I have GREAT news!

Today I finished exams!!!!

AND

I FINALLY got the funding page for the charity I have been working for to work!!!! HOORAH! 

For the last two or three months I have been working for Bethel Projects Women, which is an organization that works in Steenberg and Retreat.  They focus on serving women and children who are survivors of abuse, but they do so much more than just that.  When I met Program Director Karen and her husband Annes, they told me that the organization was struggling because their largest donor had gone out of business and was not longer able to support Bethel.  They asked me if I could help them raise money so that they could keep Bethel running.  I thought it was going to be easy and I have been proven SO WRONG. It was basically the most frustrating thing ever to get this funding website together.  But now it's done!

Here is the link to the page:
http://www.gofundme.com/Bethelprojectswomen



here are some pictures of the moon last night

the moon!

the train station! 

me with a slow shutter speed! 

Pictures!

Hi there!  Greetings from UWC.  I am currently avoiding studying for my next final.  Global Population Crisis.  Not my favorite subject, in part because the punchline of every lecture seemed to be "and that's why the world is going to end and we're all going to die."  So far I have survived two finals, and I feel ok about both.  They were fine.  All of the UCT students from my program are leaving today and saying goodbye to them makes me realize how little time I have left here, but also how excited I am to see all of you in Eugene and elsewhere!

On the 20th, next Wednesday I am traveling to Durban with two friends and then 'WWOOFing' for a few weeks.  Really, we will be working in a cafe and going to the beach!  So much fun!  I will post more details if I can, but I am not sure what my internet access will be like!  

Last Saturday I climbed Table Mountain.  It was horribly difficult, and a truly demoralizing reminder of how far I have fallen off the fitness wagon.  The good news is I made it to the top, and it was beautiful!

We started in the beautiful Kirstenbosch gardens.

This was the trail!  really it was a running creek bed that also happened to be a trail.  I managed to keep my shoes dry though! 

This is before we knew we had reached the top.  I look worried because I was not looking forward to climbing higher.  Thankfully, the rest of the hike was flat.  

This is my cover photo now! (on facebook)

Walking across the top of the plateau 

The city from the Top of the mountain.  We got so lucky with the weather! 

If you squint you can see the cable car running up the side of the mountain.  Ok, maybe not.  But it is there!
also, look at the rock wedged in the gap!  

Living on the edge! (Being very careful) 

The top of Table Mountain looks really cool.  A lot of rocks like these and sand.  

The rest of the mountains and the sea! 

Omololu at the top. 

City Bowl on the way down

I made realllllllly good veggie pancakes!  Cabbage, carrot, kale, onion and egg!  

We went to the beach again.  I got burned again. 

Sun on the mountain

My favorite house! 

Summer time!

Hi there!  I have been doing very well here in SA!  My classes are done and there is a definite sense that everyone's time here is ending.  This is odd to me because I still have a week and a half before I start finals and then almost another month before I make it back to Eugene!  I am very excited for the rest of my time here and living with people who are trying to make the most of their last days makes me appreciate Cape Town more than ever.  Since I last wrote, I have turned 21, finished classes, met new people, gone to Robben Island, watched the Currie Cup finals,  found a new favorite beach, gotten a ghastly sunburn, had a final dinner for the program, tried Ethiopian food, Dim Sum, and Mozambican food, taken a Cape Malay cooking class, and bargained for chotchkies.  I have enjoyed all of it except for the bargaining and the chotchkies.  Another fun treat has been getting to show some visiting friends around the city!  It was a great reminder of how much I've learned about Cape Town and South Africa to explain things and move around the city.  It's fun to play tour guide! 

This was a very pretty sunset.  

Rachel made me birthday cake! 

Emma made me birthday cake! 

This was the boat we took to the Island. 

The bird poop on my window for the Robben Island tour! 

The Leper cemetery! 

do you see the tortoise?  

Irvin, the master photographer.

Mandela hid his manuscript under the bench on the right side of this picture.  

Mandela's cell

Claire Ramey at Robben Island

Sitting in a minibus taxi, reading the adverts (Womb cleaning!) and enjoying the mountains.  

Llandudno!  My new favorite beach!  The next time I went I got horribly sunburned!  

my feet

Jules loves the beach! 

Emma explores the rocks

lion's head

Jules swimming.  It was FREEZING the day I got burned it was nice enough that I swam twice, but I don't remember ever swimming in something so cold! 

nap time!

the view from signal hill! 

also from signal hill!