SPIDER PIG

so i'm really tired right now but i wanted to write about the best day ever (or at least one of my favorites so far in cape town)...

As I've talked to some of you about, It's been a bit of a struggle finding a volunteer program that I really liked and that suited me here in South Africa. The program that they push at UCT is called SHAWCO, and it's really wonderful but also enormous and doesn't require much of a regular commitment. I'm still trying to figure out my place with it (and waiting for people to e-mail me back) , so I've been searching for some other options, mostly through UCT. After hitting a couple of dead ends my friend Angela asked me if I wanted to go check out a orphanage/temporary home for children with her on Friday.

After debating for about 10 seconds whether I should skip class and go I naturally came to the conclusion that class is for punks (sorry mom it won't happen again) and opted to go. After an hour long minibus adventure we arrived at Heaven's Nest, home to about 12 rediculously cute little kiddies.

sidebar: minibuses are one form of cape town public transportation...essentially they are extremely crowded 15 passenger vans that run along various routes in the city. When they pull over to the side of the road the guard for the van will jump out and scream the destination, and the driver will honk, repeatedly. Everyday I wake up to the honking and people screaming WYNBERG!! right outside my window. They are really fun and they cost like 4 rand (about 60 cents)

So anyway, Heaven's Nest is a temporary home for children. Some of the kids don't have parents and are awaiting adoption, some have parents that can't take care of them due to various reasons (they're abusive, are addicted to drugs, have AIDS, are in jail, etc.) Some of the kids have HIV, some don't, but they're all treated the same. The staff is wonderful and so dedicated, and they give me cooking tips I desperately need. So after Friday I decided to spend at least every Sunday there, and hopefully some other time slots as well. It's a little tricky because I have to make sure to leave by 3 or 3:30 to get back on the minibuses safely which makes it tricky with classes, but I'm really optomistic about the whole situation right now and I had a really phenominal time today. hooray. Major major props to Angela for finding this place.

And then after I got home Moses, who is our house's collective Ugandan psuedo big brother slash tour guide, took us out to dinner and then to ice cream and then to one of the many beaches (which is so outrageously beautiful at night elton john and david beckham have houses there) and then to see seals. Seals are mad cute I saw one really super up close! good times all around.

I really want to write more but I need to do homework (damnit.) I'll post pictures soon, I know reading all this is boring.

miss you all
Ellen