Continuation from yesterday...

Friday 22nd April 2011 DAY 70

1st day of Passion Play today. It didn't start until 12:00 so everyone relaxed and prepared until then. Then we all headed to the church to get ready at 12:00 for the afternoon performance at 14:00. There were loads of people, compared to the usual number in Lady Grey anyway. I got my PP hoody today as well J The afternoon scenes went really well and was good fun. Most of the things I play in were in these scenes so it was really good. We then had a break for diner and started the evening performance at 18:00. I just watched this part as I wasn't in it. Once we'd finished we all headed straight down to the Koncerthus to get ready for our first big performance of Holywood. The 4 of us in the band sit so we can be seen, pretty much in the audience which is great. It was the best performance of it we've ever done. Everyone was so into it and having so much fun. We'd had a drink before we started so that may have helped along the amazing atmosphere and good mood. Afterwards we all went next door to the Blue Pepper and had a small party, there was a buffet and bar. I was pretty drunk by the end of the night, I don't think the tequila shots were a good idea, lol. Great Day :D

Saturday 23rd April 2011 DAY 71

Unsurprisingly I was a little rough this morning. Got to bed at 01:00 and up at 07:00 is not great after a night out. My solution, 1 Power play packed full of caffeine, 2 neurofen and 5 coffee's (it's weak here,) sorted J At 08:00 we had the street breakfast. It was great; tables lined up down the street with members of the choir singing. We had another performance of Holywood this morning. Just before we were due to start, disaster struck. We were in a rush before we started and I pulled my clarinet cleaner through to fast, the one note in the cord got stuck on the end of my mouth piece and chipped it L I now have a small u shape in the top rim of it now. Makes it pretty hard to play without squeaking L I had 3 pieces to play in as well. I could have played just quietly without squeaking, but on top of the chip, I felt that if I started to blow down my clarinet I may have passed out in full view of everyone, I'm sure you can work out why. After Holywood I was free until 06:00 so I went with Wiehan and his parents to where they were staying at a natural hot springs. It was amazing, the place was in the middle of nowhere, 30 min drive in 4*4 terrain. There were 6 pools, all different temps, brilliant. Two of them were really warm, and one was what I would say is hot. The only down side is that is smelt mildly of eggs due to the sulphur but it was well worth it. Spent about 3 hours in them, partly in the rain J At 18:00 we had the Saturday eve performance of Holywood, it was brilliant. We had the crucifixion scenes outside, with 3 people actually on the cross. By the end of the evening there were loads of people crying. After this I went back to the hostel and spoke to mum and Ben on skype, as it was his 9th birthday. It was great to see them, Ben looked so happy, he was pretty mad actually that night, I think he must have eaten something, lol. He also played his piano to me, man he's good, I was well impressed. He could some of the kids here a thing or two J

Sunday 24th April 2011 DAY 72

Last part of the Passion Play today. A brilliant end to a great 3 days and weeks of hard work for everyone. In the afternoon I got pizza with Becca then watched Alvin and the Chipmunks. We then left Lady Grey at 01:00 Monday morning for Aliwal North.

Monday 25th April 2011 DAY 73

We left Aliwal at 02:30 After a 5 hour coach ride we arrived in East London. We couldn't get to our rooms at the backpackers until 12:00 so we went and got some breakfast first. I got a coffee and smoked salmon on toast for £2.00! How cheap is that, and it was amazing coffee and great salmon + I got loads of it. Then we went to the aquarium and saw a seal show which was good an watch the penguins and pelicans get fed. After this we could now check in. Sleep followed pretty quickly and we didn't get much sleep the night before. The backpackers was amazing, it was set in the side of a sand dune, 3 second walk from the beach. I was booked into a 4 bed dorm, which I had all to my self for the whole week, awesome. The rooms are all separate little chalets, the views from them are brilliant, looking straight over the beach and the sea. After sleeping we went to the beach and swam which was good, the waves were really big J At 19:00 we went out for dinner, it was such a nice place, the same as where we had the breakfast. I had a massive chicken pizza, yum. We got 2 bottles of wine between the 3 of us for the meal, then moved onto cocktails after diner. Sanele bought me a 4*4 shooter as well and burnt it, omg it was disgusting. By this time we were on our second cocktail, the waiter then said did we want to try one of there new shooters, the rainbow, 5 different spirits, so we did, and burnt them. I was pretty out of it that night as well, lol. Brilliant day/night though.

Tuesday 26th April 2011 DAY 74

We were all up at 10:30 this morning, I didn't feel anywhere near as bad as I thought I would, just a big headache :/ We went and got brunch, (chicken burger) then went for a walk along the beach and sunbathed on a mini sand dune :D We went shopping for a braii when we got back, and watched the Lee Evan DVD, hilarious J The braii in the evening was delicious, Sanele cooked it for us.

Wednesday 27th April 2011 DAY 75

Had another very lazy morning, then got lunch. At 14:00 we went Sand boarding, it was absolutely awesome, the best R120 I've spent since I've been out here. It was so much fun, there was just the 3 of us, Me, Becca and Sanele, + the 2 guys from the backpackers who were telling us how to do it. The 1st time we did it we all fell over within the first 2 seconds, was quite funny, but as the afternoon went on we got better. We started of low down, then went right to the top of the dune. I got all the way from top to bottom, YAY J I did do quite a few somersaults throughout the afternoon, injured my back, again, and nearly broke my ankle when the board dug into the sand and I carried on moving but it was still awesome. Then when we'd finished we went for a swim in the sea to get all the sand off us, as it was everywhere, eben on the inside of all our clothes, yuck. The sea was so warm, I've never felt such warm sea water, I suppose it was in Indian Ocean though. Great Day, I would recommend it to anyone.

Thursday 28th April 2011 DAY 76

Didn't really do anything today, just slept until lunch then watched TV all afternoon. Sanele cooked lemon chicken for us tonight which was really good. In the evening we went out with Richard to an open mic night, one of the guys who works at the BP, he plays the djembe amazingly and is going on tour to Europe in a month. He told us we were going to the township, which is the 2nd biggest in SA, so we were expecting to be going to a tavern where there was an open mic night somewhere. Boy were we wrong, there was a massive mall in the middle of the township, and the open mic night was in a cocktail bar. Good night.

Friday 29th April 2011 DAY 77

We were up at 11:00 ready to go surfing. We got all the boards and the wetsuits and walked up the safe area on the beach and were told we weren't allowed to surf as there was a really strong side current. That meant we had to walk 20min up to a private beach, where we had to pay, and the waves were small. It was ok though as we were beginners, we didn't want them too big. It was a great afternoon, we must have been there for 2-3 hours. I can't say we got much surfing done though, I got to a kneeling position but could get any further, just kept falling off. In the end we just swan and used the boards to body board. Sanele cooked for us again in the eve which was good.

Saturday 30th April 2011 DAY 78

From 12 - 1:30 we sat talking to two other PT volunteers that we at the backpackers that day. The whole of SA and 4 volunteers end up at the same backpackers. The we went swimming for a while again, there was an incredibly strong current today, never felt anything like it before. We were constantly being dragged sideways, and the waves were massive, it was great fun J About 5 the 5 of us went shopping for the evening meal, we had chicken stir fry, very nice :D

Sunday 1st May 2011 DAY 79

Woken up by Sanele, he'd cooked breakfast for us, yum J Then we relaxed in the afternoon and went swimming again, it was freezing today though. In the eve Sanele cooked another stir fry for us and I bought us a bottle of wine for our last night.

Monday 2nd May 2011 DAY 80

Packed in the morning. Went and bought burgers to cook and eat through out the day, 20 burgers for the 3 of us, nice. Then we swam again in the afternoon and I left for Lady Grey at 16:00

Tuesday 3rd May 2011 DAY 81

I'm not entirely sure what I did all day today, I forgot to write my diary and now I can't remember. I spent ages unpacking and sorting out all my holiday stuff but I didn't do any teaching, although I don't remember being bored so I must have done something. At 5 I went for a run with Flic and David, 2km, nOt much but a start.

Wednesday 4th May 2011 DAY 82

Today I think was a turning point in my time out here. After talking to Megan I've decided that I'm not going to take any classes my self but instead go to all her classes and help out in them. I thought it would be best like this because although I know all the stuff I find it really hard to get the student to understand the work, I could do it one on one, like in a piano lesson, but trying to get everyone to understand music theory then they never shut up isn't working, especially when some of them hardly speak English. It wouldn't be fair on the students if I carried on as the ones who wanted to learn couldn't so with Megan teaching, she can speak some Africaans and keep the class relatively quiet. I just find it really hard to make it basic enough for them to understand. Instead I'm going to focus on teaching piano, when I will incorporate all the theory, and also help with extra theory lessons before the exams start. I'm also going to get the tennis going here. Some of the boys came and asked me if I could coach them yesterday, so today I had a hit with them. I have a lot of work to do to get the court into a decent condition but I will. I now feel like I know what I'm supposed to be doing, I've found what I want to do and to make a difference doing. I never felt like I was doing anything when teaching the full classes, but with this I will, and I'm really looking forward to it. At 5 we went for another, this time we ran 4km, getting there slowly. I'm on a fitness drive now, so running will be a permanent feature of my time here now. After our run we had a couple of drink, which yes I know isn't great and takes away the fact we just did a run, but the hotel was our end point. Anyway, we had a bottle of cider, the David bought us 2 tequila shots :/ Next is to start eating and drinking healthier!

Thursday 5th May 2011 DAY 83

Today I went to the 3 lessons Megan had and helped out there, then in the other periods I went through making my new timetable, sorted out travel plans for June, and started to plan everything for when I start up the tennis. The court is covered in loose grit and stones from the bad tarmac so I'm going to clean that up first, then I'm going to paint the lines on the court so you can see them properly and finally I'm going to sort the net out. The net we have is a volley ball net so there's a gap underneath it and the cord to hold it up is ruined so I'm planning to get some rope and use that to make the cord and to get the net the correct height. Then for the shortness of the nest I'm going to use strands of a rope and tie it to the existing net to make a full size tennis net J I can't wait to get started, I've first just got to find a time when I can do it, that doesn't clash with Dance, Choir, Football, Rugby and Art and Design after school time. Could be tricky. I woke up this morning feeling pretty dizzy, I thought it might just be the tequila, taking a very very long time to wear off, but all throughout the day I've been the same, sometimes even just when I turn my head and it's still like it now, at 20:30. Any ideas what it could be anyone, I feel fine otherwise, just aching muscles but that's from the press up and running I think. I'll have to see what it's like tomorrow :/

As I said earlier, I now feel like I've found my purpose here, so long as I can actually get it all going. I'm looking forward to doing these things, which makes a change from the 1st term. I've only got 14-15 weeks left, only 11 left in Lady Grey, so it's time to act and to make my mark.

Winter is fast arriving here; it dropped to -5 at night during the holidays apparently. Soon that will be a regular occurrence. I just hope we get snow with the cold because this place will look magical if we do. At the moment it's chilly in the mornings, jumpers definitely needed, but by lunch time you can wear a T-shirt. Yesterday we had frost on the ground at 06:30 and by 10:00 I was in short sleeves!

Yayy, I'm finally up to date, wow that took me a while,

Until next time then,

Bye :D