I don’t think anything too exciting has happened since I’ve been in SA for the past few days. Funny thing is it hasn’t even been a week yet! On Wednesday we had our academic orientation and really it was not that exciting. As our professor stated, ¾ of it did not pertain to us, but it’s okay I just sat there and let my mind wander. After academic orientation we went to a MALL! I’m really experiencing the South African culture down here, huh? Yea, I know, but it was part of orientation and I did need to get a few things, like a beach towel. I was able to get a few more groceries too, although our fridge is pretty tiny so we have to be careful with that. When we got back from the mall Brooke and I headed down to the beach just to chill and oh boy was it windy! We had sand blowing everywhere! I even got some in my mouth. The thing is too- the sand sticks to you…even when you’re dry (although it could be the sun screen), so when we got back to our flat I had sand all over my arms, but I couldn’t wipe it off. I was too lazy to shower right away, so I just sat on my bed and got sand all over. I think that’s the way it’s gonna be for the next three months. I went to bed early that night and woke up at about 6:30 to go running. Going to bed early and getting up around that time is going to be pretty normal too since the sun rises at 5:30 and wakes us up anyway. Running here is fabulous though. The temperature is just perfect in the morning. I almost forgot too, we had a power outage all night neighborhood wide. I guess they used to be pretty common, but they should have things under control now.
Yesterday, we took a bus tour of the city. Our first stop was the ports and we weren’t supposed to take pictures of them because of 9-11 the captain said. He didn’t really clarify exactly why though. They make Volkswagons here and those are shipped out. They also ship citrus fruits and manganese ore. I’m used to ports from Duluth and honestly the view looks a lot like Lake Superior, but the ships here are a lot bigger. After the ports we headed over to the townships. My flat is in the more resort part of town and then up our shore is Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, where I’ll go for class. Up the opposite shore is the business area and then the townships. The townships are really where majority of the people of Port Elizabeth live. Our tour guide was telling us that before elections, many newer, nicer houses will be built, since some people are living in run down houses, but then those people will just continue to live in their old houses and rent out the new ones they were given. The houses near the museum really did look like shacks. They were very small and made with wood and had tin roofs. They didn’t have any electricity or running water and were very close to each other. The nicer houses were nicer and painted a bunch of different pastel colors, but weren’t any bigger than the old ones. We went into the Red Location Museum, which was built to rememeber the culture of the townships and also honoring the men and women who fought for human rights, especially against the apartheid. We did get to look at a photographic memorial of an event that happened on March 21st 1985. I don’t really remember the whole story, but what basically happened is some twenty-something people were killed by police and a funeral was set to honor them. Yet the government was afraid of all the people gathering for the funeral, so they kept pushing the date back. Eventually it was set for March 21st, but the night before the government decided to postpone it again, although no one was really informed. The next morning many people gathered and the police ordered to open fire. Previously, the police had switched to hard ammunition and got rid of the teargas more used for crowd control. Therefore, when they opened fire another 60-something people were killed and 27 injured. The evidence was played with a bit too by the police, who said the stones were being thrown at them. Turns out the police had planted stones around in the bodies and in the dead peoples hands for when photos were taken of the scene. I don’t think I really gave the story justice the way I told it, but it really made me excited to start classes and really start to learn the history down here. They really have so much history and there was quite a bit of struggle too. When we came out of the museum there were a lot of kids from the neighborhood playing. They are so cute and so friendly! They chased after the bus and waved goodbye as we pulled off. Driving through the neighborhood a lot of the citizens waved at us too. So friendly! Oh and did I mention we were in a double decker bus? That might have gotten us a lot of attention too. We headed back to the shopping mall for lunch and I bought an ice cream cone for dessert. I ordered chocolate, but it turns out chocolate is really vanilla ice cream dipped in chocolate. Sooooo good though! The ice cream is so much creamier down here!
After lunch, we went to the oldest part of town where the British settled when they arrived in the 1800’s. We town is named after a woman named Elizabeth, a British woman of higher class. We visited a hill with a lighthouse that overlooked the Indian Ocean and there was also a small pyramid built there by her husband. She died at the age 28 leaving her son and husband behind. From there, we went back to our flats and I head down to the beach again to play with the skim board and swim. The waves were just huge! I also ran down the beach to check out some kiteboarders. Their feet are attached to what looks like a wakeboard, but a little smaller and they hold on to this huge kite and go back and forth across the water pretty close to the beach. They can get some air too! One guy got air and then took off his board, spun it, and put it back on his feet. They probably can stay up there for a good ten seconds. I would love to try it, but it looks like you might need a lot of practice.
This morning we headed over to the House of Resurrection or AIDS Haven. When we got there we had a quick introduction by Matron Agnes. The Haven was started by sisters from the Angelican church, but now it sounds like most of the sisters are gone. They currently have 6 infants, 13 toddlers, and 15 kids who go to school. It might be less than that because I was a bit confused on how many went to school. When we volunteer there we can play with them, but it’d be really good for us to have some constructive playtime to really stimulate them and get them ready to go to school. We got to go look in the nursery and they were such cute babies. Then we wandered over to see the kids. They are also extremely adorable. Some were a bit shy and stubborn and wouldn’t tell us their names. Others just loved to be held and wanted to touch everything they were too short to touch by themselves. Tonight we’re going to head off to a cricket match and Gary is bringing along two British friends of his to explain the game. Then tomorrow we have a day off and Sunday we’re going to a soccer game. I’m pretty excited!
Mm, I know I haven’t uploaded pictures yet, but I have to pay for all of my internet. I should get free internet when school starts in their computer labs, so then I’ll probably use this to upload photos. Sorry it’s taking so long! Also, I apologize if my grammar is horrible, please forgive me, that has never been one of my strengths.
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