Always an Adventure

It’s strange to be writing this blog post from Michigan.  I’ve been back for almost an entire week!  Before I forget, here is a summary of my last few days in Cape Town:

Thursday and Friday were my last two days in the classroom.  It was bittersweet as I started saying goodbye to the kids and packing up to leave my host family.  My last day was a short one (Fridays always are) and felt like one big farewell.  At the beginning of the day, the kids were giving me all sorts of parting gifts – lots of sweets, a South Africa mug, pictures, a beautiful carved wooden giraffe, and endless handmade cards and big hugs.  Three of my girls even serenaded me with Celine Dion’s “Because You Loved Me.”  It really was the sweetest thing – I wish I had it on tape, but they surprised me.  We took a class picture, which I will treasure forever, and I gave the students their individual pictures that I developed.  They all wanted me to sign the back, which was very cute – I felt like a celebrity!  At the end of the day, the Belvue staff threw us a farewell party, complete with four seats of honor and a delicious meal!  The faculty we worked with sent us with their best wishes and presented us with our own Belvue school jackets and framed “The best teachers teach from the heart” photo!  I will truly miss all of the students and faculty at Belvue.  I could not have asked for a better experience and I hope to keep those connections alive as I continue teaching in Michigan.

On Friday night, our entire study abroad group went to the Western Province versus Sharks rugby game at Newlands stadium!  It was a miserable, rainy night, but, luckily we had covered seats – nosebleed seats, but covered nonetheless!  Those rugby players play in any weather!  It was a fun time, but kind of a confusing game to follow.  Even the diehard sports fans had trouble understanding.  We were cheering for Western Province – “WP Jou Lekker Ding!”  Unfortunately, they lost by two points.

Saturday was our last day with our host families.  We were to meet back at Deo Gratia late in the afternoon.  Kristin and I spent most of our morning packing and working on assignments for our graduate courses.  It was a pretty cold day and it was nice to just sit by the fire and relax.  Luckily packing was much easier than it was 6 weeks ago because I had unloaded all of those school supplies!  Beverley and her friends took Kristin and I back to Deo around 4pm.  We said goodbye to the Valentines, but unfortunately, Chamelle, Andrea, and Seth weren’t home!  We were really sad to head out without saying our last goodbyes.  Kristin and I were the first to arrive at Deo and quickly claimed our beds in the main house.  It wasn’t long before others started to arrive and, although we had planned on a productive evening of homework, most of us ended up chatting the night away.  Corvell ordered in pizza for dinner and we had our final group reflection of our teaching experiences.

Sunday was the last full day in Cape Town for most of us.  We started off the morning with plans to taste some wines at Ernie Els (where the Bachelor proposed!), but sadly, we arrived to closed gates.  So we continued onto our next destination, which was back to Green Market Square to buy our last souvenirs and gifts.  We also went to another little flea market and back to the Waterfront for more shopping.  We had a delicious “last supper” at Cattle Baron, where we were joined by both Corvell’s and Johnny’s families.  Johnny’s five-year-old son was a great source of entertainment – I think the highlight was his dance routine to Shakira’s “Waka Waka” (his favorite song).

Monday was another errand-running and hang-out day.  All but four of our group were flying out at some point that day.  My flight wasn’t until 11:35pm, so I spent the day packing and walking around the mall (figured I’d have plenty of time to sit on the plane!).  Unfortunately, my cold had escalated over the weekend and I was feeling pretty lousy.  While everyone else was on the search for last-minute gifts and snacks for the plane, I was all about finding some drugs since I’d been using other people’s for the last several days.  Wisely, as the girl who is always sick, I brought a total of two Sudafed pills to get me through the entire trip.  Smart.  So I finally picked some cold medicine up at the pharmacy in the mall.  Surprisingly, it wasn’t an easy thing to find!  South Africans are all about the liquid medicine, vapors, and dissolvable drink tablets – none of which I would be able to bring on the plane with me!  Finally, an employee directed me to Cold Atak.  “Get rid of your cold 3 TIMES FASTER!” it said on the package.  So that got me through the plane ride home, although the rest is sitting in my garbage can because it didn’t do much of anything for me.  Sudafed is where it’s at.  Corvell spent the day driving groups of us to the airport to catch our flights.  Michelle was the first to go, followed a few hours later by Lauren, Kristin, Marleigha, and Abby.  It was starting to get pretty quiet around Deo – but at least that meant I finally got some work done!  My 11:35 group was scheduled to leave Deo around 7pm to ensure plenty of time to get to the airport and check in.  Unfortunately, Corvell and Johnny were still stuck in traffic from dropping the last group off and we were all nervous about being late.  Thankfully, we were able to leave a little after 7:30, crammed our luggage in one van and all 12 of us in the other, and made it to the airport with time to spare – and it’s a good thing because we had a less-than-pleasant check-in experience!

My host family, the Valentines, were there to send me off at the airport – just like my American family had on the way there!  The whole gang, minus Tyrone, was there.  Even Seth in his pjs and robe!  I was so happy to get to say goodbye to Chamelle, Andrea, and Seth since we hadn’t seen them on Saturday.  They stayed for quite a while, making sure I was taken care of (read below), and then we gave our final hugs and goodbyes.  They were such a great family to live with and Kristin and I had a blast getting to know them for the last month.  I am forever grateful for their welcoming hearts and all that we learned while living and interacting with them.  Andrea’s already talking about coming to America when she’s older – so maybe I’ll get to reciprocate by hosting her : )

Checking our luggage at the airport was a little bit chaotic.  I packed exactly the same as I had for my trip to Cape Town, but my bags were a little lighter because of all the supplies I had unloaded.  So there were no problems with the weight limit for my two checked bags and I had my small suitcase and backpack to carry on.  Unfortunately, we were flying with KLM and not Delta – KLM was the CPT to AMS flight, Delta was AMS to DTW.  Well, unbeknownst to us, KLM has a different carry-on policy than Delta.  You are only allowed one.  Backpacks do not count as personal items unless it only has your laptop in it.  Stupid.  It was all just very confusing because a few of us had been told different things, allowed two carry-ons, had our bags approved, etc.  Finally, we went to talk to the manager and staff who checked us in, who explained the policy.  We were still confused about why we were told different things at check-in, but they (particularly one MEAN employee) insisted that we would not be allowed onto the plane with two bags.  She said she would be the one at the gate and we wouldn’t make it past her.  MEAN!  We were told we would need to pay to check another bag.  Fine, I thought.  It’s not a big deal, my small suitcase was well-packed, I would just check it.  Wrong.  Note to future KLM travelers: checking a third bag costs 200 U.S. dollars.

So, we went back to the group to try to figure out what to do (since there were only about three of us with this problem).  We were talking about sending things with the group that left the next day, repacking our things so everything fit into one suitcase – it was stressful.  Then, someone noticed that the KLM meanie wasn’t at security!  We should just go now and see if they’ll let us through – it was genius!  We said quick goodbyes to the rest of the group and Corvell and headed for security.  To my surprise, we made it through without a hitch!  I was sweating bullets and probably looked like a criminal, so it’s a miracle they didn’t stop me!  Relieved that we all made it through, we found our gate, browsed through some of the stores, and then… realized we still had to make it through the boarding gate.  THAT is where the meanie meant she would stop us!  Ugh what a pain.  Now, Corvell and the rest of the group were gone and I was sure the KLM lady was going to arrest us as the boarding gate.  We staggered ourselves in line, thinking we’d draw less attention, and hoped for the best.  We sound like criminals, right?!  They had two lines at the gate and 3-4 KLM workers, so I stayed as far from the meanie as I could.  Luckily, I had sneakily managed to get ‘approved’ tags on both of my carry-ons before security, so I had an out, but they really weren’t both supposed to be approved.  I was so nervous as I got closer to the counter.  There was a really tall woman in front of me, so I literally hid behind her, with my backpack turned away from the meanie.  Praise the Lord that KLM meanie was distracted when I got to the boarding desk and I handed my pass to the worker, who didn’t give it a second look, and practically bolted down the gate and onto the plane.  All of us got through without any trouble – go figure.  We literally collapsed into our seats and waited for our hearts to stop racing.

Once we took off, it was smooth sailing.  Ironically, one of the movies offered was African Cats – the Disney nature film!  I had been wanting to see this since it came out, so Megan D., Kayla, and I watched the film as we flew away from the place it was filmed (technically it was filmed in Kenya, but South Africa’s on the same continent, at least).  It was a really good movie, by the way.  Other than that, we attempted to sleep for most of the first flight (11.5 hours to Amsterdam).   Unfortunately, like I said, that Cold Atak medicine did next to nothing for me, so I spent most of the flight sniffling, blowing my nose, coughing, and chilled.  Kayla and Megan were troppers for sitting next to me.  I used all of Megan’s Kleenex and at one point asked the flight attendant if she had more.  A few minutes later she returned with a stack of 30+ paper towels – well, I guess that will do.

We had a very short layover in Amsterdam, ran into no trouble there (I love Delta), and boarded our final flight to Detroit.  I had intended to work on my computer and finish the last of my assignments, but I was literally in so much pain from my cold.  Flying with a cold is a bad idea – avoid it, if you can.  I thought my head was going to explode from the inside out.  So I spend about 30 minutes doing work and then slept and watched movies for the rest of the flight – Country Strong and Soul Surfer this time.  Both good picks.  I definitely recommend Soul Surfer, but I’m glad I watched it AFTER shark-cage diving, rather than before!

We finally arrived in Detroit around 3:45pm on Tuesday (22 hours after our departure).  It took some time to get through customs and get our luggage, but my parents were there waiting when I finally got to the waiting area!  It was good to see them, but I was so sick and exhausted, I pretty much dumped my luggage on them and fell asleep in the car at the first chance.  I had dinner and unpacked a little bit when I got home, but I literally couldn’t keep my eyes open, so went to bed early.  Unfortunately, the next morning, I had to drive up to Lansing to clean out last year’s apartment since our lease was up that day!  After that, things finally calmed down and I’ve been resting up ever since!  That cold of mine quickly turned into a sinus infection, which I am still battling a week and a half later : ( But hopefully, I’ll be back to normal soon – I’m ready to show my pictures and see everyone I’ve missed this summer!

The past six weeks were truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.  I learned a lot about myself as a person and as a teacher and know this experience will continue to benefit me throughout my career.  I made a lot of connections in South Africa that I hope to maintain and gained a lot of new friends on the trip.  They are some of the greatest people I know and I can’t wait for all of the laughs and stories we’ll share at our next reunion.  I owe a huge thank you to my parents and everyone else who helped support me on this trip.  Your confidence and encouragement was heartwarming and helped me feel closer to home.  I loved getting all of your emails, even if I didn’t respond to every one.  I am so thankful to have all of you in my life and am lucky to have been able to share this experience with you!

I think that about wraps up this adventure!  Next up: first grade.  I may have to start another blog with stories from my internship year... should be an adventure!

How to Speak "South African"

Well, my time in South Africa has come to an end.  My flight leaves tonight at 11:30pm (5:30pm Michigan time) and I will be arriving in Detroit at 4:00pm on Tuesday!  I am so excited to see everyone when I get back, but I am sad to leave this country and all of my new friends behind.  I will update about my last few days when I get back to Michigan, but for now, here is a fun little blog about South African lingo.

Let me start by saying that “South African” is not a language... I am not that naïve.  This country has 11 official languages, with the most prominent in the Cape Town area being English, Afrikaans, and isiXhosa.  However, the everyday language of South Africa often combines these languages and other slang lingo that you may find somewhat humorous:

• Any food that is tasty or an event that you might describe as “cool” or “sweet” is lekker.  As in “That party was lekker!”  Or, as one student asked Kristin and I, “Is it lekker to be American?” 
• Traffic lights are called robots.  As in “He just went through a red robot!” 
• The appropriate response instead of “Really?” is “Izit?” (Is it) with a falling intonation.  As in “We saw baboons on the side of the road!” “Izit?” Yes, it really is. 
• It is more common to hear “must” than “need to” or “have to.”  As in, “Ok we must go.” 
• A common reaction of surprise, such as “Wow!” or “No way,” is “Yo!”  As in “Look at this picture of Miss holding a snake.” “Yooooooo!” 
• Instead of saying “Aw that’s too bad,” South Africans often say “Shame!”  As in, “Well, they were late to their ziplining appointment, so they didn’t get to go.” “Shame!” 
• Rather than “going to get something,” South Africans “fetch” things.  As in, “Go fetch me that pan.” 
• You don’t text – you SMS.  As in “SMS me when you know the time.” 
• Candy is usually called sweets. 
• The subject of math is called maths – plural. 
• It’s not uncommon to refer to someone as man.  As in, “No, man! It’s not time for interval, sit back down!” or "No, man! I'd never go bungy jumping!"
• A koki is a marker or felt-tip pen, kind of like a sharpie. 
• “Just now” means later, not “right now.”  As in “I’ll call you back just now.”  You’ll be waiting a while. 
• French fries are chips.  And every single meal comes with chips.  Actual chips, like Americans think of them, are crisps. 
• My students call the number zero, “naught.”  This is hard to get used to when teaching. 
• In math, the place values are referred to as units, tens, hundreds, etc.  I am used to saying ones, tens, hundreds.  Again, confusing when teaching. 
• Lastly, how would you pronounce the U2 singer, Bono’s, name?  If I’m not mistaken, Americans say “BON-o.”  Well, in South Africa, it’s “BONE-o!”

So, if you ever come to Cape Town, stick to this guide and you’ll fit right in!  My next post will be from Michigan!  Goodbye for now!

Jack Hannah, Animal Adventures

What a weekend!  This really was the weekend trip that all of us were looking forward to – our last hoorah before we fly out next week.  On Friday, Johnny picked us up for our 5-6 hour trek out to Sedgefield, where we stayed at the Afrovibe Adventure Lodge.  It reminded us all of being at camp as little kids, complete with 12 girls sleeping in bunk beds in the same room.  It was a very rainy day, but it stopped shortly after we arrived and didn’t rain for the rest of the weekend!  They had a bonfire going, which kept us warm, and the lodge was located along a little stretch of beach, which we took a little stroll along before dinner.  After dinner, we were treated to two chocolate cakes made by Nate’s host mom!  That and some Milo (similar to hot chocolate) made for a relaxing night together.  I truly love everyone in our group – we have so much fun catching up on our weekend reunions.  We were all exhausted after a day of travelling and we had an early morning (keep reading!), so we hit the sack pretty early.

On Saturday morning, breakfast was at 7am (so much for sleeping in)!  Our choice was museli (a combination of granola, oats, fruit, and nuts) and yogurt or eggs and bacon.  I opted for the museli for breakfast... it’s my new favorite thing!  We had to leave early on Saturday so we could drive out to the Eastern Cape to go BUNGY JUMPING!!!  What a way to start the day!  12 from our group of 16 jumped from the highest bungy bridge in the world (including me!).  It was insane!  We got all harnessed up (you do wear a waist and shoulder harness as back up) and then walked out to the infamous Bloukrans Bridge.  Our walk included a very sketchy looking walking bridge, which was honestly scarier than the jump – it was like walking on wire mesh above nothing but trees and mountains.  Then, we all stood on a big platform underneath the bridge and waited, one by one, for our turn to jump (or be pushed…) off.  Unfortunately, Kristin was randomly chosen to go first!  We were all so scared for her!  The bungy workers are crazy!  They play loud party music and dance and jump around the whole time – it pumps you up, but everyone was all nerves!  My turn came about halfway through the group and I had had the chance to perfect my jumping technique by watching everyone else.  I wasn’t nearly as scared as I thought I would be.  I was so ready to go.  Mind you, I haven’t done anything like this in my life before, but apparently I have turned a new daredevil leaf while in South Africa.  So they tied my ankles up, told me I was “100% safe” and helped me hop over to the jumping ledge.  You have to put your toes OVER the edge and then they hold onto your arms (which are out like a bird), count down from 5, and give you a push if you haven’t jumped yet.  I was determined to jump on my own accord, rather than wimp out and be pushed… and surprisingly I did!  They got to one and I just pushed off with my feet, spread my arms, and did my best swan dive off of the world’s highest bungy bridge!  I didn’t even scream – just took a deep breath in and made up my mind to jump.  It was incredible!  After jumping, you free fall for about 5 seconds, a distance of 216 meters (709 feet)!  I kept my eyes open and the view was breathtaking – although it’s hard to appreciate the mountains and river when you’re freefalling through the air.  Then you bounce up and down 4-5 times and end up hanging there upside down until they send a guy down to get you.  That was probably the scariest part because you are just dangling by your ankles and spinning and feeling like you could drop into the mountains at any second.  I bought a video of my jump, so I will have to show all of you when I get back home!  I also got a shirt from the bungy place that says “Face Fear” and on the back it says “Fear is temporary.  Regret is forever.”  I think this is my new life motto. 

Believe it or not, our day wasn’t over after bungy jumping!  Next, we went to the Featherbed Nature Reserve, where we took a (very cold) ferry trip out to the Knysna Heads (part of the Outeniqua Mountains) and went on a short hike.  The mountains were beautiful and we got to use a walking stick on this hike.  I kind of felt like Moses, but I could have used one of those things on Table Mountain!  We saw a neat cave and crashing waves in the bay area.  Another great hike for the South Africa crew!  We went back to Afrovibe and had a braai for dinner – it’s like a barbeque.  We had chicken, porkchops, and beef sausage.

On Sunday, we packed up and headed to Oudtshoorn for the next two days.  We spent the whole day at the Botlierskop Game Farm, starting with a 3-hour safari.  It was really cold out, but we had blankets for the ride.  We got to see elephants, water buffalo, zebras, giraffes, rhinoceros, and different antelope.  It was crazy!  The rhinos got so close to our safari truck!  Then the safari took us to the lion reserve, which had three lions (2 female, 1 male).  We literally drove the truck right into the enclosure!  One lion came right toward the truck and the driver had to scare it away – I think it was ready to attack us.  But they were so pretty!  I’ve never been so close to lions!  Did you know they sleep for 22 hours a day?  After the safari, we had lunch and then got to ride the elephants!  Two people rode on one elephant.  There was a dad (Sam), mama (Tsotsi), and baby Tshima (4 years old).  Kayla and I rode on Tsotsi together while Caitlin and Erin rode on Sam, and it was quite an experience!  They are so high up, but it wasn’t all that different from riding a horse.  You sit on a “saddle” and I couldn’t even touch the elephant from where I was sitting.  But I got to feel its ear after the ride and elephant skin is so weird!  It’s 3 cm thick – the said the elephant didn’t feel anything even though two of us plus the guide were on top of it!  Tshima followed his mama the whole time and it was really cute.

When we finally went to leave... our red van (Stephanie) had a flat tire.  Bummer.  So we hung around for a while, while Johnny and Corvell put on the spare.  Then we were on our way... until the spare tire went flat about 10 minutes later.  So then, Stephanie was stranded on the side of the dirt road and half of us went in the white van (Daphne) to find a gas station that could repair the tire so we could get to our next hostel in Oudtshoorn.  This all took quite some time, but we had some good tunes in Daphne.  Our theme song for the night was “Dirt Road Anthem” by Jason Aldean... “Chillin’ on a dirt road, laid back, swervin’ like I’m George Jones...”  Finally, we were on our way and made the drive to our next accommodations – Backpacker’s Paradise.  I thought this was a pretty nice place, but I had the nicer room with 10 or so of the girls.  We went out to Spur (our third time this trip!) for a late dinner around 9:00!  Most of us got quesadillas... we’re all missing that Mexican food since they don’t really have it here!

On Monday, breakfast again was either eggs and bacon or museli.  But this time, the eggs were not chicken eggs... they were ostrich eggs!  Ostrich eggs are enormous and equivalent to about 18 chicken eggs!  I actually bought a hallowed out ostrich egg there to show how big and indestructible they are.  There were mixed feeling on the ostrich egg... I should have tried it, but I stuck to my museli.  Then we were off to Cango Caves, where we were given the option of going on the Standard or Adventure Tour.  Regretfully, I went on the standard tour, which was neat, but really not adventurous at all.  But I still had fun with Michelle, Megan D., and Caitlin – my fellow claustrophobics!  It was about an hour-long walk through the cave, which was paved and flat.  We got to see some very cool stalactites and stalagmites and the large rooms even used to be used for concerts!  The natural beauty is amazing!  Those on the Adventure Tour did a lot more crawling and squeezing through small spaces.  There’s even a part called the Letter Box, where they wiggled their way through a 10.5 inch opening!  I wasn’t feeling the tight spaces, but I kind of wish I’d don’t the Adventure Tour.  See, my shirt is right... “Fear is temporary. Regret is forever.”

After caving, we were off to the Cango Wildlife Ranch!  Here we went on a guided tour around the reserve where we saw weird birds, bats, a hog (Pumba!), an ugly Cape Vulture, a stork, some lemurs, flamingos, crocodiles, otters, a hippo, cheetas, lions, baby Bengal Tigers, and leopards!  Then we had the opportunity to go in and “encounter” the cheetahs or tigers!  Kristin and I went in with the baby cheetahs (9 months old).  We got to pet Lea for a while and have our photo taken... Lusi wasn’t as friendly, so she just hung out in the corner.  It was so soft!  And Lea just lay there, purring and purring – like a big old cat!  The cheetah guy even told me to put my head down right by Lea’s head and took a picture!  Eek, my head was within inches of a cheetah’s mouth!  After that, I was still feeling like a wimp for chickening out on the Adventure Tour, so I went in for the Snake Encounter.  Yes siree, I held an 18-pound Albino Burmese Python!  I told you, I turned a daredevil leaf!  It’s like I was Jack Hannah, Animal Adventurer! 

Then we went back for another braai.  This time, the choice of meat was ostrich.  Marleigha and I split the ostrich and vegetarian meal of spinach/feta pie.  They were both really good!  The ostrich was best on a kabob, but the sausage was ok, too.  Then we went back to our little lounge area, rearranged the couches, snuggled up with some blankets, and curled up for 27 Dresses.  Us girls were feeling the need for a good chic flick – the boys opted out.

Tuesday was another day of driving.  We started off going to an Ostrich Farm, where we were all hoping to share the experience of riding ostriches.  Sadly, it didn’t work out and only four of us were allowed to go.  So Jamie, Megan D., Abby, and Kristin literally rode on ostriches!  They said it was just bizarre.  The rest of us were bummed, but honestly, we can’t complain after a weekend like that!  The drive home was long, but I slept for most of us.  We made a stop at McDonald’s for lunch, had a short reflection, and then were dropped back off at our families’ homes!  It was nice to be back and unpack all of our stuff – I’m sick of living out of a suitcase!  Kristin and I showed our family the bungy videos, which they got a kick out of.

Today (Wednesday), it was back to Belvue for our last three days!  My mentor teacher was out today, so I had the class to myself.  Quite a few kids were absent, so it was an easier day, although the kids were rowdy after a long weekend (it was Women’s Day on Tuesday).  They finished up the Afrikaans Alphabet book for me and I did a lot of writing with them.  I had them write letters to a character in Charlotte’s Web and we did a comparison of different Cinderella stories.  We also played math bingo!  To top it off, it we had a birthday in the class and her parents came by with treats for the whole class!  I also took individual pictures with the students, which I am going to develop and give to them on my last day.  I just love them! 

Well, we are off to Jazz Night again at Grand West!  Only a few more days at school and with our host families before we head back to Deo Gratia for our last weekend as a group.  It’s going to be a sad week, but we’ll be home in less than a week!  I can’t wait to see you all!  More pictures are posted on facebook – you don’t need to have an account to view them.  Click on the links: Album 1, Album 2, Album 3.

School Field Trips

Last time I wrote, we were getting ready for our overnight trip to Friday Island in Langebaan.  What a fun weekend it was!  We were picked up on Saturday morning by Johnny, our chauffeur.  Since they were an hour and a half late (that’s South Africa time for you!), we got to watch some rubgy on tv – Springboks v. New Zealand.  We’re Springbok fans over here – Kristin even has a jacket!  Our group is scheduled to go see the Western Province team play next week.

Langebaan is about two hours away from Cape Town, but I came prepared with my ipod and belted out some Sugarland with my girl, Karen.  We made a halfway stop at !Khwa tuu, San Cultural & Educational Centre.  The San people are the indigenous people of southern Africa and there are still about 6,700 San people living in South Africa.  We had a short lecture on their culture and language, where we learned the five clicks of the San languages (the ! in front of !Khwa is one of those clicks).  You should have seen us contorting our faces and trying to make those sounds with our tongues!  Good thing I’m not San or I’d have a major speech impediment!  We took a tour of the nature reserve and saw a replica of a San village.  We saw some of the clothing they wore, how they made jewelry from broken ostrich eggs, and how they started fires with sticks!  We learned how the hunter-gatherers used prints to track animals and how they made their arrows for hunting.  We even got to see some Springboks, zebras, ostriches, and other animals from our tractor ride.  We also saw a big turtle in the road and I got to hold it.  I’m not a reptile person, but this turtle was really cute!  Our San village tour was very interesting, but we were glad we had a beach house waiting instead of staying in the San huts for the night!

Friday Island is the name of the resort we stayed at on Saturday night – doesn’t that just sound like paradise?  It was right on a beautiful stretch of beach along the Atlantic Ocean.  We were put up in large two-person rooms and what a treat that was – no bunk beds for us this time!  We made it just in time to dip our toes in the water (some crazies even went swimming!) and watch the sunset.  We had dinner and drinks at the resort and then lay on the beach, watching shooting stars.  It was a fun, carefree night with good friends.

On Sunday, we had a delicious breakfast, looking out onto the ocean.  Then we were off to the West Coast Fossil Park where we learned about the animals that lived in the area 5 million years ago.  We got to see the actual excavation site and the bones of extinct animals like the short-necked giraffe and the African bear.  It was really interesting to hear about how different the land was in that time!  We even got to search through the sifting screens for bones – I found a fossil of a little reptile (a frog, I think?).  I missed my calling as an archaeologist!  We also got a tour of their museum and saw a lot of different fossils of reptiles, seals, sharks, rhinos, even the rib of a whale!  After our trip back in time, we headed to the West Coast Farmstall, where we saw some parrots and other birds.  The parrot even talked – it said “Hello!”

Monday was back to school!  The kids started making me an Afrikaans Alphabet book – each one is making a page for one letter or number.  I’m going to laminate and bind it when I get back to the states and use it with my students.  It’s going to be such a great keepsake!

On Tuesday, we took a break from Belvue and went to a different primary school in Durbanville.  Kenridge is probably the largest elementary school I’ve ever seen... it was more like a small college campus.  They accommodate 1,500 students in grades 1-7!  The upper and lower grades are housed in separate buildings.  It is a primarily white school, although there were a few coloured and black students in the class I observed.  It reminded me very much of schools in Clarkston, Rochester, Haslett, etc.  I spent most of the day in a grade 2 class, which was very fun, but also very different from what I’ve experienced at Belvue over the past few weeks.  As a white school during apartheid, Kenridge was more privileged in terms of resources and academics and evidence of that remains today.  School fees are a topic of interest here and seem to correlate closely with the resources and “quality” of education.  Very unlike the U.S., parents must pay an annual fee for their children’s public education.  Higher fees allow schools to purchase extra supplies, hire more qualified teachers, and provide other resources characteristic of privileged schools.  As a measure of comparison, the annual fee is 10,980 rand ($1600) at Kenridge and 750 rand ($110) at Belvue.  You can imagine the difference with that kind of revenue.  The teachers’ lounge at Kenridge had self-serve coffee and tea, plenty of tables surrounded by couches, and even a grand piano!  I accompanied the students to PE class which was in an enormous gymnasium, complete with mats, obstacle course equipment, a balance beam, ballet bars, and a stage.  The classroom I was in was also beautifully supplied with a computer, projector, two large white boards, a printer, paper cutter, and individual student whiteboards.  On each desk were several holders full of scissors, rulers, colored pencils, crayons, and highlighters in every color imaginable.  A teacher’s dream classroom!  The class sizes are also much smaller, with a maximum of 30 students in each class (the average at Belvue is about 35-40).  The grade 2 students end at 1:00 (it’s still strange to me that the younger students get out early, which is typical here), so I was also able to observe a grade 3 class for a short time.  Then we were given a tour of the school where we saw the library, art room, music rooms, computer lab, pool, rugby fields, netball courts, and special education classrooms.  It is a beautiful school, but it was difficult to compare it to Belvue and other schools just a few miles down the road.  It was also interesting to talk to the teachers and hear about their experiences and perspective of the school.

On Wednesday, we took another field trip to some nearby schools.  We started the day at Eurecon Primary.  On the way to the school, the principal drove us through Malawi Camp, which is a township we drive past on the way to Belvue.  We saw up-close the shanty houses that the people have built for themselves (as we did on our township tour a couple of weeks ago) and the principal explained that most Cape Town residents haven’t even been IN the actual townships, although they see them every day.  Some of the students at Eurecon live in Malawi Camp, although the majority live in the Cape Flats.  When we arrived at the school, Corvell met us there with several boxes of supplies that we all brought from the U.S.  Eurecon serves a very poor community and the donations were much appreciated.  As a comparison, the annual fee at Eurecon is 200 rand ($30), but the principal struggles to get half that.  We took a quick tour of the school and spoke with some of the students and classroom teachers.  We saw the students getting their meal of soup and bread that morning – the principal told us that some children probably come to school just to get food.  It is a great service that Eurecon is able to provide to their students, but it strangely reminded me of a soup kitchen, which was so unlike any school I’ve been to before.  Despite the children’s home lives, Eurecon is a very hopeful school and provides a quality education with the resources they have.  90-95% of the classroom materials are paid for out of the teachers’ pockets.  We visited the classroom of one superstar teacher, filled with a host of resources, posters, books, and educational materials.  You would never have guessed she works at such an underprivileged school.  We also stopped by Care Beares Educare, a small preschool with children ranging in age from 2-6.  The kids were very sweet and we had a chance to see where education really starts.

In the afternoon, we headed off to The Settlers’ High School in Bellville.  Wednesday was a truly contrasting day as Settlers is an incredibly nice facility, with fees at 12,000 rand ($1800) per year.  It was a former Model C (white) school during apartheid, but what I found interesting is that its student population is primarily coloured now because all of the white families fled during integration.  The school serves about 1200 students, grades 8-12.  The average class size is 30.  The premises were just gorgeous and I felt more like I was entering a hotel than a high school.  The newer additions to the school were the most shocking, while the classrooms seemed quite typical, although fully resourced.  We had a meeting with the principal when we arrived where he gave us the history of the school, serving us juice and muffins.  We then toured the school grounds and spent the rest of the afternoon in classrooms.  I was in a math classroom, first with grade 12 students and then with grade 9s.  I was able to talk with the first group and they were very curious about American schools and my experiences.  It was neat to answer questions other than “Do you know Miley Cyrus?” (like some of the little ones ask).  And I got to see a student teacher do a lesson on the Pythagorean Theorem – I’m missing all that algebra and trig! 

What is amazing to me is that all of these schools – Belvue, Kenridge, Eurecon, Settlers – are within 8 miles of each other.  Of course, there are similar contrasts in the U.S. with very wealthy communities just outside of poor inner-cities, but the degree of inequality here is on another level.  None of us were excited to leave Belvue for two whole days, but I’m really glad that we got to witness the contrasting environments in the area.  It’s hard to even describe the drastic differences between the schools and communities we visited – what they might call “the legacy of apartheid.”  We all talked about how even though schools like Kenridge and Settlers have everything a teacher could wish for, we would prefer to work at schools like Belvue.  Most the kids at Kenridge and Settlers will turn out just fine regardless of whether you are there or not.  As teachers, you have the potential to make more of a difference at schools like Belvue, even if it is a more challenging environment. 

On Wednesday afternoon, we went back to Belvue after school to see the grade 7 girls compete in a game of netball at the neighboring high school.  From what I understand, it seems comparable it basketball.  They were playing a team from London, England, believe it or not!  Our Belvue girls lost, but it was fun to support the students and learn about a new sport.  Then, at night, Tyrone and Chamelle drove us to meet up with a few of our American friends at Grand West (the place to be for all things entertainment).  It was open-mic jazz night and we heard some really talented contestants.  We might have to go back next week!

On Thursday, we were so happy to be back teaching at Belvue!  I was with my grade 3 students all day, who I am quickly growing to adore.  It’s tearing me up to think I only have three school days left with them next week.  I got so many hugs yesterday to make up for the two days I didn’t see them!

Last night, we went home with Michelle and Lauren because we carpooled to our group outing which was.... a game of cricket!  We hung out at their house for a while, playing with their little “nephews” and watching Oprah.  We enjoyed a delicious meal of chicken pie, veggies, and sweet potatoes and then we were off to the indoor cricket arena!  When we arrived, Corvell literally threw us on the court (field?), gave two people a bat, and told the rest of us to play the field.  We were so confused.... Should we catch the ball?  What do we do with it?  Can we tag them out?  Where are they supposed to hit the ball?  Wait, how did they get points?  No instructions whatsoever.  We slowly came to understand the game as Corvell and Dominic clarified certain rules throughout, but I’m sure the professionals on the other courts were annoyed by us.  I started in the field (my terminology is so off, here), which I was horrible at... but I actually caught a ball in the air once and I think that was a good thing!  I was able to pitch (I believe they say “bowl”) semi-successfully, too – the ball at least made it to the batter.  It must have been all those years of T-ball and softball (the last time I played was probably 4^th grade).  Batting was not so successful.  I think I have a lack of hand-eye coordination... and poor eyesight.  But at least I never got hit with the ball!  The guys (and our MSU softball superstar, Karen) wailed on the ball.  A certain victim (Caitlin) left our match with a nice welt on her thigh – the size of a cricket ball (she’s ok, though).

The weather has been really cold the last couple of days!  Tuesday was a record high, but then a cold front moved in and we’ve been piling on the layers and sitting by the fireplace at home.  This morning, we are off to George (near the Eastern Cape) for an adventurous five-day weekend!  We’ve kind of been left in the dark, but I know we are going to have a blast!  We’ll be back on Tuesday night for our last few days at our hosts and schools.  We were shocked to realize we arrived exactly a month ago yesterday (Thursday)!  Trying to treasure every minute as we prepare to leave in less than two weeks!