Quiet Week

Hi friends,

This week has been pretty quiet in the office.  Both Monique and Sashley have off work this week since it is exam week for students and campus isn't too busy with student activities.  While they are out, I have been working on a couple of individual projects.  Firstly, I created a few lesson plans and informational handouts and worksheets for the Advanced Leaders Program.  I finished those this afternoon and sent them off to Tonia and Monique for their review.  Secondly, I started working on the comparative assessment of the Leadership and Social Responsibility office at UWC to those of other institutions.  So far I did a comparative analysis of Loyola Marymount University (LMU) in California.  Tomorrow and next week I will begin looking at other universities in the States that have well-developed leadership, community service, and social justice departments.  Lastly, I have spent some time this week beginning to plan Tim and my trip to Port Elizabeth.

For the Port Elizabeth trip, we will be hiring (renting) a car and I will be the driver.  We will need 5 days for the trip!  If you didn't know, already I AM SUPER EXCITED about adventuring our trip to Port Elizabeth.  On the way there, I would like to stop in Cape Agulhas, where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet.  In Port Elizabeth, I really want to go on a safari and see all the animals in the reserves! :)  On the way back, I would like to stay overnight in Oudtshoorn and explore the Canga Caves.  There are so many beautiful things to see!  Tonia's partner is from Port Elizabeth, so she has been helping me figure out accommodations of places to stay and where we can go.  Today I created a potential itinerary and budget as a starting point so that Tim and I can sit down and create our plan! Hooray!!!

This weekend the weather is supposed to be beautiful (*fingers crossed*), so Njabulo is planning to join us in a hike up Table Mountain on Sunday.  Can't wait!  On Saturday, Tim and Njabulo are working at a 5k race their department is hosting, so we will have a quiet evening so they can rest (they need to be there from 4-10am!)  But, Njabulo said he might take us to Mzouli's for eats afterward, which is a braai restaurant in the Nyanda township.  It would be an awesome cultural experience!  I am hoping the weather is nice next weekend too so that we can spend one day at Cape Point and the other day in Stellenbosch.  Cape Point is about an hour south of here and has penguins, monkeys, and beautiful lighthouses we can climb.  We also saw some excursions with biking and kayaking at Cape Point in some tourist pamphlets, so that is a possibility too.  Stellenbosch is the wine grassland region of the Western Cape, about half an hour away.  We will be able to go to one (or maybe a couple!) wineries and see the beautiful landscapes.  One winery, called Spierd, is also a Cheetah reserve--which sounds amazing to see.  I can picture myself now running around with some cheetahs while sipping wine.  Ah, the wonders of Africa.  (Just kidding...)

As you can see, I have been taking advantage of this quiet week to begin some adventure-planning!  I am really hoping we can get to everything we have on our bucket list.  When I look at my calendar it feels like we have plenty of time left to fit it all in, but I know it will go by FAST and many of our plans are weather dependent.

Looking forward to the weekend :)

Kaity