Molweni,
My placement at the Scalabrini Centre is already halfway finished! And THAT is truly hard for me to believe. My time here in Cape Town continues to fly by with lightening speed. And I continue to settle in to my post-law-firm life with equal ease; perhaps that is part of why time seems to pass so quickly.
So, my fourth week here in Cape Town has felt like a week of small transitions. This past week was the first week without formal afternoon cultural and language programs offered at Cross-Cultural Solutions' home base, since those programs are concentrated in the first three weeks after a new group's arrival in order to allow the volunteers here on a shorter placement still get the full set of cultural activities. That meant that I was able to start working a full day at the Scalabrini Centre, so I've been getting dropped off by CCS at placement in the morning and then arranging for my own transportation back in the afternoons. It's allowed me to interact more extensively with the other volunteers at Scalabrini, to experience what a full work week would be like here, and to begin to feel more settled and at home here in South Africa's Mother City and less like a long-term visitor.
This weekend has also seen the arrival of the new group of volunteers at the CCS home base, and the end of Linda's placement (leaving Lindsey and I to serve as the veteran volunteers who show the new arrivals around the neighborhood and the home base). The new group has 12 American volunteers, made up of 11 women and one man. Watching their arrival, and talking with them as they settled in on their first day, I have been struck by how my perceptions have changed in many little ways since my initial weekend at CCS. None of these changes are individually huge, nor are many of them readily apparent on the surface, but I can tell how things register differently with me.
It's also been a week where I have been mentally pulled back across the Atlantic and up over the Equator to the United States for more than just a fleeting moment. I've spent a portion of my free time this week working on the material for the special reading of portions of Same Train, the new spoken word musical that I've been trying to get up for an off-Broadway run in New York City, to be held at the Dwyer Cultural Center's Performance Space on Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2010 at 7pm. If you're interested in attending this reading, please RSVP here.
I've also spent a good portion of my time talking with my family as Aunt Joan, my Dad's older sister, went from bad to worse over the course of the week. I'm incredibly thankful that I had a chance to spend some time with her in July before I headed off to Cape Town . . . she protected the family from the details of how serious her condition was until the end, and she passed away early early yesterday morning (Saturday, Oct. 9, 2010) surrounded by family. Per my aunt's wishes, there will be no viewing or wake and only a simple graveside service will be held, so I will say my goodbyes from the top of Table Mountain when next the weather cooperates.
So, it's been a week of transitions . . . small and large.
Sala kahuhle,
Troy
No comments:
Post a Comment