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 :)