We arrived, miraculously, pretty much right on time at Dulles after interesting travel experiences on Thursday and Friday.
Thursday began with a reasonably late (8:15 A.M.) departure from the hotel and a stop at the Green Market flea market in Cape Town. Students and adults had a great time bargaining after Lynne had us all repeat, "Are you out of your mind?" in response to the first price any of the vendors quoted. I do believe that we all were convincing in our incredulity as there were some great deals made at the flea market.
At the airport, it was tough for everyone to leave Lynne and Lourenc
e behind. While Lynne works with Alterra, the Washington, D. C.-based group that organizes this trip, and has locked in our South African contact position, we are hopeful that Lourence will be able to request -- or that Lynne will be able to request Lourence for next year, as he was another part of what made this trip so enjoyable. We made our farewells and headed in to check our (heavy!) luggage. At the actual gate, the TSA has its own security procedures that it carries out for all trips to the U. S., so we were all lined up, asked to put our hand luggage on the ground, watched while a dog sniffed it, checking, I assume, for explosives. We were then all frisked and had our hand bags searched.
The flights were uneventful except, of course, for their length. There were some beautiful views of Cape Town as we took off -- we could see Robben Island, Table Mountain, and other sites that had become like home to us.
Thursday began with a reasonably late (8:15 A.M.) departure from the hotel and a stop at the Green Market flea market in Cape Town. Students and adults had a great time bargaining after Lynne had us all repeat, "Are you out of your mind?" in response to the first price any of the vendors quoted. I do believe that we all were convincing in our incredulity as there were some great deals made at the flea market.
At the airport, it was tough for everyone to leave Lynne and Lourenc
e behind. While Lynne works with Alterra, the Washington, D. C.-based group that organizes this trip, and has locked in our South African contact position, we are hopeful that Lourence will be able to request -- or that Lynne will be able to request Lourence for next year, as he was another part of what made this trip so enjoyable. We made our farewells and headed in to check our (heavy!) luggage. At the actual gate, the TSA has its own security procedures that it carries out for all trips to the U. S., so we were all lined up, asked to put our hand luggage on the ground, watched while a dog sniffed it, checking, I assume, for explosives. We were then all frisked and had our hand bags searched.
The flights were uneventful except, of course, for their length. There were some beautiful views of Cape Town as we took off -- we could see Robben Island, Table Mountain, and other sites that had become like home to us.We did have a plane search in Dakar, where we stopped again to refuel. We arrived at Dulles on time or a little early, went through customs and immigration, jumped in to our Chatham Hall vehicles, and headed home.
We were greeted by members of the Chatham Hall community who were a little more awake than we were. People began dispersing in Washington, so that sense of "Oh, this has come to an end," did not hit as hard as those moments when a whole group realizes at once, that their reason for being, has ended. This was a gentler ending.
For me, the weekend was spent welcoming family to campus and trying not to nod off before 10:00 p.m. each evening. South Africa seems very far away in many ways, yet in the forefront of my mind in others. As I unpack my belongings...things I acquired, things I bought, a thoughtful note from those who cleaned my room at Aquila...I think of the inspiration for those purchases or the two pebbles I picked up (one in the shape of a heart) as I stood on Robben Island with the prison behind me and the freedom of Cape Town across the water.
Today, in Assembly, Rector Gary Fountain told of a book he read over break -- one having to do with the causes of poverty and the two main results for it -- hunger and homelessness. It was moving to hear him relate this book to the work that Chatham Hall students did at a Habitat for Humanity house in Danville -- a house that the School sponsored, as well as the meals that Chatham Hall provided for students at Lawrencia School. The poverty that we saw in South Africa was overwhelming at times, and it was easy to think, "Why bother? There is so much to do, it seems that preparing two meals for three days won't make that much of a difference." And "Will helping a few people make compost make a difference?" Well, the simple answer is yes. When I think back on a massive amount of weeds with which we fought as we cleared land for a future orphanage, or the looks of hope on the faces of the kids who had a meal at lunchtime, and when I see the gardens that Soil for Life has made happen -- some with our help, I realize, that a friend who always asks the question, "How do you eat an elephant?" is right. You eat an elephant a little at a time. You solve these problems a little at a time...and it will take some time. The thing that will keep such work going are the little bites of elephant...a meal here...a garden there. Some "wet, green" and some "dry, brown." A layer here, a layer there. That's how it will get done. Maybe that's the best way -- working closely with small groups so that one can see, at the human level, that every little bit helps. Every little bit makes a difference. Lynne, in a warm farewell to us, made that clear, I hope, to the students on this trip. Their presence made a difference to individuals; they helped eat the elephant.
There will be one more post after this one!
We were greeted by members of the Chatham Hall community who were a little more awake than we were. People began dispersing in Washington, so that sense of "Oh, this has come to an end," did not hit as hard as those moments when a whole group realizes at once, that their reason for being, has ended. This was a gentler ending.
For me, the weekend was spent welcoming family to campus and trying not to nod off before 10:00 p.m. each evening. South Africa seems very far away in many ways, yet in the forefront of my mind in others. As I unpack my belongings...things I acquired, things I bought, a thoughtful note from those who cleaned my room at Aquila...I think of the inspiration for those purchases or the two pebbles I picked up (one in the shape of a heart) as I stood on Robben Island with the prison behind me and the freedom of Cape Town across the water.
Today, in Assembly, Rector Gary Fountain told of a book he read over break -- one having to do with the causes of poverty and the two main results for it -- hunger and homelessness. It was moving to hear him relate this book to the work that Chatham Hall students did at a Habitat for Humanity house in Danville -- a house that the School sponsored, as well as the meals that Chatham Hall provided for students at Lawrencia School. The poverty that we saw in South Africa was overwhelming at times, and it was easy to think, "Why bother? There is so much to do, it seems that preparing two meals for three days won't make that much of a difference." And "Will helping a few people make compost make a difference?" Well, the simple answer is yes. When I think back on a massive amount of weeds with which we fought as we cleared land for a future orphanage, or the looks of hope on the faces of the kids who had a meal at lunchtime, and when I see the gardens that Soil for Life has made happen -- some with our help, I realize, that a friend who always asks the question, "How do you eat an elephant?" is right. You eat an elephant a little at a time. You solve these problems a little at a time...and it will take some time. The thing that will keep such work going are the little bites of elephant...a meal here...a garden there. Some "wet, green" and some "dry, brown." A layer here, a layer there. That's how it will get done. Maybe that's the best way -- working closely with small groups so that one can see, at the human level, that every little bit helps. Every little bit makes a difference. Lynne, in a warm farewell to us, made that clear, I hope, to the students on this trip. Their presence made a difference to individuals; they helped eat the elephant.
There will be one more post after this one!
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