There Are No Words

There are absolutely no words to describe what it is like to be here right now. After my first day in Cape Town, I am in complete awe. But let's start with London.

I like London. It's a beautiful city, and a few hours time isn't nearly enough to explore. I was frantic all day, just trying to fit in as much as possible with the time I did have, and was able to "see" some places, but really only got to explore St. Paul's Cathedral. I like churches (I picked that up from my mom)... I love the concept of building a monument that is meant to represent all that a faith has to offer. And if ever there were a time God commanded a work to be done, it was St. Paul's. The history of the place alone is hard to fathom, but the intricacies of the architecture and the murals are unbelievable. And after a 434 step hike up a tight winding staircase built hundreds of years ago to get to the whispering gallery and observation deck at the top of the dome... well, there's just nothing to say.

So London, I liked. The Brits... not so much. In fact, after my very limited experience with them, they kind of suck on the whole. The customs agent was an ass, people continually bumped me out of the way without so much as an "Excuse me," and God forbid one might open the door for a female. Plus, I'm pretty sure they don't understand the concept of signage or trashcans. Otherwise, London was great.

Both flights were uneventful, though I probably only slept 3-4 hours on each leg of the trip. We landed in Cape Town just as the sun was rising. It's a beautiful land. Mountains everywhere, some even with snow right now (which is apparently rare for the mountains outside of Cape Town). As we were just coming into the airport, our flight path took us right over one of the squatter camps (or what we might call shanty towns). My heart broke a little as I saw what these places really looked like. No running water or sewage, let alone electricity. Pictures will never do justice to the adversity so many of the people here face every day. An education, a talent, a livelihood are all beautiful things, and I'm starting to see just how much we take that for granted.

As I've said previously, Norah and Kelly are amazing. They've practically adopted me as one of their own, carting me around in their tiny little car (so strange, compared to my monstrous Explorer) and showing me the little bit of Cape Town we could catch tonight. We went to the Waterfront (which is a huge tourist destination) for dinner, and saw some of the local African men performing. Unreal. We drove around for a while, and I was very glad to not be alone on my first night in Africa.

Anyway, it's 11:30 PM here and I need to get some sleep. I'm being picked up at 7:30 AM to spend part of the day with Norah's friend in a township, and possibly a school, then off to take the cableway to the top of Table Mountain, assuming the weather permits.

And just to correct myself, South Africa is now only 9 hours ahead of LA... it's that American narcissism that made me totally forget that Daylight Savings isn't the norm worldwide.

Love from South Africa. (PS: That's me with the country's 4 Nobel Prize winners. I'm leaning on Mandiba, who you may know as Nelson Mandela.)