Time To Say Goodbye

Well now that I’m home again I’ve decided that it’s probably about time that I wrapped up my blog for my time in South Africa. I apologise for my laziness over the last few weeks in neglecting the blog but I don’t apologise for using that time to hang out with some of the most incredible people I have ever met and to do some of the most incredible things I have ever done! Although many of you will have by now heard some or all of these stories I’m still going to record them on here to give a sense of completion and to draw an end to the chapter in my life that was South Africa 2010. I’m going to do this blog slightly differently so please bear with me as I try this out.

VOLUNTEERING

During my last few weeks in South Africa I engaged in a volunteering project set up by fellow international students. It basically involved us going into one of the townships in PE on a Tuesday afternoon for a couple of hours and hanging out with the kids. On my first day with the team I was slightly nervous as they had been coming for a while and I wasn’t sure how I’d fit in but my fears were quickly relieved by the friendly atmosphere around the place. We were teaching the kids that it is important to recycle rubbish and so we took groups around the area picking up trash and sorting it into recyclable and non-recyclable. It was pretty grim to see how much rubbish actually was lying around the township but through programmes such as this the kids are being offered hope of a brighter future and they gain an understanding of why it is important to look after the places where they live. We carried out a similar activity one of the other weeks I was there but this time as well as collecting the rubbish the kids also had to make robots out of the rubbish. It was amazing to see some of the creative talent that some of the kids had and the pride which they took in showing off their creations to their friends brought a smile to my face.

                                      

On my other occasion of visiting the township we were teaching the kids the importance of reading and so we had a selection of story books for the kids to read and look at. We tried to encourage the older kids to read to the younger kids but being the primary school teacher that I am I found myself not wanting to give up the story books…I really do love reading stories to kids, I think that’s my favourite part of primary teaching. Amongst the other activities we did with the kids were singing, dancing and games such as red light/green light. The singing a-longs always went down a treat with classic tunes such as ‘Making Melodies’, ‘The Moose Song’ and ‘Little Sally Walker’ which involved some seriously funky dance moves! Although I only got to spend 3 short afternoons with these kids, they had a great impact on my time in South Africa. They really just put everything into perspective. Some of the kids didn’t have shoes yet here they were out in the street having fun. One of the kids didn’t speak the whole time but was perfectly content to be carried around in my arms the whole time. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and if I could have I would have spent more than 3 weeks volunteering because it was allowing me to give something back to a country which has given me so much over the last 4 months.

CAPE TOWN

At one stage I honestly thought I wasn’t going to get to Cape Town but opportunity presented itself and I found myself on a 12 hour bus to South Africa’s second largest city. The bus itself was of note because the company was clearly under Christian ownership. They showed Christian movies and their passenger announcements  were always preceded by a prayer, quite surreal really but ultra cool. Within 20 minutes of arrival in Cape Town I was the victim of a CT mugging. Well it was more of a half mugging so I like to call it a hugging! We were waiting for our Backpackers to open when a man approached us asking for money for his taxi fare. At first we tried to get rid of him by telling him we had no cash on us but when he produced a knife I soon remembered that I actually did have some cash on me. I was really nervous knowing that he had a knife on him and so I didn’t complain when he took a bit more money from me than his fare demanded. After I’d given him the money he tried to grab my wallet out of my pocket but I just shouted at him like a crazy guy and he backed off giving us enough time to get away and call security who quickly loaded him and his companion into a van and drove them off. I also experienced another near crime as a kid tried to grab my camera off me whilst I was taking a picture, only for a bystander to pick up and literally throw him in the other direction! This city certainly wasn’t doing it’s best to impress me!

The weather wasn’t helping matters either as thick cloud and rain meant that for our first two days in Cape Town we actually couldn’t see Table Mountain and the ferry out to Robben Island was cancelled. We spent our time though doing other touristy things such as taking the City Bus Tour, visiting the Two Oceans Aquarium and walking around the city centre, including some bartering with the locals at the market, Henning yet again surpassing himself in getting some great deals. We also took in a Good Food and Wine convention which provided us with plenty of free food and drink samples for our taste buds to take in. Finally though on the Saturday morning the cloud broke and we set off for Table Mountain.

Last summer I climbed Slieve Donard and I can safely say that both the climb up and down Table Mountain was much more gruelling. The gorge, although it only took just over an hour to climb, was ridiculously steep and the path was very much a winding one. I began to wonder if I’d ever make it to the top but when I did I certainly wasn’t disappointed. We were treated to some spectacular views of Cape Town, the Atlantic Ocean and the Cape of Good Hope. At the summit there was even a group of people having a church service which was really cool to experience…the sound of singing from a distance was a completely surreal experience. We spent a lot of time taking pictures and exploring the top before grabbing a bite to eat and heading back down which was just as tough as heading up. If you thought that was enough climbing for one day then you would be mistaken because as soon as we reached the bottom of Table Mountain we began our ascent of Lion’s Head a smaller mountain which offered spectacular views of Table and the sunset over CT. It began as a much gentler climb but soon developed into sheer rock climbing before reaching the summit but it was again well worth it as I hope the pictures show.

After a long day’s climbing there was nothing more satisfying than sitting down in the Dubliner, the Irish bar, and enjoying a nice pint of Guinness with friends. The next morning I went with Henry, a Scottish guy we met, to Hillsong Cape Town which was another great experience before spending the afternoon chilling out in Company Garden with THE tamest squirrels ever…they actually would climb over you! On our departure from Cape Town I realised that the city had managed to redeem itself in my eyes after we got off to a bad start. The two mountains will definitely stand out as highlights of South Africa for me!

BIG CATS

For this story I will give you a copy of a report I wrote for Hannah Ramage’s class on teaching practise. I hope you enjoy it as much as they apparently did:

I woke up early this morning full of excitement as to what the day might bring. My name is Jonny Harper and I'm currently studying in the beautiful seaside town of Port Elizabeth on South Africas's southern shores. Today I went on adventure...

When we first entered the game park the first thing I noticed was how open it was and how bumpy the roads were. The second thing I noticed was a warthog standing right beside our car! It's still really strange to think that I can be so close to these strange wild animals which we just don't see in Northern Ireland. It makes me a little bit sad to think that when I get home the most exciting thing I'll see on the side of the road is maybe a fox or a rabbit.

After driving across the vast landscape for a short while we soon discovered zebras, springboks, giraffes and buffalo all living in the park. These animals were all mainly just relaxing or eating which is what they seem to do for most of their lives. It must be nice being an animal and not having too many things to do but eat all the time! The animals here don't have much water left because there is a drought in Port Elizabeth so the whole area is trying to save as much water as possible!

We decided to stop in the middle of the park and we walked around a short trail where we saw a mummy cheetah and her four cubs! The cubs were so small and still had some thick hair on the back. They ran around all over the place and their mummy had to keep chasing them and calling them back to her because she didn't want to lose any of them. This reminded me of my mum who is always chasing after her children trying to get them to do what she wants! The cubs looked to be fighting with each other but in fact they were only playing and training so they could be good hunters when they grow up.

After our short walk I was given the opportunity to go and cuddle with one of the adult cheetahs! I was very nervous at first because I know that cheetahs are very strong cats and they can run very quickly but I soon discovered that this one was very friendly and he allowed us to stroke him and play with him. It turned out that this cheetah actually starred in a movie once...so I was also hanging out with a film star!

When we were leaving the park we saw in the distance what seemed to be two large rocks. However, as we drove closer we soon discovered that they were actually two ENORMOUS rhinos. I had no idea that rhinos were so big! We didn't want to get two close to their huge horns but we did drive up beside them and were close enough to touch them...of course we didn't. I have always wanted to see a rhino and so I was absolutely delighted to finally have a dream come true!

To finish our morning adventures we traveled further along the coast to a lion park where they have some wild animals and also where they care for animals which are sick or need help. At this lion park we got to enter into an enclosure with 5 young male lions. After being in with the cheetah I was not as nervous about the lions but I soon realised that I should have been! The lions were very strong and very 'playful'! One lion kept putting his leg around my arm and then trying to bite me. I knew he was only playing but I was still quite afraid because his teeth were so big. Another one of the lions growled at me when I stroked him so I was quite glad when our time was up but still had a really exciting time with the lions.

I managed to do all this in the space of one morning and is only a small part of the adventures which I have had since being in the beautiful country of South Africa. I know Ms Ramage has been teaching you all about South Africa and you have been learning many wonderful things. I hope that some day you will get to experience South Africa for yourselves and all the delights that it has to offer!

Nqosi
Thank You

Jonny

THE BATTLE

In Port Elizabeth there are two main international student accommodations, The Bantry and Annie’s Cove. One fine week in The Bay the two met to do battle with one another to establish who truly were the greatest international students! The week involved a dessert bake off, which I managed to grab a second place in with Samuel’s trademark Oreo and ice cream dessert, a basketball competition which the Bantry won and a bowling contest which was won by the folk over at Annie’s Cove. All these events were just a precursor though for the main event…King’s Beach Saturday!

The morning started in the Bantry with big tunes pumping and vuvazela’s blaring! Leaving our accommodation seriously pumped we marched down to the beach where we left Annie’s Cove completely deflated. In the beach football competition we won a hard fought encounter 3-2 before taking a complete white was in the volleyball due in part to the contribution of the Bantry Vuvazela Squad who did there best to intimidate their Annie’s counterparts on the court! So with the Bantry leading going into the final competition of the week hopes were high for the title coming back to Humewood. The final event of the week was a drinking contest which was very hotly competed for but yet again it was the Bantry boys and girls who were successful on the evening thus ensuring that they were declared overall winners of the 2010 competition. As if there was ever any doubt as to who would win!

THE GOOD BRAAI

I got up to lots of other stuff over my last few weeks, all of which are journaled but there was to much to write about in my blog. My last night in PE was marked by the greatest South African tradition, the braai. Plenty of meat was eaten and plenty of fun was had as I had to say my goodbyes to everyone, or as I prefer to call them ‘until next times’. It was incredible to see how in such a short time I had made such good friends and people who had had such an influential part to play in my life for the last four months. I know I will see some of them again but for many it will likely be the last time that I will actually see them which was quite a surreal feeling. Still the last night was memorable and I will cherish it with me anytime I think back on South Africa. It wouldn’t be South Africa though if it hadn’t been eventful and indeed we had a visit from the police who told us we were being to loud! The next day I said my final ‘until next times’ and boarded a plane for Johannesburg which would eventually lead me back here to Mullavilly in Northern Ireland.

And that folks was South Africa 2010! Thanks for reading, I hope I gave you just a glimpse of what an amazing place South Africa is and what an amazing time I had there.

God Bless

Peace

It's Been A While

So I just realised that it has been a while since I last blogged and then I realised that this will be the last blog that I am actually officially required to write. That’s right, I am now writing as a free man for the summer as I have finished my teaching practise! Of course I’m still here for another month and will continue to keep you posted on all the happenings ‘Down Under’!

After writing last week I embarked on what were to be a crazy few days in terms of teaching and in terms of completing assignments for university. Time management has always been something that I have struggled with, often leaving things to the last minute, and my attitude has proven to be no different in South Africa. In terms of school I was somewhat surprised to be landed with the daunting task of having to teach South African law and constitution to a Grade 11 class…half an hour before I was due to teach it. This is something which I quickly became accustomed to in the school, knowing that things very rarely go according to plan and you have to be extremely flexible and be willing to adapt to all situations. So anyway, I told my class at the start of each lesson that they would actually be my teachers and that through discussion we would all learn, and so we discussed. The discussions that I had with my Grade 11 classes will probably stick with me for a long, long time. We discussed several things including corporal punishment (which is ‘illegal’ in SA), lack of equality at the school and their expectations for the World Cup. I won’t publish any of the content of the discussions for the confidentiality of the students but needless to say my eyes were opened and in some cases some of my thoughts were simply confirmed. I think one of the worst feelings anybody can have is knowing when something is wrong but not having the first notion of what to do to put it right.

I’ve actually come to really enjoy secondary teaching. The interaction between with the children has been great and I genuinely think I’ve learnt a lot more from them then they have from me. My Xhosa has certainly improved for one thing. Without having a teacher in any of my classes I used the opportunity to be much freer and open with the children so that as well as the main bulk of the lesson we would also learn about each others cultures. I’ve learnt how to say hello (molo) and how are you (kunjani) as well as other little words like peace (uxolo) and unity (umanyano). In return I’ve given some of my classes A-Z’s of Northern Ireland featuring highlights such as Kilkeel, July, Giants Causeway and (London)Derry. The kids really enjoyed learning about somewhere else and I really enjoyed hearing their ideas as they compiled their own A-Z of SA.

One thing that I found slightly frustrating about teaching was that I never ever had a class for more than two periods and most classes I only saw once. This meant that I was never able to properly build up a rapport with any of my classes and it also meant that I was usually teaching the same lesson over and over, which obviously cut down on the planning as well which was nice. I think I could probably do my lesson on religions and peace in my sleep by now. I did have a beautiful moment in one of my classes though when I was talking about Jesus dying on the cross. When I said that Jesus rose again from the grave one of the girls gave a resounding ‘yes’ to my statement to which I gave a resounding ‘Amen’ to which the whole class responded with an ‘Amen’! God truly does present himself everywhere! Of course not everything in the school was happy I as I have talked about in previous blogs and last week I had children asking me for money and food for the first time which shocked me, saddened me and brought back the realisation that as much as I thought I was getting used to teaching in a township I still wasn’t anywhere near prepared for the stark reality which that presented. These kids are disadvantaged and it is unfair.

I want to sum up my teaching experience and what I’ve learnt from it but I’m finding it incredibly difficult to do. Perhaps the best way of summing it up is that come last Friday morning I was happy to be finished but still wanting more. I feel that I could still learn so much more from the kids in Khwezi Lomso and I feel that I could do so much more for them. There are so many teaching stories that I haven’t even put in this blog but which I’m sure I will be telling you all at some course over the next goodness knows how many years. I just hope that I have made a positive impact on the people I have met and worked with and that in some small way I enhanced the education of the children and gave them the confidence they need in themselves to achieve success.

Speaking of learning, I, as a student, also had a hectic time of it after writing my last post. I had to undertake a group assignment for my inclusion module and for the same module, write up a case study on a learner.  As I said earlier time management is not my strong point and with a deadline looming on Friday I found myself starting to write up both assignments at around 11.30pm on Thursday night. Always able to find a way through though I managed to get them both battered out by the close of play on the Friday and handed in at varsity. The group assignment was actually an interesting one as we had to video ourselves having a teacher meeting about a child who was having difficulties learning. I learnt during the completion of this assignment that sometimes I do take on to much as I found myself completing work for others in the group but at least we got it done in the end! Assignments completed it was time to head to the Wild Coast!

South Africa has a lot of public holidays and on the 27^th April they celebrated Freedom Day, the day when South Africa had it’s first election after apartheid. To celebrate we were given a long weekend and so we decided to make the most of it by heading to the former republic of Transkei, an area of land which, quite interestingly, was separated from South Africa during apartheid but never internationally recognised as a country http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transkei. Leaving PE in the late afternoon the ‘Party Car’ struggled through several mountainous roads and was soon driving in darkness. After a ‘quick’ (I was with four girls) stop in an East London shopping mall we made what seemed like good progress along the N2. That was until we had to come off the N2 and on to quite possibly the worst road I have ever had to drive on. Now I have driven off-road in Botswana, through an unpaved hillside village in Lesotho, yes, I’ve even driven in Lurgan but this was the worst road I have ever seen. This road had potholes that you could get lost in. This road had potholes that you could get lost in stretched across the road and for stretches of kilometres at a time. This road had all that plus animals and people walking randomly across and we were driving on this road at midnight in pitch darkness! Weaving through the craters was fun for the first 5 minutes but became very tiresome very quickly as I could never speed up as I never knew where the next hole was going to be. Eventually though we arrived in Coffee Bay and quickly got ourselves to bed for some much needed rest.

Next morning I woke up and realised that I was in a simply beautiful place. Our hostel sat overlooking the beach and the sea with it’s enormous waves tossing themselves against the rocks. After a morning game of scrabble and a quick round of pancakes we set off in pursuit of ‘The Hole In the Wall’, sounds exciting, eh? Our first task was to cross a tidal river that surged every now and again but once that task was completed we beginning hiking along the cliff line. It truly was a beautiful hike in an incredibly remote place that was largely untouched by human hands, certainly not too many touristy hands. We hiked up and down hills, across bays and over rocks. Whilst crossing one bay we were caught out by a somewhat freakish surge of the sea which through a rock into my shin via Bitsy’s ankle and which also ended up destroying both our phones. Be warned the ocean is destructive! After several hours walking we eventually made it to ‘Hole in the Wall’ which was a hole in a wall. It was actually a bit more beautiful than that as waves came crashing through a hole that was cut through a rocky island just off the shore. We spent some time admiring the scenery and I managed to trade my T-shirt for a necklace from one of the local kids, so if you’re ever in Coffee Bay look out for the ridiculously stylish girl walking about. Instead of walking back we managed to hitch a lift in the back of a small van. Thirteen of us in all cramped into the small space did not make for a comfortable ride back to base but it was yet another experience to add to the T.I.A list.

We spent the evening in a local Xhosa village eating food with the locals which was surprisingly nice and learning more about their culture and traditions. We got to try traditional African beer which was horribly thick and actually just not nice at all. We also watched traditional dances and songs and of course engaged in them ourselves. We failed in our attempts to offload some of our girls in exchange for cows so we returned to the hostel with exactly the same number as we left with. As a side note, in Coffee Bay I was offered weed and mushrooms for the first time in my life and in remarkably quick succession. This place has a drug problem and it’s something which I’ve never really been exposed to before and something which I don’t really want to be exposed to again. The drug culture of the place did put a bit of a dampener on my trip but I was able to have fun without being high so I was happy.

The next day we spent the morning playing football on the beach with some local kids and then headed on for Port St. Johns. This meant having to drive through the urban chaos that is Mthatha. In Mthatha the traffic lights don’t work, people just walk drunkenly across the road in front of cars and livestock have right of way on the streets…crazy town. After successfully avoiding all the pot holes but not all the speed bumps I pulled our car up at our hostel for the night. Port St. Johns was much more developed than Coffee Bay but still held some beauty in its remoteness. Our night in Port St. Johns will be remembered solely for the music we created. It began with us jamming in the room with the old piano, marimba and djembe. Chance should have it though that the guy I met in Storm’s River so many weeks ago was also at our hostel this weekend and he soon had us talked into performing on the main stage at the hostel. I was amped up with bass, we had Alex and Valentine on drum kit and various others providing vocals and djembe beats. It was so much fun to create a fusion of music with people from across the world and I realised that I’ve really missed playing music since I’ve been here.

Before leaving we decided to spend the morning at the inventively named second beach where we splashed in the water, ran down sand dunes and played with local kids. I had to grab a little boy out of the waves at one point as he started to panic and I remember him clinging to me for all that he had. I actually had so much fun just being an idiot with the kids who we couldn’t really talk to due to language differences but who needs word when you have the language of FUN!!! After a relatively easy 8 hour drive we were back in PE recharged and refreshed for another week.

When I don’t blog for so long it means I have to write so much and you have to read so much. I’ll just very quickly fill you in on other things I’ve been doing without going in to any great detail, after all I’ll be home soon so you can just ask me what I was up to. Spent a lot of time of the last two weeks watching football in the sports bar which has become something of a second home. I’ve also been playing quite a bit of hockey with the ‘Black Label Bangers’ and picked up a knee injury on Friday night when an opponent decided to play my knee rather than the ball during our 3-2 defeat. The Green Machine has broken down but is up and running again for now and I am currently embarking on a challenge to myself to see something new everyday for the rest of my time here. Yesterday I went to Schoemakerskop and this morning I was at Cape Recife Nature Reserve. Two places very close to PE but which I had never seen before. I hope I haven’t bored you too much. I truly wish I could write in more detail but it’s simply impossible so you’ll just have to hear all my stories when I get home. Enjoy the pictures. Yes, the Wild Coast is that stunning!

Peace

God Bless

“Do everything with love”

1 Corinthians 16:14

What I Go To School For

So it sems like a long time since I’ve blogged, at least a blog that doesn’t involve a ridiculously fantastic road trip! I thought I’d had it with road trips for a while what with Lesotho and Victoria Falls/ Botswana but just before writing this I’ve found out that I will be visiting the ‘Wild Coast’ this long weekend! This blog won’t contain any photos of breath taking natural beauty but rather the pictures this week will be a tribute to the wonderful friends who I’ve made during my too short a time in SA!

So, after returning from Easter break I spent a full day recovering and trying to regain some energy before beginning teaching practise. As I have stated in previous blogs I will be teaching in Khwezi Lomso Comprehensive in the Zwedi township area of Port Elizabeth. Teaching practise consists, for me, of 3 weeks block teaching with one tutor visit which, unlike home, is to be arranged by me. Now approaching the half way stage of my teaching practise I will fill you in on some of the stories and some of the experiences which I have had so far.

The first morning took me by surprise. Assembly was the first time I really grasped a sense of what 1500 kids in one place looked like and trust me it looks like a lot! I was slightly apprehensive about starting teaching but amazingly on Monday morning I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders and I don’t know what to put it down to other than God’s hand of car upon me. At assembly the principal criticised the pupils singing and waited for a teacher to lead the pupils in another song. When no teacher was forthcoming, one of the girls in the concrete court where they meet started singing and her voice was incredible! In fact as everyone else began to accompany her the sound was just uplifting and I think that had something to do with my being at ease as well. I really respect that girl for leading her classmates in song…I wonder how many pupils would be willing to do that in Northern Ireland?

I spent the first couple of days observing again and arranging my timetable for my classes and then began teaching on Wednesday. After a slow start with my first class I had an experience which made me realise why I’ve chosen to become a teacher. I was teaching a Grade 8 class about world religions and they were really responding and interacting well, which was much more than I had expected. I expected the pupils would be timid but not so in this class. As the children had participated so well I gave them the opportunity to ask me questions about NI and I in turn would ask them questions about SA. It was fantastic to see how enthusiastic they were to learn new things and at the same time I was able to learn from them. Teaching as a two way process, the way it ought to be! As the discussion evolved one of the children asked me what my national anthem was and then the others asked me to sing it so I made a deal with them that if they sang their National Anthem I would sing mine. Immediately the children started to sing and gradually they all started to rise to their feet and stand with hands over their hearts. They were singing with such volume, pride and passion that my heart was stirred. It was actual beautiful to see these kids singing unashamedly about their country and their teacher even walked in when she heard them and started singing with them. It was absolutely fantastic but then it was my turn to sing. Nothing I could produce would match what I had just seen but I did my best at a rendition of God Save the Queen! Afterwards some of the kids asked me for my autograph so I must have done alright!

I spent the next couple of days covering for a Life Orientation teacher who was away for some reason. The main focus of my teaching has been on world religions and it’s actually been really interesting for me to learn something about other religions. I’ve found myself learning as I’ve been teaching and so the lessons have evolved throughout the day. I found that when teaching the same lesson 6 times over in a day that the first lesson is not exactly the same as the sixth lesson. This is one thing that I don’t think I’ll miss about secondary teaching, the repetition of lessons, although it does save on planning time…I always knew the secondary ones had it easy! My fears about teaching in a secondary school have also been relieved as I found out through one of my class discussions that children in SA start school two year later than in NI so when teaching a Grade 8 or 9 class I am effectively teaching the same content as I would in P6 or P7 back home as the learners are at the same mental level even if they are a bit more physically and emotionally developed! The language barrier, or perhaps more accurately, the language barrier is also something which I have had to address. Sometimes in class it is very difficult to make out what the children are saying and so I’ve found myself having to ask them to repeat themselves several times before I gain an understanding and on occasion they’ve had to do likewise with me.

I’ve always introduced an A-Z of Northern Ireland lesson which I’ve been able to use when I’m covering a class which I was unable to prepare for, such as today when I was told that I would be covering a class for a teacher who wasn’t in. My favourite part is undoubtedly when I tell them the story of Finn MacCool and the Giant’s Causeway. I love going into story telling mode and I love seeing the captivated looks on the children’s faces when they soak in every detail and then the utter disbelief when I tell them that the story is actually just a legend…it’s amazing how many of them actually believe it! While I’m doing the A-Z of NI I also get them to compile an A-Z of SA so again I’ve been learning lots about their culture and things which they see as special about their culture. I’ve also been picking up lots of Xhosa words which I can now use, my favourite being ‘uxolo’ which means peace (the x is not pronounced as we would pronounce an x but is rather a clicking sound, and is one of three clicking sounds within Xhosa speak!) Teaching practise has so far been a very different experience to what I have at home but I am so glad that I am experiencing it because it is really broadening my perspective of teaching and making me aware of how lucky we are as teachers in NI to be so well resourced!

Of course teaching practise has been taking up most of my life and is absolutely draining me of energy but I have also been managing to keep up the social side of things. We spent a lot of last week on the beach playing volleyball, football and body boarding. There’s definitely more of a chill in the air these days as autumn approaches but of course that isn’t going to stop a hardened Northern Irish lad from going to the beach! I actually had a rather action packed weekend just past which involved go karting, hockey and paintball. On Friday night a large group went bowling at the Boardwalk which is a massive entertainment complex geared mainly towards tourists and so has everything. A couple of us didn’t feel like bowling though so we took a walk around the complex and ended up go karting which was fun, if not up to the standards of the world famous Super Drive in the Birches! After a relaxing Saturday Sunday was the complete opposite. I had my first hockey match of the season at 8am in the morning! I can’t ever remember having a match that early bar possibly at the British University Games but I don’t even think they were that early! Nevertheless we travelled across town to face a side called Man United who actually turned out to be a bunch of unfit old men who we overturned comfortably 4-1. Still it was good to be playing competitively again!

On getting back to the Bantry I had just made some breakfast when Henrik, one of the Swedes, told me that we were going paintballing, so up I got again and went on my merry way. We must have spent about 2 or 3 hours shooting each other through bush terrain before we eventually decided we had had enough. Two of the guys actually decided it would be fun to shoot each other point blank with no shirts on, although their scars seem to indicate that it was actually anything but fun! Speaking of things which aren’t fun I’ve forgotten to mention my cinnamon experience! Whilst hanging out one night, and before watching ‘Once’, Henrik and I were persuaded by Kate, an American, to participate in the cinnamon challenge…basically eating a table spoon of cinnamon powder. Well, never will I do that again! I physically could not breathe as the cinnamon clogged up my airways and I don’t think I’ve ever been as scared, even with my water experiences. Thankfully on this occasion water was on hand to ease the blockage but my throat still burned and tasted of cinnamon for many hours after! Honestly, never again!

I’ve really started to enjoy Livewire again after Easter break as I feel refreshed and more at ease with tolerating a different style of worship and a different doctrinal approach to teaching. I still don’t agree with everything that is said or the way everything is done but I do feel more at ease knowing that at the end of the day we are just people worshipping the same God! And the most incredible thing is that the same God who we worship in South Africa is exactly the same God as you guys are worshipping at home which to me is just incredible. God is Lord of all! This week there was a guy speaking, Duncan Stewart http://www.duncanstewart.co.za/ who is a Christian artist and whose are represents some idea of Christianity. It was really interesting to hear him speak about how there are so many aspects to God and Christianity and his most captivating piece was one which depicted a fish in the Sea of Galilee watching Jesus and Peter walk on water, illustrating the idea that it is good to be open to different perspectives on things.

That is all I can think of right now. As I look through my journal I keep finding little things that I’ve forgotten about but I think I’ve covered the bulk of what I’ve been up to. So until next time,

Peace

God Bless

“Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord”

Philippians 3:8

PS I knew I had forgotten something! Yesterday I had my last class at the NMMU. I would just like to express a really big thanks to all those in my PGCE class who have made me feel so welcome and from whom I have learnt so much. Love you guys!!!