Grade 12 Life Sciences

As we approach the end of the school year it is time for review. I have been team-teaching grade 12 Life sciences at Ntalantala all year. It is a class of 38 learners and akin to a high school bio class.

Here are the learners, this is not our usual classroom but one of three mobile classrooms the school uses until the new building is completed.

Reed Festival

Last weekend was part 2 of the annual Reed Festival. Each year all of the virgins in zululand assemble for the King carrying reeds. They present these reeds (and themselves) to the King, after which he picks a new bride. Times have changed so he no longer chooses a new bride every year, but the ceremony persists. I had the chance to attend the second round of the festival that takes place at the royal palace in Ingwavuma.

We were warmly welcomed to the event with VIP passes. Naturally.

Here you can see the King Goodwill Zwelithini . This year marks his 40th year of reign.

It was hard to keep count of all the virgins but here is the collection of reeds.

Highlight of the festival: eating hippo at the palace.

Biggest Effing Spider

I made friends with this little guy last night during a run to the latrine. Probably the last time I ever do that at night. Ever. I wanted to fetch a ruler to measure him but decided not to risk losing a hand to this beast. Best guess is 4 inches tip-to-tip. Kudos to anyone who can identify the species.

Summer Cuts

It seems there is no word for spring in isiZulu. We have just emerged from a chilly winter to find summer waiting. With summer come the summer hair cuts. Chad and I decided to shed some of our winter coats last weekend at Katie's place. The close cuts will also afford us a better aerodynamic coefficient in anticipation for our persistence hunt.

Follow by Email!

Are you tired of checking my blog and NOT finding any updates? Do you wish there was a way for my blog to TELL you when I blog? Well today is your lucky day as it seems there is a new feature available: Follow by Email. If you enter your email in the box to the right, my blog will ostensibly notify you every time I post a new entry. If you try it and it works, leave a comment so I know! Of course in order for it to work I actually need to blog so I will try to keep up on my end.

Chicken, it's what's for dinner

Less than $10!

MILKY WAY!

As you may have guessed, I live in an area with very little light pollution. I have been taking advantage of this to practice some astro photography. Here is the resultant image of 7 or 8 exposures stitched together. I can GUARANTEE there will be more like this to come!