Day 12:My Day with Ahmed Kathrada

Today was a very interesting and exciting day- not only did we get to go to Robben Island, but we were touring it with Nelson Mandela’s cellmate, Ahmed M. Kathrada. Also guiding us on the tour was our professor’s college friend who was the granddaughter of Albert Lutuli, former president of the ANC and Nobel Peace Prize winner. To say it was a somewhat unreal experience is a little more of an understatement than anything else.

The island itself is very beautiful, which is kind of weird considering that so many people were in prison there for years without ever getting to see it. Mr. Kathrada was a very interesting man, which was not surprising to me but what set me back a little bit was the fact that he was so willing to give us the tour of the island when about 20 years ago he was imprisoned there. He was also 1 of the 8 that were convicted alongside Mr. Mandela for conspiracy against the government. It was truly an honor to be in his presence. He had cancelled a dinner and flew in from Johannesburg to give our group a tour!

We walked through the initial archway and immediately into the prison. Mr. Katrhrada first showed us Mr. Mandela’s cell. It was so small; I don’t even know what to properly compare it too. We walked down the hallway they walked every morning for 20+ years to the cafeteria. We then heard Mr. Kathrada speak about his experiences.

It was chilling. He spoke about being in exile, the trials, the day-to-day life, Apartheid, his release, and his relationship with Mr. Mandela. He then took questions, when he was asked how it felt to return to the island for the first time as a free man. He grew silent and tears were in his eyes. The initial trip back was terrifying for him, as I could never imagine the pain of remembering the long years. But he said the main motive that kept them going was knowing that Robben Island was the only political prison where the police were not allowed to torture the prisoners to death. But mental attacks were a different story. These men, especially Mr. Mandela, never saw their children grow because no one under 16 is allowed on the island. When family members died, like Mr. Mandela’s mother and son, their request to attend the funeral was normally rejected. The mental anguish these men faced is something that should have broken a person, but they kept fighting for what they believed in—equality and freedom. I really can't explain how amazing of a trip it was and believe it was one of the most moving experiences of my life. Walking the same paths as the political prisoners was an eerie, surreal feeling. It was the funniest thing when he was talking about all the people he has taken to Robben Island (which is a huge number and the list was impressive) and he said he was taken Beyonce on a tour and had no idea who she was. He said he went through the whole day talking to her about the island and everything and really had no idea who she was until they got back to the mainland and he say her billboard and said "Is that you?"

We left Robben Island and returned to the mainland. It was a beautiful day and I had just walked the same halls as the most important South African and world human rights activist in history to date, and of course I got him to sign a copy of his book!

Travel on,

Seth

Day 11: Yes, I just jumped off a mountain…

Almost 2 weeks in Cape Town and it’s hard to believe that it has been that long and we don’t have that much time left. In class this morning, Logan Smalley talked to us about the power that we have on our generation to change thing- like ideas, norms and all the stuff that need to be defined. It was a really cool lecture/conversation- something that I’ve never really had the opportunity to talk or think about. He also showed us Dr. Randy Pausch’s The Last Lecture, if you haven’t seen it, it is a lecture given by this professor from Carnige-Melon who knew he was dying and gave his last lecture to his class. It’s absolutely amazing, and if you have time to watch it, do. Two quotes from the lecture that really made me think were “Excellence is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted” and “Brick walls are not there to stop you- they are there to show you how bad you really want it” Deep stuff.

After that lecture, we walked out to the beach and took our official Global LEAD Cape Town 2010 group photo, with Table Mountain as the backdrop. Then it was off to some adventure- what kind of adventure? Well, how about jumping off a mountain? Stephanie and I decided to go paragliding- so we hiked up Lion’s Head and put on our little backpack seat things and were hooked up to the guide and we simply ran and jumped off the mountain. It was crazy- the view was second to none. We glided for about 10 minutes when we landed on the soccer field down in Camps Bay. It was a good time- after we landed our guides treated us to some beer at the bar and we jus sat around and talked while we watched the sunset over the Atlantic Ocean.

I feel like I keep asking myself “Is this real life?” and surprisingly, I haven’t waken up from the dream yet- and I’m totally ok with that.

Travel on,

Seth

Day 10: The Power of WOW... I'm out of shape!

6:00 am rolls around and I hear the alarm on my phone go off, and I'm thinking to myself- "I'm so sure, the sun isn't even up and I am. Not cool." So we got up, hopped on the busses and headed toward table mountain for the sunrise hike up- well, with good intentions it wouldve been a sunrise hike, but we had some organizational issues and we got there while the sun was coming up and we started at about 7:30-8, it wasn't their fault that there was traffic and all that mess. Point of the story is that we made it there and everything was all good. Well, somewhat...

So this sunrise hike ended up being a climb up the mountain that took 2 hours. Not just 2 hours of walking up the mountain, but 2 hours of climbing and hiking and all that mess that I don't usually do. Needless to say, I cussed the name of our program director a couple times and almost passed out/vomitted. I am proud to say that I did neither one of the last 2- I made it up with no passing out or throwing up- Oh, and the heart works! For all those who were concerned/questioning that whole issue! So once we made it to the top and heard Courtney yelling that we had made it, I was never so happy to hear her voice!

The view from the top was absolutely amazing! It was pretty much the view and pictures you see on calendars and stuff. It was perfect, the clouds were rolling over the tips on the mountains and they were just green and just, yeah- amazing. So we had class up on top of the mountain and talk about the power of now and we even complied our own bucket lists. Yes, just like the movie- I had a pretty outrageous list, but nothing way too far fetched. Except for my last one.. Be Jesus. Not too out there, right? I did have some pretty cool things on there, so we'll see how far I can get before I kick the bucket, hopefully pretty far...

After that we came back to the apartments and pretty much just chilled out for a while and did a little school work. That night we went down to the Grand West casino where I tried my luck at the black jack tables here, and I have to say, it was a pretty trying battle, but lady luck ended up being on my side- I walked away with R1250 about $180 in comparison to the $100 I put in. We had a good time and all in all, still loving Cape Town. Oh, and they have Tabasco here!

Travel on,

Seth

Day 9: The True Tourist

This morning, we had another early morning and our final lecture on South African history. After that, another Community Group meeting, this time we had a little more complex assignment based off of Seth Godin’s book What Matters Now? The purpose of the book is to gather the greatest authors of this period and see what they think is important at this point, Our assignment- do the same thing, just speak to our generation. Mine word was “Difference” so it was a good time.

After class today, we decided to be the true tourist and go out and explore Cape Town. We visited the Slavery Museum, Castle Gardens, the National Library, and the District 6 museum. All very interesting places to see and learn a lot more about this area and more about why South Africa is the rainbow nation. After sight-seeing and seeing a butt-load of pigeons and squirrels all around the gardens (one of the pigeons actually pooped on Steph’s leg) we decided to head back to where we started.

We passed by Charley’s Bakery (Oprah’s favorite bakery in the WORRRLD) but it was 4 PM and it was closed. Balls. So we kept walking and passed through the Grand Central Terminal- and holy crap, was that an experience. Imagine hundreds of people waiting to get on a bus to go home after a day at work. These busses were packed so tight with people, I think even clowns would be impressed (that was my attempt to be politically correct and not call out ay specific ethic group). The rows with 2 seats had 3 people sitting in them, the rows were filled at least 3 people wide and the people filled the bus from the back all the was down the first 2 steps, Oh- and the driver was in a cage, it looked it. Real intense. I was so nervous walking through that area mainly because I didn’t know where I was, now granted it looked like New York during rush hour, but at least in New York, I’m in my own country and not so far out of my comfort zone and nervous that even the littlest thing made me worried/upset/borderline crazy. But I survived and lived through it.

We had another ethnic treat for dinner tonight- Mexicana Kitchen, a truly “authentic” ethnic treat, it was actually pretty good… But after a long day, I’m now sitting in the apartment getting to know my roommates. They’re really cool guys, I mean we watched Hotel for Dogs together (yes, that the pennacle of entertainment down here in Africa) and talked about life- good stuff. Now, it’s off to bed- we have an early morning tomorrow. A sunrise hike up Table Mountain for the “Power of WOW” lecture. So we’ll see how that goes…

Travel on,

Seth

Day 8: KFC, in Africa? Check.

Yesterday morning we woke up at the shining hour of 8 AM to get an early start on the day that began with another South African history lesson and then we had our first Community Group Leader meeting. The assignment was easy, but perplexing. It was called the “Dash” project. What’s the dash? Well, the dash is simply the dash that separates your birth and death dates on your tombstone, the question was, what did we want our dash to represent? What did we want to be remembered for? So, this was what I wanted my dash to represent:

Never take a step back.

From a young age, I’ve always considered myself to be a rather daring individual. Now, not daring in the sense that I would randomly partake in parkour and scale from building top to building top, I was always more of the type of person that would put myself out there and try something new just for the hell of it, and if I liked it, great- if I didn’t, no harm done.

The biggest lesson I learned from this is that you can never take a step back, especially if you love it. Granted you may try something and absolutely hate it, but if you didn’t try that thing you could never feel the sense of satisfaction knowing that you actually tried. Most of the time, the reward will be greater than you could have ever imagined- you will most probably laugh at almost every try you make, good or bad. Those are the memories. That is the joy of living.

Everyone has talent, but not everyone is willing to follow that talent to the dark places it may lead. Be that person- never take a step back and take life head on.

Good enough, right?

After class, we decided to take a walk down to Centre Point and exchange some money and had a little American immersion and had lunch at KFC- yes, they have that here. But, the KFC here was a little different than the ones at home. How? Well, the counter is behind a cable-wire cage and they don’t serve ice with the drinks- they don’t even have fountain drinks, or Dr. Pepper. Hell, I know but it could’ve been worse. Now, the KFC was no Popeye’s but it wasn’t awful either, it was good to have something that was a little reminder of our fast food nation.

After lunch, we made it down to Green Market Square, which is basically the vendor area of Cape Town where you go to buy all the little souvenirs and stuff, all in all, total tourist trap, I love it. I got to practice my bargaining skills, which are nowhere near my dad’s, but I feel like I got some pretty good deals. I bought a 6-foot painting for R200 and a $50 bill, so about $78 US. Everything is so cheap here!

We came back to the apartment and decided to be a little more domestic than what we had been and we cooked dinner, at first it was going to be lasagna, but then it turned into a baked ziti because 1) the lasagna noodles didn’t quite cook the way I had planned 2) not enough beef- but all in all it was quite delicious and complemented with a goat cheese salad made by Ms. Spinella herself.

Travel on,

Seth

Day 6: Sunset Salsa

Have you ever been absolutely taken back by something you saw? A time where you actually had to take a step back and just take everything in because it was THAT beautiful? Tonight, the entire group took a sunset cruise along the coast of Cape Town. It was so beautiful, if you looked to the left you saw the towering mountains that had a mist around their bases making them look almost fake and then when you turned to your right you just saw the sky painted all in pastels with the water making the horizon almost background worthy. It also makes you realize how small you really are in this big world. Something else that I found out we all take for granted. To describe what I saw from the boast in 2 words would have to be: Breath Taking.

We returned to the hotel to have our first group dinner, which was great. Pasta, pasta, pasta- can we say that I was in heaven? Because I was! After dinner, we had our first Community Group Leader meeting where we talked about our highs and lows for the week and were briefed on the week to come. It was the first time we got to hear from the leaders from the Bafana Bafana group about their adventure week, which sounded great- can’t wait until ours! They all seemed to have a good time and the bungee seemed to have been their favorite part of their week, can we talk about being excited? Because I’m so stoked about adventure week now.

After dinner, a small group of us decided to go down to Buena Vista, the Cuban social club here in Cape Town to experience Salsa night. The margaritas were from the top shelf and the salsa music was superb. Stephanie and I shared a couple of dances that had the people from our group smiling but we looked like complete amateurs in comparison to the rest of the more, um… experienced dancers. We had fun, that’s all that counts really.

Cape Town, like Louisiana is a melting pot of cultures that just makes this place so unique and intriguing. Pretty much to the point of where you don’t have to go very far to experience the diversity of this area. And like my Cajun heritage, that is something I can appreciate.

Travel on,

Seth

Day 5: Vinnos and Cheetos

So today, we took a step back from saving the world and took time out for ourselves and explored a more eclectic side of South Africa. We spend the morning in Franschhoek at the Haut Espoir vineyards up in the mountains. We met the 4^th generation owner of the lands Rob and the winemaker himself, Nickey. Many may think, “Wine in Africa?” I know I did, but I have to say it was quite possibly the best wine I have every tasted. Not that I’m a wine connoisseur, but I know what I like and this stuff was amazing. After the good majority of our group, myself included, “tasted” enough wine to bring us to that happy state, we left Haut Espoir and went to the downtown area of Franschhoek where we ate lunch. A friend and I decided to leave the group for a minute and share lunch at the quaint little Italian restaurant where we have the best Chicken Bruschetta (sp) and pasta I have had in a while. Then it was my mission to find a zebra pelt to put in my living room- after finding out that the zebra was a little out of my price range (about R11,000 about $1200) I decided to settle for the smaller, more practical Springbok pelt to put over my couch at home.

We hopped back on the bus and headed to Spere, where we visited Cheetah Encounter. We had the opportunity to pet and interact with baby cheetahs, which when I heard pet baby cheetahs I though little cubs that I can hold in my hand. Not so much the case- we were with Chompo who is about 11 months old and looks like a pretty grown, mature cheetah. Chompo was a little testy with it being the end of the day and really didn’t want anything to do with us in the cage- but we did get to pet him. Who would have ever thought that I would be petting a cheetah!? We found out from the trainer that Chompo would be going to an American zoo later in the year. All the cheetahs in Spere are born and raised in captivity mainly because if they were to be released in the wild, they would never survive. We were told that cheetahs in the wild have an average life expectancy of about 5 to 6 years, not so long, whereas in captivity the can live for some 12-15 years. Not too shabby, right?

We finally made it back to the hotel: my 2 cases of wine, my Springbok pelt and me. We decided that we would keep with the chill pace of the day and decided to have dinner at the Green Dolphin Restaurant and Jazz Club. The food and music were amazing; the singer was a soulful, C woman who is honestly worthy of singing jazz in New Orleans. Made me miss home a little bit. We ended up meeting up with our new, South African friend, Dovi, again who treated us to drinks at his dad’s restaurant and then came out with us.

Cape Town and South Africa is just mind-boggling. There are so many different landscapes in this area that its like if you drive for 15 minutes in any direction, you are in a completely different place. The people here are so nice and we found out that restaurants believe in nice, long meals. The standard South African dinner in a restaurant lasts about 3 hours, completely different than the rushed dinners we enjoy in the States. But all in all, it is still amazing here and I am loving every minute of it.

Peace, Love and Ayoba!

Travel on,

Seth