Here is a picture taken from my school. They have a huge hockey field and the school overlooks the port. It is the 8th largest port in the world and the biggest in Africa.
This is a picture of the school hallway. 10-12th grade students may only cross the yellow line during class time, all 8-9 graders must find another route. During all other times students must either go upstairs or downstairs to bypass this hallway. The door on the left is the staff lounge where all staff must meet during the 1st 'tea' break for daily announcements. The door on the right is a kitchen, restrooms, and the teacher pigeon holes--in the states we call them the teacher mailboxes.
This is a picture of my classroom. I don't have AC but I do have 4 big windows on each side of the room. I creates quite a nice breeze to the with open air hallway.
This is a picture of Durban from a flat near my school. It shows the city of Durban.
This is another picture of the city.
Here is a picture of all of the new teachers and Durban Girls High School.
Hello! Well, I taught my first 3 classes at Durban Girls High School today. The girls all wear uniforms and are very well behaved. They must stand in a line outside of the class room until I let them in and then they remain standing until I greet them and instruct them to sit down. The class schedules are very different here, I teach different classes at different times every day. It will definitely take some getting used to. The students have an assembly once a week, where the 'head students' or prefects start the assembly with a prayer and a song. Each student must have their song book so that they can sing along. I have two breaks each day. One in the morning, a tea break, and one around noon time for lunch. Extra curricular activites are everyday after school. Students can participate in many activities, such that each sport/club only usually meets twice a week. The biggest sports over here are field hockey and net ball. I haven't seen either of them played yet, but I am quite interested in watching both.
The food over here is a little different from home. Depending on where you shop, they have a lot of different brands and prices. The quantities are generally a lot smaller and they don't have as much variety. The largest size jug (or bag) of milk is about a quart. The expiration date is also very soon, you must drink it fast and buy frequently. They have some of the same cereal here, like corn flakes and rice krispies, but no cheerios or chex. They do have Weet-Bix (like shredded wheat), but I only think that it is cool because of the name. I did find some hamburger to buy today along with some noodles and spaghetti sauce. I made a huge dish of it, so I should be eating spaghetti for the next two weeks!
The weather lately has been quite rainy. Usually it is a misty rain, but the other night it was raining in buckets! It is still quite humid here, but the heat isn't too bad yet. I hear that February is miserable. I am not sure what I will do to keep cool, my school and my house do not have AC. I might have to spend a lot of time at the local shopping mall! Which, by the way is huge. It is 3 levels and has a ton of shops. I plan on going there this weekend to check it out. I guess that there is an even bigger mall a little ways away.
I went to a friends house yesterday for afternoon tea. She is a great person and I think that we will be great friends. She played volleyball in college in Missouri and has since moved back to SA. She is also a teacher. I am planning on going out with her and her sister this weekend. I think that it will be great to see what the night life is like in Durban. I hear that they like to dance and the drinks are a lot cheaper than in the states. It should be a fun time!
