Sunday, October 11, 2009

It’s getting harder to write. Harder to actually put any words to what I’m doing. Words simply can’t describe it anymore. Hints why I haven’t written in a while. That, and I have been unbelievably busy between Ghana and South Africa and also ran out of internet minutes. But I guess let’s go ahead and give this whole thing a shot.

I’ll start with Ghana. Oh where to begin with Ghana? I could right a novel about this single country alone so let’s just cover it like this. Ghana consisted of me:
-Going on a village homestay
-Getting adopted by an African man. He called me his wife.
-Pretty much sleeping in the dirt next to a goat and a naked African woman
-Doing the Hannah Montana hoedown throw down dance for about 200 little African kids
-Swimming in the village river and taking a traditional Torgorme village shower (which is not really a shower at all and actually makes you dirtier)
-Eating complete bone filled tilapia that my African family caught for me about 10 minutes before it was in my mouth
-Climbing the highest mountain in Ghana
-A monkey throwing a banana at me (which if you know me at all..you would understand why I was not the least bit pleased)

And after 3 days of this, I finally made it back home at 9pm dieing for a clean shower in my room. Did I get it? Nope.
As soon as I walk across the gangway, my friends are there waiting there for me to go out. “Throw on a dress, the last shuttle is leaving!” So without question, I throw on my dress, put my greasy goat hair back in a pony tail, and run off the ship into the surprisingly amazing nightlife that is Accra, Ghana.

The end. Not really. But that’s really all I can say for now. When I get back I will go into more detail, but for now… that’ll do donkey, that’ll do.

Ok so next up, Cape Town, South Africa.

6am hits and the entire ship is wide-awake to watch us port. I walk outside and for the first time in my life, a sight literally took my breath away. The mountains of South Africa are without a doubt the most beautiful thing on this planet. And I watched the sunrise over them- while whales, yes whales splashed in the distance and the lion king circle of life blasted over my ipod. It was a totally awesome morning. 8:30 and the ship is cleared. People are off in every direction. I headed to table mountain for a hike that was much much harder than I actually expected. 10 of us sweat our way to the top to reach a view that was very much worth the work. I also found a burger with my name on it and an ice-cold peroni that made it much worth the hike. We all went out that night and I found myself on a 3:30am cab ride home jamming to Beyonce’s Halo and missing my brother and Jenna. 5am wake up call and 40 of us are off to the buses for a bungee jumping/shark cage diving trip. “Extreme Scene!” is what we called it and boy was it extreme. We arrived at the bloukran’s bungee jump bridge 6 hours later. The highest bungee jump in the world. Need I repeat? The HIGHEST bungee jump in the world. After I saw the thing, it took me a second to figure out why I had signed up for the whole trip in the first place. But before I knew it, I was out on top of the bridge jamming to techno music, while one by one, they threw us off. My turn was next. They began tying my feet. I couldn’t really talk. All I could do was smile. And laugh. And the next thing I knew they were hopping me out to the ledge with my legs tied together, and little old me was looking out, 220 meters in the air. 5-4-3-2-1 BUNGEE. I had no choice but to jump. So I freaking dove. Best dive of my life. Nothing will ever compare to the feeling of free falling to your death and then bungeying back up to life. For anyone thinking about doing it- freaking do it. You won’t be able to stop smiling for hours after. The high is unreal. Don’t do drugs. Do bungee jumping.

Another 5am wake up call and we’re off to cage diving with the great whites. But I mean, how scary could it be, the cage protects you right? Wrong. One wrong move and you’re looking at a spot in the special olympics for life. It was a real thrill, but those sharks are intense. And when they’re inches from your face biting the cage while you’re being tossed around inside- you sort of wonder what your doing there in the first place. But we all survived. And I made it to see the rest of Cape Town which was even more amazing.

I stayed with Jenna’s family while I was there and it was SUCH a treat. They showed us around everywhere. Bolder’s Beach, the winelands, Fish hoek. I saw Jenna’s school, her old houses, and even ate at a spur. But honestly, one of the best parts of the whole thing was not the sites, the beaches, or the views, but getting to sit on a real couch in a real house. I woke up in the morning at Susan and Malcom’s house and wandered into the living room. Sporting my PJS and baggy t-shirt, I sat on the most comfortable couch in the entire world watching Ellen Degeneres and eating cereal. I forgot what it means to do that. I forgot what it feels like to sit on a couch and watch tv, and from that moment on- I decided that I will never look at that single relaxing activity the same.

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