Surfin' the RSA

Yep, I agree. Time for a new post and an up-date on what's been going on in my life.
So here ya go...

Like I said in my last post - it's been great, great, great. And because my lungs had been so good, the weather was getting a bit cooler ( no more sunbathing anymore-but still too nice to be sitting inside), the winter swell was starting to come in, the nagging of various surfer friends got worse and worse... long story short: I have started surfing, bought my own board (got a really good deal on a second hand 7 ft mini mal, cheers to Lyndon) with which I've been in the water almost every day!

Almost, because when I visited Doreen a few weeks ago in Cape Town city (where she's currently working in a hostel) I caught this nasty bronchitis bug from her which just wiped me out for almost two weeks.
I know that doesn't sound that long when especially with CF it takes us longer to get over stuff like colds and shit but whenn you've just started something new like surfing, everyone around you is in the water every day...and I couldn't even go for my daily beach run any more! These 2 weeks seemed like 2 months!
Plus, I got so bad that I actually half-considered taking a flight back to Europe wher I could get stronger meds or an IV or whatever I needed to get back on my feet.
It was also a shit time to get sick cos amongst us (Mark, Cat and me) wasd just a weird vibe. Maybe it's cos we're around each other 24/7 and getting tired of each other sometimes but there were a few times when Cat and I were just ready to leave and Mark was just being moody and inapproachable..:)

I also don't take being sick very well. I think I've mentioned my impatience already, so when I sit there and I can't run or surf or exercise in any way which I have been doing almost every day since I got here, I just cough all the time which gives me a headache and is exhausting...makes me just wanna jump out of my skin! I get mad, angry, frustrated....
Also the fact that this thing between me and Lyndon (yeah, I know...haven't told most of you but now you know) went all pearshaped didn't help. Started out "kinda cool", turned into "really good" to "fucking complicated" due to various relationship/commitment issues we both seem to have. So we've decided to just be friends which I guess is the easy way out but at the moment there is so much going on in our lives that we just don't have the nerves to deal with each other.
So I drove down to the beach a couple of times and sat there for ages, just looking at the water, had a good cry or two and finally decided to give it another go, to do even more AD and physio and all that shit that I had learned in the CF camp in Belgium (working with smooth breathing techniques rather than coughing hard and a lot) and maybe chill out mentally about the whole situation before I book my ticket home.

Anyway.
Enough of this, I think you're getting the point that I wasn't feeling to great at that time.

So I stayed out of the water and took really good care of myself, also started TOBI again and I finally started getting better. Slowly though, very slowly.

Then there was Easter which was also the end of my volunteering project. Kinda weird feeling walking out of the day care center on my last day, remembering when I firts came in or the time in Germany when I booked the programme, not knowing what I was getting myself into....and now it was already over. The phrase "ah..time just flies by" is so over used, especially when you're around travellers all the time but that's exactly what happens. Time just fucking flies by!

So now I'm chill & surf staff, working with Pierre, who - after I set up a cash-up and a booking system, cleaned up the bar/reception area and just sorted out a few things here and there - decided to go on a quick holiday acoupla days after my firts shift.
But it was fine, Pierre got to chill and I got to run a hostel on my own - built up my confidence and also made me think about working in hospitality/tourism. Maybe it really is the right thing for me cos even though I have been trying out different things since my apprenticeship, this is what I keep getting back to, wher I have fun working and what I think I'm good at. It might not be a 5-star hotel though...I guess I just have to find the right spot.

A few days ago we had a couple of walk-ins ( for everyone who's not familiar with the hotel lingo: guests without a booking), Veit and Julian from Berlin who wanted to camp at C&S. Got a good deal which made them stay for a week and gave me the opportunity to freshen-up my german...
They're free-climbers so their base was the hostel and then they'd take day trips to go climbing. Sounded pretty good so when they asked me if I wanted to join them one day I said "sure" without considering my health (which still wasn't tops or anywhere near it) or my life in general (I had NEVER climbed before and just met these guys who claim to be climbing for 15 years...they will be on the other end of the rope which keeps me from falling 600m down....)

And it was absolutely fantastic!!
I mean, it was quite a hike and another abseil ( and many times I was scared shitless I have to admit!) until we actually started to climb but (as you can see in the pics) we got a great view over Cape Town, it was anamazing experience and just absolutely worth it (even a very sore body the next day...)!
I climbed 4 routes, two 14ers and two 15ers (the routes are rated by their difficulty - 7 being the easiest and 36 being the hardest) which was fun but absolutely my limit. After that I was so exhausted and my hands were shaking because my muscles couldn't handle anymore. Veit & Julian climed someting like 26 so I'm far from that but a 15 for my first climb ever left me pretty stoked.
It was also great to be out again, in the middle of the mountains. When we hiked up thereI could feel my lungs getting tighter and I thought "well, if I quit I better do it now before we're in the middle of nowhere". But I really wanted to do this, especially after the frustrating two weeks so I just told my body to "shut the fuck up" and got on with it. And I was fine after that. Yeah, still short of breath and exhausted but also rushing of adrenaline and happy "I-did-it" hormones....!

So after Julian and Veit had made my day taking me free-climbing, I in return took them surfing two days later - and again, we had an absolute ball!
The wind was perfecly blowing from north-west, it was raining but that was actually not too bad since you get wet anyways but it keeps the sunshine surfers out of the water.
Because we had offshore wind, the waves were coming in nicely and after a set there was actually lotsa time to paddle back in again. And because Julian and Veit had long boards they were also able to stand up quite soon even though they had never surfed before. And I'm getting better and better on my mini mal so after our session in the water we were all dead tired but very satisfied with our performances..:)
I'm realising that surfing is actually a great exercise for me because ther's lots of paddeling involved and when you're lying on the board you have to keep your back arched and the shoulders back which is exactly should be doing (normally with a broom stick between my shoulders - but on a board in the water with other people it's so much more fun!!!)

So on the weekend we decided to pick up Doreen in Cape Town and head up to Worcester to say hello and to show Mark, Cat and Jo (a new volunteer girl who's taken my place at the day care center) my first project. I've talked about it quite a bit, especially comparing it with the project in Masiphumelele and now they could actually get a picture of it.
So we all rocked up there and for some reason there were a couple of hundred people there...the reason: they had a funeral on that day, the daughter of a community member got shot. We first felt really bad for coming but it wasn't such a dramatic atmosphere so it was ok. Mia and them from the kibbutz were about to prepare lunch for everyone so we offeredc our help and were soon caught up in a line cutting banana bread, making sandwhiches, grading cheese, baking pizza...of course, I was in my element getting it all together, organising who's doing what and preparing the plates and of course..serving them to the guests! Everyone's like: "why don't you work as a manager or in restaurants or hotels..?" and I'm thinking...well, this is actually what I normally do... so yeah, this goes back to what I was talking about before about working in hospitality...
But anyways, it was a good day and I think Mark, Cat and Jo enjoyed seeing a different project - even though they were a bit freaked out a t first. But who could understand that better than I, since I struggled living there until the day I left!

So there it is, a long post and some new pics....enjoy!