It has been a long week my friends,
Before I dive into catching you up let me first answer a couple questions. I actually get to see quite a bit of American movies because those are about the only movies that exist in other parts of the world like this and also we can't really go out after dark which is at like 6:30 so we have lots of time to kill at night. As for the roaches, I discovered the sorce one night when our power went out. The circuit breaker is hidden away in a store room at the back of our house used by the boys shelter and that is one creepy room let me tell you. But I immediatly recognized the infestation by all the roach crap scattered about the shelves. And then I saw the biggest roach of my life; it was the size of my pointer finger and I'm not even kidding. But the problem is taken care of for the moment because I told one of the interns and they sprayed and left traps over the weekend.
Ok so now to fill you up to speed before my time runs out. Thursday I ended up not going to the drop in center at all. Instead on the way to work, Thabo and I had to stop at this woman's house and pick up about 30 of these big sacks of corn meal to bring to the communities. So after we got those I offered to help Thabo drop them off and work with him for the day. So we drove all around PMB on errands and for the first time I felt like I was actually doing something. We had to make a couple home visits/ school visits and the conversations took place mostly in English so I knew what was going on. And whats more is that Thabo and I actually had conversations about each visit afterward. I am thinking that if I continue to be bored at Haniville I'm going to propose to Thabo working with him.
Friday morning was our meeting and AIDs training which turned out to be very much a waste of time for me and Aerin because it was nothing we had never learned in health class at school. We were actually quite disappointed by it and it went longer than it was meant to (because this is Africa) so we really had to rush at home so we could leave for the beach. It was a very lovely two hour drive to Shelly Beach through rural South Africa which is a truely beautiful site. I took lots of pictures so now all that remains is for me to get a jump drive so I can post some for you all to see. They really don't do justice to the land scape though. We had some really lovely flats for the ten of us (6 of us plus 4 from Durban) and we divided up the two groups when we got there. Sally and her family had a flat as well. The beach was right out our back yard. Aerin, Thirza and I wasted no time getting into the warm Indian Ocean despite it being cold and windy. Then we all had a huge pasta dinner in one of the flats and hung out until we were all sleepy and ready for bed which was like 9:30. Lame I know but as it turns out this work here really takes it out of you.
Saturday morning after breakfast Aerin and I went for a stroll on the beach. Then we returned and went with a group to the mall. The mall was nothing out of the ordinary. I bought some indoor soccar shoes for my league that I am playing in with the YFC because the shoes I have with me are not made for running or playing soccar. We came home and relaxed for a while and then headed out to the beach even though it was cold and wet. I did some shell collecting because the shells were really cool. (My mom will be proud of me.) Then there was some more relazing at the flat. Aerin and I descided to take a dip before dark and it was very very cold. There was also a stick which had us convinced it was a sea snake for a long time and we were laughing very hard when we realized it wasn't. We came back and played a very fun card game that is kinda like slaps. Then we had another large pasta dinner but different pasta this time. And eventually we went back to our flat for some more games before bed.
Sunday morning we had a big breakfast and went to the beach even though the wind was very strong. We tried to build a sand castle but it collapsed into the moat. Aerin and Thirza went for a final swim in some huge waves and I stayed on the beach and looked for shells. I also made an attempt at flying with big palm branches but it didn't quite work. We took some group pictures and then left for home. I took more pictures when I wasn't dosing off. Sunday night we were all beat and it was kinda dead around the house.
Monday Aerin ended up coming to work with me because she is currently between changing projects. It is much nicer to work at the community with another volunteer because it makes the down time there more interesting. You could really see that the kids are much more used to female volunteers because they were immediatly playing with Aerin. I had my own little group of boys though so I wasn't jealous or anything. I led a bunch of games with them of different kinds of tag and they were all climbing on me. It was very funny.
Tuesday Aerin came with me again and it was another fun day with the kids even though it was cold. And then today was quite a bit like yesterday only much slower. There were only 16 kids. I played a game of soccer with some of them and my team won! Speaking of which I don't think my tournament is going to come together but one of the interns at the Site 11 community is putting together a team and he wants me to do the same so the two communities can play eachother at least.
That is about all I have time for. We have all been very tired this week. It won't be so long before my next post so check back this weekend.
Enjoy the rest of your weeks
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Im beginning to sense a bit of a pattern here. Its another cold, damp wednesday. Now just yesterday it was really hot and sunny. I even got the worst sun burn of my life (which is not saying much because this is only my fourth burn ever.) Today though it feels like October back home in Rochester and this weather is supposed to continue on through Monday which really puts a damper (no pun intended) on things because Friday we are going to Durban for a beach weekend.
So monday at work I got to lead games with the kids. First I tried to teach them capture the flag which was my favorite game when I was younger. We played several rounds and it looked nothing like capture the flag; infact, it was much more like rugby. I would say it was unsuccessful except the kids were really enjoying it until they started an arguement over who had captured the flag at which point we decided it was time to play a different game. I taught them another childhood favorite, 7 up. We had to play nine up though because two girls insisted that I had chosen them to be part of the original 7 and rather than fight with them, we let them stay up. It was fine anyway because we were playing with so many kids. They really loved it. I think they played it for a good half hour before they tired. Monday night we had to walk to the grocery store because one of our drivers is sick and the other has a sprained ancle. So the four healthy people carried a weeks worth of groceries home. Then we had a really late dinner but that was ok because it turns out that there is a really good pizza place we can order from.
Now tuesday was the most exhausting day yet for me. There was a very energetic 8 year old boy waiting for me at the drop in center who had stayed home sick from school with some stomach bug. But you could have fooled me about him being sick. He wanted to run around out back with having competitions between the two of us in any sport he could think of. Then he came with us on our school visit during which I ended up keeping him busy while the others spoke with a teacher. He very proudly lead me around the school by the arm displaying his "white monkey." (I had stepped on a crap in the side walk on the way to the school and so that made me a monkey.) The rest of the day continued like this until the other kids started showing up. I got to enjoy some sugar cane from the field across the street that the kids had gotten after school. A couple of the boys are starting to warm up to me so I'm beginning to feel more positive. It seems like only a matter of time until the rest of them do as well. The interns at Haniville are really starting to annoy me though because it seems like all they do is tease the kids. Last time I checked we were supposed to be there for their support. Oh well, they will be gone in a month (the interns that is).
Now today was freezing cold and very quiet. We only had twenty kids and they didn't even stay an hour. Still I feel tired from the day. I'll be on my way home finally in a couple minutes though and I am really looking forward to relaxing the rest of the evening. Tomorrow we have shop, clean and pack for our beach weekend.
Oh, so thoughs of you know me well will really find this amuzing but it seems that we are developing a bit of a roach problem in our house. A couple weekends ago we had these weird looking bugs in our bathroom that had come in from outside that I thought were roaches at first but it turns out they weren't. A couple days ago however, I saw what was actually a roach in the bathroom. No one believed me that it was there or that it was a roach. Last night however we are all sitting in the living room. Aerin goes into her room and then yells, Cullen get in here and bring a shoe with you. I ask why and she says there is a big bug in here on the floor. I go in there and don't you know there is a roaching chillin out in the middle of the floor. Well I was in bare feet and the thing starts running around so I did what any self respecting male in a house full of women would do... scream. The others all come running and croud into the door to see the roach. Now you can't squish a roach because if you get unlucky and squish a female carrying eggs, well you just multiplied the problem by a thousand. Luckily Mayo was quick thinking and grabbed a glass and some paper to catch the thing. She wasn't quick enough though because it disappeared under the bed. We spent ten minutes searching but turned up nothing. So now I am very paranoid to go to sleep at night.
Anyway, that is all I've got for now. It could be a week till my next post but please leave comments in the mean time. I really like reading them and I only got two the last time.
Peace
So monday at work I got to lead games with the kids. First I tried to teach them capture the flag which was my favorite game when I was younger. We played several rounds and it looked nothing like capture the flag; infact, it was much more like rugby. I would say it was unsuccessful except the kids were really enjoying it until they started an arguement over who had captured the flag at which point we decided it was time to play a different game. I taught them another childhood favorite, 7 up. We had to play nine up though because two girls insisted that I had chosen them to be part of the original 7 and rather than fight with them, we let them stay up. It was fine anyway because we were playing with so many kids. They really loved it. I think they played it for a good half hour before they tired. Monday night we had to walk to the grocery store because one of our drivers is sick and the other has a sprained ancle. So the four healthy people carried a weeks worth of groceries home. Then we had a really late dinner but that was ok because it turns out that there is a really good pizza place we can order from.
Now tuesday was the most exhausting day yet for me. There was a very energetic 8 year old boy waiting for me at the drop in center who had stayed home sick from school with some stomach bug. But you could have fooled me about him being sick. He wanted to run around out back with having competitions between the two of us in any sport he could think of. Then he came with us on our school visit during which I ended up keeping him busy while the others spoke with a teacher. He very proudly lead me around the school by the arm displaying his "white monkey." (I had stepped on a crap in the side walk on the way to the school and so that made me a monkey.) The rest of the day continued like this until the other kids started showing up. I got to enjoy some sugar cane from the field across the street that the kids had gotten after school. A couple of the boys are starting to warm up to me so I'm beginning to feel more positive. It seems like only a matter of time until the rest of them do as well. The interns at Haniville are really starting to annoy me though because it seems like all they do is tease the kids. Last time I checked we were supposed to be there for their support. Oh well, they will be gone in a month (the interns that is).
Now today was freezing cold and very quiet. We only had twenty kids and they didn't even stay an hour. Still I feel tired from the day. I'll be on my way home finally in a couple minutes though and I am really looking forward to relaxing the rest of the evening. Tomorrow we have shop, clean and pack for our beach weekend.
Oh, so thoughs of you know me well will really find this amuzing but it seems that we are developing a bit of a roach problem in our house. A couple weekends ago we had these weird looking bugs in our bathroom that had come in from outside that I thought were roaches at first but it turns out they weren't. A couple days ago however, I saw what was actually a roach in the bathroom. No one believed me that it was there or that it was a roach. Last night however we are all sitting in the living room. Aerin goes into her room and then yells, Cullen get in here and bring a shoe with you. I ask why and she says there is a big bug in here on the floor. I go in there and don't you know there is a roaching chillin out in the middle of the floor. Well I was in bare feet and the thing starts running around so I did what any self respecting male in a house full of women would do... scream. The others all come running and croud into the door to see the roach. Now you can't squish a roach because if you get unlucky and squish a female carrying eggs, well you just multiplied the problem by a thousand. Luckily Mayo was quick thinking and grabbed a glass and some paper to catch the thing. She wasn't quick enough though because it disappeared under the bed. We spent ten minutes searching but turned up nothing. So now I am very paranoid to go to sleep at night.
Anyway, that is all I've got for now. It could be a week till my next post but please leave comments in the mean time. I really like reading them and I only got two the last time.
Peace
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Sawubona!
Thursday was another pretty quite day at work. It was our bible story day so I read the david and goliath story out of a children's bible to the kids (which they seemed to enjoy) and then my supervisor gave a lesson about it in Zulu to the kids. She is going to help me get more involved though this coming week. Tomorrow I am going to teach the kids capture the flag and tuesday I am teaching the life skill of being prepared. Someone will translate for me. So hopefully work will start getting more interesting.
Friday was our day of meetings. We were supposed to have AIDs training that afternoon but it was cancelled so I only had to sit through two meetings in the morning. I got home around noon and had lunch and hungout with Aerin and Anne. (Mayo and Thirza are at L'Bri this weekend and Rose is really sick.) So it was kinda quiet around the house. Then one of the interns came over to visit Rose. He asked me if I wanted to go play soccer with the guys and I jumped at the idea. So a bunch of us went over to the YMCA for some indoor soccer. Little did I know we were playing in a league. All of a sudden the guys are taking jersies out of a bag. Now as much as I like to both watch and play soccer, I haven't played on a team since kindergarden. And to make things even more intimidating for me, Americans tend to play what is called two touch (you trap the ball, get open and pass.) Africans don't play two touch. They do lots of crazy stuff with their feet and fake out their opponents and its something that I really don't have the ball control or practice for. But I played anyway and had a lot of fun. The guys just told me I need to practice a lot before our next match in two weeks. So I came home and cleaned the kitchen. The rest of the nights was kinda low key. A couple of guys (Mlu and Kansas) who live nexted door came over and hung out with us.
Saturday we walked to an outlet mall. I bought a phone and Aerin and Anne got some things as well, including a soccer ball so that I can practice with the boys next door. We came home exhausted from the mall because it was farther than we thought and we had a long adventure trying to find our way through a bike race that was blocking our way home. So we watched a movie and had a very quick dinner because our friend Zazi was playing in a jazz concert at 7. So we went to the show and luckily it was the kind of jazz that I actually like. Mlu came with us and he and I shared some stuff with eachother about our cultures particularly pertaining to marriage and dating. We had some entertaining moments at some of the striking differences. For example, Mlu thinks nothing of the fact that he has four girlfriends. He couldn't believe though that if I wanted to marry a girl I didn't have to pay her parents for her. If Mlu wanted to get married he would have to give the father 11 cows amoung many other things. Ultimately a Zulu wedding cost somewhere around 70,000 rand. Which is a ton of money for people here.
Today is another quiet day so far. Aerin and I went to the store to by some food items for tonight and then we came here. I think tonight we are just taking it easy around the house. Hope all of you back home are having a good weekend. Talk to you soon.
Thursday was another pretty quite day at work. It was our bible story day so I read the david and goliath story out of a children's bible to the kids (which they seemed to enjoy) and then my supervisor gave a lesson about it in Zulu to the kids. She is going to help me get more involved though this coming week. Tomorrow I am going to teach the kids capture the flag and tuesday I am teaching the life skill of being prepared. Someone will translate for me. So hopefully work will start getting more interesting.
Friday was our day of meetings. We were supposed to have AIDs training that afternoon but it was cancelled so I only had to sit through two meetings in the morning. I got home around noon and had lunch and hungout with Aerin and Anne. (Mayo and Thirza are at L'Bri this weekend and Rose is really sick.) So it was kinda quiet around the house. Then one of the interns came over to visit Rose. He asked me if I wanted to go play soccer with the guys and I jumped at the idea. So a bunch of us went over to the YMCA for some indoor soccer. Little did I know we were playing in a league. All of a sudden the guys are taking jersies out of a bag. Now as much as I like to both watch and play soccer, I haven't played on a team since kindergarden. And to make things even more intimidating for me, Americans tend to play what is called two touch (you trap the ball, get open and pass.) Africans don't play two touch. They do lots of crazy stuff with their feet and fake out their opponents and its something that I really don't have the ball control or practice for. But I played anyway and had a lot of fun. The guys just told me I need to practice a lot before our next match in two weeks. So I came home and cleaned the kitchen. The rest of the nights was kinda low key. A couple of guys (Mlu and Kansas) who live nexted door came over and hung out with us.
Saturday we walked to an outlet mall. I bought a phone and Aerin and Anne got some things as well, including a soccer ball so that I can practice with the boys next door. We came home exhausted from the mall because it was farther than we thought and we had a long adventure trying to find our way through a bike race that was blocking our way home. So we watched a movie and had a very quick dinner because our friend Zazi was playing in a jazz concert at 7. So we went to the show and luckily it was the kind of jazz that I actually like. Mlu came with us and he and I shared some stuff with eachother about our cultures particularly pertaining to marriage and dating. We had some entertaining moments at some of the striking differences. For example, Mlu thinks nothing of the fact that he has four girlfriends. He couldn't believe though that if I wanted to marry a girl I didn't have to pay her parents for her. If Mlu wanted to get married he would have to give the father 11 cows amoung many other things. Ultimately a Zulu wedding cost somewhere around 70,000 rand. Which is a ton of money for people here.
Today is another quiet day so far. Aerin and I went to the store to by some food items for tonight and then we came here. I think tonight we are just taking it easy around the house. Hope all of you back home are having a good weekend. Talk to you soon.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Sawubona friends and family,
It was one cold and rainy day out there today. And to think that just two days ago it was 38 C (I'm pretty sure that is the upper 90s.) Today its more like 19 C which is a big difference in celcius. I decided to come here after work though because only one post a week proved to take too long for me.
I'm going to be honest, the past few days have been frustrating for me. Its becoming apparent that one of our room mates is a control freak without a sense of humor and its starting to cause some issues in our house. Aerin, Anne, and myself are especially feeling it and its making itself most apparent in the grocery shopping. The thing is though, I don't think she really knows best even though she insists on things her way. I feel like there is a lot of wasted money the way she wants to shop and she even admitted herself she is not used to being on a budget. I'm trying not to get too upset over it but it brings me down when someone is treating you with the attitude of, you're only 17 so I automatically know best. I a couple hours I will be getting yet another female, dutch roommate. She is also 17 so I am curious to see how that works out because we will have two distinct age groups with equal numbers. Three 17 year olds, three 24 year olds. Hopefully our problematic roommate will ease up a little. There are too many of us living in close quarters to have too much tension so hopefully we will figure things out soon.
Work has been frustrating too though. With this rain the past couple days our activities have been limited to the indoors and so all the program is done in Zulu. The people I am working with do absolutely nothing to clue me in to what is going on so I end up just standing there and watching. I have been talking with my project coordinator as well as a past volunteer who is visiting with her mother and they know exactly what I am talking about. Apparently Haniville is known for having this trouble with volunteers. I'm not ready to give up on it just yet but I am concidering joining the After Care program. My biggest hope is for this soccer tournament to work out because I think it will be the chance I need to bond with some of these kids. The prospects are better than I thought because Thabo told me in the car yesterday morning that he hadn't forgotten about it and that he and I will sit down sometime this week after work and start planning it.
I haven't really learned any more Zulu since Saturday, well I learned "Umulu Bohla," "play ball." I am starting to be able to follow conversations a bit though and pick up the jist of what people are saying. The difficulty is how fast people speak. Yesterday after our school visit I got to participate in a Haniville tradition. We nabbed some sugar cane from a truck on the side of the road and brought it back with us and ate it. I'm not sure how many of you have gotten the opportunity to eat sugar cane but it is an experience everyone should try, unless you have weak teeth. Your sugar cane won't be quite as fresh as mine though because mine came straight from a field across the street. Today I had a fat cookie. It is some kind of Zulu treat that is much like a giant dumpling. Not a chinese dumping but rather like a comfort food dumpling.
Well that is about all for now. Tonight we are going out with a bunch of people bowling and shooting pool. You can shoot pool for 1 rand which in dollars is only 10 cents. Or at least that was the case a couple days ago. I'm not sure what the exchange is like now but as of Saturday the dollar was worth almost 10 rand! You should hear from me again Saturday.
Peace
It was one cold and rainy day out there today. And to think that just two days ago it was 38 C (I'm pretty sure that is the upper 90s.) Today its more like 19 C which is a big difference in celcius. I decided to come here after work though because only one post a week proved to take too long for me.
I'm going to be honest, the past few days have been frustrating for me. Its becoming apparent that one of our room mates is a control freak without a sense of humor and its starting to cause some issues in our house. Aerin, Anne, and myself are especially feeling it and its making itself most apparent in the grocery shopping. The thing is though, I don't think she really knows best even though she insists on things her way. I feel like there is a lot of wasted money the way she wants to shop and she even admitted herself she is not used to being on a budget. I'm trying not to get too upset over it but it brings me down when someone is treating you with the attitude of, you're only 17 so I automatically know best. I a couple hours I will be getting yet another female, dutch roommate. She is also 17 so I am curious to see how that works out because we will have two distinct age groups with equal numbers. Three 17 year olds, three 24 year olds. Hopefully our problematic roommate will ease up a little. There are too many of us living in close quarters to have too much tension so hopefully we will figure things out soon.
Work has been frustrating too though. With this rain the past couple days our activities have been limited to the indoors and so all the program is done in Zulu. The people I am working with do absolutely nothing to clue me in to what is going on so I end up just standing there and watching. I have been talking with my project coordinator as well as a past volunteer who is visiting with her mother and they know exactly what I am talking about. Apparently Haniville is known for having this trouble with volunteers. I'm not ready to give up on it just yet but I am concidering joining the After Care program. My biggest hope is for this soccer tournament to work out because I think it will be the chance I need to bond with some of these kids. The prospects are better than I thought because Thabo told me in the car yesterday morning that he hadn't forgotten about it and that he and I will sit down sometime this week after work and start planning it.
I haven't really learned any more Zulu since Saturday, well I learned "Umulu Bohla," "play ball." I am starting to be able to follow conversations a bit though and pick up the jist of what people are saying. The difficulty is how fast people speak. Yesterday after our school visit I got to participate in a Haniville tradition. We nabbed some sugar cane from a truck on the side of the road and brought it back with us and ate it. I'm not sure how many of you have gotten the opportunity to eat sugar cane but it is an experience everyone should try, unless you have weak teeth. Your sugar cane won't be quite as fresh as mine though because mine came straight from a field across the street. Today I had a fat cookie. It is some kind of Zulu treat that is much like a giant dumpling. Not a chinese dumping but rather like a comfort food dumpling.
Well that is about all for now. Tonight we are going out with a bunch of people bowling and shooting pool. You can shoot pool for 1 rand which in dollars is only 10 cents. Or at least that was the case a couple days ago. I'm not sure what the exchange is like now but as of Saturday the dollar was worth almost 10 rand! You should hear from me again Saturday.
Peace
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Wow!
I can't believe it's been a whole week since I've been able to post. First I would like to say thank you for all the comments people left. Its really nice reading them. Now I'll fill you in on the week.
Sunday was the Braai. It was a cold rainy day so it kept us inside but it was still pretty fun. I gotta admitt though, I was feeling kind of shy. As it turns out there are no male volunteers in Durban either. There was a guy and his wife visiting from holland though (they work for an organization that sets up dutch volunteers with the yfc.) The two of them came back to our house to stay until tuesday morning so they could see how everything works here in maritzburg.
Monday we went on a tour around maritzburg to see where and how all the various yfc programs opperate. As it turns out we were going to be choosing where we worked. The tour started at the office a block from our house where we met one of the head hanchos around here, Derek. He reminded me a bit of Bob Marley minus the weed. Derek took us around from site to site. We saw yazini (a school health ed program) the girls shelter for homeless girls, the three community drop in centers, the street outreach office, yfc headquarters, the aftercare office, and an additional community we work in. Let me say that there is no place I have seen that is as beautiful as South Africa. However, for being such a developed country, the poverty here is appauling. Never in my life have I seen so many people living in run down shacks. Its one thing to see pictures on tv, its another thing intirely to walk through these neighborhoods in person. I am all for simple living and I think I would be happy living in a small hut like that, but I realize that those people aren't there by choice and that life is really difficult for them. They live in areas like that filled with trash and crime yet they are expected to function in a modern world that revolves around money. It creates a very difficult situation to get out of that we are expected to battle. Most of the full time staff at yfc live in these very communities. After our tour we came home for an hour lunch break to let everything sink in and then we had to make our decisions. I decided to work at the community center in Haniville, a small rural community built on a very large hill on the very outskirt of 'maritzburg.
Tuesday was my first day. I was the last of the volunteers to be dropped off due to my communities location but it gave me some time to talk to Thabo (he does most of the driving) the coordinator of the drop in centers. Thabo is a very funny man who yells at random times when he gets excited about something or is telling a story. So I arrived at the center and I had already met the people I would be working with there the day before. We left immediately to go on a school visit to meet with a particular students teacher. We needed to find out about some medication she had been taking to help her in school so that we could get her back on it because she hasn't been taking it and she is really struggling in school now. Next year she will be going into highschool and we are very worried about how she will do if she doesn't have the medication. When we arrived at the school a class of kids saw us and started yelling something in Zulu. Apparently they thought I was Jet Li. The school visit was unproductive and I had no clue what was going on because everything was said in Zulu. I was filled in later that none of the girl's teachers seemed to know. When the kids came after school they were all very scared of me. If I said "Hi" to them they would turn away and if I said "Sawubona" they would laugh and then turn away. So all in all I was unsuccessful with them on day one.
Day two didn't start out much better. There was a little 5 year old girl name Sinke who came in early because she is too young for school. I tried talking to her but she doesn't know a word of english and she was even more shy. I could tell that she was curious about me though. Some of the boys were the first to arrive and they immediately started playing soccer beacuse that is all they do here. I asked them to play but they didn't know what I was saying so they ignored me. So I sat nearby Sinke and we watched them. Eventually I think her curiousity got the better of her shyness because she started sneaking up behind me. I would turn around and she would scream and run away laughing. But it was the ice breaker she needed. It didn't take long then for her to make friends with me though it took her a while to realize that I didn't know Zulu. Nevertheless I helped her draw a picture durning craft time by holding marker tops for her. She must have decided I would be useful for that. She continued to speak Zulu to me but she learned that I understood pointing much better.
My time on the computer is almost over, but you should know that the kids are used to me now and enjoy playing games with me despite a very difficult language barrier. The girls are much more persistent then the boys though and they really like to get me involved in their games. I think they find it funny to watch me try to follow whats going on. There is one boy though who speaks english very well and he helps me as my translator. I can't wait for next monday to come.
One last thing, I may be starting my own soccer team in haniville to play against the other communitees. I really hope it works out. Hopefully I'll be able to update you in the next couple days. Bye for now
I can't believe it's been a whole week since I've been able to post. First I would like to say thank you for all the comments people left. Its really nice reading them. Now I'll fill you in on the week.
Sunday was the Braai. It was a cold rainy day so it kept us inside but it was still pretty fun. I gotta admitt though, I was feeling kind of shy. As it turns out there are no male volunteers in Durban either. There was a guy and his wife visiting from holland though (they work for an organization that sets up dutch volunteers with the yfc.) The two of them came back to our house to stay until tuesday morning so they could see how everything works here in maritzburg.
Monday we went on a tour around maritzburg to see where and how all the various yfc programs opperate. As it turns out we were going to be choosing where we worked. The tour started at the office a block from our house where we met one of the head hanchos around here, Derek. He reminded me a bit of Bob Marley minus the weed. Derek took us around from site to site. We saw yazini (a school health ed program) the girls shelter for homeless girls, the three community drop in centers, the street outreach office, yfc headquarters, the aftercare office, and an additional community we work in. Let me say that there is no place I have seen that is as beautiful as South Africa. However, for being such a developed country, the poverty here is appauling. Never in my life have I seen so many people living in run down shacks. Its one thing to see pictures on tv, its another thing intirely to walk through these neighborhoods in person. I am all for simple living and I think I would be happy living in a small hut like that, but I realize that those people aren't there by choice and that life is really difficult for them. They live in areas like that filled with trash and crime yet they are expected to function in a modern world that revolves around money. It creates a very difficult situation to get out of that we are expected to battle. Most of the full time staff at yfc live in these very communities. After our tour we came home for an hour lunch break to let everything sink in and then we had to make our decisions. I decided to work at the community center in Haniville, a small rural community built on a very large hill on the very outskirt of 'maritzburg.
Tuesday was my first day. I was the last of the volunteers to be dropped off due to my communities location but it gave me some time to talk to Thabo (he does most of the driving) the coordinator of the drop in centers. Thabo is a very funny man who yells at random times when he gets excited about something or is telling a story. So I arrived at the center and I had already met the people I would be working with there the day before. We left immediately to go on a school visit to meet with a particular students teacher. We needed to find out about some medication she had been taking to help her in school so that we could get her back on it because she hasn't been taking it and she is really struggling in school now. Next year she will be going into highschool and we are very worried about how she will do if she doesn't have the medication. When we arrived at the school a class of kids saw us and started yelling something in Zulu. Apparently they thought I was Jet Li. The school visit was unproductive and I had no clue what was going on because everything was said in Zulu. I was filled in later that none of the girl's teachers seemed to know. When the kids came after school they were all very scared of me. If I said "Hi" to them they would turn away and if I said "Sawubona" they would laugh and then turn away. So all in all I was unsuccessful with them on day one.
Day two didn't start out much better. There was a little 5 year old girl name Sinke who came in early because she is too young for school. I tried talking to her but she doesn't know a word of english and she was even more shy. I could tell that she was curious about me though. Some of the boys were the first to arrive and they immediately started playing soccer beacuse that is all they do here. I asked them to play but they didn't know what I was saying so they ignored me. So I sat nearby Sinke and we watched them. Eventually I think her curiousity got the better of her shyness because she started sneaking up behind me. I would turn around and she would scream and run away laughing. But it was the ice breaker she needed. It didn't take long then for her to make friends with me though it took her a while to realize that I didn't know Zulu. Nevertheless I helped her draw a picture durning craft time by holding marker tops for her. She must have decided I would be useful for that. She continued to speak Zulu to me but she learned that I understood pointing much better.
My time on the computer is almost over, but you should know that the kids are used to me now and enjoy playing games with me despite a very difficult language barrier. The girls are much more persistent then the boys though and they really like to get me involved in their games. I think they find it funny to watch me try to follow whats going on. There is one boy though who speaks english very well and he helps me as my translator. I can't wait for next monday to come.
One last thing, I may be starting my own soccer team in haniville to play against the other communitees. I really hope it works out. Hopefully I'll be able to update you in the next couple days. Bye for now
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Sawubona!
Who would have thought I'd be here again the very next day. As it turns out we never made it to the store yesterday. After driving around town for an hour and seeing a sign that read, Pick n Pay 450 m, we still couldn't find it. All of us were tired and hungry though, and the store was closing in 15 minutes (everything here closes at 7) so we gave up. We stopped at a small store though and got enough to make a meal for the five of us for the night. Yes, I forgot yesterday that we were getting yet another Dutch room mate who comes and goes because she works at L'abri in the bush. (I remain the only male in the house though.) Anyway her name is Maya and today she, Aerin and I have gone out to do the shopping at a store within walking distance of our house. The same store which I stopped at yesterday. Because it is nearby to this internet cafe, and because the two ladies needed to use the internet today we stopped here. Anne and Rose, our other roommates are at work until 3. Aerin and I are cooking tonight but we haven't decided what yet. It is probably going to be between chicken French and Chicken Alfredo.
The past couple days have been chilly and rainy. Well today it hasn't rained yet but it is completely overcast. Since the rain has stopped however, we have had our first opportunity to see some of the local wild life. There are these birds about the size of a pelican with a long narrow beak that appear to be the source of the morning wooping that wakes us up everymorning. Then there are these smaller birds with white squares under their wings and very yellow beaks and legs. They are also very loud. I am told there are monkies here but i have yet to see any.
Tomorrow we are going to a Braai (BBQ) at our project coordinator's house out in the country. We will meet the volunteers from Durban there. That should be a fun little party. Monday we start work at a drop in center. I am both nervous to start the new job and excited to meet all the kids.
That is about all I've got for now. Hope all of you back in the states are doing well. I'm feeling a little home sick for everyone but I must say I really love it hear. At the moment, I can picture myself wanting to move back here on a more permanant basis but I'm gonna need to make it through these next nine months first. Talk to you later.
Who would have thought I'd be here again the very next day. As it turns out we never made it to the store yesterday. After driving around town for an hour and seeing a sign that read, Pick n Pay 450 m, we still couldn't find it. All of us were tired and hungry though, and the store was closing in 15 minutes (everything here closes at 7) so we gave up. We stopped at a small store though and got enough to make a meal for the five of us for the night. Yes, I forgot yesterday that we were getting yet another Dutch room mate who comes and goes because she works at L'abri in the bush. (I remain the only male in the house though.) Anyway her name is Maya and today she, Aerin and I have gone out to do the shopping at a store within walking distance of our house. The same store which I stopped at yesterday. Because it is nearby to this internet cafe, and because the two ladies needed to use the internet today we stopped here. Anne and Rose, our other roommates are at work until 3. Aerin and I are cooking tonight but we haven't decided what yet. It is probably going to be between chicken French and Chicken Alfredo.
The past couple days have been chilly and rainy. Well today it hasn't rained yet but it is completely overcast. Since the rain has stopped however, we have had our first opportunity to see some of the local wild life. There are these birds about the size of a pelican with a long narrow beak that appear to be the source of the morning wooping that wakes us up everymorning. Then there are these smaller birds with white squares under their wings and very yellow beaks and legs. They are also very loud. I am told there are monkies here but i have yet to see any.
Tomorrow we are going to a Braai (BBQ) at our project coordinator's house out in the country. We will meet the volunteers from Durban there. That should be a fun little party. Monday we start work at a drop in center. I am both nervous to start the new job and excited to meet all the kids.
That is about all I've got for now. Hope all of you back in the states are doing well. I'm feeling a little home sick for everyone but I must say I really love it hear. At the moment, I can picture myself wanting to move back here on a more permanant basis but I'm gonna need to make it through these next nine months first. Talk to you later.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Sawubona!
I am here in a very crowded internet cafe in pietermaritzburg and aside from my dutch room mate sitting here next to me I am the only white person. I can't say that I mind it, it is just different being the minority (that is population minority because whites here are very wealthy.)
Anyway we landed last night in Durban after some 30 hours of traveling. We were picked up by the project coordinator's husband at the airport and he brought us to our house in Pietermaritzburg which is about an hours drive. It was our first experience driving on the left side of the road and it was a bit disorienting. Unfortunately it was dark so we really couldn't see much of the scenery. You would not believe the number of new BMW's and Mercedes on the road though. It was not what I would have expected. So we arrived very tired but had trouble falling asleep because of the time difference.
This morning we got up and showered (yes it was hot water) and had a small breakfast (peanut butter toast, nothing exciting.) The project coordinator Sally came over and met with us told us we would be working in a drop in center for youth and that we would be starting monday. So I suppose we have the next couple days to get adjusted to the time change. We unpacked our stuff and got settled, met a couple people who work next door and hung out with our two room mates from Holland, Anne and Rose. I am the only guy in a house with three other girls now and there is another on the way in a couple weeks. I can't say that I know when next there will be a fellow male around but oh well. I guess all my female friends prepared me for this. Anne and I went to a store which could have been a store like anywhere back home and then we came here to get on the internet.
Our house is not too bad. It is very old with the highest ceilings I have ever seen. One story, there are three bedrooms a kitchen, living room/dining room and a very large bathroom. I will post some pictures next time maybe if I get the chance. Mom, I found Mike Gleason's picture in the hallway, it was kinda funny.
This part of south africa looks alot like California too me, so it doesn't really feel like I have even left the country. Although I have now discovered that I am something of a novelty to the locals here because there really aren't many whites in Pietermaritzburg. They like to talk to us and are very friendly. A man in the gorcery store attempted to teach me some Zulu. Lucky for me, everyone here knows english and although they will talk to you in Zulu, I can answer in English for now.
Well, I am off to the "big" grocery store now to do our shopping for the week. Talk to ya later.
I am here in a very crowded internet cafe in pietermaritzburg and aside from my dutch room mate sitting here next to me I am the only white person. I can't say that I mind it, it is just different being the minority (that is population minority because whites here are very wealthy.)
Anyway we landed last night in Durban after some 30 hours of traveling. We were picked up by the project coordinator's husband at the airport and he brought us to our house in Pietermaritzburg which is about an hours drive. It was our first experience driving on the left side of the road and it was a bit disorienting. Unfortunately it was dark so we really couldn't see much of the scenery. You would not believe the number of new BMW's and Mercedes on the road though. It was not what I would have expected. So we arrived very tired but had trouble falling asleep because of the time difference.
This morning we got up and showered (yes it was hot water) and had a small breakfast (peanut butter toast, nothing exciting.) The project coordinator Sally came over and met with us told us we would be working in a drop in center for youth and that we would be starting monday. So I suppose we have the next couple days to get adjusted to the time change. We unpacked our stuff and got settled, met a couple people who work next door and hung out with our two room mates from Holland, Anne and Rose. I am the only guy in a house with three other girls now and there is another on the way in a couple weeks. I can't say that I know when next there will be a fellow male around but oh well. I guess all my female friends prepared me for this. Anne and I went to a store which could have been a store like anywhere back home and then we came here to get on the internet.
Our house is not too bad. It is very old with the highest ceilings I have ever seen. One story, there are three bedrooms a kitchen, living room/dining room and a very large bathroom. I will post some pictures next time maybe if I get the chance. Mom, I found Mike Gleason's picture in the hallway, it was kinda funny.
This part of south africa looks alot like California too me, so it doesn't really feel like I have even left the country. Although I have now discovered that I am something of a novelty to the locals here because there really aren't many whites in Pietermaritzburg. They like to talk to us and are very friendly. A man in the gorcery store attempted to teach me some Zulu. Lucky for me, everyone here knows english and although they will talk to you in Zulu, I can answer in English for now.
Well, I am off to the "big" grocery store now to do our shopping for the week. Talk to ya later.
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