Friday 7 June 2013

The Final Blog

6 months after leaving the continent of Africa, and over a year since my last post, I have decided to do this blog justice and finish it off in style. The final 7 months at Waterford were well, tough. Assignment after assignment, mock exams and tests and assessments.
Cape Town was AWESOME!!

The dreaded Extended Essay was due in May. The Extended Essay is basically the IB saying that 6 tough subjects (all with internal assessments) and Theory of Knowledge, 200 compulsory action, creativity and service hours was not enough, and they should make its students write a 4000 word essay which needed deep research and in which one hint of plagiarism could cost you your diploma (as happened to a friend.)

It’s probably better that this is written in hindsight; the language might not have been so mild if this was being written last year.


Hitler
We were due to go on a sports tour to Botswana, and arrive back the day it was due. Only 4 IB2s ended up going, with just me and Stephen on the sevens team. It's a 14 hour bus ride to Botswana, and once in Botswana we got a police escort from the border to our hotel in Gabarone! (The capital)

We did remarkably well, winning one and losing one against both opposition schools, one of which was the best in Botswana. My EE was handed in one day after the deadline, and my last contact with the blasted thing was being hit over the head with it by the IB coordinator. Pretty fitting, really.

When we came back, Stephen and I found that our rooms had switched around. Literally all our belongings, had switched rooms, and we were too lazy to ever switch back. Eventually, even the school roster registered our switched rooms. I’m willing to admit it was the best prank I’ve ever been part of.

The hours crawled but the days flew, and soon it was midterm. Needing a break, many of us took refuge in Maputo, Mozambique, 5 hours away from Mbabane. I think the best thing about Maputo was that it was by the SEA! Coming from Fiji, I did not realize before leaving how much I would miss it. Maputo was heaps of fun, whether it was drinking tea at a streetside restaurant for 5 hours or drinking cocktails on the beach or getting the chance to wear t-shirt and shorts while in nearby Swaziland temperatures were constantly below 10 degrees.


Pep talk before a match
I did keep up with tango, and what started as a curiosity ended up as being great fun and a hobby and something I can keep with me from my epic maths teacher! We had another performance, though I didn't have as big a role.

Warthogs DON’T like it when you come near them, eve
n if you didn’t see them, especially mothers with their kids.

As the depressingly cold winter came to an end, the holidays approached, and I was due for another round of Zimbabwe with Emily. Getting there proved a challenge, including a 14 hour wait to get through the South Africa-Zimbabwe border at Beit Bridge. No bungee jumping this time around, but studying for mock exams, a party (or three) for my 18th, and taking part in the Zimbabwe sailing championships. Ironically, I’ve spent more time sailing in ocean-challenged Zimbabwe than in the Fiji Islands

No, I don’t sail. When I say I sailed, I was lying in the boat telling stories as Emily managed the boat on her own.


whooo hooo 30 hours to Cape Town!
Term 3- mock exams. I did pretty miserably, and this caused me to lock down and study very hard for the dreaded finals.

Kyle's house was a sancturary for the rare occasions we weren't working, such as the weekend the mock exams were over. He also has a racist dog, who only attacks Black people. Seeing as I'm rather brown, noone was sure how he would react to me, though he seemed ok after getting to know me :)

 Finals made time pretty much stop, and all spare time was dedicated to studying hard. Finals came, and the three weeks and 20 papers kept me busy, though we were able to keep up our spirits. Finally- IB COMPLETE! Goodness, what a feeling. We all jumped into the pool from the exam hall. What a day. 

Post IB, there was ‘completion’ (Waterford refused to put ‘graduation on the certificates, since we hadn’t our results yet) ceremony, and the farewell was one of the saddest days of my life. 

(The second saddest was the day Andy Roddick retired,.)




Awwww... Andy Roddick :(
I did have a week in Cape Town with Emily, Kyle, Dilys and Kyle’s sister Bronwen though, and getting there was a 30 hour train ride from Johannesburg. What a place! Beautiful scenery, fun times, climbing table mountain, getting a ride around the harbour on a boat, what a dream way to end, really. My friends left and conveniently my family arrived just in time, for they too had to see a part of Africa. An experience I will never EVER forget.
If you find this you're epic
DKN

Oh, and my results? Highly satisfactory actually, best results over the two years actually. :)

We may be a UWC, but that doesn't stop pictures like this being taken

The photo pose and shoot is an inevitable part of any 14 hour bus trip

All dressed up for graduation

The rugby team in a not so frightening pose!

Leopard stares majestically over it's kingdom (a small enclosure)

If you do the IB, you must chill out anytime you can

Pajama Day at Kyle's after mock exams?

Just another way you can die in Swaziland...

Graduation

The original crew... the final minutes :(


"Zimbabwe"
Walking cheetahs, just another day in Africa!
Cheetahs walking humans

"Uh oh"


Back from Botswana, I'm about to find that my room has all of Stephen's stuff in it now, so it's no longer my room
And FINALLY, one of my favorites, right after I had completed my bungee jump at Victoria Falls :)