LIFE

8/23/11

I’m listening to John Mayer bust out some Why Georgia as I am sitting down to write this post. Aside from this being my favorite song of his, it seems fitting that the moment my fingers began pressing keys his voice sang “I wonder sometimes about the outcome…am I living it right?” - the “it” obviously referring to life.  If you were sitting with me currently you’d be subject to my pathetic attempt at singing a duet with Mr. Mayer (with my retainers slurring my speech), and I would also be sharing with you that I do believe I am living “it” right.

I truly appreciate all of the comments on this blog, emails, posts on Facebook, IMs on Skype from my family and friends. Not a day goes by that I don’t feel loved and supported. The love, support, and encouragement all of you send me, even when you don’t express it outwardly, is felt and continues to provide me with all the strength I need to live this new life in South Africa. I am a very self-aware woman, and I will be the first to admit that I am as emotional as they come. Many of you probably never thought I’d actually move 8,000 miles away – Hell, I never thought I’d actually do it! J But here I am. I figured at this point in my journey I’d have bought out the local Woolworths of Kleenex, but to my surprise, I am adjusting very well.

Do not let this confidence and optimism fool you; I am missing the US, New Hampshire, HOME immensely. Not a day goes by that I don’t wish Lori was with me, Teq was trying to bite me as I left my parents’ house, I was on the beach playing frisbee with the crew, driving my CR-V (on the right side of the road), seeing the kids grow up, or making dinner with the ladies at Girl’s Night. However, my life has taken a new turn, and as difficult as it is to leave my comfort zone at home, I find myself here in JoBurg: living in my two bedroom apartment with locks on every door, driving a used white Jetta (on the left side of the road with my purse in the trunk), trying to catch Lori every chance I get on Skype, soaking up every conversation with mum and dad, taking pictures of wild African animals, teaching children who have traveled to more places in the world than I ever will, meeting new friends who will never replace the old but certainly add to my life, eating dinner with Chelsea while watching Grey’s Anatomy episodes on my computer, and becoming a better person because of it all.

My new friend Evelyn said to me the other day, as I was getting frustrated about the fact that the South African customs is holding hostage a box mum and dad sent me, “We have to remember – we aren’t in America any more. We are in a whole new country. This is Africa.” I get frustrated sometimes about not being able to leave my windows open in the house, locking my purse in the trunk while I’m driving, paying exorbitant fines to customs for ridiculous reasons, the persistent men and women who shove flyers and goods at you while you are stopped at a red robot (traffic light!), or the milk that goes bad in three days because there is no pasteurization. But, then I remind myself that if I didn’t want change – I shouldn’t have packed up and moved to the other side of the world. “This is Africa.”

In about 7 hours, I will have officially been in this country for one month. I have bought a car and grown comfortable sitting on the right side of it, begun to make a home, spent nearly 18,000 Rand, not had a single Diet Coke, taught - for nearly two full weeks - children from 10 different nationalities, and seen my very first lion, zebra, giraffe, cheetah, hyena, and springbok from the unsteady perch atop a Segway. I miss my family with every breath I take. I miss my friends and the peace and comfort they bring to my life. I miss my home and feeling a sense of belonging there. BUT – This is Africa. I’m in Africa.

I, Mandy Akerley - super emotional, wear my heart on my sleeve, homebody Akerley - am living on my own among new faces, new challenges, new everything…and I am truly enjoying it all. I am happy. I am definitely living “it” right. 

My little man

a deadbolt on the door - R300
an alarm system for the door from mum and dad - insane amount of money thanks to customs
a small bottle of mace to keep by my bedside table - R75

a small, fierce wooden man to protect me and my home day and night......

priceless!

(actually, R300 after talking the seller down from R450 at the African Craft Market)

I love him....

Classroom Video - Math Games - Day#2

Below is a video I took in class on the second day of school. The kids were having a great time and stayed on task the whole math block. The amount of focus and effort these students put into their work is impressive. Hopefully you'll enjoy those accents you can hear.

Merry Christmas!!

What would you put in a box and ship 8,000 miles across the ocean if you moved to South Africa? What did I put in mine? Well, it was hard to remember what I packed and shipped because it has been nearly a month now since I taped up my 18x18x18 boxes and sent them on their way. For the past three weeks, I have lived in a fairly empty apartment; void of pictures on the wall, my Pampered Chef kitchen supplies, my winter coats, and so much more! That all ended today!  At 10:30 this morning, my shipment was delivered! It felt like Christmas anticipating the treasures that hid inside those four boxes! I think the item I am most excited to reunite with is my slippers. Never again will I lay my bare feet down on cold wooden floors! Oh, and for those of you who have been following my blog, I have shaved my legs...but now I can use my good razor! :) 

Suddenly my apartment has bits of home scattered from corner to corner. I walk in my bedroom, and I see the pillow Lor made me on my bed. Near the bedside table rests my field hockey stick. My running medals will be hung on that empty wall I've been staring at for 3 weeks. My wooden angels stand guard on the mantle next to photographs of my family. My long wooden sign PORTSMOUTH is awaiting placement over my living room door. Magnets decorate the bare face of my fridge. 

AND - I finally have a coat to keep me warm on these frigid South African winter mornings. I think, next to the Lion Park, bringing my shipment boxes back to my apartment has been one of the highlights of life here in JoBurg. There's no place like home - but adding pieces of home to my new dwelling sure makes it feel close! 

Weather

8/15/11

For the past twenty days, the sun has shone bright with very few clouds to block its rays. Temperatures continuously hover around 4 degrees Celsius in the mornings and nearly 25 degrees Celsius by mid afternoon. Layers are key! BUT today, the wind was chilly, the sun was hiding, and dark clouds loomed in the distance threatening rain. I am from New England. I am no stranger to changing weather or rain, but on this day, the smell of rain felt foreign.

I felt like Eeyore as I was walking through the open halls thinking “tut, tut, looks like rain.” My students and I were in the middle of Morning Meeting when a long rumble of thunder distracted their little minds. Not long after, the rain moved in and with it came pea sized hail. After a quick turn and talk to discuss the changing weather, we were able to get back to work and finish our meeting. The weather, however, did not finish. Instead it grew very cold, wet, and windy. It felt like those late fall days back home when your toes are cold inside your shoes, your fingers fail to work, and your nose runs without any other evidence of a cold.

Apparently, weather like this is unheard of during a South African winter. Despite the fact that spring is right around the corner, we seem to be experiencing an unusual cold snap. So, for those of you who thought that moving to Africa would excuse me from the very cold temperatures of winter, think again. Now, if only my shipment would arrive so I can actually have a coat! 

Now I Feel Like I'm in Africa

I can remember being little and learning about all the animals in the world...never dreaming I'd see the g - for giraffe or z for zebra in my life! Now, if I didn't value my life, I could walk right up and touch them! It's funny how life works out sometimes. I'm a lucky girl!

 

I owe my great camera equipment to my parents! As they continue to develop their incredible photography talents, I inherited Mum's start-up camera. LOVE IT!




One of Lori's dreams has always been to come to Africa and see the wildlife. As I rode around today and snapped pictures of "real, live African animals," I couldn't help but wish Lor was at my side. I look forward to seeing her face in January when she finally gets to see these animals and feels all the excitement I felt today.

Lion Park

August 13, 2011

The first three days of school were behind us and in the books as a complete success. Celebrating with a relaxing happy hour at a local driving range (yes, I realize that sounds odd) sponsored by the school was the perfect way to end the workweek. I had a few great conversations with some new people, drank a couple Windhoek (pronounced Vinhook) beers, and as the sun set and the full moon completely illuminated those of us stragglers, I felt charged by the fact that I was here – in South Africa. I admit, the Windhoek coupled with the high altitude may have increased this high I was feeling; however, either way, I felt good.

Pay day #1 is in less than two weeks. With very little money comes very little ability to shop for apartment furnishings, so we decided to explore instead! Sam, Ev, Chelsea, Robyn and I ventured out to the Lion Park for what ended up being an incredible morning! Thanks to Chelsea, we had reservations for a guided Segway Tour through the game park, entrance into the Lion Cub section and the self-guided drive through the lion areas. All of this cost only 300 Rand (about $43) and was worth every penny.

We met Moses, our guide, and stood with our rented bike helmets strapped on like anxious children listening to him give a crash course in riding a Segway. “Who’d like to try first?” he asked and with little hesitation I volunteered. Stupid! The goal was to steer the Segway through a small tire path. Admittedly I felt pretty cocky. I thought I’d do just fine – maybe even perform impressively! I climbed up, my backpack on my back and my helmet buckled under my chin looking like a complete futuristic school girl ready to ride my Segway to school. I cruised through the first few feet, but it was pretty shaky from that moment on. I managed despite the difficulties until the very end. Despite Moses’ warnings to mind the tires, I ran the damn Segway right into one and toppled off! With the exception of some dirt and possibly a little bruise on my ankle, I was fine. However, I did suffer a greater bruise to my ego. J

There were 7 of us in our tour group. A very nice couple from SAfrica joined our small little group (The wife gave me encouraging bits of advice throughout the hour and a half tour whenever she’d see I was struggling to control my machine). Once we had all passed the tire test – no one else fell – Moses led us single file into the game park. Leaving the car park behind us, we crested a small hill and the land began to sprawl out in front of us. Off to our left, about 200 yards, stood two giraffes. It was incredibly surreal. Their giant bodies, although far away, looked stunning. Giraffes have always felt like imaginary creatures to me because the idea of ever seeing one in real life seemed impossible. As I laid my eyes on two of them for the very first time, I was amazed. However, I have to say that knowing these particular animals are in captivity deleted some of the awe – unfortunately.

As we turned to the right, a handful of zebras striped the landscape (haha, get it?). At one point, we were less than 100 yards from them! Moses shared some facts with us about each animal we encountered. With the zebras, he shared with us that the females have a small brownish stripe amidst their black and white uniform. As I listened and tried to gather as much information as I could, I couldn’t help but snap as many photos as possible of these gorgeous animals. I have always loved the question of “which color came first and which color are the stripes,” and standing their seeing them in real life brought new meaning to the question. Moses told us that one defense mechanism for the zebra is to travel in groups and when a lion attacks, they all run together in a large group. This is because apparently, lions are color blind, so the zebras running together creates one giant black blog of color!

As we scooted along on our segways we saw some Hemsbuck, Blemsbuck (not sure on the spelling!), Springbok (SAfrica’s national animal), ostrich, wildebeest, cape buffalo (too far away to see unfortunately), and some impalas. I found myself repeating in my head, “I’m in SAfrica!” as I experienced each new animal. Who else was having this kind of Saturday morning!! We finished our tour with Moses after we waited for three HUGE ostriches to meander across our path. In some ways it was a sad truth to the park – three exotic creatures like ostriches walking past eight crazy humans on engine driven two wheeled machines. It was moments like that when I was sad for the fact that parks like these exist. However, the sadness did not stop my from whipping out my camera.

After entering the Lion Cub part of the park and petting some very friendly little ones, we got back in the car and took the driving tour. KEEP YOUR WINDOWS CLOSED was a major rule for this park of the park. I am happy to report we did not follow that rule! It’s nearly impossible to take a good picture out of a car window! Although I was completely in support of rolling the windows down, I joined the car in giving Evelyn a hard time as she rolled hers down every time we stopped. The fact that the car windows were not automatic added some excitement to our rule breaking!

The lions were beautiful. One nearly full grown male laid in one area of the fenced in grass. With his back to us, it was hard to get a great picture. After willing him to turn around, he finally did and he appeared so majestic. The window went right down! Ahead of this male was a female laying in the shade. It wasn’t long before the male made his way over to her. All of a sudden, Chelsea points toward the couple, “Oh My God – they’re doing it!” It was a hysterical scene as our cameras popped up and began snapping. Maybe it was his large audience, but the poor guy didn’t last too long, and the moment had passed us by – but not before we snapped some quality pictures and even a little video! Some of us never grow up!

All in all, the three hours spent at South Africa’s Lion Park may just have topped my list of favorites so far. As we drove out of the park, I felt fulfilled. Locals tell us that this park pales in comparison to what we’ll see on our camping trip in 2 weeks and in other larger game parks, and I am sure it will. However, you have to start somewhere, and what we were able to see in such a short amount of time and in such a unique way was perfect.