Nation divided white and black.
Will the freedom ever come back?
One man rises and leads the way.
Confined to a room for thousands of days.
Spirit holds and so does resolve.
He emerges from chains standing tall.
Arguing and breaking down the destructive rule.
His people had suffered like diseased mules.
Cocoon broken he comes alive
He sees freedom for which he has always strived.
The fight over, it is time to rest.
His nation has not seen its final test.
This week we said goodbye to one of the most influential people of all time. Nelson Mandela, who fought to eliminate racism and the apartheid in South Africa has died.
For decades, Nelson struggled to tear down racial segregation and died as a hero.
Imprisoned by an oppressive regime for 27 years, Nelson Mandela was able to become South Africa‘s first black president.
Nelson was loved by all the people in South Africa and most of the world for fighting for equality.
So, thank you Nelson Mandela, for showing us to never stop fighting against oppression, you will be remembered.
While I was in South Africa I experienced a lot of different traditions. One of them, and probably the most significant one, is that of a braai. A braai is basically a barbecue – except so much better.
Instead of using a grill, they cook the meat over a fire. Honestly I don’t even know how it works, but it’s like all the flavor is locked inside the meat. It doesn’t dry out, and the meat is perfectly done.
Weirdly enough though, and this is the part I couldn’t quite understand, they don’t braai hamburgers or hotdogs. For the most part it’s chicken or lamb, sometimes steak.
A braai is a way for family and friends to come together. They occur far more often than our barbecues. I was there for five weeks and we must have had four or five braais, if not more.
The friends and family come over, and while the meat is cooking, the kids play around in the yard and the adults sit and talk. It’s a chance for everyone to connect. And once the food is done, everyone sits down together and eats until they’re absolutely stuffed.
At least that’s what I did.
I thought it was a great tradition. We should definitely have more traditions like that back home in the states. I brought my dad home a braai cookbook, so hopefully we’ll be having our own little braai back home in Aspen, Colorado sometime soon.
I was in South Africa for five weeks, and every time I called my dad he would ask if I had been to Cape Point yet. I would tell him no, not yet, but that it was on our list of things to do. I couldn’t understand why he thought it was so important for me to go.
Finally, the day before I was supposed to leave, we found the time to drive out to Cape Point. We left the kids behind, and I went with the person who I was staying with. On the drive out we ate chocolate and listened to music, and stopped to take lots of pictures of the different coastal views.
When we got to the national park, we ran into some baboons who didn’t seem to know that sitting in the middle of the road was not a good idea.
Finally we got past the baboons, after taking pictures of course, and continued on our way to Cape Point. When we got to the parking lot, we got out of the car and began to hike up to Cape Point, which let me tell you, is not an easy walk.
First of all, it’s uphill. And then there are the stairs, which seem to never end. But once you get to the top, boy is it worth it.
There’s a view every direction you look, and a huge boulder with what must be thousands of different names from all around the world inscribed on it. The drop from where you stand down to the water makes your stomach drop just looking at it, but even from far away, you can see the transparency of the water.
Standing on the tip of Africa takes your breath away. It’s amazingly beautiful, and hearing the history of the sailors who would come around the Cape of Good Hope to finally see Cape Point, and know that they are finally there was amazing.
It’s an amazing place filled with history and beauty. After going, I finally understood why my dad had been so insistent that I must go see Cape Point. It’s hard to explain how powerful it is. But if you’re ever in Africa, you have to go.
This summer, I was lucky enough to go to South Africa for five weeks. Because I was there for so long, I feel like I can’t just write about it in one blog post. So I’ll write about one part of it now, and another part later, and eventually you guys will get the whole story.
That’s the idea at least.
A couple months before school ended, my dad and I scrambled to pull together this trip for me. I wanted to go visit my old babysitter, who I hadn’t seen in about ten years.
Only thing is, she lives in Cape Town, South Africa. Somehow we pulled it off, and I found myself on an 18-hour plane ride a couple days after school let out for the summer.
My dad warned me before I left that it would be winter there, and that it would be cold. I basically told him he was being silly. I mean it’s Africa right? No way it could be cold.
Wrong.
It was freezing. I optimistically brought my shorts and sandals with me (along with jeans and boots, thankfully), and I definitely could have saved myself the extra weight. I never even put them on.
I lived in jeans, boots, sweatshirts, and down vests. It was freezing, and made even worse by the fact that there was no central heating. The only way to escape the cold was to take a nice long bath. Nevertheless, we still got out and explored.
The scenery in Cape Town is stunning. I’ve never seen anything like it. You look one direction and see mountains, and you look the other way and see nothing but blue ocean.
The mountains aren’t the same as they are here – there are less trees and more rocks and flowers. The views it allows of the city are breathtaking. Every direction you look there is something new to see, something beautiful and different from anything you could find in the states.
It’s absolutely amazing to see.
The environmentalist trend has struck China with a bang. No, Tainjin is not just recycling and sorting out its trash. Tianjin isn’t just implementing solar power in a few office rooms here and there. Tianjin isn’t just planting trees or building houses with sustainable bamboo hardwood. No. Tianjin is going all the way.
Tianjin is becoming China’s first ever eco-city, meaning entire communities will be self-sustainable. Surbana Urban Planning Group, the company that designed the 30 square kilometer eco-city, is revolved around environmentally friendly construction. Other projects by Urban Planning include construction in Shanghai, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.
Urban Planning will be finished with the eco-city in an estimated 9 years. The new city is said to be ready in 2020 for a whopping 350,000 inhabitants to experience. The newest energy saving technologies will be used and residents will be able to choose from many landscapes, making commutes a thing of the past.
OVS Journalism Blog 
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