Meredith's Visit Part 3

There was one more day of fun and frivolity planned in this final chapter of Meredith’s visit.  Monday morning we packed up to head off to Plettenburg Bay where we were kayaking with some of the local marine life.  Chokey gave us only a little trouble this morning and after stopping at a gas station, we were off.   A couple hours of driving along the garden route later, we arrived.  Gretchen, Meredith and I locked up Chokey, checked in and headed to the beach.  Unfortunately, I do not know if we have any good pictures of this particular experience because we were using underwater cameras with film and they haven’t been developed yet.  Rest assured, if there are pictures worth posting I will do so at a later date.

Gretchen and I were in a kayak and Meredith went with our guide.  We paddled out into the bay and were able to find three whales…(find?  They’re 15 meters in length and 90 tons, I suppose it wasn’t that big of an accomplishment.)  The next hour and a half was spent watching the whales and paddling as to not be carried any closer to them.  The wind was strong that day so we had to constantly reposition ourselves because we were being blown out to sea.  Eventually we headed back to shore after watching the whales and as far as the actual kayaking goes, this was the best part!  Close to shore, as the waves were breaking, we were able to ride them in and it was quite a bit of fun.

The three of us changed out of our wet clothes, took a quick shower to wash of the salt water and decided to head back towards PE.

However, we decided to make one more stop along the way…

This was the tallest bridge in Africa and the tallest commercial bungee jump in the world at 216 meters; a seven second free fall.  If I was going to bungee jump ever in my life, this was the time to do it.  Meredith and I decided to bungee jump and Gretchen was going to videotape / take pictures a safe distance from the bridge.  I will be completely honest here; Meredith was quite a bit more excited to do this than I was.  She has sky dived before and was pumped for the experience.  I, on the other hand, am fairly uncomfortable with heights and don’t really even care for roller coasters.  When we arrived at the place to jump, we were informed that Meredith was to go first, then another guy and I was last.  I was standing watching Meredith get ready and thoughts of regret began to enter my mind.  I believe in the video you can see the point at which I second-guessed the jump.  (After all, who in their right mind wouldn’t?)  However, I decided to just suck it up, shut my eyes and leap without looking.  This video was not able to capture it, but I screamed so hard that for the next four days my throat was quite sore and my voice was hoarse.

 The two thrill-seekers with our harnesses on

At the harnessing area (hence the sign!)

Meredith was the first to jump

Meredith pumped me up before my jump...

Now it was my turn

The worst part of the whole experience was after I stopped bouncing.  Although it doesn’t appear I was spinning much at all, it felt as if everything was whirling around at maximum speed.  Meredith said she had the same feeling.  For those who know me and how I do with the whole spinning motion (the swings at the fair, Cedar Point YAC weekend…to name a couple).  So, not only was I getting quite motion sick, but both Meredith and I felt as if our feet were going to slip out of our shoes and through the knot around our ankles.  If you look at my video closely, my feet are as stiff as boards.  I suppose it took a good half an hour for me to stop feeling disoriented.

 Meredith and I survived!

As Meredith would say..."Go Bucks!!"

Overall, it was an incredible (and yes, unique) experience.  I will probably never bungee jump again, but I am glad I did and probably would have regretted passing up this opportunity.  If any of you are planning on following my lead or fulfilling pre-existing desires to bungee jump, I believe this information will help you enjoy your experience more.  (Meredith and I discussed that knowing these things would have helped us).  First of all, and we both knew this, it is actually quite safe.  They harness you in by the ankles with a knot that becomes tighter with pressure.  They also have a secondary hook on your chest.  Secondly, the fall (and remember this is the tallest in the world) lasted seven seconds.  After the first fall, the rest of it is pretty calm.  I would say I jumped and was brought up all with in eight minutes at the most.  The point is, all of this will last that long and you can do that…eight minutes and you’re done.  Lastly, when you are hanging at the bottom, you will most likely feel like your feet are going to slip through the ankle harness.  Everyone feels this way.  I know that won’t totally alleviate the feeling of anxiety, but knowing that going into it prepares you.  If it makes you feel better, keep your feet stiff like both Meredith and I did.  Listen to me…typing as if I am some sort of expert!

Anyway, our thrills sought out and experienced, it was time to drive back to the flat.  The car ride home was filled with discussions about the jump and the disbelief we all had that I actually went through with it.  To be honest, I’m still a bit shocked I did.

Oh yeah, one more thing.  The whole time they are booming music like you hear on the video (all kinds of techno).  It actually serves to calm people…or maybe it just prevents them from thinking!

That night we had a celebratory chocolate cake with our dinner.  It was amazing.  We were only able to eat a third of it, so some of it may ended up our breakfast / snacks for the next day!  We watched our videos and perused our pictures, hung out for a little bit, then headed to bed…once again exhausted.

Tuesday, I had to go to school and invigilate some more, but like the previous week, I was back before 12:30.  It was Meredith’s last full day with us, so she needed to pack up and get ready to head home the next day.  We burnt CDs for our pictures so that everyone would have copies of all the pictures and hung out for the afternoon.  That evening we decided to go to the Blue Water Café across the street from the Boardwalk.  It was a nice dinner (I had nachos…so good) and we came to the realization that restaurants are much less attentive when it comes to refilling water.  In the United States, I might consider it bad service if five minutes went by and my water glass remained empty.  Normally, I like to have three or four full glasses of whatever liquid I am drinking at dinner, but I was only able to get two.  After dinner we went and got some gelato to end our great adventure with Meredith.

The next morning I woke up, got ready for school and said goodbye to Meredith.  The week was absolutely wonderful and Gretchen and I have Meredith to thank for enhancing the experience.

Gretchen and I are preparing for our trip to Cape Town (where I will be posting these blogs…our internet is running out) because Pearson High School is on break for the next week.  I came to the realization that when we get back, I will be more than one-third of the way through this experience…simply unbelievable.

Meredith's Visit Part 2

With Meredith feeling much better, we departed Saturday morning for Schotia private game reserve.  The schedule for the weekend was pretty full, including time spent in both Schotia and Addo Elephant Park.  One needs to understand that these reserves aren’t glorified zoos.  Each one is thousands of acres and the animals all live by their own means within the fencing.  Our schedule included a tour of Addo, lunch, a four hour game drive in Schotia, dinner, a night game drive in Schotia, sleeping in Schotia, a morning safari and then riding elephants in Addo Sunday afternoon!

As driving in South Africa was a new experience for us, we decided to leave quite early to give us plenty of time.  Chokey was not very happy about starting out that early, but eventually agreed to start with quite a bit of coaxing.  We took the N2 to the N10 and easily found Schotia (after we passed it and had to pull a U turn).  As soon as we approached the automatically opening gate, we were greeted with the first of ferocious creatures we were to encounter that day:  a big mastiff!  He was barking at our car as we drove in trying to avoid hitting the dog, and he decided to stand outside my door and bark away as we parked the car.  I decided that the owners of Schotia would more than likely not release an aggressive animal onto their parking lot, so I opened the door.  Immediately the giant head entered the car to check things out.  We seemed ok, and the gentle giant decided to allow our entrance (with a toll of scratching, rubbing and petting).

We looked around and saw a lot of open air Land Rovers…the excitement started.  A young man greeted us at the door and mentioned that we were early, but since we weren’t waiting for anyone else he would take us up to Addo as soon as he finished some paperwork.  Once he was finished, we hopped on a big white van.  It occurred to me that he might be in cahoots with the crazy taxi drivers but as he did not have a second person hanging out the window shouting, I decided we were safe.  Along the way we spotted some animals including ostriches, monkeys and some suicidal birds that carried out their intentions via being hit by the car.

“What was that?” Gretchen asked.

“It WAS a bird…” the driver responded with a laugh.   That broke the ice so we talked with our driver and asked him questions for the remainder of the drive.

When we arrived, our driver told us that the guide was not there yet, so we had 20 minutes or so to look around inside the gift shop.  Meredith bought some gifts for her family…I settled on some junk food.  We were sitting at a picnic table outside the shop when Malcolm, our guide, came up and introduced himself and told us we would be getting into the van as soon as the other guests had arrived.

We were a bit disappointed that we were traveling by van through our first South African wildlife experience.  However, it worked out wonderfully and we were easily able to see and take pictures of the goings on inside the park.

The other people we were to travel with were a father, son and grandmother from central England.  We all immediately clicked and the drive was more pleasurable because of our company.  There was also a woman from South Africa who sat up front with Malcolm.  She was very nice but did not talk a lot on the tour.

The Addo tour consisted of seeing mostly Kudu (think a dark grey deer with spiral horns), tortoises and elephants.  This was fine as Malcolm told us that we were just looking for Elephants on this particular drive.  We were lucky in that we got to the watering holes right when a herd of elephants were coming to take a drink.  Unfortunately for us, the weather was still too cold for them to get in and play around, but it was a lot of fun watching them anyway.  Here are some pictures from our Addo tour:

After the Addo tour, Malcolm took us to lunch at one of the lodges.  We ate, had some tea then back on the road.  It was time for our Schotia game drives, which are what we were all really stoked for.  When we arrived back at the Schotia game reserve, we received some bad news.  We were not going to continue with our newly made friends and Malcolm.  Our new guide’s name was Nic and we traveled with a group of Europeans (two from Holland and four from Germany) who were about our age.  So, with our new group and new guide, we were off in an open air Land Rover!

 

The first part we saw some wildebeests (two different types) and zebras running around in a field.  After those sights, we went on the hunt to find lions.  Unfortunately, we could not find any at that point and had to go back for a tea break.  Here are some pictures from that part:

 

After tea, we went off on our mission to find wild animals of the large feline variety.  It was beginning to get cooler and darker when we heard them.  It was amazing how far their roars carry.  En route to the lions, we stopped and took pictures of giraffes and all of us had a toast (sundowner) to a great evening.  From that point until dinner, we stuck with the lions.  We found the younger male first, then the older male and the two females.  The next set of pictures is from this time span.

 

We had to get to dinner, so we drove back and ate.  Dinner consisted of kudu and/or chicken with either rice or mashed potatoes and carrots and peas.  The three of us agreed that the meal was beyond our expectations.  Our group sat at one table and Nic was our ‘waiter’.  There was much discussion of travels and places we were from.  Eventually, it was time for our night safari.  This safari was a search for lions on the hunt.  We were incredibly lucky.  First of all, we saw hippos right outside the fence, but then immediately caught up with the lions.

 

The luckiest part of the night was to come:  the hunt for food had begun.  An animal (we’re not 100% sure what it was, but we think it was a red hartebeest) ran across the field with lions on its tail.  We saw a mad dash behind a bush and followed.  When we arrived, the prey was struggling, but, as they say, resistance is futile.  We watched a live kill and four lions (the older male joined after a few minutes) devour this animal.  It was gruesome, it was gross, but nobody could look away. 

 

My grandmother, Barbara Summers, once spoke words of wisdom that, at this point, echoed in my mind, and it is true indeed, “Nature is not kind…”

 

 

Now that our thirst for blood was satisfied, it was time to turn in for the night.  We all agreed to start our morning safari at 6:45 am.  The three of us were staying in a separate location from the others, and we were dropped off first.  All three of us had expected modest accommodations with adequate facilities.  Our expectations were surpassed by a beautiful complex with running hot water and a large room with tea and biscuits laid out for us.  It was late, so we hung out in the large room for a bit, took some pictures, then retired to our rooms.  The rooms themselves were not particularly large.  However, what they lacked in size they made up for in amenities.  Although the toilet was located a couple of doors down, there were outlets for us to use and a shower for each room.  There was even a snack bowl with all sorts of goodies for us to eat.  Finally, after seeing the beautiful southern sky, we fell asleep exhausted.

 

The next morning we got ready in the rooms and walked out to find ourselves greeted by a group of horses.  They were very friendly and decided that our jackets were theirs to nibble on.  Nic arrived with the rest of the group a tad late and once again we were off.  This time, we were going out on foot.  Nic assured us that lions were not in this part of this section and it was used to house the rhinoceroses.  Despite an hour and a half walk, there were no rhinos to be found.  I suppose one can’t be greedy and if I had to choose which lucky sight to have seen, I definitely would have chosen the live kill.  Nic made sure he got us back in time because we had to work fast in order to get to the Addo elephant rides.  They were about two hours away.

 

Gretchen, Meredith and I said goodbye to our European friends and Nic our guide before we were driven back to good old Chokey.  We got back in Chokey, got clearance from the mastiff and headed up the highway.  There were three routes to get there, but one was a 4 x 4 route, so that was automatically eliminated.  We took the advice of everyone and decided on a route that was shorter, but had a more challenging terrain.

 

To say ‘more challenging’ is a bit of an understatement.  We took our VW Jetta onto roads that had potholes and rocks up to the size of basketballs.  I believe our maximum speed reached 20 kilometers per hour (about 12 miles per hour).  At many points the survival of our car was in question.  Narrow roads and steep cliffs to the sides demanded guardrails…or one would have thought.  The most ironic part was that guard rails began once we were past the dangerous part and on relatively level ground.  Words cannot describe the difficulty of the drive, but the good news is that we made it with plenty of time to spare!

 

Excitement was in the air as we saw the elephants approach.  There were only three of us, so we were lucky enough to each have our own elephant.  My elephant’s name was Duma (meaning sound of thunder), Gretchen road Mpaku (which is derived from the name of a tree) and Meredith was on the one-tusked Taba (translated as happy).  I have never had an experience quite like this.  We road the elephants bareback with a guide in front of us.  Whereas it was awesome being on the back of these creatures, it was also surprisingly uncomfortable.  I had expected them to be softer, but instead found them to be boney.  By the end of the hour-long elephant ride (normally it is only a half an hour, but since it was only the three of us they gave us special treatment) I was ready to be done.  The experience was great, but all three of us were in a bit of pain and we all found ourselves walking bow-legged…incredibly bow-legged as one might imagine!

The next part of our experience was feeding the elephants.  We followed them over to an eating area, which the elephants walked right to as they knew their routine (the fact that they did not need guidance amazed me).  There were two ways of feeding the elephants.  One was to drop the pellets in their trunk and the elephant would put them in his mouth (all three were males).  The second was to say “Trunk up!”  Upon that command the elephants lifted their trunks and opened their mouths.  We were able to stick our hands inside their mouths and throw the pellets back.  I know what you’re thinking…disgusting…but it was really cool.  Gretchen made the mistake of walking in between two of the elephants wither her bucket and was bombarded with trunks!

Next stop: the watering hole.  The elephants were very ready for it and decided to not allow us to pass by first.  Taking the advice of the guides, we ran to our next location, dodging elephant splashing and spraying where we went to have lunch.  The food was great.  (All of these places ensure you are well fed with wonderful food).

 

Our bellies were full as were our cameras, so it was time to head back to our Port Elizabeth abode.  We gathered our things and got into the car.  The key turned…and nothing…not even an attempt to turn over.  So, the key was turned again…again, nothing.  Panic at the aspect of being in the middle of nowhere with no way of getting home had not set in quite yet, but the thought had crossed our minds.  The men working at the elephant ride office walked down and tried as well.  Nothing…at this point we found the key chain (which had fallen off earlier), and called the number on it.  There was some confusion as to whom we should call and who could help us, but the right people were contacted despite the phone tag.  One of the guides had one last idea before the care rental (or car hire, as they say here) people called back.  He went back down with Meredith as Gretchen and I observed from above.  We saw the car roll back and heard the engine start!  It was a miracle!  Apparently, the guide popped the automatic car into neutral and was able to start Chokey without the use of the part from which his name is derived.  The three of us tucked this helpful hint in the back of our minds (after all, we all assumed we would need it sooner or later…probably the former) as we said goodbye for the second time.

 

All three of us questioned whether our poor car could make it back the way we came, so we received directions to the longer but smoother route and headed that way.  This too was a long trip, but much easier on the car and after a couple of hours we were safely back at our flat. Another successful adventure leaving us exhausted and filled with great memories.

 

Coming soon is the third installment in this trilogy of epic proportions which critics already hail as one of the top three posts of the trilogy…don’t miss it!

Meredith's Visit Part 1

Our whirlwind adventures in the southern most country on the African continent continue. Currently, Gretchen and I are joined by our good friend and fellow seeker of sights, Meredith Monjot. She flew into beautiful PE last Tuesday (September 14th) utilizing the same flight we were on.

And now…the rest of the story…

Kavish, Gretchen and I arrived at the Port Elizabeth Airport as Meredith’s flight was exiting. The best news of this particular part is that her luggage was not left behind in Johannesburg (Or Jo-Burg as the locals call it…I’m telling you, they shorten EVERYTHING)! We greeted her right outside the airport where hugs, warm greetings and smiles were had by all. Her trip was fairly uneventful aside from malfunctioning in-flight DVD players and a man whose priorities did not include hygiene. So, with luggage in hand, we headed back to our flat. As it was around 10:30 pm and she had just had the lovely 29-hour trip we basically turned in for the night. However, before we could get to bed, Meredith came with gifts (totally unnecessary, though, since we were stoked for her visit)! She bought us a game called Bananagrams, which I know many of you are familiar with. For those who are not…familiarize yourselves with it because it is incredibly fun. The gist of the game is that you use tiles that look like Scrabble tiles to create words (but not on a board). The goal is to use all of your tiles first, so it is a game of speed as well as linguistic knowledge. Unlike Scrabble, though, you can rearrange the letters at any point in the game. Enough about that, you can either google it or follow this link!

The next morning, I begrudgingly went to school. For the next six days of school, the students are taking mini exams. My job is to invigilate. Aside from being able to call myself the invigilator, it’s incredibly boring to do. Basically, I walk around the room making sure the students are not cheating. The tests last for an hour, which is a very long time to pace around a room in dress shoes. Each day brings two tests and a 30-minute break in between. As I am the never-relenting optimist, here is the bright side: we get out at 12:00! So, basically, Meredith could not have picked a better week to visit. While she is here, I do not need to stay at the school any later than 12:00 each day…and as a sort of bonus, the vice principal has given me Monday off since I have a visitor!

I started my walk home, so I gave Gretchen and Meredith a call to see if they wanted to meet for lunch or back at the flat. Apparently, while I was pacing around the students of Pearson High School, the whole city of Port Elizabeth was in great peril. The two girls were out for an afternoon walk and decided to take pictures on the rocks on the beach. The tide was coming in and Meredith suggested Gretchen come in as well. Her spidey-sense must have been tingling because she decided to stay for ‘one more picture’. Without regard for her own safety, she blocked a ‘tidal wave’ from demolishing the whole of Port Elizabeth killing all of its inhabitants! Cold, miserable and soaking wet, the two of them trekked back and met me at the flat. We are expecting a call from Stephen Spielberg to arrange movie rights. (I could not stop laughing for quite a bit)

After drying off and changing, the three of us decided to head out to the Boardwalk to show Meredith around and eat with a great view of the ocean. We landed on the Rockside Café. A pretty good meal to start the visit. After lunch we walked around the Boardwalk and made our reservations for the upcoming activities. Here is a picture of us with the Indian Ocean in the background:

Once we got back to the flat, we decided to break out the Bananagrams, and then head to bed. The next morning, I woke up to head off to school. Disaster was in the air. Meredith got incredibly sick and was not feeling well at all throughout the morning. Debates will continue, I am sure, as to whether it was food induced sickness (whether it be the creamed spinach / collard greens or the pizza with spicy tikka sauce) OR a bug. That afternoon (Thursday), we were scheduled to go on a township / city tour. Before the story can continue, here is a side note about townships:

In South Africa it is either feast or famine. During apartheid, there was forced segregation where black Africans were put into these areas. Their houses were built from materials obtained from POW camps of the Anglo-Boar war. In Port Elizabeth, there is a place called the Red Location; which is where our tour took us. It is called the Red Location because the metal brought in rusted from the salty air. When it rained, the ground turned red from the rust…so you get the Red Location.

Anyway, so Meredith is a trooper.  Despite being very sick, she pushed through (with a few breaks to sit down and rest) like a champ. Saying that, she was ready when it was time to get home!

The tour started at the Red Location museum. We drove through the township and words cannot describe the destitution we witnessed. At the museum, we learned a lot about their struggle against the apartheid, and read about many of the different individuals who made major contributions to their cause. After the museum our tour guide, THE Mr. Alan Fogherty according to Gretchen, took us through the township and we saw where the people lived. The local children chased the Land Rover and some caught up and jumped on the back. It was an interesting contrast; children happy and having fun against the stark and depressing background.

This first picture is a typical home and there are literally hundreds (if not thousands) of these lined up next to each other.  Many of them share walls...

This second photo is of the children chasing after the Land Rover...

After we left the township, we went to see the soccer stadium that was built for the World Cup in 2010. It was pretty cool…but there is not much to say about it. The six of us (Meredith, Gretchen and me along with our tour guide, Alan, and two girls from Minnesota: Kirsten and Molly) went on a tour of Port Elizabeth. Again, there is not much to write about, it was what one would expect from a tour: lots of sights and lots of history. We saw Fort Fredrick, a monument for the woman the town is named after and the town square where business was done during colonial days.

Actually, there is a very interesting story with the monument. Many would guess that Port Elizabeth is named after a woman of royalty; perhaps a queen or princess. However, it is named after a woman who had never been to the city. A man was sent here and his wife, whom he was madly in love with, died en route to meet him. He was so in love with her that he had her heart embalmed to carry with him (they say love, I say creepy). So, he asked the military personnel in charge if the would name the city after his lost love, Elizabeth.

The Monument to Elizabeth

The inscription says "To the memory of one of the most perfect of human beings who has given her name to the Town below"

With that day concluded, we turned in for a well-earned (much needed) rest. Friday, I went to school and finished at 12:00 after invigilating for the day (…ugh…). The good news is that Meredith felt much better. Not great, but much better. We decided to rent a car for the weekend because it would have cost us more to use the safari’s transportation, and who doesn’t like the convenience of having your own vehicle? There were thoughts about sightseeing or going somewhere, but with the current condition of our guest, a day of rest was wise.

Now when we were told we were getting a Volkswagen Jetta, we imagined a sleek luxury car. What we got, however, fell slightly short of our expectations…

We guess that the car is probably from the early to mid-80s. It IS automatic and there IS air conditioning. The radio, however, had to be found in the front yard of the car rental business before being installed. As if that weren’t an interesting sight enough, when Gretchen and Meredith were leaving, the woman asked if it was to be only them. Upon hearing that I too was to ride along, more air was ordered to fill the tires…

Really? I’ll let you ponder that…

Affordable Car Hire gave us their best car, so we had that going for us. It took 10 to 15 minutes to get the car started and we had to use a choke. I have never before heard of a choke on a car, but nonetheless, there it was. So, we decided to name our car Chokey. Here is a picture of us posing with our car.

That is enough for you to read for now, but tune in next time to read of our adventures on an African safari as well as death defying feats and danger around every corner!

Taxis, Curry and Rugby...Oh my!

Once again I am typing on a beautiful sunny day, even with a slight wind. We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Meredith who, if I have not already said so, is spending a little over a week with us here in South Africa. Before we leave to pick her up from her brutal 29-hour trip, I thought I would give an update mostly about our last weekend with a few tangents thrown in.

In Port Elizabeth, the public transportation is ‘less than stellar’, as Gretchen would say. So, a brief lesson in economics: when there are inadequacies for a high demanded product (transportation), others will appear to fill the gap. In our case, the gap fillers are taxi drivers. There are two types of taxi drivers, one of which are what we are used to; cars with taxi signs on the roof.

The other type comes in the form of a flat rate service utilizing vans. One person drives while the other person leans their upper body out the back window shouting where the taxi is heading. This alone should raise some flags…below is a picture of one of these ‘taxis’:

Gretchen and I decided to go to a shopping mall that is not within walking distance. So, we were able to catch the bus to Green Acres shopping mall. Upon arrival, we were assured that the bus would be back around 5:30. We went in the mall, looked through the stores, bought some plastic glasses and decided to head back. Gretchen and I arrived early at the bus stop around 4:45. We asked a person working with the bus system if this was where we were to catch the bus heading back to Summerstrand (our lovely suburb). He did not know. It seems that it is a secret as to how often and where buses come from. After walking around the mall to different bus stations, piecing together information, we finally arrived at the correct station. Thankfully, we were there with a few minutes to spare and found some German students from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University who were also heading back to Summerstrand. The four of us waited for 15 minutes, and, upon the realization that our bus was not coming, decided to try these infamous taxis. The German girls had used them before, so they were a Godsend.

The four of us got into the white van and we were off to a place where the taxis gather for transferring routes. Along the way, we picked up more and more passengers. Before I continue, please examine the taxi again; it is about the size of a minivan with an extra seat in the back. Okay, so by the time we pulled into the transfer area, there were 16 people in this van…quite a tight fit. These vans are also notorious for their lack of regard for other cars on the road. Their main goal is to get money, and as it is a flat rate, the quicker they transport, the more money they can obtain. Questionably yellow lights were ran, stop signs were rolled…all the time Gretchen and I nervously laughed to ourselves as we chatted with the German students.

To the taxi driver’s credit, we arrived safely home without any harm, and the rate was around three dollars total for both of us. That being said, it was quite an adventure!

That was a few weeks ago, and this past Saturday, a huge rugby game was to be played between the South African Spring Bokkes and the New Zealand All Blacks…. and me without a jersey. The only place to get a jersey was at a shopping mall such as Green Acres. So, on Friday, Gretchen and I decided to try our luck with the buses again. Everyone suggested we look to street corners where vendors sold goods from questionable sources at an extreme discount. We found the jersey, and the haggling ensued. Eventually, he agreed to around 157 Rand, or about $23.00 US. The price for one of these in a sports shop was 675 Rand (Close to $100.00 US). With my new jersey in hand, we perused the mall for a bit and were able to catch the bus back home. Mission a 100% success.

Saturday morning at 9:30 am, we went to a bar / restaurant called the News Café where patrons had already begun activities reminiscent of an Ohio State bar on game day. There were cheers for the good plays and attacks upon the referees (who apparently were garbage), some imbibing of fermented beverage took place and Gretchen and I were able to cheer our Spring Bokkes (pronounced with an in between long and short ‘o’) on to a tense victory despite the All Blacks wickedly strange dance. Afterwards, a man bought everyone in the bar drinks called Spring Bokkes (pronounced with a long ‘e’ sound at the end). Here is a picture of me in my jersey on our way home from the News Café:

Sunday we had a relaxing day lying on the beach, watching surfers. At any given time from 6 am until 6 pm, one can spot no less than 15 surfers ‘hanging ten’. Gretchen jokes about wondering whether people actually work or simply surf all the time…I’m beginning to wonder as well, but in earnest! All in all a great weekend.

I almost forgot to mention a few things! First of all, Gretchen and I were able to chaperone a school dance on Friday. The music was current with what we would expect to hear in the United States (if not, surprisingly, slightly more inappropriate). What we observed was that although many of the students spoke to each other in Afrikaans, we felt very familiar with the atmosphere; wherever you travel, kids are still kids. Also, Dr. Singh and his wife invited us to dinner on Wednesday. We had a great time and ate curry until our stomachs were stuffed. Jade (Dr. Singh’s wife) insisted we eat more…hmm, a mother pushing food…why does that feel so familiar!?

Random: Here is a picture of Gretchen in front of the Summerstrand shopping center. It is very interesting that the shopping centers here have absolutely everything from grocery stores to doctor’s offices to clothing shops like we are used to at the mall. Our particular grocery store is called the Pick n’ Pay (By the way, just saw on the news that Pick n' Pay's stock is up...guess they have us and our 'Yum-Yum' peanut butter to thank!):

Alrighty, this post is getting a bit long and I need to wrap it up before Kavish (Dr. Singh’s son) comes to pick us up in order to take us to the airport to pick up Meredith! As Reading Rainbow's LeVar Burton would say, “I’ll see you next time!”

The First Week

We have been in beautiful Port Elizabeth for almost two weeks now. It still seems strange for me to type out South Africa as my place of residence. Even though I am currently sitting typing this in our South African flat, as they say, “The Republic of South Africa” seems like a far off and exotic land.

Anyway, on to the ‘meat n’ potatoes’ of this post. I have been very busy this week as it was my first official week at Pearson High School. As of now, I am currently working with two math teachers and my schedule is somewhat vacant. However, exams are next week and at the start of the new term, the teachers have assured me that they will fill it with more math classes and some social studies classes as well. The scheduling is a bit different than I am used to. Some of you may have experienced something like this, but it was a totally new concept for me. The school day is set up without an extended lunch period. Classes begin at 8:30 am (sometimes after an assembly or testing). There are two periods, then a 20-minute break where the students do not have a specified place to be. There is a cafeteria for the students to get food, and some courtyards where they can congregate. After the break, there are two more classes, then another 20-minute break. After that break, the students finish out the day with two final classes. The teachers gather in the workroom where tea is served and food that has been ordered is brought up. Although this part was new to me, it was not confusing or difficult to adjust to. Actually, the way the periods are set up makes a lot of sense to me and seems to break the day up nicely.

Here is the part that I cannot quite wrap my head around…

The students do not have the same class at the same time every day. Right now I am consistently with one class for their math, eighth grade, class e4. The ‘e’ stands for English and then the English-speaking classes are numbered. There is one Afrikaans class in eighth grade which I will have the experience of observing. (I doubt I will teach it unless I wake up at some point inexplicably fluent in Afrikaans!)

A couple of interesting side notes: in Pearson High School, they do not say eighth grade, they either call them by their class name, 8e4 for example, or describe them by saying grade first and then the number: e.g. grade eight. When addressing the class, many of the teachers will say “Grade eights, please open your books…” Something else that threw me off at first was that the teachers and deputy principal kept talking about how I was to work with the juniors. Every time I responded by saying that my license will be only up to ninth grade (assuming they meant grade 11). As embarrassing as it is for me to confess, I must say it took me two days to figure out that when they say ‘juniors’, they actually mean the lower grades: eighth and ninth!

Back to the confounding schedule….as I said before, the students do not have the same class at the same time every day. They are on a 10-day cycle and here is when I see my 8e4s. On day one: last period. Day two: first period. Day three: third period. Day four: second period. Day five…oh, wait, I only see them four out of the five days a week…moving on. Day 6: third period. Day seven: last period. Day eight: third period. Day nine: first period.

I am sure there is some sort of method to their madness, but I have yet to derive a reason that seems satisfactory. All I can come up with is to put the class at different times so learners who learn best at different times of the day can benefit…or, perhaps simply to change up the day.

I have guided a few lessons on surface area and volume; as well as scale and proportion. With the promise of more classes and greater flexibility after the break, I have been focusing on acclimating myself to the school. At this point I feel very comfortable with the staff and I am getting to know my way around the school. Right now the only things that seem to be consistent, however, are my 15-minute walk to school and my two cups of tea with cream and sugar!

The students start their exams next week, and then go on a two-week break. Gretchen and I are preparing for the arrival of our friend Meredith who will be spending a little over a week with us.

That is all I have for you now…but fear not, your thirst for visual and audio stimulation will be satisfied with this great video for all you eager science beavers out there!

The Element Song

Coming to iPods everywhere!