Founders Day, Merwida and Aquila.

Firstly, on Friday there was a huge event on at Herschel, it was Founders Day. As this is the birthday of the school and it was 85 years old this year, it was a very special and eventful day. On Founders Day there were no lessons at all and we were let out early, which is always nice. The day begun with an assembly. This was most interesting as a direct descendant of William and John Herschel came to tell us all about her family. Having learnt a bit about William Herschel back at home I was fascinated about all this woman told us, it was very interesting.

The school is actually named after John Herschel and not William Herschel as I had thought. John Herschel is William Herschel's son. I was quite surprised to hear actually that almost the whole of the Herschel family had been very interested in astronomy and had done a lot of research and had contributed so much to what we now know today. William Herschel is the most famous of all, because he actually discovered a whole new planet. His son however came to South Africa and did a lot of research on the stars of the Southern Hemisphere. William Herschel had made a map of the night sky in the Northern Hemisphere and with John Herschel's work it was completed.

After the assembly we had a long church service, singing hymns and readings from the bible were given. After that we all headed back to school. There in the courtyard everyone gathered around and sang the school song. Finally, a very long arch was made, with all the students standing opposite each other. The grade 8's had to run through the arch as a welcoming to the senior school. That was the end of the day and we were let out of school at 12.30.

This weekend was a busy one yet again. On Saturday early morning, at about 8.45 Nicky, Katherine and I left for the game farm Aquila. The other two American exchange students were coming with us and also Pascale, Megan's exchange student. The game farm was about 2 hours away from Constantia, but on the way we were going to visit a wine farm owned by Lieza's father, a girl in our grade at Herschel. This wine farm was called Merwida and it was all privately owned. It was the most beautiful wine farm and we got a very extensive tour including some grape juice tasting.


After seeing Merwida, we headed on to the Aquila Game Farm. At the Aquila game farm we all just had the most amazing time. As we arrived and checked in, into our very nice rondavel full on with an outside shower looking up at the stars, we were very happy to see a nice swimming pool and sunbathing area. So for about two hours we soaked up the sun desperately trying to get a tan and lying by the pool. Our first Safari Ride was at 5 o'clock and it was three hours long. I really was most impressed, we saw all of the big 5 and came up surprisingly close to all the animals. I have to say though, the lions were definitely the most impressive to see. Furthermore, we saw hippos, giraffes, rhinos, wildebeest, African elephants and zebras.

I must have taken hundreds of photo's on the safari rides, but I just couldn't get over the fact that I could see these completely wild animals up so close. Here are just a few of them:




The safari drive was amazing and I feel so fortunate to have experienced it. That night we had a very nice meal and then walked back to our rondavel's. We were not allowed to walk around outside at night, just in case there were any animals around. Naturally we went to bed very late again and sadly had to get up the next morning at a half past 5 for a 6 o'clock safari drive. By the next morning we all sort of rolled out of bed, still in pyjamas and just put a sweatshirt on for the safari drive. The early morning was more than worth it, because all of the animals were out this early and we really got to see them so much more.

We stayed at the game farm for just one night, but it was just fantastic. After we had a nice breakfast we left the game farm and headed home. I was so tired that I slept the whole way home.

This was my second last weekend and I just can't believe that the exchange has gone so fast. This also means just one more post. I'll be going to Hermanus next weekend, where Katherine's Family have a holiday home, I can't wait!

Kirsten

The Weekend

We have all had a fantastic and very busy weekend.

On Saturday Sandra, Nienke, the two American exchange students Megan and Caroline and I went to Spears the cheetah farm. We really had the most amazing experience there. Not just being able to see these animals up so close, but we were actually allowed to touch them! It really was quite frightening though, we could not touch the animals head, legs or tail, we could only stroke its back. We were also only allowed to sit behind the cheetah and if it were to roll over, move or get up and face (which it did) we had to stand up very quickly and walk away fast. Thankfully though we got some really good pictures.


That night we had two parties. One was Vicky's house party, Vicky is a girl that goes to Herschel and is in the same year as us. As we arrived at her house it was raining lightly, but not too bad. Her house was HUGE!! All houses are big here, but this one really was an absolute mansion. We all had a great time here and saw everyone from school. By the time we left Vicky's party it was pouring with rain and while running down the very long driveway we got very wet. Later that night, at about half past ten we went to a club in town called Chrome. The club had been hired as a venue for a party that we were going to, the Cupid Evening Afterparty. The place was absolutely packed, but we had an amazing time. Surprisingly we all knew quite a lot of people there and I even saw the exchange students from St. Cyprians again, it was very nice to see them again.

Now it is Sunday and I have spent the day resting and catching up on all my home work. It has been a very busy week, but the most fun!

Kirsten

The Past Week

This past week we have had a very busy schedule. The exchange has been going so fast and I just can't believe that we're half way through already. We have been making as much use of the time we have and while our poor exchange students have been working very hard we have been visiting cultural sites in Cape Town, during school days and after school as well as during the weekends.

On Monday Nicky and Debbie (Lily's Mom) took us to visit the Kirstenbosch gardens. It was not an extremely hot day, which was nice as we were walking around the gardens. It was absolutely huge and very pretty. We saw loads of brightly coloured flowers and as we had walked up to the top of the gardens we had the most beautiful view of Cape Town below. Another very nice aspect about the Kirstenbosch gardens was the extensive souvenir shop where we all over spent.

The Kirstenbosch gardens:





On Tuesday we had our first real JUMP lesson. We met our children that we would be teaching for the next few weeks and started our first lesson. Katherine and I were paired with three children, two little girls Litha and Namimba and a little boy called Babolo. The three of them are 9, 10 and 11. They are all very bright kids and caught on to what we were teaching them very quickly. We had a fantastic first lesson and they even taught Katherine and I a few words in Xhosa. They were in hysterics about the way I was pronouncing the words, but then again I must sound very odd. They also spoke a bit of Afrikaans, which was a lot easier for me to understand. Their English was also surprisingly good which made it so much easier to teach them.

On Wednesday we missed a day of school and went to Robben Island. The trip was organised by the same people that had organized the tour to Khayelitsha, so we went with the same group as last time. This time though I got to know the other exchange students van St. Cyprian Girls school a lot better. They are all staying for 6 months!

The tour of Robben Island was very impressive. We first got taken around the island by bus, to see the small community starting there and where the prisoners used to work. From Robben Island we had the most amazing view of Table Mountain. After the bus tour of the island we got a guided tour of the old prison. The tour was given by a former prisoner himself and it was very nice to hear it from someone who had actually been there. We also got to see Nelson Mandela's cell, which was the main attraction of the tour.

After the tour we went back to the mainland by boat. All the Herschel exchange students (Sandra, Nienke, Megan, Caroline and I) had another two hours before we were to be picked up so we spent the afternoon having a very nice lunch and shopping at the Waterfront.

The view of the Waterfront from Robben Island.

The view of Table Mountain from Robben Island.

Nelson Mandela's Prison Cell.

Sandra, Caroline and me at the Waterfront.

Friday we missed school again and Debbie and Gail took us to Boulders Beach and Chapman's Peak. The weather had done a complete turn around and it was cold and rainy. We decided to go out anyway, despite the weather. Boulders beach is a beach in Cape Town where penguins live. The penguins didn't seem to mind the rain one bit and we saw loads of them.

After Boulders we drove through Simonstown and stopped there to have lunch. There were a lot of tourist shops in Simonstown and again Sandra, Nienke and I overspent on souvenirs. We had a lovely lunch there. After lunch we drove over Chapman's Peak. Chapman's Peak is part of the mountains and very high up, which gave us a fantastic view of the sea.

All in all we have had a very eventful, but extremely fun week and these were only the weekdays. In another post I will tell you all about the weekend.

Kirsten

Ceres

Last weekend we went to Ceres, which is a small town situated in the mountains north of Cape Town. In Ceres Katherine's Aunt (Jilly) has a farm where we all stayed for the weekend. Katherine, Nicky, Gail, Ashleigh, Nienke, Kyle and I all went, Lily and Sandra went to Stellenbosch for the weekend. It was the most amazing and beautiful place. The farm was absolutely huge! It was a fruit farm and they grew the most delicious fruit, which we ate for breakfast and lunch. There was so much for us to do there. As we were only at the farm for a day and a half, we stayed there the entire time. We filled the weekend with riding around on the farms scooter and huge four wheeler, swimming, going on the trampoline, watching movies on the huge flat screen TV and having a midnight jacuzzi. We also had an absolutely delicious braai and breakfast, I don't think I've ever eaten as much as in that weekend. They had the most amazing guest house where we all stayed. It had six very nice beds, a very big pool table, a lounge area and all the food we could ever eat!

Here are some photo's of the farm:

Our Tour of the Township Khayelitsha.

Today we went on a tour of the township Khayelitsha. It was the most fascinating and wonderful experience. Khayelitsha is the third biggest township of Cape Town and between 500.000 and 1 million people live there. The township is situated on the outskirts of Cape Town in the Cape Flats. The name Khayelitsha means New Home.

During our tour of this township we went to Mama Amelia's house. Mama Amelia takes in abandoned children and raises them as her own. This place is not an official orphanage and she runs it with a few other women volunteers. We we're all lucky enough to meet her and visit the children she cared for. At the time that we were there she had 95 children, the older ones were at school so we met all the very little children. It was so nice to see what she had done for these kids and so nice to meet them. The children were extremely friendly and not shy at all! Even though we couldn't understand each other we got on very well with the children and played with them for some time. They were all so cute and very friendly!

Here are just a very small amount of the pictures I took today:

Here are all the little children singing a song for us as we left the house. The sang in English and said good bye.

One of the little girls. She was fascinated by my digital camera and loved being able to see the pictures that I had taken of her.

This was the little friend I made. She was so sweet and sat on my lap for the entire time that we were there.

These two little girls must have been the happiest two there, they couldn't stop smiling.

Another little girl who liked her picture being taken very much.

A local shop.

The shacks, these were also called 'smartie box houses' because of the beautiful colours.

The tour of Khayelitsha really was the most amazing experience. As poor as the people lived there they still had a wonderful community and everyone was very friendly. Some of the houses really were the most basic shacks, made out of any material the people could find, but there were also other houses in the township made out of concrete which actually looked very nice. I definitely think though that the visit to the children was the best part, it was so nice to see them and actually interact with them. We also all made donations to Mama Amelia for all that she had done for these kids.

That was it for now. We are going to Katherine's Aunt's farm this weekend, so I will probably only update sometime next week.

Kirsten

Where I'm Staying (The Thompson's House)

Here are a few pictures just to show you all where I'm staying and how beautiful it is here.

This is my bedroom.

The gate at the front of the house.

Part of the backgarden.

The Swimmingpool.

My First Weekend in South Africa

This was our first real weekend in South Africa and it was absolutely amazing. One of the huge social events of the year was on, the JB Met which we all went to. The JB Met is a horse race, but everyone seems to go even if they are not at all interested in the horse racing.

On Friday afternoon Katherine, Nienke and I went to Cavendish, which is a huge shopping center about 5 minutes walk away from Hershel. We desperately needed to buy shoes and sunglasses for the JB Met. Cavendish is such a nice shopping center, it is really big and you can buy absolutely everything you need. I love the shopping in South Africa, everything is so much cheaper here than back home. The clothes are significantly cheaper, even all the brand names, but the food is just unbelievably cheap!! After spending the afternoon shopping we got picked up by Katherine's mom and went home. That evening we went out for supper at a really nice fish restaurant. After that we headed to Herschel for a comedy act that was being held there. The comedy show was to raise money for the girls hockey team to go to Malaysia. The show was hilarious and we all enjoyed it very much.

Saturday was the day of the Met. Katherine and I went to a friends house to get ready that morning. We spent probably about two hours there and only arrived at the Met by 1.30. In the beginning it was extremely hot and not that nice. But by about 15.00 it was lovely, there was a cool breeze and the sun was not so high in the sky. Absolutely everyone came to the Met and I met so many new people that day. I actually didn't see a single one of the horse races. All the people I knew and everyone from our age group stood in a big shaded area under the trees socialising. This also was so much fun and I'm very glad to have been able to go.

That evening we all went to a house party, somewhere in Cape Town. That was loads of fun as well but by this time I was very tired and had very sore feet (from walking around in heels all day). Katherine and I went home at about 11.00 and spent the rest of the evening watching TV, with Nicole (who slept over that night).

On Sunday Nicky (Kath's Mom) took me and Nienke to Smithswinkels Bay. Katherine's grandmother owns a house there and it is the most beautiful place you could imagine. You can't actually reach it by car, you have to park your car at the top of a hill and then walk your way down to the house. The house was situated about 400 meters from the sea and it was absolutely stunning. In total there are only about 25 houses in this area and because it is hidden and hard to reach the beach was very empty and quiet. We spent that day lazing around in the sun and swimming in the beautiful clean and clear water.

Now it's Monday again and I can't believe how fast the weekend went by. This week we have a really good week ahead of us again. On Wednesday we're going to miss a day of school and go on a Township tour with all of the exchange students in the area and this weekend there is of course another party to go to.

That was it for today, I will post again sometime next weekend.

Kirsten