got my fill of nature

So a lot has happened in the last week or so...

I started class last week and am pretty excited about most of them. I'm taking 2 english electives which will require a lot of reading- african american experience, and save and savour, which is about animal studies and egocentricism. I'm also taking a political science class called "transformation and peace building". It's mostly a discussion class and interesting to learn about how to what it takes to try and form peace. The last 2 classes are a sociology class and intro to photography, neither of which i'm too enthused about.

I also found out last week that I was going to volunteer as a teacher's assistant in a kingergarten! I was so excited about it. It started Thursday morning--bright and early at 8am. I absolutely loved it. It's in Kayamandi so the kids are all black and mostly poor. There were 31 kids in my class with just 1 teacher whose name is Mercy. There aren't enough desks and chairs for all the children, and even if there were there wouldn't be enough room. Mercy has to make groups and switch up everything. She's a fantastic multi-tasker! The kids were all excited to see me, and another girl who is volunteering in the same class. They wouldn't stop smiling! I just observed last week and quickly noticed the kids and started to figure out their personalities. There were 2 girls who seemed to get picked on by the other so i'm gonna try my best for the rest of the semester to make them my little buddies. We went and played outside during recess! It was so much fun. I forgot what kindergarten was like! Instead of a playground, they played games with each other, rolled around car tires, or there were simple balancing type things made from wood. I joined in and tried to follow along with their games. Problem is...they don't speak much english. Some kids can speak a lot, some just colors or basic things, and others none at all. Their first language is Xhosa...clicks and everything-very interesting to listen to. After recess I got bombarded and they were all holding up the name tags Mercy made for us to get used to their names. I can't remember any of them specifically but just think of african names, without many vowels. They giggled along while I butchered their names, and helped me out as best they could. The other girl and I plan out a lesson to teach them and next weeks theme is: my body. Can't wait!!!

This weekend we went to Cederberg Mountains. It was 4 hours away from where we are staying. I got the short end of the stick and had to go in the van that had no radio or AC. Mind you it's the hottest month of summer right now, and we were travelling at the hottest times. Needless to say, it didn't smell great. It was a really peaceful pretty drive. For the last hour of it we were going through other mountains, on a dirt road in a 10 passenger van, on the edge of the mountain. South Africans are crazy drivers! I was happy to have made it to our cottages and not be at the bottom of the mountain! We got the 10 person house. It was so cute! We had braai friday night which was delicious and MamaH made her "special sauce". We get that recipe at the end of the semester! Can't wait! Saturday morning we woke up bright and early to hike up Cederberg Mountain. I'm not the most athletic type so I knew it was going to be a challenge...I just didn't know how big of one it was going to be. There was no shade except for the big rock every once and a while. I was at the back of the group, naturally, with my roomate Emily and a South African who was one of the drivers and a part of the international office. He was really nice and patient. We had to climb up and over rocks, through passageways sideways, and even shimmy under a big rock on our backs. I have never been happier to accomplish something. The top of the mountain was beautiful and it felt like I was on the top of the world. We hung out for a while and then started our way back down. It was harder than the way up! By this point my knees were shaking with every rock I stepped down on. My ankles were constantly rolling and I kept mis-stepping. I'm really suprised I didn't fall. Once back down we went back to our cottage, quickly threw on our bathing suits, and made our way to the river down the road. Refreshing doesn't even describe what that felt like! We went wine tasting afterwards and came back to cleaning ladies in our house. I saw them sweeping stuff onto the deck and saw mud all over the kitchen floor and thought "wow, we're really this disgusting?" But then I saw it...baboon poo. The darn baboons broke into our house, ate all our food, went through our bags, jumped on our beds, threw our clothes all over the place, pooped everywhere and even peed in one of the beds!!!! What little buggers! MamaH and another woman that was with us tried their best to scare them out. They even got the attention of the rest of the campers on the camp ground. It was quite the show from what I understand. Luckily only a notebook was lost--even though I'm still finding granola in my bags. A little present I suppose. Saturday night we just hung out and MamaH made some stew thing that we ate over rice...delicious.

This morning we woke up early to go "cloofing" or cliff jumping as we call it. They said it would be appropriate to wear sandals, it was only a short hike. I learned today that South Africans underestimate EVERYTHING. It was like the beginning of the mountain, through like wetland and bush. It was absolutely beautiful once we got there and worth it. So much fun! I only did the little one, while everone else did 1 or both of the bigger ones. I wasn't feeling too daring today so I played it safe. After we got back we packed our things and headed to some rock caves. There is rock art from bushmen that dates back 2700-4000 years! It was really really cool. Our last stop was to more of their caves farther down the road and this place known as "town hall". Town hall is a place where South African politicians have secrectly met since the early 1900's. There were names all over the walls of the men who met there. One of the meetings was of national party members and the first president that made apartheid. Everyone had thrown rocks at those names and it was barely visible--just as they hoped it would be. I layed in the little cave, read my book and relaxed. A lovely way to end my awesome weekend.

I'm still not sure why I love it here so much. I think maybe because it has taught me so much about things, and even starting to teach me things about myself? I'm not sure. Shark diving is next weekend! I'm starting to get nervous :)

I'M HERE

So I have been in Africa for 2 weeks now. Chances are I'm not gonna update this often...

Things I am thankful for since being here

1. cheap/free internet and/or wifi

2. internet that works more often than it doesn't

3. heat waves that mean 85-90 degrees max. at noon. not 95 degrees from like 11am-7pm

4. mulletless men

5. supermarkets less than 1 mile away that I can DRIVE to

6. air conditioning

7. equal rights between whites/blacks, men/women

8. being american

So I didn't have internet for a week. Kind of weird, but not too bad. Then when we finally get it...we have to PAY for it. Yeah, I know we have to pay for it back in the states too, but not by like megabyte. I have force myself not to go on between 8am-5pm because it's most expensive, and even after 5pm isn't that cheap. I've racked up quite a lot. I also don't think their measurements of how much you use are too accurate. So I must wait for Sundays--the cheapest, or after midnight to skype or upload pictures.

I have 3 pretty sweet roomates. We all get along super well which is nice. The group this semester isn't as awesome as last semester, but I suppose it would have been silly to expect them to be. I have my own bedroom, AND bathroom. We also have a house keeper. She's a really nice lady who I think lives in the township nearby. She doesn't speak english very well, but it's good enough to get by. English isn't the first language here. Afrikaans is what is mostly spoken, but Xhosa is also popular around here. Xhosa is mostly spoken by blacks and includes clicks and stuff. It's pretty cool.

South Africa has definitely given me a pretty huge culture shock. The amount of poverty that surrounds me is unreal. And it's even weirder because it is mixed in with the middle class, and even the high upper-class community. I took a train to Strand the other day and the train station was located right next to Kayamandi Township...I think it's the 2nd biggest township in SA. There were brand new mercedes and land rovers driving right through where it was. People who cannot afford shoes or a proper house to live in are mixed right in with those who splurge on a stupid car. It's kind of sickening actually.

Racism is huge here too. I've seen it just in the last couple weeks. I have only ever heard the word "colored" used when we were learning about the civil rights movement in history class. It is openly used here still to describe a certain skin color. Unreal. I've also heard stories about what happens on the wine farms around here. Pretty close to slavery in the south back in the day in America. Not so much as to selling and buying humans as property, or the terrible abuse. But many of the blacks working along with their children have to call the owner master, never by their first name, and are paid with liquor instead of money. It's unbelievable to think that kind of stuff still goes on in this world. I obviously know that it does, and even worse things in other parts of Africa, but to see things with my own eyes,hear second hand stories, and see where it is taking place makes me fully realize.

I'm going to be volunteering while I'm here. I am hoping to work at a pre-primary school as a teachers assistant in Kayamandi. If that doesn't work out I'll do the after-school program with the older children or one of the many other opportunities in the surrounding areas.

All in all, it is absolutely amazing here. When I walk out of my house I see beautiful mountains. The ocean is only about 40 minutes away. The weather is too hot to be honest, but I guess I prefer this to the weather back home...kind of. As much as I miss home, I really love it here. I'm not quite sure why yet, because the people aren't the nicest, but maybe I'll soon figure it all out.

Oh, I just booked great white shark cage diving for February 19th. SO EXCITED :)