I Can Tell That We Are Gonna Be Friends

09/26/11, 5:13 p.m.

                I think that there’s a lot of merit to traveling by yourself because you have to be self-reliant and you learn about yourself. In some ways I’m doing this—after all, I did manage to get myself halfway around the world. On the other hand, traveling can also be entirely shaped by the people with whom you are sharing the adventure, whether they drop in for a couple of hours or are permanently woven in the fabric of the trip. That’s why I figured a post dedicated to the people who are making this trip the fantastic experience it’s been so far is due.

                I honestly can’t imagine this past week being quite the same without any one of the other 7 volunteers here. We’re the zaniest, dysfunctionally functional family ever, but everyone is so unique and I love all their company. Even in Heathrow, after possibly a minute and a half with Ariana and Jeff I was cracking up and totally at ease. Ariana is a junior at Wesleyan and has an easy smile and photographer’s eye. She has a warm, inviting air and is very articulate. Jeff, our token 20-year-old guy from Arizona, had to adjust to living with 7 ladies but is so gregarious we automatically have new friends wherever we go.  I am determined to learn lacrosse from him before I leave here. My roomie Sarah V. is also 18 and from Connecticut, and we have the best conversations about anything and everything. She’s super sarcastic (in an awesome way) and is my running buddy. Tynisa, a.k.a. “Mama T” is the 32-year-old from Oakland who looks like she’s 18 but she really is the mama of the group. In the dictionary under “wears their heart on their sleeve” is a picture of her and being around her just makes you feel like you’re wearing a blanket and sipping hot chocolate. You would think that Maggie, the 69-year-old from Scotland, would be alpha female but she has so much spunk sometimes I forget she isn’t a 20-something like the majority of the group. She generally explores the city independently, though, which is understandable. Melanie is 25 and from South Carolina, and we get to hang out during our 45-minute commutes to and from Khayelitsha each day. She’s really bubbly and talkative and a lot of fun. Sarah B. is 23 and from Chattanooga, and had actually never been on an airplane before coming here. As one could imagine, there has been a whole lot of culture shock and street smarts to quickly absorb but she is so sweetly honest and peppy that I feel this is going to be a really good first experience in the end.

                The staff members here at CCS are all great as well. Luann is the program manager for South Africa and is a total hippie and, as Ariana says, “sassy.” The cooks are so friendly and bustle around like the African grandmothers I never had. Wonga drives the van that takes Maggie, Melanie, and me out to Khayelitsha (everyone else is closer) and I swear he’s a mob boss because he seems to know everyone we pass. But he’s quite soft-hearted and even held my sheet music for me as I practiced flute outside in the yard. One day I drew a picture of him during one of our van rides and that afternoon I found out he had put it in a plastic sleeve and written my name on it. D’awwww. There are so many more people here that make sure we’re having a great time as well but this is already turning into a Russian novel.

                At the crèche I work alongside Nicholet, who is actually from Zimbabwe and had to learn Xhosa, but you wouldn’t be able to tell it’s a second or third language, as with everyone here. From what I could gather from our shouted conversations to each other over the din of youthful exuberance, she used to be a businesswoman back home and even lived in Dubai for awhile, but somehow her money lost a lot of its value (I’m guessing Zimbabwean currency is not the most stable) and she moved here and now works in the daycare. I don’t think she’s bitter though and she’s very good with the kids. Ellen and Ethelina are the other teachers, Fundiswa is the cook who told me she admired the miming I did to entertain my kids the other day, and Princess runs the daycare. Although generally I only interact with Nicholet it really is a great group of women who are doing something special for a rough community.

                This could go on forever. There’s Trudy, who had tea with us and discussed living with HIV. There’s Anderson, who works at our favorite haunt Boo Radley’s. There’s Mama Ivy, who took us on the township tour our second day of orientation. It’s odd—I never really considered myself a “people person” before coming here. I do like the people I know very much but I can get nervous around new faces, and now it seems like I can’t get enough of learning everyone’s life story. There’s something in the breeze here.