Oceanview Homestay Weekend

This weekend almost all of the CIEE students were bused down to Oceanview township/community near Cape Point and Simon's Town. We were dropped off at that school in the town where we originally visited during orientation and were assigned tables to sit at so we can meet our families. I found table number three and a little sign that said i was partnered with my friend Ali. There were four other CIEE students at the table with us who all had family to talk to besides us. The names on the card were Trevor and Lily who we assumed were the parents but they were no where to be found. So then when everyone else had families to sit and chat with, Ali and I sat there and patiently waited for our family to arrive. Some people of the community started speaking and then Lily finally came! She is such a sweet lady with short dark/purple hair probably in her early thirties. As we listed to speakers and ate snacks, Ali and I talked to our new mom and eventually her 8 year old daughter Sydney came over to talk to us. She was shy at first but then she hung out with us and took turns sitting on mine and Ali's laps. After the dinner, Lily's uncle picked us up and drove us to their house where we met Trevor, the husband, and Sammy Leigh, the adorable 1 year and 8 month old daughter. That night we played with the girls and hung out at home. We talked to Lily and Trevor about what they do and their life in Oceanview. Lily works at a laundrymate and Trevor is a security guard at an elderly home. Then Ali and I were tired and ended up going to bed around 11pm even before Sammy Leigh went to bed!!
Saturday morning we got up and hung out with the girls while Trevor made eggs, toast, and South African bacon (which is similar to our ham) for breakfast. The food was really good all weekend!! Then we made friendship braclets with Sydney which is very hard to do with an almost two year old running around and talking everything from you. Eventually we made both the girls bracklets but Sammy put hers in her mouth before we could put it on her wrist!! Then Ali and I proceeded to wash our hair in the tub with cold water and get ready for the day. Trevor then took all of us on a tour of the Cape where we got to take lots of pictures of the ocean and mountain. We then drove through Fishok and picked up Lily at work. Then we went to shoprite and McDonalds for lunch. We then went to the soup kitchen which has been closed down because of lack of funds but that day our extended family made food and distributed it out to the people that came there. Apparently the south african government doesnt have enough money to support both soup kitchens for the homeless and the refugee camps so the money has been given to the refugee camps for now until more funding is acquired. After that we went home and helped make Garlic Bread and got ready for the Braai we were having that night. Then around 7pm we went back to the soup kitchen where all of our extended family and their CIEE students gathered to hang out and eat dinner together. We spent most of the night playing with the kids and talking to the adults and eating another delicious meal of curry, vegetables and our amazing garlic bread!

Sunday morning we all got up and went to the Roman Catholic church that is near the soup kitchen. Lily was saying that there are over 120 churchs in Oceanview but that there are only 10 or so that are the main churches. The mass was very nice but we forgot Sammy's bottle so she was a little noisy and fussy. There were so many little children running around or being good and sitting on their families laps. Of course we were with the loudest child but she was still adorable! After church one of their uncles took me, Ali, Matt and Jamie on a tour of Simon's town which was really interesting to hear about because it was very personal. The area that we saw was constantly being declared "white only" during aparthied only because it was better land. Eventually most of the colors got pushed out of Simon's Town and ended up in Oceanview. After we went back to the uncles house and had a huge lunch before leaving to go back to Cape Town.
I really enjoyed this weekend and got to learn a lot about the community of Oceanview and the poeple that lived there. It is really sad to hear all the stories of aparthied especially because it was so recent. Lily and Trevor were terrific host parents and Ali and I are definilty going to go back and visit them before we leave. Especially because Lily is an amazing cook! :)

South African Fact: On sunday we had these amazing Koskiesks (spelling?) which are donuts in Afrikans.