Things are soooo different here, like gym. It's called PT, not PE. Anyways, I started field hockey and it's real fun. The positions are different than in soccer: there is a forward and two wings. The wings are the two people who stand like a wing. The right and left inner are also kind of part of the wing. The person on the right or left wing is where you pass the ball. The two inners will stand behind the right or left wing if they have the ball to make sure the ball won't get past them. Behind them are the defense and then the goalie. It's really fun. We're playing a match tomorrow. My teacher says that I'm really good and keeps on asking: "Are you sure you didn't play hockey before?" and I keep saying "no." Then she finally asks where I got my talent or what other sport I play. I said I play soccer.

Our friends the Earl's got here on a Tuesday. We went to Kragga Kamma Game Park, which is the second time we have been there. We saw giraffe, impala (they are the ones with the "M" on the butt), wildebeast, springbok, waterbuck, warthog, zebra, rietbok, ostrich, lechwe, hartebeast, nyala, bontebok, rhino, cape buffalo, and lots more. It was really cool looking at the cape buffalo! We also saw a baby nursing from a mama. It was sooo cute! Now we have seen all the "Big 5" except the leopard. I hope to see one when we go to Kruger National Park. Kruger is really huge. We also went to a township school with the Earls. It was cool looking at it. It was called Pendla Primary School. The principal's name was something I couldn't pronounce. The schoolrooms were a regular size except they were dirty and had no carpet; just cement floors. There were about 12 rooms. Some of the kids had uniforms but some others didn't. They had wonderful choirs. Most of the kids who came to school had no food so the principal bought food for them. They each got a piece of bread and jam and butter. She also had a garden and when the vegetables are ripe she makes soup and the kids' parents will come and have a bite to eat. It will help them a little she said. The principal took us to a township high school. Oh yeah, the principal was also excited to show us the bathrooms. They were painted with the children's handprints. Well, anyway, back to the high school. It was terrible with broken windows. The high school principal left because he was so depressed. The rooms were really dirty and wrecked, and some of the children would go behind the school and smoke. If a teacher caught them and said to stop they would say, "You can't tell us because you aren't our principal." The bathrooms stunk and were dirty! Pendla Primary School was much better. Also, at Pendla, the President of South Africa painted the principal's office before he became president. The Earl's left a few days later.

The Earl's
Rhinos at Kragga Kamma
Ms. Mfunda, Principal at Pendla
Pendla Primary School children
Painted bathroom at Pendla
Garden at Pendla
At the township high school
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