It begins

Hey everyone –

This entire last week has been devoted to visiting classes and determining what we want to take for the next year. In my last post I put the subjects that I planned on taking, so I went into the week with a pretty strong idea of my subjects. [Most of] the classes were really interesting, and I took many opportunities to see classes that I wasn’t even planning on taking. I put in my final schedule request on Friday, it looks like this:

HL English A1

HL Bio

HL Maths

SL Social and Cultural Anthropology

SL SiSwati

SL Music

I guess the theme is, higher levels are things I want to study in my lifetime and continue with in college, and standard levels are classes I’m really intrigued by and curious about (perhaps things I will pursue).

Social and Cultural Anthropology is taught by a graduate of WK, the class seems like it will be one of my most interesting. Even though we were in orientation week, we had a discussion (reminiscent of Girard’s class) about culture and the causes of cultural shift.

I’m also very stoked for SiSwati, because I think if I really work at it I can be a decent speaker. The teacher told me that a student came out of SiSwati last year and was fairly proficient in the language. We have the opportunity to go to town at least twice a week, so I think I’m going to go to town and practice as much as possible… even though I will definitely look stupid. The people here seem to be very entertained when you try.

For a while I was debating between taking Spanish or SiSwati, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I’ll always have access to a Spanish education. If I look back at my UWC education in five years, will I regret more not taking Spanish, or not taking SiSwati? And I figure, this is where I am right now – I should to immerse myself in the culture as much as possible. Basically, this is my way of saying, sorry mom :)

Oh! If you are super observant, you might have noticed that I switched out Peace and Conflict Studies for Music. As much as I wanted to take the former, unfortunately the class is under that category of “school-created curriculum”, or something like that. It’s still IB, but.. different somehow?

In any case, they won’t allow me to take Peace and Conflict and SiSwati simultaneously. I decided to take Music instead, which at standard level necessitates a performance aspect. So I’m going to try to do it on the kalimba (thumb piano). I’m excited and nervous at the same time. I’m sure most of the people in the world that do IB Music do performance on piano, and I’m going out on a limb a little.

But hey, it’s all about new things and taking risks, right?

More exciting news – today I went rock climbing on real rock for the first time since falling (!!!) It was exciting and slightly terrifying (I had a rope, of course). The school has a climbing wall and team, and just last year a group of 14 routes was set up on a rock face in the area. So we walked out there today and did a couple climbs. Good times.

I must apologize (apologise?) once more for the internet, it’s very.. unpredictable. As I sit typing this, I wonder if the connection will allow me to complete the post. I can be on FB and answer something, connection fine, and the next second everything is sluggish. I plan on sending out postcards soon, you can send me your address if I don’t already have it (receiving information is MUCH easier than sending it, email or FB). It’s a weird feeling, to have more faith in snail mail than the internet. Is this what the olden days were like?

So, that’s what’s up. School starts tomorrow, for real… I’m stoked and bummed and nervous all at once.

But mostly stoked. :)

TTFN

Love you guys

Eli

Orientation

Hey folks –

So, this is what limited internet access is like. Oddly enough, it feels kind of nice. I mean, I’m not going through any withdrawals or anything. But that’s because they’ve been keeping us pretty occupied for orientation. So let me tell you a little about that…

To sum up.. Orientation has been pretty awesome. Today (Sunday) is the last day, we have to start doing school stuff tomorrow. Over the past week, through various trips into town, games in the common room, dining together, and even a dance, I’ve gotten to know many other students and have become very comfortable at Waterford. We did our first community service (commserve) project a couple days ago, my group went to a primary school out in rural Swaziland and painted on of their more run-down buildings. It was pretty satisfying, especially when the principal came in and gave our group a big smile.

So yeah, it’s almost like camp. It’s probably going to hit me really hard when we have to start doing work, and it’s still sinking in that I live here.

All the people are phenomenal. And as an American I feel kind of ignorant, speaking only one language and having little knowledge of the political happenings in other nations. But nobody is snide or rude about it, and I’m learning a lot already about cultural differences and similarities.

Over the course of orientation, we’ve also had two people talk to us about the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Swaziland and Southern Africa. The statistics, especially for Africa, are astounding. What’s made me the most upset, though, is that the Swazi government subsidizes the cost of ARVs (AIDS medication) so that it can be free for the public, but many people still suffer and die for the simple reason that they cannot transport themselves to the clinics to pick up the drugs. Sometimes its because they live too far away, others because they don’t have sufficient funds for a taxi. It’s just soo frustrating, to think that a substance that would make their lives so much better is just within reach, and something as simple as transportation makes it impossible for them to get it.

School starts tomorrow, ish. We have a week to tour classes and find out what we want to take, kind of dip our toes in the water. So far this is what I think I want to take:

HL Math

HL English A1

HL Biology

HL Social and Cultural Anthropology

SL SiSwati AB

SL Peace and Conflict Studies

I’ve heard four highers (HLs) is kind of like… a bad idea. We’ll see, I may drop down to three and three or keep it where it’s at, depending on how many hours of sleep I lose.

Oh hey, and I finally got my mailing address. Here it is -

Eli Medvescek

Waterford Kamhlaba United World College of Southern Africa

Emhlabeni Residence

PO Box 52

Mbabane, Swaziland

Southern Africa

One last note – I’ve decided to start updating the blog on Sundays only, because, in the words of a student, “You could send a carrier pigeon to Mars before you could get an email out at WK.”

Perhaps an exaggeration… but the internet is pretty slow.

Having a great time, and missing you all tons. I put a billion photos on my walls so I can see your smiling face everyday (except, you know, internet creepers)

Lots of love

Eli

Kruger + Final Dayz

Hey all -

Sorry I missed updating yesterday, I waited until today so I could include the best pictures of Kruger. And from that statement, you can probably infer that yesterday we went on a safari through Kruger International Park. We drove from our timeshare to an entrance gate about 10 minutes away, and paid for a simple day pass that allowed us to drive our car through the park. And we all had a really great time.

Now, I should add the disclaimer that in our self-guided safari through Kruger, there weren't rhinos and elephants just leaping out in front of our car for us to see. And I soon learned that safari-ing, especially without a guide, is less of an exhibit and more of a scavenger hunt. If you've ever been fishing, you know that the fish all go into hiding for most of the day, and come out mostly during dawn and dusk. We learned that this is true for the rest of the animal kingdom as well. Most of our six hours in Kruger was driving around, scrutinizing the landscape for a camouflaged Waldo.

HOWEVER
We did get lucky at various points.

About 5 minutes upon entering the park, in the hottest part of the day, we see a car pulled over to the side of the road. As this is a sign in Kruger that someone has spotted something, we quickly pulled over as well. The people in the other car whispered, "Leopard." We look over and see, stalking through the bushes, a gorgeous leopard (one of the African Big 5). He got away pretty quickly, but dad was able to snap a quick shot of the beastie:

Considering that he didn't have the right lens on, I think that's a pretty good snapshot. Go Dad! (Meanwhile, I sit in the passenger's seat and pretend I'm playing Pokemon Snap)

For the next few hours, the animal life was pretty sparse. We took many pictures of trees, birds, and such. However, in the last hour that the park was open, as we were racing back to the gate that we came through, all the wildlife decides - Hey! Now seems like a good time to come out. So in the final moments, we saw our fair share of animals. Here are some shots that Dad took - 

For a while, we would stop every time we saw an impala. Everyone gave us crazy looks as they drove by, and we soon learned that impalas are pretty much the most common land animal in Kruger. However, we thought the fighting males were pretty cool - especially with the bird, along for the ride. 

So, altogether, a great trip to Kruger. When not taking pictures or observing animals, we were laughing or (for me) taking quick naps. Success!

Today, we went shopping for final dorm supplies, learned that the aforementioned police officers were probably trying to shake us down with the whole 'international driver's license' thing, and relaxed, for 'tis the last day of vacation. I move in tomorrow!

I think that's all for today, although a quick note - When I move to Waterford tomorrow, my internet access is going to become much more restricted. I've been enjoying the benefits of paid access for a few days now, but once I get to WK it's going to be much more slow. So I hope to keep updating the blog, but between schoolwork and limited internet I'm not sure what I can accomplish. Keeping my fingers crossed for adequate access!

Love you guys :)
Eli

P.S. - I saw some pretty awesome stuff at Kruger, but I must say, this little bird might have been one of the best in the park! (Turn your volume up)

Big Days

Hey folkss -

We have arrived at a time share in South Africa (courtesy of the Kliens, thank you soo much) and I just purchased some wireless internet access, so let me tell you about the last few days...

Yesterday (Friday) we made the trek to Hazy View, South Africa to stay in a time share for a couple days. However, along the way we stopped to see a few missionaries named Kay and John West that do work through a local church with orphaned children in a squatters community. We learned about Kay and John through a friend at our Quaker Church back in Tucson, and thought that they might be able to show us a little more of the different sides of Swaziland.

Wow.

You know how when you don't finish your meal at a restaurant or something, some smartass always says, "You should finish that, there are starving children in Africa..."

Well, John and Kay took us to see them. And it was.. intense.

Among the infinite sugarcane fields in Swaziland, there is a place called Section 19. John and Kay took us to see this community. Like I said before, it's a squatter's community, and most people there lived in huts made of mud and rocks. Almost everyone appeared to be malnourished, the area is surrounded by sugarcane so pretty much all the food in the community does not contain important nutrients, but rather, empty calories. It was a really shocking sight.

So we went in to the community with John and Kay and handed out candy to the numerous children, who all came forward with cupped hands when they saw the bags of goodies. Mom bought a couple inflated balls in town, all about the size of a children's soccer ball, and gave them to the children. Boy, did they like that. Everyone's face lit up bright when they saw the toys, and immediately the children began to play with the gifts.

However, what made me SO happy about the community was that these people with nothing, like really nothing, still knew how to smile, laugh, and play. I swear, these are the friendliest people you'll meet - a woman even offered my dad some food, despite the fact that she had none. It made me think of the lyric by India.Arie - "There's hope, it doesn't cost a thing to smile, you don't have to pay to laugh."

It sounds weird to say that I "liked" Section 19, because it's not totally the case - rather, I appreciated the community and the people. Coming in to Section 19 and looking at it at first, I was very sad and upset by the conditions that these people had to live in. I felt the same way upon leaving, even more so after exploring the community, but I also felt like there was hope for these people. I know it may sound tacky.. but whatever. Someday I wanna be a part of the solution to this raging poverty.

Here are some pictures of Section 19:

Everyone was very eager to have their picture taken.

Me pretending to have a difficult time picking up the child. Slash, me pretending to be constipated. 

We thought this girl might have cerebral palsy. We took her some candy, and the crowd and treat seemed to make her very happy. 

After we stopped at Section 19 we continued to drive to Hazy View, which is near Kruger National Park. Along the way we were stopped by the police and almost got a ticket for R1500 (~$220) for failing to obtain an international driving license.. scary. But we were able to talk ourselves out of it (no, we did not bribe them).

We got to Hazy View kinda late, it began raining and rained all night (!!!), and today we went out shopping for some school and dorm supplies that I couldn't bring with me for lack of space. We're looking to go back out to get a few more things tomorrow, plus maybe Kruger.

Oh! And now that I'm on better internet I can post some pictures. So check out one of my older posts if you want to see some pictures of the school.

I think that's all for now.. I'm glad I could get this all down. Being able to write about Section 19 helps me to reflect on my experience, and I'm sure it's something I'll never forget.

More in the coming days.. Move in is only 3 days away!

Love,
Eli

Waterford + Phone

Hey folks -

Day two in Swaziland was, of course, super awesome (I've got to start adding variety to my adjectives...) Despite being very jetlagged, we thought it best to get out of the room and move around to combat sluggishness. We had a great complimentary breakfast at the hotel and decided to drive up to the school to have a little look-see. I don't move in till next week but we thought, heck, why not check it out?

And oh em gee, was is gorgeous. Basically from Mbabane (capital of Swaziland, pronounced "buh-bahn-eh") you drive up a treacherously steep hill until you see signs for the school. So it's really quiet and isolated from the city, I mean I'm sure its more noisy when school was in session, but the location is fantastic.

Everything at the school is extremely lush and green, in a lot of places around the school it was even kind of tropical. I know most don't imagine Africa is being that type of place, but most of the school is very green. Plus the campus is surrounded by huge rocky hills that remind me a lot of the mountains at home. They're not quite as big.. but trust me, these aren't your grandmother's hills either. Here are some pictures:

So.. I guess "tropical Tucson" is kind of a summation? I know it's kind of an oxymoron, but that was my first impression. Many areas around the school look far more tropical than this, but I couldn't get very good pictures. It also very humid... but in any case, it's very nice.

There were a few folks at the school that we're more than happy to drop what they were doing and show us around. I met the head of my hostel, and learned that I had been assigned to the girl's side of the dorm.  I didn't say anything but she thought it best that I switched to the boy's corridor. Also met a guy in the admin building who said something to the effect of, "You're Eli? Weren't you supposed to come last year?".

So you know. Celeb status.

Oh! One most important thing. How could i forget - I got a phone today. It took us a while to figure out phones in Swaziland, but basically it's not like home. You have to get a SIM card that only works in the country you're in, so my number will change if I go to South Africa or Mozambique or anywhere else. And then you have to buy minutes like one of those GO Phones or whatever. 50E (~$7.30) gets you about... 20 or 25 minutes (within the nation). But then it changes if you're calling out of the nation? I'm still putzing around with the phone, but in any case, here's the number:

+011 268 7 649 9753

And as I look at this number, I realize that I have NO way to determine whether it's correct or not. It looks really wonky. So if you're in a dire situation or on Who Wants to be a Millionaire, please do not put all your eggs in this basket. I recommend Cha Cha. =)

Worth a shot, though, if you just wanna chat for a couple minutes!

Missing everyone, wish I could bring you all to Swaziland! Visitors are always welcome ;)

Love,
Eli

Arrival

Guess who made it to Swaziland?

Yes, I'll admit it looked bleak there for a while. And it only took, like, 40 hours or something like that. But I'm here, in one piece :)
So I don't wanna provide a play-by-play of the whole adventure, but here's the basics -

We departed from Tucson at around six flew to LAX in the dark. When we got to the airport I literally hopped off the plane. Check that off my bucket list (although I wasn't wearing a cardigan...)

We had a brief layover in LA but had to take a shuttle to get to another airline, so we had to go through security at LAX all over again. Yuck.

Left LA and flew to Munich, still at night. I slept through most of the flight, although I watched "Despicable Me" at the beginning (adorable). We arrived in Munich at about five in the afternoon, and it was dark out. Apparently there was about three hours of sunlight on the eleven-hour plane ride, but I slept through it.

From Munich we departed to Joburg for another eleven-hour flight, and about nine of those hours were AT NIGHT. And when we landed it was Wednesday.

So, to recap - Leave Tucson Monday night, fly through almost perpetual darkness, and land in Johannesburg Wednesday morning. I feel so.. cheated. And disoriented. And confused. And sluggish.

Once we landed in Joburg we rented a car and drove to Swaziland - this was, perhaps, the most terrifying leg of my journey. Because a) we had no idea where we were going (dad didn't print directions to the hotel) and b) driving is on the opposite side of the road. And we had to deal with all this while severely jetlagged. It was a trip riddled with "Left side, dad." But we fortunately made it to the hotel in Swaziland, which is where I'm writing this (internetz are slowwww)

OK, so bee tee dubs.. SD is gorgeous. Very hill-y, lots of green and trees and exotic-looking plants - think of all the best things about Pennsylvania, Tucson, and Ireland (or what I assume Ireland to look like) and you have Swaziland. At least, that's what we saw on the way in. Really pretty stuff.

So I guess that's kind of a play-by-play.. sorry about that.

Tomorrow we go to the school (just to check in - I don't move in till next week), get me a phone, and explore a little. I'll post some pictures in the coming days - sorry I don't have any this time around, but honestly, the pictures of me sitting in the Munich airport wearing an impressive frown are just no fun. When I get one of me riding an elephant then I'll show you :)

Love y'all,
Eli

Final Week

Hello friends, family, and internet junkies -

I've just finished packing (for the most part) and thought it fitting to post on the blog to assure everyone that I'll be attending to this website at least sometimes. I leave for the airport in fifteen hours or so, I'm super stoked and kind of nervous, but on the whole I'm really just ready for this to finally happen.

So, we depart from Tucson at around six, fly from Tucson to LA, LA to Munich, and Munich to Johannesburg (henceforth, 'Joburg'). Travel time = 31 hours. Here's the icing on the cake: After we land in Joburg, we hop in a car and drive five hours to Swaziland, in a jetlagged and semi-conscious state... ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE ROAD.

So I'm just crossing my fingers that I'll make it in one piece.

This past week has been phenomenal and bittersweet, as I get nearer every moment to my departure but have to say goodbye to great friends. I'll be thinking about you all, and will try to remember to send out some postcards when I get settled in Swaziland :)

What more is there to say? Once in SD, we're going to be staying at the Mountain Inn for a few days, then we head back to South Africa to stay in a timeshare near Kruger National Park (a big thank you to the Kliens), then on the 17th we go back to SD and I move in to my hostel!

So I'm super duper excited (for lack of better phrasing...)
I'll be posting more in these next few days as I make my way across the globe, stay tuned in for updates and the like.

Love always,
Eli