Week 4-Personal
Our time here in South Africa is flying by! I cannot believe it is the end of week four already and what a week it has been. I can safely say it has been the best week yet! Spending four months in a country is completely different in comparison to visiting somewhere on holiday with family and friends for two weeks or in fact working there for several months.
Being away from home for this period of time has made me appreciate the opportunity that we have been given to become fully engrossed into the African way of life and experience the vast diverse cultures found in this rainbow continent. It is hard to contemplate that in just over a year’s time I’ll be on my final placement followed hopefully be graduation from Stranmillis and entering the world of work as a primary school teacher. There is no doubt in my mind that this experience in South Africa will contribute to further prepare me for my future in this chosen profession, however I cannot comprehend how significant it has been so far and will continue to mould and develop me as a person. Although I have spent some time in the USA for 3month or more I feel I have become more independent and I have noticed a change in how I approach certain situations and tasks that are presented before me. I have gained an understanding of how important it is to be thankful for what you have and to not take your basic liberties for granted.
Being away from home for this period of time has made me appreciate the opportunity that we have been given to become fully engrossed into the African way of life and experience the vast diverse cultures found in this rainbow continent. It is hard to contemplate that in just over a year’s time I’ll be on my final placement followed hopefully be graduation from Stranmillis and entering the world of work as a primary school teacher. There is no doubt in my mind that this experience in South Africa will contribute to further prepare me for my future in this chosen profession, however I cannot comprehend how significant it has been so far and will continue to mould and develop me as a person. Although I have spent some time in the USA for 3month or more I feel I have become more independent and I have noticed a change in how I approach certain situations and tasks that are presented before me. I have gained an understanding of how important it is to be thankful for what you have and to not take your basic liberties for granted.
We had the opportunity to visit a game reserve on Saturday and meet some more local wildlife found in the bush. We travelled through the reserve in an open top 4x4 which was definitely the best form of transport in which to see all the animals and the beautiful landscape they dwelled in. The park is renowned for rescuing injured or ill treated animals, as well as having a successful lion breeding program. As we arrived at the lion sanctuary, I can only describe my excitement as erratic! We all were given the opportunity to go into the various enclosures and get close and personal with the lion cubs. This was definitely a fantastic moment, we all were becoming trigger happy with our cameras but we made sure all important shots were documented and recorded.
To my surprise the lion cubs were extremely attentive and playful, although when they opened their jaws, we quickly were brought back to reality of realised the extent of the damage these cats could make to anyone. After the experience, Lara one of girls in our group, said I looked like “the cat that got the cream.” It definitely felt like that, I had just met the ‘King of the Jungle,’ what a story to share with everyone when I returned home and further I thought, definitely a story I can share and use with my lessons in teaching the children in my placement schools. Later that evening we were asked around for another braai, of course how could we refuse? Whilst we were at the braai we got to meet a very friendly Parrot who liked to make a lot of noise and of course the topic of conversation quickly turned to what can we make the Parrot to say? Paddy and I were set on the idea of teaching him some native phrases, such as “what’s the craic?” or just a “wee minute.” Alas our attempt failed miserably but it was quite entertaining failed miserably but I’m sure we provided some entertainment around us.
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| "what the craic?" |
Sunday brought another fun packed and adventurous day. After a quick lunch, we journeyed to the Redhouse river about 50km away from PE itself to park take in summer water sports. We both had a go wakeboarding and tubing and had a fantastic day, getting to know some more locals and building on the friendships that begun a mere four weeks ago. The people we’ve met here have a similar outlook on life to us and it has been quite comforting to be able to relate and share our experiences. The highlight of the day was definitely experiencing the beautiful South African sunset on the calm and tranquil water.I wonder what week five will bring.
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| "TIA" |
Until next time,
Totsiens (Goodbye)
Callum.
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