Kruger 35mm

KZN 35mm

Ncepheni

Ngiyahamba ePitoli!

For the past week I have been in Pretoria facilitating Life Skills training to the latest class of PCVs. Pretoria is 10 hours and a world away. It takes 2 public taxis, a ride on the metro, and a ride on the new Gautrain! Follow me on my journey.

The first leg is from my village to town. Taxis run pretty frequently along the road through my village in the morning. It takes about 30 minutes to get to the taxi rank in Nqutu. 

This taxi rank in Nqutu will take you to a number of towns around KZN. Unfortunately there is no taxi to Pretoria so we must go to Germiston first. There is also no schedule so you must wait until the taxi is full. Sometimes that is 10 minutes, sometimes that is 3 or 4 hours!

Your typical South African public taxi

Five-and-a-half hours later we arrive in Germiston, a suburb of Johannesburg. From Germiston we board The Metro. 

Not all of the doors close . . .

A couple of stops later we arrive at the Gautrain station. 

Quite a nice train! We need to transfer trains once but after about an hour we arrive in Pretoria only 3 minutes from the backpackers!

The Happiest Cheeseburger. Ever

The Mega Mac. How has this not caught on at McDonalds back home?? It should go without saying that there is no McDonalds in my village so I must have been in Pretoria. Sure enough, we just completed our Mid Service Training. It was great to see other members of my class, most of whom I have not seen since last December. We had some great sessions and decompressed a little from our first year. The hot showers were welcomed and necessary.
But that is behind us now as I am back at site. Term 4 has begun and that means Matric! All 12th grade students must take an exit exam in order to graduate from high school. This exam is called the Matric and will stretch the majority of the 4th term. What that means for me is no more Life Sciences class. We will have about a weeks worth of review in November but until then the students will be reviewing for their other exams. That gives me time to focus on my computer classes and plan for next year.
There have been some great strides made at my primary school regarding the computer lab. Educators are finally feeling comfortable enough to come in on their own and utilize the computers for research and class activities. This has been the culmination of nearly a years effort. Well worth it. Classes at the high school in Isandlwana are also going well, as are the Saturday principal's workshops.
I have nearly completed Shaka's new dog house so stay posted for pictures on that!

The Saddest Cheeseburger in Pretoria

All Hail Shaka!

I would like to introduce uShaka. I found one of his brothers at school the other day and could not pass up on the low price of R10. He has been welcomed into my family, despite some of my sisters being deathly afraid of all five pounds of him. For the meantime he is living with me but this weekend I will be starting construction on his house. He will get either a small rondavel or a 4-corner. Tomorrow I will be making the bricks!