This is the last post of the week and perhaps the last post until I get back from vacation. I am headed off to the Eastern Cape for maximum relaxation. I am hoping to be the first person in the world to get bed sores from the beach. If there is already a record for that then I hope to be the first person to do it while drinking beer. I am unaware of the internet situation out there and at the moment I am not at all concerned. If there is a link, I may feel inclined to do an update while I am there, otherwise it will just have to wait.
At the end of training, one of our trial by fire tests was to make our way back from out sites to our training site by ourselves. Most people just ended up meeting up together and traveling in groups, which somewhat defeated the purpose of the exercise but that is not the point of this story. The group I was traveling with got delayed in our journey so we had to stay at a backpacker's (SA hostel) overnight in Pretoria. It was a happy accident because it turned out to be a great time. We got to unwind, which didn't happen too often during training but we also got to meet the group of volunteers who were about to leave. It was revealing to find out that only a third of their group made it the full two years. One of the things I took away from that chance meeting was that you have to break the time into manageable chunks. Plan to do something to relax or recharge in regular intervals, for us SCRP volunteers conveniently located at the end of terms, and just make it to that point. It was simple advice but it meant so much coming from people that made it through. I think I will try to do the same. This is the end of that first bite.
I am going to be OK here. Surely there will be more surprises thrown my way during the rest of my service but I feel I am well equipped to handle it. I don't know everyone that I live with very well but I have a pretty good idea of their character and am not afraid. And I am not entirely sure how the schools will be after two years but I am confident they will be better than when I got here.