TIA- This is Africa

It has been a while since I have updated the blog here and I apologize, I have been fairly busy. So my first and second weeks of teaching have both gone very well, there have been up and down days but overall I am loving the teaching and the course is a lot of fun. I have to date taught 5 separate lessons and we had our first major assignment due today, so only 4 more lessons and 3 more assignments and I will be complete and ready to teach. As of tomorrow I will start teaching intermediate level students instead of the elementary level. This will be an interesting transition, it will be more in depth meaning about words and form and less developing of the basic skills and knowledge of English.

Otherwise I have managed to make some friends and begin a social life. I went with some class mates and as well as some locals last weekend to hike on table mountain. We did not make it to the top (or even near) but it was nice, and then we took photos on the Rhodes memorial and had a braai-which is what South Africans call a BBQ. This was accompanied with some wine and cheese and deep conversation late into the night. I have also went to some art galleries featuring South African artists and students over the last two weeks. I don't know if I will want to leave here in two weeks, it is going to be so hard to go back to Canada especially because of the recent blizzard.

Other highlights have been my birthday! I am officially not a teen anymore and so I went out for a fancy dinner on my special night and then went to a few clubs after. I couldn't stay out too late though because I had to teach in the morning. I also ate my first pot of worms! They looked terrible but they taste and feel quite good in your mouth. If you want a visual look up mopane worms. Then of course the World Cup is being hosted here next year and the draw was on friday here at the convention center. There was a giant street party in Long street and they closed it all off for pedestrian use only. We went there and partied and I had my iPhone stolen from my pocket. That was more of a 'lowlite', but that is how life goes. The phrase TIA or This Is Africa is something locals say about all of the chaos that happens here, but that is just how it goes.

Otherwise the weather is great and life is good here in Africa.

Love and miss you all!

Mac Putici