T.I.A.

This. Is. Africa.  It has quickly come to my attention that the African attitude on life is perhaps one of the most lax on the planet.  The internet at SaltyCrax had been out for nearly a week before anyone realized it wouldn't fix itself.  This didn't bother me all too much, but keep in mind this is a place of business that is reliant on booking tours, rooms, and keeping in contact with clients.  Similarly, the computer lab we are working in has "5 working computers," as I believe I mentioned in an earlier post.  We finally have a tech-savvy Norwegian on board that was able to discover that the other 10 computers in the lab are not broken.  In fact, many of them are faster than the ones we are using.  The problem?  They didn't have the math program installed.  2 hours later our five computers turned into 8.  Tomorrow we should have even more, to the point where we won't have to double up students and might even be able to take full classes.  Additionally, our house of three or four volunteers and one non-volunteer has had a surge of missing items including an iphone, camera, money, binoculars, etc.  Fortunately I only lost about 300 rand ($35ish) and a flashlight.  Yet again, anyone with power enough to do anything about it shrugged off the problem thinking it would solve itself.  It took one more incident of missing money today (nearly a week later) before any progress is going to be made.  Thankfully, one eviction later, I think we finally have everything straightened out.  I have plenty more anecdotes on the lifestyle here, but I'll try not to bore you yet.  Just remember: This is Africa.  

On to the fun stuff...

A new group of Scandinavian volunteers has arrived, giving us a total of 8 volunteers on the surf project. This week I was planning on moving to a new project in a different settlement to build a soccer field/goals, basketball court, paint a playhouse, and hopefully set up some gymnastics equipment.  After one day of digging holes with meter long, wooden-handled shovels, my hands were rewarded with half a dozen blisters - most of which were the same size as the result of my High Noon Saloon candle bet with Steele.  As my partner and I struggled to dig holes through hard African clay, 2 three or four year old boys helped by pouring water  in the holes to soften the soil.  They were happy to help but happier to dance and run around to Now That's What I Call Music 57 playing from our boombox.  Yes, the Now! series has made it to 57 and is one of the only CD's we own.  The boys took a particular fancy to Kesha who, it turns out, is no more enjoyable the fifth time you listen to her in a row than the first.  I'm heading back to the classroom today, with the hopes of returning to manual labor, Katy Perry, and our two little dancers/helpers once all of the placement holes are finished and we can start laying cement and putting together the goals.

Surfing is continuing to go well.  With the influx of new volunteers, I have been trying my hand on a shorter board (about 6'2'') instead of the 7' Dutchies.  There's always a new challenge with the sport, and this one seems like a particularly difficult jump.  I've been able to stand briefly on the shorter, narrower boards but have yet to capture the same feeling I can get on the longboards.

After a little more than a week with heavy wind and no real wives*, we had our first notable swell push in this weekend.  Some people at the hostel attributed it to changing weather patterns but our group likes to think that it had a lot to do with us watching Surfer Dude** three times in five days.  Regardless, the waves measured about 5 meters in size, about half of which is underwater, providing yet another challenge.  I tried my hand at catching these and was quickly humbled by the amount of work I have ahead of me if I want to become a 'good' surfer.  It only took about two or three crashes on the backline before I sucked up my pride and paddled to the front - assuming my role as a previously dirty pair of boxer briefs that had just finished a tumble session in the washing machine.  Nevertheless, it is becoming easier and easier to see how people get roped into the surfing lifestyle.  There really is no feeling in the world like successfully catching a wave or reaching the next hurdle.

I also caved and bought a Sector 9 skateboard not only for transportation but for practice as well.  It is a bamboo board so it is not only incredibly environmentally friendly but also gorgeous - especially with clear grip tape on top.  It has paid for itself in terms of fun and is also a huge help with balance when it comes to surfing.  When I return to the states and move to the mountains I will hopefully be able to recapture some of my time in the surf when riding on pavement.  

Last Sunday I took my first chance to dive into some of the nature here and spent the day exploring the Newlands Forest at the base of Devil's Peak and the mountains in Cape Town.  The initial plan was to hike to the top of Devil's Peak but with 40 degree heat (Celsius - you do the math) and no shade, we opted to hang out at and below tree line.  Laying on the forest floor below a canopy of gigantic trees, listening to the birds, bugs, and creeks, and admiring the mountains as a backdrop proved to be the perfect day.  We lost ourselves in the woods for what felt like 30 minutes. 5 hours later we found ourselves working our way back to the city leaving the kaleidoscope of  forest life behind and anxiously awaiting a cooler day when we can hike to the top.

There are a lot of big plans coming up this week/weekend so hopefully I can get back on here soon to have this read less like a novel and more like a blog.  I have plenty more stories and details that I won't be posting on here, and it's always good to hear from home so don't be cyber-shy.  Tonight is another braai night and another tequila Tuesday so duty calls.  After-all:  This. Is. Africa.

Mahalo,

JB

*Australian-speak for waves.  Say it with me now, "I can't believe he's paddling out!  Those wives are huge!"

**http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S00JO6Kzuo8&feature=fvst

Repetition

I've been at Saltycrax for a week now, and it has become clear that most everything I'll be doing is driven by repetition....in the best way possible.  Our Monday - Thursday schedule is typically wake up to surf at 8, get to school to teach by 10:30, take the kids to surf/swim/play games on the beach at 2:00, dinner at 5 or 6, skateboard/laylow/head to the town at night.  There is obviously a lot of excitement and adventures thrown in between as well, but if the above schedule was all there was I'd be perfectly fine with it.

My first surf lesson was on Wednesday, and it went extremely well.  I was able to stand on my third wave and rode the fifth.  We're doing most of our surfing in Big Bay (a short drive from the Saltys) and after a few weeks and a lot of practice I will be traveling around the coast to hit up some of the world's best surf sports (Jeffrey's Bay is top 3).  A few of us woke up Thursday morning to surf on our own (despite some heavy crosswind) and that also went pretty well.  It wasn't as successful as with the instructor, but I am definitely getting the hang of choosing waves and reading the surf.  A lot of surfing is knowing the weather and tendencies of the ocean and that too will come with time.  Repetition.

In school we are working in a computer lab with 5 "working" computers.  Our main job is to teach basic math to 4th and 5th graders, which is no easy task.  Most of our students come from the township of DuNoon - your 'stereotypical' shanty town.  The kids speak mostly Afrikaans, and their skill levels are all over the map.  We put two kids on each computer (and break the 30 - 40 kid classes into sections), and it is not rare for one to be able to multiply and the other unable to count to 100.  The lessons are mostly addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division...with the fastest students working their way into fractions.  Addition and subtraction aren't too bad to teach, and the kids show progress with practice.  Multiplication and division are a different story.  If any of you elementary ed teachers have any pointers, I'm all ears.  I'm hoping that these kids, too, will start catching on with practice.  Repetition, repetition.

The after school surf-adventure program is easily the highlight of the working day.  We have one group of kids that have graduated swim lessons and are working with surf boards and two groups that we work with in the pool or on the beach.  The surf group kids are always excited to get their hands on a board and try to stand up, even if the end result is getting aced by a wave.  After only a couple of weeks of practice there are a few kids actually standing up on their own.  As with any beginning surfer, it's all about practice.  The swim group kids are just happy to play and hang out with us.  We'll often head to the beach to play soccer, jump in the waves (despite the temperature, these kids are like fish), have relay races, etc.  Yesterday was one of the girl's birthdays so we organized a big scavenger hunt and treated them to ice cream and candy.  From my perspective, anything we can do to brighten their day and show them a fun side to life outside of DuNoon is a plus.  Hopefully after a few years they will have a means to pursue surfing on their own and enjoy more of what South Africa has to offer.

We have a lot of Fridays off, this being one of them, so I'm off to the beach and surf shop to look for a long board skateboard (practice, practice, practice).  There is also a big braai (grill out) tonight at Saltycrax to welcome 2 new volunteers, say goodbye to an old one, and celebrate a birthday.  These things usually turn into pretty big parties, so I'm sure I'll be throwing a nap in somewhere as well.

Sorry this one reads like a teenage girl's crush journal, so here's some ZA hip hop to regain some of my web-cred.  Jack Parow is an older white South African with a gnarly mustache that raps in mostly raunchy Afrikaans.  This song is in English and is pretty clean.

http://www.webaddict.co.za/2010/07/05/jack-parow-i-miss-lyrics/

Ciao for Now,

JB