Sharks VS. Southern Kings Rugby game - Last friday I attended a PE rugby game at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, AKA the FIFA World Cup Stadium! It was beautiful. I've seen the stadium from the highway a few times now but getting up close to it was really cool. The architecture is so unique, it kind of looks like a space ship. Of course, it wasn't nearly as full as it could have been because it was designed to fit something like 40,000 spectators for the World Cup, but there was a good amount of people who came! Mostly Shark fans.. and as the game went on, the Sharks showed that they were the favorable team for a reason. I was impressed with both teams though, because rugby is a rough sport! First of all, I had never noticed this before, but when each kick-off starts, they lift a guy by his shorts in the air to claim the ball! Kind of like in basketball, when they jump to get the ball, except this guy just flies up in the air out of the mass of men, and I've got to say it looks a little painful. They also were slamming into each other and dragging each other to the ground without any body protection except on their shins. OUCH. During the game, we got some Biltong from the man selling snacks in the stands, and it was tasty! It's a type of dried spicy beef, very popular here. Even though I had a hard time following the rules of the game, I'm excited to go back tonight and see another one! This time NMMU is playing, and from what I hear the crowd is wild. Yeah rugby!
Sinethemba Home for Street Children - On Wednesday of last week I had my first day of volunteering for my Community Service Learning module. We went to a place in the Walmer township, an area that's very poor and very crowded. Driving through there was worse than any Boston driving I've witnessed. There are no rules, so people will back out from spots without looking, cross the street without checking to see if cars are coming, pass people since there aren't lanes or any sense of direction. It was stressful being in the passenger seat, but the woman driving us seemed to have been there many times before. When we arrived at the home, there were two sides- for boys and girls, and in this house the children live and sleep. Many of them have run away from bad homes with alcoholic or abusive parents, or their parents have died from HIV/AIDS. I first started playing with a boy who looked to be about 2 years old. He was sitting on the burning hot porch in the sun, playing with a cardboard box and 2 flip flops. I wanted to try to interact with him, but he kept to himself and didn't really look at me. I took a risk and slid the box back and forth and then back to him. It took a while, but eventually we got a game of "Pass the box across the porch full speed at each other" going, and another little girl joined us. She spoke Xhosa, and thought I did, too. It was tough not being able to communicate with them. After a while I figured I should probably do what I came here to do, help with homework, but seeing as these kids weren't in school but loved the attention they were getting, I brought a couple childrens books out to them and read them aloud. They loved it! They were so attentive and wanted to repeat all of the English words I said; their favorite was FLOWWWERRR. Every page had a flower on it, so immediately after turning the page.. "FLLLOWWERRR." Ahh, it was the best. By the end of the time I had spent there I was reading to 5 or 6 little ones, including one who had fallen asleep sitting on my lap. I can't wait to be back this week!
Sardinia Bay - On Friday a few of us drove to Sardinia Bay. It's at the end of this long road along the coast that litterally ends with a sand dune! This beach is probably the most beautiful beach I've ever been to. You have to climb up this really steep dune to get to the water, and when you're on top you seriously feel like you're walking on the moon. It's hard to describe. The water was out of control, probably the reason why no one else was there. I've never been in waves that strong before. The tide just pulls you out so quickly, and when you are in the crashing zone, prepare to be demolished. It was fun though, and I'm definitely going to be back there (possible horse back riding!).
Addo Elephant Park (part 2) - On Saturday I went back to Addo after having been there with Mom & Dad a few weeks ago. This time, we were so lucky to have seen about 50 + elephants within the first 2 minutes!!!! So unbelievable. We turned the corner, I was ready to drive around for at least an hour and a half before seeing anything, and there they were! All crowded around the watering hole. Another line of them were coming down the hill, too. They were having so much fun, the babies were playing together, there were a few of them laying down in the mud, some others pushing their tusks against one another. Just enjoying life. As we drove along we didn't see much of any of the other animals, but every 10 minutes, another elephant! There were a lot of them just roaming around by themselves along the road, eating the plants. It's so weird how they're used to vehicles being right next to them. It seems really unnatural but I'm glad for it. We could drive alongside a big guy just walking down the road, and he would look at us, but not think anything of it. He didn't even change his pace. We also saw a buffalo (another of the Big 5 of S. Africa) who was reeeally cool. He was right next to the road, and I was a little bit afraid when we looked up at us from under those huge horns. Those are HUGE animals, who could probably crush your car with just a nudge. We also followed him with the car for a good while. Addo is just the wildest place, and it's so cool to think it's only an hour from where I'm staying! I'd love to go back. Even when you don't see animals, the scenery is breathtaking. It's among huge grassy hills and fields, and when you get to the Lookout areas on the cliff, you can see the whole place, and it's in complete silence. There's no way I can ever justify it by writing about it. It's unlike any other place I've been!
Well, I've got to get ready for my morning class, but I feel better knowing I've documented some of the exciting happenings of the past week. I haven't even gotten into the fun that goes on at Annie's every day! The time is flying by and it's crazy to think that it's already almost been a month since I've left home! I'm so happy to have 4 more months of this wild place, and I already can tell it will be difficult to say good bye to it. Thanks for reading!
No comments:
Post a Comment