[Title of Post]

 Folkss -

I’m trying my best to keep with the habit of posting every week, although sometimes I miss updating Sunday nights.

This past week has been pretty standard, although I’ve been hit with my first wave of homesickness. I find myself occasionally zoning out in class, thinking about home and missing you guys tremendously. Perhaps its partially because I’ve posted pictures of friends and family all over my room… It’s weird, though, cause I’ll also find myself missing little minute details about home – driving down Oracle, the supermarket, etc. I’m not freaking out (yet), although I could def. go for some eegee’s. It helps to go into town every week and get off campus a little, get some food at a restaurant, interact with a different environment… ya know.

On the flip side, though, I also find myself continually astounded with my surroundings and my peers. I think I say this every time I post, but I really can’t stress it enough. The other night I went out with some friends and we had a great discussion about culture and Western influence in Africa. It’s really amazing to hear how others (particularly Africans) perceive European influence in Southern Africa and across the continent. The partition of Africa was not that long ago, bear in mind. We talked about issues of imperialism and the imposition of Western culture on many nations, and the differences between our own personal views on humanitarian aid in Africa.

We also talked a lot about UWC and our own personal (and differing) expectations of UWC. WK is different from most of the other UWCs because a) they have lower forms (grades) in addition to the IB and b) only a third or so of the students are sent on scholarship. Whatever way people get in, they have to go through a rigorous selection process, so all the folks here are super bright and talented (as I’ve mentioned many times before), but it also means that the aims of many of the students are different. Many of the “NCs” (scholarship students like myself) are looking for something called the “UWC experience” – everybody’s idea of the UWC experience is different, but it usually places less emphasis on academics and more on culture immersion contact with people from all over the world. At least, that’s my interpretation. But since this is also a private school to which external students can apply, there’s also a lot of students here who are primarily driven to get the highest possible score in IB. Which is perfectly fine, it just means that everyone has slightly different expectations of Waterford. I’m still trying to find out if that’s a good or bad thing, but right now I’m thinking it’s just a… thing.

Deep stuff. I think I need to start keeping a journal and writing this stuff down right after we talk about it, I feel like I’m not doing our discussions justice right now.

What else? We’ve had a couple thunderstorms that remind me a lot of monsoon season at home (without that wonderful smell of mesquite, of course). Every time we have a storm, the power cuts. Actually, the power goes out here at least once a week… usually more, in fact. I know it doesn’t sound like a big thing, but imagine if the power went out multiple times a week in the states – everyone would totally freak out, no? I guess I never thought about how much I rely on my electricity. I suppose it’s fitting, though, as I’m also learning how much I relied on my hot showers at home. Lawl.

We only have half a week of school this week, and then it’s midterm break! Hopefully (if I can get my transit visa done in time) I’ll being going to Mozambique with a group of other students to spend some time on the beach and tour Maputo a bit. It should be a good time – I’ll post about experiences (and perhaps some pictures) next week.

And as I usually try to end these posts on a light note, I should mention that I watched American Pie with a few friends from Germany and the Bahamas the other night. They were pretty shocked to learn that American Pie is not really a big thing in the states (there are SEVEN. Am I the only one who didn’t know that?), and the evening was pretty funny as I continually had to field questions along the lines of “Is this what it’s really like in America?” I think I’ve spotted the source of many of the prejudices against the US.

Missing everyone lots, I still think about you guys daily. :)

Cheers

Eli

Week Two: Commserve + Physical Theatre

Heyy folks –

Sorry I didn’t write yesterday, I was kind of busy last night so I wasn’t able to update the blog. I threw some pictures on Facebook, though, as a consolation – hope that was enough to quell your desires for at least twenty-four hours.

This past week has been really awesome and busyish. Since I’m an IB1, I don’t have an incredible amount of homework or anything, but I’m still trying to keep up a heavy extracurricular schedule. Plus, I’m socializing a bit more because I realize my workload isn’t monstrous yet. Which then entails that I start my homework a little later. But it’s all good.

The highlights of this week were definitely my commserve outings. I got my first preference for community service – it’s a program called “Ward 8” where I go with a few other students to the abandoned children’s hospital in town and take some of the kids out to the park so they can get some sun and basically escape from their rooms. It was really fun and rewarding in a lot of aspects, but at the same time there was a certain blanket of gravitas over the whole outing. The children are pretty severely mentally and physically disabled, and the hospital isn’t the most comfortable place (of course). We walked into the ward and the place was packed, the nurses were all very busy, and they still weren’t able to get to everything. I remember thinking when we took them back to the hospital, “Home sweet home… god, that’s shit.” I tried to imagine being in that same room, day after day, for my entire life. But at the same time, I feel awesome when I’m able to take the kids out of the hospital, even if it is just one day a week, to get some fresh air.

I also felt a little guilty that I got picked for Ward 8, considering that there were only four spots and most everybody requested it. I know I shouldn’t feel guilty, but... I dunno. I got my first choice for commserve but many others didn’t even get their third choice. I think something about the system was a little janky.
But I’m very grateful to have this commserve and know that I’ll make the best of it.

Also this week was Mpaka commserve. Mpaka is a refugee camp in Swaziland with kids of all ages, and twice a term they all get in a bus and come down to Waterford for a day of activities, sports, and fun. I was so stoked to see the bus pull in and see all the kids run off into the school… it reminded me a lot of babysitting for Meeting, but with about ten times as many kids. Considering that I just adore playing with kids, this was the perfect commserve. We spent the better part of 4 hours outside, and a common game seemed to evolve – get on Eli’s shoulder’s and have him run around. Pretty standard, no? I had a lot of fun but was beyond exhausted by the end.

So I really hope that I’m able to continue with multiple commserve opportunities beyond my weekly-allocated slot, because that was one of my primary motivating factors in coming here. Fingers crossed!

We had our first rehearsal for our physical theatre production this week (did I mention before that I got in?). Basically, the show is being written collaboratively by the actors and the director (a student), centered around the idea of rhythm and the theme of lies. So about half of the rehearsal was about body rhythm, making rhythmic use of everyday objects, etc.. very STOMP, very fun. The second half, then, was a near-existential conversation about lies, the nature of lies, the meaning of lies, and how lies have played out in our lives. We all sat in the drama room and discussed for nearly two hours how to define a lie, if lying is always morally wrong, and such. The discussion was intriguing and compelling, and I really hope we’re able to have more like it in the future. I got the sense that it was very UWC.

I just want to mention once more that I’m having a great time – more than the academic aspect, I’m really enjoying the extracurriculars and the service, staying up in hostel and talking to people till one in the morning (another factor in my lack of sleep, perhaps), and the like.

Oh, and I guess the academics are pretty cool too :)

Final note – I didn’t get bid on for the boy auction.. but if it’s any consolation, only four of the ten or so boys were bid on, and the highest bid was for twenty emalangeni (~three dollars). Lawl. Anyways, SRC has decided to make things even more awkward for the bachelors, and if offering all the people who haven’t been bid on for live auction tomorrow. Woo?

Hope all is well at home, wherever your home may be. I hear Gabby wants toast? Me too, Gabby. Me too.

Sala kahle, love y’all

Eli

Week One (I need more creative titles)

Hey all –

I’m proud to say, I’ve completed one week of real school. Hooray!

Since classes were fairly easy (since it’s the beginning and all), I spent most of my time this week experimenting with my CAS activities. As part of my International Baccalaureate degree, I have to do fifty hours of creative work, fifty hours of action/sports, and about one hundred and fifty hours of community service (commserve). So I spent this week checking out all the available CAS activities offered by teachers and students. Here’s a taste of what I did this week:

Yoga, gym, kayaking lessons, volleyball, climbing, ballroom dancing, Argentinean tango, fitness swimming, samba, and an audition.

(This list seemed longer in my head?)

While I’m not sure if I’m going to stick with everything, I think it was valuable to dip my feet into the water to determine what I like and what I don’t. I was also trying to branch out a little and try new things. Even if it meant I was the only guy at Samba.

Another big week for climbing – On Wednesday I led my first route. For those who don’t know, it means that I was setting the rope for the climb. As opposed to the traditional “top rope” type of climbing, where you are suspended from a rope hanging from the top of the route, a lead climb entails hooking in at various intervals. It’s not as dangerous as free climbing (experience tells me that not much is more dangerous than free climbing), but if you fall there’s potential to drop about five or ten feet… one to three meters.

But in any case, it was very… exhilarating.

I went to an audition this week as well, for a piece of physical theatre. It’s not a scripted piece; rather, the production is going to be a product of the creativity of the cast. The theme of the show is “lies”, so we have to create our own physical pieces to represent lies. The director is determined to have the show be very physical; in fact, when I first asked her about it, she asked me, “Have you heard of STOMP?” So I’m anticipating a lot of body rhythm and physically strenuous activities. I’m really stoked and think it’s going to be an awesome, creative production.

We put in our commserve requests this week – an important time for me, since I was so incredibly intrigued about the community service at Waterford when I first learned about it, and since commserve was a big motivational factor in my decision to attend. My first request was for a place called “Ward 8”, a hospital in Mbabane for abandoned children. Waterford students go to Ward 8 and take the kids (many disfigured or disabled) out for fin activities, like picnics or swimming. I love working with kids and it seems like my type of commserve; however, there are only four spots open, so I’m not sure if I’ll get it.

I put as a second choice AIDS education at primary schools in Mbabane. It’s incredible how influential AIDS education can be in preventing the spread of the disease; in fact, in some African nations (Botswana… I think), the educational programs by the government have been as effective as a vaccine. Crazy amazing. I put many other commserve requests in  - SOS Children’s Village (teaching English and Maths to kids), Amnesty International (writing letters advocating for diplomacy in turbulent nations), Outdoor Pursuits (similar to Ward 8 – taking children out for activities such as climbing and kayaking), and Young Heroes (fundraising to send children to school and conduct repairs at local schools). Hopefully I can participate in two, or even three, of these. Fingers crossed.

What else? As part of my SiSwati class, I’ve been going to town and trying to speak as much SiSwati with the locals as possible. Usually it’s just simple stuff – “Hello” (Sawubona), “How are you?” (Unjani), but on occasion I get the chance to do a fun one, like “Ngiphuma eMelika” (I am from America) or even "kubhukusha” (to swim). My Siswati class is moving redonkulously fast, but I feel like I’m (kind of) picking up on it.

Final note – For Valentine’s Day, the Student Representative Council (SRC) is doing an auction of boys, very similar to the one’s we did at CDO. The highest bidder on a boy is that boy’s date for the Valentines social in a few weeks. I got picked to be an auction item, which means that tomorrow people will (hopefully) start bidding on my bod. Ya dig?

If it’s not apparent from errthang above, I’m having a great time. Along with the activities and school, the mere mixing of people with various cultures is so interesting and exciting. I’ve been acquiring music, sharing cinema (folks did not particularly enjoy Hot Fuzz, whaaa?), and having great discussions.

I’m buying postcards next time I’m in town, which will likely exhaust my bank account. Which means I need addresses! FB message me or comment on the blog and I’ll try to get one to you :)

Missing you all, as usual. Every time I log on to Facebook my heart breaks a little. I hear it was super cold in Tucson? Bummed I missed it. It cool, though, that I can keep up somewhat from across this ocean (although I don’t really know who’s dating who anymore).

Sending all my love

Sala kahle (stay well)

Eli