Luckily, I actually slept last night. That annoying headache that you get from lack of sleep is finally gone. I woke up around 6:30 an hour before we were scheduled to be picked up, got dressed and hurried outside to enjoy the morning. It was quite cool but still pleasant. I ate my granola and was soon joined by the Marquette girls and Adam. After waiting a while, we were finally greeted by Brenda or our tour truck (not a bus but a truck). It can seat 24 people but we only have 16 which means plenty of room to stretch. I immediately went to the front because although I’ve travelled a lot by car (done it for years). I’m prone to get car sick/
Our group is an interesting one. I was surprised that there are so many older people. From front to back, there’s Kate and her mother who have been travelling around Africa for a while now, then two German girls who are in South African to volunteer, then several older couples one American, one French, and a Swiss couple. And there’s of course Adam, the Marquette girls and me.
We soon left Joburg and I enjoyed looking at the interesting landscape. It was weird because at first everything was just flat and reminded me of Illinois and their corn fields only I can’t really describe to you how it’s different. It just is. I took pictures anyway because it wasn’t what I was expecting. Then we stopped for petrol aka gas. We got out and went to the bathroom then it was back on the truck. I decided to take nap which went well. I also took notes on the trip. Then we arrived at Nalspruit for lunch. First we went to the grocery store, which was very nice. They had stuff they didn’t have in Cape Town like Frosted Mini Wheates. Then we had lunch which was lighter than I expected. It was just a sandwich and I was able to make a small salad with the lettuce, tomato, and cucumber provided. Then we were on the road again. This time the landscape got interesting and I got some great shots of the mountains and since we were close to the park we put the windows down which was great. We passed some orange trees and the smell was wonderful. I love looking at all the South African flora here because there is such a variety: pinks and purples. Beautiful flowers.
The ride just made me think about how beautiful the world is and also how small it is. I love it! I just love travelling. I now want to decide where to go next. Perhaps I’ll come back here for the world cup. That would be sweet. Or maybe I’ll visit Jane in New Zealand or perhaps Europe finally. All I know is that I’m addicted to travelling. I was just thinking about how weird its gonna be going back to Nashville and not seeing the beautiful mountains. St. Louis is even worse
Back to the trip, we finally got to Kruger and immediately spotted impala, which is sorta like a deer. It was very exciting. Then we stopped at the front gate and got out to use the toilet and I took more pictures. Then we continued on our game drive. We saw tons of impala, a giraffe and a bunch of elephants, even a little baby one. It was so cute. Then we got to the camp site where we set up camp. We were supposed to go on another game drive but we ran out of time, so instead we set up our tents, which wasn’t too difficult. Then dinner which was so good. It consisted of beef and rice and there was so much left over we were allowed to have seconds. After dinner it was bedtime.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
A Day in Jo'burg
I woke up super early this morning and I feel miles away from Cape Town, which now feels like home. I lucked out and was able to talk to Loren for a little bit before I left. I was nervous about not talking to him for five days, but now that I’m sitting her, I feel much more at ease.
Ivan picked us up around five and I was quickly reminded of the first night I arrived in Cape Town, though this time the scenery was much more familiar. Check in went on without a hitch though I did forget about my keys in my pocket and one of the security guys started engaging me in a conversation which I was trying to get through the check point. I’m still not used to that. I will be in my own little world, worrying about the next thing which in this case was just getting on the place so I could sleep when I suddenly I’m being talked to early in the morning and expected to engage. I must admit I got a little annoyed because I just wanted to sit down so I could semi-sleep but I suppose that’s a part of the American mentality: all business
The gates are all in one place, squeezed together and there are very few chairs for people to sit. But it worked fine. We first board a bus which then takes us to the plane: a very strange set up from what I’m used to. The flight was fine. I mostly slept. One thing I had noticed is that they play actual music on the plane as you board and get off the place which I love.
We land and I decide to finally open my eyes. Joburg is very ugly in comparison to CPT: no Table Mountain or any mountains at all as a matter of fact. But the airport is much nicer then what I’ve seen of CPT’s. We find our way through the airport and spot a Subway which I was so excited to see because I hadn’t seen one in CPT yet. Then we make it to where the public transport is and call for our free transport. The backpackers that we’re staying at is very close to the airport literally a stone’s throw way, but we would have never been able to find it on our own.
The guesthouse is so nice for R150/night which is under $20/night. There are three swimming pools, one small and two bigger ones, one of which has a slide and the other had a fun little island.
We check in and settle in a bit. The rooms are nice, tons of bed in one place with a kitchen, bathroom, living room: a really sweet set up for the price. I found it amusing that the kitchen was in the girl’s room but not the guys, yet the guy’s sheets were pink, purple and yellow...very masculine
Then we got sucker into going to the Apartheid Museum with this private tour guide. We had already planned to go just on our own but it worked out well. We paid only a little bit more which allowed us greater freedom.
Our guide was a proud Chinese man named Danny. Not a fan of Britain or America but a huge fan of China and the Dutch. He gave a really detailed account of the beginning of CPT which was great except for the fact that I was running on very little sleep and could barely concentrate. Needless to say, I missed some info but most of the stuff I had learned before. At one point, Danny slows down on the highway and scared the mess out of me. But he just wanted to show us the hostels that the miners used to live in, which was cool. We also got to see downtown Joburg which was surrounded by hills or perhaps they should be called mountains. Danny told us that the tallest building in Africa is located in Joburg. Then we finally got to the apartheid museum. Authestically it was hideous, all gray concentrate although there was a nice reflective pool with a Nelson Mandela quote. Again most of the info was things I already knew but seeing actual artifacts and getting a multimedia approach was nice.
One thing they did have that I want to talk about is the Nelson Mandela exhibit. I’m not a fan of idolization and I feel that that’s happened with Mandela. Now don’t get me wrong, Mandela is a hero. I’m not denying that. It’s just that people idolize everything about him and that can be cribbling. It can cause South Africans to judge everyman in comparison to Mandela and it also can prevent them from looking at his faults. But the biggest thing I don’t like about the Mandel idol is that it prevents other people’s amazing storied from being told. There are so many unsung heroes whose stories should be told, but people are so focused on Mandela that little interest is paid to others who made freedom possible in South Africa, and this is not a phenomena only occurring in South Africa. The same thing is done with MLK. I remember the absolute shock I felt when I found out the Dr. King cheated on his wife. In retrospect, I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I remember how it completely changed my view of MLK. It brought him down to earth. I blame education for that. When you learn about MLK in elementary school, you get a very black and white impression of him. But I supposed they do that with all history topics when you’re little. I hate that. The reason I love history so much is because of its complexity and I am a firm believer that a good understanding of history can help you not repeat the same mistakes.
But enough about that, I pretty much speeded through the museum because 1. I was hungry and 2. I was exhausted so reading every single word and caption was impossible. But since Adam was way behind me, I did some wandering and discovered that we had barely scratched the surface of the museum. I’m not exactly sure how that happened. I guess the set up was poorly designed or we just missed a sign. So we didn’t see the entire museum, but it was fine. We both weren’t in the best of spirits since we hadn’t eaten since early in the morning. Danny picked us up and took us back and I finally got to attack the bag of granola I brought. We were greeted this time by two Marquette girls, Rose and Nora who we didn’t know were also going on the same Kruger trip. We mostly chilled by reception, though I did wander around at one point and discovered the pool with the slide and the one with an island where the Marquette girls were chilling. I also discovered a bunny cage with two inside and one that had somehow escaped.
Then Adam and I decided to see if there way any place close by to eat. Basically it was something to do. We were in a very dull part of Joburg. It was just a surburb with tons of car dealership. So we went back and got a menu for the restaurant there. It wasn’t as cheap as I thought it was going to be, not really expensive but at the price we paid for the room I expected much less. But it doesn’t matter anyway because we ended up being invited to go with the Marquette girls for dinner with their program director’s girlfriend. She was really fun though she did scare me a couple times by running a red light. But we got to our destination, the Nelson Mandela square in one piece. It’s apparently is a very touristy area. We decided on this place that was famous for its meat. It reminded me of a classier verison of Mzoli’s. There was free bread, which was delicious and little sausages, also quite tasty. I ordered a starter portion of lamb but they apparently ignored that. The guy was a bit annoyed with us because we all pretty much ordered started. The place was pricey though and I hadn’t expected to have to pay that much. So I got way more meat than I wanted. I literally couldn’t finish it. I did finish the mashed potatoe no problem though. I was supposed to get the lamb to take home but they forgot, which I was actually ok with. I’m so over eating tons of meat. I literally can’t do it anymore especially when I don’t eat a lot of meat anymore but the last two times I ate at a restaurant, they give you way too much meat. So I think I’m going to stick with my one meal a day with meat.
On the way back, Nora started talking about “the Elders” a group of men who someone decided were. The list includes Koffi Anna, Jimmy Carter, Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu and Madiba’s wife. I thought it was first surprising that Jimmy Carter made the list. I apparently don’t know anything about Jimmy Carter like apparently he created Habitat for Humanity. Also I think it’s interesting that the list is made up of majority blacks and most of the people are from South Africa. Once we got back I wrote in my journal, then went to bed super early I think it was around 10.
Ivan picked us up around five and I was quickly reminded of the first night I arrived in Cape Town, though this time the scenery was much more familiar. Check in went on without a hitch though I did forget about my keys in my pocket and one of the security guys started engaging me in a conversation which I was trying to get through the check point. I’m still not used to that. I will be in my own little world, worrying about the next thing which in this case was just getting on the place so I could sleep when I suddenly I’m being talked to early in the morning and expected to engage. I must admit I got a little annoyed because I just wanted to sit down so I could semi-sleep but I suppose that’s a part of the American mentality: all business
The gates are all in one place, squeezed together and there are very few chairs for people to sit. But it worked fine. We first board a bus which then takes us to the plane: a very strange set up from what I’m used to. The flight was fine. I mostly slept. One thing I had noticed is that they play actual music on the plane as you board and get off the place which I love.
We land and I decide to finally open my eyes. Joburg is very ugly in comparison to CPT: no Table Mountain or any mountains at all as a matter of fact. But the airport is much nicer then what I’ve seen of CPT’s. We find our way through the airport and spot a Subway which I was so excited to see because I hadn’t seen one in CPT yet. Then we make it to where the public transport is and call for our free transport. The backpackers that we’re staying at is very close to the airport literally a stone’s throw way, but we would have never been able to find it on our own.
The guesthouse is so nice for R150/night which is under $20/night. There are three swimming pools, one small and two bigger ones, one of which has a slide and the other had a fun little island.
We check in and settle in a bit. The rooms are nice, tons of bed in one place with a kitchen, bathroom, living room: a really sweet set up for the price. I found it amusing that the kitchen was in the girl’s room but not the guys, yet the guy’s sheets were pink, purple and yellow...very masculine
Then we got sucker into going to the Apartheid Museum with this private tour guide. We had already planned to go just on our own but it worked out well. We paid only a little bit more which allowed us greater freedom.
Our guide was a proud Chinese man named Danny. Not a fan of Britain or America but a huge fan of China and the Dutch. He gave a really detailed account of the beginning of CPT which was great except for the fact that I was running on very little sleep and could barely concentrate. Needless to say, I missed some info but most of the stuff I had learned before. At one point, Danny slows down on the highway and scared the mess out of me. But he just wanted to show us the hostels that the miners used to live in, which was cool. We also got to see downtown Joburg which was surrounded by hills or perhaps they should be called mountains. Danny told us that the tallest building in Africa is located in Joburg. Then we finally got to the apartheid museum. Authestically it was hideous, all gray concentrate although there was a nice reflective pool with a Nelson Mandela quote. Again most of the info was things I already knew but seeing actual artifacts and getting a multimedia approach was nice.
One thing they did have that I want to talk about is the Nelson Mandela exhibit. I’m not a fan of idolization and I feel that that’s happened with Mandela. Now don’t get me wrong, Mandela is a hero. I’m not denying that. It’s just that people idolize everything about him and that can be cribbling. It can cause South Africans to judge everyman in comparison to Mandela and it also can prevent them from looking at his faults. But the biggest thing I don’t like about the Mandel idol is that it prevents other people’s amazing storied from being told. There are so many unsung heroes whose stories should be told, but people are so focused on Mandela that little interest is paid to others who made freedom possible in South Africa, and this is not a phenomena only occurring in South Africa. The same thing is done with MLK. I remember the absolute shock I felt when I found out the Dr. King cheated on his wife. In retrospect, I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I remember how it completely changed my view of MLK. It brought him down to earth. I blame education for that. When you learn about MLK in elementary school, you get a very black and white impression of him. But I supposed they do that with all history topics when you’re little. I hate that. The reason I love history so much is because of its complexity and I am a firm believer that a good understanding of history can help you not repeat the same mistakes.
But enough about that, I pretty much speeded through the museum because 1. I was hungry and 2. I was exhausted so reading every single word and caption was impossible. But since Adam was way behind me, I did some wandering and discovered that we had barely scratched the surface of the museum. I’m not exactly sure how that happened. I guess the set up was poorly designed or we just missed a sign. So we didn’t see the entire museum, but it was fine. We both weren’t in the best of spirits since we hadn’t eaten since early in the morning. Danny picked us up and took us back and I finally got to attack the bag of granola I brought. We were greeted this time by two Marquette girls, Rose and Nora who we didn’t know were also going on the same Kruger trip. We mostly chilled by reception, though I did wander around at one point and discovered the pool with the slide and the one with an island where the Marquette girls were chilling. I also discovered a bunny cage with two inside and one that had somehow escaped.
Then Adam and I decided to see if there way any place close by to eat. Basically it was something to do. We were in a very dull part of Joburg. It was just a surburb with tons of car dealership. So we went back and got a menu for the restaurant there. It wasn’t as cheap as I thought it was going to be, not really expensive but at the price we paid for the room I expected much less. But it doesn’t matter anyway because we ended up being invited to go with the Marquette girls for dinner with their program director’s girlfriend. She was really fun though she did scare me a couple times by running a red light. But we got to our destination, the Nelson Mandela square in one piece. It’s apparently is a very touristy area. We decided on this place that was famous for its meat. It reminded me of a classier verison of Mzoli’s. There was free bread, which was delicious and little sausages, also quite tasty. I ordered a starter portion of lamb but they apparently ignored that. The guy was a bit annoyed with us because we all pretty much ordered started. The place was pricey though and I hadn’t expected to have to pay that much. So I got way more meat than I wanted. I literally couldn’t finish it. I did finish the mashed potatoe no problem though. I was supposed to get the lamb to take home but they forgot, which I was actually ok with. I’m so over eating tons of meat. I literally can’t do it anymore especially when I don’t eat a lot of meat anymore but the last two times I ate at a restaurant, they give you way too much meat. So I think I’m going to stick with my one meal a day with meat.
On the way back, Nora started talking about “the Elders” a group of men who someone decided were. The list includes Koffi Anna, Jimmy Carter, Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu and Madiba’s wife. I thought it was first surprising that Jimmy Carter made the list. I apparently don’t know anything about Jimmy Carter like apparently he created Habitat for Humanity. Also I think it’s interesting that the list is made up of majority blacks and most of the people are from South Africa. Once we got back I wrote in my journal, then went to bed super early I think it was around 10.
The day before the Safari
One day before my safari! I am packed and ready to go. I’m not looking forward to early flight (it leaves at 6:45) but I am looking forward to a major change in scenery. Tomorrow we get picked up at 5am and then taken to airport. From there, we fly to Joburg arriving around 9. Then I’ll probably crash. I don’t know. I haven’t been sleeping well lately so sleep is the one thing on my mind. But Adam and I are at least going to the Apartheid Museum so that should be cool. Then Monday is the big day. We get picked up around 8 and then taken to Kruger. I have deleted most of my pictures off my camera and bought tons of batteries so I should be set in terms of that.
Yesterday was a good day despite me not being able to sleep. I woke up several times during the night and finally at 8:30 I gave up and decided to make myself useful and go to the primary school. I helped the grade twos again because grade four and up were at a camp. So I helped Ramses again who has improved a lot over the weeks. He’s reading a lot faster, but I’m not sure exactly how to judge it because they all read the same book over and over so it could just be he’s memorized well. It’s hard to tell. Nonetheless it was very encouraging to see improvement.
After Ramses, I helped Tadala who struggled a lot but I love her because she’s very enthusiastic. She did pretty well too. Then I had a major change in pace with this kid Sesethu who was reading a more difficult book, which basically meant I got to hear a different story. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard about Kim and Paul and their birthday. So it was great for me to hear something different. I recall that he had trouble with the word “what” which actually Kgozi had trouble with too. I’m not a fan of that word because I have no idea how you sound it out. You can’t just say “at” and then add the “wh” sound at the beginning. It doesn’t work. The same thing goes for “could.” There is no “l” sound so it’s hard to explain. The English language is so weird. Then there’s “I’ll” also a weird word to explain.
But anyways, I watched some of the kids play during break and it was cute how excited Kgozi was to see me. I had Ramses’ books with me and he was so excited to read to me, which made me feel so honored that he would want to read with me during break while all the other kids are running around screaming. But of course, it wasn’t just him a few other boys wanted to read to me too. It was a bit overwhelming because I can only listen to one kid at a time, but it was still fun.
After going to the school, I came home and chilled, did some homework, nothing too exciting. I was planning to go to a play that Arcadia was supposed to be providing transportation too but our new student coordinator has been failing lately. Well, ok I shouldn’t say that but the same thing happened today so yeah, I’m not one to ignore the obvious. But I hope I’m wrong. I hope she’ll follow through with other activities. It is after all her first week. I should explain a little. This week Jane hired a student coordinator whose a grad student at UCT. Her name is Melangini. She seems pretty nice. I hope she knows what she’s doing.
Anyway, so instead of going to the play, I went with Amanda to this dance/play performance by kids from Khaylitsha a township outside of Cape Town. It was amazing. The singing literally gave me chills and the dancing and acting were equally incredible. I enjoyed every second of it.
Yesterday was a good day despite me not being able to sleep. I woke up several times during the night and finally at 8:30 I gave up and decided to make myself useful and go to the primary school. I helped the grade twos again because grade four and up were at a camp. So I helped Ramses again who has improved a lot over the weeks. He’s reading a lot faster, but I’m not sure exactly how to judge it because they all read the same book over and over so it could just be he’s memorized well. It’s hard to tell. Nonetheless it was very encouraging to see improvement.
After Ramses, I helped Tadala who struggled a lot but I love her because she’s very enthusiastic. She did pretty well too. Then I had a major change in pace with this kid Sesethu who was reading a more difficult book, which basically meant I got to hear a different story. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard about Kim and Paul and their birthday. So it was great for me to hear something different. I recall that he had trouble with the word “what” which actually Kgozi had trouble with too. I’m not a fan of that word because I have no idea how you sound it out. You can’t just say “at” and then add the “wh” sound at the beginning. It doesn’t work. The same thing goes for “could.” There is no “l” sound so it’s hard to explain. The English language is so weird. Then there’s “I’ll” also a weird word to explain.
But anyways, I watched some of the kids play during break and it was cute how excited Kgozi was to see me. I had Ramses’ books with me and he was so excited to read to me, which made me feel so honored that he would want to read with me during break while all the other kids are running around screaming. But of course, it wasn’t just him a few other boys wanted to read to me too. It was a bit overwhelming because I can only listen to one kid at a time, but it was still fun.
After going to the school, I came home and chilled, did some homework, nothing too exciting. I was planning to go to a play that Arcadia was supposed to be providing transportation too but our new student coordinator has been failing lately. Well, ok I shouldn’t say that but the same thing happened today so yeah, I’m not one to ignore the obvious. But I hope I’m wrong. I hope she’ll follow through with other activities. It is after all her first week. I should explain a little. This week Jane hired a student coordinator whose a grad student at UCT. Her name is Melangini. She seems pretty nice. I hope she knows what she’s doing.
Anyway, so instead of going to the play, I went with Amanda to this dance/play performance by kids from Khaylitsha a township outside of Cape Town. It was amazing. The singing literally gave me chills and the dancing and acting were equally incredible. I enjoyed every second of it.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
constantly learning
Today was my last day of classes before break! I’m getting really excited about my safari. I can’t believe it’s so soon. Last night I sent my mom more info on it and decided to read the info I was sent too. It sounds like such a blast. We get to see the third largest canyon in the world and of course tons of awesome animals. The logistics still need to be worked out like how we’re getting to the airport and how much food we need to bring for the day before the trip. We fly in Joburg on Sunday but the safari doesn’t start until Monday. I’m sure it’ll work out fine.
I only had one class today which was sweet but I had to arrive early as usual because Adam had an early class. So I went swimming and again, they were playing Bob Marley. It made me so happy even though they were some of the least popular songs, at least it’s Bob. Then class and I found out I have a test which is worth half of my semester grade. I think it’s really strange because after that we’ve basically done everything that is require of us so does that mean we’re done with class? I guess, I’ll find out later. But I’m thinking it should be pretty easy especially since I have been reviewing my notes almost everyday.
After class, I did some laundry, reading, etc before going to the primary school. The kid I helped yesterday is named Kgozi (I might be spelling it wrong), and he was excited to see me which I found a bit strange because I basically made him cry, but perhaps he was just happy to get the attention. He again had trouble with the word “want” and this time I didn’t push too much, I just told him the word but then when we got to it again, he forgot it so the technique doesn’t exactly work either. But for the most part, it was good and he did pretty well.
Then I watched one of the older girls draw. She is such a great drawer and she was asking me about American songs like the Black Eye Peas “Boom boom pow.” It’s all the rage here and she also likes the song by Kanye West something about when love knocks you down, just get back up when it knocks you down. So American culture is very popular here in case you were wondering and then she recommended some places I should go like this restaurant called Spurs and the Grand Central Arena or something like that. They have a skating rink there and also a casino. It’s apparently really nice and I have to go before I leave at least that’s what I was told. I thought it was interesting as I was watching her draw. She was drawing different people doing sports. They were all white. I just thought that was interesting especially in a country that is majority black. White still rules. It just reminded me of that experiment with the dolls way back when and all the black kids in America would want the white doll over the black one. Same thing? Maybe, maybe not. But then she said that her best colours were black and peach, which I found to be interesting. But I’m probably reading too much into that. I found it interesting all the same. Now I’m going to get some reading done so I don’t have a lot of work to do once I get back. Catch you on the flip side.
I only had one class today which was sweet but I had to arrive early as usual because Adam had an early class. So I went swimming and again, they were playing Bob Marley. It made me so happy even though they were some of the least popular songs, at least it’s Bob. Then class and I found out I have a test which is worth half of my semester grade. I think it’s really strange because after that we’ve basically done everything that is require of us so does that mean we’re done with class? I guess, I’ll find out later. But I’m thinking it should be pretty easy especially since I have been reviewing my notes almost everyday.
After class, I did some laundry, reading, etc before going to the primary school. The kid I helped yesterday is named Kgozi (I might be spelling it wrong), and he was excited to see me which I found a bit strange because I basically made him cry, but perhaps he was just happy to get the attention. He again had trouble with the word “want” and this time I didn’t push too much, I just told him the word but then when we got to it again, he forgot it so the technique doesn’t exactly work either. But for the most part, it was good and he did pretty well.
Then I watched one of the older girls draw. She is such a great drawer and she was asking me about American songs like the Black Eye Peas “Boom boom pow.” It’s all the rage here and she also likes the song by Kanye West something about when love knocks you down, just get back up when it knocks you down. So American culture is very popular here in case you were wondering and then she recommended some places I should go like this restaurant called Spurs and the Grand Central Arena or something like that. They have a skating rink there and also a casino. It’s apparently really nice and I have to go before I leave at least that’s what I was told. I thought it was interesting as I was watching her draw. She was drawing different people doing sports. They were all white. I just thought that was interesting especially in a country that is majority black. White still rules. It just reminded me of that experiment with the dolls way back when and all the black kids in America would want the white doll over the black one. Same thing? Maybe, maybe not. But then she said that her best colours were black and peach, which I found to be interesting. But I’m probably reading too much into that. I found it interesting all the same. Now I’m going to get some reading done so I don’t have a lot of work to do once I get back. Catch you on the flip side.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Best Class Ever!
I just got out of the best class ever! Today our core class was held on UCT’s campus and we learned about crime. It was really great because actually we learned about a lot more topics dealing with crime like how to act towards strangers and stuff. I know it sounds strange but I honestly don’t know what to do if a guy says to me “hey sweetie” usually I just keep walking but I wasn’t sure if that’s rude or something. But apparently that’s ok because the guy obviously are looking for something when they do that.
But back to crime, the South African prison system makes ours look like heaven. There is a huge overcrowding problem and there are little if any rehabilitation programs. Strangely, I learned that if you’re a white guy it’s safer for you if you say you’re homosexual because then you get your own room. This is because the majority of the prisoners are black (go figure, it’s the same no matter what country you’re in). And it was just great because Hailey our speaker pretty much just asked us questions like what our perceptions were of South Africa before coming here, how we felt about it, etc. It was just really cool, not just listening to a lecturer but hearing everyone’s input. I forgot how much I liked it.
For example, she asked all the black students how we felt about being the majority or just in general our experience here. Someone talked about how it was weird being black here because people will come up to you all the time and start talking in Xhosa and then when you talk they realize that you’re American and the divide that sometimes happens because of it. I remember Bianca also talked about people not believing she was black but thought instead that she was coloured, etc.
One of the most memorable thing was Toni talking about getting to know people instead of just walking by people acknowledge their presence and at least say hi. He mentioned some girl he knew that worked on the minibus which was hilarious to me because she apparently was a little white girl and the thought of her shouting out the minibus is just hilarious. Perhaps I should explain further. Minibus travel up and down Main Road and they all have someone shouting out the bus telling you where they’re going. It involves very loud yelling and whistling. They constantly are yelling at you even if you clearly don’t want to get on.
What else? Jane mentioned a case where some guy stole R1000 and had to wait six years for his trail and when he was finally sentenced he got five years. Five years after already serving six. Insanity! The whole prison system really is a brilliant scheme to keep the people down because once you’re in prison, you have that label forever and there aren’t the programs in America where certain companies will hire you, you’re basically on your own, so what else can you do but go back to crime?
We also talked about xenophobia and how really it’s more against black people because you don’t find South Africans hating Americans. On the contrary, South Africans love Americans. In addition, it’s never hatred towards white European but the black Africans who come and take jobs. So Melangini asked if it might just be a hatred towards the lower class instead of just foreigners. I don’t know I just found it interesting the complexity of the issue.
So I know that was vague and probably uninteresting but basically all you need to know is that my class was awesome and I really enjoyed listening to everyone talk and even put in my own input. The rest of the day was fine. I only had one class because my others were cancelled but then of course the one class was supposed to have lasted all of five minutes. What a waste of time. Oh well, at least I attempted to be a good student because I was thinking about not going in the first place. But I got some readings I needed plus went for a dip which of course put me in the best mood so I guess it was worth.
Now to yesterday, Tuesday. It was a good day. I only had one class. Unfortunately I was my early class but it was only one class all the same. Then I just went home and chilled. I went outside for a while and just soaked in some rays because the weather was so nice. Then off to primary school, I helped this grade one kid read and it was so sad. He actually reminded me of me when I was little and struggled to read. For the life of me, I couldn’t get him to get the word “want.” He could pronounce all the individual letters and even get “wa” and “nt” but he couldn’t seem to put them together and it just broke my heart when he started crying because of it. I felt so bad because I had been there before and know what it’s like but for whatever reason I couldn’t get him to get it. So we moved on for a while and he was fine. I really don’t understand how they learn to read because he could get words like “helicopter” but not “want.” He kept on telling me it was “went” and was so frustrated by me repeating say no it’s not “went” but still not telling him. Also he couldn’t get the word “no.” He told me it was “on.” I was able to get him to guess it my asking him about the what the book said before it but still he couldn’t sound that one out either. It also really frustrated me when the other kids tell him the words because that’s obviously not how you learn. You have to learn how to do it yourself. One of the teachers was explaining to me how he was almost a year younger than the other kids which made sense because he is so much smaller so that’s why he struggles so much. It just made me feel even worse for him. I was proud of him though. I know he tried his best and I can understand his frustration with it.
After helping this student read, I went outside and watched some of the kids play. I have no idea what they were playing. It involved a soccer ball but it wasn’t soccer. It sort of reminded me of dodge ball and kickball. But anyways, I recognized one of the kids in grade two that I’ve helped twice on Fridays. His name is Ramses and his English isn’t very good. I think he’s just learning and his first language is French. So he was watching them play and starting cautiously moving in to play too. It was so cute then Mama Ester one of the teachers, points at him and says “I’m going to talk to your parents.” Ramses looks up completely bewildered and slowly sits back down with the saddest face on. Then Liam (I think I love him even move for this) comes up to Mama Ester and says “he doesn’t understand English.” Of course, Mama Ester doesn’t care because he’s not a part of the aftercare program i.e. his parents are taking advantage of the fact that the teachers are there but they’re not paying for the service which is understandable but Ramses has no control over that. I understand the point but it was still really sad seeing him sulk back into his corner which is why I loved the fact that Liam went over to him and starting pulling on his jacket, telling him to come play, which he did. That pretty much made my day. I love Liam for that. it was so sweet.
The day before Monday was also pretty chill. I didn’t do much. Went to class, came back and actually the girls and I walked to Cavendish which is a mall in Claremont. It’s a good little walk but the weather was nice so we decided to walk. My foot has been bothering me since Sunday so I wasn’t exactly a fan but it wasn’t too bad. I survived. There I got a sleeping bag and something for my boyfriend which I know he’s going to love but I won’t say what because I know he’ll be reading this (so ha!). But yeah, that’s been my week thus far. I’ll probably write again on Saturday just to post something right before my safari which Adam and I leave for early Sunday morning. I can’t believe it’s so soon! Hope all is well back home. Peace
But back to crime, the South African prison system makes ours look like heaven. There is a huge overcrowding problem and there are little if any rehabilitation programs. Strangely, I learned that if you’re a white guy it’s safer for you if you say you’re homosexual because then you get your own room. This is because the majority of the prisoners are black (go figure, it’s the same no matter what country you’re in). And it was just great because Hailey our speaker pretty much just asked us questions like what our perceptions were of South Africa before coming here, how we felt about it, etc. It was just really cool, not just listening to a lecturer but hearing everyone’s input. I forgot how much I liked it.
For example, she asked all the black students how we felt about being the majority or just in general our experience here. Someone talked about how it was weird being black here because people will come up to you all the time and start talking in Xhosa and then when you talk they realize that you’re American and the divide that sometimes happens because of it. I remember Bianca also talked about people not believing she was black but thought instead that she was coloured, etc.
One of the most memorable thing was Toni talking about getting to know people instead of just walking by people acknowledge their presence and at least say hi. He mentioned some girl he knew that worked on the minibus which was hilarious to me because she apparently was a little white girl and the thought of her shouting out the minibus is just hilarious. Perhaps I should explain further. Minibus travel up and down Main Road and they all have someone shouting out the bus telling you where they’re going. It involves very loud yelling and whistling. They constantly are yelling at you even if you clearly don’t want to get on.
What else? Jane mentioned a case where some guy stole R1000 and had to wait six years for his trail and when he was finally sentenced he got five years. Five years after already serving six. Insanity! The whole prison system really is a brilliant scheme to keep the people down because once you’re in prison, you have that label forever and there aren’t the programs in America where certain companies will hire you, you’re basically on your own, so what else can you do but go back to crime?
We also talked about xenophobia and how really it’s more against black people because you don’t find South Africans hating Americans. On the contrary, South Africans love Americans. In addition, it’s never hatred towards white European but the black Africans who come and take jobs. So Melangini asked if it might just be a hatred towards the lower class instead of just foreigners. I don’t know I just found it interesting the complexity of the issue.
So I know that was vague and probably uninteresting but basically all you need to know is that my class was awesome and I really enjoyed listening to everyone talk and even put in my own input. The rest of the day was fine. I only had one class because my others were cancelled but then of course the one class was supposed to have lasted all of five minutes. What a waste of time. Oh well, at least I attempted to be a good student because I was thinking about not going in the first place. But I got some readings I needed plus went for a dip which of course put me in the best mood so I guess it was worth.
Now to yesterday, Tuesday. It was a good day. I only had one class. Unfortunately I was my early class but it was only one class all the same. Then I just went home and chilled. I went outside for a while and just soaked in some rays because the weather was so nice. Then off to primary school, I helped this grade one kid read and it was so sad. He actually reminded me of me when I was little and struggled to read. For the life of me, I couldn’t get him to get the word “want.” He could pronounce all the individual letters and even get “wa” and “nt” but he couldn’t seem to put them together and it just broke my heart when he started crying because of it. I felt so bad because I had been there before and know what it’s like but for whatever reason I couldn’t get him to get it. So we moved on for a while and he was fine. I really don’t understand how they learn to read because he could get words like “helicopter” but not “want.” He kept on telling me it was “went” and was so frustrated by me repeating say no it’s not “went” but still not telling him. Also he couldn’t get the word “no.” He told me it was “on.” I was able to get him to guess it my asking him about the what the book said before it but still he couldn’t sound that one out either. It also really frustrated me when the other kids tell him the words because that’s obviously not how you learn. You have to learn how to do it yourself. One of the teachers was explaining to me how he was almost a year younger than the other kids which made sense because he is so much smaller so that’s why he struggles so much. It just made me feel even worse for him. I was proud of him though. I know he tried his best and I can understand his frustration with it.
After helping this student read, I went outside and watched some of the kids play. I have no idea what they were playing. It involved a soccer ball but it wasn’t soccer. It sort of reminded me of dodge ball and kickball. But anyways, I recognized one of the kids in grade two that I’ve helped twice on Fridays. His name is Ramses and his English isn’t very good. I think he’s just learning and his first language is French. So he was watching them play and starting cautiously moving in to play too. It was so cute then Mama Ester one of the teachers, points at him and says “I’m going to talk to your parents.” Ramses looks up completely bewildered and slowly sits back down with the saddest face on. Then Liam (I think I love him even move for this) comes up to Mama Ester and says “he doesn’t understand English.” Of course, Mama Ester doesn’t care because he’s not a part of the aftercare program i.e. his parents are taking advantage of the fact that the teachers are there but they’re not paying for the service which is understandable but Ramses has no control over that. I understand the point but it was still really sad seeing him sulk back into his corner which is why I loved the fact that Liam went over to him and starting pulling on his jacket, telling him to come play, which he did. That pretty much made my day. I love Liam for that. it was so sweet.
The day before Monday was also pretty chill. I didn’t do much. Went to class, came back and actually the girls and I walked to Cavendish which is a mall in Claremont. It’s a good little walk but the weather was nice so we decided to walk. My foot has been bothering me since Sunday so I wasn’t exactly a fan but it wasn’t too bad. I survived. There I got a sleeping bag and something for my boyfriend which I know he’s going to love but I won’t say what because I know he’ll be reading this (so ha!). But yeah, that’s been my week thus far. I’ll probably write again on Saturday just to post something right before my safari which Adam and I leave for early Sunday morning. I can’t believe it’s so soon! Hope all is well back home. Peace
Monday, August 24, 2009
Moving Mountains
Yesterday was awesome. Amanda, Joe, Andrew and I all climbed Table Mountain. It was the first time for Amanda, Joe, and I and it was rough. The path basically goes straight up but zigzags back and forth. It took us about an hour and half which was good considering how many times we had to stop and breath. I was still sore from Friday's hike and Saturday's surfing so it was definitely a struggle, but once I got into it, I couldn't really feel anything. I just kept telling myself "one step closer, one step closer." Plus it helped that Andrew was basically breezing through it like it was nothing. I always need someone to look up to (this time literally) so I know that if he can do it, so can I. It was a struggle but I was so glad I did it. It felt so amazing to finally get to the top but it was crazy how cold it was. It was really windy and even though the sun was shining right on us, we couldn't feel its warmth. Because of that, we didn't spend too much time at the top.
We walked around a bit just soaking in the beautiful sites. Unfortunately, because of the wind, we couldn't take the cable car back down. We also discovered that the restaurant at the top was closed because the cable car was closed. We did however have an encounter with a couple dassies, which I would describe as a cross between a big fat rat and a beaver. They were quite bold animals. At one point Andrew was trying to take a picture with one and as he leaned in, it bit him on the finger. I'm pretty sure I was more frightened than him because I screamed so loud but then of course I found it hilarious. Luckily, it didn't break the skin so Andrew should be alright.
Also while we were up there, Amanda and I both had brought snacks and were eating. Those dassies definitely walked towards us more than once. I can only assume to try to get food. I guess I might have been teasing one by eating PB & J right in front of one and it was just staring at me the entire time. Finally we got sick of being semi-chased by these overlarged rodents so we decided to make our way down.
The way back was a lot easier in terms of cardio. I only stopped once or twice. But going downhill is hard and uses a lot of muscles because you're walking with gravity and its harder to control. But we made it in record time. The whole trip up, plus hanging out on top, and going down took three hours. Of course all of us were aching and smelling but we decided to go to Cafe Gnesh in Obsevatory. Unfortunately, it was closed so after walking around a bit and being stopped by Dominique, we decided on Babo. Of course, Dominique was there with her boy, Jerome. We talked for a bit before getting seated and ordering food. I haven't had ginger ale in the longest time so I decided to treat myself with one. It was awesome and brought back memories of New Jersey and my grandparents. I ordered a plain cheese pizza which was kind of disappointing but it filled me up nonetheless. Then we walked home and I relished the thought of taking a hot shower after finishing my homework.
Side note: the night before Loren and I were talking and he asked me out on a phone date which was the cutest thing ever. So I get on Skype as usual and he does video chat and he's all dressed up button down shirt (a blue one at that) khakis, the whole nine yards. It was the best surprise ever. I loved it. Just had to mention that because my boyfriend is so awesome and it also should be noted that the post title is after one of his favorite songs by Usher. Ok, that's all for now. Peace y'all
We walked around a bit just soaking in the beautiful sites. Unfortunately, because of the wind, we couldn't take the cable car back down. We also discovered that the restaurant at the top was closed because the cable car was closed. We did however have an encounter with a couple dassies, which I would describe as a cross between a big fat rat and a beaver. They were quite bold animals. At one point Andrew was trying to take a picture with one and as he leaned in, it bit him on the finger. I'm pretty sure I was more frightened than him because I screamed so loud but then of course I found it hilarious. Luckily, it didn't break the skin so Andrew should be alright.
Also while we were up there, Amanda and I both had brought snacks and were eating. Those dassies definitely walked towards us more than once. I can only assume to try to get food. I guess I might have been teasing one by eating PB & J right in front of one and it was just staring at me the entire time. Finally we got sick of being semi-chased by these overlarged rodents so we decided to make our way down.
The way back was a lot easier in terms of cardio. I only stopped once or twice. But going downhill is hard and uses a lot of muscles because you're walking with gravity and its harder to control. But we made it in record time. The whole trip up, plus hanging out on top, and going down took three hours. Of course all of us were aching and smelling but we decided to go to Cafe Gnesh in Obsevatory. Unfortunately, it was closed so after walking around a bit and being stopped by Dominique, we decided on Babo. Of course, Dominique was there with her boy, Jerome. We talked for a bit before getting seated and ordering food. I haven't had ginger ale in the longest time so I decided to treat myself with one. It was awesome and brought back memories of New Jersey and my grandparents. I ordered a plain cheese pizza which was kind of disappointing but it filled me up nonetheless. Then we walked home and I relished the thought of taking a hot shower after finishing my homework.
Side note: the night before Loren and I were talking and he asked me out on a phone date which was the cutest thing ever. So I get on Skype as usual and he does video chat and he's all dressed up button down shirt (a blue one at that) khakis, the whole nine yards. It was the best surprise ever. I loved it. Just had to mention that because my boyfriend is so awesome and it also should be noted that the post title is after one of his favorite songs by Usher. Ok, that's all for now. Peace y'all
Saturday, August 22, 2009
My awesome week
Alright let’s try to recap on the week. Monday: I went swimming and it was wonderful as usual except for when a bunch of boys came into the swimming pool area and a couple decided it would be cool to walk along beside me as I’m swimming. I didn’t really notice because a guy who I’m assuming is a swim coach gave me some pointers on my breast stroke. It threw me off at first but I think I’m getting a hang of it. So when I saw I was being followed by someone I assumed it was him…yeah so I got finished with my lap and saw a couple of ten-year-old boys staring at me. I said hello aka what the hell are you staring at? They just laughed and watched me get out of the pool. Not cool.
After that I went to culture, power and wealth class. It was really interesting because we basically unpacked the concept of the witch. It was actually amazing to understand something as childish as a witch and find such deep meaning in it. Everything about a witch symbolizes an unmarriable (I realize that’s not a word) woman. She’s not attractive, she’s old. The most interesting symbol that once I thought of it made perfect sense is that of a broom. It represents a penis. The things that a witch cooks are unedible, etc. I just found it so fascinating how the evil witch that I’ve never thought too much could symbolize so much.
Tuesday brought more swimming and of course class. Nothing too exciting to report there. Then after class, I went to Hillcrest and the kids were absoutley insane because the weather was awful. They didn’t have much work to do which I always hate because I don’t know what to do if they don’t have work. That day we ended up playing Uno. At first it was me and a couple of grade two girls which was fine but then some of the older boys decided to play which just continued my dislike for teenage boys. They were just obnoxious and doing obscene things. I realized afterwards being angry about it and openly probably didn’t help but it was just annoying. I was just reminded of Winnie and how he used to annoy me and if he knew he had annoyed me, he’d just keep doing it. the best thing to do is just to ignore but apparently all that torture he put me through didn’t register. I guess it’s just been a while since I’ve had to deal with that.
Wednesday was my first braai which was cool. Our core class was held at our house and Jane our interim program director cooked brats for us. they were damn good and while we were waiting we had a lecture on education. Tony is such an interesting character. He does so much stuff. When he first got to our house, he had apparently just came from interviewing young boys about growing up without a father. It sounded like a really great experience, heart-breaking but touching as well. He does lots of stuff like that. He always seems to be up to something different. Class was structured interestingly. He first asked us to write down any thoughts/questions we had about education and then proceeded to ask one of us to go through our lists so that he could talk about it. It was really interesting. He knew so much about the system but it was also very overwhelming because he was giving us so much information in no particular order. The gist of what I can recall is that the South African education system has a long way to go. There are so many issues. It’s hard to begin. For example, there’s a huge issue with corporal punishment because teachers aren’t allowed to hit the kids but often in the African culture, that’s how kids are raised and parents will give the teachers to hit the kids and sometimes that the only way you can get them to react because that’s how they’re raised. I see this in action all the time at the primary school because the kids can be so bad and the teachers are very limited in what they can do.
Thursday was awesome because I had finally finished my two papers that were due and was able to turn them in and now I only have two things to worry about Monday and then I’m basically home free until after break which starts for me this Friday. To celebrate being done with papers and the start of the weekend, I decided I would try to make something that I’d never made before: risotto. The recipe was fairly simple but one thing I could not find at shoprite: gorgonzola. It’s apparently a kind of blue cheese. I was able to substitute with some blue cheese that shoprite had but I think I used too much. It was difficult because the recipe called for grams and of course I’m not used to cooking with that so that threw me up. But the recipe called for rice, butternut squash, dry white wine, chicken stock, sage leaves, etc. It was intense. I started cooking at six and didn’t start eating until almost eight. Most of it went well. But the recipe called for creamy gorgonzola. I wasn’t sure how that would work since I bought a block of cheese. I used up just mixing it with the butter and sage I was making. The recipe called for sage leaves which I couldn’t find but I did find chopped up sage. So yeah, the whole crispy sage leaves didn’t happen. But first I chopped the butternut squash up which was fine. The worse was chopping onions. I know they make you cry but I hadn’t done it in a while so that was awful. You cook the onions and then add the rice. Meanwhile the butternut is baking in the oven. It was actually probably the most complex recipe that I’ve ever made. The end result was disappointing. I think another problem I had was with the chicken stock. The recipe called for 100 grams or something and I think I added too much or something. It was just way to salty and it sucks because though the recipe claims its enough for two. I feel like it was a lot more than because I have tons left over but I’m managing. Like tonight (Saturday) I made some plain rice and green beans and combined it with some of the risotto to help neutralize the saltiness. It works pretty well. So lessons learned: use less if you’re not sure how much you need. It was really fun though. I just like the experience of trying something new so all in all I’d say it was worth it.
Friday was awesome. No classes but I went to hillcrest in the morning. I first went to grade four as usually but they were taking a test so I went down to grade two and helped the same kid, Ramses (I think that’s his name) whose French read. He does fine for the most part. He’s just a really slow reader and I’m not sure how to help him with that and I tried to ask him if he wanted me to read a page and then he read a page but he apparently didn’t understand me which was awkward. Then I went back to the grade four and helped again with Valentina. She did well for the most part but it was really frustrating because sometimes she just wouldn’t try. I would ask her how to pronounce part of a word and she would just smile and not try. I also helped with another girl and she struggled a lot but did really well with words I thought she would. Then the bell rang and I went to see my aftercare kids for a bit before going home.
Then I decided to make brownies because I wanted something sweet…duh. And Adam came over and we started to plan our garden route trip for September. It was so confusing. We think right now that we’ll be renting a car because it’ll allow us more freedom and more money. But the problem is the time constraint. We only have four days and lots of things we want to do. Plus the distance between all the places we want to go made planning this trip very difficult. We ended up planning at least three different trips, each starting with a different city to try to make the travel time less daunting. It didn’t work out to well. We finally gave up and during all this I was trying to make brownies, they did cook right for some reason but they were still really good. The top cooked fine but the bottom for whatever reason was really gooey.
Then Jamie invited all of the girls to climb Lion’s head and watch the sunset. The weather had been crappy again yesterday aka raining in the morning then clearing up then raining again. August weather here is very unpredictable. But I decided that since I hadn’t done it and I had no set plans for the day it was a good idea plus it was a great workout (which it absoutley was, I’m still sore).
We took a mini bus downtown. A minibus is just that…a minibus but it’s a really cheap way to get around the city. It’s sort of like a taxi and a train. It can get drop you off where you need to go but it only goes on a certain route. Catching one always involves flagging down a minibus that is always speeding down the road. Riding in one is a quiet an adrenaline rush. The one we rode stopped way too close to other cars for my liking. Then we took a taxi to Lion’s head. That driver scared me as well. He blatantly ran a red light. I almost had a heart attack but we ended at the foot of the trail in tack.
The trail started out rough. It went straight up. But it was also really cool because it went a round and a round the mountain. Ok, to clarify to convenience sake I’m calling Lion’s Head a mountain. I’m not really sure if it counts as one.
We eventually caught up with the Marquette people who were also walking up the trail. The views were spectacular. You could see all of downtown and Table Mountain on one side and on the other you could other parts of the city and Robben Island and of course more mountains and lots of ocean. It was great. I ended up being at the end of the group because I kept on taking so many pictures (of course). Once we got close to the top, we took the chain route which involved a bunch of chains and ladders. It was really fun and kind of intense. I just kept on thinking the entire way up how hard it would be going down (it wasn’t that bad actually). So we finally get to the top and the view is breathtaking. Everyone starts taking out wine and food and I just there taking it all in. it was so beautiful. It’s really hard to describe: just breathtaking.
The sunset wasn’t as beautiful as I was expecting but it was still nice. There were just a bunch of clouds on the horizon so the very end of the sunset was covered up by clouds. What was really cool was seeing the city light up. My camera has to be really steady to take good pictures in the dark but I managed to take a couple good shots. After freezing for a bit too long and taking a bunch more pictures we descended to the bottom. It wasn’t too bad at all. The phone I got from Arcadia had a flashlight on it which was really helpful. I think my favourite part was climbing down the chains in the dark. I was nervous about it but it was really easy actually. The descent went fine. I was in front this time because I was ready for food and warmth. So I had to stop a lot to make sure I was still pretty much with the group. But it was really scary when we were nearly at the end I noticed a flashing light pointed directly at us. I didn’t really think much of it until we got really close. I noticed it stopped, then I got worried. Who in the world could that be? We were the only ones on the mountaintop therefore the only ones coming down. So I slowed down and let a couple boys go ahead of me. Apparently it was a ranger because someone had seen a light flashing and thought we were in distress. So everything was fine. I was just nervous that we were in big trouble but all was well.
Now for the ride home. That was interesting. There were probably 13 of us total and only two cabs. So we crammed seven people in the car I was in. It was a very painful experience. Jamie sat on my lap and somehow my leg was contorted in a weird way that made the ride the longest one of my life. Needless to say, I was happy when most of the people got out at the Marquette house. I went home. I just wanted some warmth and some food. It was great experience though. I took 250+ pictures
And now to today and then I’m done. We went surfing. Jane decided to take all of us or anyone who wanted to go, surfing and for free. All we had to pay for was the train ticket down there which was R11 (11 rand) which is a little more than a dollar. I love the train ride. Seeing all the different houses was really cool. And I decided to separate from the group to try to observe how South Africans ride the train. Most were alone and quiet listening to music or something. I thought about talking to some but that’s a fear I’ll need some more time to get over.
Finally we get to Muizenberg. I don’t even have to look at the sign. You can just see the ocean from outside the window so you know. It’s so pretty with the mountains and the oceans. We met up with Jane and got suited up. Wetsuits are very interesting to get on but even worse to get off. Today marked my third lesson and it went really well. I honestly didn’t really think I needed other lessons but I wasn’t about to turn down free lessons. I love surfing. It’s so fun. It is a great workout although I did something weird today with my right knee because it’s giving me trouble. I might have to take tomorrow off in terms of working out but the nice thing is I can go swimming on Monday and my knee should be fine. I think just jumping up on the board bothered it somehow. But the actual surfing was awesome. I caught lots of waves. It was exhausting but the only reason I got out was because I was hungry. After changing and stripping off the wetsuit, I ordered hot chocolate and calamari. It was delicious. I love fish here. So good and so cheap. I also got waffles and syrup with Zina which took way too long and it didn’t even end up being waffles. They were definitely pancakes but whatever they were still good. Ride home. Chilling in a quiet house. Did laundry. That’s the end of the exciting stuff. Amanda and I are making coffee cake. And next week I’m trying to make cheesecake. That’s all folks. Hope you enjoyed the super long read.
After that I went to culture, power and wealth class. It was really interesting because we basically unpacked the concept of the witch. It was actually amazing to understand something as childish as a witch and find such deep meaning in it. Everything about a witch symbolizes an unmarriable (I realize that’s not a word) woman. She’s not attractive, she’s old. The most interesting symbol that once I thought of it made perfect sense is that of a broom. It represents a penis. The things that a witch cooks are unedible, etc. I just found it so fascinating how the evil witch that I’ve never thought too much could symbolize so much.
Tuesday brought more swimming and of course class. Nothing too exciting to report there. Then after class, I went to Hillcrest and the kids were absoutley insane because the weather was awful. They didn’t have much work to do which I always hate because I don’t know what to do if they don’t have work. That day we ended up playing Uno. At first it was me and a couple of grade two girls which was fine but then some of the older boys decided to play which just continued my dislike for teenage boys. They were just obnoxious and doing obscene things. I realized afterwards being angry about it and openly probably didn’t help but it was just annoying. I was just reminded of Winnie and how he used to annoy me and if he knew he had annoyed me, he’d just keep doing it. the best thing to do is just to ignore but apparently all that torture he put me through didn’t register. I guess it’s just been a while since I’ve had to deal with that.
Wednesday was my first braai which was cool. Our core class was held at our house and Jane our interim program director cooked brats for us. they were damn good and while we were waiting we had a lecture on education. Tony is such an interesting character. He does so much stuff. When he first got to our house, he had apparently just came from interviewing young boys about growing up without a father. It sounded like a really great experience, heart-breaking but touching as well. He does lots of stuff like that. He always seems to be up to something different. Class was structured interestingly. He first asked us to write down any thoughts/questions we had about education and then proceeded to ask one of us to go through our lists so that he could talk about it. It was really interesting. He knew so much about the system but it was also very overwhelming because he was giving us so much information in no particular order. The gist of what I can recall is that the South African education system has a long way to go. There are so many issues. It’s hard to begin. For example, there’s a huge issue with corporal punishment because teachers aren’t allowed to hit the kids but often in the African culture, that’s how kids are raised and parents will give the teachers to hit the kids and sometimes that the only way you can get them to react because that’s how they’re raised. I see this in action all the time at the primary school because the kids can be so bad and the teachers are very limited in what they can do.
Thursday was awesome because I had finally finished my two papers that were due and was able to turn them in and now I only have two things to worry about Monday and then I’m basically home free until after break which starts for me this Friday. To celebrate being done with papers and the start of the weekend, I decided I would try to make something that I’d never made before: risotto. The recipe was fairly simple but one thing I could not find at shoprite: gorgonzola. It’s apparently a kind of blue cheese. I was able to substitute with some blue cheese that shoprite had but I think I used too much. It was difficult because the recipe called for grams and of course I’m not used to cooking with that so that threw me up. But the recipe called for rice, butternut squash, dry white wine, chicken stock, sage leaves, etc. It was intense. I started cooking at six and didn’t start eating until almost eight. Most of it went well. But the recipe called for creamy gorgonzola. I wasn’t sure how that would work since I bought a block of cheese. I used up just mixing it with the butter and sage I was making. The recipe called for sage leaves which I couldn’t find but I did find chopped up sage. So yeah, the whole crispy sage leaves didn’t happen. But first I chopped the butternut squash up which was fine. The worse was chopping onions. I know they make you cry but I hadn’t done it in a while so that was awful. You cook the onions and then add the rice. Meanwhile the butternut is baking in the oven. It was actually probably the most complex recipe that I’ve ever made. The end result was disappointing. I think another problem I had was with the chicken stock. The recipe called for 100 grams or something and I think I added too much or something. It was just way to salty and it sucks because though the recipe claims its enough for two. I feel like it was a lot more than because I have tons left over but I’m managing. Like tonight (Saturday) I made some plain rice and green beans and combined it with some of the risotto to help neutralize the saltiness. It works pretty well. So lessons learned: use less if you’re not sure how much you need. It was really fun though. I just like the experience of trying something new so all in all I’d say it was worth it.
Friday was awesome. No classes but I went to hillcrest in the morning. I first went to grade four as usually but they were taking a test so I went down to grade two and helped the same kid, Ramses (I think that’s his name) whose French read. He does fine for the most part. He’s just a really slow reader and I’m not sure how to help him with that and I tried to ask him if he wanted me to read a page and then he read a page but he apparently didn’t understand me which was awkward. Then I went back to the grade four and helped again with Valentina. She did well for the most part but it was really frustrating because sometimes she just wouldn’t try. I would ask her how to pronounce part of a word and she would just smile and not try. I also helped with another girl and she struggled a lot but did really well with words I thought she would. Then the bell rang and I went to see my aftercare kids for a bit before going home.
Then I decided to make brownies because I wanted something sweet…duh. And Adam came over and we started to plan our garden route trip for September. It was so confusing. We think right now that we’ll be renting a car because it’ll allow us more freedom and more money. But the problem is the time constraint. We only have four days and lots of things we want to do. Plus the distance between all the places we want to go made planning this trip very difficult. We ended up planning at least three different trips, each starting with a different city to try to make the travel time less daunting. It didn’t work out to well. We finally gave up and during all this I was trying to make brownies, they did cook right for some reason but they were still really good. The top cooked fine but the bottom for whatever reason was really gooey.
Then Jamie invited all of the girls to climb Lion’s head and watch the sunset. The weather had been crappy again yesterday aka raining in the morning then clearing up then raining again. August weather here is very unpredictable. But I decided that since I hadn’t done it and I had no set plans for the day it was a good idea plus it was a great workout (which it absoutley was, I’m still sore).
We took a mini bus downtown. A minibus is just that…a minibus but it’s a really cheap way to get around the city. It’s sort of like a taxi and a train. It can get drop you off where you need to go but it only goes on a certain route. Catching one always involves flagging down a minibus that is always speeding down the road. Riding in one is a quiet an adrenaline rush. The one we rode stopped way too close to other cars for my liking. Then we took a taxi to Lion’s head. That driver scared me as well. He blatantly ran a red light. I almost had a heart attack but we ended at the foot of the trail in tack.
The trail started out rough. It went straight up. But it was also really cool because it went a round and a round the mountain. Ok, to clarify to convenience sake I’m calling Lion’s Head a mountain. I’m not really sure if it counts as one.
We eventually caught up with the Marquette people who were also walking up the trail. The views were spectacular. You could see all of downtown and Table Mountain on one side and on the other you could other parts of the city and Robben Island and of course more mountains and lots of ocean. It was great. I ended up being at the end of the group because I kept on taking so many pictures (of course). Once we got close to the top, we took the chain route which involved a bunch of chains and ladders. It was really fun and kind of intense. I just kept on thinking the entire way up how hard it would be going down (it wasn’t that bad actually). So we finally get to the top and the view is breathtaking. Everyone starts taking out wine and food and I just there taking it all in. it was so beautiful. It’s really hard to describe: just breathtaking.
The sunset wasn’t as beautiful as I was expecting but it was still nice. There were just a bunch of clouds on the horizon so the very end of the sunset was covered up by clouds. What was really cool was seeing the city light up. My camera has to be really steady to take good pictures in the dark but I managed to take a couple good shots. After freezing for a bit too long and taking a bunch more pictures we descended to the bottom. It wasn’t too bad at all. The phone I got from Arcadia had a flashlight on it which was really helpful. I think my favourite part was climbing down the chains in the dark. I was nervous about it but it was really easy actually. The descent went fine. I was in front this time because I was ready for food and warmth. So I had to stop a lot to make sure I was still pretty much with the group. But it was really scary when we were nearly at the end I noticed a flashing light pointed directly at us. I didn’t really think much of it until we got really close. I noticed it stopped, then I got worried. Who in the world could that be? We were the only ones on the mountaintop therefore the only ones coming down. So I slowed down and let a couple boys go ahead of me. Apparently it was a ranger because someone had seen a light flashing and thought we were in distress. So everything was fine. I was just nervous that we were in big trouble but all was well.
Now for the ride home. That was interesting. There were probably 13 of us total and only two cabs. So we crammed seven people in the car I was in. It was a very painful experience. Jamie sat on my lap and somehow my leg was contorted in a weird way that made the ride the longest one of my life. Needless to say, I was happy when most of the people got out at the Marquette house. I went home. I just wanted some warmth and some food. It was great experience though. I took 250+ pictures
And now to today and then I’m done. We went surfing. Jane decided to take all of us or anyone who wanted to go, surfing and for free. All we had to pay for was the train ticket down there which was R11 (11 rand) which is a little more than a dollar. I love the train ride. Seeing all the different houses was really cool. And I decided to separate from the group to try to observe how South Africans ride the train. Most were alone and quiet listening to music or something. I thought about talking to some but that’s a fear I’ll need some more time to get over.
Finally we get to Muizenberg. I don’t even have to look at the sign. You can just see the ocean from outside the window so you know. It’s so pretty with the mountains and the oceans. We met up with Jane and got suited up. Wetsuits are very interesting to get on but even worse to get off. Today marked my third lesson and it went really well. I honestly didn’t really think I needed other lessons but I wasn’t about to turn down free lessons. I love surfing. It’s so fun. It is a great workout although I did something weird today with my right knee because it’s giving me trouble. I might have to take tomorrow off in terms of working out but the nice thing is I can go swimming on Monday and my knee should be fine. I think just jumping up on the board bothered it somehow. But the actual surfing was awesome. I caught lots of waves. It was exhausting but the only reason I got out was because I was hungry. After changing and stripping off the wetsuit, I ordered hot chocolate and calamari. It was delicious. I love fish here. So good and so cheap. I also got waffles and syrup with Zina which took way too long and it didn’t even end up being waffles. They were definitely pancakes but whatever they were still good. Ride home. Chilling in a quiet house. Did laundry. That’s the end of the exciting stuff. Amanda and I are making coffee cake. And next week I’m trying to make cheesecake. That’s all folks. Hope you enjoyed the super long read.
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