5/29

Ok, here's what's happened this week. I've started helping at a local school called "Good Shepherd". They are kids from grades 1-7, and most of them are from the townships here in Grahamstown, which are the poorer government houses. The majority of the kids speak Xhosa at home, which is a language with clicks, so they get me to try and pronounce some of their words and then laugh at my poor efforts. The teachers have told me the kids said they were excited to see a real, live American because the only Americans they had ever seen were on TV.

Anyway, I'm just helping the principle and teachers with whatever odd jobs need to be done around the school. I'm working with another guy named Matt from England. We basically do whatever we can to help the school run smoothly, which can range from sorting paperwork, to cleaning out storage room, to going over worksheets with a class because their teacher wasn't at school that day.

Today I saw a zebra and an ostrich(which is really hard to spell) while driving down the highway. I have also seen giraffe, warthog, and some wild buck that are animals I've never seen outside a zoo.

I have also represented America well on the tennis court. I've beat a kid from Kenya, a lady from South Africa, and while playing Walter I caused a twisted ankle that eventually led to an overnight trip to the hospital.

So the first week here has been a lot of firsts. I'm looking forward to the rest of the summer.

5/22

I have arrived in South Africa. I spent the first day and a half learning about Grahamstown, rugby, field hockey, and celebrating Walter's son Divan's birthday. Weather is beautiful, probably up to 25 C. The next couple days I will just be meeting people and learning about the city and school here.

May 18

Two days before I leave for South Africa. I'll try to regularly post on this give updates on what's been going on.