Hey Folks,
Just when I say it can't slow down, it does :)
Weather has been intermittently great, then awful, then great again..... After the super high of the Bungy on Tuesday week ago, Luis headed back to Spain to finish his studies, and the new guys (Ozzies Hugh and Shanie) are settling in. Friday night was over in the Wild Tongue backpacker's for a big brai and lots of pool (very drunk)... another Hot Tub on Saturday and then a day at the beach in Natures Valley on Sunday (very nice weather indeed, a little drunk), but It's mostly pissed rain this week. :( Brought Katya out for dinner on Monday nigh (very swish) and Got to attend some masterful 'fret wankery' guitar modern Jazz last night....JH would've thrown something....
On the work front, I am now having to write the play myself, as things have gotten a little unglued in some areas (much to my frustration)...so it's now one,too short, MJK written play (written as in not actually finished yet!), with 8 fourteen year old, uncooperative, ADHD candidates as my students.
Help.
Food has been continually amazing here, and the regularity of it and a new thing I have discovered called 'Sleep' (Glen, can you look that up for me, I may start patenting it for Ebay when I crawl home....) and a slight tan means I resemble a non-vampire for the first time since Sep 1998!
Not much else to report, Cocktail Party of sorts tonight and a weekend of lazing around if the weather keeps up (as I type those words, the sun comes out and obliterates every single cloud in the sky.....typical)
Hope you all have not drown in the midst of the Great Irish Summer....to those who got to see the Stones last week.....BASTARDS!
Sleep Well Kiddies!
J
Friday, August 24, 2007
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
'Cause I'm Free........Free Fallin'!'
I HAVE SURVIVED!
An amazing, terrifying rush of adrenaline that completely is unlike anything I have ever experienced before!
As Katya has said in an email last night, we're still not sure who was more scared, me in the air or her on the ground...the pictures do not do the distance justice as to how long it really is! An excellent crew and really supportive (apparently I jumped very well, and this confirmed by a couple of people working there, so not too shabby for a first timer :) )....
There is a DVD too, which truly shows the complete horror on my face as I stepped up to the plate, but I'll leave that for perusal when I get home...
More animal pics on the way too from the safari at the weekend, but I'm off to relive insane flying in my head
J
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
A way to waste time......
Hmm, you'd think after two weeks things would start to slow down around here....
Not at all.
This last week we've been taught how to roll Sushi (and yes they did have spoons in ancient Japan, JH!), messing with seaweed and caviar to much artistic effect (well, Katya was....I'm just happy that mine stuck together!) and have been a little hungover on a number of occasions ;) ... I'm getting a little frustrated with the lack of movement on the School Play project, as at the time of writing I still don't have a copy of the script! No matter, I suppose I must acquiesce to the African way of doing things and slow my horses up.
We also visited a very large Nature Reserve/Safari park in Addo, just beyond Port Elizabeth. We rented a (pos) car and hurtled ourselves the 3 hours up the road, well into the Western Cape area, where we were staying for two nights. Driving here is more of a field sport than a necessity; you really wonder do they hand out licenses at supermarkets, like a coupon special offer.....but, I digress.
The park is amazing and we saw many wondrous animals; Buffalo, Kudu, Ostriches (i think i never want to see another warthog/meerkat ever again) but missed the Lions, who were off playing cards or doing their laundry that day. Lots of Elephants up close though, and more than a fair share of Stripy Donkeys; all wild or rehabilitated wild animals. Very cool! Some pics to follow, already some up on facebook....
I write this now as some method of calming myself, as in 4 hours time I will throw myself 216m off a nearby bridge, attached only by a springy rope, and I would like my last words, if appropriate , to be fitting of my life!
So, in the great writings of the almighty Homer...... I Regret Nothing!
(Back later with pics etc!)
J
Not at all.
This last week we've been taught how to roll Sushi (and yes they did have spoons in ancient Japan, JH!), messing with seaweed and caviar to much artistic effect (well, Katya was....I'm just happy that mine stuck together!) and have been a little hungover on a number of occasions ;) ... I'm getting a little frustrated with the lack of movement on the School Play project, as at the time of writing I still don't have a copy of the script! No matter, I suppose I must acquiesce to the African way of doing things and slow my horses up.
We also visited a very large Nature Reserve/Safari park in Addo, just beyond Port Elizabeth. We rented a (pos) car and hurtled ourselves the 3 hours up the road, well into the Western Cape area, where we were staying for two nights. Driving here is more of a field sport than a necessity; you really wonder do they hand out licenses at supermarkets, like a coupon special offer.....but, I digress.
The park is amazing and we saw many wondrous animals; Buffalo, Kudu, Ostriches (i think i never want to see another warthog/meerkat ever again) but missed the Lions, who were off playing cards or doing their laundry that day. Lots of Elephants up close though, and more than a fair share of Stripy Donkeys; all wild or rehabilitated wild animals. Very cool! Some pics to follow, already some up on facebook....
I write this now as some method of calming myself, as in 4 hours time I will throw myself 216m off a nearby bridge, attached only by a springy rope, and I would like my last words, if appropriate , to be fitting of my life!
So, in the great writings of the almighty Homer...... I Regret Nothing!
(Back later with pics etc!)
J
Monday, August 13, 2007
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Stop..........Katya time!
Pic 1: Seals are very smelly!
Pic 2: Blurry Hot Tub Moment
Pic 3: Me, John and Sarah with not too shabby Plett back drop
Pic 4: Those crazy kids!
Pic 5: Wheres Whally (sorry....!)
Some more pics from Plett......
i) Team Rocky Road goes Zip-Lining across gorges!
ii) .......The first ever Zip-Ninja!
iii) Louis and myself go undercover as 'Drunken Fools', a local stereotype....... ;)
iv) The bridge I will soon throw myself off (Size Hint: The Road above it is a four lane Freeway!)
v) ....and the Hot Tub where we relax our weary bones ...
Monday, August 6, 2007
Some Pics from Plett......
Just a few pics.....
i) Katya and Sarah get a good dose of 80's at Flashbacks
ii) .....and recovering the day after at Rocky Road.
iii) Some wild baboons try to re-create the cover of Abbey Road
iv) I am telling you; this is a locust, it was huge, and they are EVERYWHERE!
v) A lovely coastal view of the lovely coastal Plett.
Kurland, The Crags and Rocky Road......
Hey Bru's.... (local lingo fitting in nicely!)
A longish post with some info on what we are actually doing here in SA, and the crowd we are working with...
WWISA are a local based community project, running out of a base (Rocky Road) near Kurland vilage, about 30 mins outside Plettenburg Bay. Kurland itself is a township of about 5000 people, that has been developed, with the help of WWISA, more and more over the last 10 - 15 years... It's a township and area that still has many issues and problems that we take for granted, but with the continued work of organisations like WWISA, it is very evidently getting better...
Katya and I have been associated with projects that are directly going to be assisted by our skills....She is currently working with a local ''Safe House', for children who have been abused,mostly through drugs/alcohol, to take care of them and to further their education etc... I am working with the village's school to put on a two play show; one straight, one musical, involving the school children, and also working with a local business (actually a Kiwi called Devon, who runs the longest Bungie jump in the world!) to set up a cultural evening in the extended bungie site, involving dinner/song/dance..... so full systems go!
Everyone in this country is so friendly and giving, it takes a while to get used to! If anyone ever accuses the Irish again of being the worlds biggest drinkers, you need to get them down here..... everything the South Africans do involves beer...so much for Detox! The weather, while still being winter (check those photos), has been amazing on days... and is only promising to get better...
Beyond the work, which is enough reward in itself, we are having a ball; Nights out in the local spots (one of them is called Flashbacks, and lives to the name!), we have already been to the largest avairy/monkey sanctuary in the world, whale watched, taken an 11k hike to a seal colony, zip lined across very large gorges and relaxed in the Rocky Road's built in Hot Tub! I will never get used to the pure beauty here, and the wild Baboons that roam the roads! Upcoming endeavours include;a full weekend in a Safari park next weekend, Sky Diving, and personally, a little matter of the aforementioned Largest Bungie in the world, a 216m drop from a bridge!!!!! (has to be done, dont you know...DVD will be available for perusal on return!)..
The guys we are working with, both the Staff (Rocky, Mac and Meriki) and our fellow volunteers (Sarah, Louis and Charmaine) are as fun and as approachable as you could hope, and as we settle in, I'm not sure if I even want to hit OZ at this stage!
Will get some more photos up (hopefully tonight), and keep you all updated on the progress... I can only say now that I will bug every single one of you to do this when I get home.... truly a life chainging experience.
Someone have a JD for me,
JK
A longish post with some info on what we are actually doing here in SA, and the crowd we are working with...
WWISA are a local based community project, running out of a base (Rocky Road) near Kurland vilage, about 30 mins outside Plettenburg Bay. Kurland itself is a township of about 5000 people, that has been developed, with the help of WWISA, more and more over the last 10 - 15 years... It's a township and area that still has many issues and problems that we take for granted, but with the continued work of organisations like WWISA, it is very evidently getting better...
Katya and I have been associated with projects that are directly going to be assisted by our skills....She is currently working with a local ''Safe House', for children who have been abused,mostly through drugs/alcohol, to take care of them and to further their education etc... I am working with the village's school to put on a two play show; one straight, one musical, involving the school children, and also working with a local business (actually a Kiwi called Devon, who runs the longest Bungie jump in the world!) to set up a cultural evening in the extended bungie site, involving dinner/song/dance..... so full systems go!
Everyone in this country is so friendly and giving, it takes a while to get used to! If anyone ever accuses the Irish again of being the worlds biggest drinkers, you need to get them down here..... everything the South Africans do involves beer...so much for Detox! The weather, while still being winter (check those photos), has been amazing on days... and is only promising to get better...
Beyond the work, which is enough reward in itself, we are having a ball; Nights out in the local spots (one of them is called Flashbacks, and lives to the name!), we have already been to the largest avairy/monkey sanctuary in the world, whale watched, taken an 11k hike to a seal colony, zip lined across very large gorges and relaxed in the Rocky Road's built in Hot Tub! I will never get used to the pure beauty here, and the wild Baboons that roam the roads! Upcoming endeavours include;a full weekend in a Safari park next weekend, Sky Diving, and personally, a little matter of the aforementioned Largest Bungie in the world, a 216m drop from a bridge!!!!! (has to be done, dont you know...DVD will be available for perusal on return!)..
The guys we are working with, both the Staff (Rocky, Mac and Meriki) and our fellow volunteers (Sarah, Louis and Charmaine) are as fun and as approachable as you could hope, and as we settle in, I'm not sure if I even want to hit OZ at this stage!
Will get some more photos up (hopefully tonight), and keep you all updated on the progress... I can only say now that I will bug every single one of you to do this when I get home.... truly a life chainging experience.
Someone have a JD for me,
JK
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