So my last stop is Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth. I will be staying here for a while, working with members of the Education department -- one of the largest in the country. The focus of my collaboration is providing support to rural and township schools by providing computers and internet service. (I will go into more detail on that later.) It is very different living in my own apartment on a modern (and racially integrated) university campus. I get the best of both worlds, really, because I will still be working in a township school during the day, but I get to come home to my own place.
Warning in English, Afrikaans, and Xhosa. One of the first things I was told when I got to campus was to keep my windows closed so the monkeys don't come in during the day. I thought it was a joke, but apparently not. For some reason I am quite amused by the unruly monkey population that inhabits the campus. I don't know if any of them have ever graduated, but they certainly seem to be mocking us from the trees. It helps one keep a healthy perspective.
