Jeez sorry about all the pictures last time! I was having a hard time deciding which ones to post! I uploaded a lot more onto my facebook albums if you have access to that or know someone who does!
But here will be just a recap of my weekend!
On Friday morning we went to House of Resurrection Aids Haven. This is one of the two sites our group will be volunteering at. The other site is Pendla Primary School, which is where I have chosen to volunteer. Nonetheless, the whole group still got to go and take a tour of House of Resurrection. This is a facility run by a Sister that houses children with Aids. Children are not supposed to stay there after the age of 8 (they are supposed to move on to a state-owned house) but probably because the children need so much care, they are staying past that age. This was a really fun place to go to and I got my dose of playing in for a little while. We took a tour and found out about the facility, then were allowed to get to know the children. All of the older children were at school. But we got to see the 4 infants who live there and the preschool room which had probably 15 children. 10 percent of the kids who live at this house do not have Aids. In that case, their parents most likely died of Aids and left their child at the House. The house is also a clinic, so adults do come and stay a while, but do not live their permanently like the children. I taught a six year old boy, Tando how to make a snowflake with paper and scissors. I’m pretty sure he didn’t know what a snowflake was, but he did have fun making the designs. The other children loved to be held and thrown up in the air, played with our hair and jewelry and did anything to get attention. It was super fun and the CSB/SJU students who will be working there will have a blast. I am also very anxious to see the Pendla Primary School and what my experience will be like there. The school is having a welcoming ceremony for us on Monday morning.
When we got back from the House, we went to the beach again. What a drag, I know. It was pretty windy again though so we didn’t stay long. I’m working on my tan though and I’m one of few on this trip who hasn’t gotten sun burned yet! Friday night I got to attend my first cricket match! The game was between the Port Elizabeth Warriors and another town in South Africa, I’m not sure though. It was very exciting and fun. Our whole group went and it was the first social activity that we all did together. So it was really fun! Cricket seems very confusing, but it is actually a lot like baseball. I loved learning the rules; don’t ask me to explain them though because I don’t think I know it that well! It was just fun to be there with everyone and watch the game from an outdoor stadium. My roommate Emma and I sat next to two men from South Africa who took pity on us and tried to help us understand the game more. English wasn’t their first language though, so with that and the accents we had a hard time understanding them. The real thing we learned from them was when to stand up and cheer! PE won the game so that was exciting and by the end, I could understand how they won. After the game we went out to a bar as a large group. We were definitely the minorities at the bar (as we are in most places, whites are only 10% of the population) but it was fun on the dance floor and we met some cool people.
Saturday was a free day for the group. So my roommates and I had a lazy day. In the morning, we spent a lot of time at the beach. It’s not so windy in the morning, so we were only there from 9:00-12:00. One time, the five of us were out riding the waves and we had a whistle blown at us from the lifeguard. We all freaked out, thinking maybe he saw a shark in the water or something and swam in as fast as we could. On the way in though, my roommate Shannon got stung by a blue-bottle jelly fish. The tentacle (I think that’s what they’re called) wrapped all the way around her rib cage and onto her arm. When we got out of the water, the life guard said that we needed to stay in between these two flags he set up on the shore. I think they just wanted a smaller range of ocean to watch. He also warned us about the blue bottles, although it was too late since she already got stung. After a couple of washings though, she felt better; there is a red burn line still there.
Saturday night we went out for dinner to a nice pizza place. The pizzas here are very thin, so you can almost eat a whole one on your own. I don’t like bananas so I didn’t order South Africa’s special bacon and banana pizza; but I did have feta, bacon and avocado pizza. It was really good! Eight of us went out and we all had pizza, so we were trading pieces back and forth. I probably only ate two of my own pieces! Then we walked around the boardwalk and through a casino. After finding out one of our friends didn’t know how to play blackjack, we went back home and played cards the rest of the night!
I’m going to a soccer game today. I have no clue what teams or anything like that, so I’ll be posting later to talk about that. Soccer is pretty big here too, after rugby and cricket of course. All I know is that we are walking to the stadium. It isn’t smart to even make the ten minute walk without putting on sunscreen, so I’ll be applying that soon!
Oh and I think I’ll be wearing jeans and tees to school. Don’t know for sure yet, but that seems pretty standard. Well I guess not jeans, but jean shorts or capris! I’ll let you know after my first day tomorrow though! And wait till you hear my class schedule!
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