Howzit?

Chillin' at the Waterfront. Haggled for those sunglasses.

Best 60 Rand spent.

I finally have some time to update you guys on what I’ve been doing! A lot has been going on over the last few weeks and instead of doing one long post, I’ll break it up into a few short ones. Work has been really busy, and I have seen so many interesting things while working and driving (!) around the townships . That’s right, I am DRIVING in South Africa – where they drive on the left side of the road. It actually hasn’t been that bad since the traffic here is not nearly as crazy as the tri-state area. Though I did get a flat tire within 30 minutes of getting behind the wheel for the first time (funny, it was my first flat ever). And the townships…well that’s for a whole other blog post. OK, onto the fun stuff:

There may be a major heatwave in the US, but it's a cool 60 degrees here.

Table Mountain! I hiked up Table Mountain a few weeks ago and it was AWESOME. First of all, there is not a bad view in Cape Town with this gorgeous mountain overlooking the city. It is so cool that a city as big as Cape Town has such a great place to hike literally at its feet.

Table Mountain from the Waterfront

It was a tough (but rewarding) 2.5-hour trip up on what felt like a giant Stairmaster most of the time. But I was in good company: Gowri (a UMass Med student who is staying at the Green Elephant as well), Jocelyn (a Canadian student who used to stay at the Green Elephant), Robin (our native Cape Tonian friend), and Ray (a friend of Robin who was our trusty guide. This guy is seriously ridiculous. He has walked/cycled to and from Zimbabwe and is now planning to circumnavigate the globe using only a bike and paddleboat).

Our trusty guide, Ray

Making our way along the trail.

The view of the city and the Atlantic Ocean were amazing as well. Take a look at my Flickr account for more pics!

On top of Table Mountain, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. 

A dassie basking in the sun. The closest relative is the elephant.

TIA (This Is Africa.)

After the hike we headed to Camp’s Bay, which is a really nice suburb on the coast, to watch the sunset. What other city could you hike a mountain and 10 minutes later be at the beach?

Jocelyn rockin' out to the awesome sunset.

Camp's Bay, both a mountain and beach town.

Beach at sunset.

Grassroot Soccer! Last week I took a very special trip to the South African headquarters of GRS, which is located in Cape Town. The people there are all really cool and showed me around the office.

GRS is doing great work all over Africa.

The GRS office.

The GRS staff working hard to prevent the spread of HIV in children.

It’s not a very large office, which makes it even more impressive that they’ve already educated over 400,000 kids about HIV! They want to reach 1 million kids by 2014, in time for the next World Cup taking place in Brazil. So help them out!

Michelle Obama supports Grassroot Soccer. Won't you?

Things to look forward to in future posts:

-Bastille Day is South Africa?!?!

-I’ll tell you a little more about my work (since they are the ones who are funding me… because I actually do some work around here).

-Some stories from the townships.

Until next time!

John

Skål!

Now you know how to say “cheers” in Norwegian (pronounced “skawl”)! So I’ve been picking up some new terms from my Norwegian buddies here in Cape Town.

Vidar (a Norwegian medical student) and I

I’m really amazed with how many languages people know around here. It shouldn’t be surprising though since South Africa has 11 official languages! And to think people in the United States grumble when someone speaks a language other than English (not you guys though :) ). I’m trying my best to learn some of the basics in Afrikaans and Xhosa (which is the language primarily spoken in the township I am working in). Xhosa is such an entirely different language from English and Spanish, which are the only two languages I know. It has a lot of different clicking sounds that require you to use your tongue (“Xh” is one click sound). I started work this week and attempted to pronounce people’s names in Xhosa and was promptly laughed at.

The clinic I am primarily working at is located in the township of Crossroads, which is located close to the airport. The township is a world of its own. There isn’t much public transportation from the main part of Cape Town, so people do not really leave the area. Plus the township extends for miles. Just imagine rows of makeshift aluminum houses beyond the eye can see. It reminds me a lot of some of the poorer communities I saw in the Dominican Republic 4 years ago. (I didn’t bring my camera this time, but I’ll put up some pictures next time.)

I did see a little boy playing soccer outside the clinic, and it made me think of the awesome work that Grassroot Soccer is doing in communities like Crossroads to educate kids about HIV. Actually, Michelle Obama was recently in Cape Town and met with the organization, so check that out! And please feel free to donate to the cause!

I was even more shocked when my coworker took me just 20 minutes outside the township and showed me the Atlantic Seaboard, which have the most beautiful houses (more like mansions) on hills overlooking the ocean. It is an entirely different place. Even though apartheid ended 2 decades ago in South Africa (at least from a governmental perspective), deep divisions and disparities among different races remain.

I’ve been exploring the city more and went to the Waterfront recently to check it out. It is pretty much this really nice/touristy area of town with a large shopping mall on the water. It does have some cool things around it, like a square dedicated to the 4 Nobel Peace Prize Laureates from South Africa (Albert Luthuli, Desmond Tutu, FW de Klerk, and Nelson Mandela):

Nobel Laureates of South Africa

They also have some interesting artwork:

This guy is made out of crates.

Since this is such a touristy place, the stores here are pretty much European- or American- influenced. I thought this store was pretty interesting:

No comment.

And lastly, happy belated Fourth of July! It made me sad to miss the fireworks in NYC or the Boston Pops on the Esplanade. However, the Green Elephant had their own celebration for the homesick Americans:

"Patriotic Shot" = Sambuca, Vodka, and Grenadine

"All America Cocktail" = Jim Beam, Southern Comfort, and Coke

Neither sounded particularly American nor appetizing.

Until next time!

John

Africa-Bound

I’m embarking on two exciting projects this summer and invite you to follow me on my brand new blog, 3000 for Africa! First, I am heading to Cape Town, South Africa this summer for a research project on HIV vaccines. This will be my first time to Africa and I will be going by myself (but feel free to come visit!). So this blog is in part to keep you all updated on what I’m doing as well as to make sure that I am alive and well. I’ll be updating the blog at least once a week. And keep a look out for awesome pics, videos, and prize giveaways from South Africa!

Second, I am excited to be raising money this year for an incredible organization, Grassroot Soccer, while training for my FIRST ever marathon, the ING NYC Marathon on November 6^th, 2011! Over the years I have worked towards eradicating HIV both here in the US and around the world, and Grassroots Soccer’s mission to use the power of soccer to educate, inspire, and mobilize communities to stop the spread of HIV meshes perfectly with the work I have been doing.

We all remember the amazing World Cup last year in South Africa, but you may not have known that an estimated 330,000 kids are living with HIV in South Africa alone – that’s about the population of Honolulu, Hawaii or Tampa, Florida. Grassroots Soccer wants to educate 1 million youth about HIV by 2014, in time for the World Cup in Brazil, and they’ve reached 400,000 kids to date. However, 7,000 people become infected with HIV each day, and 45% of those infections occur among young people between the ages of 15-24. We need to educate these youths to combat the spread of HIV, and your donations will help in this fight.

Did you know it only costs $25 to educate 1 youth? You can’t even buy 2 movie tickets in NYC for that much! My goal is to raise at least $3,000 this year for Grassroots Soccer so that they can continue to educate children about HIV – enough support for 120 kids. Your contributions will help me reach that goal and help me cross that finish line in Central Park on November 6^th (hope to see you there if you can make it!). Please consider donating as much as you can, whether it is $10, $25, $100, or more (fingers crossed!). And as extra incentives to donate, I'll detail some cool prizes in a later post that you can get for your donations!

Please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, or words of support you may have as I explore Cape Town and train for the NYC marathon.

Thanks!
John