I had an absolutely incredible
weekend. One I will definitely remember for the rest of my life. It was
jam-packed with a wide range of activities, and each one was better than the
one before it, The weekend began Thursday night, with the program all going
into the city to see a play called Kanala. It was an 8-member cast, accompanied
by a really talented band. The play was comprised of stories about District 6,
and really did a great job of honoring its memory and its people. The cast was
super talented, and I loved the energy.
Friday morning began with my
activist project that I do with Collette and Bryan. We travelled out to
Constantia to SARDA, the South African Riding for the Disabled Association, and
volunteered during a horseback riding lesson with students. SARDA offers
lessons to kids and adults with ranging capabilities and the riding acts as therapy
in a multitude of ways - improving balance, posture, muscle strength, and
confidence. I worked with a horse named Ticki and a rider named Deborah on
Friday. As a sidewalker, we help guide horse and rider, offer support, and give
tips and reminders about their form and technique. It's really nice to be able
to spend time around horses again and it's special that I get to help others
and give back to the community at the same time.
 |
Eric, Caroline, & Drew |
Friday afternoon Drew, Collette,
Emily, Eric, Abby and I went to South African Breweries in Newlands for a tour
and beer tasting. I had never done anything like this before, and I was excited
to see firsthand how beer is made. The brewery is massive - I was expecting a
small craft brewery, but this facility produces brands like Castle and Black
Label, some of the most popular and most common (read: cheapest) beer in South
Africa. You can kind of compare SAB to Anheuser-Busch in the States. So the
brewery was massive. We walked through the steps of creating a bottle of beer,
beginning from its basic components all the way to packaging and shipping. We
saw the fermentation tanks, the control room, and the assembly lines where
bottles are filled and recycled.
At the end of the tour we had a beer
tasting (the real reason we went). We tasted five beers: Castle Light, Carling
Black Label, a craft beer, Flying Fish Lemon (my favorite), and Castle Milk
Stout. We also got 2 free pints included in the price of the tour, which was
R50 (about $3.50) with a student discount! Absolutely incredible deal that I
probably won't ever be able to beat.
On Saturday, Paige, Derek, Collette,
Drew, Maria and I went sandboarding after having breakfast at Old Biscuit Mill.
It was so fun and such a cool experience. The dunes were pretty big and it was
so gorgeous and serene out there as long as you weren't looking in the
direction of the 10 year old boy's birthday party.
They had different types of boards
available, ones just like snowboards with the same kind of bindings, and some
shorter ones with more rudimentary bindings. I used a smaller, quicker board
with better turning, not that I was capable of turning. I have never
snowboarded before so this was my first time riding a board with my feet
strapped down, and I definitely need more practice, but I think I did pretty
well! I only fell really hard once!
On Sunday, nine of us went
skydiving. And it was so amazing. I loved every second of it. The ride flying
up to 9000ft took about 20 minutes and the view of the ocean and the city was
incredible. It was also strange and hilarious to be flying in such a tiny, naked
plane. There was only one seat for the pilot, and six of us crammed in sitting
on the floor. It was kind of like a tin box, and the door on the side was like
a see-through plastic garage door. So when we were high enough, the guys just
flip open the door and wind whooshes in. Then you swing your legs out of the
plane and wait to jump. At this point, I thought to myself, "You have got
to be kidding me."

Then we rolled out of the plane and
it was probably one of the coolest things I've ever done, if not the coolest.
It's pretty hard to describe exaclty what it was like, so if you want to know
you can ask me in person and I'll attempt to convey to you just how awesome it
was. I loved it so much that I know that won't be the last time I jump out of a
plane.
No comments:
Post a Comment