Immunizations

Crystal, here!

This morning, I finished getting the immunizations that I needed for the trip.  The travel clinic that I went to made me a great traveler's resource!

Despite having a slight headache from the Hep. A shot, all went well.  AND, I was so excited to be able to take photos when traveling as I was sitting in the waiting room and was browsing the photo albums.

We are getting so close now!!!

Good Morning, South Africa!

Tonight we were on a mission to finalize plans to go on a safari at the end of our exchange in South Africa.  We were excited with our progress, but decided to make a call to South Africa to speed up the process.  Unfortunately, an 8:45 PST meant for a 6:45am call to South Africa. All of us on the conference call listened as Jamie dialed.  It was a fun moment to think we were all connected through the telephone.

A woman answered after a few rings, and Jamie says, "Hello, is this EcoBush tours?"  The answer on the line is a soft no. Jamie then goes on to ask, "Is this South Africa?"

"Why, yes it is," was the response. Thus,  the story of how Jamie prank called a very sweet morning person in South Africa at 6:45am local time.

After this, we tried again and Jamie was able to talk with the owner of Ecobush, and she even took on some of his accent.  Listening in was a pleasure, and a great foresight into the attitudes of people living in South Africa.

When we get back from South Africa, I am positive that Jamie will have the perfect accent if she ever wants to make SOuth African prank calls again. :)

Almost One Month Away...

Our team is about one month out from heading to Johannesburg.  The schedule is coming together.  We met last Sunday on January 6th at the Digital Storytelling Center in Berkeley.  The venue was great and the team had the opportunity to hear from Amy Hill about her experiences in South Africa, and she showed us some of the powerful digital stories that were made there.

Some of what we accomplished at the meeting were:

• Booking lodgings for our first few days in Johannesburg.. at Bob's Bunk House
• Planning for in-services at organizations we will be visiting with ( African Leadership Academy has confirmed with us too!)
• Updates on our Fundraising.. WE ARE ON OUR WAY TO GOAL!!
• Assigned homework assignments to research flea markets and wildlife game parks

This week we have also booked our roundtrip tickets between Johannesburg and Cape Town. Our team will not be able to have an in-person meeting this week, but we will meet over the phone.   

Watch out for an update from Crystal and Jamie about some of their experiences watching movies about how South Africa is represented in films!