Surfin' Safari

On our first weekend, after a long week at school, we decided to rent a car and head to Jeffrey's Bay. J Bay is known by surfers worldwide for it's constant waves. So what did we decide to do while we were there? Surf, of course!

We signed up for a 2 hour lesson with a wonderful instructor, Andrew. He told us that we were "literally going to stand right up on our boards" by the end of it. Oh, how easy it sounds! However, it's a little harder than that. We spent two hours catching the waves, falling off, and fighting our way back out there to do it all over again. It was the most fun I have had in a long time! I absolutely loved it! No, I am not a natural born surfer, but I did stand up and got to experience surfing for about a half-second. It was amazing. A few of us had so much fun that we are hoping to rent boards in PE and try our luck again.

After surfing, we were exhausted. We lounged on the beach for a bit and watched the dolphins swim by. Then we ate at was Jeanine said is the "only Mexican resataurant in South Africa." It was quite different than the Mexican restaurants we've got at home. So, please, go out and have a veggie quesadilla and a margarita on the rocks for me!

We decided to keep our rental car for one more day. On Sunday, we drove about 15 minutes to Seaview Lion Park. As we pulled into the park, we were greeted by several springboks and blesboks. We were so excited but hurried to the back of the park in hopes of catching the lion feeding. We were a little disappointed to see that the lions were in fenced in areas. It was more like seeing them in a zoo than in the wild. However, they were still quite beautiful creatures, and we got to see them eating. It was actually very gross to was a lioness rip into a dead cow--but that's the Circle of Life!

We then drove past some free roaming baby giraffes with their parents and a family of wildebeasts to get to the place where they kept the cubs. For about $7, we got to hang out with and pet 6 month old lion cubs. One of them, Melissa, was hanging out in a tree, and she licked my head and began chewing my hair. Yes, I'm in Africa!

We also got to see 4 week old tiger cubs! They were precious and sucking on little pacifiers. I also really enjoyed the meerkats. They reminded me so much of my mom's chihuahua Zach!

It was a wonderful first weekend! Now I am back in school and still adjusting to the many differences between American schools and South African schools. I'll tell you more on that later! Until then, Hakuna Matata, friends!

Port Elizabeth

Hello, my wonderful family & friends! I appologise for not posting earlier, but, yes, I have made it safely to my new home. Port Elizabeth is a beautiful city, and I live just a short walk from the warm, though windy, beach with the deep blue waters of the Indian Ocean. I live in a home with I believe a total of 15 people though not everyone has arrived yet. There are also 3 dogs and one squawky parrot. But before you get worried about my jampacked quarters, you must realise that there is the main house and two flats. My flat only has six girls in it, and I share a room with Margot. Yes, we are packed like sardines, but I actually like that. I never get the chance to feel homesick because there is always something going on and someone to talk to.

Jeanine, my host mom, is a certified chef! I was worried before I came to this meat-loving society that I might have to fend for myself and live off rice and beans for four months. However, Jeanine has catered to me every night. She has even experimented with soy-based "meats"!

I have been placed in a 3rd grade classroom at Herbert Hurd Primary. I love it! However, it is so very different than a classroom in the States. The schools here are very strict. Although my teacher is very kind, she constantly yells at the students. They seem to have little room for creativity and personal expression. And, as I expected, the teachers tell the students what they should know, rather than allowing them to explore on their own and construct their own knowledge. It seems that they are very behind the average American 3rd graders; however, perhaps my perspective will change as I spend more time here.

My school is also a public school. I was surprised to learn this because my students wear uniforms, and it is a Christian school. How is this possible? Well, apparently, there are very few public schools where students do not pay--those are mostly in the townships. After apartheid, there was a flood of children coming to school. To maintain proper education with a decent teacher to student ration, the schools began to charge tuition. Parents can choose where to send their students, but some schools are far more expensive than others.

Another thing I am adjusting to is the spelling and words they use here. I have learned so many fun words! My students will speak to me, and I often have no idea what they are talking about, but I am learning. Tackies are sneakers. Rubbers are erasers. Robots are traffic lights. Full stops are periods. Costumes are bathing suits. Wind-ups or gems are crayons (wind-ups being twistables!). Pritt is glue. Croakies are markers. There are so many more, and I will post them as I learn them. I love it! I plan to come back with a poor SA accent and tossing around phrases like, "Oh, la, I forgot my costume!" and "I like wind-ups much better than croakies." I know, you can't wait!

I have yet to have too many adventures yet, but we plan to travel each weekend. This weekend, we are going to Jeffrey's Bay to experience some amazing surfing! Well, it may end up being a disaster with me on a surfboard, but it should be fun nonetheless!

I miss and love you all!

Sweet South Africa!

Who would have thought that I would have the opportunity to return to the beautiful continent of Africa? In one short week, I will be boarding a plane and heading to the magnificent country of South Africa. I will spend the first night in Johannesburg and then continue to my final destination of Port Elizabeth. I can hardly wait to experience everything that this wondrous country holds! Of course, I will be spending the majority of my time occupied with my teaching internship at Herbert Hurd Primary. However, I intend to fill every second of free time with beach bumming, safariing, shark diving, elephant trekking, lion taming, scuba diving, and banana & mango eating! Okay, maybe I won't tame any lions, but I sure hope to fulfill the other things on that list.

I am so very blessed to have this experience! I will try to update this blog more than I did when I was in Rwanda; after all, I will be gone for four months. Luckily, internet access is far less scarce than it is in Rwanda.

Hakuna Matata, baby!

Almost Home

I leave in just one short day. While I love Rwanda and my Rwandan family and I will cry terribly when I leave, I am finally excited to come home. I miss my family, my friends, my cat (of course), and all the comforts of home. I look forward to sleeping in my own bed, eating something other than rice, taking hot showers, wearing clean clothes, having clean feet, using my electric toothbrush, swimming in the pool, exercising, riding my bike, and driving my car.

But even as I write this, I think of all the things I will miss, and I am getting teary-eyed! I will miss my family that I am staying with so much. They have been so kind and really welcomed me into their home. I will miss the children, Angela, Angeline, and Padou. I will miss the fresh fruit. I will miss the friends I've made here. I will miss the thousand hills. I will miss the feeling you get after you wash your hair for the first time in a week. And, yes, I will even miss the food...just maybe not right away.

I will definitely have to come back to Rwanda! This has been a great trip and a wonderful experience. I'll be back in Auburn on Wednesday evening (just in time to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince)!

A Perfect Rwandan Birthday!

Yesterday, I turned 23 years old! I can't believe I am nearing my mid-twenties...I don't know if I like this. However, I could not have asked for a better birthday. I woke up early and took my time to head downtown to meet my friend (Becky) for pizza and a cinnamon roll at one of my favorite restaurants. Even though I had promised myself that I would not buy anymore souvenirs until the last day, we ended up shopping afterward. I figured it was okay to buy myself a small birthday gift...or two. I bought myself some earrings and a necklace, and Becky also bought me a pair of beautiful silver leaf earrings.

We actually ended up shopping and milling around Kigali for a while. Later that night, we headed back to the house where the family was including Patrick and Alex. After Alex gave me my birthday gift, Patrick told me I must come out into the living room. I came out and there on the table was a beautiful display of cookies, peanuts, crackers, cheese, and a big birthday cake with a large flame shooting out of it! Everyone began singing and clapping, "Happy birthday to you!" I literally teared up and was completely surprised. The whole family was there including some close friends. We all sat around eating, drinking (lots of booze!), and celebrating my birthday!

After a while, Patrick gave me the best gift--a Rwandan name! My name is now Rebecca Holly Munezero Macintire. Munezero means happiness--I definitely think it suits me. They also gave me a gigantic heart shaped box full of delicious chocolates. Needless to say, at this point I was on a huge sugar rush! I also have a card from them signed by the whole family.

It was truly the most wonderful birthday I could ask for. I am so happy that I was here in Rwanda to celebrate my 23 years on this earth. And now I get to look forward to celebrating with my family at home in just about a week.

Tom Close

Even though I have no job, I have been keeping very busy! Friday night, Alex, Patrick, a new girl we met named Becky, and I headed to Butare which is about three hours away from Kigali to meet up with the FSU students and go to a concert. Tom Close is a famous Rwandan pop star, and he was putting on a benefit concert to help raise money for GPE. We stood out in the cold trying to sell tickets for about two hours which was somewhat miserable, but finally the fun began. We got to listen to about five other "musicians" first..."musicians" is a very strong term for some of the people we heard. It was so interesting because everybody there just sat while listening to the music--nobody was dancing! I can't imagine going to a concert and not dancing!

One of my friends and I decided that we wanted to dance so we hopped up on stage with one of the singers and danced for a song. It was so exciting! And finally, when Tom Close came out, everyone swarmed to the front and began dancing. We also hopped up on stage with Tom to sing "Si beza" with him, which is his most popular song. After the concert, we continued the dancing at a bar with some friends we had met in Kigali who happened to be at the concert too. It was a very fun night!

Yesterday was of course America's Independce Day, but it was also Rwanda's Liberation Day. Unfortunately, we missed the parade in Kigali because we were still on our way back from Butare. However, later that night, Becky, Patrick, and I went to a Liberation Day concert in Kigali. We were danced out though from the night before so it wasn't quite as fun as the night before! I do enjoy a lot of the music here though, and I was absolutely ecstatic when one musician began to play "Hakuna Matata!" I was finally able to sing along to a song! It absolutely made my night!

Barackin' in Burundi!

On Saturday morning, I went with the FSU crew to Burundi. I had no idea what to expect, but I was told it was like Rwanda was thirty years ago. Bujumbura is much poorer and much dirtier than Kigali. However, it definitely has its perks. We ate so well! We had the best Chinese food, delicious pizzas, ice cream, fresh croissants and pastries, and decent wine! I was so happy for this change because I have literally had the same meal for the past three weeks. And even though we were very close to the only mizungus (white people) in the whole country, we were not stared at nearly as much. It was refreshing to be able to walk around without having masses of people stare you down and shout "Mizungu!" I am not sure what you picture as "Burundi," but google "lake tanganyika" and, hopefully, you will find some pictures of where we spent our days. We basked in the warm sun one of the most beautiful beaches I have seen. If I could upload pictures, you would swear it was Hawaii! It was a great weekend and, definitely, worth the six hour bus ride to get there! Two countries down in Africa! Where will I go next?