Update from Somerset

As the days go by I started to neglect this blog a little bit. My last update was from my holiday in Cape Town. It was just amazing! Some things I had to do for the second time, like the drive (this time myself) via Muizenburg and Boulders,where the Pinguins are, towards the Cape of Good Hope. It was the best time to do that again; not much tourists, not too hot and I had time! No rushing, no curfues, no phone calls. I really enjoyed it. Another day I went onto Robben Island with a friend. It was not so easy to get a ticket because you have to book it in advance, so I booked it and came back 3 days later. Unfortunately I forgot my camera. Sometimes I realize the pictures I keep in mind for myself are much better than a picture which you can show around just to tell: 'Yeah, I have been there!'

Many things were normal for me to have again like a Potjie and a braii; for others its something different, so I explain a bit: It is a very heavy metal pot with three legs, you put directly into the fire. Then you start putting in anything you like in a special order and after some time you have a delicious dish :)
That was Cape Town. A whole different World. I made a presentation about my work in one of my old schools and it was very interesting how many of the students had no clou of the Eastern Cape. I explained my work, the different structures of the two provinces and answered many questions about Germany; that we dont really play cricket or rugby for example.

Esspecially the higher grades were interested in the german army structure and asked questions about what we do in Afghanistan. I realized that I cannot show my opinion at all times, because I have to give an objective explanation about structures and politics. I realized I am representing Germany in a way, at the same time my school and the eastern cape. Everyone abroad, no matter where, is an embassador of Germany and any misbehaviour shapes the view on Germany abroad. Many will never have the opportunity to travel like me, so asking questions about Germany was very exciting for some.
At the same time I liked that very much too, to stand in front of interested students, disciplined and quietly following every word I said. I have to mention however it was a private school and most students were 'coloured'. Its a subjective impression I made, and it really depends where you go, it differed everywhere I went. I have to be aware how I express it sometimes, because South Africa is so diverse that actually everywhere you go, its different. My students here in Somerset show less interest. If its about Germany or the classes. So I came to a point where I only work with the interested students. It is of no use when some girls after ten minutes still sit infront of a black screen and tell me they will get children and dont need to know anything about a computer. At least they were honest. So this time I didnt throw them out. Others who want to sleep in class know they dont even need to come, so I dont need to waste my time sending them out. Maybe I am very strict, but I reached the opinion that esspecially the children here need structure and rules in school as there are no at home.

Some days are very different. You work hard and keep everything up and running and noone appreciates it. Maybe much of my work people dont see because they understand very little of IT. Some evenings were very long at school as I had to get the firewall for the internet done that the students internet access is filtered. So sometimes the security company calls to ask what is going on.
On the other hand I gain also a lot of cultural expereinces; understand the how's and why's and learn that the things here work different than in the western countries. I have alot respect for the new generations of black people who have to find a way between their cultures and the 'new' South Africa. Now the (eventually) most qualified in the highest position has the most to say. The elders lose their power and many people cant handle to have a younger boss.

One weekend I experienced the ritual of sloughtering a goat in the backyard to receive a blessing from the ancestors (I hope I got it right).
So friday all the intestines were eaten together with the Beer (Mqomboti) and then on saturday the actual ritual is held. Older men, women and children eat seperately and I was invited to eat with the elders. It was definately an experience and I realized the difficulty whites have with things like that. In a way it is amazing how you can get insights to many cultures when you are foreign.

Then the car broke down where I met an old communist who helped me and it was an interesting experience about the outside view on former Eastern Germany. But thats a whole different story ;)
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Time for a holiday

It feels nice to be at home.
So I went to Cape Town to meet up with some old friends and just have a nice time. The Western Cape is just a whle different world. So I actually did some things I was planning a long time and what was never possible. Eating a Gatsby (all colourds know) on Table Mountain with a clear view. I couldnt take photos for the past month, because my camera didnt like sand and just chose to stop working, so now I got a new one and can take alot of pictures again... ;)
Everything is going very well. My students all passed their microsoft word test and I was very satisfied with their archieved skills. Everyone is looking forward to the next module and wants to learn.
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A weekend in Woody Cape

This Blog needs an Update!

For a special matrics training, Rommel sent me from Somerset to Woody Cape, a nice holiday resort to the east of Port Elizabeth. A beautiful place - but no cellphone reception and no shops. Just a Dairy (which I visited) a kilometre away. Indeed a perfect place for a matrics training, away from all these distractions like facebook, mxit and so on... :) (Unfortunately for me too..)
Its lovely to enjoy the pure nature, with monkeys in the garden, or very old ship wrecks at the beach. I went for an adventure trip to climb some dunes at night and watched the sunrise in the morning. Beautiful!
Then I went from Woody Cape to King Williams Town, to the farm to pick up some software. On the way I also went to the traffic department -again- to finally get the papers of the car on my name. And, as everytime I go there, a surprise catched me! It was not possible to licence the car on my name the lady told me and I would need a new road worthy certificate to be able to licence the car on my name. Shock. I was not aware of anything like that; especially because I have got a licence disk until May 2011. So after some discussions and some explanations about volunteerism, we found a solution. I paid an amount of money and all problems were solved, I got new car papers on my name and a new licence Disk until 2012. Puuuuuhhh :D
Back in Somerset also new things happened.
I am now a regulary visitor of the Somerset prison. A student of my evening class works at the prison and is in charge of the prison choir who wants to perform at a competition in a few weeks time in Port Elizabeth. They've chosen a german song and so I go -when my schedule allows it- to the prison and help them. It is absolutely impressive how good they can sing and perform! Just the 'Ü' gives alot of problems... ;)
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Orange trees!

Yes, the time has come. In one week the new volunteers will arrive and we are all looking forward for it. The people at the different places are all very excited, on the Farm, in Dimbaza and me in Somerset.
Otherwise the dayly life in my project is as usual. The children in the morning, the adults in the evening.
So I would like to write some more about the people I met in the past weeks.
Probably the most interesting one is Maria, a very old Lady with her origin in Austria. After World War II she and her husband (who met in Serbia, rebuilding the roads) went to Brasil where they stayed for about 25 years before they moved to South Africa where she lives now for 42 years. I dont know how to say, but it became hard for me to speak german again. So our conversations are mixed between german and english. She speaks so many languages, its impressive; but no french. The french guys are still the bad guys and she never wants to learn that language. Also, she doesnt speaks about the war. The memories are too bad she says. But there are so many other topics to talk about. When she speaks about her life in Sao Paulo and compares there the living with different skin colours to the life here in South Africa, it makes me curious about more in the world. Of course, her objectives are some decades ago, but I still like our conversations. She has so much to talk about, as she loves the purity of Canada and tells me about her wishes to travel, but she thinks she is too old now. Before she moved to Somerset East, she stayed in Vanderbijlpark, close to Johannesburg, where her husband worked in a steel manufactury. Then they moved with their children down here and bought a orange tree farm. So she showed me the many orange trees behind the house, where i just picked myself a orange off the tree. Delicious! I always wanted to do that! :)
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Somerset Update

Things in Somerset are going well the past days. It is very cold at night and the wind is blowing. But, when the wind does not blow in spring, there will be a bad harvest its said, so it is rather good.
Not good is, that the waste men (Dt. Müllabfuhr) are on strike. They want an income raise of 18%. To underline their protest, they distributed the rubbish all over in the main street.

It was a mess and I was very angry about driving on the smashed glass on the street. The white people who are living in this area were very angry too and told me this is not the picture of their South Africa. It was an experience for me how the mostly black people did not care about the dirt all over. Even the township looked better these days. And especially when the wind came you can imagine how everything looked like.
Then my day is always quite packed. In the morning I have got the students of my school and it took me a while to understand the South African timetable. There are seven days on the timetable. Every day has got seven periods. So when I received it, the school started on day 3, but noone told me that. Every period was a surprise :)
Also, the times of the periods are different. Depending how long assembly in the morning takes, or how long it takes until every student has his meal after the 5th period. Lessons are shorter sometimes. The program ringing the bell is called Melekaja, the secretary, who presses the button for the bell. Once he forgot to press the button, so there was a very long period.

Then, around 2 o'clock I have a break, where I defragment the computers in the office, or things like that. The Afternoon class starts at 4 oclock, but half the class is already coming at 3.30 to just use the computer, and i let them. I am happy when I have motivated students and I of course support them. They really want to learn. A new experience.
Then I have also a very small student who is coming to class every day too. For me it was no problem and the other students also accepted him to be with us. His mother is a very good student and everytime she comes to the front to show the others something on the projector, the little boy is handed around among the other students. Its a very nice atmosphere.

We are now so far that everyone can start up his computer, log in; create, move, delete, recover folders; change the desktop; knows the windows file system and so on... Furthermore we did a little practical excurs to how a computer works and what are its components on the hardware side. So to be able to solve small problems in the future, everyone unplugged all cables of his computer, clapped his hands (so they had to put the cables down), turned around three times and then finally plugged everything in and started up. It had to work and it made alot of fun.
I really see a development in the students. At the beginning everyone was very shy towards each other and now we make jokes together, laugh and if someone is lost at some point everyone just helps each other. Its very nice.
The lessons officially ends at 5.30, but it never does. The students are so eager about typing wikipedia articles that we never finish before six o'clock.
Then I return home to Leoni and we have dinner together. She shows me some songs on the piano and we have very nice conversations about my experiences and she supports me with everything. I just mentioned that I would like to have some tea in school. So the next day she gave me a cattle, cup, tea, spoon, sugar... Just great! I discovered now a new hobby: Tea tasting :)
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Back to Somerset East

The days in Joubertina are over. I am back in my school in Somerset now.
I had a great time in Joubertina. A great family and great students.
On Thursday we had a nice graduation which I enjoyed alot.
Now, back in Somerset, I started a new evening course with only a few students so far.
In the morning, I teach children from the school and got my own individual timetable. I have got a lot of free periods within, but there is always enough work to do by fixing computers in my lab, or from the secretary.
It is nice being back at my host Leonie, even though, it is very cold in Somerset. Yesterday the top of the mountain was covered with a thin layer of snow. Climate change??
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The Life In Joubertina

Since about a week I am working in Joubertina. The other volunteers arrived back home in Germany and now I am on my own.
My work starts quite late, I am in school at about ten oclock and have my first class at 12. I teach children from grade two, who do not speak english at all. Language is after all the biggest barrier and problem. So i have to be creative and let the children play with paint and other software to get a feeling for clicking and moving the cursor. Some are afraid and dont want to touch the computer at all. But every lesson ends with children who lost any shyness towards the computer and explore, noisy, new paths. Often they dont even want to leave.
The Computer class here is established quite poor compared to Somerset East. The computers are very old (Pentium 2) and have got many many viruses on. Just a new installation would help. But for the fact, that the future of this project is not very sure, the time invested to set up all 13 would be too much.
Then at 2 to 3 oclock the first adult class comes in. I give them the possibility to come in earlier to have more time for creating their PowerPoint presentation or experience more in Excel.
At 5 oclock the late evening students come in and often they have to wait for the previous students to finish. They dont want to go.
At about 8 oclock I return home to my host family, where my food is waiting for me in the microwave already. The family is very nice, and I am from the first day a part of it. Mami, my Hostmother is a teacher at my Primary school and helps me out with every problem or wish I have.
Joubertina is a really nice Place. With the time I got not really bored, but used to the beauty of the countryside. The area is a contrast to that. A township as you imagine in the pictures. The children playing cars on the street with self made toys from wire. Dirt everywhere. Every night loud music and partying. Alcohol is a big problem in this society. So actually the perfect environment for a volunteer: Alot of work to do!
I like teaching my adult classes. They are very happy to learn something and appreciate every lesson. It differs from the young coloured girl up to the old white Lady, coming from Joubertina. Yes, I am not situated in Joubertina actually; the township is called Ravinia and about 5 Kilometers away.
So it is a challenge keeping everyone busy and interested. But it is possible.
Next week will be the graduation of this classes. Therefore I am organizing already in the mornings by going to town (Joubertina) and doing things.
After the graduatiuon I will return back to Somerset East where a new Adult class will be coming up.
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Joubertina Tomorrow

After spending the past week on the farm of Hilltop, I am going to Joubertina tomorrow to finish the evening class of Trisan, another volunteer who is leaving next week back to germany. I am quite excited for the new school and making new experiences.
The Last week on the farm Alex and me did a training for other trainers in Windows Seven and Microsoft Office 2007 in Dmbaza. So now a new challenge is coming up. :)
so far

The Car Story

2011.06.30
As far as I wrote, I got my Traffic Register Number, a perfect
official document where I don't need to carry around my Passport.
After picking up the papers I thought I would have enough time to
register the car because it had a valid License Disk. So after a week
I went to the traffic department in King Williams Town again. They
knew me already and I was really relaxed that I 'just' wanted to
license my car.
Well, the 'just' took actually two weeks.
In the computer there was still a fee for the past years outstanding,
about R5000. Of course I rejected to pay it and said that I bought
this car with all certificated, RWC and so on, as well with a valid
License Disk.
So we went outside to the car and discovered that this License Disk
was a fake. They told me that the official procedure would be now
calling the police and investigate this issue. 'Ou, my bra, you'll go
to jail with this…' were the words of the lady. Luckily they just
confiscated the Disk and made me a copy of it, so that I went to the
auction place again to reclaim the buy with all its certificates. I
got a temporary license for the car and after two weeks I had to drive
to East London again to fetch my papers. Before I picked them up I
stopped in King Williams Town and went to the Traffic Department if
everything would be right now and they gave me a print out that the
car was licensed on my name. Perfect. Now I also have new number
plates, even if I liked the old yellow ones on the blue car much more.
Back in Somerset I had also a nice experience with my car. I was
stopped by the police and I did not have my driver's license with me
because I cleaned the car the day before it. So (I thought) it was
lying down the street at my home. I got a fine of R500 and had to pay
it at the court the next day. At home I couldn't find the license and
discovered that it was lying all the time in my laptop bag in the car.
I was not very happy about this. But the story ended well.
Two days later I went to the court to pay my fine and show all my
documents. I did not really understand how the procedure here goes,
but after handing in all my papers, the lady came back with stamps and
signatures on my fine and said: 'The prosecutor decided you can go.' I
did not have to pay anything. Great. Maybe it was also because I
explained my work here at a black school and that I was on my way home
and so on… The argument of German volunteering is always the best.
The other day I was stopped by the police at a road block where they
control all cars. That time I had all my documents with me. And
instead of controlling all them we spoke about the quit of Michael
Ballack from the German National Soccer Team.
So far

News from South Africa

2011.06.29
The last post was a long time ago. Things in South Africa changed, and
I did not know until today how my stay would continue further..
All started with a dispute with my organization that they said I would
be in South Africa only for travelling purposes and would have no
interest in integrating and working for the community. This made me of
course very angry, because at that time I was still staying on the
farm and it was just a wrong insult for me. The farm was a nice place,
but not comparable to my project and I always wanted to go to there.
Furthermore this blog is read by many people and it gives a little bit
the impression that I would travel a lot, as I mostly pointed out the
weekend trips and the nice sides of my voluntary service.
So this conflict escalated in a way that I was sent to Somerset East
under the supervision of Alexander, another volunteer where I worked
in my actual project.
It was kind of a tough time, as Alexander's living situation was just
a temporary solution in a hostel with one little room and one bed. So
one had to sleep on the floor. It was only two weeks.
After getting up and sometimes no hot water we went to school. The
main perspective in school was the evening course, where students pay
the organization and get computer classes from us volunteers. After
completing all modules they have a graduation.
In the morning we taught different classes as they were available and
supported the school in network issues, timetables or student reports.
After these two weeks we had to move out of the hostel because they
needed the space for their own guests. So we had to look out for a new
accommodation solution. Alex could stay by a friend for a few weeks,
but for me we had to find a long-term solution.
Now I am staying with Leonie, a teacher from my school. And it is
really perfect. I am so welcome and really feel at home. I share my
room with Cleo. Leonie really cares for me in everything she can do
and I am looking forward to stay here.
The last week in school was a little bit hectic, as the school had to
write the reports and there were problems with the excel sheet and the
printer and maybe also some late teachers handing in the marks. But in
the end everything went very well and every student got his report on
Thursday.
This week Tuesday there was the graduation of the evening course with
the organization. Everyone (should have) got his certificates and we
had a nice braai. Braai is the German "Grillen", but with much more
meat and seldom salad. Because the printer didn't work, the
certificated will be handed out on Friday. South Africa.
I had a chat with my organization for my further plans here. It was
told me that I can stay here further because school and host are
really happy with me and there is much potential in the project. I
hope they keep their word, because I love this place and I am very
happy here. People are so friendly and appreciate our work here with
so much respect and openness. It's a great experience.
So far

From the ocean to lesotho...

So much happened these past days...
After spending another day at lugelethu on friday, i filled up my tank
on saturday for a trip to east london to spend some time with miriam.
Because i bought my car with no code for the radio i had to pass by
the merc dealer in king williams town. Unfortunately it was closed
already, so i need to go there some other day again. Then alex,
another volunteer called and invited me to come over to Cintsa, a
place ct the beach close to east london. With some time left i went
there and met now alex and jan in person. Very nice guys! As they then
had booked a boat tour i went back to east london to meet with miriam.
I was wondering why my tank was only 3/4 full after this distance and
figured out the woman ct the petrol station did not close it properly.
It made me very angry as i figured out i lost about 15 liters of
petrol on these bumpy roads... Now i control the closed tank! :)
After spending a nice time with miriam with some time at the beach, i
drove to cintsa again, to spend some time with alex and jan. This
place they were staying at was a quite international backpackers
place. So i met people from france, spain, england and from germany.
This was actually very interesting as the 3 germans were doing an
internship at mercedes.benz here in east london. They studied
mechanical engineering in germany; the same studies i also want to
take and we chatted about the hard, but very interesting studies...
Now i'm even more excited to study :)
Then on monday i did a very long trip to Sterkspruit close to the
lesotho border with my boss and an old anc freedom fighter to a
school. It was very interesting to get an insight in the south african
freedom struggle as he showed me on our way the places where they were
hiding and spoke about the political importance of this region. I
actually did not know that the germans did not invent the
concentration camps. It was an invention by the british to kill black
women and children in the early 20th century. Unfortunately we did not
have time to stop somewhere really, so next time i go this way i want
to stop at memorial places and the little museum to get more
information...
The drive inside the land of south africa is very nice! Good roads and
an undescribeable landscape! Its a very rocky area with alot of
mountains, but also plateaus. You can sometimes look for hundrets of
kilometers into the land and just enjoy the nature. In some places
there is nothing, in others there the little african huts and rondells
where people live in. And its very cool, in both ways. Its very windy
and quite cold.

So i also had a chat with my boss about my future here. As he is going
to germany this sunday to have some meetings with ijgd, and he needs
to report something i got the final promise to take over the project
of alex in july in somerset east. I hope this promise will stay as
plans and appointments here change very quick. Because there will be a
quite long gap now until july he proposed me several options to do in
this time. On of this option was also this school in sterkspruit. I
think i.ll take this opportunity, even its very very rural, very far
away from anything, as the school is actually outside of sterkspruit,
and it will be very different circumstances to live under. But it will
also be a challenge and a great opportunity as i will get an insight
into the community over there and its close to lesotho. I'll see what
happens and where it will take me:)
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So far

I Voted!

Hey, so yesterday were the election i wrote about. Luckily miss Booi
took me with and after controling my passport and curious questions
about my stay it was permitted for me to go with her. As miss Booi is
a big ANC supporter, we voted for them. Actually i like more helen
ziller, but thats probably my capetownian experience.
It was very interesting, as i spoke to a lot of people who told me
they would not vote at all, because all parties would be corrupt; but
thats the only opportunity to change something. So everyone who voted
gets a stamp in his passport and his nailbed is painted with an edding
that noone can vote twice. Interesting.

Today i brought my car to the garage again where mike did a great
tuneup, so its running even smother than before. I also have new
brakes now, as they were basically not exisiting anymore. I wonder how
this car got its road worthy certificate... :D
So within the daytime i went to Legulethu, a secondary school in the
direction of east london (el) where we briefly introduced the computer
lab consisting of 48 computers to the students. It was really
interesting how afraid the children were of the computer. Probably
nobody in germany is still using such old computers. But as long they
are running there is nothing wrong with them. And i was told that this
would even be one of the better labs... :) wow.
By the way, since this evening we have no water anymore. Yesterday we
figured out that our pump at the dam was stolen. So now the tanks are
empty and i'm curious about a solution. Remember: a toilet also needs
water :D
But everyone is taking it quite easy, as its not the first time... :D :D
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So far

Tuesday, 17th of May

I am really working on to keep my blog up to date, but its not so
easy... You know... :)
So this morning my car didn't want to start:( as i figured out the
battery for the car was too small. So i borrowed a battery from a car
from the organization and went to a garage which my boss knows very
well and advised me to. So we found out that the battery in the car
was only for a vw golf and too small for a six cylinder car. They also
exchanged my absolutely ran off spare tire to an old used one with
still a good profile. So with this new battery the car is running and
starting now quite well. I'll just go there thursday again to let the
major technician mike have a look at the engine performance. He was
really excited to see this engine, because he worked in the mercedes
factory in east london as a high technician and knows this engine very
very well. I just hope it well help me save some fuel :) there are
some other little things that must be done on this car i can even do
myself, but more important is that i bought it with a road worthy
certificate which indicates that everything is all right with the car.
I'm not so sure how trustful it is, as the technician only spent 15
minutes on testing all parts of the car, but i have it for
registration, and thats important! :)
With the running car now i drove to Dimbaza with my boss to do some
meetings at a steel manufactury which supports the dimbaza business
center financially. It was very interesting, as i also got an insight
how steel production is moved from johannesburg to dimbaza, as there
is alot of space and older empty factories from the apartheid times.
But thats a whole different story about dimbaza.
On our way back my car was stopped. This time by the real police. I
was just asked for drivers licence and there i made again the
experience i wrote about in the last post. I put out my passport,
german drivers licence and international drivers licence. The
policeman didn't even touch my documents and just asked me questions
about the car and that i should sell it to him and so on... Strange,
as alot of people like my car and want to have it :D but i like it
aswell :) so i could drive on without any problems. :)
Yeah there is so much to tell, but i think its enough for now... :P

A CAR!!!!

I just can write it now, because its weird that i had a car before i
had a simcard, but anyway, i have got my first own car! :) I bought it
at the auction on saturday. I actually wanted to go for an old vw fox,
but this turned out quite expensive. Actually all used cars here are
very very expensive! So now i have got an old mercedes E 300, my age.
So all of my pocketmoney will go into fuel for this car. Its about 13
liters on 100km... But its so much comfort, space, safety, security
system and so on... I just love this old car!
Then on monday i went to the traffic department of king williams town
to apply for a traffic register number. Because somebody told me it
would be possible to register it on my name. So i went to a white lady
of the department and she was very nice and very very helpful. She
told me everything what i needed to do and that i had to go to take
pictures for the application. This was what i forgot to bring from
germany. I have a certified copy of my graduation, which i.ll probably
never need, but no pictures of me...
So i went out to the street again with no orientation where i could
get pictures. Finally after asking around i arrived at a place where i
got them. Its a story for itself. Then i returned to the traffic
department again. The white lady i was with at before was then busy,
so i went to a black lady. She was so unfriendly! Seriously i was
thinking about saying something, but i was told to be very polite to
officials, otherwise i would not get far. So i was the politest way i
could act for. But she was still so unfriendly! It nearly escalated
when she was looking for my nationality under G for Germany. But there
was no germany. Then i advised her to look it up under D like
Deutschland. It really escalated then when i tried to explain her that
i am not from the Democratic Republic of Germany, that it doesn't
exists anymore since 20 years :D... But there was still no normal
germany in the computer! Finally i got the idea that we have to look
under F, because i am from the federal republic of germany... :D i
thought i would never get my stupid number. Because without my number
i couldn't get my papers for my car... And these are worthier than the
car itself, because without the papers i cant do anything!
But suddenly this whole bad situation started to change into a nice
conversation just with her question what i would do in south africa.
That was the question i waited for! I explained her of a voluntary
work at a school and teaching children computer literacy. Now she was
really interested in what i do her and how long i stay and so on...
Even the tellar next to her asked me out curiously! So the biggest
fear i had about my not so clear place of residence turned out to be
no problem at all. She didn't know the place, but i described it to
her and it was a very interesting conversation. She just typed into
her computer some place, because i actually cant live in a post box as
an adress and everything was fine. But then she stopped again and
raised her voice, how it could be i would have only one name. It
couldn't be, so she gave me the name kanyiso, which should mean light.
She said that just suits me. Maybe because of my big big hair :)
Then i finally got all my papers and could drive to east london again
to fetch the papers for my car...
On my way back then, i was testing out the speed of the car. Here all
freeways are limited to 120km/h. I was driving about 170. Still
accelerating, driving on the right lane (remember: driving on the left
side) as suddenly a white car appeared behind me with letters on the
front. I got really shocked because i was thinking i'd be the fastest
on the road and now my licence will be gone, as the capital of the
eastern cape, Bisho, is just next door with all its police schools,
and every tenth car on the road is a police car. So i changed to the
left lane, breaking. The car overtook me. Now i could see the letters.
It was not the police. It was just ANC advertising. The ANC is the
party of nelsson mandela. Because on wednesday there are regional
elections here, and by the way a public holiday :D so this time i was
lucky. I really need to pay attention with driving my car, as when it
drives, there,s no problem at all with it, its just so fast! :D
There're some other stories that happened this day, but it'll be too
much to tell... :D
So then i finally went to register for a simcard with the official
papers of my car and it was on problem at all. I experienced with a
german passport nothing is impossible and you earn so much respect
with being a german citizen. Other situations will follow. Sometimes i
even dont want to get this kind of respect just because of my
nationality.
------
So far...

First Week on the Farm

Molweni, (Hello Together)
now that I am finally arrived at the organizations place I have a lot of things to write about.
Of course I had some problems with South African Airways in Johannesburg again. The plane was standing on the runway already when we had to push back again to the terminal. Technical problems. Again. But after an hour delay we finally flew to East London. There I was picked up by Robin from the organization and we drove to a little computer center still under construction. There I met Miriam, the other volunteer from IJGD. Later on I met Kyle, the technician on the farm with who I am living. A very nice guy and a good cook! :)
So then on Saturday I made my first experience with driving on the left side of the road. Weird! But driving here is so nice, as the streets mostly have two lines and are straight. And the landscape is just so Beautiful! So we drive to a school and set up a server for a Computer room. I had to realize that the organization works quite alot with linux, not so much my fovourite operating system... But I'll have to learn how to work with it.
On monday then the work started. I worked with Kyle, Nozuko and Ms. Booi in the workshop to set up 30 PCs for another school I went Tuesday where a computer room should be set up. The Computers are from Linux4Africa, a German organization located in Freiburg, who send containers of PCs to South Africa. Strange, repairing PCs from a Stuttgart Insurance company in South Africa :)
So as I got an insight of cloning hard drives and changing defect power supplies on Tuesday I went to Peddie to this school. We had a meeting with the principals and the parents to finally decide about setting up this computer room. It was really wondering me how big the issue for the Parents was to pay not even 3 Euro per month for computer lessons for their child. I just have the little picture in my mind how many money students in Germany spend at the 'Kiosk' per day for food, and compare it to a month computer education in Africa... But it was very nice, as after the meeting was finished, the schools choir came in and they sang some songs. Forget about DSDS and all the other 'talent' shows in Germany and elsewhere. It was just awesome!
So after this we drove to East London where Rommel and I went to the auction to look for a car. There was only one, so we will have a look some other day.After that Rommel had a meeting I was more interested in, so I went to the beach of East London. It was so nice! And the water was unexpected warm. :)
I could write so much more... :)
So yesterday and today I am at the Dimbaza Business Center, getting an insight of lessons and the administration. Its a nice place :)
But I still do not know where exactly I am going to work soon. Its just not clear :D
So right now I just enjoy travelling around, meeting new people and enjoy this great nature!
Everything here is very different from my experiences in Cape Town. :)

Johannesburg tonight

Well, as i thought, I am stuck in a hotel in Johannesburg. Here the Service of South African Airways is very very bad! We arrived at 12pm in the hotel and had to queue for half an hour. There was no food or drinks, just a hotel room. All the passengers to Windhoek I met have to leave at 4am to the airport already. But there will be no bus. Luckily my flight will go at 10am. But I didnt get any confirmation for this oral information yet, because all SAA ticket offices were closed. I am a little bit surprised how SAA is handeling their passengers in their main airport Johannesburg.

Unfortunately Robin, from my organisation, did not get my email and phone calls from my mother, so she drove to East London and tried to pick me up. But I wasnt there. I was still in Frankfort.... Then it also didnt helped to call me out through the loud speaker :D Now they already know me when i arrive tomorrow (=
But there was also a good side about the delay. I flew over the world in daylight, so I first saw the alps, then the Mediterranean sea, the Algerian dessert (I was worried if we would fly over Libya) and then Congo... It was an impressing view and I took some pictures Ill upload when I get the opportunity. Really amazing as there were lightning to the left and right side of the plane and we just flew through the middle.... :)

But now I am quite tired and exhausted and just want to fall into my bed... But tonight I can say that I am in
SOUTH AFRICA!!!!!!!!!!!   :D  :D 

My difficult way to south africa...

Today nothing worked as planned... First the ICE was 45 minutes
delayed in francfort. Then everything went quite well. There was only
some confusion about so many Haribo at the security.
Boarding at 8 pm ; planned flight at 8.45pm...
But the plane never took off. It appeared they were having problems
with the plane. Half an hour passed by. One hour. One and a half
hours... I was so excited for the meal, but there was none. Then the
pilot cancelled the flight, because a little thing didn't worked. It
has to be flown in directly from tollouse. All passengers so went off
the plane and were driven to a hotel where there was a very fine
dinner. I met some interesting dutch people and had an interesting
conversation as he talked about his voluntary service some years ago
in indonesia. :)
So lets hope the plane will take off tomorrow.
I'm a little bit concerned about my connecting flight to east london
as i will probably arrive in johannesburg at 8pm and need to enter
south africa with visa and stuff so that there might be no further
flight and i might fly the next day. But south african airlines
promised to take care of my connection flight, so i shouldn't be
worried so much.
Lets see what the next day will bring:)
P.S.: I had 25 KG luggage and over 18 KG handluggage... But i didn't
have to pay anything... :*

- 1

Time is seriously running. I started my count down 39 days ago with a post on facebook. It doesnt feel like its five weeks ago now. Even the imagination of the day before the flight was nearly impossible. Now I reached this point. It is a mixture of alot different feelings at the same time; happyness and excitement at the top. But of course there are the feelings of sadness and fear how the year is going to be.
And there we are these 39 days back again. An imagination is impossible because it will always be different than expected. I accepted that and look very curious and with low expectations forward to my year. I hope thats the best way, otherwise I will learn what I did wrong. Maybe thats all about.
Learning and experiencing the different.
Lets hope for a comfortable flight (:

Only 5 days...

Hey there!
Alot of things happened in the last months. I passed my Abitur and there were two compulsory preparatory workshops. Great people and an awesome time. Unfortunately we will only meet up again when we all will be returned.
So the date of departure is coming nearer and nearer. The excitement is increasing exponentially! So many things to pack and think of! What should I take with and which things should be left at home, as the luggage is only 23 KG again...aaarghhh!

South Africa here I come :D

Hello World :)
I just received my confirmation for social work in South Africa! I am so happy and through all the enthusiasm right now I still have to write my Abitur and need to confirm. I will keep you up to date as I decided to blog :)