Oh Africa

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

            Another crazy week! Friday, Good Friday, we do not have school and we wont again until May! But that’s awesome because us girls still have places we want to go!

            VG only had 9 school days from last break until this one, so it’s been pretty busy in every part of the school. The girls work really hard though, and as always, they are the politest group of young ladies I have seen. I truly love these girls. I’m also really starting to realize that I’m going to have to say goodbye, not for another couple of weeks, but still. I have only 10 more school days with them even though I have a little under a month until I leave. But I really love teaching these girls. They’re smart and they have a great sense of humor. The only problem I occasionally have is class talking, but it really has never been unmanageable and also, these girls are just physically louder than me. But I’m definitely a match for them when I need to be ;)

            Last weekend the Matric girls (seniors) had their version of prom. They call it a Matric Farewell, or MF. LOVE IT! I was so excited to see what it was all about and had my outfit picked (out of a sparse selection….) out way before. I work with a lot of the Matric girls in choir and voice lessons, and the grade 11 girls put the dance on for the Matrics. The girls in the hostel are also all grades 11 and 12. So everywhere I went there was MF talk. And before I continue with dance deets, I have to say, South Africans have by far, BY FAR, the best footwear I have ever seen. They have creative sandals down to an art. And I’ve never seen so many girls wear and work glitter stilettos on cobblestone before. Girls after my own heart!

            But my register class (like homeroom) is a grade 11 so I was all in the know about what was planned. But nothing prepared me for the transformation their Hall took. It was incredible. They have someone come in and they call it draping, but it was like a beautiful black tent. You couldn’t tell that we were in the Hall, it was ridiculous! And the dresses the girls wear! They are all interesting. And I was really impressed to find out that lots of these gorgeous dresses are either made by the girl’s mom or ‘granny’; or that the girls design their dress and find someone to make it. Some are bought, but it’s very hard to tell the difference. But lots of bright colors, some traditional African prints, and lots of fabulous shoes.

            The other thing I love about teaching in Africa is that you really get to do it all ~ which as a double major is definitely what I love. Friday afternoon, one of the teachers comes up to me and asks if I can waltz. I’m not going to lie to you blog, I had no idea why she was asking this and I might have just said yes. Well the next period I find myself in front of almost 100 Matric girls trying to teach them how to Waltz. Just ridiculous. And by the end we were beating the one, two, three on a djembe, which kinda felt like butchering 2 arts simultaneously. But I was so proud at the dance when they all waltzed the first dance. Also, as a side note I have a wonderful handout I created on the box step, if anyone’s interested…

            The next Monday, after school, the girls put on a fashion show for anyone who wants to come. It is like Grand March here, only it’s a separate event. They do their hair and makeup all again and get dressed up and then they walk through the school’s courtyard. It was so pretty and so nice ~very tasteful. They played Norah Jones in the background and had tea and biscuits (the usual after event treat) with the families after the show.

            Yesterday, we went to the Victoria Primary School to see their grade 4- 7 concert of Wind in the Willows. I was super excited. First, because Emily works with the girls in the concert. And second because I was really interested to see how these types of concerts differ to ones in the States. Turns out theirs aren’t that much of a difference, but the show was so cute. The whole school works on this concert and it really showed. From the costumes to the animal makeup on every student, it was fabulous. They also added a lot of little parts in order to include more students, which I thought was very nice. The have the younger grades concert at another time in the year.

            The other day I discovered the school’s Library. It’s my new hangout when I have an open period. But when I saw it I literally felt like Belle from Beauty and the Beast.

            So it’s now into autumn here and it’s starting to get cold. Also, people are starting to get sick, me included. I already have extreme allergies here, apparently Grahmstown has a super high pollen count, but I also think I’m reacting to something in the Hostel, because I have never had seasonal allergies ever before. I’m not looking forward to Choir rehearsal though with the voice I currently have. And it’s the whole group today; that’s over 100 students. UGH! Oh well, we will make it through. I am having them sing Seasons of Love from Rent. They are really starting to sound nice on it.

Monday, May 2, 2011

            Well, it’s the end of another break – this one over a week long.  For Easter we went on a safari at Addo Elephant Park with one of the teachers Heather and I work with. She’s super nice and it was a blast having her drive around in the school’s bus/van. And she knows so much and all the Afrikaans names of the animals. She also happens to be an animal spotting champion! We saw lots of animals, and lots of elephants!!!! Nina’s fav animal is the elephant so I was really excited to go there and get some good pics. They just are walking around the park. No big deal. Also, equally important to the elephant, the protected dung beetle. We would actually stop at big piles of poo and check to see if we could see any dung beetles in action. We had to check a lot of piles, but eventually we spotted some. Also, there was some crazy swerving on the road to avoid them (it’s really bad to run them over). I feel like we each should have a couple dung beetles cleaning up after us and wouldn’t that help with a lot of waste problems.

            Later in the week us girls rented a car and drove to a really big pineapple. That’s just what it’s called, the ‘Big Pineapple’. After seeing it, I think it must have been what inspired Sponge Bob Square pants.  It is also a pineapple farm. I really thought pineapples grew on trees, but alas, just like money, they do not. Or at least not all varieties do. They had these tiny little pink pineapple type things. Apparently they are flowers, they were called the love something. I can’t remember, but they were so pretty I bought one for 4 Rand and it’s currently sitting right by bed. It’s supposed to bloom for 6 weeks and then dry like that. I wonder if I can bring that home?

            We also went to Boknes beach that day. Emily had been there on a field trip with her girls and said it was just beautiful. It was gorgeous~ and it wasn’t even that nice of a day. But the beach isn’t crowded, its just long and serene and untouched. It’s been really cold lately though, so I didn’t go in the water this time. I started meandering down the beach, and then wound up pulling away from the other girls. On the other side of the beach is a cross up on a hill. Emily was telling me that it’s Diez’s cross. The explorer? I don’t think I got his name right. But either way, some explorer landed there and it was big deal because it was a point where they discovered they could go around Africa to get to India for trading. I have no idea why, but I felt compelled to go there. I was just curious to see what it was. But this hill was so far away. So it took me an hour each way to walk through all the wind, sand, and water, it was NOT a leisurely stroll. Haha, I don’t even know if it was worth it, but I finally made it! It was definitely a workout though.

            And this past weekend we went to Hogsback, which is famous for supposedly being the place that inspired Tolkien to write the Lord of the Rings books. So we watched one of the movies before we left to get in the spirit J It really was amazing. Just thinking about the drive makes me carsick again though ~ all those swervy mountain roads, barf! I kept on thinking ‘how am I going to make it to North Carolina!?!?’. Ugh, that’s going to be rough weekend.

            Anyways, at Hogsback we stayed at this backpackers called ‘Away with the Fairies’ which was very cool. Parts of it just cracked me up though. Like the lady there was telling us that there is bath overlooking the mountains if we wanted to soak and watch the sunset. Which sounds amazing! But like I although I knew it wouldn’t be an infinipool or whatever, I was not picturing an actual bathtub wedged out there. Like someone’s crappy old bathtub out there, haha, so Africa. But I mean that lady didn’t lie, you could take a bath out there I guess.

            She also told us there was a lookout on one of the paths that was great to watch the sunset on as well. She suggested we grab a beer and go on up. Well we do that and get to the treehouse, and it really is just that. Forty feet up a ladder is a platform in a tree. I’m not afraid of heights, but this climb was a little terrifying. You have to switch ladders halfway too, and as you’re going up you see these sticks holding things up… oh AFRICA! But we sat up there until we were so cold we couldn’t take it and then climbed down. We were all so worried it was going to be sososo cold that night, but it turns out it was way nicer and warmer than even the hostel is.

            Okay, here’s a side rant about the Hostel. Now that it’s Fall going into Winter over here, it gets pretty cold at night. And being a Minnesota girl, I think I’m pretty cold tolerant. But the Hostel has is a new version of cold. I swear its warmer outside than inside that hostel at nights. The last week I slept in my dressy sweater (cause it’s the only sweater I brought), a t-shirt, my fleece polo, plants, my Uggs, scarf and two blankets and both Heather and I were so cold we couldn’t sleep. Just ridiculous. We finally broke down and bought a heater cause we just couldn’t take it. I don’t even like being in the Hostel during the day now because it’s still so cold. We also had to downgrade to a new room. It was a den, but if you take out the couch and add a bed, it’s a bedroom, viola! So now we have no sink, refrigerator, or toilet. Africa gets more and more tricky as time goes by haha.

            Back to Hogsback! We got to go on lots of hikes and see three different waterfalls. It was very pretty and it did feel magical. I kept thinking more about Ferngully then Lord of the Rings though. Maybe it was all the Fairy references at the backpackers. We had some adventures, some mud slips, some driving escapades, and some really good food.

Some of the pretty birds we saw. 

Black Swans!!!

A sneaky monkey looking into a kitchen window.

            So that was my past week. I have 12 days until I fly home. I am so excited, I miss my family and Mark so much. But it’s going to be a whirlwind when I get home, so I’m a little overwhelmed about that. Until then, it’s a beautiful day, I’m wearing a sundress, and drinking a smoothie in my favorite place to eat in South Africa, Café D’vine. It’s a good day. Hopefully I find Internet soon to load this onto the blog page. 

Cape Town Holiday

Monday, April 11, 2011

            It had been such a while since I last wrote. Whoops, maybe I’m not very good at this blogging thing. It doesn’t help that internet is scarce over here.  

            But so much has happened in the past couple weeks, its just crazy ~ Africa and life are crazy! I will be spending my summer in North Carolina where my boyfriend Mark has gotten an internship! I am so proud and excited to spend the summer with him, but we leave a week after I get back from SA. So that’s not as cool. But I have one more student teaching placement in the fall so Mark and I will probably be apart then as well, so I’m just going to enjoy my summer with him. I already have come up with a name for my summer wardrobe collection. SANC couture. A South African influence on a newcomer in the Southern States. Like much?!

            As far as school here at VG (Victoria Girls) it is absolutely ridiculous. Today is the start of their term 2 (like their second quarter) so the girls are all riled up about that. Then the Matric dance is this weekend (it’s like prom for the grade 12 girls) so all these girls are getting their hair did ~ it is horrible for me because whenever they add braids or undo them the girls look soooo different. And to think I thought names were hard before! Also, the month of April has holiday from April 1-11 (which we just got back from!) and then we have 9 days of school and then Easter holiday, which is even longer! So teachers are scrambling to teach material and girls are just literally screaming at each other in delight when they see their friends are back from vacay. The hostel was so ridiculously loud last night. It feels so funny to be back at school with everyone already counting down the days till the next holiday.

            But I must tell you about my previous holiday. It was our big trip into Cape Town! Cape town is about 12 hours away from Grahmstown. So we rented our car, which was just again, ridiculous. It was bright red with racing strips. It screamed American. Driving was its own challenge and the fact that we made it a whole entire week without any accidents is a miracle I truly thank divine spirits for. Emily was the only one who kind of knew how to drive a manual (cause they only drive manuals here – and they also drive on the wrong side of the road). Kathleen and I both learned, but …. Emily really picked it up by the end of the week. She had to do all our city driving. But we definitely had some issues where people came to our rescue. We almost drove over the edge of a ledge because we couldn’t reverse it soon enough and without being slamming the person behind us. But a parking attendant helped us out, thank goodness! We also got stuck in a festival crowd because we always start with a jolt and we didn’t want to run anyone over! It was pretty much a spectacle. Whenever we would drive our long distances where we didn’t think we would have to do as much Kathleen or I would drive. But Kathleen never really mastered driving on the other side of the road, and I can’t come to a complete stop without stalling ~ its lucky there aren’t a lot of cops here, lets just say that.

            But we made it! And it was amazingly beautiful! We drove inland on our way there and it would be like mountains on one side of us and desert on the other. On the way back we drove the garden route, which is kinda along the coasts, so it was ocean on one side, mountains on the other. Just gorgeous.

            We went on a treetop canopy tour, which is like zip lining. I thought it would be more thrilling, but it was actually quite peaceful. It was really pretty, just not scary at all. We were up in the super old and tall trees and I felt like a zip-lining Pocahontas. It was so incredibly beautiful. We got to stand in a super tall yellow wood tree, and that was cool because they are heavily protected in SA because it’s the national tree.

            We then stayed at a really unique backpackers place. It was crappy in a cool way, the dude running it was named Riann and he was the receptionist/cook/guide/and a total hippie. But the whole place was on top of a hill so the sunrise the next morning was so vivid.

            The next day we toured the Cango Caves, which were cool to walk around in, and then we went to an ostrich farm. The ostrich farm was neat because first, I’ve never seen so many ostriches before, and also they are as my grandma would say ‘goofy looking!’ The ostriches used to be raised for their feathers back in the day, but now they are used for their eggs and meat. I got to ride an ostrich as well, it was weird because they have such huge powerful legs and then their wings are like how chicken wings are, just weird! And they’re fast.

            We made it to Cape Town and our hotel we stayed in was right in the heart of downtown and right by the Green Market Square. This Green market is an open-air market where the vendors set up and take down their stuff everyday. They also start setting up at 5 am every morning and it’s very loud so we wound up going to bed VERY early almost every night.  The market is where I bought a lot of the gifts I’m bringing home for my fam. But these people jack up the prices since they all barter to try to get people to pay more. It makes me wonder what I got that was actually a good deal and what wasn’t. So like I bought a djembe (I know right! How am I going to bring that home!) and at first their price was 900 Rand, but I didn’t want to pay more than $50 so I said my budget was 250 Rand. They pretend to be offended and go on about how their brother made such and such – which at first I bought into, but literally you start seeing the exact same things at some of these booths. These people are tricky and they know it and you know it. Ugh. One seller wouldn’t go down past 450. So I walked away and went to the next guy. Heather and I both bought a drum so we were able to talk him down to 300 Rand ~ that’s like $45! Yay!

            While in Cape Town we went to Robben Island, which used to be a prison. Nelson Mandela was imprisoned there for I think like 18 years or something. They show you his cell and other famous political prisoners, who were kept in solitary confinement so they couldn’t rile people up. It was cool to see all that but it was a little weird. First off, when we took the ferry over to the island the sea was super rough so I was so ready to get off that boat. Then they bus you around the island (people still live there, not as prisoners though) but the tour guide was creepy and kept hitting on people. And at one part of the tour they have a former inmate talk to you, but you could tell he didn’t want to talk about like his personal experience at all. Which I can understand, but then why is he working there. Either way it was cool and weird to think that they only finally stopped using it as a prison in 1996 (I think).

            Another day we rode the cable cars up to the top of Table Mountain. You can hike up but it takes a couple hours and its so hot here! There were crazy views from the top of the mountain, and because it’s flat on top you can walk around on up there for quite a while. The whole city of Cape Town on one side and ocean views on the other.

            Later that day we went to Vergelegan Wine Estate, which I had randomly picked out of like 80 vineyards in the area to tour. It turned out to be like the second oldest Wine Estate in SA and it was so ritzy and picturesque. Also it was interesting. I’ve only toured breweries before, so it was interesting to see the difference between how wine in made and beer. Parts of it are pretty similar. I didn’t realize that the wood they store wine in has such an important factor in the aging process. We tasted wines after and one of them was white, I forget what kind, but it had hints of green peppers in it and I could actually taste it. I have some beautiful pics of the grounds.

            The other really cool thing we did was take a tour around the whole Cape Point. Our guide, John, was really neat to listen to as well. The main thing I really realized on this tour we did is that Africa definitely has its poor people, we saw a ton of townships and some of them are LESS than slanting shacks. But there are also rich people, and lots of them. I feel like in the states we have poor people, rich people, but most are middle class people. In South Africa, there are lots of rich people, lots of well off people, lots of middle class, lots of lower class, and lots of townships. It’s all over and it’s just simply how it is here. Even though the Apartheid was over a while ago, its still black people living in townships. Oh, and I didn’t realize but black and colored people are different groups of peoples here. So there are colored townships, which are ‘bush’ people or people who are indigenous to SA. It’s very complex and it is very interesting to hear things about their government, which is new as well. SA became a country in 1996. I have heard lots of people here compare SA with the States in the 90’s, and I think it is a good comparison. It is interesting to hear what people think about their government and to kind of hear the beginning of problems that we now have in the states. For instance, standardized testing is huge in the States. I mean, some teachers salary will literally depend on how well their students performed on one national test. It’s ridic. In the States it feels like the only things you can teach are whatever will be on that test. And subjects that aren’t on the test, like music and art are being cut sometimes. I get both sides, but it’s still getting intense. Here in SA they are starting on that. Like they have tests that they take very VERY seriously, but it hasn’t gotten to the point that teacher will ONLY teach to the standards represented on the test. But eventually it will. With what teachers have said and looking at the standards (music standards) myself it is a developing process (which is good) but you wonder how it’s going to turn out. Will they let it go down so that they only ‘teach to the tests?’

            I digress. But we also got to go to the Cape of Good Hope which a lot of people think is the most southernest point of SA (which is wrong) and where the Indian and Atlantic Ocean meet (also wrong).  It is amazing though, and quite a climb to the top. Very windy, very dramatic! We also toured around and went to Boulder beach. This was probably my fav part of the trip. Boulder beach is a beach filled with Jackass Penguins. And that’s really what they’re called, but if you’re in fourth grade and not allowed to say that word…. You may call them South African penguins, but that’s not nearly as cool. They really do sound like donkeys! But they were so cute; they waddled around and they would stand or sleep by their mates (for life, how cute!). I saw a little baby, it really just looked like a puff of grey feathers. There was a boardwalk so you could walk a little above the penguins while they went on doing their own thing. So ridic though.

            Oh and I also bungee jumped from the highest bungee jump in the world. I wasn’t scared until I jumped down and felt that free fall take over. The guys working up top bring you to the edge and count you down and if you don’t jump they push you. I knew I wanted to jump on my own so once they got to one I made sure to look like I was moving. I jumped how they told me to and I remember screaming and hearing it echo back in the gorge below and thinking ‘ah, that’s my voice’. The second part of that first terrifying fall was very cool though. I was probably still screaming, but I felt amazing! I was able to enjoy the rushing sense and freedom of falling for that long.

Also, I’ve decided to start putting up a list in case you all want to start speaking SA English. I’m starting to get hooked on izzit?!

Robots= traffic lights

Just now=later

Now now=almost right now

Later=much much later, like next week maybe

Izzit?=really? (I get this one way too much from teenage girls)

Shame= means the same thing in the US but they use it ALL the time here

Naughty= mean, bad. They never use the word mean unless its like ‘what             do you mean?’

Plunger=French press

Rubber=eraser

Jumping from the highest Bungee Spot in the WORLD!

Vergelegan Wine Estate

On top of Table Mountain looking over Cape Town

Treetop Canopy Tour ~ Zip-lining!

Cango Caves

What they call the ostrich 'neck massage'. A little intense for me. 

Cruising past seal island, those are seals back there!

At the Kirschenbosch Gardens

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

            This week has been crazy so far! But I’ll start with my first weekend experience out of Grahamstown.

            I was so excited to see more of SA. I love it here. It is a gorgeous place and the people are amazing. If it weren’t for missing my family I would feel like it’s a new kind of home. I feel like every moment in SA is an adventure.

            But this weekend all the COST students went to Kenton on Sea, which is a town. We rented a beach house and went to the beach. It was my first time swimming in an ocean (this was the Indian Ocean) and it was so fabulous! It was a perfect day and the water wasn’t cold at all. I totally forgot that oceans have salt water though, and after a couple minutes I was like “oh my god, am I like sweating in my mouth or something” and then I figured it out. So stupid.

            We had brought food to barbeque that night and I made salsa with a super potent red onion and the dullest knife I have ever seen. But everything was super good and it was a beautiful night out.

            The next day we woke up early and we had plans to go to Kwantu game reserve and do a safari. I was so excited! But as we walked out to our van that we had rented to get around, we found that someone had smashed a rock through the back and the whole back window was shattered! The other students were just shocked and really upset about it. It is too bad and it almost affected our safari plans, but these things happen all the time, even in the States. The only thing stolen was a pair of tennis shoes. That was extremely lucky since one of the girls left their purse in the van up front. Thankfully, it was not taken. It is crazy to think that some people are so poor here that they would break into a van to steal an old pair of tennis shoes, but that is the case. But when you’re traveling you really should take extra precautions, duh!

            The cops had to come to get a report for the beach house lady, who was just in shock at this happening to us. What I find interesting is that they all seem more worried about how this makes South Africa look than sometimes even how it might affect them personally.

            Apparently it takes police a long time to do anything, and you do not see them very much around here, so we had to wait awhile and were late to our safari. We also got very lost. It was hilarious and such a tedious drive, with the back window gone and driving on a lot of dirt roads, we were completely covered with dirt when we arrived. It was such a gross feeling.

            Kwantu was amazing though. We saw giraffes, zebras, springbok (SA national animal), and other animals. We did not see any of the Big Five in the safari, but after we got to go through the reserve’s rehabilitation center. They had white lions, a cheetah, tigers, and lots of other lions. My absolute favorite part was when we went past an enclosure that said ‘Cubs Crib’. There were two little 5-month-old tiger cubs and our safari guide said we could go in and play with them! It was soooooo cool! I actually have little scratches on my arm from a tiger kitten! I got baby tiger kisses and one sucked my thumb! So cute!

            This week I also experienced a day without electricity. I think the longest I have ever been without power in the States is like an hour or two, tops. And that’s like if there is a storm or something. And even then we have generators. But here I guess it is not uncommon for the power to be out in the city, and for several days. Apparently the government does this to random cities to save power and money. It was crazy to see everyone just keep on with their lives. I don’t know if Americans could. I did not realize how many things I took for granted either. I had to teach a lesson that day and had to think how I would teach my music lesson on Eine Kleine without any photocopies or music. It was kind of a cool experience for me.

The classroom I teach in!

At the beach holding a snail thing!

Some naughty person broke into our cool rental van...

Giraffes on the Safari

Baby tigers!

            The girls also had their ‘Gala’ yesterday. It is like an all school swimming meet. A lot of girls here are afraid to swim and I loved that the school had beginner races as well. It was a beautiful day out and I got to be a timekeeper and be right in the thick of it all. It was a fun and sunny afternoon!

The first week

Sunday, March 13, 2011

            This is my first blog post! Before I begin I have to thank my sister Nina for creating it for me, what a sweetie! Also, here’s a shout out to my sister Nessa and Mrs. Harrington’s fourth grade class. I hope I can spark your interest in South Africa, it truly is a beautiful place! I know very little about it though, so it makes me feel infinitely better thinking that I am learning along with someone else J

            About a year ago, I found a COST poster (the program I am doing this whole adventure through – it stands for Consortium of Overseas Student Teachers) and on a whim made up my mind that this was something I wanted to do. To get my teaching degree I have to do three, 9-week placements and it just seemed like a really amazing opportunity. Besides, who doesn’t want to learn about and teach music in a foreign place?!

            Well, I have been here a week and I cannot believe it. I left the Minneapolis airport last Sunday at 2:30 pm. It was so hard to say goodbye to my family. So hard. I had to take three different planes and a shuttle to get to my school. I flew to Atlanta, Georgia, (where I met my roommate) and then to Johannesburg, SA and finally landed in Port Elizabeth, SA. That’s like 20 hours on a plane! The Joburg airport was scary. It is such a big city and some people are so poor, that even people who work at the airport hound you for money and tips and do not leave you alone. And airports can be hectic enough! When I landed in Port Elizabeth, my first thought stepping off the plane into the open air, was that it smelled exactly like a greenhouse. It smelled AMAZING!

            A guy named JC picked us up from the Port Elizabeth airport and shuttled us to Grahmstown and to my supervisor’s house. It was an hour and half drive late at night. The big things I noticed during this whole time was how I knew all the songs on the radio (all the current pop songs we listen to here), and how people drive on the wrong side of the road! I kept forgetting that we were the wrong side and it felt so weird whenever a car passed us going the other way. It was crazy!

           

            My first few days at the hostel were hard. Just because I felt very homesick. The room we were put in is very nice and the two house matrons have been so accommodating to us. The first night we were there, one of them took us with her family to the grocery store to get water and a few basics. It was our first tour of the town and it seemed overwhelming. The only thing I don’t like about staying in the hostel is that the Internet is extremely slow and limited. We aren’t able to skype. I was really relying on that. And the hostel only has 5 computers in it, if they are all working. So it is difficult to find a computer to even email and message, because the girls have work to do on them as well.

            But in retrospect and now that I am not having hourly peaks of panic at the thought of 10 weeks of homesickness, I am very content with the way things will work out. By living in the hostel and eating, sleeping, and living with the girls, I am having a much more authentic SA stay. It is definitely an eye opener to see that the Victoria Girls High School (the school I’m at) has just two small computer labs in it, and this is a very good school in the country. The school itself is very beautiful. It is a large brick building and the grounds and building are beautiful and historic. The school is over a hundred years old. It is an all girl school, but it still counts as a public school here. I asked a student about it and she was telling me that although they still have to pay 10,000 Rand a year to attend (if they are boarders they would have the hostel fee as well) they have papers from the government and the government pays most of the teachers their salaries. Where a private school here would cost up to 100,000 Rand (without hostel fees) and gets no money from the government.

            The girls are great. They are overall (for being high school girls) very well behaved and super polite. I was asking some of them what they think of their school and about it being all girls and they all said the same thing. They are all extremely proud of their school; it is one of the best in the country. Every year they score 100% on their Matric tests (the final tests the senior girls take). They have a ton of co-curriculars offered and the girls are all required to participate in at least 3 hours of co-curriculars a week. The girls also said they like that their school is not co-ed. They said it wouldn’t be the same. One girl said that everyone here has goals (like future careers and school) and that they all want the same thing, but if boys were mixed in it would probably be different.

            Although I agree entirely with what the girls said, I was not thinking they would feel that way. I thought they would all be boy crazy and wish they got to interact with them more. And after seeing their reaction at the ‘super cute’ new student teacher that walked through the door, they are definitely boy crazy, but apparently realize in school they have a good atmosphere going without them.

            This past weekend I got to explore the town with the other COST students. It is essentially a college town (and it qualifies as a town because it has a cathedral, very important). Rhodes University is right down the street from VGH. It reminds me a lot of my college and town, River Falls. Although there is a community and population without the college, you find that the university adds a lot of dynamic to the town.

            Main Street is really only a couple of blocks away from the hostel if you walk down some alleys. These alleys are fine in the daytime, but everyone keeps telling us not to go walking down unlit roads after dark. Which makes sense in lots of places, but I will definitely follow advice here. Main Street has Checkers (a Walgreens type store), clothes, stores, restaurants and some other random stores. It’s very nice. It really reminds me a lot of back home. There are a few disconnects; like if you leave a restaurant with a doggie bag, the leftovers won’t make it home. Or people asking you for spare change. It isn’t everywhere you go and look, but there are poor people here, they are a part of the community.

            If we walk about 10 minutes from our hostel we reach a type of outdoor mall area. There is a discount movie theater, pharmacy, KFC (which is so funny because its HUGE, like couches inside and everything), and Pick and Pay (a grocery store that has a better selection of food than Checkers). Since my roommate and I have to buy bottled water, there is also a place where you can just bring bottles and refill them and it costs less then. Although their water is safe to drink, we would get sick a few times adjusting to the water and since we are only here for 10 weeks it doesn’t seem worth it.

            We saw the movie ‘Black Swan’ on Saturday afternoon and it was funny seeing that movie in SA. I remember seeing it in the States and then after watching it in SA and stepping back out into, you know, Africa after the movie was funny.

            The absolute best part of my weekend though, was finally being able to Skype my boyfriend. The only place my roommate and I have been able to Skype is from my supervisor’s house.  So we were finally able to get there this weekend and I feel so much better after having talked with him. Ever since then I have felt like I can absolutely do this!

Monday, March 14, 2011

            I have had a great day! The weather was beautiful, warm for most of the afternoon but not that unbearable dead heat. And Boudina worked out my timetable (schedule) with me today so I mostly know what I’ll be doing! I’ll be observing and working with all three different music teachers in their different classes and giving clarinet, marimba, and voice lessons. Perfect! I love having direction! Also for my co-curriculars (which every teacher has to participate in, they are like extra-curriculars) I will be working with the choirs and the marimba band. It’s a lot of time, but I’m so excited for it!

            Also I am subbing for my mentor teacher, Ms. J, the next two weeks. So some things I will teach, but also I guess just kind of baby-sit the other classes. I have some tests to give and some things to work on them with though, so I’m okay definitely okay with it. Both my mentor and Boudina have been so helpful in making sure I don’t feel overwhelmed, which is very nice of them.

            I am also getting to know my way around the school. And hostel. And Grahmstown, so I am starting to feel much more comfortable here. Today I was able to navigate myself back to the staff room every single time! Small victory, but especially in a foreign place I am learning to appreciate the small victories, like finding the right adaptor, or liking the hostel food that night, or even being able to at least Facebook chat. Skype is still a no go, and I tried it at the school today and it didn’t work there either. So I’ll only be able to skype Wednesday nights at my supervisor’s house. But I’ll get by J

           Today after school I went to my first choir rehearsals. I love the girl’s voices. Some of the girls can sing so extremely low and strong. Sometimes they even sing the baritone and tenor parts, they can sing anything! I sang with them today and it was really fun. Except when they sing in Xhosa, then I can’t sing with. I’m still trying to say Xhosa. There’s a click sound where the X is, I can’t quite manage to do it all at once yet, but I’m going to get it one of these days.  It’s an extremely interesting language to listen to though. It was neat seeing the choir director in action too. But I find him hard to understand. He has a heavy accent and sometimes he talks to the girls in Zulu and Xhosa. He might not even know he is doing it; today a girl in 11 music was reading aloud and said one word in Xhosa by accident and every single girl and the teacher started laughing hysterically. I didn’t get the joke of course, but it’s funny when the girls catch themselves or others doing that.

           Today I went to Checkers, it’s like a Walgreen’s type place, and bought a sleeping bag. It cost 100 Rand, which is around like $15. Crazy, right? I mean, it isn’t the best sleeping bag ever made, but the blanket the hostel gave us is scratchy and when you shake it stuff falls out, and I’m not liking that! Also, I can use this when we go on weekend trips. Yay!

  
          I am so excited to start traveling and seeing more of South Africa. All the girls keep asking me what I’ve seen of it so far, even though they know I just got here. I think that happens because a lot of them, especially the boarders (girls that live in the hostel) are from other places, like Port Elizabeth, and they want to know what you think of their hometown. It makes sense though. If someone from South Africa came to Saint Michael, MN, I would want them to explore the rest of the country and even state more.

            So far the COST students are planning on going to the beach and a game reserve to do a safari this weekend. So excited!!! 

Inside our hostel room (dorm)

at the Botanical garden

My roommate and I at the Founders day concert ~ the girls were AMAZING!

A note and flowers from our super awesome coodinator, Boudina