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.