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!
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