Tea, Tea, and... More Tea!

The tea intake going on over here on this side of the world has to be documented as absolutely staggeringly astronomical. Here's a look at the schedule:

- Tea for breakfast
- "Morning tea" break time
- Tea at lunch
- "Afternoon tea"
- Tea at dinner
- Tea before bed

The tea offered here by the school is certainly nothing to rave over, so how on earth can everyone be so obsessed with it around here?!

Well, when Alejandra's family hosted Anna and I for the weekend, I finally got to taste the better end of this tea phenomenon. Just in a small café there are hundreds of different teas to try. I have to say... I fell in love! Next on my checklist is to buy some delicious teas to bring back to the US with me. This way I can enjoy my tea like they do over here in South Africa... 6 times a day!

delicious!

The Nightlife

It's incredible to see the difference between the "nightlife" here in South Africa in comparison to that at home. The term "going out," on the weekend seemed to me to be innocent enough. But when a girl named Maips asked me at lunch if I had "gone out" yet, Anna and I naturally answered her question with something along the lines of,

"Yes, we went grocery shopping at one of your shopping malls and bought a pair of gloves, too!"

Laughter erupted for nearly 10 minutes straight before Anna and I finally got an explanation. Apparently "going out" is classified solely as going "clubbing" or "partying." We responded with a timid "oh," and looked down at our plates. It was quiet for a moment before the table began to ask questions again.

"Wait... so you guys in America don't go clubbing or drinking?"

It took the next unfortunate ten minutes to explain that yes, Americans go clubbing and drinking, but no, Anna and I do not. They couldn't believe that people our age in America actually obeyed the drinking laws (granted there are some people that do not). Apparently in South Africa, where the drinking age is already as low as 18 years, businesses do not even ask for identification when purchasing alcohol! Thank goodness Anna and I will be staying over a host family's house over the remaining weekends... no stress in having to dodge these situations!

Food Poisoning

Oh yes... it happened. Not sure if it was the under-cooked chicken or the fact that the kitchen staff was sorting the utensils on the ground outside. So much pain... ahh!

Community Service

Upon request to be informed of any available community service opportunities, Anna and I finally got word on a way that we could help and get involved with the Johannesburg community. As it turns out, St. John's was hosting a computer class for underprivileged citizens. The class taught these citizens, who were on average 30 years old, how to work basic programs on the computer. Today we worked with Microsoft Word and PowerPoint, and Anna and I spent all the way from 8am - 11:30am helping these people learn the basics and even create a resume to aid in applying for jobs. The men and women that we were able to help were absolutely wonderful people - they were so grateful for our help and of course made the waking-up early worth while! Taking barely more than 3 hours of my own personal time truly helped these people in great need; it warms my heart to know that Fionah, Maps, and all of the other wonderful people I met will soon be seeking out a job with the resume that we created together!

First Rugby Match

Today Anna and I went to our first rugby match at St. John's! It was so exciting and the atmosphere was amazing. To begin, I was absolutely enthralled (and a little appalled) at the actual playing of the game. With no protection whatsoever... now that's asking for some broken bones! In addition to the rowdy play, the atmosphere around the stands was enthralling. The school had such intense spirit, and chanted "war cries" in unison to cheer on their schoolmates. In addition, every student takes part in an activity that they call "spelling," where they actually spell out "SJC" (St. John's College) with their own bodies. When the students get the cue, they know whether or not to take of their blazers to create the image! It's actually quite compelling... here's a picture!

Teacher/Student Respect

In my third day of classes I got my first experience with what class is really like once the elephant in the room, or the awkward exchange student, becomes more of a friendly face. When graded homework was cheerily handed back to the students by Mrs. T., Nyasha raised her hand after reading the corrections made on her paper.

"Ma'am," she politely began, "I'm not sure why you took off points here."

The teacher, as suddenly as the flip of a switch, turned red hot with anger. The tangent that followed was both horrifying and appalling. What little I forced myself to remember included some of the following:

"If you expect me to not take off points for your horrible English language you should be ashamed."
"If you never learn to speak and write English properly you may as well go to that corner right now and kill yourself because you will grow up to be nothing more than a worthless bum."
"You are lazy, sloppy, careless and an awful excuse for an educated human being."

How awful to watch my friend brake down in tears due to the heartless words of a professional!

List of Things to Bring Home With Me:

1.) Crunchies Honeycomb Chocolate Bar

2.) P.S. Chocolate Bar

3.) Curry powder (the real stuff!)

4.) Marmite (for Dad)

5.) Beefy Bovril Meat and Vegetable Extract (again- for Dad)