3 months in

...Hello! Three months into my project now. I can't imagine being back at home. Scotland seems like a very, very faraway place and yet sometimes I think I'm home when I see the beautiful mountains. I am in awe every time we drive around here on a sunny day! Now that we are coming into summer, there are more and more storms every week. The storms at home are nothing compared to the ones here. The lightening is awesome and the thunder is SO loud, lights flickering or going off completely. Within about 5 minutes it goes from blazing sunshine to dark, overcast, rain and hail. 

For the past few weeks I have had a tummy bug that just doesn't seem to want to go away.. There has been lots of bugs going around the children, but mine has lasted SO long. I'm coming to the end of it now, but I'm still getting the occasional sore tummy. Oh well, this IS Africa. The benefit is that I'll be immune to illness in a few months! 

On Monday night we had the Hostel Christmas dinner! My partners and I have been preparing decorations for a few weeks and it definitely paid off. The hall did not look like the hall that we usually sit in! We were asked by our host to do some window paintings onto sheets of plastic. They look great on the windows and the kids love them. As well as that, I had been practicing 'Hark the Herald' on piano so I could play it with the kids on the day. I've not played the piano for about six years so it was challenging yet fun to start playing again. I was pretty nervous playing while the kids sang in front of the adults and governing body, but it's good to get out of your comfort zone! I feel like a new woman. Hah. 

Hall for dinner

 Practicing

Jess (my partner) and I have recently just finished organising the most amazing road trip. On the 12th of December we are travelling from Durban to Cape Town for 10 days whilst staying in various backpackers along the way. We are going to an ostrich farm, surfing and staying in a tree-house for a few days..! We arrive in Cape Town on the 22nd of December and stay there until the 2nd of Jan. We then head back and get back into Underberg just before school starts again. So excited!

We visited Reichneau Primary School today so we could have a look around and ask the headmistress if we could possibly come and help out next year as there's not much help needed at Underberg Primary School in the mornings. It is very different to Underberg, being quite run down among other things. There is a movie being filmed there just now. It's called Lady Grey. Mum thinks it's about the queen who didn't want to be queen and then had her head chopped off. Maybe. Anyway, the point is, Sean Connery was there. We didn't see him, but still. He was probably a few metres away on the other side of the wall. 

Off topic: After some thinking, I've decided I'm going to start Uni in 2014 instead of working for a year when I get home. I've applied to five Uni's to do Social Sciences. Just finished my Personal Statement so I'm excited to send it off soon. 

For me, just now, being here is getting a little harder every week (over the past month or so). Due to a number of different reasons, homesickness being one of them. I miss people and I miss Scotland. At the same time, I feel stronger every day. Being around all these happy, loving children - you just can't get anything better really. I will miss them during the Christmas holidays and am really said to hear that some of them are leaving. 

Mega close up of Khaye

 Sihle just out of the pool 

 Playing pictionary 

 Banter in Gr3

 Bongeka, Janine, Bella and I 

 Two weekends ago we went to Howick with Megan (our new friend). Howick is the nearest town to us and it takes approximately one hour and forty five minutes to get there. We went out for lunch, went shopping and visited the Nelson Mandela Capture Site. Here is the sculpture. It's amazing!

 From left to right: Khaye, Sibahle, Bongeka, Janine and Mali

Peace and love, Iona