Hello our alive subjects since day one,

We started off the day by eating really good breakfast provided by hotel. It was really good! So much options of foods to choose from. Some of us chose to eat omelet while some of us decided to eat cinnamon bun and croissant with some meat and cheese. We were deeply satisfied with our breakfast.

We went to DeafSA for the first thing in day. DeafSA's director, named Bruno Druchen, gave us a presentation on what DeafSA actually do for South Africa. Bruno mentioned that they are fighting to make SASL (South Africa Sign Language) as South Africa's 12th official language. Bruno also explained the alliance between three companies to set up a new hotel where the DeafSA offices are located. Bruno provided us so much information about DeafSA, we were really blown away in good way! We were deeply impressed with what DeafSA has done for South Africa's deaf community, and their dedication toward a one ultimate goal which is equal human rights FOR ALL.

After DeafSA presentation, we went to a harbor to board on the ferry to visit an infamous island named Robben Island. The ride took about 30 mins to reach the island. We arrived and entered bus to secure good seats because Robben Island tour bus were really packed. We toured around the island and we learned so much facts and history about the island. Not whole island is prison, about 150 people currently live in small town in Robben Island. As for the history we learned, we found out that guards once forced prisoners to mine limestones for whole day and inmates were not allowed to talk because guards wanted to break down inmates' mind. Inmates decided to create songs that have hidden codes/messages in it and they will sing aloud in the mine to communicate! Guards don't understand what they were trying to say to together so they never took any action. That codes songs pulled all famous political leaders together to discuss how to "take over" the Africa. Therefore, the limestone mine was known as "New Africa". We toured inside the prison complex and our tour guide used to be a prisoner in Robben Island! We even saw Nelson Mandela's cell where he stayed while he was imprisoned there. After all that, we left the island in awe because we were so shocked with so much information that we learned there.

After Robben Island, we went to South Africa's famous Table Mountain. We took a cableway to reach top of the mountain. The view was so beautiful to see. We could see the whole city of Cape Town in one glance! Of course, we had to took lot selfies/pictures because it's too good to not take any selfies/pictures! We stayed there for a good hour. As right before we leave back down, we saw a sunset on water, the view was so amazing.

Right after we reached to town, we went to one restaurant named Gold. That restaurant is very African style because it is a restaurant with mixture of cuisine from whole continent of Africa! They served 14 different plates of food from countries all over Africa. We also took drum lesson! We had so much fun in that lesson. The instructor called out Nevan and Taran because they kept messing up too much! We tried 14 different plates, all plates tasted very different than from what we expected! Most of us liked it! It's a "burst" of different flavors of Africa. We really enjoyed our time at Gold restaurant.

Now it's time for us to sneak in our covers and grab really good sleep to get energy for another big day tomorrow!

Peace out subjects, Jack

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Comments:

Crystal Schwartz: Learning about DeafSA Goals; hitting the jackpot at Gold's restaurant by getting to taste different flavors; drumming; learning about singing codes (very similar to how slaves used to communicate their escape plans though songs) and more adventures with nature all sound delightful! Glad it was another productive day for you all. Stay safe, everyone.

Tatum Wiechman: So cool that your tour guide was a former prisoner of Robben Island, did y'all ask about his experience and perspective? Totally adding South Africa to my bucket list.

Wanda Kelley: Glad you all got to experience the drumming and singing codes. Tasting the different food at The Gold Restaurant sounds interesting.

Marcus: Man! I'm blown by how many language South Africa have! I hope DeafSA will accomplish by having SASL as the offical language. I can't wait to see the video drumming by all of you!