Gunfire, Monkeys and Cricket!

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Gunfire, Monkeys and Cricket!
Sawbona! Well here I am in South Africa. It was a long flight complete with delays and missed connections, but it was all well worth it when I walked into Durban and was greeted with a wonderful smiling lady and a great big Rotary sign! Unfortunately I missed my welcome party but the group was kind enough to take a photo of themselves enjoying the good food and company. So now I am in my granny flat below a great couple Alyson and Tim and their two dogs and four cats. Yes one of the dogs bears a significant resemblance to Maible complete with a tennis ball obsession and a love for attacking the water hose. My host counselor Carolyn has been very helpful, taking me to Rotary meetings and making sure I have everything I need. So now getting to the title of this entry, come Friday morning I was on my own to go to the Varsity (college) and get myself organized, when I heard a string of gunshots. I thought maybe it was just fireworks and I was being a paranoid American, but I went to check with Alyson anyways. Alyson, who by the way is the sweetest Zimbabwean with Irish roots, mimicked my surprise and suggested I stay around for a few minutes. After melting a bit longer in the African summer sunshine I learned that there was nothing to worry about it was just the police taking care of a few notorious gang members, and so I set off to the varsity. Later on that afternoon I had another slight scare when Sydney and Shiloh (the dogs) began to ferociously bark at the fence and whatever was moving in the trees. Apparently these dogs have an intense hatred for the monkeys that come around to eat the fruit and stir up a little ruckus. Feeling very African after my day of military style justice and thieving monkeys I went on my way to my first ever cricket match. The cricket match was entertaining, I met some South African friends whom I later joined for a late dinner/drinks. All in all I felt like I had a very South African sort of day!
Since last weekend I have been busy getting registered, attending Rotary functions and taking some intro courses. I will continue to update this blog as regularly as I am able, photos may be a bit slow as I am not 100% comfortable taking my big camera out in public yet. Cheers!

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