Another moody Monday post?

It is apparent that Mondays really aren't my day.

But before we get to that, I'm going to tell you all about my wonderful weekend!
Friday night we went out to a bar, did some dancing and then came home. A few of the volunteers got their phones stolen and one girl lost her camera, but other than that, it was a nice night.
Saturday morning, we all got up early to go help with a "Dirty Weekend." It's something that volunteers apply for. After they apply, they are awarded money for a project of their choosing. This time, it was painting a creche. (Creche is the world for kindergarten here. It's also interesting because all of the centers are called "educares".)
And so we painted the inside of the creche and then the walls outside the colors of the South African flag. I was covered in paint by the end of it, but it was a satisfying experience. Since I arrived here, I haven't felt like I was "doing something" and this experience was something that really felt hands-on and satisfying in that visceral way. I could see the change happening before my eyes and was energized by it.
We had about seven people working on it. Some were painting the inside white. Others were applying color to the walls outside. I was in charge of priming the fence and the concrete pillars and then painting them over black.
The color scheme was black for the main parts, with yellow, red, blue and green for every little wooden part of the fence. We painted large footprints on one column and then the logo and contact information. It was a fun experience.
At the end of the day, we all dipped our hands in paint and put them on one of the concrete pillars.
After that, we had a quiet dinner at the seaside restaurant in Kalk Bay. It's quickly becoming my favorite restaurant here. It's called the Brass Bell and it's not anything wildly special, but it's comfortable and the view of the ocean by night is something I can't quite get enough of. You should all know by now how I feel about chocolate mousse. And they make a delicious one.

Sunday morning we woke up early again to take the train down to Newlands (where the Projects Abroad office is) to get a picnic and then take a cab to the Kirstenbosch Gardens (you'll remember the botanic gardens from a few weeks ago). From there, we hiked up Table Mountain via the Skeleton Gorge Route. Oh my god, you have no idea how out of shape you are until you try to climb a mountain. I've never been so grateful for hiking boots in my life.It was a beautiful day - so hot that I was glad I'd brought a tank top.
As we began, I had one of those, "I'm in Africa" moments. Surrounded by rocks and green and the path ahead, I forgot about everything else.
Parts of the trail were just ladders that you had to climb and then my favorite part was just rocks. You had to sort of boulder your way up along a river. It was lovely. The rest of the climb was like steps - rocky steps. My legs are miserable today.
As we got up, the cloud descended down on us and we walked through the mist. It got a bit colder, so we put on jackets as we went up. By the time we got to the top, we still had another hour or so of hiking but we were surrounded. We couldn't see any views or even more than twenty meters ahead of us.
It was like a rocky swamp at the top - all pools of water and rocky surfaces. It was surreal, knowing that you are at the top of the bottom of the world but not being able to see anything.
As we got to the cable car station at the top, the horns were sounding for high winds, so we ate our picnic quickly and began our descent down Platteklip Gorge. As we were sitting at the top, every now and then, the layer of clouds would part and we could see through the layers of mist to the sea below. Sea and the cloud wall, but only for seconds each time.
In the clouds, water was starting to form droplets in our hair and the wind was cold and wet. But still we climbed down, slowly descending back to the city. After about an hour and a half we broke out of the cloud and were back underneath it. It got warmer.
After seven and a half hours in total, we got off the mountain and headed for the train station back home.

A placement change has officially been set into motion.
I have a meeting with the Projects Abroad man tomorrow and hopefully will be in a new placement by the end of this week. Today my boss informed me that she's getting two new volunteers who have worked with her previously and that I will now answer to them.
And I realized that this situation is the out that I'm waiting for. So I jumped, emailed the Projects people and will be meeting with them tomorrow.
Wish me luck.