I didn’t write yesterday’s blog yesterday because it was so cold. My roommate huddled up in his blanket and fell asleep (a recurring pattern, he’s asleep now!), and I couldn’t be bothered and did the same. Thanks to a long sleep, we woke early feeling fresh and ready for a new day.

It started off slowly, with an introduction to what we’ll be doing (again) and more indications towards what our timetables will consist of (without actually getting them). Another session of ‘icebreakers’, which I remarked to a volunteer: “I’ve been through many icebreakers the ice is already broken damnit!” As my roommate mentioned, we’ll probably be saying “We’ll find out what we’re doing tomorrow” till we leave. There were interesting things to be said, however, as the project leader indicated a resistance to the education system when she was young, stating “I passed my metric with 5 subjects. I didn’t pass with 6 because I ignored history. They taught us a history I didn’t agree with. [Their version of history].”

After a long morning in the library brainstorming our expectations etc, we went on another trip of the town. Thinking that it’d just be a repeat of yesterdays ‘unofficial’ tour, we were slightly sceptical. We soon learnt that there was more to see, and so in the awesome afternoon sun we strolled to Mamre’s ‘heritage area’. When looking to a littered space, the guide (a local lad, himself coloured) stated “It’s culture for the coloured people to destroy things.” We’ve also picked up a number of off-hand comments from the coloured people here – particularly about blacks (they’re the ones bringing crime to the area, they can’t speak English etc.).

After seeing Mamre’s oldest buildings and meeting the Moravian Church’s Priest (originally a missionary base, this is undoubtedly the source for much of the conservatism in the town), we headed up the hill flanking the town, hosing it’s cemetery, and as we later learnt, a selection of cattle and bulls. From the hill we caught sight of the entire town, with beautiful mountain backdrops including Table Mountain in the distance. Chilling in the afternoon sun, we sat on rocks and chatted about our lives, families and ambitions.

On the way down, aside from terrible fright of Cows, a volunteer asks about prunes; “They’re dried fruit. Oh, so what are they when they’re wet?”

We joined each other for fun times in the sports field later, playing with some of the host families’ children. I raced someone in a sprint for the first time in years and actually won, though a local volunteer outran us both. Watching a magnificent African sunset, we headed home (across the road) for a fried fish & chips dinner. Yum.

When I checked my email I found out about the floatilla boat raids and killings, I can’t believe that this can continue. Take action now!