The Amazing Race

So I am currently sitting in a coffee shop enjoying a rare free moment. Although I really like everybody in the house, it’s always very crowded and loud so it’s nice to get away for a little while and enjoy some peace and quiet. Yesterday afternoon, we participated in a rendition of the Amazing Race. We were split into four teams and had to search for clues and perform tasks around Cape Town. My team, The Crusaders, consisted of Harry, Leslie, Rosamary and myself. We were all really pumped up at the beginning….little did we know what we were getting ourselves into. After searching for clues at the UCT campus (which included hitchhiking from upper to lower campus and convincing someone we were on the actual Amazing Race), we were sent on a wild goose chase around the streets of downtown Cape Town. Although the point of the activity was to navigate Cape Town and get to know the locals, we definitely stood out like the true Americans we were (Harry tried to pay off the “yeller” bus driver to take us straight to our stop, which only served to anger the other passengers). All the members of our team were very competitive so we actually sprinted from clue to clue and gave another team the cold shoulder when we ran into them. As our taxi pulled up to the final location (Royale Burger), we were convinced that we were going to win, only to find another team waiting in the restaurant, grinning. Although we were exhausted and disappointed in finishing second, it was a very fun experience and I definitely feel more comfortable asking strangers for help as a result. I also got a lot of great pictures and video as we had to document each location, although my camera is currently malfunctioning and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to access the pictures. We were treated to a delicious dinner at Royale Burger afterwards and then headed home. It was definitely an afternoon to remember and certainly beat sitting in lecture!

Other than that, we have continued tutoring every morning this week. Pamela and Patricia definitely seem more comfortable with Microsoft Word so I helped them create their CV (South African term for resume). They are both hoping to apply for jobs in the near future so we spent a lot of time making them look professional. In the “previous work experience section”, Pamela (the older one) only had a few years of work to include. I was surprised that she had spent so much of her life unemployed as she seems to have such a strong work ethic. We had a lengthy discussion about the lack of employment opportunities as she does not have the financial resources to be able to commute to the city and there are very few job opportunities in Manenberg itself. We have visited a couple local businesses that train and employ low-skilled laborers, but this initiative has only slightly improved the extremely high unemployment rate in the townships. This helped me to truly appreciate all the opportunities that I usually take for granted. After graduating, I plan to apply to jobs in different parts of the country, maybe even the world. The residents of Manenberg and the other townships do not have this luxury, so I hope their improved CVs will help them land jobs in the future. When we finished the CVs, Patricia (the younger one) turned to me and said “I can’t wait to tell all my friends that I created my own CV. Thank you so much.” It’s moments like that which make this whole thing worthwhile.