School at St. Stithians (My New Friends)

Let’s begin with the obvious question: what is an Idayari? It is the Zulu translation for“diary”. My name is Abby Shine and I am a grade 9 student currently on exchange at St. Stithians Girls’ College in Johannesburg.  Over the course of the next six weeks, I will share my diary entries detailing my adventures while living in South Africa.

Off to Joburg!

Saturday morning, January 10, 2015: I am at the salon getting my nails painted at precisely 11:00 am. I am happy with my decision to have gone with the pale pink Essie color. I close my eyes and lean back on the massage chair; I am entirely relaxed as my plane only leaves at midnight and therefore have all day to pack. That is, until my mom comes running into the salon with eyes as big Kanye West’s ego. My connecting flight in Amsterdam has been cancelled and I have been re-routed to Atlanta. I need to be at the airport in one hour! I run out of the salon, pack my bags and say my goodbyes. From that point on, I then embark on a painstaking 21 hours of travel to South Africa. After all the stress (I am terrified of flying) and stomach-turning airport food, I am exhausted. Yet, I would do it all over again. This experience is well worth it!

Meeting the Ayayas

In Johannesburg, my host family, the Ayayas, greeted me with open arms. I was thrilled to meet Rodina with whom I have been corresponding for months. The next day, I was woken up with the Joburg’s signature sunrise and called into the kitchen. There, I was as surprised as Tom will be the day he catches Jerry as fifteen strangers emerged from their selective hiding spots and all wished me a happy birthday. I was glad that this was set up since I got to meet some of Rodina’s friends ahead of school.

On Tuesday, I visited Sandton City with Camilla, another exchange, where we shopped in the most spectacular stores. It was a little hard to shop at first, given the money currency. For example, a good price for a pair of pants is 200 rands, which seems a lot but is only around 20 dollars. Several rands later, we went to the Nelson Mandela Square where we stood, along many others, with the iconic statue.

School at St. Stithians

My first day at school! Although I should have been nervous, I wasn’t; I had met close to thirty of Rodina’s friends before school due to our outings and was therefore already considered a “Saints Girl.” (Even though these girls are seven feet taller than I am, I blended right in with them since our uniforms are extremely similar.)

I spent the week trying different classes such as music, history and my new favorite language: Zulu! I also became accustomed to their college. Class start at 7:30 and the students have two breaks where they are allowed to roam around their impressive campus. Alert to LCC! They are allowed to have their phones out in class!

Zulu word of the week

Ukwenza: Adventure!

Weekend Ukwenza

I visited the Cradle of Humankind where I learned about the evolution of the world and took an underground boat ride that featured the four elements of the world. The spectacular architecture of the building is nothing compared to what is inside! After that, I found myself 60 feet under the ground, crawling and climbing nearly 220 steps in a cave called Sterkfontein. With each step I took, I learned more and more about this world heritage site, known for its limestone and discovery of “Little Foot.”

What a week! Next up, sports and food! – Abby Shine ’17