Kirstenbosch – Untamed
Door: Jolijn
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Jolijn
31 Oktober 2011 | Zuid-Afrika, Kaapstad
I had a nice relaxing day again. I only did nice things.
This morning we went to visit Sharon Kleintjes, who I had been meeting at the World Conference, and she had invited us over to her house. We had a nice breakfast, and a nice talk about the quality of care at Valkenberg and at Lentegeur, and we talked about all kind of relevant user issues. It was really nice to be on the same level, and to discuss strategies and topics. And she had a nice kid as well, who was happily playing around us. It was a nice way to start the Sunday.
Then we went to visit Annie’s parents again, and we did some shopping for them, and we were rewarded with another sandwich and a nice cup of tea. We talked about the South African woman (25) who is facing maybe 10 years in prison, because she grabbed the balls of a steward on a flight of Virgin airlines, after drinking half a litre of whisky and becoming assaultive. It’s an insane punishment, for a relatively small crime, and who gave her the whisky? This young woman may lose 10 years of her life for her mistake. It’s disproportionate. It’s the story of the day here. Tomorrow in the middle of the night I will fly home, but I will behave. You won’t read about me in the newspaper (lol).
Another weird thing I found out here, is that the police stations in Cape Town are being guarded by private security! I found that unbelievable, hilarious and sad. But it is true. The police in South Africa doesn’t seem to take themselves serious. The police stations are really being protected by private companies. It took me a while to think about that. What a crazy world..
Later that afternoon we went to Kirstenbosch, to the botanical gardens. It was really beautiful out there. The botanical garden contained so many nice plants, flowers and trees, and had a nice view too. And there was also an exposition called Untamed, about people as a part of wildlife and nature. There were special sculptures and poems, all about beastly humans in a very creative way. It had something of psycho-art. I really enjoyed the beauty of nature and the artworks. I took many pictures again. And after a long walk through the park, we went home again.
At home we ate chicken and we watched two DVD’s, one of which was Goodbye Bafana, about a prison warder who had to guard Nelson Mandela. It was again a true story from South Africa during apartheid. And it was filmed on Robben Island, so I can say I have seen it. It was a very interesting and good movie.
Well, tonight is my last night in South Africa. I will miss it, but I also like to go home and meet my friends again. I’m sure this isn’t my last visit to Cape Town.
And I won’t even stay home after getting back in the Netherlands. I just got invited for a High Level meeting in Strasbourg at Friday 4th of November, so that’s next Friday. And I will get home from Cape Town on Tuesday afternoon, 1st of November. So I will just have about 48 hours to be at home in Eindhoven, and then go to Strasbourg for a meeting on monitoring torture and ill-treatment in institutions for persons with disabilities. It will surely be interesting to participate there.
But now I still have 24 hours of Cape Town. I will make sure I enjoy every minute in South Africa.
This morning we went to visit Sharon Kleintjes, who I had been meeting at the World Conference, and she had invited us over to her house. We had a nice breakfast, and a nice talk about the quality of care at Valkenberg and at Lentegeur, and we talked about all kind of relevant user issues. It was really nice to be on the same level, and to discuss strategies and topics. And she had a nice kid as well, who was happily playing around us. It was a nice way to start the Sunday.
Then we went to visit Annie’s parents again, and we did some shopping for them, and we were rewarded with another sandwich and a nice cup of tea. We talked about the South African woman (25) who is facing maybe 10 years in prison, because she grabbed the balls of a steward on a flight of Virgin airlines, after drinking half a litre of whisky and becoming assaultive. It’s an insane punishment, for a relatively small crime, and who gave her the whisky? This young woman may lose 10 years of her life for her mistake. It’s disproportionate. It’s the story of the day here. Tomorrow in the middle of the night I will fly home, but I will behave. You won’t read about me in the newspaper (lol).
Another weird thing I found out here, is that the police stations in Cape Town are being guarded by private security! I found that unbelievable, hilarious and sad. But it is true. The police in South Africa doesn’t seem to take themselves serious. The police stations are really being protected by private companies. It took me a while to think about that. What a crazy world..
Later that afternoon we went to Kirstenbosch, to the botanical gardens. It was really beautiful out there. The botanical garden contained so many nice plants, flowers and trees, and had a nice view too. And there was also an exposition called Untamed, about people as a part of wildlife and nature. There were special sculptures and poems, all about beastly humans in a very creative way. It had something of psycho-art. I really enjoyed the beauty of nature and the artworks. I took many pictures again. And after a long walk through the park, we went home again.
At home we ate chicken and we watched two DVD’s, one of which was Goodbye Bafana, about a prison warder who had to guard Nelson Mandela. It was again a true story from South Africa during apartheid. And it was filmed on Robben Island, so I can say I have seen it. It was a very interesting and good movie.
Well, tonight is my last night in South Africa. I will miss it, but I also like to go home and meet my friends again. I’m sure this isn’t my last visit to Cape Town.
And I won’t even stay home after getting back in the Netherlands. I just got invited for a High Level meeting in Strasbourg at Friday 4th of November, so that’s next Friday. And I will get home from Cape Town on Tuesday afternoon, 1st of November. So I will just have about 48 hours to be at home in Eindhoven, and then go to Strasbourg for a meeting on monitoring torture and ill-treatment in institutions for persons with disabilities. It will surely be interesting to participate there.
But now I still have 24 hours of Cape Town. I will make sure I enjoy every minute in South Africa.
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31 Oktober 2011 - 05:38
Je Moeder:
geniet van je laatste dag!
Spreek je morgen.
Liefs en goede reis!
kusjes
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Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
