Ngemepelasonto eThekwini (Weekend in Durban)

After class on Friday, we were dropped off at the Windemere holiday flats. The location is amazing: the flats are across the street from the Indian Ocean. It takes literally 5 minutes to walk to the beach. All of our rooms had balconies facing the beach. The rooms were nice too! I have a feeling I'll be living in the Windemere flats during ISP time since I doubt I'll do a rural ISP. If so, it will be an amazing experience to live beachfront for a month!!!

So Friday night we went out to eat at a local Indian/Pakistani restaurant across the street from Windemere. After that all of us met up at Joe Cools, a local hangout on the beach. The music was mostly American Pop and the occasional rock song from the 80s. We had a blast dancing the night away.

On Saturday after sleeping in (for the 2nd time this semester) I went for a run on the boardwalk. It felt so good to be on the beach!!! A bunch of my friends and I took the peoplemover (a touristy bus that we used for our drop offs) to Victoria market. Victoria market is a variety of shops with all sorts of touristy goods. I didn't buy a ton of stuff this visit to the market, but next time I'll have to get all sorts of South African stuff to bring home! I did buy some awesome skirts that I'll be using for the rural homestays. After an hour or so, we decided to head over to another market that is only open on Saturdays. Unfortunately, by the time we got a taxi the market was closing. We did manage to get some Bunny Chow for lunch. As you read this you may wonder what exactly Bunny Chow is. Well, I wondered the same thing when my host sisi mentioned it to me my first week in Cato. It's a thick slice of bread that is hollowed out and filled with an South African/Indian curry. Although it was a bit much with all the bread, the dish was pretty good. I got a bean curry although there was a mutton curry as well. After eating our bunny chow we visited a local coffee shop then took a taxi back home. Saturday night we decided to go out to Florida Road to check out the scene there.

Sunday was awesome! After another luxurious morning of sleeping in late we went to the Sunday market across the street from the flats. They had all sorts of cool stuff including some USA vuvuzelas that were pretty patriotic (camp kids take notice, i might buy one for 4th of July festivities next summer). After the market we spent the whole day at the beach. The water was pretty cold and the waves were surprisingly powerful. Despite our fear of the infamous sharks off the coast of Durban (courtesy of Shark Week on Discovery Channel), we went knee deep in the water! Luckily, there weren't any shark attacks. We figured the surfers would act like a buffer anyways. All afternoon we played some volleyball with the lifeguards and studied isiZulu on the beach. Sunday night we went out to dinner at Cape Town Fish Market, a yummy seafood restaurant at UShaka Marine World.

Over all it was a pretty awesome weekend. This week is filled with interesting lectures and our last few Zulu lessons! On Saturday we'll be going to a traditional Reed Dance. It's about a 3 hour drive from here and we'll be staying in St. Lucia on Saturday night. Should be a fantastic cultural experiences.

Sala Kahle!

Leah

Week 2 in Durban

Sawubona!

This week has been flying by! I can't believe it's already Thursday. Monday we went to a clinic in Cato Manor which was a really informative and valuable experience, more on that later. Tuesday was pretty much a typical day at SIT and Wednesday was filled with some fun adventures.

Monday: we went to Cato Clinic as a group for a tour of the facilities as well as an information session about the clinic. I was surprised at how nice the facilities were. We got to tour the maternity ward, the HIV/AIDS ARV clinic, as well as the rehabilitative center. Learning about how the clinic worked was helpful for gaining a better understanding of the health care system in South Africa which has both a private and public sector.

Tuesday: Zulu lessons and lectures at school. Zulu is an interesting language. I'm understanding it on paper, not so much in a conversation setting. Which is funny because that's the opposite of my French skills. I'm much better at conversation than writing. Granted, I know way more in French than I do in Zulu. We have a written quiz on Monday which I'm not too worried about, but the oral exam in a few weeks should be interesting....

When I got home on Tuesday, Smu and I decided we were going for a run then play a little football. Before our run around the grounds (the soccer field), she was smack talking me! She thought she was going to run faster than me and further than me (remember she's only 11). We got to the field and began running. She only made it the first lap, actually, she didn't even finish the first lap. She sat with the soccer ball while I finished running. After my quick little run, we started to kick the ball around. As soon as we started playing, kids swarmed to us to play with us! It was so fun playing soccer with all the little kids. I now totally understand how sports like soccer can bridge cultural and language gaps. Despite our differences (age, gender, nationality, cultural group, socio-economic background) we all knew how to play the game and how to have fun.

Wednesday:

Yesterday was quite the adventure. Most notably 3 major events occurred.

1) I was getting ready to take a shower at the SIT house after running with a bunch of the girls in my class. I accidentally bumped into the trash can causing it to fall over. A HUGE cockroach scurried out and was frantically scurring around the bathroom. I was terrified!!! But I was already about to get in the shower anyways so I just got in the shower and hoped the roach would leave me alone. So every few seconds I would pull open the shower curtain to check the roach's location. The damn thing kept moving around the room. When I finally finished the shower, it was underneath where my clothes were hanging. I had to wait a few minutes until it moved to quickly grab my clothes, put them on and then get out of the bathroom.

2) All the students decided to go to an rugby tournament at University of KwaZulu-Natal. Although it was a tournament between the different academic departments, we figured it would be fun to be a part of a college campus environment since we're missing out on our campus experiences this semester. It was nice to be on a college campus again. However, getting to the field and leaving the field was an adventure. There are little gates with the roundabout doorways to get to and from the field. They can only be unlocked with student IDs. Since none of us had a UKZN ID, we had to rely on random people to help us get through! I felt bad considering how many people are in our group.

3) Driving home was an adventure as well. We got a safe taxi but the taxi driver knew nothing about Cato Manor and how to get there. So we had to whip out our map of Cato and try to figure out how to get to Wiggins, the section we live in. After a while, we finally figured it all out and made it home safe.

Today, more Zulu lessons and lectures as well as a trip to the megamall. This weekend we're staying in downtown Durban so we can go out and about. We're planning on going to uShaka Marine world (which is one of the best aquariums in the world), Victoria Market (to get some sweet South African goods like skirts, scarves, and world cup tees) and the beach. Should be awesome!

miss you all!

Leah

1st weekend in Durban

This weekend was a chill weekend with my host family!

Friday: Smu and I went on a tour around the neighborhood.

Saturday: It was Smu's 11th birthday so a few of my friends and I went to the mall with her and her friends. Getting to the mall was an interesting experience to say the least. We had to take a mini bus. Minibus taxis are the major way for people to get around since most of the families in Cato don't have cars. The minibus taxis blast house music and zip all over town. Drivers try to pack as many people as they can in the taxi. Once we got to the mall, the kids told us that they wanted to go to some place called "Makdunnels". It took them a few tries to explain, but we finally realized the kids were talking about McDonalds. So, I treated Smu to a happy meal for her birthday lunch. We also took them to the arcade to play some games. Smu won a bunch of bling (little rings with blinged out dollar signs) and some candy. Overall it was a pretty successful birthday celebration!

Sunday: Sunday morning we went to church. The church service was really long. Unlike the hour long service in the US, it was 3 hours long. Apparently it is normally an hour but the pastor from the city came to the church so we had that service plus the normal service. After church we ate some South African style Biryani. SO GOOD! The rest of Sunday was spent playing with the neighborhood kids. A bunch of the students and I learned some South African games. One of them is like "Little Sally Walker", a game we play at camp. The South African version requires a little more booty shaking than the American version.

We also watched African Big Brother. I've never watched it in the US, but here in South Africa there is a whole channel dedicated to it. The people on the show are filmed 24/7 like in the US version. But, it's a live feed, so the channel follows what everyone is doing at all times. Freaky.

News from Cato Manor

Yesterday we moved into our homestays! My family is wonderful! We live in a cute little house on a hill in Cato Manor. As I've said in previous posts, my mama's name is Ruby. But to update the last info I posted: she lives with her two grandchildren Buwa (he's 18 although my info sheet said he was 16) and Simunye. Lungelo is in law school and only stays at the house sometimes. Lungelo, Buwa, and Simunye's mother lives in Johannesburg and works as a nurse. She's coming this weekend to celebrate Simunye's birthday and I'm curious to see if she's one of the many nurses striking in South Africa.

So despite being super nervous, everything turned out ok! Dinner was KFC chicken, a little bit of veggie curry (which was SO good), steamed veggies and rice. After dinner Simunye helped me with my Zulu homework. At 8 we watched a TV show called Generations. It's one of the most popular shows in South Africa. EVERYONE watches it. It's a soap opera set in modern South Africa and I enjoy watching it as an anthro major. After analyzing so many African films and TV shows for classes at Bates, I get a lot of the complex issues within media such as Generations.

So far everything is going well. Today is the last day of orientation and then all the other classes begin tomorrow. Miss you all so much!!!

Love,

Leah

Welcome to Durban!

Sawubona!

That means hello in Zulu! We arrived in Durban on Sunday afternoon and have been currently living in a hostel on the coast of the Indian ocean. Although you can't go swimming because of the sharks, I got to dip my toes in the water and walk on the beach.

On Monday, I was partnered up with a girl in my group for a drop off excursion. Basically, we had to get on the bus and go to a location within Durban. Don't worry, we were in a really nice section of town and on the more touristy buses. My partner, Sally, and I went to the Durban Art Gallery housed within city hall. The exhibits were mostly local artwork. One of the coolest exhibits was a beaded chair made by impoverished women. They work for a fair trade company, making beaded objects to sell fairly in international markets. This chair was sent around South Africa. People from all walks of life were photographed in the chair and quoted as to what their dreams were for themselves, their families, and South Africa. Famous figures like Archbishop Desmond Tutu as well as HIV/AIDS patients were photographed and quoted. The other notable exhibit was of artwork portraying Indian identity in South Africa. Paintings, photos, and mixed-media projects displayed what it means to be Indian in South Africa. After the museum, Sally and I went to lunch and walked along the beach. For dinner, my friends and I went to an AMAZING seafood restaurant on the pier. I had an awesome South African prawn curry. Dad, I'll have to find you the recipe it was to die for.

Today, we finally went to the SIT house where all of our lessons take place. We had our first official 2 hour Zulu lesson this morning. So far I can handle the vast majority of vocab and pronunciations. The biggest challenge is pronouncing the clicks. There are 3 notable clicks we're learning now: c's, x's, and q's. I can handle the c's and the q's but the x click is really hard. Hopefully I'll be good at all three by the time I get home!

Tomorrow we move into our homestays. I'm living in Cato Manor, a former black township under Apartheid South Africa. My family consists of my mama, Ruby, 2 brothers (one is 21 and one is 17) and a little sister (she's 10). I'll meet them for the first time tomorrow! Getting super excited/nervous! I've heard from another girl on my program that her friend had the same family. Apparently they were amazing. Fingers crossed they're still awesome.

miss you all a ton. can't wait to show you all the pics (it's going to be a challenge to upload pics to facebook or the blog so you'll probably have to wait towards the end of the program)

Sala Kahle (Be Well),

Leah

Day 1: Soweto

Today we went to Soweto (the abbreviation of South West Township). There, we visited Mandela house museum as well as the Hector Pieterson museum. Both signifying important moments within the anti-Apartheid movement as well the rebuilding of South Africa post-Apartheid.

The Mandela museum was a small brick house on the corner of Vilakazi and Ngakne streets in Soweto. Walking through the house was a challenge: the house consisted of a kitchen and 2 bedrooms which barely fit our group of 24. The museum displayed photos of Mandela and his family as well as awards given to the influential Anti-Apartheid leader and former president.

Next we went to the Hector Pieterson museum down the road. This beautiful modern museum was constructed as a way to memorialize the lives lost in the student riot on June 16th 1976. Students were protesting the use of Afrikaans in schools when police began firing on the crowd. 13 year old Hector Pieterson was killed in the riot and became a martyr for the cause.

After Soweto we headed to mall in Johannesburg. For all of you who know I'm a shopaholic, you'd be surprised to find out I didn't buy anything. The rest of the day is for resting and getting adjusted to the time.

miss you all!

Finally here!

After a 14 or so hour flight, I've finally arrived in Johannesburg! Currently we're staying at a really nice hostel/bed&breakfast near the airport. Tomorrow we'll be visiting Soweto, Mandela house and a few monuments around the Johannesburg area. We'll also be going to the mall.

We depart for Durban on Sunday! I'll keep you posted!!!