This is just a quick update post... mostly just a roundup of photos/stories from the last 2 weeks that I know I will need to write down eventually if I am going to have any hope of remembering them. And since this space is mostly just to eliminate the need for weekly email updates to my parents... figured I'd just open with the appropriate greeting 🤷🏼♀️
One of the best days, and a day full of firsts. First time in the Indian Ocean, first time seeing a shark while diving, and my first time being the best with air out of my whole dive group. As if I needed more confirmation that the ocean floor is my true happy place.
My first dive of the trip was at the Aliwal Shoal, a place about 50 km south of Durban, on Sunday, May 26th, the culmination of a quick weekend trip to Durban with Ariana in tow. Even though she didn't come out with us this time, she's already promised to give it a whirl with me next time I go out. So you can be sure more dive adventure updates will follow!
One of the weirdest 'small world' moments of my life happened in March of this year. The story starts in October of last year, where I found myself happily exploring Dublin on a break from my exchange in Scotland. As anyone whose been to Dublin will tell you, the Guinness Factory experience is not to be missed, and so it was there I spent a slightly hungover Saturday, and it was after completing the perfect pour (no biggie or anything) that I met Sean. An American in Dublin there to run the city's marathon the next day, we got to chatting and found we had loads in common; one of those things just happened to be scuba diving. After dinner and drinks we parted ways with vows to see each other again, either in one of our hometowns (I've always wanted to see that bean thing in Chicago) or maybe (hopefully) out there during our travels again. But that was that.
Cut forward to March 2019, shortly after I got the internship position and was getting used to the whole 'other side of the world' thing. I got a message from Sean, mostly hidden under the cut of the notification bar, but from what I could read he was inviting me to tag along on some kind of diving trip. I remember so vividly standing in the Starbucks line-up in Cadboro Bay, chuckling to myself at how weird it would be if he were to say "... in South Africa", but ultimately not expecting that to be how the sentence was ending; how unlikely that would be?? Well, the weird twists of fate got the last laugh on that one, as that is exactly what he said.
Of all the places (he wanted to see Durban, not just Cape Town), of all the timing (he was flying down end of May), and of all the friends to invite, he thought of the random girl he met 6 months prior who had mentioned in little more than passing that she loved to dive... and... she would actually be in that country starting in early May, a 40 minute drive from the ocean, and with every intention of using her weekends to see some 🦈
Like? I dunno man, sometimes the world is just a little too trippy for me.
Anyways, that's how I ended up at the Aliwal Shoal, spending a the morning diving with a friend I'd met once before and about 7 sharks and a pod of dolphins. I could think of worse ways to a beautiful sunny Sunday.
☀️
My next quick story involves the lunacy that is the Comrades Marathon. 87 km of near all uphill running from Durban to Pietermaritzburg. I will never again feel good about my 45 minutes on the treadmill after what I saw that day.
As luck would have it, we moved in just down the street from the Golden Horse, a beautiful monolithic hotel/casino/racecourse that just so happens to be the ending (or starting, depending on the year) point of the marathon. So, after a (normal, human) Sunday morning of sleep-in and coffee, we wandered down to the road to see all the fuss. I can't even begin to express how weirdly emotional the whole day was after that. First of all, the chills I got when we saw our first runners coming around one of their last corners... knowing they had been running for over 8 hours at that point. They were still smiling? And able to not only walk but run, even after all that? What??? Not a single tear in sight; I'd have been bawling at the 15 km mark, guaranteed.
Ariana and I found our way to the bleachers right near the finish line, and spent the next 2 hours cheering on people from all over the world crossing that final hurdle. We saw older people being helped by the young, multiracial running groups, couples holding hands, and those repping different country flags who had made friends along the way finishing that final 100 m. At one point I turned around to see Ariana's eyes as suspiciously damp as mine... I became an emotional crier after the zebra and haven't chilled out since apparently. After hearing so much about the history of Apartheid and seeing for ourselves the continuation of bare minimal interracial mixing, to see people of different races holding hands, after finishing what was undoubtedly some of the most trying hours of their lives, really tugged those heartstrings.
☀️
One of the best parts about this exchange so far has been our housemates. We live in a (beautiful!) house in the suburb of Scottsville about a block from UKZN, and Pietermaritzburg itself is a pretty big uni town, so it's unsurprising that this house is usually student accommodation. I'll be the first to admit I had my reservations; normally I'm someone who likes their space, and I would already be sharing a bedroom with one person... I was worried that a house with 8 other girls was gonna be overwhelming x100000. BUT fortunately for me, I'm wrong about 90% of the time, and this was certainly one of those times. It has been the biggest blessing to have people to come home and chat with every night - they look out for us, tell us all the best ways to get around and what to see, and have in no small part become some of my favourite people. Or the people to produce my favourite people.
Meet Lwandile, the 10-month-old son of our housemate Nolwazi. He normally stays with Grandma during the school year, but since it's school break for the uni, he came by to visit for a couple days. Took some time for this sweet lil guy to warm up to Ariana and I, but once he did we were the best babysitters out there - despite the fact that our weird pale skin freaked him out a little bit.
☀️
Days at the school are flying by. As I write this, it has officially been 6 weeks since I left Vancouver. In some ways it feels like ages since I went on my first grocery trip here in ZA, or signed up for a gym, or saw my first giraffe. But for the most part it blows my mind that it's been so long. The interns before us here at Ukulapha were only on a 3 month stint; they would have been halfway in to this position by now. When I think of it like that, it feels like this whole thing is going to fly by. Then I remember that my thanksgiving and halloween will be spent still down here, and it doesn't feel so short all of a sudden.
All I can say is that if the next 6 weeks, 3 months, 5.5 months pass with the same joy and learning and laughter that these first weeks have passed with, I'm gonna be okay.
We've started camp this week. An experience that will warrant it's own post, but I will say now that it has come at the best time. Every part of my time here is a learning experience for sure, but I was admittedly starting to wonder if our months here were going to pass with us spending most of our time in the office/staff room, assisting the teachers and staff and marking (endlessly marking) tests and papers. While I love to feel like I can be a help to these overworked teachers, I do know that I am most valuable out there interacting with the kids. I have no desire to be a teacher, and despite being a fluent English speaker I have no qualifications that would allow me to mark English tests. So I have honestly been missing, and eagerly awaiting, some true, uninterrupted interaction with the kids, learning about them and putting names to faces. And that is exactly what camp has been. Just Ariana and I and 25 buds spending the day laughing, playing, learning and overall just having a blast ☺️ Building these relationships has been #1 for me from the get-go, and to finally be at this stage feels amazing, and I know it is going to make the next 2 terms of school that much more special.
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