Another Day In Paradise

Today (or should I say 4 days ago) we went to The Warehouse. It's a very unique place. What they do is they provide tons of necessities - like clothes, food, and hygiene items to a bunch of different churches around the Cape Town area. The churches then use the donations to give to those in need in their community. So not only are the people receiving things they can't afford for themselves, but they are getting connected through the church. But today we just hung out at The Warehouse and go to know all the people who worked there. We joined them in their daily worship and bible study that happens every morning.
It was very cool to worship with people in Afrikaans and Zulu. How ever we could not contribute much, we tried! We have tried to incorporate clicking sounds in our speech, but it never works out! The Africans laugh at us. But at this point we're used to it.

After chilling (literally chilling, the Warehouse is a very cold building)...we went to another informal settlement. We ate lunch there in a small shack that has been made into a local restaurant. It was adorable! And the food was delicious...as always (by the way expect all of us to come back about 20 pounds heavier).

After that, we went to a school, found some kids, and payed with them. Our experience with these kids was VERY different from any other. Their idea of playing with us was much more violent! Basically they were tackling us, jumping on us and ripping out large portions of our hair. It was very entertaining to watch! There was one kid in particular that we all grew to love. His name (that we gave him)...Big Poppy. Big Poppy the cinder block. He was a 60 pound boy trapped in a 2 foot body. You would go to pick him up, and your back would give out. He didn't walk...he waddled. And he fell every time he tried to run because he was so top heavy. And when he fell down, he would just sprawl out around for a few minutes before attempting to get up. But he seemed to be enjoying himself! He was hilarious, I followed him around with a video camera for a while and caught all his antics on tape!

We gave all the kids bracelets and they loved them! They were so happy. After our play session, we drove to the top of this mountain with amazing views. Cape Town is absolutely beautiful! Then we begged our driver, Mr. Ford ("The Man") to take us to the beach. We had so much fun there! We ran around, played Frisbee, and watched the sunset.

As you can tell, we are having a horrible time (joke). We miss you all so much!

Tons of love
Emily Schloesser

P.S. See you on Skype!