Well lets just say the past hour has been somewhat interesting and eventful. I had success at the library and found my books! After that, I felt as if I could conquer the world. Going with this new found confidence I was feeling I decided it would be a good day to take a Combi by myself, after all it was during the day, I was catching it from campus with other students and had too much to do to spend time walking. So I catch one and we all load up and we are driving and when the driver stops to pick someone up, all of a sudden the police are there (my first real encounter with the South African police- even seeing them, since I have been here). So they ask for his license and go around and search the mini-van. And this is one of the nicer newer vans. As I am sitting, huddling in the corner the tension in the car is so thick, as if everyone were holding their breath at the moment. Apparently his license was legit because less than five minutes later, we were off, still in silence. Another interesting moment. Good news though! I took my camera to the only shop I know of in Summerstrand and they were able to save my pictures! Thank goodness! So after paying for the three discs I headed to get some yummy chai from a coffee shop/cafe called Friends, and here I am now.
It's already after 3 and there is lots to do before heading to the rugby game tonight, but I had such an amazing weekend I couldn't imagine not getting on to update everyone! So I will try to go fast, but I want to do the weekend justice at the same time..
Oh where to start? I ventured out Thursday afternoon, finally leaving PE around 5:00. We knew we had to go fast, correction, at this point I did not know that the lights in the car sometimes decided they didn't want to work, so we knew we didn't have much time to waste so we got on the road and headed up the Eastern Cape to stay in East London for our first night. In East London (where some of my friends are from) we stayed at the Sugar Shack, and it was great! We slept in a dorm style hostel so needless to say I slept with my camera in my hand =). Next morning Malin was up at 7:30 so we were off to an early start! Couldn't find a place open for breakfast hardly anywhere, so we ended up going to Wimpys for breakfast, which is basically fast food.
We drove to Cinsta not long after and found our backpackers place there pretty easily, this one called Buccaneers. We checked in, unloaded and moved into our cute little cabin (equipped with everything including guicos, ants and crickets) and made our way down to the beach. It was very very windy but we attempted to canoe, Malin and I failed while Mirium and Lina were just fine. It's crazy, I still have to keep reminding myself- This is Africa!! The beach was amazing. Growing up we always went up north on the river to a place called the Sand Dunes and I remember loving it so much, climbing to the top and then 'sledding' down the dunes into the water.. well imagine going from those dunes to these magnificent sandy mountains just lining the ocean side... breathtakingly beautiful. Words nor pictures could even dare to do it justice. We were the only ones on the beach that afternoon. Kind of a calming peaceful feeling that comes around every once in awhile throughout life and when it hits, it's all you want to know.. amazing.
That night they had a Braii that we could sign up for and just about 100 or so people were there I would say. Quite the eventful night! Very very fun and met lots of locals and Dutch people! Oh, and some Americans too, mostly from Massachusetts and Maryland.
Saturday was a perfect day on the beach, we spent all morning there, then ate pizza, sat by the pool and drank a coke. At 3:30 we set off to the most adventurous horseback riding I have ever experienced. My horse's name was Girlie and she was a stubborn one! Kind of funny I got the stubborn one, eh? We spent the first half hour not moving because she just wanted to eat and wouldn't listen! Let me tell you more about the riding though..
1: we were barefoot
2: wore shorts
3: no trail (and beach)
4: we galloped/trotted/cantered==ran!!
So fun! I kept screaming when we were cantering so Girlie would run faster and faster. I should mention that these were horses that were once abused or abandoned or something along the sort, crazy indeed. We even had to trudge through waters and jump over little hurdles.
We got back just in time for some traditional Xhosa (with a click) dinner that they served at our hostel. Pumpkin spce and sweet potato soup, yum! then I can only guess what the rest was, interesting and tasty though. I am now an honorary Norwegian and Saturday was so funny because Malin kept trying to speak Norwegian to me, sadly I could not understand. It does make me want to know another language though, really bad. I loved when they would randomly start talking in Norwegian because it is actually because they don't want others to hear it!
Sunday morning we went to the Inkwenkwezi Game Reserve and had such a great tour. We drove around in a 9, or 11 seat jeep with three people from England and two from France, and our tour guide was awesome, probably just liked us because we giggled nonstop and laughed at his corny jokes. We road around this game reserve and eventually came to these gates and I'm thinking, what are getting ourselves into? We had to go through two seperate gated parts and into where the lions were, the tour guide even had to pick up a gun before going in. So we get a few rules like no standing up because the lions see the jeep as one solid figure, if you stand up then they can single you out and know that there are more, so being told this I'm bracing myself and in we went. We ended up seeing 6 out of the 9 lions- how can you explain how cool that is?! They were basically standing across the street from us kind of distance, so amazing. I'll work on getting the pictures up. We saw 4 elephants and got to feed them! Did you know that they are vegetarians? And their temperal lobe can show you what kind of mood they are in- if they are happy or sad or angry? Did you know that they are either right or left handed? (One was right handed, the other 3 were left). Also people can ride them and they prefer that because they get scared over the littlest things and so if someone is on their back, they feel safer. Did you know that they can lose their teeth up to 6 times and grow them all back? And after that, this is the sad part, they will most likely die of starvation? On a happier note I saw lots of Zebras and Giraffes and a whole family of cute little pumbas! Lots of different types of wild deer, Ostridges that I was scared were going to get me (not kidding!) and the two largest antelopes in the world. Yes, it was quite a wild adventure. I guess that's South Africa's version of a zoo. It was just scary off roading on this big truck kind of thing and sitting on the side, no windows no seatbelts no nothing except holding on, crazy.
It's easy to forget that we're in South Africa sometimes, then it's always the small things that remind me and bring me back... the locked restrooms at the gas station that a police officer looking guy has to open.. need I remind you that there are hardly any police around? We fill up with petrol, but someone else does it. Girls just wana have fun was playing at the gas station- ha. There are lots of KFC's and McDonalds here also. A curio is a gift shop and dorps mean a little town (town, not to be confused with township).
To the left! To the left! Even if I shouldn't have driven for various reasons, I did! It was so exciting (Megan- believe it or not I was actually comfortable not driving, but the girls encouraged me to, and what can I say!). I didn't think that I would ever try, but it wasn't bad at all! I've been learning a lot this past year about how sometimes I just need a lttle bit of encouragement and maybe a shove in the right direction sometimes. Life is good.
Well I spent all morning at the library reading and came to the internet cafe to write my paper which I still need to do. Longer than planned but I wanted to do the weekend justice.
Cheers!
Monday, February 23, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
15 minutes left to throw me together...
Everything closes early here, so I might have to jet pretty soon, though it's already after 5 here and most likely the Pick n Pay photo place I'm about to head to will most likely be closed, but figured I better say a little hello. Apparently electronics and I are not getting along very well.. or maybe my computer gave something (say a virus??) to my camera making my 600 pictures I have taken thus far not want to come off my camera for all to see and enjoy.. but like the blog name, I'm trying to stay positive and keep a sunny disposition, or at least not have a panic attack, to say the least.
Today was quite an adventure, let me tell you. The detergent I used to wash my laundry last time left lovely stains on all of my whites, so today since the sun was out when I awoke, I decided it would be a prime day to hand wash my laundry. Wow, I was so wrong! Here's a little pointer for the next time you would like to hand wash your laundry:: don't over do it on the soap! Causes a few problems. And maybe a day with winds less than 30 mph would be good, and maybe a day when it didn't start to sprinkle as soon as you were finished (with just the white, giving up on the rest). So maybe if you follow those simple suggestions your experience just might be slightly more successful than I found mine. Whew.
Another rule/guideline to being in another country should be to be flexible. Yes, flexibility is probably a good thing! Learn to go with the flow, and relax right? Yesterday my Norwegian friends asked if I wanted to go to Chinsa for the weekend (you could google it but I might be spelling it wrong). It's pronounced 'sin-sa' by everyone that I've heard and its up the Eastern Coast, which is exciting cause I've only been up the Western Coast so far. If all goes according to plan then I will be leaving tomorrow at 4, so a long weekend away! Very exciting. Probably staying the first night in East London which will be nice to see since so many of our flat mate friends are from there.
Last night was indeed my first night doing our community service projects and I was in the group doing Learn for Life. Walking in I couldn't help but feel slightly hesitant.. on the drive I asked Matt how much further we had and he goes, Just wait. And just like that, crossing one road we went from a developed part of town (Walmer- where the malls are) to the township. Should be interesting to learn more about the dynamics as time goes by. We have the joy of the 4th graders, ten of them.. and we were forewarned before walking in that they were quite the handful so looks like I should have some pretty eventful Tuesdays to look forward to. We are supposed to teach different skills and life lessons every time we go but last night Cathrine, a German intern (I believe..) was leading one on communication. We aren't sure what we will be teaching next week (planning it over lunch tomorrow) but are hoping to have more organized games that don't involve or encourage hitting one another.. it is an experience. One little one's name was Jessica and I would tell you more- well, my lil bud's name was Bululani (thought it was oululani until I made him write it down) but the names are just a bit different, so I'll have to work on that. They were so great though, so full of life and just wanting to run all over the place, so attention spans may be short but hey, just one more thing to help with patience, right? But it's very exciting.
Tonight a group of 30+ of us are heading to a restaurant along the coast called Blue Waters. It's really good, one of the first places we ate here. It's a girls birthday so we are going there and then there is a bar called Barneys next door that has live music on the deck every night, so hopefully the rain will hold off a bit longer or clear off by then.
Let's cross our fingers that my photos are not lost forever..
Sending love =)
(thanks for the inspiration for the title jess)
Today was quite an adventure, let me tell you. The detergent I used to wash my laundry last time left lovely stains on all of my whites, so today since the sun was out when I awoke, I decided it would be a prime day to hand wash my laundry. Wow, I was so wrong! Here's a little pointer for the next time you would like to hand wash your laundry:: don't over do it on the soap! Causes a few problems. And maybe a day with winds less than 30 mph would be good, and maybe a day when it didn't start to sprinkle as soon as you were finished (with just the white, giving up on the rest). So maybe if you follow those simple suggestions your experience just might be slightly more successful than I found mine. Whew.
Another rule/guideline to being in another country should be to be flexible. Yes, flexibility is probably a good thing! Learn to go with the flow, and relax right? Yesterday my Norwegian friends asked if I wanted to go to Chinsa for the weekend (you could google it but I might be spelling it wrong). It's pronounced 'sin-sa' by everyone that I've heard and its up the Eastern Coast, which is exciting cause I've only been up the Western Coast so far. If all goes according to plan then I will be leaving tomorrow at 4, so a long weekend away! Very exciting. Probably staying the first night in East London which will be nice to see since so many of our flat mate friends are from there.
Last night was indeed my first night doing our community service projects and I was in the group doing Learn for Life. Walking in I couldn't help but feel slightly hesitant.. on the drive I asked Matt how much further we had and he goes, Just wait. And just like that, crossing one road we went from a developed part of town (Walmer- where the malls are) to the township. Should be interesting to learn more about the dynamics as time goes by. We have the joy of the 4th graders, ten of them.. and we were forewarned before walking in that they were quite the handful so looks like I should have some pretty eventful Tuesdays to look forward to. We are supposed to teach different skills and life lessons every time we go but last night Cathrine, a German intern (I believe..) was leading one on communication. We aren't sure what we will be teaching next week (planning it over lunch tomorrow) but are hoping to have more organized games that don't involve or encourage hitting one another.. it is an experience. One little one's name was Jessica and I would tell you more- well, my lil bud's name was Bululani (thought it was oululani until I made him write it down) but the names are just a bit different, so I'll have to work on that. They were so great though, so full of life and just wanting to run all over the place, so attention spans may be short but hey, just one more thing to help with patience, right? But it's very exciting.
Tonight a group of 30+ of us are heading to a restaurant along the coast called Blue Waters. It's really good, one of the first places we ate here. It's a girls birthday so we are going there and then there is a bar called Barneys next door that has live music on the deck every night, so hopefully the rain will hold off a bit longer or clear off by then.
Let's cross our fingers that my photos are not lost forever..
Sending love =)
(thanks for the inspiration for the title jess)
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
i-YOH!
How's it?! South African greeting for Hey, or hows it going?! or whats up! It is the early morning hours at home, but here the sun is shining, the grass is green and.. it is a lovely day! I am writing to you once again from the 'garage,' term used for gas station. There is a printing business that goes along with this internet cafe and I am actually having one of my books photocopied right now.. Guess copyright laws don't make much difference? Not weird, just different. I had so much fun listing all of the differences yesterday that I couldn't help but think of more as I walked home, or before I left the garage. One:: money! Ok so it is the Rand system here. The bills come in R10, R20, R50, R100 and R200. The coins come in R1 R2 R5 and maybe R10, wait no, not the last. Then there are coins for the cents that come in 1c 2c 5c 10c 20c and 50c, which just keep accumulating in my coin purse because sometimes it's just so confusing! A taxi ride costs R6 usually and a cab ride is between R25 and R50. The currency is a little under this, but we usually figure 1 US$= R10. Get it? Just like the roads, it's taking some time, but I'm getting better.
Now I am not necessarily an environmentalist or anything, but there is not a recycling system going on here. And when I asked a South African native about it they just chuckled and reminded me that Africa has bigger problems to worry about it.. can't help but think we all will if something isn't done about it. Driving through the townships two weeks ago (wow time flies) I saw piles of pop bottles just stacked on top of each other, and I'm sure that was minor compared to other areas.
At restaurants all pops and juices and tea come in cans-- there is no fountain pop! Which makes me sad, because fountain pop is my favorite.
Tomorrow I am going to attempt to find the sports arena and check out what the swim team seems like. One of my friends is playing tennis and he said they only practice twice a week, so it might be worth looking into, besides with class only once a week I might find myself with a lot of free time, though I have been keeping busy thus far.
Last night was my second cricket game! Warriors won again! So it's not the most exciting or anything, but you can fake it and get yourself really into and my new favorite chant goes "i-YOH I-yyyyyyooooooooohhhhh IIIIIIIIIIIiiiiiyoooooohh" and so forth, so fun to sing! I even ended up explaining some of the rules to a friend, so I'm catching on =). Two guys from PE sitting next to me refused to believe that I was from the States, and I just couldn't convince them I was! I'm pretty sure they were convinced I was from Ireland, but also guessed just about every African country bordering SA, entertaining. Did you know that college is basically free in Finland and most of Scandinavia? I had an interesting chat with 3 of my friends I met orientation week about that last night (interesting conversation to have at a cricket match, eh?).
Oh, I cannot believe I forgot to tell these next two things! One:: I go to school on a Nature Reserve! Like a national park, but better! Walking between some buildings is basically like a Forest and it is such a gorgeous spread of the campus with all of the outside walkways and people always outside, reminds me of spring time at the Mankato campus when everyone is so excited to be outside- such a great feeling!
The other issue/traumatic event was the cockroaches in some of the flats, thankful not too bad in ours, and the maggots we had! One morning we woke up and walked into the restroom and all of these gross rice/worm-like creatures were all over. Oh, life.
It's pretty convenient that everyone speaks English here. I wish I had paid more attention to the importance of knowing other languages (even if spanish isn't useful here) but just because I've met so many people who can speak three or four and to me that is just amazing. Makes me think of the fact that we don't even tap into half of our brain capacity, suppose it's never too late to learn. We'll see what the future holds.
Today in my sports coaching class we got into a pretty good discussion about who you are and how that dictates and kind of creates the way that you are going to coach, where your values are, your philosophy, beliefs and so on and it was pretty interesting. I love the fact that it is a sports coaching class with 60 some studets and we are answering these very personal questions about who we are, what we stand for, where we are going and what we want to accomplish while we are alive and here. What are our reasons for doing the things that we do? I'm going to have to save that piece of paper and see how much changes, stays the same or is actually accomplished. I'll have to make sure I find a computer tomorrow because tonight is my first experience going to the township for teaching, and I'm not too nervous yet.. just hoping that we don't need a lesson plan yet but hopeful that things will go well!
Random blog, but there is just so much to say that sometimes it's hard to collect my thoughts. Next time I'll have to try and upload some pictures.
Cheers!
and love =)
Now I am not necessarily an environmentalist or anything, but there is not a recycling system going on here. And when I asked a South African native about it they just chuckled and reminded me that Africa has bigger problems to worry about it.. can't help but think we all will if something isn't done about it. Driving through the townships two weeks ago (wow time flies) I saw piles of pop bottles just stacked on top of each other, and I'm sure that was minor compared to other areas.
At restaurants all pops and juices and tea come in cans-- there is no fountain pop! Which makes me sad, because fountain pop is my favorite.
Tomorrow I am going to attempt to find the sports arena and check out what the swim team seems like. One of my friends is playing tennis and he said they only practice twice a week, so it might be worth looking into, besides with class only once a week I might find myself with a lot of free time, though I have been keeping busy thus far.
Last night was my second cricket game! Warriors won again! So it's not the most exciting or anything, but you can fake it and get yourself really into and my new favorite chant goes "i-YOH I-yyyyyyooooooooohhhhh IIIIIIIIIIIiiiiiyoooooohh" and so forth, so fun to sing! I even ended up explaining some of the rules to a friend, so I'm catching on =). Two guys from PE sitting next to me refused to believe that I was from the States, and I just couldn't convince them I was! I'm pretty sure they were convinced I was from Ireland, but also guessed just about every African country bordering SA, entertaining. Did you know that college is basically free in Finland and most of Scandinavia? I had an interesting chat with 3 of my friends I met orientation week about that last night (interesting conversation to have at a cricket match, eh?).
Oh, I cannot believe I forgot to tell these next two things! One:: I go to school on a Nature Reserve! Like a national park, but better! Walking between some buildings is basically like a Forest and it is such a gorgeous spread of the campus with all of the outside walkways and people always outside, reminds me of spring time at the Mankato campus when everyone is so excited to be outside- such a great feeling!
The other issue/traumatic event was the cockroaches in some of the flats, thankful not too bad in ours, and the maggots we had! One morning we woke up and walked into the restroom and all of these gross rice/worm-like creatures were all over. Oh, life.
It's pretty convenient that everyone speaks English here. I wish I had paid more attention to the importance of knowing other languages (even if spanish isn't useful here) but just because I've met so many people who can speak three or four and to me that is just amazing. Makes me think of the fact that we don't even tap into half of our brain capacity, suppose it's never too late to learn. We'll see what the future holds.
Today in my sports coaching class we got into a pretty good discussion about who you are and how that dictates and kind of creates the way that you are going to coach, where your values are, your philosophy, beliefs and so on and it was pretty interesting. I love the fact that it is a sports coaching class with 60 some studets and we are answering these very personal questions about who we are, what we stand for, where we are going and what we want to accomplish while we are alive and here. What are our reasons for doing the things that we do? I'm going to have to save that piece of paper and see how much changes, stays the same or is actually accomplished. I'll have to make sure I find a computer tomorrow because tonight is my first experience going to the township for teaching, and I'm not too nervous yet.. just hoping that we don't need a lesson plan yet but hopeful that things will go well!
Random blog, but there is just so much to say that sometimes it's hard to collect my thoughts. Next time I'll have to try and upload some pictures.
Cheers!
and love =)
Monday, February 16, 2009
A little this, a little that.
I would like to give you a short glimpse/small picture of a few of the things so far...
I put sunscreen on everyday when I walk to class.
It is not uncommon for people to not wear shoes in the grocery store (young and old and families alike).
Module=class, venue=time
Q = line (to stand in to check out)
Not uncommon for people to ask you to hold their spot in the long Q and then walk back right before check out and step back into their spots.
Mints are served after every meal.
No separate checks!
Food=long event, allow time.
Not all milk needs to be cold.
Black tea with sugar and milk is my new favorite.
On your walk anywhere hearing honking and TOWNTOWN or DOWNTOWN yelled over and over is something I have learned to tune out.
There were 18 forrest fires on the western part of South Africa this past weekend, we had all the rain, more than what is common for this time of year.
There is a difference between now, now now, just now and right now. May take anywhere between 2 mintues and 2 hours...
Sweatpants just may be nonexistant here.
Not many local wear sunglasses it seems.
Braai = BBQ, big social event, very fun!
Hot water boilers are standard with kitchen supplies.
Am. fries= chips, chips= crisps. (Doritos= yum!)
They do have McDonalds here, and yes my American friends have ate there (Jessica I have not!!).
It is still risky for me to cross the streets by myself and I still get knocked over or looked at strangely when I walk on the wrong side of the sidewalk.
Nearly all of us American girls are addicted to a cute little cafe/restaurant called Mint and I probably went there 4 or 5 days in a row last week.
The beach is a 15/20 minute walk from where I live.
The grocery store/internet cafe/liquor (spirits) store are all within 15 minutes.
Black Label,similar to NE's Bud Light.
Taxis= cabs, taxis= Mini Bus. So, cab= CALL PANG!, taxi= groups of 4 or more and never after dark.
Nearly everyone, I'd say at least 75% of people I come across/meet ask about Obama and how I feel about it.
I bought a magazine today at the bookstore called Focus on Africa and the cover headline was "Obama on our Mind."
Watch out, the two books I'm reading are about writing and travelling, uh oh! Maybe it means something =).
I have two flat mates from Norway (and then three just across the way), one from Ireland and one from Mankato, MN.
I've met lots of people from Germany, some from Holland, Finland, Switzerland, Botswana, New Zealand and such.
If you've known me more than 5 minutes you have somewhat of an understanding of my love for driving, amazingly I don't miss it but I think it's from the clarity I am gaining from all of the walking and thinking I am doing.. more on that later.
There is a very big dividing difference between the contrasting first world/third world conditions and the closeness they are to one another.. very interesting.
I will be volunteering with a program in a township that is called Learn for Life where we teach valuable life lessons to children.
While we've been here there was a Taxi strike. Very interesting to hear about the outcomes, including people sleeping at their jobs because transportation was just nonexistant.
I use a prepay phone that's call by second, interesting system.
Different experience in being the minority, again, more on that later.
I did my laundry in a laundry mat for the first time, secretly was really excited about it.
I almost got ran over by a taxi on the walk from campus to the gas station/internet cafe/fast food place I am sitting at currently.
I ate sushi, and actually liked it!
I learned how to surf yesterday! And plan on having more lessons on Thursday =)
I am awake almost every morning by 7:30 and ready to go no matter how late I go to bed, suppose I'm just excited!
The pool where I live is about 10 yards from my sliding door.
We are surrounded by a 'gated community' which includes brick walls taller than my head as well as barbed wire.
Sorry ya'll,2 minutes left on the computer.
Can't wait to share more!
I truly feel as if I am experiencing all of my loves and passions here in Port Elizabeth in new ways and new capacities and I cannot wait to see where it leads to in the future.
Need I say it? Sending my love.
Figuring out calling cards so I can make more calls!
Much, much love.
I put sunscreen on everyday when I walk to class.
It is not uncommon for people to not wear shoes in the grocery store (young and old and families alike).
Module=class, venue=time
Q = line (to stand in to check out)
Not uncommon for people to ask you to hold their spot in the long Q and then walk back right before check out and step back into their spots.
Mints are served after every meal.
No separate checks!
Food=long event, allow time.
Not all milk needs to be cold.
Black tea with sugar and milk is my new favorite.
On your walk anywhere hearing honking and TOWNTOWN or DOWNTOWN yelled over and over is something I have learned to tune out.
There were 18 forrest fires on the western part of South Africa this past weekend, we had all the rain, more than what is common for this time of year.
There is a difference between now, now now, just now and right now. May take anywhere between 2 mintues and 2 hours...
Sweatpants just may be nonexistant here.
Not many local wear sunglasses it seems.
Braai = BBQ, big social event, very fun!
Hot water boilers are standard with kitchen supplies.
Am. fries= chips, chips= crisps. (Doritos= yum!)
They do have McDonalds here, and yes my American friends have ate there (Jessica I have not!!).
It is still risky for me to cross the streets by myself and I still get knocked over or looked at strangely when I walk on the wrong side of the sidewalk.
Nearly all of us American girls are addicted to a cute little cafe/restaurant called Mint and I probably went there 4 or 5 days in a row last week.
The beach is a 15/20 minute walk from where I live.
The grocery store/internet cafe/liquor (spirits) store are all within 15 minutes.
Black Label,similar to NE's Bud Light.
Taxis= cabs, taxis= Mini Bus. So, cab= CALL PANG!, taxi= groups of 4 or more and never after dark.
Nearly everyone, I'd say at least 75% of people I come across/meet ask about Obama and how I feel about it.
I bought a magazine today at the bookstore called Focus on Africa and the cover headline was "Obama on our Mind."
Watch out, the two books I'm reading are about writing and travelling, uh oh! Maybe it means something =).
I have two flat mates from Norway (and then three just across the way), one from Ireland and one from Mankato, MN.
I've met lots of people from Germany, some from Holland, Finland, Switzerland, Botswana, New Zealand and such.
If you've known me more than 5 minutes you have somewhat of an understanding of my love for driving, amazingly I don't miss it but I think it's from the clarity I am gaining from all of the walking and thinking I am doing.. more on that later.
There is a very big dividing difference between the contrasting first world/third world conditions and the closeness they are to one another.. very interesting.
I will be volunteering with a program in a township that is called Learn for Life where we teach valuable life lessons to children.
While we've been here there was a Taxi strike. Very interesting to hear about the outcomes, including people sleeping at their jobs because transportation was just nonexistant.
I use a prepay phone that's call by second, interesting system.
Different experience in being the minority, again, more on that later.
I did my laundry in a laundry mat for the first time, secretly was really excited about it.
I almost got ran over by a taxi on the walk from campus to the gas station/internet cafe/fast food place I am sitting at currently.
I ate sushi, and actually liked it!
I learned how to surf yesterday! And plan on having more lessons on Thursday =)
I am awake almost every morning by 7:30 and ready to go no matter how late I go to bed, suppose I'm just excited!
The pool where I live is about 10 yards from my sliding door.
We are surrounded by a 'gated community' which includes brick walls taller than my head as well as barbed wire.
Sorry ya'll,2 minutes left on the computer.
Can't wait to share more!
I truly feel as if I am experiencing all of my loves and passions here in Port Elizabeth in new ways and new capacities and I cannot wait to see where it leads to in the future.
Need I say it? Sending my love.
Figuring out calling cards so I can make more calls!
Much, much love.
Cheers! A little from the windy city...
Hello hello! Prepare yourselves, its been a long three weeks since I left good ol' Omaha, NE and entered this adventure.. along the way I've had many early mornings, long days and late nights. Good news- never really had much jet lag! Just dove right into all the South Africa had to offer! How could I even think about napping-- I'm in Africa! --seemed to be the theme the first few days, and must have created a habit because that's the way things have been since.
I was warned before I left that the first rule to travelling/visiting/studying in any other country is just that, it is another country. Don't expect it to be the same. So along those lines and trying my best to follow that, I feel as if I've gained a bit of ground under my feet, am learning the ropes and taking things one day at a time... which is good!
Second rule of being in another country? Patience. Patience patience patience! Yes, a little bit of patience. This is Africa, it's called African time. And while we all know how "patience is a virtue" it is still rare and hard to find at times, but we are making it just find. But truly, this is South African time and it is different.
Now it's been nearly three weeks since I have been in PE (Port Elizabeth, but known by all the locals and whoever as PE) and I just can't help but imagine what our lives would be like without Bush Camp. Arriving in PE we knew where we would be living was mainly international housing, so of course there will be people studying from Europe mostly and other areas of Africa, but along with them are a multitude of international students hailing from the good ol' States (as everyone tends to refer to them as). Monalisa is a beautiful woman who has the rough and tough job of handling all of the US international students, and for the first weekened we were here we were loaded up into three big vans and headed to what we can now refer to as 'Bush Camp.' Piling in, we didn't know what we were getting ourselves into!
Looking back I am so thankful! Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved it while we were there-- between the team building activities (that yes- included team names, cheers and a little skit to tie it together), ziplining into a river that had eels and all sorts of other creatures, traditional African delicious food, camp fire both nights, and of course, sleeping in tents. Trust me, we definitely saw the best and the worst of one another there! But it was so good, or should I say so lovely-- no no, so grand as my Irish roommate Ashley would say. And it was!
Classes and registration and orientation were something else, but lets not forget that virtue we are all striving after- patience, patience, patience! Systems are not quite what we are used to, with speed, organization- not even mentioning the different lingo for everything, but we survived and am now into my second week of classes. The semester is split into two 'terms,' basically quarter system. The confusing part is that some are just offered second term and so you might want to take that one but not realize that there is a term before that you must take, and some are just offered first term and nothing second but then you worry that you're missing something, so on and so forth. But I am very very excited about my classes! This term I am taking a sports coaching class (a class with cute guys finally! thank you for a psychology break =]) and a photojournalism one with a professional photographer that I am very excited about, a third year social work class that is all about youth work and youth programming and youth studies (sounds perfect right?!). It actually is actually amazingly lucky that I am in that class (I suppose it was just meant to be) but there are only three other people in it. They are a bit older than I am and one is from Tanzania and two are from Botswana, shall be very interesting to talk about the youth programs and problems and different systems that are going on here in Africa, mostly the southern part and compare it to what little I have seen and experienced and know about from the States. There is a second part of this class focusing on intervention that I will take second term, and my other class is the community service learning module (class) which is pretty good!
Communication with my loves in the States, or Asia or Russia or South America for that matter has not been easy. Time to walk to the internet cafe has not been as much of a priority as I should have made it, I must admit and I apologize! Over and over I have written my first, second, fifth, eighth blog in my head just waiting to get it out! But for those of you who do not know, my lil computer decided to abandon me for the trip and adjusting to that in itself has not been the most fun, but we make due, right =), always. Thankfully I don't believe much is lost and my amazing parents are in the process of helping me sort through that, and as always, one day at a time.
So much to say! I've met amazing people! I haven't focused on that enough. It's just been amazing being here and seeing so much and how it applies to home life and all the differences, trust me there will be many a more blogs to come but I'm afraid I've already written so much that it might scare people away from reading, don't forget I love messages and comments and hearing about how you are doing! Sending my love from along the PE Bay, which yes I can see in the distance from the computer where I sit =)
Much love, loves.
I was warned before I left that the first rule to travelling/visiting/studying in any other country is just that, it is another country. Don't expect it to be the same. So along those lines and trying my best to follow that, I feel as if I've gained a bit of ground under my feet, am learning the ropes and taking things one day at a time... which is good!
Second rule of being in another country? Patience. Patience patience patience! Yes, a little bit of patience. This is Africa, it's called African time. And while we all know how "patience is a virtue" it is still rare and hard to find at times, but we are making it just find. But truly, this is South African time and it is different.
Now it's been nearly three weeks since I have been in PE (Port Elizabeth, but known by all the locals and whoever as PE) and I just can't help but imagine what our lives would be like without Bush Camp. Arriving in PE we knew where we would be living was mainly international housing, so of course there will be people studying from Europe mostly and other areas of Africa, but along with them are a multitude of international students hailing from the good ol' States (as everyone tends to refer to them as). Monalisa is a beautiful woman who has the rough and tough job of handling all of the US international students, and for the first weekened we were here we were loaded up into three big vans and headed to what we can now refer to as 'Bush Camp.' Piling in, we didn't know what we were getting ourselves into!
Looking back I am so thankful! Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved it while we were there-- between the team building activities (that yes- included team names, cheers and a little skit to tie it together), ziplining into a river that had eels and all sorts of other creatures, traditional African delicious food, camp fire both nights, and of course, sleeping in tents. Trust me, we definitely saw the best and the worst of one another there! But it was so good, or should I say so lovely-- no no, so grand as my Irish roommate Ashley would say. And it was!
Classes and registration and orientation were something else, but lets not forget that virtue we are all striving after- patience, patience, patience! Systems are not quite what we are used to, with speed, organization- not even mentioning the different lingo for everything, but we survived and am now into my second week of classes. The semester is split into two 'terms,' basically quarter system. The confusing part is that some are just offered second term and so you might want to take that one but not realize that there is a term before that you must take, and some are just offered first term and nothing second but then you worry that you're missing something, so on and so forth. But I am very very excited about my classes! This term I am taking a sports coaching class (a class with cute guys finally! thank you for a psychology break =]) and a photojournalism one with a professional photographer that I am very excited about, a third year social work class that is all about youth work and youth programming and youth studies (sounds perfect right?!). It actually is actually amazingly lucky that I am in that class (I suppose it was just meant to be) but there are only three other people in it. They are a bit older than I am and one is from Tanzania and two are from Botswana, shall be very interesting to talk about the youth programs and problems and different systems that are going on here in Africa, mostly the southern part and compare it to what little I have seen and experienced and know about from the States. There is a second part of this class focusing on intervention that I will take second term, and my other class is the community service learning module (class) which is pretty good!
Communication with my loves in the States, or Asia or Russia or South America for that matter has not been easy. Time to walk to the internet cafe has not been as much of a priority as I should have made it, I must admit and I apologize! Over and over I have written my first, second, fifth, eighth blog in my head just waiting to get it out! But for those of you who do not know, my lil computer decided to abandon me for the trip and adjusting to that in itself has not been the most fun, but we make due, right =), always. Thankfully I don't believe much is lost and my amazing parents are in the process of helping me sort through that, and as always, one day at a time.
So much to say! I've met amazing people! I haven't focused on that enough. It's just been amazing being here and seeing so much and how it applies to home life and all the differences, trust me there will be many a more blogs to come but I'm afraid I've already written so much that it might scare people away from reading, don't forget I love messages and comments and hearing about how you are doing! Sending my love from along the PE Bay, which yes I can see in the distance from the computer where I sit =)
Much love, loves.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
