The first week
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Lisette
14 Februari 2015 | Zuid-Afrika, Alicedale
The first week of classes is already done and therefore also the first week of wild animals. Sunday I had been talking about South Africa and The Netherlands with a guy from Beyond Adventure, also about snakes. The "boomslang" visited us already on Monday. He is classified of the second most venomous snake over here and can kill someone in a few hours. When he bites you, you will start bleeding from your eyes, ears and nose and then you are done. Fortunately I am still here and thus the snake was pretty sweet to us. Also the puff adders, classified as the third most venomous snake, which visit us every now and then. I also did not dislike the toad which was sitting in our living room, he was quite cute. The enormous cockroaches were less fun, especially when one of them wanted to say hi in my bedroom. Luckily we send him outside and thanked him for leaving our room. One hour later we found him in the window-sill.. dead.. Oops!
The classes which I followed up until now have taught us a lot about different wildlife species and their behavior. We can now tell about different species for how long they would live in a specific group and if they do live in a group or not. Also we can check whether they are male or female and we can recognise different sorts. During our practicals we can put our theory directly into practice!
Very quickly I figured out that South Africa is very different than The Netherlands. The difference between black and white is very clear, but in this town the black people in the town ships have a relatively good life. There is electricity, people are not dead skinny and the kids can go to school. The white people live a tad bit further in farms and we barely see them. Also over here you can find the phenomenon "load shedding" which means that every day they turn of the electricity at certain times to keep the generator, which supplies the entire country with electricity, from blowing up. These times differ per day and are based upon the electricity use of the village or town. Every morning breakfast is served for us; bread, toppings, fruit, cereals, yoghurt and every now and then some egg. In the afternoon we eat a warm dish at the hotel and in the evening again, after which we walk back home in the dark.
Wednesday we visited Port Alfred, where all the other Stenden students are staying. Very nice to see Jennifer, Sanny and Alana again! I also already arranged a place to stay at Alana's place whenever we go out for a weekend. On the way there we saw some giraffes, zebras, lions, ostriches and different antelopes next to the road. During earlier walks we already saw some warthogs and today some crabs. Yesterday evening I visited the local pub, which can be found next to the classroom. Personally I think this is a really good idea and they can start thinking about this back home as well. Also I think €0,90 for a glass of vodka (without ice!) is a perfect price, but hey. We also went through our first storm with a lot of thunder and lightning and a waterfall of rain. I dare to say that it has been pretty cold over here as well; goose bumps cold, fortunately not frozen muscles cold.
It is time to experience some more now!
Happy Valentine's Day and a lot of kisses.
The classes which I followed up until now have taught us a lot about different wildlife species and their behavior. We can now tell about different species for how long they would live in a specific group and if they do live in a group or not. Also we can check whether they are male or female and we can recognise different sorts. During our practicals we can put our theory directly into practice!
Very quickly I figured out that South Africa is very different than The Netherlands. The difference between black and white is very clear, but in this town the black people in the town ships have a relatively good life. There is electricity, people are not dead skinny and the kids can go to school. The white people live a tad bit further in farms and we barely see them. Also over here you can find the phenomenon "load shedding" which means that every day they turn of the electricity at certain times to keep the generator, which supplies the entire country with electricity, from blowing up. These times differ per day and are based upon the electricity use of the village or town. Every morning breakfast is served for us; bread, toppings, fruit, cereals, yoghurt and every now and then some egg. In the afternoon we eat a warm dish at the hotel and in the evening again, after which we walk back home in the dark.
Wednesday we visited Port Alfred, where all the other Stenden students are staying. Very nice to see Jennifer, Sanny and Alana again! I also already arranged a place to stay at Alana's place whenever we go out for a weekend. On the way there we saw some giraffes, zebras, lions, ostriches and different antelopes next to the road. During earlier walks we already saw some warthogs and today some crabs. Yesterday evening I visited the local pub, which can be found next to the classroom. Personally I think this is a really good idea and they can start thinking about this back home as well. Also I think €0,90 for a glass of vodka (without ice!) is a perfect price, but hey. We also went through our first storm with a lot of thunder and lightning and a waterfall of rain. I dare to say that it has been pretty cold over here as well; goose bumps cold, fortunately not frozen muscles cold.
It is time to experience some more now!
Happy Valentine's Day and a lot of kisses.
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Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
