Dumela!!!!

Dumela!!!

Arrived in jane furse!Hey all!

Spent tuesday at a museum in jo'burg n on a bus to polokwane. We were picked up by maureen our south african granny and stayed with her on tues night. Such a cutie! Then on wed morn grabbed some supplies n was picked up by Mpho a staffmember from the school.he is crazy but very easy to get along with.

The landscape in jane furse is very vast orange dry n mountainous. It doesn't rain until october so it is very dry. There r the most beautiful vibrant sunsets over the mountains though .there is no grass just orange sand. It is really beautiful though.The school is a lot bigger than I expected. The buildings are like home but the resources r limited .

My room is very comfortable though.they even gave us a kettle hotplate n tv! The Students all come in n use them though they r not supposed to but I feel so rude not sharing. Past the schooolgates though is very different.shanty houses,wells,street sellers,goats n donkeys! There r shops though were we can get supplies.I havnt started teaching yet as they r still working out where we r most needed but I bought some netballs from ur generous donations n they were so excited.there is a game coming up against another school so we have been practising.

Yesterday I played w the primary kids. We played netball,bball,running races and danced they r so cute.Looking forward to starting teachng. I did some typing last night for my friend soli who works in admin. Computers r very new here and he was amazed at how fast I could type. Wat usually tAkes him about two hours I did in 30min.Anyway all is well here in rural south africa.

Enjoying the experience!
Salang gabotse!
Goodbye n stay well in the local language Sepedi.

Jo'burg and Soweto tour

Thobela! (hello)
Yesterday was one of the best days of my life!! Absolutely amazing!
We went to Soweto yesterday which is the biggest non white township outside Jo'burg. we toured through the slums and saw the most amazing people. It was heart breaking though seeing the kids with their snotty noses and pot bellies. It truly is like what u see on those ads and tv. Little ones ran up to me and wanted cuddles and wanted me to pick them up. We played with their toys, sticks with wheels on the end and went inside their homes. They live in absolute poverty but are the happiest, warmest and most welcoming people i ahve ever met.Their faces light up when u wave and say hello.They live in the slums right next to people in mansions. The disparity and contrast is unbelieveble.
Everyone speaks english, even the littles ones so it is really easy to communicate. we also visited various museums, nelson mandelas old house, one of the gaols that mandela and gandhi were kept in. it was such an amazing day!!! I actually stood in Mandelas footsteps!

I also met some of the local students here at the Uni we are staying in. they are doing medicine. They are such beautiful people. One guy, Mashareala, is from Limpopo and he taught me alot about Jane Furse and the some of the local language. Most of the people speak about 5 different languages.

Today everyone leaves for their placements. Most are leaving at about 8 to catch their planes to places but we are going on another tour and then getting a bus at 1:30pm to Polokwane then getting picked up there by Maureen our rep and taken to jane Furse. Well will get in there about 7:30 tonight i think. Im soo excited to actually get there and settle in. Its sad leaving everyone because we have all made such good friends but we are going to try and travel together at the end.

Well all is very very well here. Absolutely love it. Have not had one bad experience at all. I just cant get over the people. they are absolutely amazing!!!

This may be my last internet visit in a while. Mashareala said their may be internet in St marks so i hope thats the case. If not i wil try and update as often as i can when i get into the city.

Salang gabotse!
(goodbye and stay well)

Safe and sound in South Africa!!

Arrived in Jo'burg today!! Soooooooooo exciting and sooo different. Its very brown and there is barbed wire and broken glass lining every wall, but then in contrast, everyone i have come in contact with have just been so unbelievably helpful, humble and beautiful. We are staying at Wits University in Jo'burg. Met some awesome local people and students and they have given us so much valuable information. We have one more day here and then i head out to my rural school in Limpopo. Really looking forward to it. Its so hard to describe the vibe and feeling here. Its just amazing.
Sending lots of love back home. I have been assured by all south africans that my community and province i am going is one of the safest in South Africa. It is the whole communities job to care for us and respect our property so that is really great!!
xoxoxo