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September 8, 2003
Hi everyone. Sorry that it has been so long since I have written. Three weeks
ago I did not have much of anything to write about so I just did personal
letters. The last two weeks I have been so busy that I have not even gotten to
do email. So you can imagine what my inbox looked like today.
On the weekend of the 23rd of August I was off work from the St. Mary's
Children's Home, so Ian, my counselor, arranged for us (Thomas, the exchange
student from Belgium and me) to stay the Saturday night at another Rotarian's
house. The family already had plans for the evening, but dropped us off at a
place called "The Zone." It is a gigantic mall. Stores of all sorts,
restaurants and theaters. Luckily for my parents and me all of the stores were
closed, so I did not spend all of our money in the bank account. Thomas and I
went and saw "Bringing Down the House", which was our first movie in a South
African theater. It was in English (thank goodness for both of us). Thomas
liked it and seemed to understand most of it, except when they were using all of
the slang. We were not getting picked up until 11 pm, so we went and got a
drink afterwards. Sorry guys this means I had a Coca Cola The funny
thing about SA is that a Coke costs more then a beer here.
We people watched for about an hour, which is something that I love to do. You
would be so surprised at how ethnically diverse SA really is, and at the same
time how it is so similar to the states. We had a gay male couple sitting at
the table diagonal to us and we were by the railing on the second floor, which
looked out over the escalators transporting people between the two floors. We
were able to see everyone coming and going. The number of Jewish people in this
country has surprised me tremendously and this being a Saturday night all the
men had on their little hats (sorry I can not remember what they are called.)
There are also a lot of people of the Muslin faith. The women dress in their
gowns and cover their heads with shawls, but not all cover their faces. The
population of Nigerians and people from India and the Middle East is quite high
as well. There are a few Orientals and then you have the Blacks and Whites as
well.
Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. There were families, couples, and
groups of kids, all just having a good time. We were picked up a little after
11 pm and went home straight to bed. The next morning we all got up early, 6
am, and did a walk to raise money for Children. One of the other Rotary Clubs
was hosting the event and they had 1000 - 2000 people there. You had the choice
to walk 5 Kilometers or 15 Kilometers and we did the 15 (just over 9 miles). I
was able to keep up with Graham, the Rotarian, the whole time, so we came in
about #150. It took us a little over 2 hours, which I think is really good,
especially since I have not exercised much lately (I am gaining weight guys at
CK). Unfortunately when I took off my shoes back at the house the toe of my
right sock was completely soaked in blood. My feet had been hurting a little
while I was walking, but my left foot had been the one giving me trouble. I had
no idea though that they were bleeding or that it was that bad. We laid around
on their heated tile floor (which is the best invention, next to chocolate and
coffee. I am going to have it in my house some day) until about 2 pm. Then
Graham took Thomas and me to an open roof market. It was so cool to see all of
the things that they were selling. Hopefully this is where I can go for my
Christmas presents. They had cloth, both modern and cultural, hats, shoes,
paintings, art, food, and crafts. Anything that you could imagine. We did not
have much time there and I did not have cash to buy anything. Graham then took
us back to St. Mary's where we slept very well that night.
Over the past two weeks we have been to several Rotary meetings. Our first one
was to our host club in Sandton, which is a 45 minute to 1-hour drive from
Rosttenville and on the other side of town. It was very nice, especially to
have different food then what we get at the home. There was another exchange
student there from Thailand who showed a movie about his country. Thomas and I
also had to get up and give a little talk about who we were and what we are
doing at St. Mary's. The next night we went to a different Rotary Club's
meeting where they were inducting a new Interact Club. This is a group of
people ages 18-30 who cannot be Rotarians, so they are Interacts instead. It is
a really nice program and they have a lot of these Interact Clubs here in South
Africa. The next night we were picked up by another Rotarian who took us to a
dinner that some of the members of his Club were having. It was a very nice
dinner and I had a hard time figuring out which knife to use, but so did the
girl sitting next to me. So I did not feel so bad. Also this last week we went
to a Rotary meeting of a Club that is about 5 to 10 minutes away from St. Mary's
and Ian introduced what he is doing with us. All of the people have been very
supportive of what we are doing. The have also offered to take us on trips with
them when they go away.
At the Home things have been the same in the afternoon, but in the mornings we
have done a few new things. Tabong and Tshifhiwa (two older volunteers) have
shown us where we go and how to get medication for the children of the home.
Once a month their prescriptions need to be refilled, so we are going to go and
do this, since it is such a long process. Since I have been here I have only
been in a private hospital once and a government one many times. If you need to
go to the hospital for anything over here you want to go to private one. It
might cost an arm and a leg, but at least they will see you before you die, and
they are clean. I had to take one of the boys from the Home to the hospital,
which is just up the road from us. It took forever to get in to Casualty
(Emergency in our case.) We had to sit on the outside of this gate for 2 hours,
where there was no one else in line. At one point a lady came out to us and
asked if we needed to be seen. I said yes. She then asked if it was an open
wound or not and when we told her no she just walked away. Once we got inside
things went a little faster, but not much. I joked with the boy and told him
that if there had been blood we might have made it through faster. Well not
true. The same kid walked into a window on Friday and cut himself above the
eye. He needed stitches and so they took him to the same hospital and it took
just as long for him to get through and he had blood. We also go to a
government hospital for the kid’s medication. I am so lucky that the children’s
line is separate from the adult line, because I would be waiting for hours.
There are row after row of chairs that you sit in and you start at the back and
slowly work your way forward. It takes hours. We are so lucky back at home
where you only have five people in front of you for your prescription. You
cannot drop it off and come back latter. Here you have to wait the whole time
while the prescription is being filled.
This weekend was very nice. Thomas and I had it off. My friend, Natalie, who
is an exchange student here from Barrow, Alaska had her 16th Birthday on
Friday. We met in the airport in Amsterdam and have stayed in contact since.
She lives outside of Josie (Johannesburg.) It is quite a drive and I am so glad
that Ian was willing to take me out there. We had a lovely dinner and dessert.
Natalie made her most favorite cake, the Red Velvet, and it turned out
wonderful. She has also had a hard time making cookies turn out right here, so
I do not feel as bad about mine not turning out either. I had a great time. We
watched Dirty Dancing until 1:30 am then went to bed. We slept until 9 am, then
sat around talking about everything that is different and what we like and do
not like. They live in a beautiful house right on the river bank. She has her
own hut that looks out on the river. It is so nice. I wish that I could sleep
there every night. Her host brother took us out in a boat on the river, which
was so much fun. Ian was to pick me up at a Beerfest that Natalie and her
friends were going to. I was the only one out of the group that can legally
drink, but it is also a big social gathering. Ian then picked me up and took me
to the McBride’s for the rest of the weekend. It was Claris's 20th Birthday
yesterday, so they had a big party for her on Saturday night. All of the family
was there and we found out that there are now 2 expected babies in less then 9
months. We all sat outside and talked. It was just like when we all get
together for birthdays, except they always BBQ, which tastes so good. I spent
the night and went to church on Sunday with them, and then Lauren and I lay
around watching old movies and talking. We went for a walk in the park, which
was so beautiful and got to swing on the swings. I spent the night again and
they dropped me off at St. Mary's on their way to work.
Thomas and I are really excited because this week on Thursday we leave for our
first trip with the other Rotary students. We are going up into Mpumalanga.
Some of the things that we are doing Thomas and I already did when we went to
Kruger Park, but it is still going to be fun. We are going to Pilgrim's Rest
and I can have the wonderful pancakes again YYYAAHHH!!! I will be gone from the
11th through the 17th so I will not be emailing next weekend, but will let you
know all about it when we get back.
Things are warming up here and the children are really looking forward to summer
and swimming. I desperately need a tan. My shoulders are getting there, but my
stomach is still as white as ever. I might be doing some other things with
Rotarians. One wants to take me to a primary school in Soweto and start a Girl
Scout troop with some kids. She called me this morning, but I am not sure if I
can go this week. I miss you all so much and sorry if I do not get back to
all of your emails today, but I will try. I hope all is well.
Katelyn
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