Cape Buffalo

Angry Elephant

Hyena

Can you spot the animals?

Giraffe at Kruger

Back in the USA

I'm sitting in Dulles airport in Washington, D.C. It feels a little strange to be back. I had a wonderful time and made so many new friends (Mel, Gabe, Stephina, Steve, Zach, Scott, Uzmah, Crystal, Kathy, Sphesh..the list goes on and on)! I got plenty of sleep on the plane from Joburg--almost 16 hours--to make up for all the sleep I didn't get on the trip. The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind and it will take me a little while to process everything I did and saw.

The past few days I've been in Phalaborwa at Kruger National Park. Go there. You won't regret it. I'm going back as soon as absolutely possible. Below is a list of everything I saw on the game drives. See you all soon!

Baboons--too many to count
3 vervet monkeys
7 warthogs
Impala--to many to count
13 kudu
7 hyena
1 plover
1 duiker
1 white-faced vulture
39 elephants
10 yellow billed hornbills
Helmeted guinea fowl--too many to count
27 Burchell Zebra
10 giraffe
3 steenbok
A large herd of Cape Buffalo
1 poisonous green tree snake
17 terrapins
15 Maribou stork
11 hippos
12 red-billed oxpeckers
2 water buck
2 fish eagles
2 very large crocodiles
1 black-bellied kooribuster
1 brown snake eagle
2 double banded sand grouse
2 flapwings
1 bushbuck
1 slender mongoose
10 white crested helmet shrike
1 dwarf mongoose
2 red-billed hornbills
9 rock hyrax
7 lion

Impala in Kruger National Park

Wild Baboon at C.A.R.E.

A Proper Braai, Eh?

Last Day in Cape Town

Sorry I haven't posted in several days. Good internet is hard to find. Dial-up is still very common here, so WiFi isn't too reliable. I'm sad my trip is quickly coming to an end. I've had so much fun, and met so many amazing people that it will be hard to leave. I've spent the last two days with Mrs. Keet at Macassar High School in False Bay. She was nice enough to let another teacher (Kathy from San Jose!) and I stay with her family. It was great to spend the night with some locals and get first hand experience of life in South Africa. We also spent some time at her school, talking to her students. Mrs. Keet and her husband both teach high school science. The learners (South Africans don't say "students") were great and were very excited to hear about life in the USA. I also gave them some St. Brigid pencils, pens, post-its, bags, and folders. They were so excited!

Last night the Keets had a big braai for us. A braai is basically a barbecue, but is taken very seriously. Lamb is a very common meat here, so we had lamb, pork, boerwors (South African Sausage), and many other things, including some very good wine.

Today Melanie and I walked around the city, as we had our first free day for the trip. It was so awesome to wake up on my own, with no alarm blaring in my ears! We went to two museums, and some markets along the waterfront. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to get all this stuff back! I bought a very cool vuvuzela that's hand-painted by "learners" and made from dried kelp. It's fragile and I have seven flights left until I'm back in San Francisco..let's hope it makes it back in one piece!

Tomorrow we leave for Kruger National Park. I can't wait to go on a safari! Hopefully I can post some pics from there. If not, I'll be sure to post some as soon as I get back to the states on Wednesday. Hope everyone is having a great summer. Are there any questions about what I've done or seen? Comment below and I'll try to answer back as soon as I can.

Oh, and I need to give a shout out to Zach, a fellow TITP teacher. He's upset he hasn't made it into my blog, yet. Are you happy now???? :)

Shark Spotting at False Bay

Macassar High School Drama Club

African Penguins!!!!!

Cape Town

I'm exhausted. Three cities and three flights in seven days is a bit crazy, but so incredibly worth it. I may not be sleeping much, but I'm having such a great time. The teachers I'm with are fun, and what we are seeing is incredible. Yesterday we spent the day with social workers from Africa Tikkun, which is an amazing organization that is helping povery-stricken families. Among the several programs they run is a cultural dance program called Iqala Ngam. Most of the girls who participate are Xhosa, which is a South African indigenous tribe, and they are amazing dancers and singers. They even taught us a few dance moves, which was a lot of fun. I have it all on video and will share that when I return.

Today I hiked at Table Mountain, which resembles exactly what its name suggests. It was flattened by glaciers millions of years ago (It's older than the Himilayas) and then became a mountain through uplift. I didn't have time to hike up, but took a cable car up the side. The cable car is much different from what we have in San Francisco. It actually rotates while going up and down the mountain. Pretty cool.

Tomorrow we're going to World Widlife Fund marine sites to see Cape penguin and meet with shark researchers. It should be a great day! Hope all is well back in the states!

Cape Point--Southern Tip of South Africa

The peninsula in the background is the southern-most point in Africa. It's where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet.

Table Mountain Overlooking the Atlantic Ocean

Zulu-land

For the past two days I've been in Durban, a southeastern coastal town on the Indian Ocean. It's a beautiful area with rolling green hills. The city is in the state of KwaZulu-Natal. Zulu and English are most common languages spoken here. Today was one of the funnest days we've had. First we met with teachers, then we met with people working for the Wildlands Foundation. The group encourages forest and wetland restoration in urban and rural areas. In the case we were seeing, they are restoring areas around a landfill to create a buffer zone. For the past 50 or more years, the area has been mostly sugarcane, but is now being turned back into forest. In order to promote change, they get the local Zulu tribal members involved. In exchange for growing seedlings, community members can purchase building materials or education credits. The woman pictured below is a success story. She is growing 1000 trees in exchange for approximately $600. While that may not seem like alot, $600 is nearly 1400 Rand, which goes a long way in South Africa. With that money she will be able to build a large addition onto her house in order to provide more room for her large family.

I also went to my first rugby game today which was awesome. Rugby is a very serious sport down here!

I must go to sleep now--I have a flight in six hours to Cape Town.

Zulu Woman Growing Trees in Durban

Nelson Mandela's Home

Soweto

Soweto Township

Yesterday was a really tough day for me. We visited the township of Soweto, a very impoverished area that black South Africans were forced to move to during the apartheid area. Terrible atrocities occurred there, and in many ways are still happening. What struck me most, however, wasn't the never-ending shanty-towns or people begging in the street. It was the incredible happiness that exudes from the people if this country. Despite all they have been through, they have managed to forgive. Not to forget what happened, but to forgive so that they and their country can move on. It was extremely heartwarming. I talked with several people, and had great conversations about their lives before and after the critical year of 1994. I'm inspired by their faith in humanity, and hope that circumstances continue to improve for the people of Soweto and other townships throughout the country.

I'm currently in Durban, a coastal city in Kwazulu-Natal. Tomorrow I hope to put my feet in the warm waters of the Indian ocean. I'll try to blog again in a few days from Cape Town.

Takeoff in Dakar, Senegal

I made it!

It's about 12:00AM in Jo-burg. I still can't believe I'm in Africa. From what I've seen so far (in the dark) is that the city looks a lot like Florida. American ads on billboards, Western shops, and a lot of palm trees. The trip wasn't bad--I slept most of the way, which is probably why I can't sleep now. We had a short layover in Dakar, Senegal. As we landed we could see shanty towns made of aluminum and litter was everywhere. I'm having a hard time posting pictures from my IPad, but I'll try to fix the problem soon. I need to try and sleep, because we have a long day tomorrow. I'll try to blog again and get some pictures posted soon.

New Twitter hashtag...

The twitter hashtag I gave previously was wrong. If you'd like to follow our travels, find us @Toyota4Teachers.

Meeting my fellow TITP Participants

It's been a fun-filled day, and I haven't even left the country. I arrived at the airport at 7:30AM and met a fellow teacher before heading to the hotel. Our room wasn't ready since it was so early so we decided to venture out to the national mall. The heat made the walk a bit unbearable, but we eventually made it to the Holocaust Museum. It's definitely a must see if in the area, and for parents concerned about the heavy content, they do have a "light" version that is elementary school appropriate. Afterwards we returned to the hotel for the meet and greet with all twenty-four participants. I feel very lucky to be a part of this program--the other teachers are amazing. They come from diverse areas and backgrounds, and have some great ideas for programs to implement when we return. It will be interesting to see how our ideas evolve throughout our travels.

This evening a reception was held for us at the Botanical Gardens next to the Capitol Building. Receptions can only be held after hours with congressional approval. Luckily, we had that. Representative Donald Payne (NJ-D) joined us and offered his congratulations. He's a former teacher and understands how hard our jobs can be. I had the opportunity to talk to him for awhile and we had a great conversation about the state of education both here and in South Africa.

That's all for tonight. I need to rest up before the long flight tomorrow. Next blog will come from Johannesburg. South Africa here I come!

It's finally here...

Tonight I start my journey to South Africa. I'm a little nervous, very excited, and a little sad to be leaving my loved ones for a while, but I know all the preparation and time away will be totally worth it. The trip starts with a red-eye to Washington, D.C. There I'll be meeting my fellow Toyota Teach participants and the IIE and Toyota personnel who will be accompanying us. Meetings continue through Monday morning, and then Monday afternoon we depart for South Africa. Music, books, naps, and Angry Birds (Why is that game so much fun?) should keep me occupied on the 16-hour flight. I'll update the blog as soon as I can, and you can also follow our travels via Twitter @ToyotaTeach. If there's anything you'd like to know about the trip, comment below.

TITP Press Release

A press release was recently sent to local media about my trip.  Unfortunately I can't upload pdf files to my blog, so if you'd like to see it you can download the release at my classroom website:

sites.google.com/site/stbrigidscience/my-forms.

So much to do, so little time!

I don't know how you all feel, but this summer is going by so quickly.  It seems like we just got out of school.  My trip starts in 17 days, and I have so much to do.  I've already gotten the required vaccines (thankfully only Hep.A and Typhoid were required), and my malaria prevention pills are ready to go.  I've been reading as much about South Africa as I possibly can--books, news articles, websites, blogs, etc.  If you haven't read Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela, I highly recommend it.  He lost so much in his struggle to end apartheid, but he never lost sight of his goal.

Shopping, packing, and all the fun errands that go along with any trip still need to be done, and my excitement grows with each passing day!  I recently received the tentative itinerary, and I've created a google map so that you have an idea about where I'll be and what I'll be doing.  Check out the map here:

TITP Trip to South Africa

If any of you are interested in reading about South Africa, the following links can give you some information about the people, government, wildlife, and history.

CIA World Factbook       South Africa Cultural Center       South African History Online

South Africa's Wildlife Wonders

Africa's Rhino Poaching Crisis

Poaching has always been a problem in Africa, and despite the work of conservationists, the problem doesn't seem to be getting any better.  Studies conducted in South Africa show that the country is losing at least one rhinoceros to poaching per day. Very sad.  Check out the links for recent articles published in the Star-Tribune and South Africa's Eyewitness News.

Africa's Rhino Poaching Crisis      SA Losing One Rhino A Day

Hometown Newspaper...

As many of you already know, I'm originally from a very small town in southwestern Indiana.  It's a close-knit community, so the local newspaper is always publishing articles highlighting people from the area.  Today, they published an article about my trip!  Check it out at the link below.  Thank you to the Princeton Daily Clarion for their support.  And yes, my hometown is Francisco, IN.

Francisco Native Earns S. African Exchange Experience

I'm going to South Africa!

Last fall, I came across the Toyota International Teacher Program, which provides teachers with overseas professional development opportunities.  The programs focus on environmental sustainability issues and the experiences provide teachers with new and exciting teaching tools to bring back to their classrooms.  Last month I learned that I was accepted into the inaugural program to South Africa!  It was a competitive process, with over 1000 teachers across the nation vying for 24 spots.  I'm incredibly excited to be given this opportunity,and look forward to sharing my experiences on this blog.  Please check back often--I'll post information leading up to the trip, and especially during my awesome African adventure!

Toyota International Teacher Program

Institute of International Education