This week was a somewhat stressful one. I had an isiXhosa test on Wednesday that didn’t go as well as I had hoped especially because I had spent so much time studying. I just have to study extremely hard for the final exam which I’m prepared to do…

The planning for The Candle Lighting Ceremony for the Raphael Center and living with HIV is in full swing. This week we had a meeting with the municipality to wrap up the few logistical technicalities that weren’t perfectly worked out yet. I met with ten kids from the George Dickerson Primary School in the coloured area that I am going to be helping. They are going to sing “Imagine” by John Lennon representing the color white and the peace that comes with accepting your status and living in solidarity with those that are HIV positive. We start practices tomorrow and they’ll hopefully be perfect on Friday 🙂

Friday evening was a going away party for the French international students. They take their exams in France and as a consequence they left Saturday. It was a reality check that our time here is coming to an end.

Saturday, all the BC students sat down for an interview with the Rhodes paper about our South African experience. It was actually a wonderful way to reflect on our experience and realize how much we’ve all gained from our time here. The article comes out after we leave but they are going to email us a copy so that we can see the final product.

Today, Geoff, our BC onsite coordinator and an Economics professor at Rhodes, took us to Great Fish River Nature Reserve and we had a picnic lunch and got to see a bunch of different animals. The best part was on the way home because we drove by giraffes that were just feet from our car. Overall it was a pretty wonderful day.

Classes ended Friday. There are 3 weeks left and it seems like everything has gone by too fast.

This week was pretty calm. I had a paper due on Friday on the Mcdonaldization of the university system but other than that the workload was minimal.

I went to the Raphael Center on Thursday and then to the preschool where I’ve been working. I brought Katie with me and the kids climbed all over us while we recited different body parts in Xhosa and our days of the week. We also pinpointed and took pictures of the children that needed more attention than others so that we could tell Nola who to keep an eye on. The children are the best part of my day with their wide eyes and big smiles.

We had a meeting after the preschool with the municipality to organize the candle lighting service. It was slightly stressful because there is so much work to be done but I know it will all work out. We just have to keep our nose to the grindstone and stay organized.

Sunday we went to The Rat and Parrot a sports pub for dinner to spend our friend Faizal’s last night in town watching the last matches of the English Premier League and reflecting on some awesome memories. He’s leaving tomorrow for Pretoria and we’re all really going to miss him 🙁

This last week was not all too eventful. I had a paper due on Friday for History on the effects of World War One on women so that was on my mind. We had a public holiday on Tuesday so a lot of our friends went out on Monday after a hall charity auction. It was so nice to all be together and makes me realize how much I am going to miss all of the people I have met here.

The biggest events of the week were probably Katie’s 21st birthday and the Tunnels party on Friday. Tunnels is a field party that happens about once a term and tends to always be a huge bash. Before that, I went to dinner with Georgia, a friend of mine from my residence hall, 4 others, and her parents who were visiting from Johannesburg. We had such a lovely meal and discussed school, politics, life after we graduate, and many other things. I’m going to try to keep in contact with her mom because not only is she a lovely lady but she also works for a non-profit organization in Johannesburg and may be able to direct me to the right people if and when I decide to come back over here.

Saturday was a very relaxed day and we watched the rugby matches at our favorite sports bar. Katie and I then put on fat suits and sumo wrestled at a club and died laughing. I am looking forward to getting some work done this week because I have a paper due on Friday and need to start preparing for my Xhosa exam next week.

This past week was a pretty busy one! I had two tests, one in my History and Appreciation of Music class and one in my History class. They both went pretty well but were definitely not the highlight of my week! I did get to go to a wonderful play called Morountodun that Rhodes students put on about a rebel peasant revolt in Nigeria…it was really well done!

I think the week really took a turn for the best on Thursday when I went to volunteer at my placement for the Raphael Center. As I have said previously, I am volunteering at a preschool in the townships where all the children are HIV positive. We practiced our body parts in Xhosa and English (they helped me with my Xhosa and I helped them with their English) and our ABC’s and we read a story…it was a really wonderful morning. I have been given the task to find 4 children that I think need the most help integrating into an English elementary school after finishing at the preschool. For the next few weeks I am responsible for seeking these kids out, learning their history and stories, and determining the best way to help their English and further their success…I’m really excited about the opportunities.

That night, Katie, Amie, and I were invited to a dinner hosted by the women who run the Raphael Center. When we got there we were greeted by other Swedish volunteers and these English women who donate and volunteer at the Raphael Center and the Amasanga Street Children school that Katie volunteers at….it ended up being a FANTASTIC night with amazing food and incredible conversation. Nola, the women I work for, an amazing woman with a huge heart approached Amie, Katie, and I about a candle lighting service they do towards the end of May and asked us if we would be responsible for the production this year…We whole-heartedly accepted and spent the rest of the night brainstorming ideas and ways of implementing an amazing program! We’re hoping to bring the ideas back to BC and hopefully raise funds for the center through our university…the possibilities are endless!!!!

Saturday morning at 4am, we left with the Rhodes Mountain Club to go hiking for the weekend in Hogsback, the area of South Africa that inspired Tolkien for his nature images in Lord of The Rings…the views were incredible and the forests were unbelievable. We hiked all of Saturday and most of Sunday, stopping at the beautiful Madonna and Child Waterfall. We got back late last night exhausted but content with an amazing weekend!

This last week went by pretty quickly. It was our first week back from our 2 week vac so everyone was excited to see each other again, swap stories from vacation, and begin the new term. I didn’t do very much other than school work, hanging out with friends, and going to a Rhodes rugby game on Wednesday night.

Thursday, though, was one of the best days I’ve had since being at Rhodes. I am volunteering at the Raphael Center for Aids Counseling in Grahamstown and when I went to volunteer on Thursday, Jabu, the women in charge of the children’s programs at the Center, asked me to start volunteering on Thursdays from 8:30-12 at the preschool in the townships. I agreed instantly and she took me there to meet the teacher and the kids for about an hour. All the children (there are about 30) at the preschool are HIV positive and most of them have fetal alcohol syndrome, but I have never seen so many smiling faces. They haven’t seen many people outside the townships and when I sat down on the floor they started climbing all over me, playing with my hair, and holding my hands. We practiced our days of the weeks, months of the year, and the 5 year olds stood up and told me their names, how old they were, and what school they went to. The hour I was there went by so quickly and I’m so excited to go back this coming week and start helping them for a longer timeframe!

I think the sad part about the whole experience though was talking to Jabu about the AIDS epidemic and its impact on Grahamstown. She told me so many facts about AIDS and the sex trafficking that the future World Cup is bringing about and it made me want to do something to help mitigate the effects. I’m just going to continue to try to do my part in helping where I can and spreading the word about ways to help and way to stay negative.

This weekend, after turning in an isiXhosa paper about the relationship between language and society in South Africa, Katie and I went away to a cottage house with 6 other Rhodes students about 10 km outside of Port Alfred. We ended up spending the entire weekend there and just hanging out, braiing (bbqing) and talking about life, music, movies, and politics in South Africa. It’s been amazing getting to know all the South African students at Rhodes and realizing that we agree on so many things and have so many similarities even though we are half way around the world. It’s times like these that I’m glad I chose Rhodes University instead of another one because I don’t think at another university I would have been able to meet so many South African students and end up becoming good friends with them.

This week is going to be a little rough because I have a History and Appreciation of Music test and a History test but all in all it should be a good week.

Tuesday, Katie, Dominik, Katie and I took off on our Garden Route adventure from Cape Town to Grahamstown! We drove all day the first day to Hermanus, a beach town notoriously known for whale watching…unfortunately it wasn’t whale watching season and all of us were exhausted so after a walk along the shore line we ended up calling it an early night so that we would be well rested for the rest of our adventure!

Wednesday we drove to to Cape Agulhas, the southernmost tip of Africa and then to Oudtshoorn, an Afrikaans town along the Garden Route known as the ostrich capital of South Africa and also known for the Cango Caves, an incredible natural rock formation that reminded me so much of Salvador Dali paintings. We stumbled upon the last day of the KKNK Afrikaans music festival that was currently running in Oudtshoorn and spent the rest of our second day there exploring the different arts stands and went to a Jack Pero concert that night, a famous Afrikaans rapper! We hung out with all the local South Africans and had a really great time!

Friday we took off for Tsitsikamma, the biggest adventure of our trip! We got some rest that night and then Saturday, Katie Remy, Dominik, and I jumped off the highest bungy jump in the world, Bloukrans. It’s 216m high and the biggest rush I’ve ever had in my entire life! Afterwards we went on a zip-line canopy tour through the trees of Tsitsikamma and witnessed the most amazing view. It was around sunset toward the end of our tour and the scene was so picturesque!

After this fun-filled day, we drove to Jeffrey’s Bay, an Afrikaans surf town, for our last night of the adventure. We stayed at the Island Vibe Backpackers and spent the night enjoying each other’s company and the company of the other backpackers. Finally after spending about 3 hours today on the beach we took off back to Grahamstown for the close of our adventure! Now back to friends, Rhodes, and school work for the last term!

So Vac started Friday and we have two weeks vacation from Grahamstown. Friday, Sytske, Katie, and I took a plane to Cape town and checked into the Carnival Court backpackers on Long Street, the known party place of Cape town. Saturday, we checked out all the stores and restaurants on Long Street and then went to a Goldfish concert at Vaudeville Fez Club! Goldfish is an amazing South African band that is taking the continent by storm! The concert was amazing! It was at a burlesque club so they incorporated all of these Cirque de Soleil like performances and we were right at the stage! One of the best performances I’ve ever been to!

Sunday, Sytske and I took the hop on/hop off bus around Cape town to get to know the city better. We went up to where the cable car starts at Table Mountain and down to Camps Bay, this beautiful beach with beautiful people. We had a wonderful dinner at the Waterfront with Katie’s family and then called it an early night to get ready to meet our families on Monday.

My aunt and uncle came to Cape town on Monday and we stayed at the Cape Grace Hotel on the Waterfront until Friday…it was a BEAUTIFUL hotel and a fun-filled incredible adventure with them. Tuesday we took a tour with our guide, Andre, around Cape town and he showed us all the wonderful spots in Cape town! That night we went to dinner with Sytske’s parents and had a wonderful time just learning about Holland (they’re Dutch) and they’re time in Cape town! Wednesday was a jam-packed day…we sat among the baboons on this hill where we got so close we could almost touch them while they referred to us as more as part of the scenery. They’re amazing creatures! Then we went to see penguins in Simon’s Town, the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point and drove along the coast! Thursday we went up to Table Mountain and then wine-tasting in Stellenbosch at a beautiful vinyard. That night we went to an incredible dinner at the Opal Lounge! My aunt and uncle left early Friday morning and I stayed with Katie’s family for an evening.

Saturday, Katie and I moved in for the night with our friend from University and saw the student life of Cape town after visiting our friend who ran the half marathon, the Two Oceans, at Forrester’s Arm. There were tons of Rhodes students there so it was nice to catch up!

Sunday and Monday we stayed in another Backpackers on Long Street called Blue Mountain Backpackers, hiked Lion’s Head and prepared for the second leg of our vac along the Garden Route with our friends Katie and Dominik! More to come about that!

This week was St. Patty’s Day week and we were excited to see how South Africans celebrate!! The night was a lot of fun and we ended up getting decked out in green and going out for a night in Grahamstown!!

This weekend we got invited to a Braii at our friend Faizal’s house. His dad happens to be the Vice Chancellor of Rhodes University so we ended up eating at their house which was so fun! They have a beautiful back garden with a pool and Amie, Katie, and I spent all night drinking wine, eating delicious South African food, and talking politics and culture with our friends! I cannot stress enough how amazing the people I have met here are and how wonderful it has been to have nights like this where we just enjoy each other’s company, knowledge, and new friendship.

Sadly, our weekend ended on a low note as our attempt to go skydiving fell through…it was too windy and they were having technical difficulties with the plane so we’ll have to reschedule for another day.

This week there was a “Dirty Skirts” concert at the Union. The band is a South African rock band and they did a live show at Rhodes! The music was really good and they put on a very good live show! It’s awesome to get to experience South African bands and hear what is popular in this country! It’s very similar to the United States actually!

Friday night there was a social for African Drum Society and the Masincedane Society. The Masincedane Society is a community service society that we joined that goes to the soup kitchen in Grahamstown to volunteer and all the proceeds from this social went to the kitchen. It was at a digs (which is an apartment or house) of some of the Rhodes students in African drum society and this particular digs had a huge garden where there were people doing dances with fire ropes and African drums playing everywhere. It was a really cool experience!

Because we wanted to have a chill weekend after the travel of J Bay the weekend before we decided to stay in Grahamstown. Katie and I ended up going out for dinner at The Rat and Parrot, our favorite sports bar, and ended up meeting these Rhodes boys there and watching rugby for three hours. Katie and I have never really been into rugby but that night we ended up cheering with the best of them and totally getting into the game! The vibe in the bar is really intense and competitive and it was fun having them explain the game to us! I’ve realized that random nights like that are some of the best times here…we didn’t expect to meet these boys and share the rugby experience but it happened and we are more cultured and comfortable here because of it!

This experience continues to amaze me with every passing week and the people I’ve met here have already had such an impression on my life…I’m not sure how I’m going to leave.

This week, we decided to try out another society we joined and go to a Wine Tasting meeting. None of us have ever done wine tasting before and as a first meeting, we got to sample about 7 different wines that are native to South Africa and learn how to taste properly. We also got to meet more Rhodes students which is always fun! Afterwards, there was a Rhodes rugby game and everyone went to the union! Overall it was a very fun night!

Thursday evening, Geoff Antrobus, our onsite coordinator, invited us to dinner at The Cock House, a bed and breakfast and small restaurant that Nelson Mendela stayed at while he was in Grahamstown. The food was delicious and the company was wonderful as Geoff’s whole family joined us and we learned all about their family life! They are amazing people and have just solidified even more to us how incredible South Africans can be!

This weekend was our dutch friend Sytske’s 25th birthday and to celebrate about 20 international students decided to take a trip to Jeffrey’s Bay, an Afrikaans surf town about 4 hours from Grahamstown. The beaches there are beautiful and we spent all weekend enjoying each other’s company, celebrating her birthday, and hanging out on the beach! I think the most amazing part of this trip so far, other than how beautiful this country is, is the people I have met. We are from all different backgrounds, Holland, France, America, South Africa, Nepal, Australia, Germany, etc yet when we come together we realize that those differences are what make our new friendships amazing. These people have definitely made an impact on my life and I know we will stay close for a long time to come!