Weekend of Feb 21st.
This weekend I went on my first two dives for my scuba certification! It was pretty awesome, and ofcourse I saw lots of fish, but I am looking forward to our next two open water dives even more! The whole claustrophobic thing doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would, but I did have one freak out when I was out in the ocean. We had to do this skill where if your goggles fill with water you have to blow through your nose and the air will push the water out, but I completely forget how I should do it, and went right up to the surface. oh well though, that's what the practice is for and now I feel much more comfortable with all of my skills that I will need for diving. We also have to take a test either tonight or later this week and then we will be finishing our last two dives this coming saturday! I think a few of us are going to plan an open water shark dive as well! This weekend our group also had our own first braai ( a BBQ) where a guy in our group ( boris) cooked an amazing dinner for us! I think our group is pretty into the bonding activites still, which is nice.
Jill Stry: No there is no pinching when I meet new people, but I think I will have to bring that one in as an american tradition after having some G-rum :)
Judi: Don't forget to tell joey all of the new words, I'll post them again: I did forget a few though.
Robot: stoplight
Swimming costume: swimsuit
Combi: taxi
Braai: BBQ
also everybody "fetches" everything down here. If you were going to get something you say i'm going to fetch my phone, or whatever it is.
Also every guy down here is called bro, when being refered to by anopther guy.
And last but not least, if you really want to do something you say "I'm keen to .... do whatever it is. haha
cheers everyone, which is also the common farewell down here!
love you all!
Monday, February 23, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Feb 14th. Jeffery’s Bay
Today I went surfing in Jeffery’s Bay which is about 45 minutes East of PE. It is the second best place in the world to go surfing!! And as much as I would like to say I was surfing in Jeffery’s bay well let’s just say I was attempting…. I got up about two times but not for very long. The weather wasn’t so great either; it was raining and very windy! Did I mention how windy it is down here? It’s worse than Chicago, THE WINDY CITY! I kid you not. We decided to end our day a little early and planned a group dinner to a place called Waldskippers, which had sand on the floor and a bonfire in the middle, very authentic. I chose to have oxtail for dinner; yes it is the actually tail of the ox. It was prepared in a stew and chopped up into pieces and put on rice. It was delicious and a very tender piece of meat. We also had chicken and fish pate which is the liver of each (they were separated). Fortunately, or should I say unfortunately I did not know what it was at the time and it tasted all right, but as soon as I found out I couldn’t even look at it. Ha!!
Feb 15th Addo and Scotia Game Parks
Hey there! I just got back from the Addo Elephant Park and the Scotia game reserve! I have never seen so many wild animals in my life! At the Addo elephant Park, we were lucky enough to see 2 elephants while we were there. One was about 10 meters from the bus! We also were able to see a few warthogs, Kudu and water buffalo as well (The water buffalo and elephant are two of the big five animals here is South Africa, so that was pretty awesome). Afterwards we went on a 4 hour Safari in jeeps in the Scotia game reserve. The animals in the park are wild, however it is called a reserve because the land is protected. It was raining all day, but that didn’t stop many of the animals from wandering around. We saw a huge male lion (big 5) only 30 meters from our jeep and we also saw impala and springbok (types of antelope), zebra, wildebeest, giraffe, rhinos ( part of the big 5 as well), hippos, crocodiles and one of the coolest things for me was seeing all of the carcasses from previous lion kills! After the safari we were served a meal of Kudu which is one of the largest types of deer (close in size to an elk) which was very tasty! We then left and arrived home around 10pm, where I fell asleep right away after all of the action from the day!
Feb 16th.
Today was my first day of Volunteering. I was paired with a little two year old girl named Esti. If there is anything that I have learned from this trip it is that the stereotype of a child with AIDS is completely false. These children are just like any other child who Is unaffected. They are playful, healthy, funny, and do all of the things any other child would do. I feel very guilty for having this previous assumption, but am very happy that I was wrong. The children at the haven are so wonderful and I can’t wait for the rest of the semester with them. On the other hand, I am still getting over my fear of contracting Aids, but in reality it is much harder for that to happen than you think.
Hope all is well back home! I’ll keep you updated after my next excursion this coming week to a few caves!!
Today I went surfing in Jeffery’s Bay which is about 45 minutes East of PE. It is the second best place in the world to go surfing!! And as much as I would like to say I was surfing in Jeffery’s bay well let’s just say I was attempting…. I got up about two times but not for very long. The weather wasn’t so great either; it was raining and very windy! Did I mention how windy it is down here? It’s worse than Chicago, THE WINDY CITY! I kid you not. We decided to end our day a little early and planned a group dinner to a place called Waldskippers, which had sand on the floor and a bonfire in the middle, very authentic. I chose to have oxtail for dinner; yes it is the actually tail of the ox. It was prepared in a stew and chopped up into pieces and put on rice. It was delicious and a very tender piece of meat. We also had chicken and fish pate which is the liver of each (they were separated). Fortunately, or should I say unfortunately I did not know what it was at the time and it tasted all right, but as soon as I found out I couldn’t even look at it. Ha!!
Feb 15th Addo and Scotia Game Parks
Hey there! I just got back from the Addo Elephant Park and the Scotia game reserve! I have never seen so many wild animals in my life! At the Addo elephant Park, we were lucky enough to see 2 elephants while we were there. One was about 10 meters from the bus! We also were able to see a few warthogs, Kudu and water buffalo as well (The water buffalo and elephant are two of the big five animals here is South Africa, so that was pretty awesome). Afterwards we went on a 4 hour Safari in jeeps in the Scotia game reserve. The animals in the park are wild, however it is called a reserve because the land is protected. It was raining all day, but that didn’t stop many of the animals from wandering around. We saw a huge male lion (big 5) only 30 meters from our jeep and we also saw impala and springbok (types of antelope), zebra, wildebeest, giraffe, rhinos ( part of the big 5 as well), hippos, crocodiles and one of the coolest things for me was seeing all of the carcasses from previous lion kills! After the safari we were served a meal of Kudu which is one of the largest types of deer (close in size to an elk) which was very tasty! We then left and arrived home around 10pm, where I fell asleep right away after all of the action from the day!
Feb 16th.
Today was my first day of Volunteering. I was paired with a little two year old girl named Esti. If there is anything that I have learned from this trip it is that the stereotype of a child with AIDS is completely false. These children are just like any other child who Is unaffected. They are playful, healthy, funny, and do all of the things any other child would do. I feel very guilty for having this previous assumption, but am very happy that I was wrong. The children at the haven are so wonderful and I can’t wait for the rest of the semester with them. On the other hand, I am still getting over my fear of contracting Aids, but in reality it is much harder for that to happen than you think.
Hope all is well back home! I’ll keep you updated after my next excursion this coming week to a few caves!!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Wednesday Feb 11th
Yesterday was my first day of Senior Seminar. After three hours of listening to my professor speak about the apartheid movement I found the class to be very interesting and am both excited and nervous for the semester. Before class everyone went to the beach, and when I came back I had a few war wounds on my knees from attempting to skim board. Skim boarding is like surfing but you do it in very shallow water and it only lasts for about 10 seconds. My first two attempts may have been beginners’ luck, but my second two I failed miserably at. It was very fun though, and don’t think I won’t be back out there trying again! Then later that night a group of us decided to go to Leonardo’s (an amazing pizza restaurant) which was a great outing to get to know a few more people on the trip a little bit better!
5:30pm on Wed.
Today at school I went to talk to the soccer coach about playing this semester for the NMMU ladies team. Unfortunately their season does not start playing games until the end of April and the games are only played on the weekends. This was enough to deter me from the idea, and is kind of disappointing as well since I was looking forward to meeting a bunch of new people. Today at school I had my first encounter with a cockroach as well as monkeys! The cockroach was disgusting and luckily it was only on the street instead of in my bed or on my face which has happened to a few people here already…..yuck! The monkeys on the other hand were quite rowdy and they were attempting to steal people’s food near the cafeteria area at school. There is literally a sign on campus that says BEWARE OF MONKEYS. Yes, wild monkey were on campus!! There is a picture on facebook of one of them, but they were in the trees by the time I got a picture. Tonight is a little less exciting, but still fun, we have a welcoming dinner at the church across the street, so a warm dinner will be very good!
9:30pm on Wed.
So we just had our dinner and got back to our room to find the mother of all cockroaches in our bathroom! It was disgusting and I was the one who had to get rid of it, do not worry it was all documented on a camcorder so hopefully you can see it sometime…. Yuck! Yuck! Yuck!!
Night!! love you all!
Yesterday was my first day of Senior Seminar. After three hours of listening to my professor speak about the apartheid movement I found the class to be very interesting and am both excited and nervous for the semester. Before class everyone went to the beach, and when I came back I had a few war wounds on my knees from attempting to skim board. Skim boarding is like surfing but you do it in very shallow water and it only lasts for about 10 seconds. My first two attempts may have been beginners’ luck, but my second two I failed miserably at. It was very fun though, and don’t think I won’t be back out there trying again! Then later that night a group of us decided to go to Leonardo’s (an amazing pizza restaurant) which was a great outing to get to know a few more people on the trip a little bit better!
5:30pm on Wed.
Today at school I went to talk to the soccer coach about playing this semester for the NMMU ladies team. Unfortunately their season does not start playing games until the end of April and the games are only played on the weekends. This was enough to deter me from the idea, and is kind of disappointing as well since I was looking forward to meeting a bunch of new people. Today at school I had my first encounter with a cockroach as well as monkeys! The cockroach was disgusting and luckily it was only on the street instead of in my bed or on my face which has happened to a few people here already…..yuck! The monkeys on the other hand were quite rowdy and they were attempting to steal people’s food near the cafeteria area at school. There is literally a sign on campus that says BEWARE OF MONKEYS. Yes, wild monkey were on campus!! There is a picture on facebook of one of them, but they were in the trees by the time I got a picture. Tonight is a little less exciting, but still fun, we have a welcoming dinner at the church across the street, so a warm dinner will be very good!
9:30pm on Wed.
So we just had our dinner and got back to our room to find the mother of all cockroaches in our bathroom! It was disgusting and I was the one who had to get rid of it, do not worry it was all documented on a camcorder so hopefully you can see it sometime…. Yuck! Yuck! Yuck!!
Night!! love you all!
Monday, February 9, 2009
Sunday Feb. 8th
Today was the first day that the market was set up for shopping along the beach. It is quite different than what I expected. I thought there would be all types of food to buy, but instead the locals here sell wood carvings, stone carvings, beaded artwork, paintings, and misc. items that range from jewelery to nailpolish or even cell phone chargers. I bought a beautiful painting there of two africans who were playing the drums for only $5! After shopping the market my roomates and I finished up alittle homework until we went to a soccer game at 3:30 pm. It was fun to see however, the team was not so good. Later that evening a few of us decided to play a few games of cribbage and then called it a night, seeing that we had to get up early for volunteering the next morning. All around a pretty relaxing day.
Monday Feb. 9th
Today is my first day of school and so far it was been alittle hectic! The taxi drivers decided to go on strike this morning so our transportation to Pendla school ( where we volunteer) never came. The taxis' were also our means of transportation to get to school so that was a alittle crazy as well! My first class today is African Jazz which goes from 2:45-5:45. I'm very excited for this class seeing that the topic will be about the culture here in South Africa and we get to go on many field trips as well! Emily, Shannon and I also contacted the soccer coach and will be meeting with him to find out more about the soccer team. Their season begins in March, so hopefully I will get to kick a ball around on grass by then!
Love you all! Hope all is well back home!
Today was the first day that the market was set up for shopping along the beach. It is quite different than what I expected. I thought there would be all types of food to buy, but instead the locals here sell wood carvings, stone carvings, beaded artwork, paintings, and misc. items that range from jewelery to nailpolish or even cell phone chargers. I bought a beautiful painting there of two africans who were playing the drums for only $5! After shopping the market my roomates and I finished up alittle homework until we went to a soccer game at 3:30 pm. It was fun to see however, the team was not so good. Later that evening a few of us decided to play a few games of cribbage and then called it a night, seeing that we had to get up early for volunteering the next morning. All around a pretty relaxing day.
Monday Feb. 9th
Today is my first day of school and so far it was been alittle hectic! The taxi drivers decided to go on strike this morning so our transportation to Pendla school ( where we volunteer) never came. The taxis' were also our means of transportation to get to school so that was a alittle crazy as well! My first class today is African Jazz which goes from 2:45-5:45. I'm very excited for this class seeing that the topic will be about the culture here in South Africa and we get to go on many field trips as well! Emily, Shannon and I also contacted the soccer coach and will be meeting with him to find out more about the soccer team. Their season begins in March, so hopefully I will get to kick a ball around on grass by then!
Love you all! Hope all is well back home!
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Friday Feb. 6th
Today we had our orientation for the Aids Haven. The head matron, Aggie, was very enthusiastic about us being there and it made me really excited to work with all of the children, but we don’t start volunteering until next Monday. We also went to a Cricket match and met up with some other international students from Annie’s cove. The Cricket game lasted about three hours and after learning all of the rules to the game it went by a little faster, especially the last 30 minutes when the crowd was going nuts cheering for the Port Elizabeth Warriors. The game was to see who went to the playoffs so it was a pretty big game to get to see!
Saturday Feb. 7th
Today was a pretty lazy day, my roommates and I went to the beach for a few hours, but it was too windy to stay long. After that we decided a little homework needed to be done and tried to read a few Chapters of Long walk to freedom by Nelson Mandela. In the evening we got a group of people together and decided that we were going to Leonardo’s in the boardwalk for dinner. It was an excellent pizza place. Later in the evening we decided to go to Annie’s cove again to hang out with our new international friends!!
Today we had our orientation for the Aids Haven. The head matron, Aggie, was very enthusiastic about us being there and it made me really excited to work with all of the children, but we don’t start volunteering until next Monday. We also went to a Cricket match and met up with some other international students from Annie’s cove. The Cricket game lasted about three hours and after learning all of the rules to the game it went by a little faster, especially the last 30 minutes when the crowd was going nuts cheering for the Port Elizabeth Warriors. The game was to see who went to the playoffs so it was a pretty big game to get to see!
Saturday Feb. 7th
Today was a pretty lazy day, my roommates and I went to the beach for a few hours, but it was too windy to stay long. After that we decided a little homework needed to be done and tried to read a few Chapters of Long walk to freedom by Nelson Mandela. In the evening we got a group of people together and decided that we were going to Leonardo’s in the boardwalk for dinner. It was an excellent pizza place. Later in the evening we decided to go to Annie’s cove again to hang out with our new international friends!!
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Hey guys! So far I have been here for 4 days now and I am already experiencing many new things, including Ostrich for dinner last night which if you ask me tastes just like BBQ ribs, mmm mmm . Today we went on a tour around Port Elizabeth and were exposed to all the different aspects that the city has to offer. The first place we stopped was the "Port" of Port Elizabeth and learned about all the imports and exports of South Africa and how they effect the economy. We also went to the Red Location Museum which is a museum that has many displays of the anti-Aparteid movement as well as displays of many people who were active in the anti-apartied movement. From there to our next destination we went through the slum areas, (which included a million people)in which chilrden/adults and animals were living in homes made from scraps of metal/wood and plastic. It was very sad to see and definately made me feel grateful for all the things I am blessed with in my life. After that, we went to the Donkin which is a pyramid that is a memorial for Elizabeth Donkin which is how the city recieved its name. Around 3:30 when the educational part of the day had ended, about 16 of us went down to the beach to play alittle pick-up game of beach soccer! It was so much fun to kick around a ball again. Hope all is well at home.
Alison
Alison
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