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.)
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.)
posted by Kt at
8:51 AM
1 Comments:
Keep up the good work.
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Anonymous, at 12:10 PM
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