Come Fly With Me

This past weekend was definitely more hectic than the last, kicking off on Friday night with a booze cruise around Cape Town. We had met a minibus driver, Enrico, the week before whilst travelling to Manenberg, and had become quite taken with his van (which sported the words SEXY LADY in neon green on the front). So 17 of us piled in with our drinks and Enrico drove us up to the Signal Hill lookout, through the streets of Cape Town, past Camps Bay and finally onto Long Street (where the night continued well on into Saturday morning).

Don't ask about the pink panther hanging in the window (courtesy of Amanda)

As one might imagine, Saturday was more laid-back; I spent most of my day in Cafe Verdi (near my house), eating hearty pub food and reading a book.

Sunday's main activity proved to be one of the highlights of my trip so far - paragliding off Lions Head! Dan, Megan and I decided to go with Cape Town Tandem Paragliding, and I was really impressed with them (despite my flight instructor, Stephan, telling me this was only his second flight but that he had watched the DVD a few times - not true, of course).

Looking apprehensive, after Stephan's "joke"

We walked to the take-off site (about 10 minutes up Lions Head) where we were kitted out and had a quick briefing. Then it was a quick run and a jump off the mountainside before we were lifted high into the air.

View over Camps Bay (Signal Hill in background)

Needless to say, the view was incredible and the feeling of cruising around in the blue sky is out of this world (or at least, high enough above it to feel like that). Plus, Stephan pulled a few sweet moves with the parachute at the end - which gave me an unexpected and very exhilarating rush. I've posted a video below (edited with the help of Bluejuice to mask my screams of "oh my god this is f****** amazing!"); anyway, it's an experience I would highly recommend!

We touched down in Camps Bay, where we then met up with Sanjay and Siya. We spent the better part of the afternoon...and then the evening...and then dinner...lounging around and drinking cocktails (or, in my case, eating three different meals of seafood).

 Camps Bay beach front

The gang: Siya, myself, Sanjay, Megan & Dan

Can't get enough of the Cape Town wild oysters

 It wasn't on the menu, but they obliged anyway: my amaretto sour

This week, being my last week at PAHRO, has so far been fairly busy. On Monday I had a nice midday reprieve by way of lunch with Lyndon (who is leaving his post of Social Justice Co-ordinator) and Dan. We went to the Eastern Food Bazaar, which is a fantastic food hall in Cape Town city with Turkish, Indian and other Asian cuisine. As well as being insanely cheap, the food was delicious. I decided to prepare myself for India by ordering a dosa and sweet lassi. The thing I'm disappointed about is that I only discovered this place in my last week here!

Today was a busy day, particularly because I needed to go out to Lavender Hill to meet a few clients. One of them is a lady who is opposing a protection application in court on Friday, and I drafted submissions for her hearing. Another is a pensioner who I am helping him with a life insurance claim (the bank, typically, had messed him around a bit). I have made a lot of headway on both of the cases, and the hugs of gratitude from both of them today reminded me once again why this job is so important (and how rewarding it is).

All Quiet on The Western Front

I decided to give myself a weekend of respite from all the social activities/partying/sightseeing...so there isn't a lot to report from the last week or so. I did the usual Biscuit Mill food gorge on Saturday, but spent most of my weekend in bed, reading books and occasionally looking out the window to see if it had stopped raining (it's Wednesday today and it's finally sunny, if you're interested).

In PAHRO news, the office is starting to get busier with an influx of volunteers. This includes, as of today, three other Aussies: two girls from Sydney and one girl from Melbourne. I never thought I'd be so excited about seeing Australians overseas (or that I would be so deprived of home company - this is the first trip I've taken where I've gone this long without seeing a single Australian). I didn't realise how much I've missed the accent, the bogan jokes and our smugness about how nice the weather is back home. If only they'd been here during the Rugby World Cup!

Maria, Sarah (USA), Charlotte (Switzerland) and I have been working on a community project with some young women in Manenberg, one of the townships. PAHRO has previously run workshops with the girls out there, but we are starting from scratch with a new program that will hopefully be more sustainable and will see the girls themselves running the show (with PAHRO volunteers providing assistance and resources where we can). Last week we went door-to-door and met with some of the girls who are already engaged with the community centre there. Given that most of what I see of the townships is either from the safety of the minibus or the comfort of a town hall/community centre, the day was a real eye-opener. Everything feels more real when you're on the ground, walking around. It was also the first time I had been inside the homes in a township. No space is wasted in these dwellings; one of the houses had a washing line running through the kitchen, which also had bunk beds along the side of the wall.

We are focusing on young women and girls who have dropped out of school and/or are young mums. In fact our youngest girl, who is 15-years-old, is 4 months pregnant and no longer at school. Although some were shy, I think there were one or two girls who have the ability to take charge and lead the group. I even made a few new friends, including this 2-month-old baby (named Mohammed) who the girls thought I was going to abscond with:

Today we went back to meet with the girls we had recruited last week; we took afternoon tea and brainstormed with them ideas for activities for themselves and the community. With any luck, we will have a program up and running by next month (although unfortunately I won't be here to see it grow). The girls also taught us a few choice phrases, in Afrikaans, to yell at the minibus drivers.

In terms of case work, I have had many varied and interesting cases. Currently, I am drafting submissions for a court hearing relating to a family and domestic violence matter. I also have a few refugee files, a criminal law case and a few other civil matters. I am still doing the Mock Trial project (we are currently working with high school students from the Ruyterwacht community) as well as with the boys at Bonnytoun. Mainly, I am trying not to think about the fact that I have barely two weeks left in the office during which I must complete all my work!

I foresee a return to form this weekend, so my posts will go back to being chockablock with tales of late nights, adventure sports and other such things as I've come to expect from Cape Town. Stay tuned!