More Updating

So, it has been far too long since I've updated. I'm back at my site now (have been back for over a week), and I have to say, my trip in December was amazing. It's sad to be done with it. Our road trip continued with great success following the bungee jump....we visited a number of destinations and they were all gorgeous. In Jeffrey's Bay (one of the surf capitals of the world) and East London I tried learning how to surf....wtith VERY little success. I can stand up on the board, but I can't ride a wave...I just get thrown off pretty easily. Buccaneers Backpackers in Cintsa is the best backpackers in South Africa. It's amazing! We played beach volleyball, used their free canoes and boogie-boards, and generally had a blast while we were there. On Christmas Day we were in Port St Johns...we went on a "hike" up to a pretty beautiful waterfall...the hike itself was really awesome, swinging on vines, crossing rivers, scrambling up hillsides, trying not to slip in the mud. And, finally, on December 26, we ended up in Durban. We said goodbye to the rental car that had served us so well, and said hello to about 20 other Peace Corps Volunteers who were also there. We were there for a week of fun....waking up late, spending the day at the beach, eating fantastic meals. Amazing Indian food, and (surprisingly) pretty decent Mexican food! I hadn't had a good chimichanga for a while before this trip..... (While in Durban we also had the opportunity to see the Tenacious D movie...disappointing, I have to admit) I've transitioned from "vacation mode" and am now back in "village mode".....school has re-opened, and I'm busy planning out my work for the coming year, until I have to leave in October. On the first day of school this year, I paid attention to the Grade R learners (South African version of "kindergarten"). There were so many cute little kids at school, standing at assembly. Some of their parents had brought them to school...you could see the age differences. Many of the little ones were brought by grandparents, since many adults live and work in Johannesburg and leave their children with their parents. And a lot of the parents were very young....some of them were probably not more than 20 years old. Some of the parents were high school students wearing their high-school uniforms, and dropping their kids off at primary school. It was an interesting sight. Then, obviously, the kids got scared, and tried to escape. So they were all grabbed and put in class, and then the teacher closed the burglar door and locked them inside while she had to go and take care of some administrative work. It was half-funny and half-sad to see a class full of about 75 young kids, many of them crying, some of them at the windows and at the burglar door, reaching out, trying to get free. I know that in many countries, children are always scared of the first day of school. The difference here is that they probably have good reason to be scared! They are setting themselves up for 13 years of extremely sub-par education and probably a lot of beatings along the way.