Hello all! Sorry I have been missing in action the past couple of days. And this will have to be quick because I'm leaving momentarily for a weekend excursion... but I wanted to share with you a few quick observations about Cape Town and fun things about my week.
1) People here drive on the left hand side of the road. Needless to say, it was so terrifying at first, especially crossing the street because I am so not used to looking left THEN right. I think the funnyiest thing about this though is the fact the people walking down the sidewalk also pass on the left. This obviously makes sense but is still not intuitive to me...
2) They bring the credit card machine to the table at restaurants to make sure they don't charge you some ridiculous amount. This I think is also smart, and you only tip 10%.
3) The South African Rand goes for about 10 for $1 these days, up from around 7 last year. This makes things pretty cheap around here. A beer is usually 9 or 10 rand ($0.90 or $1) and a meal runs for about R40. Cabs have been eating up money around here though because we live pretty far from the city center.
4) I've talked a lot about how seperate things are still between the races here in Cape Town, but one thing I found of particular interest. When we visited the townships where the very poorest in Cape Town live, I felt very strange walking around with a group of white Americans visiting their homes and villages. Our tour guide said the people realize we have traveled very far to be here and they welcome us to learn about their culture and history. However, she said it would be very different if a group of white South Africans were to come to the townships. There is still a lot of tension between the groups. When I've told other white South Africans here that I'm working in the townships, many have told me that they have never been and many don't know where they are even located. Sad really.
There will be more to mention as I think of it, but most of all I've had a really great week at Blossom Street. I was still not feeling well on Monday and Tuesday (and I actually stayed home on Tuesday) and in addition to the extreme heat this week, playing with the athletes outside this week has been rough! Thursday, my teacher was absent so I joined the other 5th grade class and helped teach math and English. We learned roman numerals in the morning, and the kids really had no idea what was going on. (I mean it's relatively difficult to write the year they were born "1998" in roman numerals). In the afternoon, we learned proper and common nouns. My favorite part of this was when the teacher went around the room asking the kids their favorite TV shows: Generations, Days of Our Lives, The Young and the Restless, Bold and the Beautiful. So hilarious! My driver had mentioned to me before that he loved the soap operas. Here they are on prime time and are the biggest hits even for the kids! No wonder they are still in production. We had such a great afternoon and it was a nice change of pace.
Today, Mrs. Abhrams was again absent (I'm starting to think maybe I gave her my stomach bug... eek!) but so was the kindergarden teacher. My 5th grade class got split up between classrooms but they put me and this other volunteer totally in charge of kindergarden, they call it here Grade R, but no one could explain to me why. We had no schedule or anything to teach them, so we spent the morning most like the days at the preschool, playing outside, coloring, singing and dancing. It was actually one of the best days I've had here! The best part was during song time, when the girls and guys broke out into one of my favorite songs. The girls made the boys all stand in a line with their heads down and hands in their pockets (like a music video) and the girl's all broke out into Flo Rida's "Get Low"... "applebottom jeans, boots with the fur, the whole club was looking at her, she fit the floor, that's when you know, shawty get low low low low". Mind you they are all 5 years old and cute as a button and I could not stop smiling the whole time.
Okay, off on another adventure. Will check in with you after the weekend.
Jackie
Friday, February 6, 2009
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Blossom Street Elementary
On Wednesday, I started my placement at Blossom Street Elementary also in the township of Athlone. I got assigned to be a teacher's aid in Mrs. Abhram's 5th grade classroom. The first day, I got to meet the principal, Mr. Davis, and lots of the other teachers as well. A little history... Blossom was a "colored" school during Apartheid. Now, both colored and black children attend Blossom, but no white students or teachers. The "white" schools during apartheid are now attended by all types of children, and because they have better teachers and resources, are great choices for black and colored families who have the money to send their children to school there. However, no white children attend any of the black or colored schools. It's interesting how seperate every thing here is still.
So far, I love it here at Blossom! The kids are all so adorable and love having a volunteer in their classroom. The first day during the sloted geography lesson time, I just talked to them about the states for an hour and answered a bunch of their questions. One of the boys asked me if I knew the actor from Home Alone, our very own McCullay Culkin. It's really really fun to be in a classroom where all the kids speak English so they really understand you and I am able to understand them.
The second day, instead of hanging around the classroom in the morning, I went down to the fields with a few of the teachers running the athletics program. Right now, they are doing "elimations" of the "learners" for the track team. On February 17th, there is huge track meet between some other elementary schools in the area. The teachers really give me a lot of freedom here, and I got to lead stretches for a hundred kids. Then I helped time them and teach them starts for the sprints. I also had an opportunity to talk to a few of the older kids who couldn't participate because of their birth year, and learned a lot about their lives in Athlone. They were pointing out different gang signs around the area spray painted on the walls. Most gangs are somehow tied to the states by name- "Ugly Americans", "Young Americans", etc.- but are not actually run by people in the states. Their is a lot of violence in Cape Town. Both of the girls' fathers used to be in gangs and one of them had an uncle killed in gang violence. They also pointed out places where kids as young as them, 13, could buy drugs and alcohol.
Mrs. Abhrams is a hoot. She talks my ear off all day, and loves learning about my experience growing up in the states. She has a daughter and son-in-law that are both getting their doctorate at Columbia in New York. She runs a pretty strict class. I think it's partially because she's been a teacher for 38 years and has a pretty old style mentality when it comes to teaching. The kids are all quite obedient, except for a few stinkers. During the natural science lesson on Friday, they learned all about the planets and I taught them the acronym to remember the order. My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas. Apparently, Pluto is still a planet in South Africa. Actually, I think the worksheets the teacher was using are outdated, but I didn't really want to start a fuss and confuse them. They spent pretty much the entire day coloring the planets and later during art class, coloring another worksheet. It seems like they are doing a definitely below the 5th grade level here in the US. But it is the beginning of their year, and Mrs. Abhrams was explaining to me that she is trying to gauge their different levels off of some simple exercises.
I also learned about a bunch of the kids from Mrs. Abhrams and some other teachers. There are two 5th grade classes and the two teachers split their time up between the classes, teaching them different subjects. Mrs. Abhrams teaches Natural Science, Geography, Arts and Culture, and Afrikaans. The other teacher teaches English and Math, and a couple of other things too. So about the kids- a lot of them come from very poor areas. I think this was also the case with Silvertown but I didn't really ever get the chance to ask specifically. But Mrs. Abhrams loves to chat. There is still a very distinct seperate between where black and colored people live. Athlone, a historically colored township, is more of a suburb. The houses are small and close together, and many times multiple families live in them. However, the black children in the class all live in other historically black townships, and those communities are filled with shacks. The kids all where uniforms of grey and maroon, but many of the children can't afford the dress shoes. The government provides 8 loaves of bread to the school each day (for over 500 children mind you) to distribute to the kids who may not have enough to eat at home. Mrs. Abrhams knows which ones these are, but she said as the kids get older, they start having more issues with pride and don't like taking the bread. Many times, the younger siblings in the family will take a few slices and share them with their older brothers and sisters after school. 3 kids in my class suffer from Fetal Alcohol Syndrom. You can tell in their faces although its not as pronounced as I would have expected. However, I was helping them with some of their work, and they were definitely struggling.
I am just so excited about having the opportunity to teach these kids. I have so many ideas for fun science experiments and different activities I can bring in to teach them. If any of you have any great and cheap ideas for a fifth grade class let me know. I want to offer them as much as possible. I can't believe it's already been 3 weeks here and I only have another 4 weeks left. Time really flies!
This weekend has been pretty boring to report on. I finally got sick, I feel like everyone has caught the bug at somepoint. Friday night we went out to an authentic African restaurant and listened to some awesome steel drum music. We were having a farewell dinner for about half the group here (15 of 30 left yesterday). I had crocodile and thought it was pretty good, but yesterday I was in bed all day feeling awful so I'm not what went wrong. I feel a lot better this morning, and might go meet up with some friends at the beach this afternoon. It's strange now that our house size just got cut in half and I will really miss the volunteers that left. A new group comes in next Saturday which we are all excited about!
Natalie, Jamie, and I at the farewell dinner at Mama Africa
Keep in touch!
Jackie
So far, I love it here at Blossom! The kids are all so adorable and love having a volunteer in their classroom. The first day during the sloted geography lesson time, I just talked to them about the states for an hour and answered a bunch of their questions. One of the boys asked me if I knew the actor from Home Alone, our very own McCullay Culkin. It's really really fun to be in a classroom where all the kids speak English so they really understand you and I am able to understand them.
The second day, instead of hanging around the classroom in the morning, I went down to the fields with a few of the teachers running the athletics program. Right now, they are doing "elimations" of the "learners" for the track team. On February 17th, there is huge track meet between some other elementary schools in the area. The teachers really give me a lot of freedom here, and I got to lead stretches for a hundred kids. Then I helped time them and teach them starts for the sprints. I also had an opportunity to talk to a few of the older kids who couldn't participate because of their birth year, and learned a lot about their lives in Athlone. They were pointing out different gang signs around the area spray painted on the walls. Most gangs are somehow tied to the states by name- "Ugly Americans", "Young Americans", etc.- but are not actually run by people in the states. Their is a lot of violence in Cape Town. Both of the girls' fathers used to be in gangs and one of them had an uncle killed in gang violence. They also pointed out places where kids as young as them, 13, could buy drugs and alcohol.
Mrs. Abhrams is a hoot. She talks my ear off all day, and loves learning about my experience growing up in the states. She has a daughter and son-in-law that are both getting their doctorate at Columbia in New York. She runs a pretty strict class. I think it's partially because she's been a teacher for 38 years and has a pretty old style mentality when it comes to teaching. The kids are all quite obedient, except for a few stinkers. During the natural science lesson on Friday, they learned all about the planets and I taught them the acronym to remember the order. My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas. Apparently, Pluto is still a planet in South Africa. Actually, I think the worksheets the teacher was using are outdated, but I didn't really want to start a fuss and confuse them. They spent pretty much the entire day coloring the planets and later during art class, coloring another worksheet. It seems like they are doing a definitely below the 5th grade level here in the US. But it is the beginning of their year, and Mrs. Abhrams was explaining to me that she is trying to gauge their different levels off of some simple exercises.
I also learned about a bunch of the kids from Mrs. Abhrams and some other teachers. There are two 5th grade classes and the two teachers split their time up between the classes, teaching them different subjects. Mrs. Abhrams teaches Natural Science, Geography, Arts and Culture, and Afrikaans. The other teacher teaches English and Math, and a couple of other things too. So about the kids- a lot of them come from very poor areas. I think this was also the case with Silvertown but I didn't really ever get the chance to ask specifically. But Mrs. Abhrams loves to chat. There is still a very distinct seperate between where black and colored people live. Athlone, a historically colored township, is more of a suburb. The houses are small and close together, and many times multiple families live in them. However, the black children in the class all live in other historically black townships, and those communities are filled with shacks. The kids all where uniforms of grey and maroon, but many of the children can't afford the dress shoes. The government provides 8 loaves of bread to the school each day (for over 500 children mind you) to distribute to the kids who may not have enough to eat at home. Mrs. Abrhams knows which ones these are, but she said as the kids get older, they start having more issues with pride and don't like taking the bread. Many times, the younger siblings in the family will take a few slices and share them with their older brothers and sisters after school. 3 kids in my class suffer from Fetal Alcohol Syndrom. You can tell in their faces although its not as pronounced as I would have expected. However, I was helping them with some of their work, and they were definitely struggling.
I am just so excited about having the opportunity to teach these kids. I have so many ideas for fun science experiments and different activities I can bring in to teach them. If any of you have any great and cheap ideas for a fifth grade class let me know. I want to offer them as much as possible. I can't believe it's already been 3 weeks here and I only have another 4 weeks left. Time really flies!
This weekend has been pretty boring to report on. I finally got sick, I feel like everyone has caught the bug at somepoint. Friday night we went out to an authentic African restaurant and listened to some awesome steel drum music. We were having a farewell dinner for about half the group here (15 of 30 left yesterday). I had crocodile and thought it was pretty good, but yesterday I was in bed all day feeling awful so I'm not what went wrong. I feel a lot better this morning, and might go meet up with some friends at the beach this afternoon. It's strange now that our house size just got cut in half and I will really miss the volunteers that left. A new group comes in next Saturday which we are all excited about!
Natalie, Jamie, and I at the farewell dinner at Mama AfricaKeep in touch!
Jackie
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