2nd/3rd Week - High Tea, Hike, and Spring Day

We have been in Alexandria for 3 weeks now and are learning more and more about the country and the people, and also experiencing some surprises.

For example, when we walked to school on Monday of our 2nd week, we suddenly came across cows grazing on the roadside.

On Thursdays, a high tea was organized at school for us to get to know our neighbors and some of the local people. At the same time, it also served to promote the school's image, because whenever we are introduced by our mentors or the headmistress, they say, 'They are our volunteers from Germany,' to which the response is always 'Wow, from so far over the sea!' But the people we have met at the high tea are also very nice and it's easy to have a good conversation with them. Like most people when getting to know each other, they also ask about hobbies and sports that we do, and when we answer 'Horseback riding,' most of the people know someone who has their own horse that I could ride or even have one themselves.

The next day, there was no regular classes but 'Athletics', which was similar to the national youth games in Germany. The students had to compete in athletics disciplines and candies and hot dogs were sold. In the afternoon, we went to the 'Youth Service', a church service with young people. We thought that there would be games and conversations, but it turned out to be like the regular Sunday church services. However, this time, like a week later on Sunday in the church, anyone who wanted to could go to the front, and the pastor said something to each person, so some people broke down in tears or fell down on the spot. When we asked what was happening, we were told that the Holy Spirit passed through them.

On Saturday, we had planned a trip to Port Elizabeth to meet other volunteers there. We asked a taxi driver about the price for the trip, and he wanted 2,500R (about 175€), which we thought was too expensive. But to be able to travel cheaply here, you have to tell the drivers a price for a specific day to be driven somewhere and that another provider would do it cheaper.

On Sunday, we were invited by a couple in the church to spend a weekend at their game reserve. After church, we hiked for 4 hours towards Addo National Park, passing beautiful landscapes and many pastures with cows.

The following week was relatively normal, we were at school during the day and played cards together at home. On September 1st, it was 'Spring Day', and the students were allowed to wear their own clothes instead of the school uniform if they had paid 5R beforehand. When we walked home that day, there were many more people on the streets. Stalls were set up, all the shops were open, people came out of the supermarkets with several 10kg bags of potatoes, rice, and corn, and lined up at the ATMs to the street, all because it's the beginning of the month and the workers receive their salaries. On the same day, we were suddenly greeted with 'Good day' on the street. It seems that the picture from the 'High Tea' ended up in the local newspaper, and most people know us as 'the Germans.'

Unfortunately, our weekend wasn't as eventful. We had a visit from a student and had a barbecue, and after church, we had a quite long conversation with a local person who gave us quite useful tips.