im on a boat!!!

the last little bit has been an absolute wirlwind of adventure!!

leaving the childrens home was heartbreaking. knowing that i could just walk out, on my way to a grand adventure, and the kids there have no opportunity to leave broke my heart. a couple of kids gave me letters/drawings and a stuffed animal. i sat in the bathroom and cried which, as most of you know, is not me. saying goodbye to the germans (as i've lovingly come to call them) was just as hard. i know that i will see them again but goodbyes are never easy and i miss them terribly already. mareike...my new room is just as small but with 6 people. fickin. knut...we drove past cafe sofia and all i could look at was the beach.
baphumelele has stolen my heart and as crazy as it sounds i truly feel at home there. i believe it is one place i will always come back to.

after leaving knut dropped me off at my hotel near the v & a waterfront where i met joe and brian who are on the argo with me. it was hilarious because we had one room with two single beds which we pushed together and all three of us slept there (gab who came a day later slept on the couch). so it was a kind of "hey nice to meet you...please don't hog the covers tonight" senario.

on tuesday we walked around the waterfront and went to see the argo and meet the crew. wednesday was diving with the great white sharks which was unbelievable! it was a little unnearving though because as we were waiting for our taxi the hotel reception guy asks where we are going and all he does is laugh and hold a newspaper clipping that reads "i saw a fin and blood." a tourist had been attacked (and killed) by a shark in fishhoek (one of the beaches i had been to the last week with the kids from the childrens home!! i was swimming where he was attacked) the day before. wow. anyways we got out there and i signed a nice little waver saying that i wont have my family charge the company if i die. lovely. we went out on the boat and at one point a shark came by so everyone jumped in but then it left so we sat in the water for about 35 mins (it is COLD!!!) and so four of the six people got out but i decided to wait it out a bit longer. only a couple mins later, and just as i was about to get out, i heard the captain yelling shark and i only had time to dunk my head under to look before this massive great white attacked the bars of the cage only a few inches of my face. talk about pure adrenaline!!! it was insane! on thursday we took a tour with zain of cape point, cape of good hope, and the various villages around there. in simons town we swam with the penguins which was extremely cool.


the ship is incredible and i am only now realizing how much i have to learn! it's insane!!! i am so pumped though and can't wait to be able to look at a ship in the harbour and know whats what. last night i sat out on the deck of my new home and wrote postcards under the stars. i cant believe this will be life for the next three months. i am the only canadian and all the rest are from the usa (mostly the est coast). we are currently waiting for our visa's to brazil, which are expected tomorrow, and we will be heading out as soon as that happens.

i will be unable to write for a while as we will be crossing the atlantic (omg!!!) and as far as i know there aren't many internet cafes to stop at.

love to everyone and please remember....carpe diem =)

little things

so to be absolutely honest i have been avoiding writing. i have no idea how to put into words everything that has happened and what i have experienced. i don't understand so much of what i have witnessed.

essentially, it has been the little things that are making this so incredible. its been shiny's smile and him running up to give me a big hug every time i see him. it's been staying in the hospital for 13 hours holding a five month old little girl and watching to make sure she is still breathing. it's been sitting on the concrete with six kids on top of me all at once and thinking i can't breath but not wanting to push any of them away. it's been laying with jessica (16 years old) and having four hour long life chats. it's been piling nine people into a toyota tess so we could go out. it's been hearing a mother lose her son. it's been waiting in the hospital and seeing thirty children come in from some kind of care ceneter and all severely burned and mangled. it's been learning german swears. it's been learning to carry a kid on my back while also holding two other kids hands. it's been learning to deal with the fact that the majority of my clothing smells like vomit. it's been witnessing the love.

i am where i am meant to be. i can't imagine being anywhere else right now.