I LOVE IT HERE!!

Dear readers,

It has been a few weeks since my last blog. I did a lot in the last weeks, but here is another blog again. I’m still doing great and very much enjoying my time here! Last week I was thinking about the fact that I’ve been here for five weeks already. Time flies! Even though five weeks doesn’t sound like a long time, it feels like I’ve been here for months.
In the first weekend of March we went to Cape Town. On our way we saw a sign on the side of the road saying that there will only be water left for 121 days. This means that I’ve to live without water my last few weeks here. They’re also closing the water tap on the 29th and 30th of March in intervals of four hours, which means we can’t flush the toilet, no shower, no bath etc. Anyway, we went to Cape Town and saw some penguins at Boulders Beach and after that we enjoyed the view over the ocean at Cape Point (I think most of you have seen my pictures on Facebook and Instagram).
The week after that it was time for my birthday party! My first birthday party without my family and friends. It felt kind of weird on one hand, but on the other hand my birthday here was also great!! We went to Genadendal to see all the other HAN students and we had a nice braai at a lake (I assume you all know what a braai is now ;) ). The day after it was time for my birthday present: we went with nine girls to Somerset to get a piercing! (Family and older people: don’t worry, it is just in my ear haha).
Wednesday it was my actual birthday. It felt like I celebrated my birthday for the second time. We went into town for a drink with a few Grabouwtjes, I had a three course meal with my housemates and after that all the Grabouwtjes came to eat some cake and have a drink. Thank y’all, it was such a nice day!! The day after my birthday we ate some typical Dutch food with all the Grabouwtjes: pancakes!! Yes, even in South Africa you can eat pancakes . We also had to paint 280 (!!) boiled eggs. Now you’re thinking OMG WHY?! Well, Roxane and I measured the height and weight of all the children at St. Michaels for our research last Friday. After the measurement we gave every child an egg. It is so beautiful to see how happy they’re with an egg and appreciate it. It made me realise how little we appreciate things in Holland, because we’re used to our luxury. This is just only one thing that gets my attention. I see so many things that amaze me and make me think. In Holland we know that the situation here in Africa isn’t good, but it really hits you when a ten year old child is sitting in front of you telling you that his sister died because she couldn’t swim and his brother died because his girlfriend stabbed him with a knife. Or a child that tells you she’s happy to talk with you about a food frequency questionnaire because for once she could talk about ‘something else’. In Holland, we hate to go to school because we think school sucks but the children here like school, because school is a place where they don’t have to face and think about all the problems that are going on at home.
After we did the measurements on Friday, we went to the carnival in Cape Town on Saturday. We slept in a hostel in Stellenbosch. The next day (Sunday) we went to Kirstenbosch botanical garden. I don’t really like plants but it’s a place you must have seen when you’re staying close to Cape Town. It also has a 100m bridge above the plants from where you have a beautiful view over the garden and Cape Town. That evening we went to bed early, because on Monday we got up at 6:30 AM to climb the Table Mountain. We started our hike at 8:30am and hiked for 5,5 hours. It is very beautiful to walk in the nature here and climb on rocks. We even went to the dam at the top of the mountain where we could swim in a lake! That was veeeeery nice because it was going to be something like 33 degrees that day. Also, the view on top of the mountain was incredible (way more beautiful than the pictures, sorry).

So, as I said earlier: I still am really enjoying my time here. The weather here is still good (this week between 30 and 40 degrees). All the HAN students are really close, we go away with each other every weekend, we have dinner together and we come together for a drink in the evenings. My internship is also fun. Besides that I can decide myself what I do when, the teachers at the school are very kind and the pupils are really cute. Also, I’m learning a lot about myself and I’m starting to see things in a different way. This journey is really eye-opening for me. I’m really excited to see more of this country in the next couple of months!! And for the people who think I have a five month vacation: I am really working on my thesis here haha. Just not as hard as the students in Holland I think. And yes, every weekend is like a mini-vacation.

I will upload more pictures on Facebook ASAP Oh and by the way: I really like that you all are sending me apps and voice messages!! Really sweet, so thanks for that! Hope to talk to you all soon!