Insinkwe

From Durban, we drove about 3 and a half hours to Insinkwe. There we were able to travel to Umfolowzi Park and go on our first Safari. I was so excited even though we had to get up at 4:30am. We spent 5 hours in the park and I was pretty much the equivalent of a little kid who went to the zoo for the first time. We saw zebras, hippos, rhinos, warthogs, kudus, buffalo (different from the ones you see in the U.S.), water buffalo, elephants, and giraffes (my personal favorite). We were all disappointed because in the park there are also lions and leopards, but we did not see any. Apparently it is very rare to see either, but we had heard from the Durban group that they saw a pack of lions eating a Zebra, so we got our hopes up a bit. I kept singing the song Wondering Where the Lions are, but sadly no one else knew the tune and thought that I was making it up. I looked for it in my itunes library, but I don’t have it, try not to be disappointed in me Dad.
After Umflowzi, we headed back to the backpackers for lunch and a bit of relaxation around the pool. It was a super hot day so it was nice to be able to cool off a bit. Later that afternoon most of the group decided to go on a river boat ride. We drove about an hour in order to take a boat tour in which we saw a bunch of hippos and crocodiles and another kudu. We were so close to the hippos that it was amazing and they were in large packs. It was a lot of fun to be right next to animals that for so long seemed like such an odd commodity.
The next morning we woke early to drive the 3.5 hours back to the Durban airport. We got inside the airport and saw a Subway and a few of us went pretty nuts. We decided to eat there for lunch but were quickly disappointed. It looked exactly like an American Subway, in everything but the food. You couldn’t build your own sandwich and all of the meats were different than I had ever seen, it was a bit of a let down. But also a good lesson to not expect everything to be the same here as it is back home.
When we landed in Cape Town we were picked up and taken back to our homes in Langa. It was wonderful to reunite with my family there. Zina ran outside and hugged me and tried to help me carry my big bag. The mother gave me a huge hug and a smile and then asked all about my experience. Toko also gave me a huge hug and then immediately went to change so that we could go out. When Lohlhi came in and saw me he immediately started laughing and fell to the ground. I then chased him around and tickled him. Nwabiza saw me from the street and called to me there. It was quite the welcoming and it really felt like I was home. I will be so sad when we have to leave Langa for good tomorrow morning. However a few of us are positive that we will be visiting during our ISP’s.
For now, I am loaded with homework as crunch time is starting to set in. We have a term paper due in a week that I have yet to start and we also have to finalize our ISP’s. Not to mention the fact that I have a lot of medical bills to deal with and just got notices saying that if paperwork is not filed soon I will be solely responsible for the bill. Oh yes, and did I mention that I managed to lose my Check Card..... so I am now without money. I’m pretty much the world’s worst traveler, but somehow I’m managing to survive.
I hope that things are wonderful with everyone at home and that these posts made up for my inactivity in the last few weeks. Myrna, I apologize for missing your shower, but I hear that it was great.

Durban

From Bucs, we drove about 5 hours to Kokstad. Where we stayed a night at one of the creepiest hostels I have ever seen. I swore that we were all going to get hacked in our sleep there. The place looked like the scenery from the ring. There were animal heads on the walls, and a well in the back yard. We had no cell phone reception and there was no internet, so no contact with the outside world. The last guest book entry was from over a year ago. The room I stayed in had horses all over the walls and a random chalk drawing of a boy named billy whose face was rubbed out. There was also a mirror with half of a woman’s face painted on it. Me and another girl were so scared of our room that we moved a single mattress into the floor of another room and shared it, rather than sleep in our room.
Oddly enough, we all woke up just fine the next morning and had a lovely breakfast. The women working there were very nice and packed us lunches for the road. They also took pictures of us because they were so excited to have a group of Americans come and stay there, they asked us to each individually sign the guest book (my guess is so that it wasn’t so blank anymore).
We hopped in the car and drove the rest of the 4 hours to Durban. In Durban, we stayed at Gibela backpackers, which is right near Florida Road (the big place to go out in Durban). While in Durban we spent almost every day at the University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN). We had lectures and seminars and basically not a ton of fun, although it was interesting. We learned a lot more about race problems in South Africa both in lectures and out. While on the campus eating lunch in the courtyard, all of the different groups of kids are based on ethnicity, which is different from the way we divide ourselves in the U.S. Some girls also had experiences at a club when a bouncer threatened to kick them out if they danced with any more black guys while they were there. It was pretty hard for all of us to swallow and I think we decided as a group that we didn’t like Durban all that much.
While in Durban we ran into two other SIT groups who are based there. It was fun to talk to them for a little bit and find out about their experiences. I think that we decided we were all happy to be in the group that we are in and to have chosen our program. So that was a nice bit of reassurance.

Buccs

After Tshabo, we drove about 2 hours to Cintsa on the wild coast. We stayed at the most amazing backpackers, called Buccaneers. As sad as I was to leave Tshabo, I quickly forgot about it. Buccaneers was basically the paradise pictured in every movie in which they show warm climates near the ocean. We stayed in cabins there, but there were also tents for people to camp in. We were up a hill, overlooking a bay that went out into the ocean. Bucs had its own pool, climbing wall, volleyball court, horseback riding, surfing (yes I went again, and I survived), bar, restaurant, gift shop and so much more. Every evening there were group activities that we participated in. We got to know the staff very well, and had an amazing time with them. Hopefully I will be able to post some pictures with my blog, although they don’t do a good enough job of capturing the wonder of this backpackers. If anyone is planning a trip to South Africa, they must make this one of their destinations.

Tshabo

We spent the last two weeks traveling around South Africa. One March 6th we flew from Cape Town to East London. From there we drove about 2 hours to our rural homestay, about 45 minutes of the drive was on dirt roads. Most of us stayed in a village called Tshabo, which is divided up into different blocks and we were in block 2. A few others from the group stayed in a neighboring village called Dongwe.

The village had it’s own school system and several churches. The homes all had electricity, something that was brought to them after the end of apartheid. However there was no running water in each of the homes, but there were water taps dispersed throughout the village.
Tshabo was really an amazing place and if I ever get the chance to come back to South Africa, it will be one of the first stops on my list. The village was beautiful, located at the top of the hill with an amazing view. Goats, chickens, and cattle roamed freely throughout the village. I was scared of the cows since they were bigger than I had ever seen and all had horns, but we did have some fun attempting to stare them down off of different pathways. I also attempted several times to catch a chicken with my bare hands, but I was unsuccessful. However I did help a little boy to catch one in a giant group effort that consisted of us surrounding a few families of chickens and leaping wildly at them, it was quite a sight.

Most of us were paired up with another student for this homestay. I lived with another girl from Minnesota. Our family consisted of our Mama, her 35-year-old son, and 3 of her granddaughters (grade 5, grade 1, and 2-years-old). The house was a bit smaller than my house in Langa, but a fairly similar setup. There were 5 rooms: a kitchen (without a fridge or a sink), a living room (complete of course with a tv and a stereo), and 3 bedrooms. One of the bedrooms was about the size of a closet and contained only a single bed, which was all that could fit in the room, that room belonged to the son. Another room was shared by the 3 girls and it contained a double bed and a couple of wardrobes, the room that Sarah and I stayed in was actually the mothers room and was very nice. It had a double bed, a wardrobe, 2 nightstands, a dresser, TV, and a vanity table. It was kind of ironic that the first time we would be able to look in a mirror whenever we wanted coincided with the first time we would be living in an area with no running water and therefore limited bathing opportunities.
It was amazing how much certain aspects of Tshabo reminded me of my Voyageurs trip, in which I spent a month in northern Canada. Oddly enough I felt at home immediately in Tshabo. Something about peeing outside and brushing your teeth with water from a water bottle is oddly invigorating.

The first day we were there we had a family day, so we were able to just hang out and get a feel for the area. We learned some new games from the kids, and also were to some degree put on display for them as they poked and prodded at us. They were very open about our bodies, and curious and would often grab at us in ways that neither Sarah nor I were used to. Apparently in their culture breasts are not a private thing, and therefore often they were talked about and kids kept grabbing our shirts to look down them.
We talked the kids into taking us on a walk and we explored the valley that lay at the back of our house and separated us from Tshabo 1. It was breathtaking, and I could have spent all day in the fields there, except some of the largest cows I have ever seen came up and I got scared and had to run away. We found some of the other students in our group in a field across from the high school. They were with most of the kids from the village. Some were playing soccer while others were sitting on the ground being mobbed by kids. I played soccer. It was a lot of fun, but also one of the biggest workouts of my life. The grass there is never cut, except by the cows. The nets were wooden posts with a log balanced across the top of them, and a couple times I had to have kids stand on my shoulders to place the logs back up. The field was also located on a hill so half of it was up and the other was down. Due to the long grass, I cut my foot open kicking rocks instead of the ball. The ball was flat but it still worked. Despite the challenges we had an amazing time playing with the kids, and the kids were very good.

The next day we had a lecture at the school on education in the area, although I missed half of the lecture because I got distracted playing stickball with the kids outside and no one notified me that we were starting up again. The rest of the afternoon we had free to do as we pleased. So a group of us explored the area again and even walked to the next village in Dongwe.

On Sunday Sarah and I walked to Dongwe to attend church with some of our friends whose host sibling was singing in church. It was an amazing service, although it was given in Xhosa, so I didn’t comprehend most of it, but I loved listening to the songs.

After church a large group of us walked the long walk back to Tshabo in the heat of the mid afternoon. It took about an hour and a half to walk there and pretty much all of it was uphill. We walked on a dirt path through long grass in open fields and I started singing “Climb every Mountain” because it felt very similar to that scene in The Sound of Music.

We spent 5 days in Tshabo and each day we had different activities planned in the morning, and then an open afternoon. Our activities were aimed at learning about life in Tshabo. One day was spent working in the fields and learning about their agricultural challenges. Oddly enough, I felt at home there and Dad I know that our leader would have loved talking to you about different gardening strategies. Another day we learned to bead things, since that is a big trade for many of the women in the community. I made my own necklace and hope that it doesn’t break before I get home. We also had a day that we spent in the schools, this day was very disheartening. Many of the 11th graders didn’t know basic math and had trouble with easy algebra problems. They had to use calculators to do the simplest of multiplication and we spent about an hour and a half trying to tutor kids through 3 problems. Some were good at it, but the majority of the students in the class were not beyond a 4th grade math level.
The majority of my time in Tshabo was actually spent in the yard of some of my friends homestay families. They had a big yard and their grass was cut so we could lay in it. It is also where most of the kids spent there time, so we learned a ton of new games and basically laughed and played outside all day. It really brought me back, and I don’t think I’ve ever been sadder to leave a place before. A lot of us cried as we drove away and I really felt like part of my heart was staying in Tshabo.

Hey all.... We're off to the Eastern cape for a couple weeks and I won't have internet for the first week for sure and after that it will be a bit spotty.

Don't worry mom I'll still get cell phone reception, but my phone will only be on for parts of the day due to trying to save battery.

Health Care in South Africa

So I apologize to all 3 of my devoted readers. I have gotten way behind in my blog and I promise that I intend to catch up and fill you in on the last couple weeks when I have a chance. I actually meant to do it this weekend but got fairly sidetracked. Perhaps I should start with that story...

On Sunday I went surfing with 3 other girls in my group. We took the train and had a professional lesson so it was pretty great. We got like a 2 hour lesson and wetsuits all for 20 bucks. Surfing was absolutely amazing. But apparently the beach that we were at has a lot of shark problems. There apparently are shark sightings there everyday. But the place was packed with people, so we weren't too deterred.

Surfing was so much fun. I could definitely do that everyday while I am here. I got up on my first try and after about an hour I was catching waves and getting up without the help of the instructor. So I was really proud of myself. However apparently I was too proud. As the day was coming to a close and we were getting ready to leave I had some trouble in the water.

I was standing in the water holding my board , I had just come in off a wave. All of a sudden my whole body felt like it slammed into something. I shook my head and sort of looked around, very confused. It was like I ran as fast as I could into a rock, but there was absolutely nothing around me. Then I thought maybe I got stung by something. All of a sudden it happened again. The most intense pain of my life, like my whole body being thrown against a brick wall, but I was just standing still in the water. I quickly realized that my defibrillator had just gone off for the first time. I knew I had to get to shore and I started to make my way in when bam! I got shocked again. I called for help and my instructor was nearby. He put me on the surfboard and started pushing me in. Bam! again... I fell off the board and stumbled into the beach calling to my friends for help as I was shocked 3 more times.

I made it out of the water and was able to tell my friend what happened and that I needed to get to a hospital. We made it back up to the surf shack and I walked on my own the whole way up feeling a bit faint but fine overall. I sat down up at the shack and got some water as I explained to them what had happened and asked about the nearest hospital with a cardiology unit. Luckily a man at the shack was headed that way and offered to give us all a lift. As we were sitting there getting everything together to leave I started getting really dizzy. I wasn't sure if I could make it across the street to the car but my friends helped me over and we headed on our way.

In the car I started getting much sicker. I was dizzy and my chest started to get tight and I couldn't breathe. I knew that I was close to passing out so I told my friends what meds I was allergic to and warned them that I was close to passing out. All of a sudden I lost my vision and couldn't handle the moving car. We got the driver to pull over and I immediately fell out of the car, threw up and passed out in the road. My friends and our kind drivers called an ambulance, the police, and also ran for help. They were all truly amazing throughout the ordeal and managed to stay calm and take control of the situation.

I got to a hospital in strange fashion and I had an interesting few hours at the first hospital they brought me to. (The first ambulance ride and hospital visit I will be happy to describe for people when I return home. However, I know if I post it now my mom will immediately insist that I come home for fear of my general welfare. But really mom, I promise that I'm fine).

I was transferred to a hospital with a cardio unit and a medtronic rep flew in from Joberg to read my device. Turns out that my heart got up to around 350-360 bpm and thats when my device kicked in. It had to shock me 6 times in order to calm me down. Apparently the problem was too much adrenaline... the doc told me basically not to do anything fun while I am still here, but that don't worry I can life a normal life. I just nodded. What do doctors think a normal life is for a 21 year old?!

I am fine now and back at class. It was an interesting experience in which I got a chance to experience first hand the health care system in South Africa, which I have some serious concerns with. I also got to feel the effects of my device and while incredibly painful, it was a good learning experience. I am slightly more humbled now and realize that the putting this thing in me really was for the best.

Hope this bit of excitement makes up for my lack of posts in the last few weeks.

And don't worry mom, I promised I'd come home alive and I don't intend on breaking that promise!