Lions and Tigers and Zebras, oh my!

On Wednesday night, our group attended a cricket match. My first ever cricket match! Since I, along with many others, knew very little about cricket, we had to ask around at the stadium to find some locals who were kind enough to explain the game to the American kids. Turns out that it is quite similar to baseball and kind of easy to catch on to. Usually cricket matches last 5 days, but we went to a short one. The home team put up a good fight but ended up losing near the very end of the game. We were lucky enough to get flags that were handed out at the gates to support the home team which were very fun to wave in your neighbor's face. We even got the chance to be on their version of a "jumbo-tron." Overall, it was a fun time getting to learn a new and South African experience.

On Friday, we had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend time in Addo Elephant Park and Schotia Safaris. On the way to the park we were given a tour and descriptions of the towns and areas we were passing through. The most interesting thing that I learned was that some businesses have started to make brick made out of human feces. It is quite interesting and we passed by a few places that were in the process of burning the bricks. South Africa is the leading country in the world in this business. It really makes you think that nothing, absolutely nothing goes to waste in this country.

In Addo, we were given a bus tour led by Bradley, the same man who gave us the city tour. He knows everything about everything. The first elephant we saw was within a few yards of the bus and kind of popped up out of nowhere. I remember being quite upset that I couldn’t see his face, but I did not have to stay upset for too long. We stopped at a few waterholes that had loads of elephants around them! We saw male elephants, females, and babies! We saw close to 200 elephants that day. It was amazing. They are such huge creatures, yet they seem so gentle. In addition to elephants we saw buffalo, elands, warthogs, and kudo in Addo. Bradley made us a delicious lunch and we were able to eat in a picnic area where only birds and South African chipmunks were able to get close to us. I would go back to see any and all of those elephants in a heartbeat!

 As if seeing elephants wasn’t cool enough in the morning, we were able to take an afternoon and night safari at Schotia Safaris! 10 of us climbed into an open landrover and took off to the park with our guide, Carl. The information sheet we were given beforehand told us that if our Landy were to run out of gas, we had to sacrifice our guide to the lions. We made sure that Carl was on the same page. The first animals that we got to see were zebras that were within petting distance of the Landy. Carl got out of the car and told us that they were African Killer Zebras, very rare. This was when we knew we liked Carl and realized we had the best guide in our group! In Schotia, we saw bushbuck, crocodiles, elands, rhinos, giraffes, hares, hartebeestes, hippos, impalas, kudu, lions, monkeys, mongoose, springbuck, warthogs, zebras, and more! As cool as the rhinos, hippos, lions, and giraffes were, my favorite part of the day was probably the crocodiles. Carl got out of the Landy and proceeded to throw handfuls of dirt in the pond that had both crocs in it. He continuously threw dirt at them until they came out of the water to investigate what was making such a noise. Carl was within a couple of feet of them and we were all nervous and told him to hurry up and get back in the Landy. Another awesome experience was having one of the rhinos rub against out Landy while we were in it. Rhinos are huge! It was quite exciting to see one in person. Toward the end of our afternoon safari, I was given a chance to ride on the front seat on the bonnet (hood) of the Landy. It was really exhilarating! We eventually made our way back to camp and had a delicious meal consisting of some heavenly dessert, mashed potatoes, chicken, rice, and ostrich. It was probably the best meal I have had thus far on the trip! After dinner, we got back in our Landys and went out for a night safari to see how active the animals are after dark. The lions were up and moving around a lot more, the hippos actually came out of the water, and all of the other animals were moving about quite a bit. It was really cool that we were given that opportunity.  One last amazing thing that put the cherry on top of the perfect day was seeing the night sky in a place with very little light pollution. I have never seen so many stars! I have heard that the southern hemisphere has better stars than the northern, and I am so happy that I got the chance to experience something that magical!

Today, Saturday, we went to the Activity Fair held on campus. It was really cool to see what the campus has to offer for students on campus. I put my name down on a few interest lists including Crew, table tennis, dance, and tourism society which has students come together and do fun things in the PE community such as beach parties or volunteering at the Iron Man. We will see how much time I actually have for all of this, but it might be fun to dabble in a few different things. I was already given an invite to row with the Crew team tomorrow, so I will definitely have some new stories after tomorrow! I can’t wait! The rest of my afternoon I spent watching a few classmates playing in an outdoor basketball tournament. Since I was not expecting to be outside, I did not put on sunscreen that morning and did not bring any with and now have an extremely bad sunburn. I learned my lesson, that is for sure. And of course I have a nice farmer’s tan going on. Good excuse to go to the beach tomorrow to even out the tan? I would say yes.

I Wish I Were an Octopus

Today’s blog will be devoted to the wonderful kids whom I have met at Pendla Primary School. I will gush, yes you heard it, gush about these fantastic little people that I am getting to know!

First off, every time my partner, Liz, and I enter a classroom, all of the kids stand up and say “Good morning, teachers” which immediately puts a smile on my face. Yesterday I was quizzing a group of 4^th graders on multiplication when the teacher left the room for about 15 minutes. They were pretty quick with their times tables under 5, but once I asked what was 7x7, it threw them for a loop. One little girl sat down to draw out 7, 7 times. Another little boy was crafty and recruited his friend to help him count on both of their fingers until they came out with the correct answer. I was impressed!

The second time a teacher left the classroom that morning, he had assigned the class to work on a few roman numeral problems. The kids started to act up once the teacher left the room and we swept in and began to ask the students what they were working on and if they could show us how to complete a problem. Then the students started to come up to me and ask me to correct their work. I had seconds to brush up on my roman numeral skills! Luckily all went smoothly and I felt like a proud teacher after the kids finally got the hang of their homework.

And probably my favorite part of the day is the break for lunch and recess. I have learned many new hand games, circle games, songs, and words (including names with clicks) in different languages. These kids adore us almost as much as we adore them. They fight to hold your hand and if they don’t get to hold your actual hand, they hold your wrist, or grab onto the closest link to you. It is times like those when I wish I were an octopus and had more hands for all of the kids to hold onto. And I’m not the only person this happens to. Today I looked across the playing field and saw every other person in my group in the same situation; kids attached to each hand and about 30 more little ones surrounding them. I also saw many different games being played including a train game, ring around the roses, duck duck goose, racing, and kids hopping like rabbits. The joy and happiness that these kids have is beyond contagious and I look forward to every moment that I get to spend with them!

Soccer, Classes, and Lions

On Wednesday night, a group of about 10 of us attended a soccer game at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium where the 2010 World Cup was played. We watched the Kaizer Chiefs (the favorites) take on the Jomo Cosmos (the underdogs). It was by far the biggest soccer game that I have ever attended. And I have never seen fans so into their sport. It was a mass of yellow and black, and even though we were in a "neutral" territory, there were almost no Cosmos fans. Vuvuzelas are indeed a hit. They were everywhere. I even tried one and struggled because it is quite a bit harder than it looks. The stadium was gorgeous! It is open air, but since we are in Port Elizabeth, aka the "Windy City," they built it up to minimize the wind inside. It was quite a relief since it is so incredibly windy outside all of the time. Anyway, the game ended in a tie. It was quite the South African experience. I'm looking forward to attending more games in the future!

Thursday morning the morning of our first Marine Biology class. It will be my most favorite class by far of this semester! The other courses that I am taking include South Africa Literature, South African Music, and Intercultural Ethics taught by the professor from our school that came along on this program. This biology class is already incredible. We get to learn not only about marine animal and plant life, but also about the physical features of the land including sandy beaches and rocky shores. And we get to look forward to taking a boat trip to some of the islands at some point this semester. Our lectures are taught by students who are completing their PhDs and the one who lectured for this class was very enthusiastic and interesting to listen to. The rest of the classes are also pretty good, but I think Biology will be the class that steals my heart.

Today was fantastic! We went to the Sea View Lion Park. We started off by driving through the nature reserve and driving within feet of animals such as wildebeest. We then got out and we were able to walk around the cages of animals such as the big lions and tigers. It was really cool. We continued our drive past zebras and giraffes. We ended at the area where you have the opportunity to actually play and pet the lion cubs. It was an extremely awesome experience, especially because I will probably never have the opportunity again! It was an overall incredible experience and it is still hard to believe that we are still at the beginning of our trip. We have done so many things and it still seems surreal that I will be spending the next few months here. It first couple of weeks have already flown by! I hope time slows a little bit so that I have the ability to accomplish as much as I can.

Happy Valentine's Day

I was once again surprised by the ways of South Africa today. My group showed up today to the school we volunteer at to find that there were absolutely no kids there. Apparently they had a "Sports Day" somewhere else. We were never told anything about this and were quite surprised to not have any kids to play with. We also were disappointed because we did not bring with any tools or supplies that we could have used to help with other projects on site. We made do with what we could. I ended up helping to re-organize the teacher's library and cleaning up broken glass pieces in the area where the kids play. It was also a good time to pow wow with our group and decide what projects we wanted to focus on while we are there. We have lots of ideas and energy and I think that once we all work together we will be able to accomplish all that we set our minds to!

Exciting story, I walked to class today with a few other students. On the way, a girl fell in a hole and tripped and fell. It was kind of funny until we realized she was gushing blood out of her shin. We all hopped to action. I attempted to pour water on the wound. Two others ran back to the mall to purchase bandages. One of the boys was an EMT and took care of her as best he could. I sought help from the people walking by. We were right by a Radisson Hotel and they came out with a first aid kit and even offered to drive her the rest of the way to school with another girl from our group. Our friend ended up needing stitches, but everything worked itself out. And everyone was very, very kind who helped us out. PE really is the Friendly City.

Tonight we went to a Valentine's Day Party help by the Xhosa Mamas in a township. It was a blast! I tried Ox stomach! It was disgusting. But the best was watching the boys try it. I tried other South African foods as well including donuts, cabbage, pumpkin, and beans. We also got to watch some African singing and dancing. It was incredible! It was the perfect celebration for our time away from home!

First Day of School (x2)!

Before I jump into the stories about my first day of school (x2), I will talk about my weekend. Most of it was spent doing homework. Lots of readings and notes to take. But I did go to the beach a couple of times to "read." It was good in theory until we discovered the hard way that is was incredibly windy and that sand hurts as it hits your body. A few of us brave souls also ventured to the Bayworld Museum that is close to home and got to see an octopus, sea lions, many fish, and some picture-posing penguins. There was also a ton of information about our new city that was fun to catch up on and maybe give us a head start in some of the classes. Sunday night was probably my most favorite night of being in PE thus far. A few people and I went to the News Cafe and watched some live jazz while enjoying flapjacks and ice cream. As if that wasn't good enough, the band was incredible! They let one of our friend even get on stage and play with them! After that, the guitarist played his guitar behind his head and then even with his teeth! I had never seen that and was quite impressed! It was a chill night and I had a genuinely good time. I look forward to going again next Sunday to see what live jazz they have to offer again!

Today was our first day at the mission sites that we will be visiting every Monday and Tuesday until the end of the semester. I am spending my time at a place called Pendla Primary School. I am paired with another biology major and we will be helping to teach kids in grades 4-6 about science and whatever else the teachers may need help with. Today we were able to just sit and observe how the classrooms operate. Quite different from America. The kids here were much better behaved. The teacher could leave the room for 20 minutes at a time and the kids never got out of control. Also, the teacher could assign them to read together as a group and every kid would participate even if the teacher wasn't in the room. The teachers seemed to leave the classrooms quite often. And also answered personal cell phone calls and talked with other teachers in the middle of the lessons. I was kind of amazed that anything got accomplished. I can't wait till I teach my first lesson and get more comfortable with the classes that I will be in! Recess was very fun! I learned many new hand games and dances and we were able to teach the kids how to play Tag and Red Rover. We will go back tomorrow and maybe even partake in some Valentine's Day activities!

This afternoon we had our first lecture. It was about South African Music. I found it very interesting. We learned about past music and the differences between African music and Western music. We also were taught some of the Xhosa (clicking) language and were able to sing  a song in Xhosa which was really fun. We also learned about a musical instrument called a Bow which I had never heard of before. It looks just like a bow from a bow and arrow, but the string is tight enough that when plucked, it makes a noise. It was pretty cool. We also attended a lecture made by Zoe Wicomb. I think it would have been more interesting had I been a critical literary studies major and read her books. Maybe I will work on being more prepared for our next guest speaker...

More Interesting Facts

On Wednesday we were given a tour of our campus. NMMU is located on a nature reserve making it a very pretty place. But there are also "dangers" that come with being located on a nature reserve. The most prominent being: monkeys. Yep, we are not supposed feed them, chase them, or make faces at them. There are consequences if you break any of these rules, you might just get bit. We ended up about 5 feet away from one going through garbage as we walked by. I promise to get  a picture the next encounter that I have!

Wednesday afternoon we were able to visit two of the three volunteer sites that we have the options of attending. Pendla is a primary school that has grades R (K) through 7. The classrooms look a little rough for wear. I read online a while back that Pendla is in the top 5 poorest schools in the country. The second place we visited was called the House of Resurrection. This is a home for orphans who are infected or affected by AIDS. The little kids who were not yet attending school loved seeing us and playing with us. They even sang  a song called "Jesus Loves Me" for us as we toured. It was precious! Here they all are. Watch out Mom and Dad, I may be hiding all of them in my suitcase on the way home!

Thursday we were finally given a tour of our new hometown. We took a psychedelic double decker bus and had a wonderful tour guide who has been with us for the past week on and off. He knows anything and everything. His name was Bradley and he was a curator, a coach, a student, and knew all about the history of South Africa. My question at the end of the day was "what doesn't this man do?"  We started off by seeing the downtown area and seeing the political hub of the city. We eventually made our way out to the townships where we were finally able to see the third world side of the country. My mind was blown by what we saw. People living inside four pieces of wood haphazardly thrown together, no food, no water, in the middle of trash heaps. But the amazing thing is is that all of these people are still incredibly happy. They still are so excited to see people and open their houses and lives to complete strangers. We stopped at Missionvale, which is the third volunteer site and the one that I was hoping to go to. It is in the middle of the township and everyday they give out food to the families of the communities. There is a school that the kids from the township can attend. They also have a clinic and areas where people can pick up clothing if they need it. The best part of the whole visit was seeing that Missionvale is a drop spot for TOMS shoes. For those who don't know about TOMS shoes, basically you buy a pair in the States and another pair gets sent to a third world country. It was awesome to see that the people were actually receiving what is said that they are receiving. On the way back, we stopped at a house in the township at a friend of Bradley's. It wasn't a planned stop, but the man who owned the house was an artist. And some of his paintings have been shown in some of the most grand museums next to van Gogh. I will post pictures of his artwork on facebook sometime soon. One of our last stops was at a community center in the townships. This center was run by a few women called "Mamas." Their story was amazing. The community center used to be a store that sold liquor. All of the men would come home from work and spend all of the family's money on liquor and come home drunk and with no food for the family. These women were so upset that they burned the place to the ground. A few of the women we talked to even got sent to jail but are back to tell their stories. They now run the community center and have a family atmosphere to the place. My mind was completely saturated with all of the information we took in that day.

Today, Friday, we went to a leadership conference called "the Champion Within." It was based on the ideologies of Nelson Mandela and was incredibly boring. Learning about Madiba (Nelson Mandela) was very interesting, however the rest of the 8 hour lecture was not. I am quite exhausted from such a busy week and am looking forward to a weekend of relaxing. No big plans as of right now, but I'm sure something will pop up in this hoppin city!

Facts

So while I am stuck in orientation all week learning lots of good things, I decided to share some of the interesting facts that I have learned/researched on my own. I hope to share these with my wonderful and attentive audience to give you a better feel of where I am. If you find anything else interesting or have any questions for me, don't hesitate to let me know!

Size of South Africa: 1.2 million square kilometers (745,000 square miles)

Size of America: 9.6 million square kilometers (3,717,792 square miles)

Population of South Africa: 50 million

Population of America: 312 million

Percentages of races in South Africa: African 79.5%, White 9.0%, Colored 9.0%, Indian/Asian 2.5%

Percentages of races in America: White 63.7%, Hispanic 16.3%, African 12.2%, Asian 4.7%

Population of Port Elizabeth: 237,500

Population of St Paul: 285,068

Students at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University: 22,652

Students at CSB/SJU: 3,924

Percent of international students at NMMU: 10%

Life expectancy in South Africa: 50.5 years

Life expectancy in America: 77.6 years

Unemployment in South Africa: 23.9%

Unemployment  in America: 8.3%

Bush Camp

We left early on Friday morning for a 2 hour bus ride to Tsitsikamma Falls with the other American and European International Students at NMMU, about 95 of us total. It rained all day long. But that didn't stop us from taking a walk down by the river. We came back soaking wet. We then listened to a lecture from the head of Study Abroad at our University about the South African Secondary Education system. After that the rest of the afternoon was spent inside playing cards and getting to know students from other places in the world. I listened to so many different accents, I'm struggling to keep control of my own! I made quite a few new friends, particularly the girls from Germany who roomed with us. We stayed in a hostel-like setting with many beds and bunks with many people in one large room. After eating a traditional South African dish called bobotie, we had an African Drumming lesson which was very fun! My fingers did get nice and red and swollen and bruised by the next morning, but totally worth it. The sun finally showed its face on Saturday!! It was nice to get out and observe the beautiful scenery around us! We were surrounded by mountains and lots of greenery and waterfalls! We started the day off with a lecture about the history of South Africa. We then got our chance to go ziplining across the waterfalls and got sprayed in the face with mist! So awesome! We then spent the afternoon hiking up and around the mountains and trying to convince ourselves that it was actually real. Also got a little sunburned since the sun is much hotter than back in MN. For dinner we had another African Dish called braai. It was very, very delicious! We had a dance-off that night which was a great way to end our couple of days there. We came back today and spent the afternoon on the beach which was prefect. We also went to the market and met some wonderful people including a painter who remembered the group last year who came to SA. I also was able to haggle down the price of a pair of sunglasses from over $4 american to under $3 which I was quite proud of (and everyone now thinks I'm a pro!). What a fantastic weekend! We have many orientation sessions all of this week. It still feels like summer camp, so I'm curious to see what the rest week is like!

First Day!

After sleeping in till 11:30am, my roommates and I decided to check out the beach immediately. It was my first time ever in the Indian Ocean! So exciting! We also got to watch the lifeguards throw a frisbee around for the first time. Quite entertaining. We then went out to eat at Nandos and I had a delicious chicken sandwich. It was another dreary day so we spent most of the afternoon playing games, bonding with our group, unpacking, and organizing. The second picture is the view we have from our balcony which I can only imagine gets more beautiful with sunshine. More pictures are sure to come up once the sun decides to come out. Our entire group went out to dinner at the Mediterranean. I had fish called Hake and french fries. And found out that the ketchup isn't what ketchup is back at home. Kind of a let down. We had a meeting laying out the next 10 days. It is going to be a busy time, but sounds like a blast! Tomorrow we take off for Bush Camp which is a three day orientation that includes all of the International students who go to our University. Much of what we do is still a secret so  I will be sure to blog about all that happens once I return!

Airplanes and Airports and Langerry

I left Minnesota Tuesday at about 12:30pm. I was cruising through my check-in and security until the last moment when they decided to stop me and give me a full pat down, in front of my 20 classmates who were waiting for me. Talk about embarrassing. My flight went to Washington DC. Then a quick lunch at Potbelly's and hopped on a flight to Johannesburg. We stopped in Senegal to refuel but did not leave the plane. Then we continued that 17 hour flight to Jo-burg. What did I do for 17 hours you might ask? I watched Valentine's Day, Horton Hears a Who, and the Bang Bang Club, a South African film about 4 photographers who capture pictures of the conflict between tribes in South Africa. I read half of a book called Mockingjay. I attempted to sleep, but only managed a few hours. I ate the meals that we were given which included beef stew, raspberry and apple pancakes, and a broccoli pasta dish. All of which was better than what I was expecting. I also stared off into space for quite a while. In Jo-burg we went through customs and security and took off on our last flight to Port Elizabeth! That flight was quite a breeze compared to the 17 hour flight. In Port Elizabeth, we got to unload on the tarmac which made my day because I have never done that before! We landed on Wednesday at 9:20pm Port Elizabeth time. What a long two day flight. Our adviser picked us up at the airport and we managed to fit all of the kids and luggage into a short bus and mini trailer. The thing that we were most excited about was that the driver was driving us on the "wrong" side of the road. This may take a while to get used to. We arrived at our flats and found them rather small, but cozy. Also they did not have air conditioning. So in the few hours that I have attempted to sleep, the open windows are producing a steady stream of noise from the streets. Which brings me here. Almost 4:00am Port Elizabeth time and 8:00pm Minnesota time and I'm awake as can be. Hello jet lag. I have one more day to get the sleep schedule down before we are thrown into a 3-day orientation where I don't think "nap time" is listed in the schedule. Since it has not been daylight since I have been here, I have not taken any pictures yet. I'm sure I will go crazy taking pictures tomorrow (or in a few hours...) when we are finally able to explore a little bit and do some much-needed shopping for the essentials of our room.