We represented the respondent, a difficult side to take, and argued our hearts out.  Our opponents were extremely well versed with South African law repeatedly quoting cases, statutes, and international treaties.  Jeff and I were not intimidated.  We stood up and argued one of the most passionate rounds of our lives.  The retired highest Judge in South Africa hammered Jeff with questions which he answered wonderfully and refused to give in.  I fielded questions from all five judges and not one made me squirm. After hours of practice with Professor Wofford, Lynna, Bo, and the rest of those that helped judge, Jeff and I were ready for anything. 

            We watched the round after ours and then exited for a relaxing (attempt to relax) afternoon before hearing the results that evening at the gala.  We got all dolled up and headed to the gala at six.  The gala was at a school outside Bloem, in a beautiful room with a thatch roof.  Huge candelabras on the tables, amazing food, and all the soft rock hits from the 80’s, 90’s and today.  We were so lucky to listen to our guest speaker, a retired High Court Judge (equivalent to a circuit court judge) speak briefly about ethics which is crucial for practitioners no matter where you are.  Finally, time for the results.  Best English speaking team: Team J (that’s us!) then Best overall team (between us and the best Afrikaan speaking team) “For the second year in a row, Charlotte School of Law, Team J!” 

            The night was filled with handshakes, hugs, flashing pictures, cocktails, and gandering (ask Jeff what that means—he’ll give you a demonstration).  We will never forget one of the best nights in South Africa. 

            The next day we headed out to a shelter for street kids bringing KFC, fresh fruit, candy, and treats along with a rented, huge, blow-up waterslide and twenty soccer balls for the boys.  I got a little emotional watching the boys joy playing on the waterslide.  We took tons of pictures and when it was time to go the boys did not want Jeff to leave!  Next thing we knew we were back on a plane headed home.  We cannot wait to see everyone when we return and we will never forget what an amazing experience Charlotte Law has given us.

We arrived in Bloem and our wonderful friend and driver, Adrian, took us over to the UFS campus for a meet-and-greet. The Oprah was not in attendance.  As we entered the doorway, there was a table of shot glasses filled with sherry. The teams were incredibly friendly, outgoing and eager to know about the U.S. court and jury system.  They found our explanations were confusing and complicated.  We assured them that certainly this was the case.

I set my alarm to wake everybody up at 6:45am.  When breakfast arrived at 7am, I realized my alarm was still set to Charlotte time.  You’re welcome everybody.

Today was the first day of the competition.  We were taken downtown Bloem to the High Court of Appeals. The architecture of the building much resembled that of a federal courthouse in the U.S. Large pillars, beautiful mahogany, high ceilings, and an extremely slippery marble floor.

Enter competition courtroom. We donned the robes and Abbey immediately assumed her role as the Honorable Abbey. We went against two teams, playing both sides, in front of three advocates / attorneys serving as judges.  The judges were fair and objective.  We were excited because they did not ask us to leave, tell us we were wrong, nor sit down and shut up. All in all, great success.

We waited for a few hours for the results, had lunch, and took a group photo on the steps of the courthouse.  The results were in, and only five English speaking teams and one Afrikaan team would compete Saturday in the final rounds.  There was a tie between two English-speaking teams and two Afrikaan-speaking teams who had to face off again that afternoon to determine their spot.  Out of the four teams to automatically advance, we were one of them. It took all we had not to give each other high-fives in the gallery, so we chest-bumped, instead.

Tomorrow at 8:30am, we stand-off for our final round. This one’s for all the marbles.

To start the morning, we had a yummy breakfast with South African style bacon and sausages with eggs, yogurt, toast, and some sort of delicious OJ.  Our friend who is driving us around, Adrian, picked us up and we were off to the cat place.

The cat place is called “The Cheetah Experience” and is a place where orphaned cats (lions, cheetahs, etc.) or cats who need a home go for a while.  Jeff was particularly excited to see the Cheetahs and although we thought he bonded with the Dassey on Table Mountain, he really seemed to be one with the Cheetah.

There were others with us on the tour that was led by a really nice tour guide.  There were about four kids on the tour including an 11 month old baby.   We went to see the lions that are now about 16 month olds that Lynna and Bo held last year.  They are huge and now have a sort of mohawk mane.  They were relaxing in the shade until that baby started fussing a little.  The biggest one came right up to the fence and started pacing back and forth while staring at the baby.  We pretty much agreed he was thinking “woohoo, lunch!”

We then saw other animals and made our way to the cheetah enclosure where there are two adult female cheetahs.  One is friendly and was happy to let us pet her while she slept.  The other one is a littl bit wary of people and spent her time looking at the sheep next door and wondering how to get over the 12 ft. fence.

This afternoon Abbey and Jeff spent time planning the service project which so far includes twenty soccer balls, a blow up water slide, and KFC.  More details and plans to follow because the competitions starts tomorrow!!

We went tonight to a meet and greet with all the coaches and participants for the competition.  Everyone involved is very warm and receptive to our team’s participation.  Abbey and Jeff had the opportunity to talk to the judges who will be judging tomorrow’s round and to get a feel for the competition.

Keep your fingers crossed and we will share the experience with you tomorrow!

Abbey and Jeff have shared experiences they have had as first time South Africa visitors.  To have the opportunity to travel back for this competition is really an honor.  Today we arrived in Bloemfontein which is the judicial capitol of South Africa.  We’re staying in the same bed and breakfast we stayed in last year.  It’s this nice house with three bedrooms added on making a sort of wing.  It’s run by two of the nicest people you could every meet–Adrian and his wife Hanika (pronounced like the Jewish holiday).  They do all they can to make us feel at home.

After spending three nights in a bustling area in Cape Town, staying in a cozy B&B is welcomed.  For me it was interesting how different it felt to return to this place.  It was so nice to see Hanika and talk to her.  Last year she had this tiny puppy that now he is this round Pug that jumps up for some lovin’. 

We were picked up by Adrian, an attorney who is still affilated with the law school at the hosting University of the Free State.  He and I have kept in touch via Facebook over the past year.  It was like catching up with an old friend while we were chatting on the way to the B&B.

Today made me realize even more how important competitions like this really are.  They provide opportunity for both education and relationships.  The relationships formed make the world a little smaller and make us more interested in what people 8,000 miles away are up to.  It gives us the opportunity to go meet the street boys and see how we can help them a little to make their lives easier.

Many people ask, why does your school (in Charlotte) send students all the way to South Africa?  First, the experience of learning about a different country’s legal system teaches students creativity and tolerance.  Second, having relationships throughout the world makes people realize how similar we are to each other.  Finally, it provides an annual opportunity and tradition to give to a community as representatives of our law school.

On Sunday we’ll continue this tradition by spending the day with the street boys like we did last year.

Abbey and Jeff have done so much to prepare themselves for the competition and are really taking in every experience while we’re here.  The relationships, education, and tradition continues.

Today was another glorious day in Cape Town.  Unfortunately for Abbey, she awoke under the weather and because the morning was a bit cold and rainy, there was no alternative but to spend the day in bed.  Lynna and I had a quick breakfast, brought Abbey back some fresh fruit and ginger beer (which was nothing like ginger ale, apparently…when in Rome, I guess) and then I got stuck in the shower. After I convinced Lynna it wasn’t a joke – that false imprisonment was indeed an issue, she called in the cavalry and I was rescued by two kind gentlemen and a screwdriver.

We hopped on the double-decker bus towards Hout Bay and took this beautiful windy road through the jungle on the back side of Tabletop Mountain. Our mission was to take a boat from the bay to ‘seal island’ and witness the great white in its natural habitat.  Unfortunately for us, there are two ‘seal islands’; one where sharks feed and one where they do not. We found ourselves at the latter, but were happy to continue enjoying ourselves as Lynna mingled with some local fishermen and hand-fed a seal off the dock.

During the bus ride back, the sun broke out and the dissipating clouds created a splendid mix of the greenest blue water I’ve ever seen. We had lunch near the beach and walked around the shops. I was blown away by the diversity of the population and the outgoing friendliness everyone seems to naturally adhere to. 

            After a rejuvenating 12 hours of sleep, the three of us grabbed breakfast at the hotel restaurant that also offers meals to MBA graduate students in the area.  After breakfast, we headed out on the CitySightSeeing RedBus tours.  We went total tourist snapping photos all over Cape Town from the top of a double decker bus.  Our first stop was in downtown Cape Town at the Green Square Market.  Lynna and I were able to haggle with some locals, putting our negotiating skills to work and fulfilling our Skills requirement, while Jeff wondered aimlessly praying we would decide to go to Table Mountain any minute.  Next stop, Table Mountain.  The trip up was windy and windy and completely worth it.  Not only did we get the chance to view the Coast of South Africa from 5400 feet up, we also bore witness to the Dassi, a species unique to Table Mountain and related to the elephant.  (Think beaver with no tail).  Jeff was so moved he took over 20 pictures of the animal in its natural habitat.  For a moment, Jeff locked eyes with the Dassi, it was unforgettable. 

After taking the cable car back down from the top of the mountain, we hopped back on the RedBus and headed along the coastline.  We had the chance to spot where Lynna and Bo stayed last year, we prefer prison.  Then we headed to the indoor shopping market, which Jeff surprisingly enjoyed while still carrying around everything Lynna and I had purchased from the aforementioned shopping spree.  Supra, n.2.

We took a break stop at the hotel to drop things off and headed down to the clock tower to eat some seriously good South African cuisine.  Confit Pork, Smoked Trout, Boula Blaze, and some delicious curry were served for another amazing dinner on the cape.  Tommorrow, we are traveling out to Seal Island to see some Great White Sharks, stopping on the way to hang out with some monkeys and penguins.  We can’t wait to get some amazing photos!  Now its time for studying and bed.

The U.S. Department of State refers to the Fulbright Program as ”the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.”

This prestigiousaward sends approximately 1,100 American scholars and professionals per year to approximately 125 countries with the “opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.” 

During the 2011-2012 academic year Professor Buske will be traveling to Ghana to teach courses in children’s international human rights at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, Faculty of Law, and working with local non-governmental organizations on the plight of homeless children, which in Ghana tend to be young girls.  The Charlotte School of Law is ecstatic to have a Fulbright Scholar part of the faculty and we all look forward to hearing of her impact on international human rights in Ghana upon her return.

We saw the local fish and spice market.  We saw large churches full of local history about the man who started the churches.  Including information about his reason for wanting to start the Anglican church there, his continued travel and final resting place (his heart remaining in Africa and his body back to England.)  One intresting fact about the church was the marble pillars that are in the back of the church were installed upside down and remain in the position to this day.

We were walked through the original Zanazibar  slave holdings under buildings.  Where slaves were kept before being shipped to the middle east.  The slaves were in tiny quarters not big enough to lie down or stand up in, and were given a shelf to crouch on so that they would not drown when the tide came in.

Before we left we saw the monument that was dedicated to the Africans that had been enslaved.  It was a life-changing event for us to see and contemplate just how much the slaves endured. 

Pictures to come of our journey upon return home!  

Asante sana squash banana!!!

The children will continue to come back after reaching the age of majority for the holidays because this is truly a family environment and a place the children always consider home.  We are sending them donations of food and books to start a mini-library called “Carlos’ Library”.  We took a great video of a little boy named Carlos that wants to be an accountant and wanted nothing more than a library full of books so he could learn to pursue his goal.  The internet does not support video downloading here but we will post his interview upon returning to the States.

Another highlight invovled Ernest (our much needed driver and friend (rafiki)).  He took us (Ashley and Amber) to eat the local food that was extremely good food and an experience we will never forget.  You haven’t lived until you have tried the local chapatti.  It was great for us and entertaining for the locals to try to figure out what we were doing in their local spot.

Ashley with the babies at Cradle of Love

Today was a fun-filled day of playing with children! Cradle of Love is an orphanage for children under 2 yrs old. It was just a short walk from where we are staying, so we headed over at 9am to see Davona (the director of Cradle) to learn about the organization. Most of the babies who are in the orphanage were placed there because their mothers died and the fathers cannot feed or take care of them without a mother.  The babies are referred to Cradle through the hospital, law enforcement, and community members.

Because the children are so young, most are not on solid food, so we brought a couple cases of different types of formula for the various age children. We also brought some baby clothes that were donated by friends in the US. We went on a tour of the facility and then were able to play with the children. There was one building designated only to the babies under 6 months old. Only certain people were allowed inside because the babies were very prone to infection. We were able to look at them through a window and there were some as young as 2 weeks old! As we entered the main play room for the children, we were swarmed with little arms reaching up for us to pick them up. Most of the time we were each holding two. We played and read books to them until it was time for them to take a nap. They were so cute and loved having their pictures taken.

Allison and Amber with the toddlers at Cradle of Love

After leaving Cradle of Love, we headed to Malaika Children’s Home. There were 14 children ranging from 2-9 yrs old. When we arrived, the children were just returning from feeding the cow. They were excited to see us and we immediately went inside to play a couple of rounds of duck-duck-goose. I (Ashley) was the first “goose” tapped and attempted to run around the circle but slipped on the floor, which the children thought was hilarious, and we all laughed. After an exciting game of duck-duck-goose, the children showed us books that the home had made for them with pictures of them from their time at the home.

Malaika Children's Home

We then went outside to play on the swings and see-saw followed by sitting with the children as they ate lunch. Most of them knew English because they attended a primary school that taught them from a young age. We were sad to leave them, but glad that we were able to leave them with lots of rice, cooking oil, and soap. We had an amazing day with the children and are excited to visit other orphanages in the days to come.