First Weekend with Homestay Family

So the first weekend was great. Mama had to work both days from 12-8. Saturday I got up around 7:45am and Mama made eggs and steak and made me eat two pieces of bread. She was angry I didn't take more though. We watched some cartoons while we ate. The two boys are obsessed with Cartoon Network so thats basically all we watch haha, yes they are 15 and 17. Saturday was Andile's birthday he turned 15 so I paid for his taxi fare to go to the mall with me. We went with 4 other girls and their siblings..all younger. It was sooo much work to take these little kids around the mall oh my gosh I was exhausted. But they are all very aware of their surroundings. They knew what taxi we had to take and where we needed to go.

At the mall we ate hamburgers which are wayyy different than in the U.S. they are paper then look like veggie burgers and are spicy. They will probably not be my first choice next time. Then we had ice cream and we took then to the arcade in the mall. I paid for most of Andile's things but I made it clear it was strictly for his birthday. They didn't do anything for his birthday, they hardly recognize it so I felt bad. I also went to Pick N Pay which is their grocery store and bought the items to make chocolate chip pancakes.

Thats about it for Saturday..but Sunday morning I got up and made everyone chocolate chip pancakes which was a big hit or flapjacks as they call it. I think I'm in with the family now. Then I went to Sarah's house who lives right behind me with Mama Ruby to study some Zulu. The girls next door were helping us learn the body parts and helping us create a song. Some of the other American girls came by and asked if we wanted to go to the beach so of course we did. I left Andile and Siyanda a note because they were out playing with their friends and Mama Nano set up a taxi for us to go into Durban and go to the beach. The beach was funn more on the beach later perhaps but we stayed for 3 hours or so just about 10 of us girls.

Oh in lecture on Friday the guy who was our lecturer made us sing In the Jungle again and taught us what the aweeeeee oh awweeeeeee umbabuwe meant. The imbubwe means lion and the aweeeee is suppose to be a train sound. There is a whole story behind it but its too long. Anyway just one more incounter with The Lion King its great!

And my brother says I look like Fergie..whattt!

First Night With Homestay Family

They dropped us all off yesterday at our homestay families. My mama is about 37 I believe and her name is Nokuthula and then she has a sister Penelope who is 33. Nokuthula has two sons, Andile who is 14 turning 15 this weekend so we get to have a celebration!!!! And her other son Siyanda is 17. He already graduated from high school and they don't have enough money right now to send him to college, but he wants to go. Mama works at Nando's which is a restaurant place. When I got there we hung out and talked and stuff. She doesn't speak great English but we understand each other. The kids do though, essentailly English is their first language, they have to learn it in school. Anyway some of the other students came by my house and picked me and and we went on a walk down the street to the other houses and meet the other student's mamas. While we were walking I think we gathered about 25 kids that followed us and were talking to us. One of them screamed "Look the white people are here". They are use to having us twice a year and the whole community knows who we are. They are all very welcoming.

When I came back mama made me eat. Oh the 10 pounds I wanted to lose...looks like I'm gonna be gaining 10 pounds. Apparently the mamas want to make you fat and want to literally see you got fatter when you leave. So she was serving me rice and she was like "is this good" and I was like "ya thats plenty, thank you" and she put another scoop on there...I'm doomed. Anywho I had rice with like vegetable chicken stuff on top with a side of potato salad that had eggs in it. Also they don't eat salad here but they know the Americans like salad so my mama had a huge bowl of salad made for me too.

I ate and instantly gained 2 pounds for sure and then she was like ok time for dessert..yikes! But the dessert was amazing it was like this butter pecan ice cream with custard on the side and some fruit.

Then we basically watched TV with the kids... some soap-operas and then the Zimbobwe South Africa soccer game. They helped me with my Zulu homework. Then I went to bed at 9:30. They said they normally go to bed around 8 or 9. I have my own room that is a decent size that has a queen bed in it and a dresser.

Woke up a 6am and bathed. They have a tub and they just heat water up and I use the tub inside the tub. I will have to master that technique because right now I think it sounds like I'm playing in the tub. They have two other bedrooms though and a little living room and kitchen. I ate corn flakes which is apparently a big breakfast thing cause I've had them almost everyday. The vans come to my "stop" and pick some of us up at 7:15am. Zulu starts at 8:30-11 and a break then the Community Health Seminar in the afternoon. Back to homestay at 4:30ish.

Mama works tonight so she said she will have dinner ready and I can eat whatever but that the kids will stay with me.

My clicks are becoming quite good and I know about five conversations to have in Zulu. Today we really learned a lot. I am going to have to study tonight. With the CHS we have just learned the history of Durban and Cato Manor - which is the township I live in and the health conditions surrounding these places.

We are in charge of our own lunches so I bought food yesterday when we went to the mall but mama actually packed me a lunch today.

Travels to Durban

So last night was our last night in Johannesburg and our program director who has been with us the entire time Zed, who is from Zimbobwe, and is completely awesome...decided we needed a little fun time. So last night he took us to see a movie at the mall if we wanted to go so some of us did. We saw Couples Retreat and it only costed us R27. Anywho, so Zed is like a 40 year old guy who has like almost an Australian accent but we think thats how white people from Zimbobwe talk but we don't know. Anyway he is sooo cool!

But today we woke up and learned a little Zulu like Sawubona and Unjani and Ubani ikama lakho. Just the basics no real clicks yet although we did try some words and I'm doomed. You have to clicked almost simultaneously as you say the word which is nearly impossible. They also have ways of pronouncing certain parts of words that are really hard that you have to conjure up from the back of you throat but its almost like a lisp..very interesting.

By they way this program is 28 girls from all over the U.S. we ahve met our program director Zed and two guys that help out with Zulu but mainly transporting us Thula and S'du who are young Zulu guys. Anyway today we got in our vans and traveled 6 hours to Durban. The scenery on the way was magnificent it was like in The Lion King when all the stuff is green and I saw like that cirlce of life tree or whatever it is like 80 billion times. For future reference yes I will indeed relate everything to The Lion King. Anyway we got pulled over on the way for a random tag check I suppose but it was just like a guy in the middle of the road waving us over... very different.

Once we got into Durban it was very city like..mainly related it to L.A. which is ehh. But it was really cool and really modernized. We are staying in the Happy Hippo backpackers lodge which is so urban and cool looking. Dad, it looks like that Bean Bag Bohemian thing you sent me. So we are staying here for two days.

Zed left us today so we were on our own for dinner. We went to the uShaka marine park thingy and went to the beach for a bit. It was soo humid and hot. The water was really nice though. The Indian ocean is much like the Atlantic. Then we ate at this seafood restaurant.

So Happy Hippo lets us have internet access for an hour for R20 which is is like three dollars so I will probably be on tomorrow maybe around 8pm or 9pm my time which is 1 or 2 pm everyone elses time. I will not have this much internet access once the program actually begins.

Some words I will be bringing back to the U.S.:
- tots (pronounced toots) which are drinks
- jolly good - just something Zed says all the time
- stylin' - also Zed
- eskoko - Zulu word for baller
- sorted

First Day in Johannesburg

So today we woke up and ate a pretty normal breakfast of cereal and yogurt and what not. Then we did some group bonding activities some name games if you will. After that we took two vans and one truck to Soweto where we visited the Hector Pieterson museum which is basically a museum documenting the anti-apartheid efforts. Then we went to lunch at Wandies which was a local place in Soweto where they had a buffet in which there was the normal South African stuff like chicken some beef rice and potatoes as well as some other stuff and their signature dish of cow intestines…which I tried. And when I say it was cow intestines…it was like legit cow intestines like you know in Bio when you dissect the cat or what not and you uncoil the intestines yup this was all coiled up and we ate it straight up. Most of us agreed it would have been tolerable if it had been fried…I don’t believe South Africans fry stuff though, bummer. While we were there these two guys came with a guitar and played us the South African version of the In the Jungle from The Lion King which was wayyyy better than our version…and some other songs as well. It’s so funny how we stick out to some of them because after that they started playing this song about finding the spirit of Obama. After that we drove to the Mandela House which we would have walked to if it hadn’t been raining. Anywho the Mandela House was legit it was the house Nelson Mandela and his wife Winnie lived in for 40 years…well when they weren’t in imprisoned. It was really cool because his house is in the middle of Soweto and you wouldn’t ever know it was a “monument” like you do in the states.

Then we went to the mall, which is kind of like the malls in the U.S. but not at all. We were there mainly to buy phone minutes but some of us pick up some other goodies as well. We then came back to the Shoestrings Lodge where about 20 of the 27 of us went running, including me. Maybe it was cause we have an overly active bunch or maybe its like the personality of the people who choose to come to this program..I don’t know but we are trying to continue this theme.

Now it is about dinner time..and who knows what is for dinner but definitely some carbs and meat.

Tomorrow we are taking care of the legalities of everything, health and safety and what not…the boring stuff. So I don’t believe I will have anything to say tomorrow.

More on Germany

So I landed in Frankfurt and walked up and down the same terminal four times trying to make up my mind as to whether I should just leave the airport or go check in first. Well I found out that I couldn’t check in until 4:30 pm anyway so I got some advice from the lady behind the South African Airways ticket counter as to how to get downtown. I proceeded to the train station and somehow caught the right train and took it to the Hauptsachen stop which took me to the center of downtown. During all of this about four people asked me for directions in German. Apparently I look like I know German..ha. Anywho found a tourist desk in the heart of downtown and took a one hour bus tour. I got off the bus after that hour and basically walked the entire route the bus took us..cause I got lost. Roamed around for a while and then found not the train station I was supposed to be at but somehow took that train to the train station I was supposed to be at and then took the Wiesenbaden back to the airport.

So sidenote – I never paid for the train, was I suppose to? Whoops.

So Frankfurt is pretty legit. There is still a lot of Jews and only a few real historic roads and sites due to the destruction from World War II. As you can imagine its like NYC but with much cooler architecture and people. Thus, I like it better. I never got to eat there because I didn’t get that many Euros and I thought I had to pay for the train, they told me it was 4 Euros…but again I never paid.

However, I did have some German crackers when I got back to the airport. Not the same I know but I wasn’t trying to get stranded in Frankfurt.

Also, I forgot to pack deodorant in my backpack and I’m traveling for three days so I think I bought some in the airport. It’s kind of a weird oblong shape…not quite sure it is actually deodorant because it’s all in German, nevertheless it smells good so whatever.

So currently, I am writing this awaiting to board my flight to Johannesburg. When I was in line to get my ticket I was behind about 25 white people, no blacks. I was discouraged. Low and behold though there are a handful sitting around me…I will get the real experience after all!

Germany/South Africa

I'm here!

Germany was awesome basically I hoped a train to downtown where I took a bus tour...many funny stories to tell about that once I'm not on this 1980's computer. Currently though I am at like a backpacking lodge with three other girls waiting for everyone else to get here this afternoon. But I am safe, showered, and feed!

Just the Beginning

Today I leave Raleigh at 5:16pm and arrive in DC then on to Frankfurt, Germany where I have about a 12 hour layover. I plan on taking a tour of the city. From Frankfurt I fly to Johnannesburg arriving at about 8:30am Friday Jan 22. I will met the rest of my group in the airport between 5 - 6:30pm. We will be spending 3 days in Johannesburg for orientation and sightseeing.

I'm just trying this out!