Blog post number 4!

A lot has happened since my last blog post! There has been very little time for me to get on the internet because where I am living there is no internet and my time is limited! To update I have moved out of the bed and breakfast that I was staying at and am currently living with a host family. The family consists of a mom (Addy) and a daughter (Tarryn.) I really love my host family, they are so nice to me, my room is spacious, comfortable and although it is cold outside sometimes and there is not central heating, my bed is warm when I wear two pairs of pants, and two sweaters to bed. The food I have been eating is amazing! I feel guilty saying no thank you sometimes because they feed me so much I am nervous that I am going to gain weight, which is the last thing I want to do. I am very active during this trip also. This past weekend (July10-12) I was in Hermanas where we stayed at a hostel. We went around the town shopping and going out to eat. I went to a club at night and met some very nice South African people, everyone here is very friendly. My favorite part of the trip so far has been my shark cage diving. I went out on a boat on the Indian Ocean about 20 minutes from shore where we were put into a cage, chum and bait were put into the water, and we waited for the sharks to arrive. Because I am such a shark enthusiast it was amazing for me to see these creatures in the wild. The sharks were so close to the cage that I could have reached my hand out to touch them, and I wanted to so badly. The largest shark that we saw was about 4 meters (roughly 12 feet) which is actually quite small for this breed of shark (great white) I saw the shark open its mouth, grab for the bait, swim so calmly around the boat, at one point there was two of them at once…it was a dream come true, a fear tears were shed in such excitement. I could do that job for a living, hands down. A more down side to the trip was one of our township tours, it was extremely eye opening and I am so blessed that I was raised in such a blessed area and family. Many of the people in the township do not have work, their homes are the size of one bedroom and up to 15 people can live in that once space. There is very little food and water or warmth for these people and the children rarely go to school. We were all attacked by the little boys and girls who wanted us to hold them, play with them, wear our sun glasses they were so cute and every single one of them changed me in some way. Many of them were walking around the streets with no shoes, no socks, and some no pants. It was very sad, many of us got extremely emotional on this tour. It is hard to imagine places like this until you really see them. I know that all over the world and right where I live in Detroit there are many people in a similar condition but I have never taken a walk through that area or have children living there come up to me and be amazed by my shoes, or my jacket. Many of the kids were wanting to touch my hair and that has been the biggest point of interest when it comes to me and the children here and my students. Today in my class (which I taught alone because the teacher was absent and they do not have a sub-list) I spent 90% of the day getting the students to stop touching my hair and focus on their work. It was very interesting being a sub in a new classroom let alone a new country! The students gave me a run for my money in the beginning but then finally got used to me. It made me realize that there is nothing else that I could do expect teach, hugs and smiles from students erase all negative happenings in the day. This weekend I am going to a dance with my host mom and her “man-friend” and then Saturday walking up a mountain that is a monument. It will be a busy weekend!