Photo Update

Now that I've been here for well over a month, I thought I would rehash my experience so far through photographs.  We began our experience in January with training in Pretoria:

School observation with some of our team during our orientation.

Recently constructed Madiba statue at the capital building.

Quality bru time before we parted ways to head to our placements

Durban has been my location since then, and I'm not angry about it.

Durban City Hall

Blue water

Bluer skies





And the dichotomy of the lifestyles here is staggering.

Gateway Mall, located just north of Durban, is one of the largest shopping malls in the Southern Hemisphere.

The township of Umlazi, located just south of Durban.

But the best perk of living here is teaching at Zwelibanzi Highschool.

The morning commute

Doing math with my bro's, Sthembiso "Gift",  Nhlakanipho "Slugs", and Mzwandile "Mr. Pass on it." They came to school early to throw some formulas around.

Christina and I are the first two Fulbrighters ever to teach at Zwelibanzi.  We've been blazing trails and collecting sweet gear.

In addition to teaching math, I've also been teaming up with Mr. Mvubu and sharing some of his English teaching duties with him.  Mvubu is a former Zwelibanzi student and also one of the best teachers I have worked with.  I've watched him dominate in managing classes with anywhere from 70 to 200 students packed inside the room.

The girls teaching me some Zulu and South African history. I shouldn't have favorite students, but Pinky (on the right) definitely makes me laugh the most of all of them.

Bring your own desk to class

Bet you never got to dissect a rooster in school

We were nomads for part of february traveling between backpacker's lodges and bed & breakfast inns while waiting to find a place to live.  The original housing the embassy selected fell through, but the place I ended up getting instead will do.  I hope I can entice some of you to consider a visit this year.

The view on a cloudy day from my place.

My next door neighbor, Tau is the man.  He works for the company that owns Ben and Jerry's and he's transferring to Kenya at the end of the month.  I'll miss him for sure, but now I have an excuse to visit Nairobi.

One of the more difficult things I've learned how to do here is to drive on the left side of the road. Christina has been better than me at avoiding near head-on collisions. 

And finally, our free time has been spent exploring the local attractions.

Hey guy

We spent the afternoon searching for Zebras at a nature preserve only to find them waiting for us a few feet from our parking spot

Boyertown, PA native Chris Kelly and I modeling our Kaiser Chiefs apparel.

Christina's boyfriend Simon is from Capetown and he sports a Casio so we're getting along pretty well.

Under the sea.

Yup