Rotary GSE to South Africa 2009

 

I'm writing from the Johannesburg airport---the wifi isn't free, but at least it's not terribly expensive. We still won't be home for another 30 hours or so, so  I'm having a cappuccino in hopes that there will be some good movies on the plane. Last night we spent back in Cape Town, but before that we were a few days in Oudtshoorn for the Rotary District Conference. It was nice to see a lot of the people that we had met along the way.

We went to the Kango Wildlife Park in Oudtshoorn and saw lots of animals, including this pygmy hippo. He wasn't very interested in us.

We had to give a presentation at the conference, and we wanted it to reflect our experiences over the past month. So we all got out our laptops and selected our top photos to put into our slide show.

Here's Jenny eating a "4 x 4," which was an enormous kebab with springbok, kudu, ostrich, and crocodile.

Here's some of the lovely scenery we saw on the drive from Oudtshoorn back to Cape Town.

I'll see you back in Tucson!

 
Beaufort West 05/08/2009
 

We arrived in Beaufort West on May 5, and so at the Rotary Club presentation that night we subjected the Rotarians to a little Cinco de Mayo festivity. Here's BJ pouring the tequila, of which everyone was more than happy to partake.

We spent a very cold morning at the Karoo National Park on a game drive. This is a kudu, one of the many animals we saw that morning. We've also tried kudu steak, which is not bad.

 
 

We spent about four days in George, though we spent as much of that time in surrounding areas as we did in George itself. We did visit some Rotary projects there and a primary school, pictured here. The typical class size is about 45, and it does go even higher than that. These kids were able to name a few places in the U.S. and knew the name of our president. I doubt the reverse would be true in a classroom at home.

The Knysna Rotary Club hosted us for a day and took us to Plattenberg Bay for lunch, of which this gigantic oyster was a part. Great with tabasco.

On May 5, we were driven to our next stop: Beaufort West. Here we are in the van. Amazingly, our group is still getting along marvelously.

 
Hermanus 05/02/2009
 

We just arrived in George after several days in Hermanus. Our first couple of days in Hermanus were rest days, and we were strangely excited about cooking for ourselves and doing our own laundry. The Pick n' Pay grocery store was similar to stores at home, but with labels in Afrikaans, a whole section of braai (barbeque) meat, and lots of instant coffee, which is the norm here. Here are Barb and I picking out spaghetti sauce.

On our most recent vocational day, Randy, Jenny, and I spent all day visiting projects of the Rainbow Trust. I figure it's mandatory that I include at least one photo of cute, underpriviledged children. These kids are at a preschool that has been helped out by Rotary funds, and the difference from some of the other preschools we visited is evident: these kids have much nicer facilities.

In Hermanus, BJ was being hosted by Jaco, who works as a veternarian. He took us to visit the cattery, a cat shelter adjacent to his practice. It was well maintained and relatively small, with about 25 cats and 5 kittens, who had their own room. It was nice to hang out with the cats, who were very social and let me pick them up, unlike my cat at home. A shout out to Forrest for taking care of Sinbad while I'm gone.

 
Fun stuff 04/28/2009
 

Our Rotary hosts have been taking good care of us these past few days. They've made sure that we've seen some of the best parts of their country.

On Saturday, we went wine tasting at Delta wine farm. They had some great stuff, and we were disappointed to learn that shipping to the U.S. wasn't an option. They also had a great museum detailing the history of the area, going back to the Stone Age.

On Sunday, we went to Spier, a farm and wildlife refuge. They take in cheetahs (and other animals) who have been injured or orphaned. Barb and I participated in the "cheetah encounter," which allowed us to spend some time petting Joseph, the cheetah.  Apparently, Joseph has starred in some film with Patrick Swayze. I thought he looked familiar.

On Monday we drove to Hermanus, where we'll be spending a few days. The photo above is from the cliff walk along the ocean. We have a free day today, which has been a much needed break. We've been walking around and eating all day. It's been very nice not to have a schedule.

A word to the homies: It's much more fun from this side of the blog when you all post comments!

 
Heldeberg Basin 04/24/2009
 

We arrived in the Heldeberg Basin a couple of days ago, and we've been having a great time.

One of the first things we saw was a game of bowls. It appears to be a lot like bocci ball, only you must wear white.

The golf estate where Barb and I are being hosted by Lynette and Koos has a lot of birds, including the guinea fowl that I'm feeding above.

Today was another vocational day, and I visited the International English School. They do TEFL training here, and also offer ESL courses for foreigners, many of whom are Korean. These students pay tuition, but there are free classes in the afternoon that are available to people living locally who need English language instruction.

Barb and I took a walk on the beach this afternoon. The water is very cold, but as we go further east and it transitions from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean, it should get warmer.

 
Presentations 04/23/2009
 

One of the things that we're doing while we're here is giving presentations to local Rotary Clubs about ourselves and about Southern Arizona. I'm talking about the prehistory, history, and culture of our area, but at this point, we've done enough presentations that we're able to recite each other's pieces from memory! The photo below is our team after presenting at Newlands Rotary Club earlier this week. Yes, it was a requirement to wear matching outfits, and even after much deliberation, we still ended up looking like a group of flight attendants.

 
Sightseeing 04/20/2009
 

Yesterday, Andy, Alan, and Jill from the Cape of Good Hope Rotary Club took us around to see some of the sights south of Cape Town.

Here is our team at the Cape of Good Hope, where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. It was a little bit overcast, but we still had some good views. Andy and Alan had tea and coffee for us afterward in the back of their Land Rover. South Africans are very civilized and are always offering tea.

We also visited the Boulder Penguin Colony, where we saw a number of African penguins like the ones above. This is an adult penguin with its baby. They are also called jackass penguins because of the donkey-like sound they make.

 
 

Yesterday I visited Maryland Literacy Program in Hanover Park, a suburb of Cape Town. They teach adults basic literacy and numeracy skills up to a 10th grade level. The staff and volunteers were really incredible and let me sit in on a class. I see a lot of similarities to what I do at home in Family Literacy.

 

These students are learning to write "My name is _______" in Afrikaans. They are also learning English literacy, but they are first learning to read and write in Afrikaans, since they are more comfortable with it.

Here I am with Melanie and Fiona, the only two staff of the Maryland Literacy Programme. The rest of the program is run by volunteers who are trained to teach literacy and numeracy. They have around 50 volunteers who serve 300 adult learners.

 
Farewell, Tucson 04/10/2009
 

Yesterday was my last day with my students, and they very thoughtfully made it special by bringing lunch, including a tres leches cake: my favorite! I'll miss them and everyone else in Tucson while I'm away. The picture below is of our class; you can tell by the bunny ears that it's a fun group.


I can't believe we're leaving tomorrow!