We spent the most fulfilling part of our day with the compassionate Sir Lowry’s Pass community. As a tearful farewell to the wonderful people, we presented our mural and celebrated our new found friendships with a talent show in the Crush. Let me just say they should start “South Africa’s Got Talent” show. The teenage boys formed a dance group and performed a mix of dances from Michael Jackson to Lady Gaga. (By the way, Michael Jackson lives in South Africa. All the kids are completely obsessed!) Hamilton and Grace sang “Stand by Me” as the crowd of three hundred plus people chimed in. Monique, a sweet but abused six year old, and I danced all afternoon to “This is Africa” and “Baby Shark.” I even taught her how to play Rock, Paper, Scissors. She thought it was the funniest game ever!
After such an amazing journey, we all hated, and I mean hated, to say goodbye. Ms. Hennie gave me the most caring hug as tears filled her eyes. Sadly, the little kids really didn’t understand that we weren’t going to return anytime soon if at all. The older teenagers touched my heart the most. Clayten was balling as he told me goodbye and gave me their famous, lengthy hugs. I lost it when Monique said, “I love you!” in Afrikaans. Heartbreaker! Their gratitude is unparallel. Even within such a small time frame, we made an obvious impact. What they may not know is that they impacted us as well. (Picture: Monique and I watching the performance.)
A bit depressed from our township departure, we remembered a former conversation from a Cape Town local. This individual suggested that we attend the Zip Zap Circus, a Cirque de Soleil type event. As Corvis dropped a small group of us out in front of the tent, we immediately realized that we had embarked on an adventure. First of all, everyone around us was dressed in togas and looked like they had just stepped out of the movie 300. Already widely confused, we entered the tent noticing only a small stage and a Trojan horse in the entire tent. I asked one of the Greek goddesses to explain the circus to which she simply laughed. Apparently, there is no circus, at least not last night. Instead, it was a Greek themed hippy concert in a circus tent. Of course! Why didn’t I think of that? ... Since we paid for the adventure, might as well enjoy it. Thankfully, the venue was selling olive branch crowns which we quickly bought in an attempt to fit in. Ready to get out of our comfort zones for the 186th time on this trip, we began dancing to the crazy, Greek/South African music. Remember when you were little in music class and played weird noise makers and percussion instruments? Well, they played each one. It was honestly the oddest thing I have ever done, but we had a blast!
Random fact: The locals call the main World Cup stadium the toilet bowl.
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