Nkomazi East Blog 2011: 1 & 2

So, we meet again…

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Take a deep breath and imagine. It’s 10.30 am (far too early for uni students) on July 23rd and you’ve just arrived in a foreign land; a foreign land that will become home for the next 2 months. What would be going through your mind? Nerves? Excitement? Regret? Honestly, tiredness is a definite, and probably a combination of so many different emotions. Personally, I was quite nervous to meet everybody again; despite the fact that I had already been in Cape Town for 10 days. Nervous excitement is probably more accurate. The beauty is that everybody is in the same situation and semi-awkward conversation soon picked up in arrivals at OR Tambo Intl. In fact forget the awkward turtle, there was an awkward zoo. Buses were boarded with a moderate faff – more on this topic later. As soon as we left Jo’burg there was a group realisation that we were in fact in Africa – and that was an amazing moment. Although I’d been to Cape Town it definitely hadn’t felt like real Africa. And that is the thing that hit most people immediately; Africa is so much more than what you see on Comic Relief. Yes, there are some shocking sights, but there are also so many awe-inspiring people, places and traditions.

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Climate Change

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Being a geographer I can assure you that training week is the biggest cause of global warming facing the world. Let me just say that the ice was well and truly broken, in fact it was smashed into smithereens. Those of you reading will probably be confused, but ice breakers (fun activities to help us get to know each other through sheer embarrassment) are a key aspect to the training week. A positive attitude was definitely required, especially after a cold shower and fixing a leaking toilet.

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That same positivity was required throughout the week as we waded through the piles of Tenteleni training blurb. Don’t let this put you off though, it’s only 5 short days and it was over before we knew it. Everything in the training week was there for a reason, even though we didn’t realise it at the time. As a group we figured it would be great to do a drama for the educators when we first met them. A fairly corny news report was constructed with our anchorman (Mark), roving reporter (Rachel), Tenteleni volunteers (Sonali, Daisy and Rosie) as well as our weather girl and boy (Emma and me). Dreams came true during this performance…saying “back to the studio” is an experience and a half. The educators loved it, and it was great preparation for the next 8 weeks.

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The observation day was great although I was well and truly thrown in at the deep end and asked to teach a lesson. Wanting to be a teacher anyway, I secretly loved it. By Friday, feet were seriously itchy to get stuck in. The end of training week Braai (BBQ) was so hardcore we were in bed at 11.30pm. Let’s just say some people celebrated a bit too hard…

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If I still have your attention that’s great. Let’s talk accommodation. After rocking up to the Matsulu Game lodge, Spice of Life seemed a little anti climactic. Spice is located on the N4 (the main road from SA to Mozambique) about 1km from the border. Do not despair though, for you chicken lovers there is a KFC 5 minutes away. And chicken dust is in plentiful supply (more on that later). The humble pink bungalow will soon become a home from home. There was a sigh of relief when Sherelle revealed she was lying about us having to shower in stack of tractor tyres. Although to begin with there was no hot water and only one toilet, but that was soon rectified. We even had our very own pet mouse ‘Timothy’ who had a free roam of the house and often came to say hi. We haven’t seen him in a while…

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At times, Mark and I have theorised about how a mob of scheming leopards have been stalking us. Only dad (PC Jonny) believes us. Leopards aside, the African sunset is a stunner, and there are many Kodak moments down at the river (15 mins away). We once saw a hippo chilling in the water, but for a crocodile infested river, there is a distinct lack of crocodiles.

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Matthew Hussey

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October 22, 2011 at 9:40 am | Projects, South Africa | No comment

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