First Day Impressions

Hello all from beautiful South Africa! I arrived safely on Tuesday morning and after a crazy layover in "Joburg" I landed in Pietermaritzburg. I flew in on a BAe Jestream plane which was an experience all to itself(Google an image and you will see what I am talking about) to a small one runway airport from which my 3 fellow passengers and I had to retrieve our own luggage from the bottom of the plane. To my relief, Brenden from the YMCA was patiently waiting for me inside the terminal and he was able to spot me from afar and came right over to greet me. We had a short drive of about 5 minutes to the Y which was interesting considering that South Africans drive on the opposite side of the road. I have to be honest and confess that no matter how many times I experience this it still frightens me. Once we were on the grounds I was warmly welcomed by the numerous staff members who seemed very excited at me being there to help. I was originally told that I was going to be staying in a hostel but that was changed day of because of the fact that the hostel was at full occupancy. Because of this I received an upgrade of a private cottage, with only one other mate. As the first day came to a close I unpacked my things and as soon as I hit the pillow, I fell asleep-unfortunately it was 6:30pm and I woke up at 3:00 am ready to start my day.
The work day starts at 8 am and goes to 5 pm with an hour for lunch. I am working closely with Brenden and Cecil on a handful of projects that they have running throughout the day and week mostly revolving around physical activity and life skills. Mondays and Wednesdays are rather quiet as the only main event is a Dance program that runs from 2 to 5 pm and serves as mainly a after-school day care from young students who wait for their parents to come "fetch" them. Tuesdays and Thursdays are the busier days because in the morning until 12 we have a group of street kids who come to play soccer, have a shower, and receive a hot meal. This has been the best part about being here so far, it is really unfortunate to see these poverty stricken children come wandering in off the streets and it is nice to be able to provide a safe haven for them even if it is only for a couple of hours. I am told by Brenden that it is one of the more successful programs at the Y.
With all of the down time that we have during Monday and Wednesday I have been given the task of creating a new program for the kids to do. So I have been busy on researching what I want to do with them. Also Thys (pronounced Tace) has also given me the task of planning a few activities for him to do on an upcoming trip to United States which will include a few days in NYC, D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, and finally back to NYC. He also is very interested about the States and what certain places are like so I sort of feel like an ambassador to him from the U.S. So needless to say I have been quite busy in the short while that I have been here. I believe I have informed you of everything that has been going on so far. After all I have only been here for 2 days!! I am going to try to give these updates once a week. Until next time -Chris