This week I taught my first classes. It was so nice to finally experience what i feel I came out to South Africa to do. It was hectic with a class full of excited 12/13 year olds but a good hectic!

Me and Nadine have to set up the classroom every afternoon before our first lesson at 3:15pm. The monstrous task begins with carrying the 3 boxes of laptops to the community centre each one weighing 28 kilos. It's safe to say I shall have muscles body builders will be envious of by the end of the August. I was also warned by is time I shall hate technology, I can safely say that has already begun. There is always a handful of laptops that refuse to work 5 minutes before class is about to start. But hey, it's all in the spirit of thinking on your toes. It may take half an hour to set up the classroom but it sure takes less time to dismantle it: we bribe some of the students to help us for an extra gwinya at the end (works a treat every time).

To be truthful though I would do anything for a warm gwinya too. It's an unhealthy craving to have. Gwinya is a traditional South African food which I can only liken to a huge, warm, unsugared doughnut. I've never tasted anything better when smothered in peanut butter (another unhealthy habit of mine). But they only cost R3 (20p) so it would be rude not to!

So this weekend I thought I deserved to take it easy. The reason for this being... Wait for it... I went on a hike. I know, completely out of character but I can safely say it was my first and most definitely the last hike I shall ever go on. Don't get me wrong, the views of the area and the coastal landform Hole in the Wall which we went to see we're spectacular. But the walk was hill after hill after hill for a solid hour and a half. This may not sound like a long time but in the heat of the African day, it felt like an eternity. Just to add to the embarrassment of my panting and beetroot face I later fell through a bridge, grazed my leg, bruised my knee and took all the skin off of the back of my heel. Coupled with my swollen eye from the mosquito bite on my eye lid from the previous night, I looked like I'd been in a fight.

Despite my plans, I haven't really taken it easy at all. I've managed to break both keys and lock us in the house, sweep and mop the house, go shopping, wash up, clean, email teacher from my old school and write a blog entry all before Nadine has even got out of bed. Her achievement of the day is that she has managed to watch an entire tv series when actually she needs to be applying to University.

So on that note it's now her turn to do something productive and for me to put my feet up! My bed is calling.