White Shark Projects!!!

            Greetings from the White Shark Projects volunteer house! I’m so unbelievably happy to be back!!! Okay, I guess I’ll start right where my last blog post left off. Yesterday evening, at about 7:30, my friend from the UK, Ryan (whom I call Cake because that’s his last name and it’s too perfect not to use) arrived at Atlantic Point. I greeted him as he was checking in with a much-anticipated hug- it’s so nice to be reunited! We hadn’t seen each other since May 2015, but with the help of social media, we’ve kept in touch very well since then. After he got into his room at the hostel, the two of us decided to walk down to the waterfront to grab something simple to eat and just hang out and catch up. The waterfront is absolutely beautiful at night- all the lights reflecting off the water make for a perfect setting. We walked around the area for a while, then found a bench right by the ocean to sit, talk, and take in the wonderful reality that we were finally back in Africa. We talked about his adventures volunteering in the amazon in Peru, and my time in Bolivia. We talked about the crazy things happening in our home countries, and how happy we both were to be away from it all. We learned that when we were both in South America volunteering, we were both in areas that were pretty disconnected from society- neither his place nor mine had wifi, we had to go into town to get on the internet, etc. That was actually really nice, but weird at the same time. We both had felt really disconnected and out of touch with what was going on in the world. He learned about Brexit while out in the amazon, not until days after the decision had been announced. I was in Bolivia when the shooting in Orlando happened, and I felt like I was one of the last Americans to hear about it. It had been weird, but not necessarily in a bad way.

            After enjoying the waterfront for a while, we walked back to Atlantic Point. I went to hang out in my room while he took a shower, and afterwards we headed upstairs to the bar that the hostel had, and had a couple rounds of Castle to celebrate us both being back. We went to bed soon after, having heard from the front desk that we were getting picked up by White Shark Projects at 9:15.

            This morning, I woke up in time to have one last complimentary breakfast from Atlantic Point. I’ve stayed at that hostel three times now, and I absolutely love it. Then, shortly after 9:15, Cake and I got picked up by the White Shark Projects van and relaxed for the two hour drive from Cape Town down to Gansbaai. I’d almost forgotten how beautiful the drive down here is. We passed through the South African winelands, which are always gorgeous.

            When we got into Gansbaai, things started to look very familiar. We recognized the store where we bought our groceries, the bar where we’d spent one of the volunteers’ birthday, and eventually, the volunteer house that would once again be our home. As we got our bags out of the van and went into the house that we knew so well, we were greeted by the other volunteers. I was surprised how many there were! Last time there were never more than four or five of us at a time. I heard that now, with Cake and me, there are eight, with Lizzy and Beth arriving in a couple of days (I think a couple of them will be leaving soon though). In fact, all of the beds in that house were being used. Tom, a White Shark Projects employee that hadn’t been here last time, told us that they had another house just a few lots down the road, next to the WSP office, that we would be using. Right now, Cake and I are the only two volunteers in this house, so I think Lizzy and Beth will be put in here when they arrive. I don’t think WSP owned this house in 2015, so I’m sure that it has grown in popularity since then. This house has two bedrooms, each with two beds, plus a kitchen and front room with some chairs, couches, and a tv. The setup is pretty much the same as the other house, but I think this one’s a bit nicer, especially since right now it’s just me and Cake in here. After unpacking our stuff, we walked back up to the other house to hang out with and get to know the other volunteers. Yet again, I’m the only American. There’s a girl from Scotland, one from the Netherlands (I always seem to volunteer with people from the Netherlands!), a guy from Germany, a girl from Switzerland, and a few more. Soon, Tom came back to ask if Cake and I would like to work at Swap Shop, and then go out shopping to get ourselves some food afterwards, to which we said sure. I think Swap Shop deserves its own blog post, and explaining it all here would make this one way too long, so I won’t go into details. Basically it’s a little place in one of the nearby neighborhoods where local kids come with recyclables that they’ve collected. In exchange for them, they get points that they can “spend” at the shop for things like school supplies, clothes, toys, and other things. It happens every Tuesday afternoon, so I’m sure I’ll work with it again sometime, and I’ll explain it more then.

            At about 1:30, Cake and I got picked up at the volunteer house by none other than our wonderful friend Jerome, one of the WSP crew. We got to know Jerome pretty well last time we were here- he might be my favorite person at WSP. He would often hang out with the volunteers in the evening, sharing some great shark stories over a few beers, and he’s just an all around great guy. I was so happy to hug him again!

            After Swap Shop and stopping at the supermarket to pick up some food, Cake and I came back here and I made dinner for the two of us (like last time, we’re alternating the job of cooking). We just cleaned up after dinner, and I’m sitting here at the new volunteer house writing up this post. Cake and I haven’t been able to stop saying how amazing it feels to be back, and how happy we are to be here. It still feels almost surreal being here, in this home away from home. There’s no place in the world that I’d rather be than right here.

            Well, I think this post is long enough, so I’ll cut it off here. This post’s food for thought: “We leave something of ourselves behind when we leave a place, we stay there, even though we go away. And there are things in us that we can find again only by going back there.”- Pascal Mercier