"Escape to the Cape"

Last weekend we took a trip down to the Eastern Cape. There were 6 of us from Hands at Work, me and 5 ladies, eesh. One of our friends here (Busie) had her sister pass away in an accident so we went down to support her. It took us 17hrs one way, to drive there, but every inch was incredible.
The drive down through the mountains of the Eatern Cape blew my mind. The beautifully coloured houses perched on the mountain side, the rolling mountains, and the way the sun hits the land.
When we got close, Busie and Stephen (another friend from Hands at Work) had driven out to meet up with us in the nearest town, to show us the rest of the way. Everyone was so excited to be there, and Busie was overwhelmed to see us in the area of what she calls "my people". So we got ready to follow them, but Stephen stopped to get gas. Busie took that chance to run over to our car and just talk with us a bit more while we waited. Right as she stood by our window, we hear a huge thump, and look over to see a man flying in the air as a truck hit him. It was devastating, especially for Busie. You see that is how Busie's sister passed away, she was crossing the road and got hit by a taxi. We stayed and did what little we could, a traffic cop happened by and said there would be no ambulance coming. I thought he was dead right away, but he started to move. He was badly mangled, and I won't get into anymore detail than that. No one said a word for the rest of the ride back to the Busie's family house. It was terrible, we felt horrible for Busie.
We managed to get past that and had an amazing time with Busie's "people". They were so inviting, we experienced a lot to do with the Xhosa culture, the funeral, slaughetering a sheep, all kinds of things. Ok Ok I didn't actually see the sheep being slaughtered, but disemboweled. We met amazing people. Let's just say that Alicia, Me, Stephen and Jayme were the only white people out of 300, so we stood out a little bit. The family made us feel so welcome and they let us be involved in all kinds of things. Their neighbour gave up his home, so us visitors would have a place to stay. We slept in his bed, and he slept out on the couch. Such generosity is really inspiring.
On the Sunday we took a trip to the beach, it was refreshing. It sounds cliche but to have my feet in the sand and the water washing over them was incredible. Made me miss home.
The whole experience was so amazing; the sights, the culture, the food and the people. It's hard to put it into words. I feel all the more blessed for having experienced such a different culture and being a part of everything.

~T