Africa Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgT8byKe0qE

Here is the link for my video I made. My friends John, Dave, Ben and I all had a competition to see who could make the best video based on the material we gathered while we were here. Dave's video won by far. It was really good. I like mine though.

For some reason, there are copyright restrictions from my bungee jump preventing the first 30 seconds of the video from playing. It just shows the bridge and their slogan. There was no way around it. It takes a couple hours to export so it's not something I can easily change. Hope you like it. I will see everyone in a month!

So Much To Say

                                                               June 17, 2013 (19:40)

So I have officially been a field specialist for the past two and a half months. I’ve only had interns for the past two weeks. I liked my job before because of what I was doing and the people I was spending my time with, but now it cannot even be compared to. At least once a day, the interns and myself (there are only two of them) go to a various expedition that myself or my direct boss, Cassie Coetzee, have predetermined. We go into town, go on a hike, visit wine festivals, go to game reserves, etc. Because there are only two of them, we are allowed to cater the program to their needs. Obviously when I have eight interns next month, it will be a little different, but for right now, this has been a great transition into our program.

My two interns are very eager and receptive and after editing a paper a few times, I can really see the changes in their work. It’s actually pretty cool. I like going back and looking at the first draft in comparison to the fifth draft. The papers slowly start to get much better and I know it’s because of the help I gave them. Because there are only two of them though, they are quite busy. Cassie and I were so excited to get the program up and running that we didn’t stop to think about the workload of the interns. We have all these stories for them to write and there are times they just cannot get around to it because they are too busy. With more interns, we will be able to tailor the program to fit our needs, but for the time being, June has been a great starting month.

The best part is that I’m allowed to write as well. I can choose to write for Africa Media and gain exposure while at the same time look for freelance work on the side for cash. I’m currently organizing a photo session for bodyboarders at a local “secret” spot in Mossel Bay. A magazine in Australia called Riptide just accepted my offer for the article and I am currently working out the details. Unfortunately for me, I am at the mercy of the swell, the weather and everyone else's schedule, but I have been trying to get everyone together. This past Sunday, I had three photographers and five bodyboarders set up to visit this spot referred to as “Nowhere’s” but the waves weren’t cooperating. The spot is really cool and I’m excited to write the piece. Hopefully I’ll be able to make a little money.

Over the next couple of weeks I have so many things planned and I hope I can publish a couple of really cool articles. It’s super competitive but I think I can get a lot out of this. I’m still working on the Beyond Blue Magazine. I’m in charge of writing 8 articles within the magazine. So far I have written and completed two of them. I have been looking for more articles but I want the articles to be the “right” ones. Obviously I’m going to use these as a reference for future careers and I want them to be as good as I can possibly do. I have two of my interns working on a story each, so they currently have their plates filled to the brim. They better be working on stories as we speak!

On a non-work related topic, today is exactly one year from the day Shannon and I started dating. It’s been pretty cool to have made it this far; especially with me being in Africa for a nice chunk of it. Super excited to see her and the countdown has begun. I only have a couple more weeks until I’m back in the states anyway. When I get back, I’ll be moving to Miami with her. She recently got accepted into grad school at the University of Miami and I told her if she could put up with me being away for so long, I would definitely go back to Florida for a year. I love that state. We’re currently looking for apartments and I’m currently looking for a job down there. If anyone has any leads on a place or job, please do not hesitate to let me know. For some reason when I tell google, “I just want to write about sharks and scuba dive in the ocean,” no jobs appear. I may have to try yahoo or something.

Also! I just found out I will be driving 15 hours along the KwaZulu-Natal coast to write about and dive in the sardine run! Absolutely unreal! It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Africa Media called me today and told me they needed someone to write the story about the trip. I couldn’t have said yes quicker. For those of you who do not know what the sardine run is, let me explain.

Have you ever watched discovery or national geographic and seen those huge schools of fish where everything is attacking them? The sardines form this humongous ball as a defense mechanism and swim up the coast of Africa in search of colder water. As they do, they’re chased by common dolphins, sharks, seals, game fish and birds. Everything tries to eat them and I will be diving right in the middle of them and then writing a couple of stories about my experience. I cannot wait. This will be absolutely unbelievable. When they asked, I thought they were joking, but the head of the company specifically asked for me to come! I will be diving in the middle of blacktips, bronze wailers, dolphins, tuna, etc. If you still don’t know what I’m even talking about, here’s a link of one that happened a couple years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYl4m0xFcCU

They’re going to give me a camera and throw me in with the sharks! I cannot wait. I’ll be on the boat chasing these fish every day for the next week. I’ll be back in Mossel Bay on Monday. I’ll take lots of pictures!

Happy Father's Day

                                                June 16th 2013 (8:36 P.M.)

Hey Dad, just wanted to say Happy Father's Day! Lots to catch everyone up one. It's been a busy week with my interns and this week will be even worse. Tomorrow I plan on catching everyone up on what has been going on.

Mom and Shane: Make sure dad has a great day! Can't wait to see everyone in a couple weeks!