Oh what a life
The past week has gone by
ridiculously fast. I wish I could describe all the crazy things I have done
since last Thursday, so I will do the best I can in this post. So I will start
with last Thursday, April 12th. Wellllll I don’t know how to put
this gently but three of my friends and I spent the day in a cage under water
in the Indian Ocean diving with great white sharks. IT WAS INSANE. My friend
Kristin’s parents were here from the states so her dad took Maria, Nicole,
Kristin and I shark cage diving that day. We left early in the morning and
drove to Gansbaii, which is a bay about two hours away. We got there around
nine in the morning and got a nice breakfast by the organization we were diving
with. At ten we were on the boat and heading out to open water! It was really
cool to watch exactly what they do to bring the sharks up to the boat. They cut
up nasty tuna into something called chum and let it be taken away by the
current so the sharks taste it wherever they are. They then follow their senses
to the place where the boat is.
There is a lot of controversy
over whether this is bad for the sharks- bringing them into unnatural habitats
and getting too used to humans. However, the place where we were was where
sharks naturally come (I believe). Anyway, they chummed the water and would throw
this flat black kick board into the water to make the sharks think it was a
seal. Along with that they had a giant hunk of tuna on a rope that they would
throw in the water to get the sharks attention. Anyway, when we first got there
all the sharks were over at another boat about a hundred feet away. Our boat
kept in contact with the other boat and when they left we swooped in and took
their spot. Before we knew it we had huge sharks swimming around our boat! Some
of them were as big as four to five meters- it was crazy.
The five of us (including
Kristin’s dad) suited up in our ridiculously tight wet suits, goggles and
waited to hop into the cage. When I first put my legs over the side of the boat
to climb through the small bars to drop into the cage- I can admit I was very
scared. I wasn’t scared of the sharks or the water, but I was more scared
because I had no idea how to hold my head above water to breathe but look
underwater to see the sharks. On top of that, there is a bar at the bottom of
the cage underwater that you are supposed to put your feet on to stand on, but
my feet kept slipping off of that and onto the outside of the cage where the
sharks were! Once I got my bearings in the water (in the cold cold water) I was
excited and ready to see some huge sharks.
While under the water, I got to
see these great big sharks swim by. A guy from the crew stands above the water
and shouts “down!” every time a shark is close enough to see. So we went down
and up for about fifteen to twenty viewings of sharks during out first time in
the cage. Nicole was on the end of the cage with me right next to her, and then
Maria was next to me and Kristin was next to her. Right as we were about to
leave, a huge shark came up and the hunk of tuna in its mouth and went straight
into the side of the cage! Its jaws were opened and I swear Nicole and I jumped
a mile. It was so cool but so scary! We got out after that and had a little
time to rest on the boat. Then we all went back into the water two more times
to have up close and personal encounters with these great whites. At one point
during out third time in the cage, Nicole and I were standing next to each
other and out of no where this giant shark’s face in actually in the cage right
in front of Nicole! Its nose had stuck through the opening where our faces
were! It was really really cool.
After our time was up with the
sharks, we took the boat ride back to land where the little cottage was. The
landscape surrounding where we went shark cage diving was incredible. There
were mountains with this beautiful beach with pure white sand. It literally
looked like a backdrop painted on a canvas put up for us to look at. It was
amazing. Once we got back we rested for a few minutes, got changed and headed
back on the two-hour drive back to Cape Town.
Now, I am leaving out a little
bit from this story. I failed to mention how on that Thursday almost our whole
group of students (about 17 out of the 21 of us) were getting on a bus and
heading to Platenburg Bay. The bus was set to pick us all up at 4pm….however
Maria, Kristin, Nicole and I didn’t get back until almost 5:30 so we held up
the entire group from our 8 hour bus trip. That was completely our faults, and
it caused some serious issues between different people in our group. Once
people got it out of their system at how angry they were at us, we were on our
way to Plettenberg. I had already packed the night before and literally threw
my stuff on the bus and we were basically ready to go. So I spent the next nine
hours (it took longer then expected) on a bus with all 17 of us.
We got to the hostel at about 2
am. It was a cute little place, with very nice rooms for us to sleep in. I
slept in a six-person room and got a bottom bunk right below Maria. The beds
were so comfortable and I slept like a baby that night. However our sleep
wasn’t really a full night because we woke up 5 hours later to go kloofing! Now
what is kloofing you might ask? It is jumping off of cliffs into a river below.
IT. WAS. AWESOME. We got driven to a national park, and to the cottage where
the kloofing was run out of. We had to put wet suits on and big life jackets
and we were on our way. We got into a van that all of us fit into (twelve of us
went on this adventure) and got dropped off at the starting point of our hike.
We hiked through the woods for about half an hour, and then came to the mouth
of this little river. Our guide told us it was super clean water and that we
could drink it right from the stream. So I did! It was great and tasted so
refreshing. Anyways, we all jumped in the water and started off down stream.
Our guide had this waterproof bag that floated in the water with him with all
of our cameras in it. It was really cool.
I had no idea what it was going
to be like when we found a cliff and I was soon to find out. Our guide stopped
out of nowhere and showed us two different cliffs we could just off of. We had
to climb out of the water up the side of the cliff and jump off. There were two-
one was 4 meters and the other was higher then that. I was kinda nervous at
first but once I jumped I realized there was nothing I could do about it now.
Landing in the water was kind of hard sometimes too. If you landed just the
least bit sideways, you got slapped really really hard. I wish I could say that
after a few jumps I managed to jump straight- but that’s not true. It hurt
pretty badly sometimes but the sting wore off after a while. We kept swimming
down the river and he showed us more cliffs to jump off of. The hardest part
about jumping was the mentality to through myself off a cliff. It was
terrifying to look over the edge and see how far down it was. But once I got
the courage to jump it felt so good to realize I actually did it. The tallest
cliff we jumped off of was 11 meters, which is about 35 feet. It was a ridiculous
jump, and we had to clear a whole other cliff below it before we hit the water.
I have to say that was the most scared I have ever been on this trip. But once
I did it (and got over the feeling of being run over by a truck) I was very
proud of myself!
After our time kloofing, the bus
got us and took us back to our hostel. We relaxed for a bit then went exploring
the cute little town. There were all kinds of stores and restaurants and you
could see the ocean from the hill our hostel was on. It was the perfect area
and I had so much fun eating, exploring, then eating some more. I got this
awesome sushi from this little market that sold all this great food- salmon
califonia roll- YUM. That night our whole group went out to dinner and had a
great time just laughing and having fun.
The next morning we all woke up
early again and got on the bus to drive to- wait for it- the highest commercial
bungee bridge in the world!!!! We got there and I think everyone was nervous.
I’m not gonna lie, I certainly was. And I think the line in the girl’s bathroom
proves that fact too. Anyway, we got harnessed up and walked with our guide
across the thin wire bridge that led us over the ravine 719 feet below. Looking
down, as we were walking- I became increasingly more excited and nervous. I
felt like I couldn’t show that I was nervous because there were so many more
people around me more nervous then I was, but that didn’t stop me from feeling
it. Once we got up there, everything was a blur. The DJ started playing music
and suddenly- people started to get strapped up. Kelsey was first and I give
her so much credit for actually doing it. I would have been terrified to go
first! As I watched more and more people throw themselves off of the bridge, I
become increasingly more nervous, but even more excited. I just wanted to do
it! Finally, it was my turn. Since a lot of other people had gone, the workers
were trying to get other members of our group to walk back and not watch us.
But Dan insisted that they stay and cheer us on- and I was so grateful. As I
walked up to the edge I cant even remember what I was thinking. I think I just
was trying to get enough will power to convince myself that I would be safe,
that my feet wouldn’t slide through the squishy plastic thing held on my ankle,
and that I would come out of this alive. Before I knew it I was hearing “ 5 4 3
2 1- BUNGEE!” and there I went with my arms open wide. I was free falling off
of the bridge into the trees and ground below! Then suddenly I was pulled back
up by the chord and free falling all over again. It was the coolest sensation
to keep my eyes open and just watch as I fell over and over again. I felt oddly
free. Finally as the chord (which was kind of like a giant elastic) stopped
swinging me I just hung there waiting for someone to get me. I was so excited
that I survived and even more excited that I had actually accomplished it! A
guy came down and hooked me to the line and brought me back up to the top. Once
I was back up there I felt like I could do anything! I cheered on the rest of
my friends still to jump, and then we headed back to land. We went to the store
where they had our pictures and videos and made our purchases. Then we were off
to our next adventure!
Our next adventure was hanging
out with elephants as an elephant sanctuary. We got to feed them, play with
them, pet them and even kiss them! it was really cool to see the huge animals
up close and personal.
Our drive home Sunday was nice- I
can’t say uneventful because everything is an event when we all travel
together. But we got home safe and sound and even went and saw the Hunger Games
together.
This past week has been a mix of
emotions, from sadness to joy to a feeling of anxiety. Monday, Tuesday and
Wednesday were spent at Christel House at my second to last week with them. I
think that is going to be one of the hardest, if not the hardest, parts about
leaving Cape Town. I have been talking my kids through the fact that I do have
to leave, and I still get choked up about it. Wednesday night I went to
Khayelitsha with some of my friends to help with the last night of the tutoring
program with the Firefighters soccer team. Since I have only been able to go
one other time this semester, I wanted to go for a final time to say goodbye. I
don’t think it has hit me yet that I probably won’t see any of these kids
again…
Thursday was another eventful
day. As we all know, we always go to class at UCT on Thursdays. We got to class
on time and settled in for our review for our exam next week. Then as things
would work out, Nicole ended up needing to go to the emergency room and I took
the trip with her! Nobody worry, she is perfectly fine- just an allergic
reaction that needed to be taken care of as soon as possible.
Anyway, I got to play nurse that
day which I seriously loved- it gave me time alone at the house while Nicole
was in a deep sleep from all the medication she was on! Then that afternoon we
took a trip to the bowling alley in Cavendish to meet our little sisters for
one last time. That was really hard for me too. I don’t want the girls to think
that people will come into their lives and leave them again like we are leaving
them. I just hope they know how much we all love them. I promised to keep in
contact with my little sister as well.
Friday was another tough day of
saying goodbye. We went to Ocean View for our final time with the tutoring
program. The kids had made up dances and one of the older girls read a version
of the poem I had posted earlier on my blog. “Our deepest fear is not that we
are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is
our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I
to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to
be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s
nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure
around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make
manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us, it’s
in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other
people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our
presence automatically liberates others.” (Marianna Williamson) She read it
with such courage and conviction. I was so proud of her, in fact I was so proud
of all the kids we worked with at Ocean View. The kids even handed out
certificates to us tutors and we got to give them certificates for their hard
work too. It was so so hard to say goodbye to the girl I had worked with since
starting the tutoring program. She was such a hard worker and even through her
tough circumstances was always smiling. The director of the program (and the
girl who read the poem) told us how their marks in their math classes had
improved and we had helped them a lot. I am so grateful to have been a part of
that and so grateful for Chantel and Kelsey for starting the program.
So where does that leave me now?
Well it leaves me sitting at our dining room table in the big house, eating
packaged soup, thinking about life, leaving, and how hard it has always been to
say goodbye. But I learned something from camp this past summer that I can take
with me and apply it to saying goodbye to my kids here. Instead of saying
goodbye and ‘see ya never’ we can always say “see ya down the road”. And I
think that’s what I need to do. Even if this is goodbye for forever or for a
very long time, I’ll see ya down the road.
"You and I will meet again,
When
we're least expecting it,
One day in some far off place,
I will recognize
your face,
I won't say goodbye my friend,
For you and I will meet again."
–
Tom Petty
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