First Week

Hey Everybody,

This week we have been doing a lot of orientation type stuff at the university.  On Monday we had a welcome/information lecture in the morning followed by a dinner.  Since there were a few hours to kill in between, I walked around campus with Ryan and Andrew to check things out.  The campus is a beautiful place full of palm trees, cacti, and many other floras that are very different from that of Minnesota.  The campus was built in the 70’s and is mostly cement similar to much of St. John’s which is cool.  I must say one thing very different than St. John’s is seeing monkeys on campus.  Yes, monkeys on campus.  They are pretty small, and the South campus where we spend most our time is on a nature reserve.  I will have to put some pictures in a post coming up, so be looking for those. 

We have been able to see more of the city this week as well.  This morning we visited two of the sites where our group will be volunteering, Pendla Primary School and House of Resurrection.  Being at these sites was kind of surreal at first because that was one of the main reasons I chose to come here.  Some of the obvious things that jump out right away are the poor condition and the massive amounts of trash in the area.  I rode up front again and the driver was telling me and Isaak about the old lines of Apartheid.  He showed us where the Blacks lived, where the coloreds lived, and where the whites lived.  It is amazing that only 20 years ago they were going through such heavy segregation, and the driver lived through it as he has lived in PE his entire life.  I also want to sit up front as much as possible to talk and learn from the drivers as it is a great way to really find out how they live around here. 

The heat can be overwhelming, and there is no air conditioning.  It has been nice in the heat coming from Minnesota, but I can tell that being stuck in a hot class room in the middle of the afternoon will be a challenge at times.  I guess there could be worse things to worry about, and there is always a good breeze coming off the ocean.  The nights cool down to a reasonable temperature, so sleeping is quite comfortable. 

Thanks for reading and for all the comments. 

Cheers,

Bobby