Robbery in the church and coffee with a Nobel Peace Prize winner.. all before breakfast

Well my first week is in the books I guess you could say.  One down, eleven to go!  It was very interesting and a culture shock to say the very least.  Today, however, was probably the most active.  It started off early enough, waking up at 6:30 to go a mass at the Episcopalian church.  Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu usually hosts Friday morning mass at St. George’s Cathedral (beautiful and a must-see!) in Cape Town.  Karen, the wife of Kevin, is on the committee from the church and very close with Desmond.  I must say that if I hadn’t known beforehand what service I was going to I would have bet everything that it was Catholic.  Never having been to an Episcopalian service before I cannot say how they are in the states.  This one was very formal and reserved.  Rites were read from the Anglican Prayer Book and communion was taken.  I did not partake but you can bet that I went up and received my blessing for the day from the archbishop!  Poor guy, you’ll see from the pictures that he is very small; I leaned very far forward so he could reach my forehead.  Below are the pictures, after the service he changed into his Springbok gear as he was leaving for the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand during the day sometime.

He was making fun of me because I was so tall.  I was on my way down to one knee when someone snapped the pic.  

He loves his Springboks!

More after the jump.

Student group from North Carolina

St. George's Cathedral

So after we had all had coffee, Helen and I were looking at a room full of photos documenting the struggle against apartheid.  A young black man came in and asked us for money (not uncommon at all) and we declined.  We then watched as he went into the dining area and took something from the tables and then proceeded to take a donation jar full of coins and leave.  To be honest I thought he was just taking it to an office somewhere to be counted.  He was just asking us for money for a donation to the church, right?  Well Helen asked if I saw that, I did but wasn’t very concerned.  She suggested we ask Karen so we did.  Karen had no idea; neither did the lady serving coffee.  We described him to the lady at the counter and she thought we were teasing her.  We assured her it was no joke and she hurried out of the Cathedral but he was nowhere to be found in the street.  We took a right and down a very long walkway that goes through a huge garden in the middle of Cape Town I could make out his red jacket.  I was sure it was him and pointed the man out to her.

Ashamedly I must admit we were all hesitant.  After all it wasn’t my money.  If she didn’t want her money that badly why should I care?  She was a small young woman my age and I could tell she was having a tough time deciding what to do.  All of a sudden she started after him.  Well I couldn’t let her go by herself, he might have gotten violent.  I chased after her as she shouted at him.  He turned around and saw us.  “I earned this money.  It’s mine.  I’m just claiming what is owed to me!” he kept shouting as he threw the money on the ground and ran.  He kept the bills but all the change was on the ground.  I just kind of stood there and watched him leave and thought about all the bad juju he was going to get for stealing from a church.  I’m sure there wasn’t much money there to begin with; Rand bills are not worth much compared to dollars.

Karen did not know we had run after him so she had found the priest to come looking for us.  We explained it to them and they were just as shocked as we were.  I was glad the guy just ran, I wasn’t looking for a fight but he was much smaller than I, plus I had just gotten out of church.  Karen told me I would have gotten a blessing from God for beating him up.  I don’t know if I could handle a blessing from God and Desmond Tutu so close to one another, haha! 

I only share this to illustrate the level of poor here in South Africa.  Stealing from a church is a new one for me; probably for most of the people reading this blog.  Maybe you knew a bad deacon or two but no guy walks into a church, asks you for money, receives none, then just takes what is in the offering plate and leaves like it’s no big deal.  He was completely casual about it, which is the sad part.  It was like he’d done it before.  Karen helps run a soup kitchen during the week.  She says that if you leave a bag in plain sight they will break in and steal the possessions of the people who just gave them a free meal. 

I won’t get into this very much but it is very obvious to me that there is a lot of animosity against the whites; some rightly so.  Young black kids grow up in the townships living a terrible life, looking for someone or something to hate.  White people are the easiest target because they have everything those kids never had.  I think the thought process of the young man was that life had treated white people better than him so rather than wait for a change he was going to take matters into his own hands.  Its messed up, but what would you do for one more meal?

During the service, Desmond had the visitors stand, introduce themselves and state what they were doing in Cape Town.  Through the introductions I found out that a group of about 15 students from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill are in Cape Town for a semester with their professors.  It was nice to see some fellow Americans my age.  During coffee, a young blonde girl from the group came and introduced herself to me.  I made my first friend older than 18 but younger than 25 (25 is important because it is when the brains cortex is fully developed and allows a person to make informed decisions, or so the psychologists tell me – I only have just over three years to be irresponsible and jump off bridges, swim with sharks and ab sail off mountains)!  Her name is Abby and it seems that she and the rest of her group live like two blocks away from me.  I told her that we must all get together and go out so that I can meet the rest of her group.  They are traveling Cape Town this semester going to lectures and conferences experiencing the multicultural aspect of South Africa I believe.  At any rate they seem to be willing and go do things some might call risky with me that I will not tell you about until after I do them. 

We also went to Hout Bay High during the day and spoke with the headmaster, principal, Mr. Julius.  Helen and her school has partnered with some schools in the area and they are paying him to come to Holland so he can see the system there and hopefully learn something he can take back with him to South Africa.  It is a very good idea, too bad the Department of Education doesn’t show this kind of initiative.  I will probably write about that visit in another blog.  It is rather lengthy. 

Well for this post I don’t know what else to write.  If you have been following along, a German girl arrives in Cape Town tonight (actually she is probably already here).  Helen is going to move out of the flat tomorrow morning at 9:30.  I am sad to see her go; she has been a lot of fun and a very good conversationalist.  Plus I am young and full of ideas and opinions that I share while she sits quietly and very patiently without ever criticizing me.  I can see why she was able to be a successful teacher for 35 years.  A 20 year old German girl is moving in tomorrow and staying for about 10 days.  I don’t know what she is doing while she is here; Kevin says she is on break and just using this as a place to stay for a short while.  After she leaves there are two more German girls coming to stay, I don’t know how long they are going to be here I can only keep my mind wrapped around a few women at a time, guys will know what I am talking about, haha!

I am developing a sort of affection for rugby.  And the United States is playing in the World Cup so I must go and cheer on my country.  Kevin is taking me to his sports club on Sunday morning to watch the Springbok game.  Now I think is when I feel the most pride for my country; when I’m in a land of aliens.  Plus the weekend celebrates 9/11 and a time to reflect as I’m sure a lot of people will.  Desmond Tutu mentioned it today in the service and many people asked me what it was like that day.  I was in sixth grade in computers class and remember the teacher starting to cry and take us back to our room and turn on the TV.  I felt a great sense of pride for my country when Desmond brought 9/11 up but also gratitude for the great mix of cultures taking time to pray for all Americans.  I feel like there is always negativity towards America from the rest of the world but it was nice to see the support of the nations in remembering the 9/11 tragedy.  We Will Never Forget.