder of the Black Consciousness movement. Hector Pieterson was another memorable person, who became the character in a symbolic picture of the 1976 Soweto uprising after being shot and killed at the age of 13 by the South African Police force. There were many others who were represented along this wall as well.   Reading the personal stories and watching the videos on the wall depicting the violence unleashed onto a number of school kids my age. These videos portrayed school age kids being beaten to death, women and children being tear gassed, and a group of people praying for mercy and justice.  A wave of emotion took over me as I was deeply saddened and enraged by what happened during apartheid. I felt disheartened in my faith questioning why God would allow such terrible atrocities to occur in this world.   I became so angry not just with the atrocities that occurred during apartheid in South Africa, but also the similar occurrences of race based atrocities that took place in the states and the separations that still occur in both countries.   There are so many things about life that are unfair, and the injustices that were done to so many people left me leaving the museum frustrated, disheartened, and contemplative. This visit to the museum pushed me to consider questions about my faith that I had been avoiding, giving me the desire to find ways of bringing racial justice and reconciliation to my current environments in any ways that I could. I recognized my White privilege as well as the importance of being an ally, but I still felt disheartened. I am very thankful for having gotten the chance to go to a museum that allowed me to grapple with such important issues.   Here is a link to the museum, feel free to check out the website! http://www.apartheidmuseum.org/political-executions

We stayed at a backpacker’s called Brown Sugar. www.brownsugarbackpackers.com. The girls in my room were Charnan, and Aayanah.  We all changed our clothes as it was getting chilly and we were going to see a play that night.  Everyone went upstairs and waited for the food as we were all getting pretty hungry.  After eating we headed back on the busses to go to a play at the market theatre called Shwele Bawo (a grave injustice). http://markettheatre.co.za/shows/now-showing.  It was an incredibly moving and comical play.  I don’t think the playwright/actress intended for it to be comical, but her sense of humor made it enjoyable and yet serious at the same time.  It was a one woman play, based on life experiences, surroundings, and understandings of the world surrounding the actress.  The woman was able to play wonderfully a large amount of other characters but her character was the one that moved me the most.  This is a better description of the play taken from the website above, if you get the chance please read it, it was incredibly moving.

 “Tshabi Girl Productions
in association with the Market Theatre presents
Shwele Bawo

Shwele Bawo looks at the juxtaposition of old traditions fighting for survival against modern ways in South Africa and the effect this has on society.

Through the story of the protagonist, Dikeledi Nkabinde, told retrospectively from Dikeledi’s place of imprisonment, many themes create multiple layers for thought: identity crises among men and women; the disintegration of family structures;  women and child abuse; relationships; incest; the power of the media and the inequalities in our justice system, all come under the spotlight.

The play reveals how these issues, ignored for far too long, have created a social time bomb of secrets and lies that threaten to destroy our society.

Dikeledi is a woman who decides to take the law into her own hands and plans to kill her abusive husband. For over 12 years she has been a faithful wife to Solly Nkabinde, turning a blind eye to his infidelities and physical abuse. Traditional instructions from her elders to obey her husband (“Monna ke selepe wa kadimisangwa! A man is an axe to be borrowed!”) keep her from leaving her situation.

But when she realises that her daughter, Bontle, has also been a victim of abuse at the hands of Solly, she explodes and other proverbs are awakened within her -  (“Mmangwana o tshwara thipa ka bohaleng! The mother of the child holds the sharp end of the knife!”)

The protective instinct of the mother kicks in and to protect her children, she plans to kill her husband and break the chains of her repetitive abuse.

An award-winning playwright, actress and director, Motshabi is as well known for her belief in the need for the empowerment and cultural enrichment of our youth and society as she is for her theatrical and television work. “When we encounter Dikeledi at the beginning of the play she has already spent two years in jail. She has done some deep soul searching and has forgiven herself. Through the story, the audience sees not only Dikeledi’s story, but that of the South African society at large. Do we keep on judging her? Or are we going to look at her with different eyes? Are we going to look at ourselves and see what we`ve become and see what we stand for?  What do we stand for?” Motshabi asks.”

After the play, many of the students planned on going to one of the local bars or clubs, but for me I was exhausted, and not exactly comfortable going out in Joburg when I had only been there one day.  I am so glad we stayed in, one because we convinced Felicity and Quinton to make a stop at a gas station so we could all get chocolate and icecream, and two because three of my friends phones ended up getting stolen while they were out as did on girls camera.  Something that my friend end I noticed while on the bus to head back to the backpackers was that we had only seen one or two white people while driving around Joburg, even during the day.  It was a very interesting observation and we discussed more into the reasoning behind it, and the very evident separation that is still so present in Joburg, and even more so, in Pretoria.

The next day we headed to Soweto Township.  This place was built to meet the needs for the lack of housing during apartheid.  It is Soweto stands for South Western Townships.  Soweto is full of history being the place where the uprisings took place in 1976, the home of Mandela, and Desmond Tutu, and the place where the movie Tsotsi was filmed.  It was a great place to see and I do wish we were able to spend more time there.  We went to a wonderful restaurant called the Chez Alina, served us all buffet style the most delectable chicken and rich chocolate and vanilla slices of cake anyone could ever ask for.  After stopping to buy something at one of the stands I got back on the bus and prepared for a nap as we drove about an hour to get to Pretoria.

It was difficult immediately following a trip to Soweto, and the apartheid museum to hope off the bus and be greeted by a tour guide at the Voortrekker Monument.  Here is a link to the monument although there is not an accurate description of what to expect when arriving.  http://www.voortrekkermon.org.za/index.php.  One should expect to be slightly repulsed at the joy and pride that many of the white Afrikaans speaking people took in killing the Zulus in the area.  What was the most infuriating aspect to me was when the tour guide was showing us the murals on the wall.  There was one carving depicting the battle of blood river between the Voortrekker’s and the Zulus.  The tour guide said that the Voortrekker’s had prayed to God and asked for his favor and that if they won the battle they would build a church to worship him.  The tour guide said they won the battle, not one of the Voortrekker’s was killed but many of the Zulu’s were slaughtered.  He made it sound like God granted them this wish and it was just such a frustrating view of Christian fundamentalism.  If anyone wants to know more feel free to e-mail me, but write now I have nothing more to say this place except that it was interesting and I am glad we went there in order to see the way that people still think.

We also went to a rugby game that evening.  It was the Blue Bulls against the Auckland blues.  It was so fun, eating boererwors, watching the game, and cheering as hard as we can even if we fully didn’t understand the game.  Some people who were with me ran into some interesting people though that reminded them where we were.  We were still in Pretoria, where racism was very prominent and people did not seem to care about the comments they made or who they were harming in the process.  My friend Sam was talking to a White Afrikaans couple next to her, and when students in our program started singing to a Kwaito song we new they turned to her and asked why were singing to it when it was a black song.  Little comments like that happened throughout the evening and it truly felt like we were being taken back in time with the amount of separation and nasty comments that were being said.  When driving around it is easy to note which clubs are the black clubs and which are the white. It was an amazing learning experience to go on this trip, but it just left me a bit frustrated with they way things still work here.

I spent the last day eating an amazing breakfast at the backpackers and venturing into town with some friends, looking at a local flea market and heading to a frozen yogurt place where I got some black current yogurt (so good). We all headed home tired with our heads spinning with all of the information we had picked up over the weekend.

If anyone wants to know more about my experience feel free to e-mail me!

I love you all and have so much more to write about, I will try my best to make more time!

-Mia

Stardust

I went to a restaurant called Stardust with my friend Sarah. Sarah and I haven't gotten to spend time together in quite a long time so this was such a relaxing night to spend together catching up. This restaurant had an amazing atmosphere. The waiters and waitresses are full of life. The food is presented in beautiful, uniquely crafted dishes, but the best part was when the lights dimmed down in the middle of the meal. A typical dinner turned into a night of amazing entertainment as all of the waiters and waitresses took their turn performing a solo or duet song on stage for everyone to enjoy. It was an incredible evening. It's not every day that your waiter will come up to you, shoulder to shoulder, look you in the eye, and sing you a song that melts your heart now is it?

So much to catch up on!

This past week was full of Rugby, birthdays, and God’s hands working on my life. Even when I don’t see it, even when I don’t believe with all of my heart, I know God is here, and he shows up in the happy moments, and the hard moments, I just have to SEE. Wednesday I went to the alma café with an amazing new friend Alyssa, and Annie and Hannah. The place was packed with people ready for some great music, and let me tell you none of them were let down. There were three performers that night all of whom were amazing. The Hedges were the main act, and as we were enjoying our succulent burgers, the music, and each others company I was reminded that this is what life is about. The little things. The sweetness in the ordinary. That is life, life is ordinary turned extraordinary.

That Friday I went to a Braai at Alyssa’s place. Technically it wasn’t a Braai since all we had were chips and amazing bean dip, but hey..call it what you may ☺ I met some really cool girls living in port Elizabeth and just had a great night. Afterwards I went back to the house and Hannah and I baked cookies!

Saturday I went to homegroup (small group) and celebrated the two birthday’s of Lisa and Eldi. Eldi brought an amazingly delicious cake and baked a red velvet cake while we were there. Lisa had baked delicious brownies and we all chatted about life and where we were at. At that moment God really introduced Makeeda into my life. Makeeda is this awesome woman with a heart for God. She is a fourth year at UCT and wants to be a music therapist. Let me tell you when God moves, He moves. I have gotten to eat lunch with Makeeda as well and I know this friendship will grow so much while I am here.

After the birthday festivities I went to a rugby match…Stormers (Cape Town) vs. The Sharks (Durban). My house went all out painting faces and stomachs we went in not knowing the rules of the game but knowing how to cheer hard. It must of worked because The Stormers won! I came back to find my room flooded from an overflowed toilet. We eventually got it sorted but it was a very interesting way to end my night.

Sunday I got to volunteer with Southern Ambition (an amazing company you should all check out if ever in Cape Town) but we worked in Langa Township at a osup kitchen. We played singing and clapping games with the children waiting in line, cooked some pop (similar to oatmeal but full of starch), chicken and potato stew, and some vetkoek (Pronounced fat cook). We toured the township and the orphanage Southern Ambition is affiliated with. It was an amazing experience reminding me to always keep my eyes open to any person, any experience, any one is open to be loved, we just have to find that love at pass it on! I will try to put a link to this experience I had as well and some pics! Love you all!
-Mia

Full Moon Hike to Lion's Head

The full moon hike to Lion's Head is on our list of top activities to do in Cape Town, and for good reason. My friend Anna organized a big group of us to hike up lions head. My purse consisted of a camera, an apple, a water bottle, and some money for a cab. We all hopped in a cab and were driven to Lion's Head, which is a fairly easy hike, although you do end up sweating and panting when you reach the top. After every turn on the path I would have to take a picture of the most beautiful city in the world. Overlooking the ocean, I could see ships basking in the sun and Robben Island, a place I must eventually go to. It got to the point where the path broke of and we were forced to climb rocks, ladders, and metal bars connected to the rocks to reach the top. It is the only place I have ever been to where I looked to my left and saw the sun setting over the ocean, and to my right saw the moon rising over the city and mountains. Absolutely awestriking. We all picked a spot to sit on and watch the moon rise. Luckily our friend Simon provided chocolate..much needed when taking a view like this, not knowing if it was real life or not..the chocolate reminded me that yes this is real life..I am eating chocolate on a mountain under a full moon...amazing. After a few hours we decided to make our way down which proved a challenge. A few of our friends brought headlamps to illuminate the winding path and the rocks jutting out beneath us. There were two times where it was very possible to have received a sprained ankle but luckily I was fine. We all were encouraging and used our great team work skills to make our way down the mountain. Pictures can't even come close to capturing the beauty of what I witnessed, but just so you all get an idea of what it was like I will include some pictures :) Love you all!
-Mia

Infecting the City

Today I finally made it to Infecting the City, an arts festival taking place in Cape Town. It is a week long festival, with performers, and artists showing the world their talent. It was incredible to see the wind dance, with people dressed in silver and plastic bags, imitating the movement of the wind, stomping their feet, doing cartwheels over colored sheets, and dancing to the beat of the drum. After seeing this, we were led by a man painted silver with a tin can hat, to the next event. Wr saw people just walking on the street as is usual and then freeze and assume their position. At one point I wanted to join in on the performance, so I started walking down the street and froze, taking note of how many people noticed and tried to snag a picture of this occurrence. We then saw this play/dance/opera type performance that was incredible. I have no words really to explain it but I will put up a link to Infecting the City so you guys can get a feel for what it's been like. After that Annie and Andrew (awesome new friend!) and I went to Nando's where they both made fun of me for eating like a Caveman but hey..God gave us hands for a reason....obviously so we could eat some good meat. After an afternoon full of laughs, food, and entertainment we headed back with our hearts flooding with happiness..at least I did! Well that's it for now, I am going to try to start updating more because there is so much that has been happening everyday, but I hope you all enjoy what I've been posting so far!


http://www.infectingthecity.com/2012/

Thursday Adventures in Cape Town

These past two Thursday's I have gotten the gift of journeying to the city with one of my best friends here, Annie. There has never been a time when I am with Annie, where I don't laugh. Annie and I took the Jammie to Hidding Campus, UCT's Arts campus located in Cape Town,a few blocks from long street. Our adventure began there. Chatting, catching up, walking down this beautiful street with cool hippy dippy clothing stores and incredible architecture. I had one of my "oh my gosh I'm in Cape Town moments, is this real life?" which I feel almost daily. My friend Lindsey was also with us for the first bit of our adventure and we all went to lunch. We went to a restaurant with a sign boasting all you can eat sushi, only 110 Rand! So we all got very excited and sat down. Little did we know, they were out of salmon and eel, the main ingredients in all of their rolls. Needless to say we received half off sushi, which was very reasonable.

We went into a few shops and admired the brilliantly designed clothing, cute furniture, and just the lovely shops in general. Lindsey had to leave, so Annie and I went to Mr. Pickwicks to try the famous milkshakes we've been hearing of. We climbed up some creaky stairs so we could sit on the balcony and admire the view. I ordered a cookies and cream milkshake and I think Annie got some type of yummy butterscotch creation. We both just sat devouring the deliciousness of our shakes. It was a brilliant way to cap of lunch..until we realized we also HAVE to go to Charley's Bakery, another must.

It was a definite adventure finding this place and we ended up stopping a police officer to ask for help. Even though this was a very famous place he was still unable to tell us where to go, so he phoned a few people, and pointed us in the supposedly right direction. A few lost blocks later and we had stumbled upon a beautiful bookstore and had been deeply desiring to get to. It was a gem of a place for sure. Wooden floors, big windows, and rows and rows of books. We were led to the basement/coffee shop, where there was some free finger food and wine, and an author who was to be discussing her book, although she was going to be speaking in Afrikaans. After purchasing a journal and a book of short stories on peoples lives here in South Africa..we continued on our journey to Charley's Bakery.

After walking down quite a few dodgy streets we saw the pink and silver signs for the bakery. It was the cutest place ever, and when walking inside I felt like we were on an episode of Cake Boss from how beautiful these cakes and cupcakes were. I got a vanilla cupcake with sparkling green buttercream icing and Annie got a carrot cake cupcake with buttercream icing. It was so delicious and after making it home I was in a sugar induced coma and took a nice long nap.

Charley's Bakery..check it out!
http://www.charlysbakery.co.za/

Love, Happiness, Life

Can I just start with saying how happy I am right now. I am so blessed. I am blessed with being given the opportunity to love...to love people..to love life..to cherish every moment of the day. I love all of you who are reading this right now. Encouragement from home has been amazing to me. Mom if you're reading this I just want to let you know I love you. I love you for being so generous, letting me find myself and have the time of my life here. Dad, thank you for letting your guard down about South Africa, and trusting me. I am so unbelievably thankful for everyone in my life, every event in my life, I can't stop smiling, I can't stop giggling! Granted I did just eat a tie dye cake...the whole cake was so many different colors...how could I not appreciate life after eating that? I am also thankful for my recent decision. Now for all of you guys who don't know this, I really think God is leading me to my true passion as a profession. Music. I have always known education wasn't where my heart was at, but I felt like I had taken too many classes, and used too much of my parents money to change my major. I realized how much more I would regret doing something that my whole heart wasn't into. Which is why I have been led to music therapy once again. I really feel a calling to this job. This is something I have never felt before and I am so excited to see what the future holds. I am not sure what this means school wise but I have been talking with professors at Hope and right now it looks like my major may be with music and I will be minoring in psychology. Anyways...I love you all so much..more than any of you know...and I am so grateful..I am grateful for you.

My Home Away From Home, Ocean View Experience.

It only took one sunny, sleepy bus ride. That is all it took to bring me to a place that I will never forget. To explain a bit more properly what Ocean View is and how the community began, I have included a link to a website that gives a proper explanation. http://www.scenicsouth.co.za/civic-community/our-communities/ocean-view/

Quinton, (our surrogate father here on CIEE) has been telling us for weeks about the homestay that was coming up. He always said that he wanted to show us how “a marginalized community of disadvantaged people live”. When being told we were going to be staying in a township, I expected tin shacks, little to no plumbing and electricity, and a family taking in students just to use the extra money they were being paid. I was very far from the truth with that assumption. I have seen many townships in South Africa, and Ocean View was unlike any of the others. We stayed in a cozy house, with 3 bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room, one bathroom, and a bungalow made by Cedric (my host father) for his daughter. There was electricity and even a T.V (something I haven’t seen in awhile since being here). In Ocean View, none of the families have sinks in their bathrooms; rather they use the bathtub they have for everything. When flushing the toilets I had to learn to flush multiple times, pumping the handle until the water started flowing.

Lauren, a fellow CIEE student, and I stayed with the Corker family: Veronica and Cedric, their three children Elreza (age 24), Elrenzo (age 19), and Elretha (age 12), and their granddaughter, Schyler (age 4). From the moment I met Veronica and Cedric, I knew this was a place I was meant to be. One of the first things Veronica said to me was “You’re family now, our house is your house, and if you ever need a family in South Africa, you’ve got one.” Veronica, Cedric, and their children welcomed us humbly and graciously into their home. Lauren and I had a bedroom to ourselves and came to learn that we were sleeping in Elrenzo’s room who ended up sleeping in the bungalow outside.

The first night in the Ocean View we watched a dance and theatre performance put on by some of the younger community members in the local high school. All of the families and the CIEE students were packed into the high schools cafeteria to have dinner together and get to know our families before heading to their homes. As the evening started to wind down, we got into the family car and headed to the flats to pick up their granddaughter Schyler. Schyler was very shy at first but she spoke more in actions giving me a huge hug and motioning for me to pick her up. We got back into the car and drove to their home situated right near an overlook of the entire township. We put our stuff into our weekend room and were told that Elrenzo and his friends were in the bungalow and we were welcome to join them.

We were told before arriving that alcoholism and drug abuse has become a very large issue in Ocean View and each one of the CIEE students witnessed at least some form of this. Upon walking into the bungalow I first noticed the numerous bottles of alcohol some full and some empty scattered around the table. Veronica and I discussed this issue later on and she told me that on weekends Elrenzo can make his own decisions but he knows the outcome of each decision. He is allowed to drink and party during the weekends, but not during the week when he needs to go to his job at Pick N’ Pay, a common grocery store in South Africa. Elrenzo’s sister Elreza has gotten in her fair share of trouble and I know Elrenzo has learned a lot from her. Elreza became addicted to Tik (crystal meth) and used all of the money she had to further her drug addiction. The bungalow in the backyard was originally built for her so she could feel that she had her own place as it was difficult to find or afford housing nearby. Her parents still charged her rent but Elreza couldn’t afford to pay the rent anymore as she had spent all of her money on Tik. Schyler, who lives with Veronica and Cedric now, is Elreza’s daughter. After being unable to break her drug habit, her parents had no choice but to tell her to move out as she was become a hazard for the other children . Schyler was left with Veronica and Cedric and Elreza may be living with one of her friends but her parents are unsure. The little baggies used to hold spare buttons when you buy a new article of clothing, are what meth addicts use to store their meth. These baggies were scattered along many of the streets we walked on.

One of my favorite memories from this home stay was getting to know Elrenzo and his friends, getting to hear their perspective on apartheid, drugs and alcohol, music, life in general. I got to compare his perspective to that of his parents which was very interesting. The Corker’s are a very close knit, Christian family, and Veronica’s faith in Jesus, and her beautiful testimony was so inspiring. There are so many things I still have to mention about this homestay because so many beautiful and interesting things occurred, but I don’t want to bore anyone with tiny details. Here were a few highlights
-Going to a ‘recording studio’ and listening to Elrenzo and his friends rap in Afrikaans.
-Traveling around all day with all of the females in the family, shopping, laughing, bonding.
-Walking around with Schyler, hearing so much interest in knowing why the colors of our skin are different.
-Karaoke after the braii
-Walking up the hill that overlooks the entirety of Ocean View and listening to Veronica open up about her past.
-Missing the busses and getting to spend more time with the family.

I do know that I have a second family in Ocean View, and I cannot wait for my next visit to the Corker family. If anyone wants to know more of the details of my experience feel free to send me an e-mail!