Yesterday was our first day of class. We met in our kitchen for class which was nice since I just had to roll out of bed. During class we talked about a lot of interesting things about South Africa including the history, politics, and the people of SA. We talked for a long time then decided to go get lunch in the downtown Observatory. We went to the market to get food and I ended up getting a sausage roll and a cornish, which was like a tiny pot pie in a calzone shaped flaky bread. DELICIOUS! Then we went back to grocery shop which was an overly complicated thing for seven people to do. Finally we came home and I made a delicious dinner for my fellow roomates: spaghetti noodles with zucchini, cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives, feta cheese, and greek dressing all mixed together. It was not a very busy day and we ended up staying in the rest of the night.
This morning I woke up extremely early, 6:30 a.m., compared to what I'm used too. We left for work at 8:30 and headed to my internship, Inyathelo. I was expecting to get started with all of my work today, but I guess they did not really have anything planned. I sat around on the computer, reading their website and going to little meetings for about five hours before I heard anything about what I was going to be doing. Finally I was able to talk to my supervisor who explained to me what I would be doing for the course of the internship. She told me I was going to be profiling prospective speakers and businesses to participate in the conferences at the institutions, but I don't really know what that means. I'm supposed to be learning more about that tomorrow, so I'll be able to let you all know then. Even though I didn't do any work, I met some wonderful people and learned all about philanthropy within the organization. I was able to watch a video about their philanthropy awards: every year Inyathelo holds an award ceremony for the philanthropies of NPOs. Over 100 people are nominated for their work, and only around 8-10 get an award. It was inspiring to see how one person could make such a huge impact on a community. I encourage you all to go watch some of these short videos on Inyathelo's website.
Video Gallery of Inyathelo Philanthropy Awardees
I had a very informing day to say the least. When I got home I walked into my room and smelled something really strange. I searched my entire room and could not find anything until I looked on to the bed. Sure enough, Delilah was not only nice enough to leave Matt a present, but nice enough to leave me one as well. She left a giant poop in the middle of my blanket!!!! I don't know what it is about this cat but she loves to leave disgusting presents. I should have closed my door. Poop on the bed once, shame on you. Poop on the bed twice, shame on me. I guess I learned my lesson.
A few hours later we decided to go to the grocery store again to get dinner. I got fried chicken (reminds me of Kentucky), salad, and couscous. Once again I made dinner for my roomies. They are always nice enough to help out or clean up afterwards. God love 'em! We just sat in the kitchen all night and talked politics, war, click languages, big murder cases, and the show "Locked Up Abroad". Pretty interesting stuff. It's always great being in a room with people who can debate (we must all be geniouses or something). After getting ready for bed and talking some more, our power went out. We are pretty sure we blew a fuse, but we ended up fixing it after about five minutes. The night started to go well again until Boyd, one of the house mates, made the wrong decision of putting the detergent straight into the washer instead of the tray that is meant to hold. Our washer overflowed and bubbles covered our kitchen floor. It seems that today was just not our day, even though we laughed each time something horrible happened. I'm hoping tomorrow will be better and filled with a lot more work and adventure. Stay well!
xoxo,
Alexandra
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