"This African city is number 8 out of the 10 top cities in
the world to visit."

"What is Cape Town?"

We have a winner!!

I went to Cape Town
this past weekend. Me and three friends caught a plane early Friday morning and
made it to Cape Town
an hour later (after having delayed our flights by a few minutes). We sat in
the airport, somewhere near our gate until suddenly, "This is the last call for
passenger Carmichael and passenger Carson..." It's okay though, we're allowed
to be confused. TIA!*

Anyways, we arrived in the busy city an hour and twelve
minutes later, caught my very first taxi cab ever, drove to our
courtyard-filled hostel and rested for a millisecond before taking off to get
our first whiff of... say it with me... Cape
Town!

We strolled up and down Long Street, visited a few shops, a
few stands, a few healthy restaurants and then walked back to the hostel, map
in hand, folded out across our arms like a good tourist always should. We
traveled back to the airport (quite an unfortunate drive), picked up our rental
car (we rented a car... like bonafide grown-ups) and DROVE back to Cape Town. We went straight
to the Waterfront and found The Green Dolphin, a jazz restaurant that had been
recommended to us. Four plates of ravioli out of four! And to top it off, a
milkshake instead of wine (we are still in a program, people! Tsk tsk!) Then we
strolled the Waterfront for a bit and didn't get mugged. It could have
happened, but we had a boy with us. He did a good job. And when those ladies
tried to pull us away (they had a sad story), Ryan pulled us back and told us
their scheme. Don't worry, parents! I may be naïve but at least I'm helpful!

We slept in a hostel! Our beds were a foot bigger than what
we've been used to for the past 2 months, and about 4 feet closer to the
ground. Hallelujah! And though we were on vacation, we did not sleep in. There
was much to see and little time to see it. We got up, said bye to our hostel
friends and took off... for the aquarium! Great white sharks! African penguins!
Need I say more? Then we headed down to the beach. Someone said Clifton, beach 4. We
didn't know what that meant, but we hopped in our white Toyota Yaris (which I
like to call Prius) and somehow found our destination. Then we layed out on the
beach for... an hour... maybe two... maybe three or four. Who remembers? We hoped we
would tan a little bit before we had to go back. As I write this to you,
sitting on my bed in UCSA, unable to move too much on account of the sunburn
all over my body, I'd like to advise you to wear sunscreen in the hot African
sun. Remember people, November is summer.

That night was the Hillsong concert. Amazing!! It was too
bad we were writhing in pain from sunburn, but we still enjoyed their great
sound and bought a few Hillsong paraphernalia. Then we stopped at the golden
arch, the beloved, long-lost Mickey-Ds. Ever had an Oreo McFlurry in Africa? It tastes just like a Canadian one!!

Sleepy-sleep and then we woke up to a beautiful Sunday
morning! Unfortunately, much was left to this day, so we needed to split up.
Jess went to church while La and I made our way to the top of Table Mountain,
(or should I say Plateau?) We sat there among the clouds, looking out at God's
creation, the land of Africa and decided it
best to have a very long, very deep conversation. We even tried taping it for
your enjoyment, but such things never manage to work out too well. Once we
dismounted the mountain, mountain, mountain, we drove back to the hostel, threw
Jessica in the back seat and took off for the most southern part of Africa, where two oceans meet. Cape Point here we come!
It was a long drive through wine country, a short peek at the Atlantic
Ocean, a quick jaunt through penguin sanctuary and a final race to
see the sunset. Once the day was almost over, we grabbed some grub in Camps Bay
(quite the social scene) and decided we were too tired to socialize, so off to
bed we went.

Waking up to the knowledge that the vacation was already
over, quite a bummer! But the long drive home was lovely, as always is driving
on the WRONG side of the road! We even saw a wild elephant. You might not
believe us. It's not a common thing to see on the Garden route but we saw it.
It had tusks and everything. No big deal. We're in Africa.

Moral of the story, live life! There are some people on this
trip who have been convicted not to spend money on themselves, especially when
they see so many people in need. How much I respect them for that! But we
musn't take on other peoples convictions for ourselves, even when they sound so
good. They Holy Spirit may have other plans for us. In fact, I felt convicted
to GO to Cape Town
and I know it wasn't to minister to anyone. First of all, I needed a vacation,
a getaway from the only thing I've known for the past few months. Secondly, I
never want to look back on life and regret. If I ever do, who will have to
suffer for the angry person I become when I regret my life at an older age? The
Lord may one day bring me back to South Africa
so I can visit Cape Town,
but I doubt it. This may have very well been my only chance. It was last
minute, it was done with very little money, it was hardly planned out at all.
But it may have been one of the best things for me thus far! It was great, it
was great, it was great! And really, it's times like these, I'm reminded, Our
Father who art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name! Blessed be your name! Thank
you. Thank you so much!