Updates!

Well, this last week has certainly been less hectic. Now that the first-ever Generation Skillz ToC is over, we’ve all been able to take a deep breath, close our eyes, and recharge the batteries. Unfortunately, this momentary relaxation lasted for all of…about…fifteen minutes. If last week taught us anything it’s that Generation Skillz is most definitely a curriculum in development. The feedback from coaches, participants, Master Coaches and observers is going to be essential in shaping the future of Generation Skillz 2.0 (aka the live version we hope to release in December). And so, at 9:15am on Monday we got down to business, discussing/arguing/problem solving how to improve both the delivery and content of the Generation Skillz Curriculum.

We’re hoping to take what we’ve learned from the Cape Town ToC and apply it to the second pilot testing which will happen next week in Port Elizabeth. Luckily for me I’m getting the opportunity to participate in this second ToC as well. This Saturday I will head out on a 12 hour bus ride (which sounds like a lot but in reality isn’t that bad. I’m completely desensitized to long bus rides…thanks Bradley Soccer. Actually because I’m not leaving at 10:00pm, sitting in my own sweat after a long game, trying to study organic chemistry while we drive through the night to make it back to campus for classes at 9:00am. This trip should actually be rather enjoyable.) But anyway, I’m very excited to see the Eastern Cape. I haven’t seen the interns in P.E. since we left orientation six weeks ago. So it should be a fun and challenging week.

Speaking of fun and challenging…So this past weekend I decided to hike Table Mountain with some of my roommates. Naturally I decided to do this on Saturday, while fasting. Similarly to many of the subpar decisions I’ve made while in South Africa, this one didn’t seem that bad initially. Actually I wasn’t even that hungry for most of the hike. We got up early and I was so focused on both my surroundings and hiking (probably should add “not dying” to this list as well, we hiked up a route called Skelton’s Gorge) so I didn’t really notice that I hadn’t eaten for a day and a half until about 3:30pm when we got home. By four I was shaking. By 4:30 I was convinced the clock was moving backwards. By 7pm when I broke the fast I was almost too hungry to eat…almost. Somehow I managed to find the strength (and the appetite) to devour 11,000 calories in roughly 13 mintues.

Still, Table Mountain was awesome, one of the best hikes of my life and maybe the best outdoor activity I’ve done so far. I’ve posted some pictures of the trip but here’s a quick rundown of how it went. 1) started the hike by taking the Kirstenbosch route, through the world famous botanical gardens (AMAZING). 2) Headed up Skeletons Gorge where we literally hiked up a waterfall. 3) At the top of Skeleton’s Gorge there is a beach (yeah an actual beach) and not just any beach, a beach with red water. I still don’t know why the water is red, I should probably figure that out, but whatever the reason, the water looked old testament red, aka like blood. I think, it has to do with soil runoff. The top of Table Mountain is composed of this deep red clay. So all of the streams have a reddish-orange tint. Either way, as I was swimming in this red lake, on top of a mountain…in sub-Saharan Africa, it finally struck me…I’M IN AFRICA.

The rest of hike went well. I wish in retrospect that I hadn’t decided to take my shirt off (nothing lets you know how out-of-shape you really are like a shirtless hiking photo, very sobering) but I’ll post the photos anyway.

Alright well that’s pretty much it for this week. I’ll have more to report later and hopefully some cool photos/stories from the Eastern Cape. Also, I’ll have another Blog post very shortly, I’m going to try and solicit some help from friends, family and readers back in the US. I’ve got a few side projects here, one of which is building a library at the Football for Hope Center. Jamison Merrill, my roommate, and I getting bids today from carpenters. We’re hoping to be like Tim Robbins in Shawshank Redemption (minus the whole prison thing) and build a sweet library for the Khayelitsha Community Center.

Later.