lions and tigers and bears OH MY!

So the blog you have all been waiting for. THE SAFARI BLOG! So this was a ridic weekend. I did so much and had so much fun. We had to wait and leave until after placement because 9 of us couldn’t miss placement. So we had this tour guide named Yan. He was an interesting guy. He knew so much about South Africa it was ridic. He told us all about animals and places we went. We passed mussels bay on the way to our first hostile. In mussels bay it is the number one place in South Africa to find sharks. They have a huge seal community and the sharks lurk around there and wait for the seals to go in the water so they can eat them. The drive was really long but beautiful. I loved just looking out the window of farms, flat land, the ocean, and the mountains. It was absolutely beautiful. We got to our hostile and it was cool. It was a lot of young people there and so many surfers. We got to our rooms and put our stuff down and walked to the beach. It was on the Indian Ocean so the water was warmer. It was so beautiful. They had a bonfire so we stayed up late and talked there.

            The next day we start off bright and early in the morning. 7 am sharp! We leave our hostile and drive about a hour to the safari. It is raining on the way but it stops right before we get there. So I decided that it would a good idea to just wear a sweatshirt and shorts. I didn’t think it through that it might rain again…stupid part on me because it was pouring rain the entire time. It was awesome we just got soaking wet which sucked. I literally was soaked for the rest of the day. We start off on the safari looking for the big 5. The big 5 animals are rhinos, elephants, leopards, lions, and buffalo. They are called the big 5 because they were the most dangerous animals to hunt. On the safari we saw a hippo. Hippos don’t come out of the water until nighttime but we saw the body in the water, which was still cool. They run about 40 km/h. so if one is chasing after you I suggest going up hill because they can’t run uphill. We saw a lot of animals related to gazelles. They are all beautiful animals and were getting extinct. The populations are going up now which is good. They were going extinct because they had beautiful fur that people wanted. We saw a giraffe from afar but it kind of sucked because we couldn’t drive to it because of the rain. We saw crocs and lions along with buffalo. We saw lots of zebras; there were lots of baby ones that were adorable.

            We go to lunch at monkeyland after the safari. We were all cold and soaking wet but it was fun. We had lunch saw lots of cute monkeys it was great. After lunch we went to the elephant sanctuary. There we learned a lot about the elephants. The elephants are from a few different places. They are brought to the sanctuary because they are not safe where they were previously staying. I walked a elephant that was the lead female and she was really cute. They have the prettiest eyes. We also got to ride an elephant. They are huge and really hard to get onto. I really enjoyed riding one. I seriously wish I could take one home. It was so cute.

            After we went to zip lining. It was absolutely amazing! We were zip lining on a mountain over waterfalls and trees. I felt like a monkey. The scenery was just absolutely beautiful. We zip lined 9 courses and hiked a little. the longest zip line was 265 meters (I think it was that measurement….). it was so much fun I would totally do it again. After zip ling we went to the hostel and just hung out all night. It was a blast.

            The next day was really long. It was basically at 7 hour drive back to the house. We stopped at the cango caves which were awesome. These caves are stalagmite and stalactite caves. They were awesome. The had so many caves. They used to have concerts in the caves but people started to break off the limestone so they had to stop the concerts. It is sad because it would have been awesome to see a concert in a the caves. They were so beautiful.  That’s the end of the weekend now. I will be posting a new one tomorrow probably about my week this week. I had a good week.

Peace out girl scout

(I forgot to post one last week so here’s one for last week. Peace out home skilliet)

a long but great week

 colored houses

original slave lodge 

This post is going to be an over view of the past week. The weekend isn’t included yet because it will be really long then.

I am loving my placement more and more everyday. My class has its troubles but what class doesn’t. They are kindergarteners. We are starting to learn more about them. We don’t know exactly what is wrong yet but we know what helps them and what is good for them so that is a start. One of my favorites who can’t walk at all wanted to walk the other day. So I walked around with him for a hour. It was a huge work our because I literally had to hold him up so he didn’t fall.

            We had a speaker come in from this organization called Scalabrini. Scalabrini is a organization that helps refugees in south Africa get benefits that they are rightfully entitled to. It was started in the early 1990’s, so it’s been around for about ten years. Some facts about refugees:

            Refugees: seeking safety from their country. Have left for many reasons like politics, religion, and race.

            Asylum seekers: they want refugee status. They can work and study, but don’t have the refugee status yet.

            Undocumented refugee: the government doesn’t know about them.

South Africa is the second largest refugee country in the world right behind Iran. In South Africa there is a lot of xenophobia. They don’t like foreigners because they think they will take all their jobs. It is kind of sad but because of organizations like Scalabrini they are trying to change this.

            I went to a place in Cape Town called the triangle project. The triangle project is for people who are GLBTQ. This organization is a safe place for these people to get support. It is specifically for people who had HIV or AIDS.  There is free testing once a week for people. They put on the pride parade every year and this year it Is while I am still here so I am going to volunteer during it. It is a huge event and a lot of people come and participate.

            In Cape Town there is a community called Bokaap. This community is mostly the Muslim quarters in Cape Town. It is mostly Muslim but some other religions live there. This community is very different then others. All of the houses are different colors and the community is very safe. All of the people in the community are very close. Ubuntu- neighborly love. There is a myth that everyone shared paint and that is how they got colored houses. They all look out for each other so that is why they are so close and trustworthy.

            In Cape Town there was a slave lodge. Since then it has been changed into a museum. It is the oldest surviving slave building in South Africa. The slave lodge. It was built in 1679, this is where the Dutch east India company slaves were confined. These slaves labored on public works and company outposts. In 1998 the building was renamed the slave lodge. ‘Remembering slavery’ is a project that tells of the long history of slavery in South Africa and raises awareness of human rights. The flag of South Africa had a huge history. It stands for several things. The colors of the flag are different because of the different people. They are interpreted freely. The unique central design of the flag, which begins as a V at the flagpole and comes together in the center for the flag, extending further, as a single horizontal band to the outer edge of the flay, can ben seen as symbolic of the different groups of people in South African society, coming together, and taking the road ahead together.

cape town pennisula (Its also pengiun mating season)

 Cape Point and Point where the two oceans meet

 PENGUINS

So we start off the day going to see seals. We didn’t know it wasn’t included but I wasn’t going to miss out seeing those cute little things. It was in Hout bay. This was the beginning of our adventure across the cape peninsula. It was a really long day but sooo much fun! Ok so back to the seals. We took a boat to an island where the seals were and saw them swimming. There were literally hundreds.

O random thought. So it was my group on the tour and then 5 random Brazilians. Lets just say that those 5 were ruder and more obnoxious then all 12 Americans of us put together. They would scream across the bus. Like just sit next to each other if you want to talk. So annoying but anyways back to the tour.

Next on the tour was boulders beach. This is the exciting part. It was drum roll please….. THE PENGIUN BEACH!!! These little guys were so cute! They are little African penguins and I wanted to take one home. But don’t worry I didn’t because it is illegal. Someone tried and they got arrested. It was also mating season for penguins so we saw a lot of them going at it…really funny. But there were some swimming and just chilling. I thought they were the cutest things ever.

            Fun facts about African penguins:

1)   They are listed as an endangered species

2)    Because of their donkey-like braying call they were previously named the Jackass Penguin

3)   They have serious beaks that can bite or fight

After boulders beach we went to Buffles Bay. This was the start of us going on top of Table Mountain. Like I went to the top of a mountain. It was freaking awesome!!! We ate lunch at Buffles Bay. We saw a baboon and an ostrich. Baboons will go into peoples houses and steal food. They are really smart but dangerous. They take peoples bags and search for food and when they don’t find any they put all the stuff back in the bag. Kind of awesome. They are so smart. Our tour guide kept on saying watch out for the baboons!

We then had a choice of biking to the Cape of Good Hope or taking the bus. I decided to bike…worst idea but great idea. I for sure felt accomplished but the winds were about 40 mph…lets just say it was a toughy. It was mostly up hill biking. It felt like it was forever. We did it in 25 mins apparently but it was so hard. It was beautiful senery but that wind was making us move from side to side and we were going against it the entire time. The whole time I was thinking what if I see a snake what am I going to do. Then I realized I would scream and cry and bike faster. O I might say that before biking I saw a poster of how many snake species there were in South Africa. I might have freaked out a little and then was scared. Our tour guide also said we would see one. I was quite scared! So I finally made it to cape of good hope and it was the most south western point of Africa. It is also beautiful. Then we went to the most southern tip of Africa. It is cape point it is where the two oceans the Indian and Atlantic Ocean meet. It is beautiful. While we see this amazing view might I add we are ON TOP OF A MOUNTAIN. A FRICKIN MOUNTAIN!!! It was beautiful.

That’s all of today now.

Peace out boy scout

first time at school

So it’s that time of the week where I need to blog.

This week was the first week of our placements. Mine is in Eros school which is a school for kids with disabilities. I had no clue how sever they were or anything. Lets just say the first day was a shock. We get to school and they have an assembly and I have never seen so many well behaved kids in a assembly. No one talked in the assembly or moved. They all said their prayers which I thought was awkward for me because I was just standing there not knowing what was going on or the prayers.

We went to the founders stage which is k-3^rd grade here. I am in grade R which is kindergarten. I have the greatest kids but it is for sure a challenge. Our teacher is new and wasn’t sure what to do so it was really good that Mara and I were in the class to help. The kids have a lot of energy so they have to go outside for a hour everyday. In the morning we let them color, do puzzles, play with blocks. For a lot of them it is really good to color because they need the fine motor skills. These kids have various disabilities. A lot have cerebral palsy but with other disabilities with it. One of can’t talk and is in a chair and has so many issues but is the smartest boy ever. He is one of my favorites. Yes I have favorites. Another boy has adhd and I think affection disorder because he is always wanting attention and the things he does he needs the attention. We are starting to get the class in order. In the moring is play time in the class then outside and then after outside is circle time and we talk about our day and how we are. They learned the days of the week this week which was good and I want to teach them the ABC’s this week. The theme for the class this upcoming week is my school and my classroom. we will be learning about the classroom and things at school. It is really interesting about the placement is that there is a hostile and some kids live there and others go there during the day to get food if their family can’t afford to bring food.

Today I went to an art fair and it was soo cool. I love the art from Africa. I bought some things and it’s the beginning of every month so I will be going again. Tomorrow we are going on a tour of cape peninsula and cape point so I am super excited. I am getting my tan on which I am happy about. I don’t look as out of place here by being so white just mostly now; chaoco tan is coming in nice.

That’s all for now

Peace out

 table mountain

 This photo is of houses in cape town. They are on a dump and its a black neighborhood

memorial where a girl got shot because of apartheid

Still trying to get over this jetlegged

Today we had orientation about our placements. For my placement these are special needs kids who are in public school. What is interesting is that it is a government runned school, but can only hold a certain amount of kids so there is a waiting list. Tons of other international people come to volunteer there. The classrooms are small and I will most likely have 20 kids. I have to learn Afrikaans for the school because the younger children don’t know English yet.

After orientation we had a orientation about their culture, religion, and traditions. South Africa take the best of various worlds to try to make up their country. Rituals and traditions are very important to society. Spiritual and tribal beliefs are in everyday life. A trance/dance is used to help people connect with their ancestors. Ancestry is a huge deal in Africa. They believe in ancestors like we believe in God.

            FUN FACT

                        They eat worms

Initiation and traditions

            Boy get initiatied into the culture between ages 15-25

            It is important social device dealing with adolescence

            It is the shift from childhood to adult

            They go to the mountains to get initiated over a 21 period day!

These people are sooo cool!

So then we had a great lunch because it was jonathons birthday and we celebrated it. Then I went on a township tour and saw povershed housed and went to the market. People let their kids run around everywhere. It is pretty cool. These people are also beautiful. We went to district 6 and many other memorials of things that happened during apartheid. We then went to a preschool and all the little kids sang us songs and then we played with them. I had 4 kids climbing on me like I was a jungle gym. They were so happy and had so much fun. We danced and played. They were so cute. We took pictures of them and they were so excited to see themselves because many of them have never seen a picture of themselves. (sorry but I can’t post pictures of people up. But I can show you them when I get home). They were memorized by my watch.

On the drive back to the home base was really pretty and interesting. I noticed so many coca cola signs everywhere.  As building signs or on houses. There are houses that are made out of tin. They sloutter animals and cook them right on the street. Its so gross but good for them for doing that.

There is a huge difference in communites from colored, blacks, and whites. The colored are people who are mixed. Blacks are the “less” of the three and then colored and whites are  the “supreme” all of the towns you can clearly see the differences. It is so sad and makes me want to change it but I know I can’t save the world.

NO WORRIES GUYS MY CHACO TAN IS COMING IN VERY NICELY AFTER ONLY ONE DAY OF WEARING THEM!!!. I am going ot the beach this week to work on my tan. The sun is so bright here. It was really windy today but no worries everyone be jealous it was 80 degrees. CHACHING!!!

I am going to try and post everyday but if I can’t no worries guys I will do it as much as possible. I can’t upload pictures on facebook because I have to pay for internet and its expensive to upload them. I am waiting to go to an internet free café

Peace out A town

let the games begin

Let the travels begin.

Lets start off with 48 hours of traveling being not fun at all! 8 hours to London and then not sleeping on the plane with a 10 hour layover in London with nothing to do. That was great. I couldn’t sleep because I was scared I was going to get my stuff stolen. But there was this cute little kid roller blading around the airport. Then I get to go on a 12 hour flight! Don’t worry the people sitting next to me were making out the whole time. That was so much fun!

So I land in cape town and get to the home base and its amazing. I slept cuz I hadn’t slept in 2 days for like a hour. Then got a house tour. This house is absolutely amazing. There are 11 rooms all named after the different languages in south Africa. I am in Affrikans with two other girls. There is a man cave were they boys stay. We only have one guy who is from Singapore/Australia. There are 13 of us. I am the baby of the group but its all good. For lunch today we had a Braai which is a huge lunch that we have every Tuesday and it’s a BBQ. Its kind of like a party.

I like everyone here. I haven’t had the “culture shock” yet because we haven’t gone into the townships yet. Today we went and saw the down town part of cape town. It looks a little like LA. Then we went to signal hill and on one side you can see cable mountain and it is absolutely beautiful. On the other side you can see robbin island and the ocean. We saw the division between the rich and the poor and there is a huge division. There are houses made of literally tin houses. The rich houses are really nice and gated communities. Most of the houses and stores here have bars on them and gates so its safer. The food here is really good. The fresh fruit is amazing.  

well i shall be back later this week. 

peace out homies