Stickers, & Cheetahs, & Drummers, OH MY!

Yesterday, Friday, was my last day in school before Holiday.  They go to school year-round here in South Africa, so Friday marked the end of their first term.  Two weeks off until the next one starts!  That means us Grand Valley students will travel :)


It was a slightly frustrating morning.  My CT put me to work by checking over grades, which isn't terrible, however, it left me in the faculty room the entire morning without any student interactions.  Also, the checking was super easy to do and apparently she wasn't expecting this.  Basically, it left me with a lot of time to read part 2 of the Hunger Games trilogy :)


After school was out, all of us GV students hung out at my host family's pool for the afternoon.  We realized the pool is entirely salt water.  Crazy, right?!  


Since yesterday was the 22nd birthday of THREE of us, we celebrated with gelato and cake at one family's house and then a few of us moved to the Irish Pub in town.  Safe to say that we all felt at home at that bar!  Very relaxed and great conversations had by all!


Today was a very busy day!  We started out doing our Kayamundi Township tour.  This is the township that my high school is in and where all of my students are from.  It was very eye-opening.  We saw how a majority of our students live.  So many huts and dirt floors.  The kids SWARMED us!  As soon as someone pulled out stickers (or stamps to the children), we never saw the end of them!  It was great and definitely brought tears to a few eyes.  We got to see the preschool and day-care center they have there, as well as the orphanage.  There has actually been one GV student that was on this same trip that ended up coming back after graduation to work in the Kayamundi preschool.  Don't think it's my calling, but still interesting that it's an option.


Tonight, we all traveled to the Spier winery.  There is so much there!  Our first stop was the Cheetah Rehabilitation Center where, guess what, I got to pet and take a pic with a full-grown Cheetah!  And after that, I got to move over to the Aviary and hold a massive owl on my arm.  So awesome, I could not get over it!  The best part of all, however, was the dinner.  We ate at the restaurant attached to the winery called Moyo.  Such a beautiful restaurant under the night sky!  After being seated, the workers come around and paint white dots on your face, everyone with different designs.  Then, they explain to you how the buffet works.  SO MUCH AFRICAN FOOD!  Those of you who may be wondering, of course I had steak!  It was actually Impala steak!  Absolutely everything I ate or drank was incredible!  During dinner, was had drummers as our entertainment.  It was so much fun!  We all have agreed to come back at the very end of our trip.  VERY worth it!


Tomorrow morning we head out all over the country for our 2 week holiday.  It actually starts with a 7 hour drive tomorrow :P


During this holiday I have no idea when I will be able to access the internet to update this blog but I'll do my best.  I miss you all and hope you're finishing out your school year strong!!


More Later!


AB