IM HERE. FINALLY! We have been super busy the last couple days and the flying for 18 hours didn't help my inability to write sooner. It is beautiful here. The weather was perfect yesterday, it was about 75 during the day and the sun was shining making the Cape Town scenery absolutely breathtaking!

I woke up early Monday morning, didn't get much sleep at all :( but the morning started well with a stroll with the 3 oldest members of our crew Hattie, Dee, and Ivan! We walked around the suburbs and saw the local houses which are very nice and enjoyed the beautiful morning and the view of Table Mountain from practically our back yard.

Orientation began with intros etc and then we got to walk around the surrounding town of Rondebosch/Mowbray and find some of the local shops. We found Alma's cafe which is this sweet little spot that opens to a local street and sells flapjacks and sweets and the people are very nice :) I'm excited to take a sunday morning brunch there or an afternoon snack as soon as I am not so busy.

Then we wandered (a little too far) to Rondebosch Commons which has a local supermarket filled with area foods and there were gas stations and street sellers as well. When we returned to the homebase we had a BBQ which they call a Braai something or other. The chicken was good, haha I am not thoroughly enjoying the cuisine so far so I think I will have to purchase some side foods for myself at the market.

Then we traveled into downtown Cape Town to see views of Table Mountain, Robben Island, and the coastline. We stopped at the beach and had a blast walking around and people watching. It was great to think that all of what I was enjoying were nature's creations and that way available for every person to appreciate!

Today we went on a township tour and saw the poverty that dwells in Cape Town. It was definitely sad but I was less shocked than I expected to be. We stopped at a few places so we could get a closer look of the living conditions as well as the bright spots that live inside those areas (Vicky's smallest Hotel, a preschool, and a pottery shop).

Tomorrow I begin placement and I am apprehensive but also very excited to get started with what I came here to do! I will post again later this week. This weekend we plan to travel to Cape Hope and down to see the penguins :)

peace & love - AM

p.s. uploading pictures on the computer here takes FOREVER and is expensive, since we have to pay for internet by the byte so we will see how often I post them...