The First in a Long Series of Ends

Hey guys –

So it’s my last day at Waterford for the term… tomorrow I embark on a month-long journey throughout South Africa and Mozambique with besties Jenny (Norway) and Sebastian (Germany). We’re going to be in Cape Town for ~two weeks and Tofo (Mozambique) for another two weeks. I’m totally stoked to see southern Africa, get a break from school, and chill for a little while. I’m still not sure if I’m bringing my computer, but I’ll try to come in with a few blog posts during the trip if I can.

These past few weeks have mostly been about wrapping up term, turning in final assignments, etc. We got our cycle grades (report cards, essentially) for the term – the marking here is very different than I’m used to, and IB allows students to get top marks with scores down to 85%; however, because of this, work is graded much less leniently. One of the aspects of WK that’s been difficult to get used to is consistently getting 72% on my essays… and having this considered a great score. Overall I’m very happy with my cycle grades, and hope I’m able to keep it up as I move through IB. Check it –

            HL Maths: 7+

            HL Biology: 6

            HL English A1: 6+

            SL Anthropology: 6

            SL SiSwati: 7

            SL Music: 6+

Last Saturday we had our first climbing commserve of the term – the climbing team at the school is affiliated with a group in Swaziland called “Climb Swaziland,” a group of WK alum who are trying to make climbing a more prominent sport in Swaziland. As part of this, the climbing team at Waterford uses climbing as an activity for community service in Swaziland. So on Saturday we had a group of teens from the Moya Centre in Swaziland come up the hill for a day of climbing. Lina, the woman who runs the organization, told us a few days before the commserve that the children are all classified as “vulnerable” due to past traumatic experiences in their lives – basically, this means that the children need the support of the center to avoid falling into poverty. Many of the teens were the principle breadwinners of their households, and some had to care for younger siblings as well. So the simple ability to come up to Waterford and have a day of climbing and activities was something really special for these kids. I had a great time (although I got a vicious sunburn on my forehead), and teaching the kids about climbing help me to see my own person growth in climbing ability since I arrived at Waterford.

And… these have mostly been the biggest things for me in the past week. The end of term has brought a lot of planning for future terms – already on the itinerary for next term is Bushfire (huge Swazi music festival), Grahamstown (huge South African music festival), and a possible backpacking trip in the Drackensburg Mountains with people from Climb Swaziland (gotta review these items with the ‘rents, though.) For now though, all sights are set on the twenty-four hour journey by bus to Cape Town that starts tomorrow morning at 6am. I’ve got to remember to charge my iPod…

Hope all is well at home, I’ll be counting down the days ‘till graduation with everyone else as I journey through SA and Moz. I’ve been slightly more homesick these past days, as most of my friends talk about going home, seeing old friends, eating good food… so yeah, just know that I miss you folks like crazy.

Love you lots, I’ll try to stay in touch in the coming weeks –

Eli