LB's checking in from South Africa

Junior Goalie, Laura Block has spent the Fall semester in South Africa and we want to know.....what has she been up to???

I miss you! Hope all is well at the 'Burg and you aren't causing too much trouble. Just kidding. Can't wait to see all of you soon!

I am at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa, on the Eastern Cape, about and hour and a half outside of Port Elizabeth and I live by myself.

The best part of South Afirca, aside from traveling of course is volunteering. I volunteer in the township at least twice a week at two community centers. The first place, St. Mary's, is a center for the most impoverished children in the part of the district reserved for "coloureds" during apartheid. At St. Mary's I work with the U.S. NGO One Laptop Per Child, which gives all the kids at the center computers on which I mostly attempt to teach them basic skills. The second center is a place called Ragalan Road, which is an afterschool program for HIV orphans who are raising themselves and their siblings in the township. The kids are ages 6-14, all speak Xhosa, that language with all the clicks in it, which is really hard to learn, but the kids are the most amazing people ever! We do art projects and play those recess and PE games you miss most from elementary school. I even taught them Wizards, Midgets and Giants, thank you Hilton Head Spring Break!

The food is a little dissappointinig, but South Africa has a lot of Indian influence, and it's cheap so we often grab takeout. The best drink by far is a Cider called Hunter's Dry. Good stuff!

When I leave I will miss all the freedom I have here, the friends I've made, and mostly, waking up everyday not knowing what's going to happen, who I'm going to meet or what adventure awaits...

Hey LB, What are you looking forward to most about coming home?

I can't wait to see Kristen Krammer's beautiful face!