The Future Is No Place to Place Your Better Days

Just thought I'd title this entry with a quote from South Africa's very own Dave Matthews. It also aptly describes a lesson I'm learning every day here; to live in the moment and to take any opportunity that comes your way.


Last weekend I did something I thought I would NEVER do.. bungy jump! And not only bungy jump.. but jump off of the HIGHEST bungy jump bridge in the world. Theresa, Theresa, Lara, Silja and I drove the beautiful Garden Route again to the bridge where Lara, Silja and I had a 3:00 appointment on Saturday to jump off a bridge. (It's such a funny concept to me.) Bloukrans Bridge is located on the way to Plettenberg Bay. It overlooks beautiful rolling hills and cliffs covered in greenery and just through the hills is the sea. The scenery alone is something to marvel at from a distance, and then you fall from the bridge and have that whole view to yourself in absolute silence. Ahhh it was so great. Getting across the bridge to the jumping point on the other hand, was terrifying.. and I'm pretty sure that my mind stopped processing what was happening when I stepped to the edge of the bridge and looked down to see 216 meters of free space below. When I jumped, I was going so much faster than I imagined I would, so I just screamed and screamed and screamed, until I realized that everything around me was quiet. The bounces weren't bad, and my favorite part was the zero gravity at the start of each bounce. It was a really cool feeling to hang still in the air for that split second before falling again. Even though the whole ordeal probably lasted less than 5 minutes, it seemed like half a lifetime until the guy came down the rope to pull me up, and I think it took almost equally as long for my face to stop smiling when I was back on the bridge.

Before bungy jumping, the girls and I stopped at Monkeyland, a rehabilitative center for monkeys who have been in captivity or possessed by mean human owners. There were monkeys all over the place, and they got really close to you, too! There's a lot of different species of monkeys there, some are even from South America and Asia, not all are necessarily African species. My favorite little one was the only one from its species in Monkeyland. I don't remember what kind he was but he looked reeeal cute sitting up there in the tree, so naturally I climbed up there and snuck him into my knapsack. Kidding, but I really wanted to.

Besides that one day of absolute adrenaline, life here is pretty easy going. It’s still exciting, but in a different way.. sometimes I will be walking down the street and have to think, “Oh yeah, I’m in Africa!” I also have these moments every now and then when I can imagine what it’s going to feel like when I return home. I know that I’m going to think about the 5 months I was in Africa for the rest of my life, and I sometimes feel like I’m a walking memory, trying to brand how I am genuinely feeling in my mind so that I never forget what I was thinking, feeling, wondering, etc. as I walked down the streets of PE. There are also moments where everything seems really normal, but then I remember that there are things that happen here that I’ve just never experienced, and may never experience after this (like getting into a taxi that barely drives and just bucks down the street 20 miles an hour, or having my roommates from Kenya and Tanzania cook me a homemade dinner of vegetables and maize, a recipe they took from home, or listening to students all around me speak Xhosa and just loving the sounds of the clicks.)


There's been a lot of planning for the rest of the semester going on.. Just to give a little preview: In two weeks we have Easter Break, and I'll be going on a road trip to Cape Town with Lara and Silja! We'll stay in Kysna on the way there, visit Mossel Bay, and then on the way back we'll stay in Wilderness. During April I'll be taking a scuba diving course to get my license to dive (anywhere in the world for the rest of my life) and at the end of April we're heading to Mozambique!!! So very excited.


I hope all is well at home.. and a little shout out to my Lesley loves who spent Spring Break with Habitat for Humanity!! I've seen the photos and loved reading all the posts online. I'm so happy it was another successful week (although I'm not surprised at all!) Great work and welcome back!


Cheers!