What a Weekend

This past weekend was a mix of activities and emotions, but it was certainly memorable.

Friday night there was a huge party on Tenbe Street.  It's an annual gig, and the people who live at this particular house on the street hire a dj and make a big deal of it.  I went for about 20 minutes (long enough to wait in line for the bathroom,) and then upon hearing that everyone was getting thrown into the pool (with clothes, cameras, and cell phones intact,) some of us decided to leave.  We went on to Toby Joe's, a bar that has been said to be closing for about 3 weeks now, and also one that is known for having pickpocketers, beggars, and prostitutes lurking outside.  Someone has attempted to pick my purse twice there, but they haven't gotten anything yet-- mostly because I keep everything zipped up, I don't take my camera, and they aren't very smooth operators.  I guess they think everyone is so drunk that they won't feel someone grabbing at them?  Once I was sitting on a stairwell, talking to a friend, maybe 15 feet from the entrance of Toby's, and a man crawled underneath the stairwell from the other side and grabbed at my purse.  I screamed, no doubt, and I really try not to go there anymore.  Note: I know I should be more careful.  I shouldn't go there anymore, etc., etc., but go ahead and scold me if you wish.

Anyway, Saturday a group of 7 of us girls from Annie's decided to go horseback riding at Heavenly Stables, a farm close to Sardinia Bay (an excellent place for kite surfing.)  It's owned by Jackie and Sydney, a lovely couple with three amazing kids who help out on the farm.

My horse's name was Red Eagle, and he had a few issues because he doesn't like having other horses behind him (read: lazy.) We brought up the rear, and what made things interesting was that Kari and her pony, Hercules, were in front of us and Hercules wasn't exactly motivated. Basically, Kari and I felt like we were getting lost in the bush several times since the guides stayed in the front.

Red Eagle:

The bush and beach were both beautiful, and it was neat to see the contrast in terrain since we went through the bush, then around a sand dune, and then onto the beach.  

After the 3 hour horseride, we went to Jackie's sister's house for a braii.  We're learning that braiing isn't the most timely event, so while we were waiting on our delicious meal from the indoor braii pit, we enjoyed Hunter's Dry cider.  This is a photo of our father figures for the evening.

And here are our mother figures:

And our family photo:

Side note: I've learned that I really like cider.  You still get that beer feel without the bitter taste and fullness.  And Hunter's Dry and Sarita ciders (both brewed in South Africa) have become a fave among a lot of the girls at Annie's.   

We also played with the family's pets while we waited for the meat to cook.  So here's a shout-out to everyone at the library! This family has a Scout Junior, and seeing this cat made me miss all of you and Scout and Atticus!

The meal was the best most of us had eaten since arriving in S.A.  We still aren't too sure if that had more to do with the homely feel to the braii (and the 2 dogs and 7 cats the family owns, and the adorable children, and the cider,) or the food itself, but nonetheless, we had an amazing time. (Thanks for the photo, Kari!)

To be continued... Next post: The Walmer Township tour

Courses

 Classes started last Monday, and since this is my last semester of college, I decided to take the required English course I need and then pick and choose other random classes to take.  I was going to take Xhosa for Beginners but once I got here and started talking to the locals I realized that I can't even pronounce the name of the language, so I decided against it.  I should at least take Afrikaans, but because I'm lacking in the linguistics department, I've decided to try learning it from the locals and through the program Kline set up on my computer.  It's almost embarrassing to meet people who speak at least 2 and up to 7 languages, so I'm working on it.

I am taking Aquatic Ecology with a friend.  It meets 3x/week and we go on field trips on Fridays during lab time to study coral reefs, marine life, etc., around P.E. (or so I'm told.)

I'm also taking Modernism and Literature (which will finish out my English major.)

The class I'm most excited about is Community Service Learning.  There are several community service projects around town (in the townships and such,) and we have the opportunity to participate in one of those once a week.  My project is Homework Club, and others include Aids Haven (I absolutely hate that name,) Learn4Life, and a few others.  I'm not quite sure how many or how old the children will be at Homework Club, but I'll find out today at 2:30 p.m.   The coursework for this class consists of keeping a journal about what types of things I'm learning, what I need to learn, what my expectations are, etc.

NMMU does two terms per semester (9 weeks sort of classes,) but it's confusing since some courses last two terms and some only last one.  Other classes require that you take part 1 (Biology 211, for example) during term 1 and part 2 (Biology 212) during term 2, even if you only need Biology 212.  Anyway, Aquatic Ecology only lasts for term 1, and then I'll pick up Pre-Colonial African History and Philosophy for term 2.

Also, I just logged onto NMMU's website to make sure I had the course title correct for African History, and this poll came up on the school's homepage:

Sex on the first date?

__ Disgusting and wrong

__ So what?

__ Cool!

I didn't respond, in case you're wondering.

3 weeks

I've been in Port Elizabeth for 3 weeks, and I just got wireless at Annie's Cove.  I'm not complaining or anything since TIA (This is Africa,) but I've missed it more than I thought I would.  I have a lot to catch everyone up on, so I'll just start from the beginning.

The two 8-hour flights were a bit more stressful than expected, but I made all of time and arrived at Annie's Cove by 10 p.m. on Wednesday, January 28.  This is what my room looked like then.

And this is more or less what it looks like now.

On Thursday we went to campus, and we got to see the monkeys.

And on Friday we left for Bush camp at Umlambo.

By the time we arrived I was sunburned and exhausted from pulling an all-nighter, but Bush camp was fun.  I did the zip-line (more photos from that later) and we did community-building activities all weekend and went for a long hike through the surrounding orchards and farms. Most of the people who went to Bush camp live at Annie's Cove, and all of us were international students.  I'd met a lot of people by then: from the States, various countries in Africa, and other countries like Norway, Sweden (hey Kline!,) New Zealand, and Ireland.  It has been very interesting to be one of few people from the southern U.S. because to everyone else I have a thick southern accent.  (There is only one other student here from Ole Miss, and he's from Memphis; the other "southerners" go to school at UNC-W.)  

I don't have much more time to post today, but I will post more frequently now that I'm back online. I will say that I've already learned a lot about South Africa and the people and issues here. I've also met so many wonderful people, and I've had a surfing lesson!  I've also been to both a cricket and rugby match. I am constantly learning new things and trying to wrap my head around the cultural differences between home and here, like the racism (and the comparison by some locals to the racism in the U.S.) Much more on all of that later, but until then, I have a list of some things I've learned since I've been here.  Some are funny, some serious, and I've already thought of more since I wrote this over a week ago.

1.  Don't feed the monkeys

2.  There are no single checks at restaurants

3.  Air conditioners aren't necessary

4.  Port Elizabeth really is both the friendly and the windy city

5.  "Just now" can mean any time between 5 minutes and 3 hours, (and I'm learning to be okay with that!)

6.  Bottled water always comes in two varieties: sparkling or still.  I don't like sparkling.

7.  South Africans love Beyonce. And Coldplay. And Britney Spears. And No Doubt. And Alanis Morisette.  I've known this since I got on the plane in Jo-burg, and it has made the transition easier. 

8.  Having the phone number of a reliable, inexpensive cab driver is a big deal. (We love Pang!)

9.  NMMU doesn't have the greatest reputation among locals.  I've heard it called "No more money university," among other things-- more on this later.

10.   People are excited to discuss politics with the American students.

I hope everyone is doing well.  Take care!