Friday, January 21, 2011

First day of volunteering?

Bonjour from Africa!
So I'm kind of lying, it's friday and I've been here for much longer but there is no such thing as wifi in Mamre. ANYWAY.

Soooo. This is what happened Monday, the 18th of January:

We woke up early and ate breakfast with friends and ran a few errands around Sea Point (the neighbourhood in Cape Town where the volunteer house is). Taxis picked us up from the volunteer house at noon and we had orientation with the organization and found out I'd be living in Marme, South Africa. 11 others are staying in that same town so it's very lucky. Some are in different towns so we are separated. booo. The town is super small, I think population 6000. I'd actually say less than that. It reminds me of the town in "To Kill A Mockingbird," or some small town in Georgia or Alabama. Everyone knows everyone, quite a poor town but not the poorest. We have electricity and water. It makes you really appreciate things such as air conditioning.  Anyway, it's quite a basic accommodation, I am rooming with Michelle, a friend I met the first day in Cape Town. Hilda is our host mom, she is a petite lady who is a busybody. She's involved with so much in the town of Mamre. She is the supervisor of the Mamre accommodation so we can talk to her if there are any problems. Mamre is a community of colored people (the term they use, not my term). It's meaning is mixed of black, Malaysian and white blood, I'm pretty sure. We visited with Hilda and her friend Morgan before bed.

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