6/28/2015 - Kruger Day 2

We got up at 5:30 AM so we could leave camp just as the gates opened at 6 AM.  The sunrise was incredible.  The sun looked deep red for awhile, but we could not seem to capture the color with our cameras. We saw a mother and baby rhino, mother and baby giraffes, lots and lots of zebras up close, including some baby zebras, and three lions - female huntresses - lying together on a rock, relaxed and still, with some zebras doing a poor job of keeping their distance.  

  
  

We broke for breakfast and had to watch food carefully as we prepared it, because monkeys were ready for their chance.  One got away with a piece of pepper, and Maria let him know what is up:

We kept going to the next camp, where we would have lunch. We saw more water buffalo, Kudu, elephant herds, and pooping before reaching our next camp for the night at Pretoriuskop around 4 pm.  We had access to some crappy (but free) internet at the cafe on site (phew) to coordinate our trips and let family know we hadn't been eaten yet.  We planned tomorrow while eating dinner made for us largely by Tulani.  We are going to take an afternoon break tomorrow because tomorrow night is our evening safari trip booked with the park itself.  We are so excited!

6/27/2015 - Kruger Day 1

Yesterday was a lot of driving after leaving our beloved Malandela's behind, and the sun was going to start setting by the time we made it to Kruger.  We saw condoms being given out at the Swazi/SA border:

And another cultural oddity for us, a coca-cola giveaway promotion at the supermarket with a generator as the grand prize to keep the lights on during load shedding:

As soon as we entered the park, a large elephant seemed to be waiting to greet us, eating on the side of the road at the end of the narrow bridge we needed to cross.

We saw 4 of the big 5 before reaching Skukuza (camp for the night): elephants, rhino, lions, and lots of water buffalo.  There was a huge herd of buffalo crossing the road, stopping up cars for a long time. We did our best to catch glimpses of the babies, who were kept in the middle row, between two rows of adults protecting them on either side.

A male elephant was in the road some time later, showing all the signs of being in its mating season and dangerous, so we backed away as quickly but carefully as possible.  When the other cars finally caught on to the fact it was angry (he was moving around very quickly, sometimes turning in circles, flapping his ears and going back and forth on the road, trying to fan out territory), they also backed up and eventually the elephant felt less threatened and took off into the bush.  We were relieved and kept on to Skukuza.  We also saw the African fish eagle, many baboons with babies, giraffes, and lots of impala everywhere.  Our huts at camp were pretty awesome, and we made dinner together in the collective kitchen with our guide, Tulani.  We were warned not to leave food out on our porches or even in the fridges on porches or monkeys and baboons would be able to get it.  

6/26/2015 - Nhlangano Day 4

One more early start and goodbye to our cooking friends who wanted pictures with us before we were gone.  We arrived early (for once) at Nhlangano Central and Erik Andrew and Maria set to work trying to figure out where there was a short in the 11th solar panel (not encased in glass just yet). They also helped the science teachers figure out how to use their oscilloscope. We then were told by Mr. S'bane (head science teacher) that we would soon be joined by the other faculty, principal, and other administrators and asked us to present all the solar panels, materials, fuel cell car, and other teacher giveaways we'd brought.  He explained that he could not accept them on behalf of the school, rather, we needed to present them to everyone there and they would have to accept them collectively.  We showed some of the science teachers how some of the demos worked as well as the instructions we were leaving.  We then heard a few words from Leah, followed by words of thanks and appreciation from a few of the teachers.  Then it was time for lots of group pictures, and before we knew it, we were ushered to a premier spot in the front row to watch the celebration the school was throwing.  

It was rather cold today - usually its a little cold in the mornings, then warms up, but today we were legitimately cold under the big tent the students had put up. We watched speeches, the choir, a debate about gender equality between two schools (hooting and hollering all the while, of course), a baton-twirling dance/step routine, and of course, the traditional Swazi dance done by young women.  I kept telling all the students the day before that we had wanted to see some of the Swazi dancing and culture, but experiencing it with them would be even better because we knew the people dancing and it was more personal.  

  

Unfortunately, we had to leave the celebration around 1 pm, a bit early, though that was when it was supposed to end, and were not allowed to leave by the principal and Thandeka's mom without delicious hot food to go.  We were thanked again and again as we prepared to leave and were stopped for more group photos and selfies on the way out.  The drive back was a bit long, but satisfying.  We got back in time to put our things away, greet Nelia and begin to update her before meeting with Roland to give us some general tips and advice about Kruger.  We depart at 9 AM tomorrow!

6/25/2015 - Nhlangano Day 3

Today we had to split up - Maria, Miles and myself took over the demos for the form 3s, 1s, and 4s while Erik, Leah and Andrew took on the solar workshop all morning long. It was kind of hard with the form 1s because they were so young and there were just so many of them.  There were even more form 4s.

     

After the form 4s were gone, I set up to give my 'applying to colleges in the US' presentation for the form 5s, but some were in various classes so I hung out with some of the students I'd met a few times and talked about our cultures and traditions and lives. The girls were shocked to find out that I was 27 and unmarried.  Apparently I am too old to be the king's next wife - the limit is 25.  They laughed when I replied 'good! I was worried about that!' They were also in disbelief when I told them I lived hours from my parents.  One girl said I must get married a few times, so I laughed and asked why, and she didn't have an answer for me.  I told her I wasn't interested in that right now.  She asked me why and I said that I was single and happy.  Her face changed and she told me, 'I would like to live that life - single and happy.' I asked if she was single, she said yes, then if she was happy, yes again, 'then,' I said, 'you are living that life.'

Many students through the day asked me if I had met Barack Obama.  I told them that while it would be an honor, I had not and they seemed surprised.  I tried to explain what a large country the US is in comparison to Swaziland, and how well protected the president is kept.

The college talk with the older students seemed to go well.  They were very attentive and took notes.  I felt like I was missing more specific scholarship information, though.  It was clear that in order to go, these students would need substantial funding, if not complete funding.  Nevertheless, I think everything was well-received, and I continually encouraged the students to keep all their grades up in the process. I then finished the hot maize cob I had started just before, offered by the school, and cleaned up before joining the others in the solar workshop to have my sandwich and keep going.  

Miles joined some of the gospel singers to teach them some American cowboy gospel hymns and sang, danced, and played the harmonica for them while the students kept a beat going.  More came quickly to enjoy the scene, and everyone clapped along.

I walked around stations and supervised a soldering station for awhile, talking to some of the girls I spoke to yesterday while they waited their turn. We talked a lot about our customs.  It was a busy time.  The students became incredibly independent on all the tasks involved in making the solar cells, from cutting, to soldering, to testing in the sun and constructing and gluing.  Even little ones were giving directions and getting tasks done quickly.  By the end of the day, nearly 11 solar cells were finished, and we left materials for 4 more to be constructed.  

  

  

I took time earlier to give the head of the science department and science club NASA meatball stickers for all the kids in the science club.  After finishing up the workshop, we then took the time to show him the various other U of R and NASA goodies we'd brought for their classrooms and teachers.  He was overwhelmed and said it was good we were coming back tomorrow because he did not yet know the words to express how he felt.

All day, students had asked me if we were coming to their big celebration tomorrow, which they have been preparing for all week.  'We need to see your face again before you go,' insisted one of my new young friends. We were not sure yet if we were invited, but they described that they would be doing traditional Swazi dances and singing so we were interested.  When Mr. S'bane  insisted we should come, we quickly agreed that we would.  The celebration starts at 9, but the principal would like to meet with us again at 8 AM, so it will be another early morning at Mahamba Lodge tomorrow morning, followed by a true cultural experience with young people we have gotten to know just a bit, enough to know we will feel welcome and will have a great time. As I was taught to say today - ee-so, eeeee-soo!

Another young girl came late in the day with questions about studying space and to copy down some of the information from my presentation. I did my best to answer her questions about what scientists study about space and the earth, and gave her some examples, and she took notes and seemed satisfied but kept talking to me about various things - school, various paths she might want to take, and how much she loved celebrating her Swazi culture.  We talked about study habits that could help her, and she encouraged me vehemently to come to the celebration and see her dance the traditional Swazi female dance.  Somewhere in the course of our discussion, she told me that she often got teased by other students for her body.  She said when she saw someone bigger than the others (me), like her, standing in front of the school so confidently, she thought she could have confidence, too.  I smiled and reminded her she should always walk with confidence and love herself for her.

6/24/2015 - Nhlangano Day 2

Today was fantastic.  We managed our program of science demos for three different sessions, then regrouped around some lunch (the school kindly provided us a delicious hot lunch when they heard we were going to get something) before heading into an afternoon with the science club group, beginning the solar workshop for reals.  

     

All of the students were excited by our demos and it was a pleasure to share science phenomena with them.  From Miles' flame-happy showstoppers, to my space telescope presentation, Erik's trick with the happy/unhappy balls and optics suitcase experiments, Leah's crystallization and Maria's vampire tricks with liquid crystals, it was a non-stop oohing and ahhing session.

Jokes about how many of us were unmarried seemed to persist through the day.  It seemed to be a Swazi culture thing to ask this personal question of someone upon meeting them. We tried to go with the flow and joke along, but of course, teenagers tend to exaggerate everything.  

The students were a lot less shy today.  They asked questions about everything - the demos, how they work, our lives, what America was like.  During one break, the students wanted to see what American money was like.  Quite a few told us they wanted to visit America someday.  A few shyly asked for pictures with us as if this was a large or nearly impossible favor we were sure to turn down, and were happily surprised to find us enthusiastic about posing for pictures with them.  It was a day of excitement for science, for opportunity, and for hope.  

Near the end of lunch, two young girls approached the group to ask questions (after getting permission from their teacher).  One of them seemed a little quiet, but determined to ask her two questions and get the answers she was seeking.  She explained that in Swazi culture, girls were taught and expected to stay with their families and parents.  She said she wanted to travel, but was worried she would be unsafe and miss her family.  She told us she was scared.  Maria jumped in and described her own experience coming to the continental US for the first time; speaking little English, being far away from her family and small island culture for the first time, and being scared.  But with time, Maria said, she soon forgot her fears as she got excited about the new things she was learning.  Her second question concerned funding such an opportunity.  I did my best to speak to that, advising her to apply to as many things as possible, and also to apply to anything with a free application, and told her some stories.  

   

The solar workshop went fairly well, though the students seemed to enjoy sticking to one station and getting practiced at one skill as opposed to making the rounds.  Also, our soldering irons were rated for 120 V whereas the wall sockets for 240 V, so they were glowing red.  The students did not get injured (we were on top of them like glue), but it completely changed the properties of soldering with them and made things a lot more difficult.  One iron started to melt the rubber base holding it!  

We were also called out to the faculty meeting for three minutes to meet the whole faculty, introduced partly by the principal.  He wanted us to meet the whole faculty as well as the students, and asked us to introduce ourselves.  I began by saying my background and what my PhD was to be in, and mentioned I had been a teacher for 2 years, and then we started moving on when the principal interrupted and asked us also to specify if we were married or unmarried.  So we obliged and laughed through the jokes.  

By the end of the day, we'd made many friends and ignited a number of curious scientists.  We obviously needed a lot more time the next day to do the solar workshop, so the head of science told us the principal was going to give us the whole day, and we would split the demos and workshop.  We quickly reorganized around this model and headed back to Mahamba lodge with Sifiso after cleaning up the classroom.  

6/23/2015 - Nhlangano Day 1

We first took a quick tour of the medical center where Thandeka, Leah's college buddy, works, and then she came with us to meet her mother, one of the teachers at Nhlangano central. We were greeted warmly there by several teachers who were very happy to meet us and ushered us into the principal's office, where it was insisted that everyone have a chair despite space restrictions.  The principal took the time to graciously thank us for visiting, to talk to us about what we wanted to do and how we imagined it running, and told us with pride about his schools's motto to 'make a grade,' or, as he translated, 'to excel in all ways possible.'  We then took a tour of the school with the head of the science faculty, Leah's contact at Nhlangano, who was very excited to show us classrooms and the wood workshop where frames were being made for the solar cell workshop.  We saw the science labs where we would be working, and then were shown to a room with a nice long table and a tablecloth and lovely finger sandwiches on large plates and tea.  We had a lovely lunch with the principal and some of the teachers, and discussed our plans further as well as explained the IGERT program.  We were a bit like celebrities walking through the campus.  The students were very excited when we waved, and waved enthusiastically back, and often ran away giggling.  Others rained 'hellos' and 'how-are-yous' as we passed by.

Nhlangano has 700+ students.  The science club students were going to be joining us for the solar cell workshop.  The teachers and principal originally thought there was a limit of 20 students.  We said we had been planning on 40 and could fit more if possible.  We ended up having an audience of nearly 60 students by 1 PM, scrunched into one of the two lab classrooms.  We had until 3:20 pm, and after introducing ourselves, Rochester, and the IGERT program (Margaret), moved into talking about PV cells (Maria). We went into the basics of batteries and storage as well, and Erik moved us into the territory of reviewing the solar workshop steps we would be starting tomorrow (the wood shop needed some time to finish the frames).  It took some time for the students to warm up, but we had them asking informed questions and giving answers to ours by the end of the day.  

    

We realized that rather than do the science demos for only the science club students, we could hop around science classes during the day, doing demos across the grades. Mr. S'bane and Mr. Dlamini stayed after school with us, laying out the schedules of every group in the school to coordinate us being able to do science demos for all.  With some manipulation and promising an English lesson as well to an English teacher who's class we would be asking to take over, we were able to arrange each 'form' (grade) into one period for the next two days in the mornings:

    

We then joined Sifiso again who drove us to Mahamba Lodge, a few stone cabins by the Gorge in the mountains run by the church and community.  The rooms were nice and we were given a traditional Swazi dinner at 6 and asked to have breakfast at 6:30 in order to join the school in their morning assembly prayers at 7:20 (we'd been invited to do so and wanted to oblige).  The night sky was alive with the Milky way, and even in the sunset we could see Mars, Jupiter and the Moon over our stone cabins.  

  

After dinner, we re-organized and coordinated all of our demo plans into a program that made sense for each grade level of students.  Tomorrow will be a big day!

6/21/2015 - Swaziland Day 3: Mkhaya

Today we got up fairly early to a 7:30 breakfast to catch our ride to Mkhaya Game Reserve for endangered animals at 8:45.  Sifiso was our awesome driver who guaranteed we would have an excellent time.  I managed to catch the fourth cohort in its natural habitat today, starting in the van:

We met our guide, Sichulo (or Stew, in English, he said) who kindly informed us we were only entitled to about 1 million requests to stop per rider in the land rover.  We signed a waiver promising our firstborn children and headed into the bush!

It was quite a day, full of impala and other four-legged beasts, including wildebeests, and what Mkhaya is best known for - its rhinos.  We saw quite a few white rhinos, a couple of them even up close:

Probably the best part of the day however was the rhino fart we originally mistook for a snore - or the opening of the sausage.

Some more sunset pictures on the way home:

After dinner at Malandela's, everyone helped organize the various giveaways and sort them into bags for each school.  We discussed procedures and roles for the upcoming solar workshop and science demos at Nhlangano and then split up to review our presentations on research tomorrow at UNISWA.