Alex L loving the people of Ocean View

Staying in Ocean View for the weekend was one of the nicest experiences I’ve had while being here in Cape Town. I loved the warm welcome we received from everyone in the community, especially our host family. The moment we got to the house, I felt strangely comfortable considering I would be sleeping in a strange room in a strange house with people I didn’t know for an entire weekend. We were fed a delicious meal and then were off to ballroom dancing lessons where the local kids taught us how it was done. That was one of my favorite nights because it was something I had never done before but I was thoroughly impressed by the little ten and twelve year olds who were gracefully moving around the dance floor like little professionals. The next morning, we were volunteers at a Sports Day event for little kids aged about 4-6. This was such an entertaining day because the kids were adorable and it was so nice seeing how excited they were to be participating in the event. Later that night was another favorite part of my weekend where my host family’s son participated in the high school talent show.  Everyone who participated was outrageously talented with their singing, dancing, and playing musical instruments. The most impressive and touching part of the show however, was the very end when they put on a skit called Ubuntu Summer Camp. They were humorous in the way they displayed the stereotypes of all the different groups of people here in Cape Town; whites, blacks, coloureds, Indians, Afrikaaners, etc. All the groups stuck together in the beginning and were negative towards the kids in other groups, but throughout the skit they had to work together, overcome obstacles, and become one big community while accepting each others differences. As a mixed school, it was incredible to see how much they really did come together not only to put on that play, but watching how the kids naturally interacted after the show was over was something really heartwarming. My host mom pointed out to me how nice it was to see an interracial couple because only a few years prior, that would’ve been illegal, and being with someone of another race than yourself would be considered a sin. That skit was really neat because it was so relevant to what is going on and what happened in South Africa’s history, but is also promoting togetherness and peace among all people which a lot of people still need to realize. The rest of the weekend was also very nice, especially spending time with our host families. I loved the people of Ocean View, and would also love to reunite with them soon.