Leaving Cape Town

So, I'm a half hour from leaving for Joburg to depart on my 11-day safari, but wanted to fill you in on my last couple of days in Cape Town.

Thursday was quite possibly my favorite day in Cape Town so far, and arguably one of the best ever! A group of volunteers took the day off to go kloofing (cliff jumping) at Gordan's Bay/Kamikaze Kanyon. Sounds safe, right?? We went with some teenagers from Mauritius and England, and two awesome guides. We spent the morning hiking up and a pretty steep mountain and then jumping off cliffs and waterfalls into pools on the mountain side. I repelled (abseiled) down a 65 meter waterfall... pretty sweet. Climbing up to the jumps was pretty scary, basically scaling rock walls. And I jumped off lots of cliffs, my highest was 20 meters (over 60 feet). We definitely conquered our fears! It was so so incredible... or lekker! (as they say in Afrikaans). Then we got attacked by baboons and they got into our packs and stole our lunches and threw all our stuff all over the place. They are nasty little guys and can be dangerous but our guides chased them away. Such a great day and I can't wait to show you some pictures!

But all good things come to an end. And basically, I am so sad to leave. I had a very difficult time leaving my class on Friday. We threw a party with cake and ice cream, music, and a final art project. They flowered me with gifts, including a hand painted South African flag. I have so more stuff to squeeze into my bag on the flight home. I'll be able to keep in touch via e-mail with the school and the kids and I know that I will definitely be back here. It's been such an amazing 7 weeks, more than I ever expected, with each day being better than the next. I've grown really close to all the other amazing volunteers in my program and we're all having a tough time saying goodbye.

That being said, I will be back in Cape Town for another couple of nights to reunite with my friends, and I'm pretty pumped up for Safari. It's definitely going to be an adventure! I have once again no idea what to expect but fully intend on soaking up every minute.

I probably won't be able to update you while I'm camping in the bush under the stars, but will check in as soon as I can.

Miss you!
Jackie

Hey Hot Stuff!*

Hello there family and friends. So sorry to keep all you avid readers in suspense… but the internet here is quite slow and I haven’t had a good amount of time to update you on my week until now. It is already my 7^th and last week at my CCS program in Cape Town and I’ve been trying to squeeze in every ounce of fun out of my last few days. I am definitely not ready to come home yet and am already plotting ways to return to South Africa soon. But I am excited to embark on my two week adventure starting this weekend, so I really can’t be all too sad to leave.

Last week on Tuesday was the track meet that all the athletes had been training for the past few weeks. There were only a few athletes from each grade and only 2 other students came to school that day to watch their classmates. Nonetheless, we all boarded a rickety bus to the University of the Western Cape where Blossom was to race against 7 other primary schools in the area. The facility was pretty nice and it was a fantastic opportunity for the kids to be a part of a very organized event. The day was ridiculously hot though so the kids got tired out quite fast. They also can’t afford running shoes so they all ran barefoot on the hot track, which definitely was hurting their feet. I had a lot of fun though playing with the kids while watching the races. I also took a ton of photos of the competition and had an apprentice carrying around my other camera, following in my footsteps. We placed 7^th out of 8 schools… good effort Blossom! A couple of the girls and boys qualified for the next level of competition (I think on a more regional level) so I will have to wish them luck before I go!

Ebrahim on the long jump

And their off!

Highlights of the rest of the week at school included teaching some world geography, continuing my lessons about the US, reading up on mummies and pyramids, helping out in the computer lab with the younger students (*the computer would say congratulatory remarks like the blog title after a correct answer), playing handball, eating homemade doughnuts from one of the kids grannies, singing songs in Afrikaans (and getting made fun of for mispronouncing). I’m really starting to get to know the kids and am definitely going to miss them.

As for my last week at CCS, we’ve had a great time experiencing the rest of Cape Town. Last Wednesday, we joined some friends we had made earlier in the trip for Ethiopian food out on Long Street. Long Street is a long street full of bars and restaurants that is always a party hub for young South Africans. Ethiopian food pretty much just looks like baby food served with airy tortillas, but is actually really spicy and tasty, and is particularly enjoyable with a crowd trying lots of differnt dishes. Our dinner was accompanied with authentic music and dance, so all in all, a really fun night out.

Yum!

I spent Thursday and Friday afternoon finalizing my plans for Safari, and I was quite relieved to get that all out of the way. We took the train out to Stellenbosch for the weekend, a college town also quite well known for its many prestigious wineries. We stayed at a backpackers out there called the Stumble Inn, a very fitting name for the evening. We enjoyed a wine tasting in the afternoon, and then went out with some travellers we met at the hostile that night. I have really grown close to the other volunteers on my placement and we’ve been having a bunch of fun travelling over the weekends.

Wine Tasting in Stellenbosch

Sunday night we went to see the Cape Town philharmonic perform at the beautiful Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. The view was amazing over looking the mountains and beautiful gardens. We enjoyed some drinks and eats for a picnic in the park, and made for a very nice evening. I don’t think I fully appreciate orchestra yet, but definitely am beginning to enjoy it more!

The view from the lawn at Kirstenbosch

The weather has been less than perfect the past few days, although I really shouldn’t complain. But Monday and Tuesday were hot and sunny, so I spent both days down at the beach along the eastern coast of the Cape at Kaukbaai and St. James.

I’m very excited for the rest of the week, but also really dreading saying goodbye to all my kids and new friends that I have met here. But I’m just trying to take it day by day and really enjoy every last moment here!

I have lots of pictures to show, but I will upload them later when I get a bit more time...

Cheers!
Jackie

Valentine's Day Weekend

Happy belated Valentine's Day to everyone! We celebrated in style at Blossom Street elementary. Unfortunately, a bunch of the kids were still absent because of the taxi strike so some of the festivities were canceled but we still had a big party. Collin came with me on Friday because his placement was off limits because of the taxi violence, and it was very fun to have him around to meet my class. We spent the day basically just playing outside, some intense four square, as well as soccer and jump rope. The kids all got to skip out on their uniforms and wear red and white to celebrate. So we had an impromtu fashion show, and the kids ran around trying to convince all the teachers to model. It was so fun to have the entire school together. They had a chance to buy bologna chip rolls (fries, ketchup, and bologna) for lunch as well as ice cream and doughnuts. And I passed out chocolate and valentines to all my kids. I taught them how to draw Mickey Mouse throughout the day and my map lesson for the day was about Disney World. They knew all about it and I hope they get a chance to go someday. We played a bunch of games with them, but their favorite was boys versus girls trivia where I tested them on all of the things I've been teaching them about for the past couple of weeks. Some had great memories, others not so much! The day was such a blast and I'm really glad they could enjoy such a fun day, but the lack the structure is beginning to frustrate me. The kids are all so ready and willing to learn and just need a little more direction to soak up all their is to learn. But all in all, a really great day!
The valentines I made all 70 of my kidsPrincipal Davids and some learners
Facepainting for Valentine's Day
Me and my class

After class on Friday, Kelley, Collin, and I spent the afternoon at the Groot Constantia winery just outside of Cape Town. Constancia is home to a few of the oldest wineries in the Cape Town vicinity, and there is a lot of history to the place. Apparently, Groot supplied Napoleon his wine when he was banished to St. Helena after his defeat at Waterloo until his death in 1812. Tough life, right? Also, Jane Austen mentions Groot Constantis in Sense and Sensibility. I just came for the wine and the views though and both were prestine. My favorite was the Sauvignon Blanc- it tasted like green peppers but was surpringsly refreshing. We walked through the vineyards and then had a nice dinner on the property.
Groot Constancia winery
The view from the vineyard was just incredible

Saturday was Collin's birthday and also Valentine's Day and a group of 8 volunteers celebrated by going to a rugby game. The stormers, the local Cape Town team, has a pretty big fan base and stadium. We live pretty close by so we walked to the game, stopping at some bars on the way. I sat next to a local and he tried to explain the game to me but I remained pretty confused. We met some Stellenbosch students at the stadium bar and I think we'll need to go visit those winelands next weekend. We live right near the University of Cape Town, so there were a bunch of young people at the game. Very happening place to be!
Newlands Rugby Stadium- Go Stromers!

Sunday, my friend Allie and I booked a trip down to Cape Point through Baz Bus tours. Baz Bus is a bus company that takes backpackers all around South Africa, on a hop on, hop off basis, but they also have tour trips a specific points along the way. We rode with 15 or so other travellers from all over the world (mostly Europe and the states) with our tour guide, Mario. I really enjoyed the guided tour because I got to learn so much about the history of the cape. From Cape Town, it takes about an hour and a half to reach the most south-western tip of Africa, and we stopped many times along the way. First we stopped at Fish Hook, a little harbour on the western side of the cape, to see some seals. Then, off to the beaches to chat with the "shark spotter" on the edge of the mountain. Apparently, he sees sharks twice a month and every year there are shark attacks on the beaches. I've been lucky to see some great whites up close!
At Boulder's Beach to see the penguins. This time we got to see hundreds of penguins on the bay. I have no idea where all of them were hiding last time I was there.

Next, we had a nice bike ride through a wildlife reserve at the Cape Pensisula National Park. And although the wildlife was lacking, the ride was pretty exhilirating. Actually, it was by far the scariest part of my entire trip to Africa so far. We rode on through extreme wind on this winding road, and I constantly felt like I was going to be blown into the middle of the road and hit a passing car. Luckily, we made it unscathed to a nice picnic lunch in the park.
The bikes we used for the ride through the wildlife reserve
Finally, off to the tip of the cape, where baboons roam freely. We only saw a couple, but there were warnings everywhere that they will approach you, steal your food, and open your car doors.
Then we stopped at the Cape of Good Hope - the most southwesternly point of Africa. There were tons of tourists wanting to take a picture with the sign, and we thought it was hilarious (and mildly irritating) that all the adults were not waiting their turn in line and purposely standing in other peoples pictures. So even though Allie and I got a shot by ourselves, I think this picture sums tourist spot quite nice. Then, we hiked over to Cape Point, a little over a mile away. This didn't seem daunting at first, but it was all uphill and ridiculously windy. However, the views more than made up for it!

The view of Cape of Good Hope from Cape Point
Cape Point is the actual tip of the cape, or where the mountains end. However, this tip is not the most southwesternly point (or the most southern point) so seems a little anti-climatic. But this is where the famous lighthouse resides, you can almost make it out from the picture. We hiked all the way out to the point and it felt really neat to have made it that far south. We finished the day off at a fun restaurant downtown called Rafiki's. Allie and I made some friends with the locals and had a good time learning about their lives in Cape Town. A nice cap to another awesome and beautiful day. There seems to be a lot of those here. As I'm practicing my photography skills, I keep joking that you just can't take a bad picture in South Africa, so at least it's boosting my creative confidence!

Today was an average day back at Blossom. All of the kids who were missing because of the taxi strike were back today, so it great to have a full class again. However, I kinda got in a tiff with my teacher because she was basically yelling at the kids for missing school the past week, and reprimanding them for being lazy and keeping the rest of the class behind in their schoolwork. I just thought this was entirely unfair because (a) their transport to school was on strike (b) they have no other way to get there (c) there was extreme violence in their communities and (d) they are 10 year old kids and if their parents tell them they can't go to school, who is really going to fight that? Apparently, the strike might start up again tomorrow, and she doesn't want the kids to miss another entire week. These families already paid for their monthly transport via mini-bus taxis and can't afford or have no other way to get their kids to school. I don't know what the solution is, but it's definitely not yelling at kids who have no control over it. Tomorrow, is the all-conference track meet so I'm interested to see if all the athletes will be able to make it to school tomorrow. I really hope that they can, they have been working so hard for the meet the past couple of weeks.

As my time here is winding down, I'm trying to squeeze in as much as possible. So today, I took the opportunity to wander around downtown. I've been down to Greenmarket Square and some restaurants and bars, but I still hadn't seen much of the city, and was pleasantly surprised by the beautiful company gardens near the center. The gardens were laid out by Cape Town's founding father, Jan van Riebeeck, on order by the Dutch East India Company to grow fruit and vegetables for the passing trade ships. Although they are no longer used for farming, they remain a nice bit of green trapped in the middle of the busy city (much like Central Park).
Company gardens
I love the view of Table Mountain in the background

I also walked around the heart of the city and was surprised to find 3 and 4 level shopping malls underground. (I'm assuming to keep foot traffic off the streets.) There was your fill of fast food- they love KFC here. Definitely no skyscrapers but still a hustle and bustle of people going to and from the downtown on the train.

Again, wishing you a happy v-day! My apologizes for typos as usual, trying to squeeze in a post before bed.

Jackie

Taxi Strikes and Paragliding Off the Lion's Head

Another great couple of days!

After a peaceful weekend, it was hectic to get back in the swing of things on Monday morning. I went down to the athletic fields where I was in charge of all 40 or so girls of all ages. Some of the girls were being typical 7th graders and slacking off, so I got out my theoretical whistle and got all drill sergeant on them. Just some push-ups and sit-ups were enough to get them to listen again. I then taught them the long jump, which I, of course, know absolutely nothing about. We had to choose long jumpers for the track meet on Tuesday though. We definitely have some good athletes! In the afternoon, I hung up a map on the United States in the classroom. It took me forever to find a US map in South Africa but I was finally successful this weekend. Then, I printed out a bunch of pictures of different landmarks and things around the US to talk to them about. Each day I bring out a new picture a teach them something about the states. I think it's a little weird to bombard them with all this information about the US, but the students and teachers alike are so interested in my life back at home, plus its something new and exciting that I can give first hand information about. I started with Chicago (the Sears Tower, the Bulls, Barack Obama, deep dish pizza) and moved on to University of Michigan. They were so confused to see an American football field (and the biggest in the world I might add). Today, I talked about Hurricane Katrina and how I've gotten to volunteer with the relief effort. I snuck in a mini-science lesson about the classification of tropical storms, too!
My map of the US

On Tuesday, two other volunteers from my program joined me at Blossom Street. They are in the 6th and 7th grade, so I don't see them much during the day, but I think they both love it so far, too. Blossom is super excited to have us all there and treat us with the utmost respect. Luann, our program director, sometimes calls this phenomenon the "uncomfortable silence" where neither the teacher or volunteer wants to walk on anybody's toes so neither tells the other what to do. Sometimes little gets accomplished. This week has been particularly bad in terms of actually getting school work accomplished. Wednesday through tomorrow (Friday) all the taxi drivers went on strike to protest the proposed new bus lines. Just the mini-bus taxis, though. In Cape Town, there are regular metered taxis which can be kind of expensive, and mini-bus taxis that pick people up all over the city and drop them off all over the city. It's pretty cheap (about $0.50 a ride) but they are relatively unsafe with crazy drivers and run-down vans. So anyway, because the taxi drivers are on strike, lots of the kids and their parents couldn't get to school/work. Thus, we had 17 out of 35 absent the last couple of days. This mostly affects the kids that live further away from the school, in the more underprivledged township areas. So, Mrs. Abrahams was a little concerned that a bunch of them would fall even further behind in schoolwork. Also, some of the volunteer vans couldn't go to placement because they were in areas with lots of taxi violence. Apparently, the taxis that didn't strike were getting stoned and torched, and our vans look supiciously like mini-bus taxis.

Anyway, with half the class gone, Mrs. Abrahams hasn't been teaching any new material. We've been doing a lot of coloring and I've been reading them a lot of stories. I really enjoy story time and want to buy them a few new books to chose from. If I was here longer, I would totally read them the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrode like my fifth grade teacher read to me. Mr. Chordes, anyone? I brought out my camera which the kids absoltely loved. But it quickly became a warzone over who got to have their picture taken. I'll taken some more tomorrow, hopefully get some good shots of them outside.
Working on roman numeral worksheets
Some of the girls
This picture of Thabo totally cracks me up

The afternoons this week have been pretty relaxing. Yesterday night, we went out to the local Observatory area. There is a fun strip of local bars with live music, good eats, and cheap beer. Our favorites. These liters were only R25 (about $2.50)... if you drank more than 4 you could go down in history on the "Liter Board" (Leader Board). Don't worry, Mom, I didn't quite make it!
Brooke, Collin, and I at Jumpin' Jacks

Today was definitely the best day of the week though! Collin, Alli, and I decided to go paragliding off the Lion's Head. This is a mountain right next to Table Mountain along the beach. We had been trying to go all week, but the rides are quite weather/wind dependent. When we got there, we had to immediately rush up the mountain to make sure we got good wind. They strap you up in a harness with a guide and you literally jump off the mountain. It was so incredible. I was not nervous at all about going, but once you were up there, it was such a rush! The view was just stunning and you got to hang in the air and wind your way down the mountain and over the sea for a nice 15 minute ride. We landed right on a cricket field over looking the ocean, where some kids were practicing cricket. I had never seen it played before, and still have no idea how it is going.
The view from the air
Our ride
My guide kept snapping photos
Collin landing on the cricket field

As we were sitting at the bar watching some of the other paragliders land though, we saw a women practically fall out of the sky. She was by herself (a licensed paraglider for 14 years), but her parachute collapsed under the wind and she landed pretty swift. A helicopter rushed to her aid and apparently she broke her back, but she could move anything so thank god she wasn't paralyzed. So that kind of freaked us out, but our guide told us that was the first time that had happened in all 7 years they were operating. Very scary but all in all, we were all so happy we decided to go!

Afterwards, we walked along the beach a little ways and layed out in the sun for a while. It was definitely a scorcher today. Then, we grabbed some delicious Indian food on the water. Collin and Alli hadn't even been out to Indian, but they both really enjoyed it! I am always happy with some garlic naan. Yum. Then, we got some ice cream and watched the sunset on the beach. So definitely goes down as one of the best days in Cape Town. However, I have no doubts that there a better days to follow.

Sunset over Camp's Bay

I can't believe time has been flying so fast, I just had to extend my time here. So my "7 weeks in South Africa" is now more like 9.5 but I don't think it warrants a blog title change. I'll be headed to Botswana, Victoria Falls, and Kruger National Park for Safari after my placement ends.

Check in soon. I miss you all!

Jackie

Camping and Hermanus

After being pretty sick and exhausted this week, we were all getting a little "cabin fever" in our little suburb of Cape Town so we decided to get out of town for the weekend. We returned to Hermanus, the whale watching capital of Africa, to go camping and relax.

On Friday afternoon, three of my friends and I rented a car here and headed east along the beautiful coastal road to Hermanus. As I mentioned last time, cars drive on the left side of the road in South Africa and all cars are manual. My friend Mike from Canada drove because he has had a little bit of experience driving on the other side of the road in Scotland, but it was a big adjustment shifting with the left hand. He did an amazing job though and we found our way safe and sound. Friday night we went camping just outside of town. Of course, we didn't have a tent or any supplies so we had to scavange some up from around the area. The staff at the campsite was very helpful and lent us a tent and some chairs. I think they took pity on us for our lack of preparation. We bought some burgers and s'mores at store and all really enjoyed a good American meal over the open fire. They don't have graham crackers here and only have colored marshmallows so not without some improvization. The campsite was gorgeous and right beside the ocean and we all really liked falling asleep to the sound of the waves.

Our wonderful attempt at campfire cooking

We all slept pretty horribly due to the hard ground and lack of sleeping bags in our tents but it got us up bright and early to start off our day in Hermanus. We checked into our hostel in the morning, and the staff recommended a nice hike to the nearby beach. Before heading off, we enjoyed a cheap breakfast in town.
Zebra crossing where we enjoyed breakfast

Hermanus is such a beautiful spot. Half the population is home to South African retirees and the other half to vacationers, so there were a lot of old people around town. But this provided great markets and shopping and more upscale restaurants than we are used to in Cape Town. The streets are quaint with memorable Edwardian architecture. (Pretty much all of white South Africans are decesdants or either the English or Dutch when they first colonized the country.)

Hermanus Backpackers Living Room

Then, we set off on our nature hike to the beach. The 1.5 hour hike was very hot and hilly and we were a little ill-prepared with our all our beach gear, but it was definitely worth it. We got to see some wildlife including these cute little animals called dassies.
One of the houses along the route was also home to an animal family consisting of a rooster, some ducks, and a turtle. I'm pretty sure you can buy an imaculate seaside house in Hermanus for less than $200,000. Any takers? The beach was stunning but the water was absolutely freezing, which made for a difficult decision: to be scorched by the hot African sun or to be paralyzed by the cold rocky ocean. However, we managed to have a bunch of fun tossing the frisbee and playing with the dogs on the beach.

Brooke on the beach
The view from town

After trekking back into town and cleaning up at our hostel, we enjoyed a fresh sushi dinner and a lightning storm at one of the great restaurants overlooking the bay. Summer is definitely not the rainy season so everyone was quite surprised by the first storm since November. However, the weather prevented us from hitting the town. But all for the better, the hostel had a little bar and pool table, and I had such a good time getting to know a bunch of other travellers over a couple of beers. We met an Irish couple travelling the world before trying to set up their personal training business in Australia. A guy from Philly working with money from the UEFA (Union of European Futbol Associations) to set up youth soccer programs in the area. Also, a bunch of South Africans enjoying a relaxing weekend in Hermanus.

I had such a good time getting to know the three other volunteers with me on the trip, and we all enjoyed leaving the city for the weekend. When we got back, the house was full again with 15 new volunteers who had arrived on Saturday.
We took them bowling tonight (the true African experience, right?) and I really look forward to getting to know them over the course of the next few weeks. Time is really flying so fast! Tonight I'm planning sitting down and making sure I can squeeze in everything I want to do before leaving the country.

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend too! Keep me updated.

Jackie

Cape Town Observations and My Kids This Week

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

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