"Like the Keys of a Piano"

This Valentine's Day was one filled with so so much love here in PE. As a group, the International students spent the night in a township where we heard beautiful Xhosa music, poetry, and saw some really amazing dancing. We were able to enjoy food, desserts, wine, speak with the Mamas and the people of the township, watch the children play and dance (better than I could EVER imagine dancing, by the way!) and just socialize in a setting where we were made to feel loved and appreciated. One of the organizers of the event communicated how happy he was to look at a room and see faces like the keys of a piano, black and white, all mixed together. He was so appreciative of everyone being together in harmony. The history of South Africa is very close to that of the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S., in the sense that the job opportunities and economic mobility of citizens, among many other things, was largely based on skin color during the apartheid era. With people of all ethnicities celebrating and enjoying one another's company at the Red Location hall last night, there was a great sense of peace and a high level of energy.

Also this week were my first 2 of 5 surfing lessons! On Sunday afternoon I had my first lesson with Keith, a man from SA who has been surfing for 30 years. It was a little rough the first day. I had some trouble finding balance and knowing where to put my feet, but today was so much better! I stood up several times and rode the waves into the shore. It was so much fun, and a number of people from Annie's Cove have also been taking lessons, so we've been able to talk to each other about the experience as well. While the waves haven't been huge, they're definitely bigger than what we have going on back home, and as the year goes on, the waves will get bigger and bigger, and we'll hopefully make it over to surf at Jeffrey's Bay!

Week 1 of classes is coming to a close, and it's been a nice transition into real student life! I forgot that I'm here to go to school for a little while last week with all of the beach days and late nights out and about. I think it will be very beneficial to my education having the classes that I'm enrolled in. I'm learning a lot about cultural diversity and dynamics, with one class all about the Xhosa culture, services provided to youth and how social services work in SA, and am taking a Community Service Learning course as well. I'm really excited about this last one because I'll be able to volunteer in an after school program for street kids every Wednesday. It was described as being "hectic" and "unstructured"... fun! I'll either be helping kids with homework, leading some recreational activities or just hanging out with them in the park. I don't know a lot about the project yet but I do know that most of the kids have unpleasant home lives and are in need of mentoring and guidance while they are still  young. I expect it to be one of the most difficult challenges I encounter here, but I'm looking forward to learning as much as I can about how to communicate and make an impact on kids who have dealt with a lot of hardships in their lives.

I've been trying to post photos to here or facebook but my internet has been super slow and it sounds like my computer is seriously out of breath everytime I attempt. SO, I will be using the university internet next week to post some photos/videos! Thanks for reading eerybody!