I finally brought my camera in to preschool. I couldn't wait to take pictures of the babies and they absolutely loved the photoshoot! The kids are definitely adjusting to me, and love to just run up and hug me when I arrive. I am starting to understand their mumbling, although a lot of it is still jibberish. Today, we brought in facepaint and the kids really got a kick out of it (at first). Then, I think it got a little itchy and they all smeared it all over their faces. We had a lot of faces to clean along with the usual wiping off of buggers and porridge. When they go outside, it all acts like a glue so sand also gets plastered to their precious little faces. Most of them have adjusted to preschool, but we get new kids everyday, we're up to 35 munchkins. Today we made a table of the "picky eaters" so that Patricia could rapid-fire spoon feed them. They all have to eat unless they start puking, which happens daily. I haven't adjusted to the lack of sanitizing urine and puke off the ground. However, the kids are as happy and as adorable as you could imagine, and Silvertown is definitely a blessing for many struggling families. We have found out over the course of the week a little more about the familes. A few of them are cousins who live in the same house. One darling little girls lost her mom last year (most likely due to AIDS) and hasn't found a permanent home yet. And lots of other children have different types of rashes and things. I am trying to be as careful as possible to avoid getting sick here, but preschools as well as dormitory-style living really doesn't help. Tomorrow is my last day at the preschool and then I'll be working at an elementary school. I am definitely excited about that possibility.
After a long day snapping pictures of the kids, a bunch of us decided it was a beautiful day to climb table mountain. My blog picture is of the sunset over table mountain, so beautiful. It gets pretty windy here and if the winds are too strong, hiking is pretty miserable and the cable car that runs to the top shuts down. The hike was strenuous to say the least. Basically you are hiking up stairs for 2 hours. We split up into two groups, and most of the girls and I chose the leisurely bunch and we enjoying taking breaks and enjoying the nice view. But the view from the top was just incredible! And there is a cute little restaurant where we all split a bottle of champagne and then took the cable car down. We were told hiking down is more difficult than hiking up, and we enjoyed the build-up to the top. Definitely had to work for it!
New friends climbing Table Mountain
The last few steps up!The rest of the week has also been filled with activity. We went out for margaritas to celebrate the inauguration of President Obama. Let me tell you, the world is definitely watching. Even the preschool teachers at my school watched the ceremony. And being an America abroad always stirs up political conversation. My favorite... Today we went and sampled Cape Malay cuisine. These people are descendants of the slaves brought here from Malaysia, Indonesia, India and Madagascar. Very good (but again some type of spicy lamb and rice dish). The Cape Malay people live in an area called BoKaap (above Cape Town) filled with beautiful colored houses. Photos to follow. Then we went to the old Slave Lodge museum that used to host the Dutch East India Company's slave trade. All in all, a very fun week, and I antipicate an even better weekend.
Thanks to everyone who has been checking in. I miss you all back home (but not the weather). Wish you could be here to experience everything yourself.
Talk to you soon,
Jackie
No comments:
Post a Comment