Shona on another eventful weekend

Another eventful weekend has passed as I try to fit as much into my time left as possible. Friday we did not attend our internships because of the taxi protests in Khayelitsha and decided to take on another adventure: climbing Table Mountain. Now I have always thought of myself as someone who can muscle through a good hike, but this would also mean I had to have a semblance of muscles, which I do not. So 10 minutes into the hike up the rocky slope of the Platteklip trail I have to stop because I am having what I can only assume is an asthma attack. So this continues with me throughout the hike, and poor Laura T and Ashley have to keep stopping because I just cant keep up. It took us a little over two hours to get to the top of the mountain. It was incredibly cold and windy at the top, which we did not expect. We kept ducking behind rocks and hiding in outcrops of rock to avoid some of the heavy gales. We did not stay at the top for long, unfortunately all the shops and cable car was closed, so we made our way down. On the way down I began to play music, and I guess it was decent music, because other groups of hikers purposefully began hiking close to us to hear my music. I felt a weird unity with the people around me on those rocks, and by the time I was at the bottom and could not longer stand straight, it felt good to know other people were around me. I still can't walk like an upright human, but my soreness goes away a little more every day. 

Saturday was something as daunting as Friday: shark cage diving. I thought I was going to be okay, but I was mostly wrong. I am not afraid of sharks and I am not afraid of cages or small spaces, but I am terrified of the open ocean and the tall waves that look like they could swallow you. I was okay in the bay area, but the minute we pulled into the ocean, I was clutching onto the metal rails for dear life. I probably looked like a dear in six headlights, but I couldn't back out now. The rest of the trip consisted of me clutching onto the handrails for dear life and moving as little as possible. And if I wasn't grasping something, I was shaking uncontrollably. So putting on my wet suit required the help of a crew member, and jumping into the cage was like entering hell. I looked at Ethan and started essentially hyperventilating, but everyone told me it was okay, I was okay, just breathe. I eventually did, and eventually could stick my head under the ocean to look for sharks. The ocean is very green and foggy once underneath, so seeing sharks above the water was much easier than under, but it was still very cool. And while it took everything I had in me to hold it together until we got back to land, I am really glad I did it. I'm glad my fears didn't stop me from doing something I had really wanted to do coming here. That's the lesson I'm trying to teach myself the most from being here, don't let fear stop you from having these once in a lifetime experiences. I'll be so upset if I don't just do some of these things. So it was an eventful weekend.