A few pictures...

Me at the top of the mountain behind Muizenburg.
It was a steep hike up but well worth it for the view of False Bay.

















Surfer's Corner.
Jamie and Alexa after a hard day of "work" in the surf shop.

View from Surfer's Corner: Not too shabby!

The Surf Shop van in Eland's Bay - during our trip there with Gary.

We stay in the lodge with the other i-to-i volunteers who work at an orphanage in Cape Town. They had a day outing, so they each brought one child to the beach. This is Steve and Caroline with two of the kids...

Air High Five!

The surf has dropped off here in Cape Town, sadly. Today the waves were choppy, only about 1', with a light onshore wind. Just in case any of you were wondering....

Last Friday I had my first chance to help out with the orphanage. They come to play in the waves and try their hand at surfing once a week. Most of them just want to be pushed on the board so they can catch a few waves. Our main purpose is to do that and generally keep an eye on them while they are in the water. And then we need to help them get out of the wetsuits, which is always a struggle, even for me!

Today we had ten kids from Cape Flats (which is the poorest and most dangereous area of Cape Town) come to the shop. Gary let them use some surfboards, then went out to watch them in action, and gave some pointers about how to improve. They'll be coming in every Sunday to practice. Most of them come from an area where theft and crime is simply a way of life, so we need to really keep an eye on them in the shop. He made it clear that if he catches any of them stealing, there will be serious consequences. They seemed to listen, but he also made sure that we know to be extra careful when they are around.

I ventured into Cape Town (not the Flats, obviously) with Natalie from the guest house for some shopping on our day off yesterday. Oh, there is some serious shopping to be done in the next 5 weeks! Cape Town is very nice, a mixture of open air markets and very nice stores. Can't wait to go back soon. It's about a 45 minute train ride to get downtown from Muizenburg, but the trains are clean, very affordable, and safe as long as you're aware of things.

Tonight we're off to a bar down the road for some live music. Tomorrow we're heading on a surf school road trip to Eland's Bay. It's a change of scene and a chance to try surfing in a new area. It should be very interesting to see how we all get along in close quarters for a full 3 days. We might need to surf just to let off some steam. Right now there are 6 of us going - Me, Jamie (Bristish gap year), Natalie (British gap year), Tom (British gap year), and Alexa (the lone Canadian). And Gary is going along as well, of course since he's driving and we're staying in his house there. There will be stories and pictures after this trip, no doubt!

Finally - I am quite proud of myself for this - by my 3rd day of work at the shop, Clement decided that I was worth 11 cows!! He rates everyone based on that. Jamie, for example, is worth one front leg. Alexa still beats me by two cows, but I think I can catch up given some time.

Air high five to everyone there! (We're all about high fiving for everything at the moment. It'll pass soon hopefully.)

The Surf Today....

Hello all from Sunny South Africa!

Things are going well here - I have been quickly entrenched into the work at the surf shop, answering phones, renting boards and wetsuits, observing the lessons, although I have not had to give any lessons yet - and I am completely fine with that!

I was here in Muizenberg for two days before the start of my project, just hanging around, napping, and attempting to adjust to the time change. I met a bunch of the people in the lodge - volunteers from i-to-i and a few other organizations. We're all here in a good sized house right on the beach that could probably be cleaner, but isn't too bad. I don't have high expectations for a place where everyone is responsible for their own cooking and cleaning. It's just asking for a mess in the kitchen! At the moment, I have a room to myself, but that should end by the end of this week. I'm enjoying it for the moment though!

On Monday, we had our orientation for i-to-i. That was a lot of fun - Most of the crew there were headed off on a tour around the Garden Route here in South Africa, but one other guy, Steve, is traveling Africa for his gap year and he's come to work at the orphanage for the next two months, so he is settled into the beach lodge as well. [On a side note - the other i-to-i volunteer at the surf school with me is Jamie (James). This is a bizarre coincidence since last year when I was in India, the two other i-to-i volunteers were also James and Steve. Weird... Once again I am surrounded by Brits. I swear I am going to adopt the accent soon without meaning to. I think I might be already, to be honest! :) ]

Our orientation was at a different (and nicer) guesthouse. It was just the new i-to-i folks and Kat and Easter from the i-to-i office here. We got the whole safety and culture briefing, then we played African drums for a looooong time with an instructor who comes specifically to teach the volunteers. Which was a blast, although my arms are a bit tired from that! Made me want to buy a drum! After that, we had some South African wine and beer, ate dinner, and generally hung around before going to sleep.

The next day was my first day of work at the shop. It was thankfully quiet that day, so I got to know the rest of the crew at the shop. Clement is Gary's steady and reliable worker - He keeps us volunteers in line as much as possible. He's great - I think I'll have some good stories about him. We have 3-4 volunteers working every day, but if the surf is good (or wicked like yesterday and today), that number drops rapidly. There is also a consistant gathering of surfing grads from the school who hang around. The shop has become a sort of second home for many of them, some come just to surf and hang out, some help teach the lessons. They're all just part of the surfing family that Gary has gathered here with his surf school.

I've been out surfing a few times and let's just say that I need a lot of improvement. I'm hoping to get some tips from either Gary or Kwezi, who has been dubbed the "Tiger Woods" of surfing by ESPN magazine. He's incredible - keep an eye out for him in all of the international surf competitions this summer!

That's a short update! I'm enjoying it so far, and I've only been here for 5 days or so, so it'll only get better, I know!

Keep in touch! I have easy access to email!
-Katie

Arrived in Cape Town!

Hi everyone!

I'm in Cape Town, South Africa - Just wanted to let everyone know that I made it here safe and sound, got picked up by Kat, who works for i-to-i. She's awesome, we chatted the whole way to my hotel, which is literally right on the beach. (Here's an odd coincidence - we both stayed in the same hostel in New Orleans when we visited there.)

It was a long trip, but I actually managed to sleep on both plane flights. The group next to me on the flight from London was pretty rowdy. I managed to sleep despite the noise, but was rudely awakened when someone got a little riled up and knocked a half-full tray of juice into my lap. I don't recommend that as a way to wake up. Grrr.

As for Cape Town - This place is beautiful. And it's not even ideal conditions today since it's pretty cloudy. It is warm, though. And a little humid.

Anyway - I need to go and get unpacked and settled in, grocery shop, shower, all of that good stuff! Keep in touch. I'll try to keep everyone updated on how things are going.

-Kt