SAWUBONA

TIA

This Is Africa

A week ago today I woke up in an different place, yet everything seemed oh so familiar.

Petermaritzburg, South Africa:

A place that is swarming with 405, 385 people during the day.
A place where you hear nothing but crickets and frogs after sundown. 

A place where you wake up to children walking to school outside, airplanes hovering right above my roof and kombis (taxis) blaring house music at the highest volume possible.
A place where children enjoy going to school.
A place with an abundance of different scents.
A place where monkeys roam wild.
A place where the Rand is 13:1 with the U.S. Dollar.
A place with exotic birds... EVERYWHERE.
A place where the winter season is just ending, and spring has just sprung!
A place where children chase you down the street yelling, "umlungu!" (aka white person)
A place where I am considered a minority.
And a place that I now call home ♡

Last Thursday, I landed in Durban, South Africa. From there, my wonderful REP picked me up and drove me to my house in Petermaritzburg. I am currently staying at my REPs house which is located inside of an old prison that is now called Project Gateway. Project Gateway is a school within the prison walls that educates students from Grade R (kindergarten) to Grade 7 each day! (Check out the link provided to find out more about PMB Old Prison/Project Gateway and the history behind it. (Nelson Mandela was actually behind bars here for several nights a long time ago...) PMB Old Prison )

Throughout this week, I have been introduced to some of the basics while living in South Africa. I have also begun my Zulu lessons (Yes, this is a "click" language!) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Along with the orientation and language classes, we have also been using our time wisely to explore the city and the culture that comes with it! 

I will continue to live here in Petermaritzburg with my REPS where I will finish my "in-country" orientation and Zulu lessons until next Friday (September 11th, 2015). On the 11th of September, I will be going to my host family and home for the next 10 months located in Eston, South Africa (A valley that is so small you can't even find it on the map!)

While in Eston, I will be living on a sugar cane plantation. I will also be teaching English to Kindergarten at Hope Valley Farm School. Hope Valley Farm School was built for the farmers that work/live on the sugar cane plantation so they could send their children to a public school within walking distance of the farm.

With all this being said, I am loving my time here in South Africa. I have already learned so much and am looking forward to what's waiting ahead. I am more than anxious to get to my school and meet all my little students, as well as see what life is like on the farm!

Thank you again for the continuous love & prayers. Words cannot begin to show how much I appreciate it.

Peace and love to all ♡

Side note: I apologize for the "lack" of pictures as well; it is frowned upon for me to take anything valuable with me outside of the prison walls and into the city for I am seen as a "target"! Once I arrive on the farm, I will be snapping away!

"I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."
-Nelson Mandela