Take my hand, because we're walking out

Thursday was probably my favorite day of the trip so far! We started off the morning by having class, and then after lunch, we took our first trip into the township. The area of Cape Town that we are staying in is such a nice, beautiful area, that it is easy to forget that a mere 15 minute bus ride away there are people who are living in such immense poverty. The bus fell silent as we began our journey through the township. It's very hard to describe what we saw. There are just tiny shacks piled on top of each other for what seems like miles. Despite the destitute situations that these people are living in, as our bus rolled through, many of the children were jumping up and down waving, seeming so excited to see us. There were some older kids and teenagers who did not seem as thrilled, and proceeded to flick us off as we drove past. When we got to the school that we were touring and piled off of our bus, I was feeling many emotions. I was definitely excited to begin playing with the little kids who were all so welcoming towards us and I could not wait to begin interacting with them. My heart also broke at the same time for all of the kids. When we entered the school I immediately spotted the most precious little boy. He could not have been older than two and had on a little brown sweater. It took all I had in me not to just go and scoop him up! He may or may not be coming home with me...just sayin'. When we were taken into our first classroom, the first thing that struck me was that it seemed to look similar to your typical American classroom, however the floors were just cold cement and had dirt covering them. The first room we went to was where the choir was practicing, and when those children/teens opened their mouths to begin singing it was like nothing I had ever heard before. It was so gorgeous. They sounded like angels. I don't honestly know if there was a dry eye in that room. We toured two other classrooms and then the kids prepared a performance for us. They played the Xylophones, sang, and danced. It was incredible! I am so excited to go back to the school next Wednesday!