Howzit??!!

Howzit? = Best greeting ever! Very good for yelling from far distances.

So I have fun weekend stories from adventures to Robben Island and other spots, but haven't loaded pictures yet so they will have to wait for next post.

Here is a quick look at an average day in the life of Ryan in South Africa during the work week:

7:30AM: Wake up, shower, toast & jam, catch a ride with Heloise & Pauline (fellow SAEP volunteers) to the SAEP office in Rondebosh (about 10 mins. from Observatory where I live)

8:30AM: Buy the morning paper, tea time, and emails! Also the best time to catch me available on gchat (11:30 PM California time, 1:30 AM Arkansas time.)

9:30 AM: Get down to work... I'm currently working on a few projects for SAEP. Furthest along is developing a system of program evaluation for the Gap Year Intern Program, a post-secondary preparatory year for high schoolers from the townships outside of Cape Town. Down the line is developing the initial projects and strategic plan for SAEP's Centre for Innovative Education, and contributing research to a general funding request presentation for the organization.

All day: Random breaks for iTunes duets by Ryan and Sanford, usually a mix of Chicago, Neil Diamond, and Motown's greatest...

5:00PM: Catch the train back to Observatory. Every other day I go for a run, which began as laps around the field hockey rectangle and has now evolved into exploration of the city. I recently accidentally ran into a psychiatric complex thinking it was a rich gated community with nice views of the city.

7:00PM-ish: Dinner at the house, which most every night is shared with Heloise and Pauline
and sometimes with our roommate Antoine. Antoine's cooking nights are glorious occasions, as he is our very own French master chef. Boots the cat usually makes at least 2-4 appearances during dinner, usually in the form of daredevil leaps over doors and windows trying to get inside.

10:0oPM: Various activities occur at this hour, but most common is reading. Coinciding with my reading the local paper every morning, I've been trying to fully immerse myself into South Africa and have been reading works on the current state of the country. I just finished "To the Brink: The State of Democracy in South Africa" by Xolela Mangcu, and highly recommend it to anyone interested in the failings of the Thabo Mbeki administration and the implications they've had on South Africa's people, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the Zimbabwe situation, and the current presidential elections. Other activities known to happen after 10pm are movies on Sarah's computer, emails, and catching up on baseball news...

Thats all for now, I'll post soon with stories and pictures and from recent adventures.

Also, a disclaimer: Most of the awesome pics I've been using are from the camera of Ms. Sarah Argue, the official SA photo guru.

much love to all,
Ryan