Last Stop

Yebo! We are actually at our last stop in Cape Town! I have had the most amazing time during the past few days. Yesterday morning we woke up very early to get to the bungee jumping site! I am so surprised that I wasn't even nervous during the car ride. I had an excellent run in the morning on the shores of the Indian Ocean in Port Elizabeth---so the bungee jumping didn't even phase me until I actually got up on the bridge. It starts out with a bridge walk where you're basically walking underneath the bridge in order to get to the middle. On this bridge walk, you're walking on a meshy metal that is completely see-through! You can see all the way down to the very bottom. This is the only place that we were allowed to look down before the jump. Then we got to the platform that we were going to jump off of. There were a lot of guys there (the staff people) and they played loud music, I think to get us relaxed. There were 11 of us from the group jumping. When it was my turn to jump, I just had the biggest smile on my face the whole time. They yell "5-4-3-2-1 BUNGEE!" and then you're off! It is the most incredible feeling in the world. I would do it 100 times again. When the bungee part is over, you just sort of hang there for awhile...while all of the blood rushes to your head! The first thing I said to the guy who pulled me up was "my head hurts!" Anyway, enough of that. You all should do it.

From there, we headed to Tsitsikamma National Park. This place is absolutely beautiful. We got there before dark and I took lots of pictures of the ocean and huge rocks which I will post on here soon. This morning we woke up really early to go for a hike. It was pretty long and treacherous, but awesome. At the end, there was an amazing waterfall.

After the hike, we had a long drive to Cape Town, which is where we are now. We got here only a few hours ago, so I haven't had time to look around the town. We are here until Friday and then we're home! Time has gone so fast. I'm not sure I'm ready to leave this amazing place.

Back to the Ocean

Hello all! I almost didn't have a computer today so you're all lucky for this post! I have a few things to tell you about since the last time I wrote in Mthatha. We did our homestays while in Mthatha. I must say, that was quite an interesting experience. My friend Kelly and I stayed with an older couple for the two nights. They were both very nice but very soft spoken. We were told that the man was a doctor by the woman who set up the homestays, but that was it. When we got to their house (which had EVERYTHING---a workout room, a hottub inside, a huge TV, etc.) they gave us our bath towels, told us where the tea and coffee were, and said they would see us in the morning. Kelly and I were scared to ask about using any of their awesome stuff so we just sat in her room and chatted until we were tired enough to go to bed. We were expecting to spend the night talking with our host parents!

Anyway, the next morning, we woke up bright and early for our day on Nelson Mandela. At the host house, we had a nice breakfast and finally were able to chat with our host dad. We found out that he is an OBGYN and owns his own practice. After breakfast, we headed to the Nelson Mandela Museum. From there, we all squeezed into a 23 seater bus to drive to Nelson Mandela's birthplace. I must say, this was one of the most interesting things we have done---mostly because we were able to meet Nelson Mandela's grandson. Before I say anything else, I have to tell you that he was certainly not a reflection of Mandela's views on human rights. He spent much of the time telling us about the Xhosa tradition and how women are not allowed to leave the community/lots of other things about the limitations on women's lives. When we first arrived to this place, we went into a small rondavel to talk about the tradition--and the first thing this guy said was that women were not allowed to sit on the ledge seat provided. They (we) had to sit on the mats on the floors. He then proceeded to talk about the tradition making very blatent remarks about the roles of women in the society. He said that he was to provide everything the woman ever needed. She never had to work. At this point, I just couldn't keep my mouth shut! I replied with, "Don't they get bored?!" So yes...I basically talked back to Nelson Mandela's grandson, but this guy was a joke! He was supposed to be talking to us about the importance of Mandela and he spent his time degrading the African women. Ah well. It's a cultural thing and it's sometimes useless to have an argument with the men here but it really upsets me that some of these people think this way when they've come so far with racial issues.

Other than that, we had a pretty laid back day. When we arrived back to our homestay house, we had dinner with our host dad. The host mom (who we found out is an anethesiologist) was doing an operation, so we only had three. They didn't cook anyway, their workers made us dinner. We did have a nice conversation with the host dad about politics. He wanted to know about the American system and we wanted to know about the whole issue with Zimbabwe/South Africa. It's very interesting and messy, so let me know if you want to talk about it! I don't have enough space to write about this sort of stuff in here! We also learned that both of our host parents went to medical school with the great Black Consciousness Movement leader Steve Biko.

The next morning, we headed to Hogsback Mountain. I'm not exactly sure why we stayed here, but it was nice! Right in the middle of the mountains. In the afternoon, on the way here, we had a Steve Biko day. We went to the house that he group up in and was banned to after he had led resistance movements and had lunch. We also visited his gravesite. Study up on this guy. He's sort of second generation leader, but he was just an awesome leader. When we arrived at Hogsback we had a quick/not so great meal, and I ended up going to bed early! After so much going and going, sometimes it's nice to just get a good night's rest. I did, however, wake up early to take a stroll up the mountain. I got a few great pictures of the sunrise. The scenery in this country is absolutely beautiful. Everywhere we have been, there are either mountains or ocean!

Now we are in Port Elizabeth, which is sort of a weird town. We're right on the Indian Ocean, but for some reason, this town seems to lack culture. I'm not exactly sure what it is---perhaps so many English/Afrikaaners? It's a bit of a shock! Tomorrow we're off to Tsitsikamma National Park where I will be (Mom, don't read this part) bungee jumping and canopy walking! I'm excited for this adventerous day! After that, we're headed to Cape Town and then back home next Saturday! I'll keep you all posted on everything that happens.

Mthatha!

Hello all! We've arrived in Mthatha and a friend and I randomly stumbled across an internet cafe---yay! We're also finally back to civilization after a long week in Kokstad. All of us in the group joked about forming a Real World-Kokstad, where everyone just goes crazy due to the lack of civilization! That would certainly be interesting airtime!

Anyway, not much going on here. We're just on a lunch break after a 2ish hour drive. The drive was beautiful. Unfortunately I couldn't take any pictures, but we went right through the Drakensbergs the whole time. One of the funniest things about the drives here is the livestock right in the middle of the road! Yesterday while a group of us went for a quick trip to the grocery store, we were stopped by about 50 cows just walking in the middle of the road! Also, while on my run yesterday, I passed by a sheep farm and every single sheep looked at me as I ran by. Silly animals :-).

Yesterday we had yet another braai, but this one was prepared by our bed and breakfast hosts. They are awesome cooks and it was certainly the best braai yet. I was actually not too excited about the braai beforehand because they have not been that great the last few times, but this one was excellent. Great chicken, some really good potato bake stuff, couscous salad...carrot cake...the food was amazing! Other than that, we had a very laid back day. I did about 3.5 miles, came back in and took a bath, and then laid by the fire with a few friends from the trip. I am making some really great friends here, which I'm really excited about because they all go to State! We even have one with a possible wedding in the near future!

That's all for now. I'm assuming I'll be able to access internet again soon, so keep checking! I can't wait to show you all my photos!

We're in the Mountains!

Hello all! We've finally gotten access to internet! One of the people that run the bed and breakfast that we are staying at also has an office with 7 computers so we're able to use them for a short time!

So, we arrived in Kokstad on Wednesday. I'm very impressed with the place that we are staying in. The meals are incredible :-). I'm pretty sure I've gained about 10 pounds since being in S.A. even with the running! Anyway, amazing meals...soup every night to begin and then something else delicious to follow. It is very cold here though! We're in the Drakensberg Mountains and it's winter here. Thankfully, we have heated blankets on our beds.

On Thursday, we went to a rural primary school. I am amazed at how few resources schools are provided with. They hardly had any books. There was a funeral in town that day and many of the teachers went to that. There aren't any substitutes though...so most of the students were left on their own. There were hardly any students actually in classes. Many of them were just running around outside and they were just being given busy work because they didn't have a teacher. The kids were awesome though. Very cute. We had two little boys that just sat in a seat in our van the entire time. They were young and didn't know English, but they loved just sitting there. All of the kids were asking about Beyonce and Chris Brown :-) We just had to keep reminding them that America is very big and none of us know any celebrities!

After that we went to the secondary school in the same town. They also had very few resources and you could tell that they weren't as trained in English as some of the schools in Durban. I did, however, get some very good questions from the grade 12 students. They asked about inflation in America and other different things that I cannot imagine a 12th grade class in the States talking about! I love to see kids asking so many questions. I got contact information from the principal here in case I want to make this part of my program in 2010 that I have to come up with all by myself because they aren't running any official programs here in S.A. that year!

Then yesterday, we went back to the primary school to paint one of their buildings. It was hard work but the community loved us! It took until 1pm to paint the whole thing but I talked to a lot of the kids there too. One boy was telling me that he would really love to come to America to do music. He was so sweet and hopefully he will get to fulfill his dream, although I have been trying to convince all of the kids here to stay in S.A. and become teachers!

Today, we did some more painting at a quintile 1 primary school. A teacher there said that about 80% of the students are orphans. This is just unbelievable and very sad. I wish that there was more I could do. They seemed very happy with our painting job but I felt like I should be doing more. We gave all of the kids there (there were only 5 because it's Saturday and there wasn't school) sandwiches and apples that we had from lunch.

Anyway, that's all I have for now. Next we're off to Mthata for homestays which should be very interesting. Take care!

Leaving for Kokstad Tomorrow!

Hello all! Just a quick post to let you know that I most likely will not be able to access internet for the next few days as we are going to a very rural area in the Eastern Cape. We will be staying at a bed and breakfast type thing and visiting a few rural schools and having lectures as well.

Not much to say about today! We went on a toxic tour of Durban in which a man from the environmental agency here took us around and showed us some of the terrible waste management and the like that is going on. They have oil refineries built right next to neighborhoods and soccer fields! He said many of the people in this community have cancer and they're trying to work to make it more difficult for these refineries to expand.

In the afternoon, we went to the Victoria Street Market which was a bit too hectic for me! They have a lot of gifts and such but everyone is trying to get you into their shop to buy stuff. I bought a few things but it was so overwhelming.

Anyway, that's all for now. Hope everyone is doing well!

Back in Durban

Hello from Durban! We just returned from a long weekend in Hluhluwe Game Park (I was spelling it wrong before...whoops...). It was pretty fun! Just like camping. We stayed in these things called rondavels, which are cylinder shaped hut things with thick straw roofs. It took us about 4 hours to drive there on Friday. However, before going to the game park, we stopped at our first actual rural school.

I cannot believe how much of a contrast there was between this school and Westville Boys. Basically, this school had only 3 buildings with separate classrooms in each. They didn't have toilets, only pits for the students to use. They also didn't have any fields or anything for the students to do recreational activities. The most surprising thing is that this school was ranked in quintile 3. I'm not sure if I explained this before or not, but the quintiles basically determine how much funding the school recieves from the government. Quintile 5 is the least amount of funding, and usually the schools with the highest school fees. The principal at this rural school told us that the government had originally ranked them in quintile 2 and considered them a "no fees" school which means the students are able to go there for free. When it came time for the funds to come in, however, the government only gave the school the funding for the quintile 3 ranking. The principal said that they are able to go to the government and complain, but that really doesn't get them far. So basically, this school doesn't have the money to do anything...especially because they are not able to get any school fees. I cannot believe what the goverment can get away with here. The principal also told us that about 30% of the students that attend the school are mothers.

Anyway, after this short visit (we were not allowed to observe any classes because the students were preparing for exams), we headed for Hluhluwe. The first night that we were there, they set up a buffet for us with tons of food. I filled myself to the brim with desserts! The next day, we woke up very early to go on the game drives. The drive itself is 3 hours long and you're not guaranteed to see anything. Thankfully, we got to see some zebras and giraffes. There were also lots of deer type things, birds, and a few monkeys! The rest of the day was devoted to resting and reading (more resting than reading!). On Sunday, we woke up and started off for Durban again. During the trip, we stopped at the largest salt water estuary in South Africa. It wasn't toooo exciting, but I did get to see some hippos! They make the funniest sound ever...like a huge cow.

Not much has been happening since we have been back in Durban. Today is AIDS day so we had a lecture on HIV/AIDS which was really informative. I think one of the biggest problems here is that people are not getting tested. There is this stigma behind getting tested (which I think is probably the same everywhere...) so people are just going about their business without even knowing. This seriously scares the hell out of me for their sake. The spread is so fast and there are so many people that don't even know they have it.

To wrap this up, I am so glad that I am learning something new every day. I'm trying to talk to everyone as much as I can and learn as much as I can about this country. It is such a great experience, but I feel like I need to be helping more and there is so much more I could be doing. Perhaps I'll take up a collection when I get back to pay for a few kids' school fees. I don't know. Hopefully I'll be back online by tomorrow or Wednesday! Take care.

Going to Hluhlue Soon!

This will be a short post, but I needed to get one in before we leave for the game park tomorrow! Unfortunately, I attempted to put up some pictures but the computers here are slow so I haven't even been able to upload any! Hopefully I'll be able to put some pictures up soon...

Anyway, today we visited another primary school. I haven't been too thrilled with visiting the primary schools because this really isn't my area of study, but I've been sticking to the older classrooms anyway. The school was called Paul Sykes Primary and I was impressed again by the implementation of different cultures within the classroom. I sat in on a grade 5 class during and Arts and Cultures lesson. The students were learning about drama, and when I looked through their activity books, they had many different types of cultural expression (Zulu and Indian dances, different art forms, etc.) Each classroom had about 45 students---and for those of you unfamiliar with the set-up in the states, usually classrooms do not have any more than 25 students. The teachers here have to deal with almost double the children! The school also teaches Zulu as a subject.

After I sat in on this class, we went out for the break with the kids. This was a bit overwhelming because all 1,200 kids that attend the school were outside with us! I had a group of about 20 kids surrounding me and asking questions. They are so cute..asking if I have ever seen any celebrities and all about snow. I'll have to post pictures once I can finally do that! They are OBSESSED with cameras :-)

After the break, John insisted that I go to the doctor because I have been sick for a week now. I went, it took about 20 minutes and then I left with medication in hand. It was so much different than in the states. Even though the people here have to pay for insurance, the doctor did everything for me for free. We said, "Do we pay up front or how does this work?" and he just said not to worry about it. He had the medication right in the office too! Crazy. Also, it turned out to be some bronchitis thing...I'm fine though...just a sore throat and stuffy nose. Thankfully, I've still been running on the boardwalk here in Durban!

After going to the doctor, the whole group went to UKZN for a lecture. It was a really interesting one about the balance between caring and teaching. This woman got me thinking about what it means to be a teacher. I'm hoping I figure this out through my many experiences prior to taking a job.

Anyway, that's all I have for today. I think I'm going to shop in the mall now (2nd largest in South Africa!) I most likely won't be posting until Monday because we are going to Hluhlue Game Park tomorrow afternoon. Have a great weekend!