Today is cold and rainy. All of you will laugh at me for calling it cold since it is a chilly 24 degrees, but after 35 it feels cold! I am wearing a sweater.
So, my class today was cancelled part way through. Know why? Because of a soccer game. The African Cup of Nations is going on right now and South Africa is playing tonight. They thought the game started at 9, but then it actually started at 8 so class was only a half hour long today. At least we have our priorities straight!!
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Monday, January 23, 2006
Always a new challenge!
Wow. I am so tired! I feel like this day has been going on forever!
It started with a marathon staff meeting. It went on for three hours! And since only half of it was in english - they translated everything for me which was great - I caught myself spacing out pretty frequently. Then I spent time getting ready for my grade 5/6 class which is supposed to be at 4. Supposed to be is the key part of that sentence. I should not have been surprised that it was postponed. I had so much trouble getting that class started in the first place! But of course it was postponed. This time it was because all the girls were moving into different rooms. Of course no one told me that they were doing that at exactly 4 o'clock until two minutes before I was going to ring the bell. C'est la vie.
I just finished teaching my grade 7-12 class. That is really what made me tired. First of all, I have never before realized the difference four extra people can make. Last term I had 21 students in that class and it seemed easily manageable, well at least most days. Now I have 25 and it is a crazy house! Also, several of my kids from the younger class moved up so now there is a pretty large gap in what the kids understand and can do. I had to re-explain a simple assignment five times! Some kids like Mvuso and Bongani were finished in two seconds but it took other kids closer to half an hour! And that was after it was explained to them in Xhosa. I am so at a loss as to how I am going to teach these kids all at the same time! I guess I will think of something - I have for everything else I've come up against so far... Time for bed. Mmmm sleep....
It started with a marathon staff meeting. It went on for three hours! And since only half of it was in english - they translated everything for me which was great - I caught myself spacing out pretty frequently. Then I spent time getting ready for my grade 5/6 class which is supposed to be at 4. Supposed to be is the key part of that sentence. I should not have been surprised that it was postponed. I had so much trouble getting that class started in the first place! But of course it was postponed. This time it was because all the girls were moving into different rooms. Of course no one told me that they were doing that at exactly 4 o'clock until two minutes before I was going to ring the bell. C'est la vie.
I just finished teaching my grade 7-12 class. That is really what made me tired. First of all, I have never before realized the difference four extra people can make. Last term I had 21 students in that class and it seemed easily manageable, well at least most days. Now I have 25 and it is a crazy house! Also, several of my kids from the younger class moved up so now there is a pretty large gap in what the kids understand and can do. I had to re-explain a simple assignment five times! Some kids like Mvuso and Bongani were finished in two seconds but it took other kids closer to half an hour! And that was after it was explained to them in Xhosa. I am so at a loss as to how I am going to teach these kids all at the same time! I guess I will think of something - I have for everything else I've come up against so far... Time for bed. Mmmm sleep....
Saturday, January 21, 2006
promised pics!
Here are the fun pics I promised!! 
These two elephants were being very cute. They were so cool!! We were so close and we just sat there in the Land Rover for about half an hour or so watching these animals.
A zebra brushing off the flies - honestly zoom was hardly required!! This was taken in Milwane Nature Reserve where we could just go hiking with the animals right there.We could get so close to them, it was really neat.
The baby in this picture was born on Christmas day. There were two other babies too, but they were older. The close up of this elephant was taken as it walked past our Land Rover - she brushed right up against us! There were nine elephants around the watering hole and it was such an incredible sight!! I have more pictures, of lions, rhinos and others, but these took so long to put up that you will have to wait for another day!
Cheers
These two elephants were being very cute. They were so cool!! We were so close and we just sat there in the Land Rover for about half an hour or so watching these animals.
A zebra brushing off the flies - honestly zoom was hardly required!! This was taken in Milwane Nature Reserve where we could just go hiking with the animals right there.We could get so close to them, it was really neat.
The baby in this picture was born on Christmas day. There were two other babies too, but they were older. The close up of this elephant was taken as it walked past our Land Rover - she brushed right up against us! There were nine elephants around the watering hole and it was such an incredible sight!! I have more pictures, of lions, rhinos and others, but these took so long to put up that you will have to wait for another day!
Cheers
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Way Overdue!!!
Wow! The last time I posted was OCTOBER!! That is just so sad. In my defense, I have been travelling for the past month and a bit so I didn't get a chance to post anything. But still, it is sad!
Where to even begin?! I left Mzomtsha on December 3rd (I think..so long ago!) and went to hang out in the lovely metropolis of Umtata for a couple days where I lived in Brian and Lynell's house. It was nice to have some down time to relax and just chill, though a large house all to myself got a little quiet. I had two cats and a dog to keep me company though. Crazy animals followed me everywhere for the first couple of days. I also worked at a nearby orphanage a couple hours a day playing with toddlers and babies. So cute, but so heartbreaking too. Some of the babies are really sick and it is just so sad.
Then, on December 15th I left for Botswana! My bus trip was very very long - 12 hours to Pretoria and then another 8 to Gaberone. But I made it without too much trouble, though the bus did stall going up a hill between Joburg and the Botswana border. It went back down the hill a little way before the driver got it started again. That was a little iffy, but it turned out.
Botswana was a lot of fun. I was there for Christmas and stayed with Susan and Glyn Alison-Jones and their two kids Maeyken (pronounced Megan but with a K) and Adrieana. They were a lot of fun. It was really nice to have an adopted family for the holidays! Adrieana even started calling me her stepsister, and I was only evil once or twice :)
On December 29th we left Botswana and drove to Swaziland. I promise to put pictures on here evenutally. Swaziland was GORGEOUS. I loved it. We stayed at a backpackers in the middle of a nature reserve. They didn't have the Big Five so we could just walk around anywhere. We went hiking with zebra and impala and wildabeast (these can get a little nerve wracking but we were assured that they would not charge us, no matter how much it seemed like they were going to...) I saw hippos and even babies! We climbed a mountain - well almost. We lost the trail near the top and by the time we found it again it was getting too late to get all the way up and then down before dark. But we were pretty close! I also went on a game drive at another nature reserve and saw 9 elephant really up close - on of them brushed up against our Land Rover! Also I saw lions and rhino and a giraffe. and more hippos and impala. So much fun!!
From Swaziland I went to Durban by myself. It is a fun city but kind of hard to do on your own. I couldn't figure out how I was supposed to go swimming without getting all my stuff stolen while I was in the water! But the rain came and solved the problem. So no beach, but I did explore downtown with two German girls. We had a lot of fun checking out different markets and stuff. Now, I am back at work. I have three months left here in South Africa and most of the time I am really excited about it. The rest of the time I feel tired of this particular place and wonder if I am really up for three more months with no one to talk to, but there are things to look forward to. There is another volunteer coming in February from Cape Town so then I will have someone else to chat with (yahoo!) and the kids are really excited about getting back to class and that is contagious.
On a funny note, I was at the post office yesterday and the woman asked me if Canada was part of Southern Africa or "the rest of the world." It was funny!
That is all for now. Pictures to come!
Where to even begin?! I left Mzomtsha on December 3rd (I think..so long ago!) and went to hang out in the lovely metropolis of Umtata for a couple days where I lived in Brian and Lynell's house. It was nice to have some down time to relax and just chill, though a large house all to myself got a little quiet. I had two cats and a dog to keep me company though. Crazy animals followed me everywhere for the first couple of days. I also worked at a nearby orphanage a couple hours a day playing with toddlers and babies. So cute, but so heartbreaking too. Some of the babies are really sick and it is just so sad.
Then, on December 15th I left for Botswana! My bus trip was very very long - 12 hours to Pretoria and then another 8 to Gaberone. But I made it without too much trouble, though the bus did stall going up a hill between Joburg and the Botswana border. It went back down the hill a little way before the driver got it started again. That was a little iffy, but it turned out.
Botswana was a lot of fun. I was there for Christmas and stayed with Susan and Glyn Alison-Jones and their two kids Maeyken (pronounced Megan but with a K) and Adrieana. They were a lot of fun. It was really nice to have an adopted family for the holidays! Adrieana even started calling me her stepsister, and I was only evil once or twice :)
On December 29th we left Botswana and drove to Swaziland. I promise to put pictures on here evenutally. Swaziland was GORGEOUS. I loved it. We stayed at a backpackers in the middle of a nature reserve. They didn't have the Big Five so we could just walk around anywhere. We went hiking with zebra and impala and wildabeast (these can get a little nerve wracking but we were assured that they would not charge us, no matter how much it seemed like they were going to...) I saw hippos and even babies! We climbed a mountain - well almost. We lost the trail near the top and by the time we found it again it was getting too late to get all the way up and then down before dark. But we were pretty close! I also went on a game drive at another nature reserve and saw 9 elephant really up close - on of them brushed up against our Land Rover! Also I saw lions and rhino and a giraffe. and more hippos and impala. So much fun!!
From Swaziland I went to Durban by myself. It is a fun city but kind of hard to do on your own. I couldn't figure out how I was supposed to go swimming without getting all my stuff stolen while I was in the water! But the rain came and solved the problem. So no beach, but I did explore downtown with two German girls. We had a lot of fun checking out different markets and stuff. Now, I am back at work. I have three months left here in South Africa and most of the time I am really excited about it. The rest of the time I feel tired of this particular place and wonder if I am really up for three more months with no one to talk to, but there are things to look forward to. There is another volunteer coming in February from Cape Town so then I will have someone else to chat with (yahoo!) and the kids are really excited about getting back to class and that is contagious.
On a funny note, I was at the post office yesterday and the woman asked me if Canada was part of Southern Africa or "the rest of the world." It was funny!
That is all for now. Pictures to come!
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