Safari here I come!

I am leaving Grahamstown in about an hour to be gone for 2 weeks...on a safari!  Oh my goodness!  It is going to be crazy!  We will be taking a bus to Cape Town tonight and spending all day there tomorrow.  On Monday morning we will begin our tour of the entire country stopping at all of the "touristy" places.  We will be with 9 other tourists and 2 tour guides traveling around on a bus/truck type thing.  And here's the kicker...when we stop at night, we will be sleeping in tents!  I know it's crazy but I'm so excited!  I will not have very much internet access so I will not be able to keep this updated.  I will be keeping a daily written journal and most certainly put it all on here once I return (September 5th)  Wish me luck!

In case you want to know, this is the link to the tour that I will be taking!  You can check out all of the places that I will be visiting and all the things that I will see!
http://www.packagetours.co.za/tours-by-type/camping-overland/132-garden-route-and-lesotho-13-days.html

I'm so excited and cannot wait for this HUGE adventure!  Definitely keep me in your prayers please!  I love you all!

On Holiday!

Today was the last day of the term!  It is really weird to think that I am getting to go on a break after being here for just 2 weeks.  The boys are definitely excited about it and I'm looking forward to sleeping late in the morning that is for sure! The had a final assembly today where all of the parents came and they gave out all of the awards for the term.  It was really interesting to see what all they do; handwriting competetions, drawing competetions, an academic bowl, etc.  And of course your typical sports awards and honor roll (which hey call Full House!) 

The really neat thing is that the entire school is divided up into houses...just like Harry Potter!  There are the Lions, Tigers, and Griffin.  Each house is awarded points for various activities that the students participate in and at the end of each term the house with the most points wins the House Cup (the most coveted award!)  The boys really get team spirited during different activities and I think it is a really good way to get all of the boys, no matter their age, working together.  The teachers are also divided up into what house they support as well.  It definitely provides some friendly competetion!

After school I spent over an hour trying to get some of my money converted over into Rand (South African curency).  In case you were wondering $1 U.S. Dollar = around 7.5 Rand.  Needless to say, I feel like I am spending so much more money here!  Lots of things are more expensive though, especially clothes and personal stuff like lotion, shampoo, etc.  Luckily I brought enough of all of that to last me until November...hopefully!

Side note...Skype is AMAZING! 

Walk a mile in my shoes

Actually you shouldn't walk a mile in my shoes...unless you want lots of blisters, sore legs, and aching feet!  That has been the story of my life lately.  Because of the cold weather, I have had to wear closed toe shoes.  And in order to coordinate with my "school clothes" they are not always the most comfortable.  I have even resorted to wearing my tennis shoes on the way to school and changing once I get there (providing a very cute attire on the way!)  Becuase it is the end of term, the school schedule has been a little different and I have sometimes had to walk back and fourth to school twice in 1 day (making that 4 - 25 minute walks!) But oh well...at least I'm getting lots of exercise!

Mrs. Baxen is basically rennovating her entire house and today began the kitchen project...meaning we got to go out for dinner tonight!  We went to a really cute little Thai resturant and it was delicious!  I know I talk about food a lot, but as you can tell, good food is sometimes hard to come by so it is worth discussing. Yesterday I had a Coke and a doughnut too.  I even emailed a picture of it to my Mom...how pathetic is that!? 

Tomorrow is the last day of term for the students and Misty and I still haven't quite decided what we're going to do for the holiday yet!  We have found lots of different options!  I really want to go on like a group tour type thing all over the country and be a complete tourist!  I don't really get to be a "tourist" in Grahamstown becuase that just attracts more attention.  As if being a 6 foot tall, dark haired, dark eyed, white girl isn't enough; adding a camera only makes it worse! 

The Chicks are Here

Today the eggs finally hatched and we have 14 baby chicks so far!  They are so cute and the boys absolutely LOVED them!  Each boy got to write his name on one of the eggs and they have been waiting patiently for 21 days for them to hatch.  As someone's chick was born, all of the other students were saying "Congratulations Dad!" to the boy whose name was on the egg.  It was adorable! 

Inside the incubator where they all hatched 

The boys took turns every day rotating the eggs in the incubator as well as monitoring the temperature and humidity levels.  It was so neat for them to actually see the life cycle happen instead of just reading about it in a book. 

A few of the chicks

The finished product!

The boys also got to take home their egg once it hatched.  The chicks will be in the classroom under an infra-red light until Thursday when they will go home with some of the students who live on farms.  It defintiely made me want to take a few home with me...and it also made me miss Puddles!

Boys boys boys

Today has been a rather chill day outside of school...I have been able to get some things accomplished!  We are trying to decide what we are going to do during the holiday because we want to take advantage of our time off.  I have heard that there is the world's highest bungee jump about 2 hours from here and I definitely want to check it out! 

Since everyone has been asking for pictures, I've been trying to take some to give you an idea of life here!

My classroom...with the boys hard at work!

Since the students get out for holiday on Thursday, this week is full of excitement and energy!  There is a lot going on to wrap up the end of the term; drawing contests, family game night, assembly, etc.  All of the schools here go year round with a 2-3 week break in between every term.  I can't really decide if I like this schedule or the American schedule better...I think I would REALLY miss summer break! 

Some of my enthusiastic boys posing for a picture!

Reality hits hard

I have now been in Grahamstown for an entire week and it has FLOWN by!  It's so crazy that I will be living here for the next 3 months. I absolutely love it but there is so much about this city and this culture that has taken me by surprise.  I want to preface this blog by saying that I am in no way looking down upon anyone, just simply stating what I have experienced so far and how I feel about it.

Poverty is extremely rampant here and the unemployment rate is over 40% just in Grahamstown; it is heartbreaking.  Any time that we have walked out of a resturant with "to-go boxes" we have been bombarded with young kids asking for food and of course we give whatever we have.  I just don't feel like it's making that much of a difference!  Everywhere you look there is someone who needs help in some way or another.  Yesterday we had a girl come and knock on the door asking us for money.  Apparently my roommate had given her a peanut butter sandwhich the day before and she had remembered where we lived and had come back for more.  Situations like this are everywhere and it just rips my heart out!

Racism is also still very prevalent here and the white people are much more highly looked upon.  Although apartheid no longer exists, traces of it are seen everywhere.  The white people are the ones who drive cars and the blacks are the ones walking on the side of the road (except for Misty and I!).  The white people are the teachers, doctors, and lawyers while the blacks are the janitors, lunch ladies, and street cleaners.  It just doesn't seem right to me at all!

Since I've experienced all of this, I am constantly thinking about what I can do to fix it but then realize that there isn't very much.  It simply breaks my heart to see people be treated differently simply because of the color of their skin or to see children asking for food on the side of the road.  I know that God has me here for a specific purpose and I know that I am going to some how, some way, make a difference in the lives of the people of Grahamstown...I'm just haven't figured it all out yet!      

On a lighter note...

The most popular brand of chips in South Africa...and also the best name!

Weekend Rivalry

This weekend has been a flashback to high school...in a good way!  In Grahamstown there are 2 major private schools, St. Andrews (where I am) and Kingswood, and they are major rivals.  All of the students get really into all of the competetion and their parents do as well.  It's even fun at the house I'm staying at because Aegean attends Kingswood and of course I have to root for St. Andrews!

On Friday, I witnessed my first field hockey game when I went to watch some of my students play.  It was very neat to see some of my kids on the field and witness a sport that I have never seen...it was really intense.  I also got to see some of the older students, so I got a more accurate idea of the game.  This was all a part of the big rivalry weekend as well!

Some of my students playing field hockey!

Saturday was called "K-Day" and although I have no idea what that stands for, it was really fun!  The highlight was definitely the rugby game.  I think everyone from this town and every surrounding town was at the game cheering for their team.  It was just like a high school football game and I loved it! The students had painted their faces (while sporting their dress uniforms of course!) and were extrememly into the game.  Although I still don't understand the rules, I really enjoyed the game and St. Andrews won!

The rugby match!