1) Because there are 5 of us staying in the city at Windemere and most rooms are only for 4 people, we got moved into.. drumroll please.... the PENTHOUSE! It's beautiful and we have a wall of floor to ceiling windows that overlook the ocean. We can even see the Moses Mabhida stadium from our room. My bed has the best view in the house, it overlooks the entire beach! We also have a huge kitchen and free dish tv. It's pretty amazing. I cooked butter chicken on Monday night and last night we made quesadillas out of chipattis.
2) I volunteered at CANSA for the first time yesterday. I went in thinking I was going to filing paperwork all day. However, I ended up going with Rose, one of the educators, to a primary school in KwaMashu to teach about healthy living and preventing cancer. When we arrived at the school, I was given a seat with the panel of speakers. They kept feeding me cheetos and the South African equivalent to life savers candies. Every time I go anywhere, I'm treated like royalty because I'm an American. I don't like it, I feel like I should be the one honoring them. I feel honored to be in the presence of such wonderful kind people. I'm the useless one there to learn. I was kind of nervous they we're going to make me talk to the kids. But, I didn't have to. Which is a good thing since the entire presentation was in Zulu. I did understand bits and pieces of the presentation and Rose would explain what was happening.
It was interesting that HIV/AIDS education begins at such a young age in South Africa. I didn't know what AIDS was until I was at least 11/12 years old. These kids are being taught about AIDS when they're 5! I'm still getting used to complex views of HIV/AIDS here. There are so many awareness campaigns and support groups plus people talk about it very openly, but at the same time it is so stigmatized. Also, there was a huge emphasis on teaching kids how to get help if their being abused. The cancer discussion was mostly about health living habits and how eating good foods, exercising, and not smoking can help prevent cancer. After the presentation was over, Rose kindly drove me back to my apartment.
3) I just found out that some of the life guards that we're friends with are professional surfers. Thus far I've met professional surfers and semi-pro soccer players. CRAZY! I feel like it's so rare to meet professional athletes in real life in the US and we're just meeting them at the beach.
Only 28 days left with SIT and 36 days until I'm back in the US of A. 66 days until the epic return to Bates. unreal.
love you all and can't wait to see you in a month!
Leah
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