Last 2 Weeks

I apologize for the lack of updates these past 2 weeks. It has been a crazy time. We have had finals and are trying to say our good-byes and finish up everything on our South African bucket lists. It’s busy. But here are a few snip-its from our past 2 weeks. Enjoy!

Pendla Teaching

Liz and I walked into our classroom on Monday and were told that another classroom did not have a teacher. That was our cue to take over the classroom without a teacher for the day. It was not what I was expecting that morning- but that is always the story at Pendla. Liz and I tried to tame our kids by speaking to them in Xhosa, teaching their subjects, playing games, and doing art projects. Basically whatever we could do to control them for the 3 hours that we were there. We started off by teaching them past tense verbs in English. We then taught Learner’s Rights as part of the Life Orientation course. They were sick of writing notes and actually listening so we taught the class how to make origami “cootie catchers” or “fortune tellers.” They absolutely loved them and ran around at recess playing with them. Then classes switched and we taught the next class how to play “Around the World,” a math competition game that the kids also loved. I think that was the moment that we had the best control of them and it was educational! I wish we had thought of it before our last week there. Lesson learned. Maybe it will be something that I can pass onto to next year’s Pendla group.

At recess a day later, it was raining. Bad weather limits the kids activities at break. They try to hang out under the overhangs right outside of their classrooms. We couldn’t read in our new reading area, and they couldn’t run around out in the open field. I sat down with about 10 learners and taught them how to play a couple of hand games that included BoBo Ski Whaten Taten and one where they sit in a circle, overlap hands, and slap them going around in a circle. I think they enjoyed both games and I hope they are games they can pull out again on their next rainy day!

Samrec Penguins

Bennies and Johnnies with their patches

On Wednesday, we took a trip in Literature out to Samrec, a penguin rehabilitation center. We arrived at the center and got to watch the penguins being fed. They were so funny. The volunteers actually had to keep the penguins back behind a fence and only let a few through at a time to the feeding area. The penguins were trying to climb over one another and most ended up falling off a 2 foot drop into the water. It was rather humorous. We then took a tour and learned all about protecting wildlife. It was quite interesting.

After watching and learning all about penguins, we did a patch presentation. Throughout the semester, we had a task to make a patch for our Lit class representing what we have learned in South Africa. Each person made one unique to their experience. We then presented them to the class. Our Lit professor is now making a quilt out of each patch. It was a neat project to do.

Langerry Appreciation

On Friday we took our flat cleaner out to lunch. Her name is Joyce and she has been too wonderful to us throughout the entire semester. For those who don’t know, we are basically living in long term hotel rooms complete with a kitchen and daily cleaning. Our flat cleaner comes in every day and makes our beds, does our dishes, cleans our bathroom, and cleans our floors. Yeah, we have basically been spoiled the entire time. Anyway, we took Joyce out for lunch to show her our appreciation. We took her to Spur, which is ironically an American-imitation restaurant complete with Native American logo. We had a good time talking with her and getting to know a little bit about her and her family.

That same day, we had a massive Braai for all of the Langerry staff to say thank you for everything that they have done this semester (I think our flat was extra appreciative because we have set our kitchen on fire countless times as well as broke a window. We were actually called Unlucky Flat 13. But that’s another story…). We made a ton of meat, salads, dessert, fruit, and bread. It was very tasty. I helped season the porkchops as well as clean dishes that had raw meat on them and needed to be washed to serve the cooked meat. After everyone was fed, the staff sang us African songs and gave us all hugs. It was the cherry on the top of a great day!

House Family Day

Mama Kelc and Baby Emmy all bundled up!

One of the three volunteer sites that our group spent their semester at was House of Resurrection. This is a center/home for children infected/affected by HIV/AIDS. There are about 5 to 6 House Mothers who all live with 6 to 7 kids in a house setting. It is truly a wonderful place and the kids are adorable. The volunteers from our group threw a Family Fun Day for them. They rented a Bounce House, asked people to face paint, found a musician/DJ, and brought all of us along to play with the kids. It was a blast! I was asked to hold a baby for a while, and next thing I knew, 3 of the House Mothers were strapping me into a harness to hold the baby “with no hands.” And that is where Baby Emmy stayed for the next few hours. That is also how I earned the nickname “Mama Kelc” from my fellow Bennies and Johnnies. The party was quite fun and I hope the kids slept well that night so that the House Mothers got some rest as well since they were in the Bounce House part of the time as well!

NMMU Choir Concert Round 2

Jim, Connie, Trang, Chris, and I took an adventure out to the townships to watch the NMMU Choir perform along with a couple of acapella groups. The posters advertised for the concert to start at 7.We arrived a couple of minutes after 7. The concert started after 8pm. That's Africa Time for you. The first group that performed were 4 men who were older who sang many gospel songs. They were characters. The second group to perform was made up of members  of the NMMMU choir as well as a couple of Alums. And we knew one of the stars because he taught us how to sing the South African national anthem in one of our first music classes. He was a fantastic singer! And then the world famous NMMU choir took the stage, well I guess the floor since we were in a gym-type room. And as usual, they were incredible! I’m going to miss their voices and lively performances! There weren’t many people in the audience and it gave a close and personal atmosphere. I even got to talk with a few of the NMMU Choir Members after the show which put a great way to end the night!

Sundays River Cruise

Dune Rolling!

Our final farewell with our group took place on a river cruise. We rented out a boat for a couple of hours and floated up and down the Sundays River. We had some delicious bunny chow made by the Mamas that we met at the Red Location. The views were amazing and although the weather was a little chilly, the sunshine made it wonderful! We stopped at a sand dune and climbed up to the top. We took many pictures and then took turns “sledding” and rolling down the hill. I felt like I was 6 years old again and it was great! After a few hours on the dune, we got back on board the boat and made our way back. It was a great study break before our hectic Finals Week.

Xhosa Day

We arrived at Pendla one day and were already beginning to dread saying our good-byes to the school. We found all of the students and teachers dressed in traditional Xhosa wear. It was fantastic! We asked the kids what was the occasion and they said it was National Xhosa Day. Little did we know was that it was all for us. The school had been planning a surprise for us for over a week. Liz and I got to watch our kids sing and dance all morning long. And then all of the students were let out earlier than their normal break time and they all danced in the courtyard for us. Right after, the teachers had prepared us a traditional African meal. We had (in their English names): mealie (like a corn-peanut), a spinach dish, ox tripe (stomach), pumpkin, and put bread. It was very, very kind of them. And to finish it off, the teachers sang and danced for us. It was too wonderful!

Pendla Family Night

We (the 12 Johnnies and Bennies who volunteered all semester at Pendla) threw one heck of a party on our last day at Pendla. We invited each of the 400 students as well as their parents to attend this night. We made sandwiches for dinner for everyone (800 sandwiches later….) as well as prepared bananas, candy bars, juice, and beans for every person. We also put together goodie bags for each student that contained pencils, pens, a glue stick, a bracelet, and a sucker. We also prepared teacher’s baskets which had more school and office supplies in it for each one. We worked with our classes to put together a performance to perform in front of their families. There were speeches from our advisor, 2 of our volunteers, and the principal of Pendla. The kids sang, dance, and acted the night away. There was face paint and hoola-hoops and lots of pictures and hugs. And many tears- okay maybe that was only me. It was extremely hard to say good-bye to those kids. I wish the best for each and every single one of them.

Liz and I with our favorite twins!

This was my last 2 weeks in South Africa in a nutshell. One more blog post will come once I get back in the States. Saving the best for last J

*Most of these pictures were taken from other members in my group. My camera broke after I decided it would be a good idea to take it to the sand dune and get sand stuck in it. Oops. Lesson learned the hard way.

Health Day at Pendla, Boat Trip, and Elephant Riding!

Our time is getting short and we are trying to make the most of the short weeks that we have left! Here are the top three highlights from my past week:

Health Day at Pendla

Learners happy with their new toothbrushes!

On Monday and Tuesday, Shaz and I went around to all of the classrooms and gave a 10 minute presentation on health and hygiene to each Class at Pendla. We taught the students the proper way to wash their hands, how to brush their teeth, how to cover their cough and sneeze, and how to keep their school clean by taking them out and picking up litter. Most of the students knew about all of these topics, but it is always good to remind them of the proper ways of doing things in case it may have slipped their mind. It also is nice to show them that "big kids" do the same things as they do. Also, hopefully we are another set of role models for them besides their teacher. At the end of the presentation, we gave a toothbrush to each learner which were donated by the grandparents of a girl on my trip. The kids adored them! Health Day was a success and will hopefully be continued by other future groups at Pendla!

Boat Trip
On Thursday I took a boat trip around Algoa Bay with my biology class. We were supposed to be looking at the effects that humans have on the shoreline and what is being done to minimize the impact of humans on the shoreline. But really, it was for fun. It was a great trip! We even left the bay for a moment and got to see how rough the ocean is just outside of the bay. Our poor little boat was being thrown around! It was an amazing contrast. We also were sprayed with water the entire trip. I got off the boat looking like I just stepped out of the shower. It was funny for a while and then we got cold. But we didn't let it ruin our trip! A few birds flew along side out boat. They were flying at the same height and speed and it was really neat to watch. We saw a lone penguin hanging out swimming in the water by himself. And the highlight of the trip was being surrounded by 300-400 dolphins jumping and playing alongside our boat. They were jumping in and out of the ways, swimming where we could reach in the water and touch them, and slapping their tails on the surface of the water. It was one of the most amazing experiences that I have had here so far!

Elephant Riding

Girls and the elephant!

On Saturday a group of girls decided to take a day trip out to Addo where we got to ride elephants! It was amazing! We got to the beautiful lodge and were immediately treated to coffee and muffins. We then climbed on the backs of some elephants and headed out for about an hour-long ride. I rode Duma and my guide's name was Prince. I learned a lot about Prince and Duma on this trip. Duma and the two other elephants were all 21-24 years old (Elephants live up to 60-70 years). They were rescued from the elephant culling (killing) in Kruger National Park about 12 years ago. They now live the high life of wandering the park and getting hand fed by tourists such as ourselves. After the ride (my butt still hurts from the bareback ride), we watched them lie down and went and took pictures with them as they posed. We then followed them on foot through the bush and watched them drink at a water hole and shower themselves in mud. We also got to see them eat an entire tree in about 15 minutes. When it was time to head back, the guide's told them to move on home. And they listened!! I commented that they listened better than my dog does at home! I was thoroughly impressed. We followed them back to the lodge and fed them by hand! With the elephant's stomachs full, it was time for the humans to eat. We had some fresh veggies, rolls, a sort of potato salad and chicken salad. It was delicious! This was a great last adventure to take on our own time! It will definitely be something that I never forget!

Angie Comes to Visit

I spent the past week hanging out with my cousin, Angie, who came to visit me here in South Africa. It was the best week ever! I picked her up Sunday night, brought her back to Langerry, and we sat on the balcony chatting and enjoying the South African climate. Monday was her first time seeing South Africa in the sun, and watching her reaction to the beautiful view of the ocean from my balcony made me realize how much I have been taking it for granted. Spending time with Ang while she viewed my city made me re-realize how awesome of a place I am living in. We headed out for Breakfast at Tiffany’s where we enjoyed tremezzinis and omelettes. We then took a walk around the PE area and saw the Boardwalk, Pier, and some sailboats doing races in the ocean. We then stopped and got ice cream and walked barefoot along the beach. We spent the afternoon at the beach constructing a well-made sand castle complete with triple moats, turrets, spires, and a guard jelly. We also spent some time playing on the new “kid” area alongside the beach. We rode rocking giraffes, balanced on a teeter totter and got thrown off a spinning circle that all of the kids seemed to be good at. After rinsing off the sand, we went out to dinner with a few people from my group. Angie has Cajun Chicken Pizza and I had a Malaysian Chicken Salad at the delicious Dulce Café. We walked back to Langerry and were pretty exhausted (and sunburned in Angie’s case) after a great day!

Elephant Parade

On Tuesday we went on an African safari! We spent the day with a group of students from the University of Florida as well as a Scottish woman and our South African guide, Malcolm, of course. We first journeyed to Addo Elephant Park where we saw many warthogs, hartebeest, jackals, kudu, monkeys, zebras, and elephants! It was an awesome experience because at one point, we had a parade of elephants walk within a few feet of our bus as they went toward the water hole. It was awesome! We also saw the biggest elephant in the park (John) and the smallest (a baby that was born 13 days before!). We had an American lunch consisting of hamburger and fries at Schotia. We then hopped in our Landy and took off for the safari! We saw many, many more animals including blesbuck, rhinos, giraffes (from afar), elephants, hartebeest, hippos, impala, lions, springbuck, wildebeest, and zebra. One of the coolest moments was that we got to hear a lion roar, which was a special treat! Angie also got to ride on the front of the Landy and was almost able to reach out and touch some zebras that didn’t want to move out of the road. We had a wonderful group of people around us as well as a great guide! We got to look at the Southern Hemisphere sky and admire the thousands of dazzling stars which put the Northern Hemisphere skies to shame. We had a traditional South African dinner of sweet potatoes, green beans, beef in sauce, rice, and mulva pudding. We took a short ride through the park after dark to watch the lions and other animals walk around when it isn’t so warm outside. That was also when we got to see the elephants, a brand new addition to Schotia about 5 weeks before that day. A successful day overall!

On Wednesday, we picked up a car at the rental agency and Angie got to drive on the wrong side of the car on the wrong side of the street. She was a professional as soon as she started. It was a learning experience! We were then joined by 3 of my friends and we took a mini road trip out to Jeffery’s Bay, about an hour car ride from PE (don’t worry, Angie didn’t drive the whole way, we had a more experienced driver drive). We got surf lessons in the morning. Angie was able to stand up a couple of times and it was her first time surfing ever! She was a natural! I was content with riding the waves on my knees. Surfing is some hard work. I think it was Angie’s favorite part of her week here! We had lunch at Debonair’s Pizza where we had a Mexican Fiesta Pizza which was basically pure jalepenos. It was spicy. We then went and tried sand boarding. It is basically snowboarding, but down a sand dune instead of a snow hill. And our instructor didn’t give us much instruction. It was more like “strap your feet in, stand up, and fly down the hill.” Which is exactly what we did for the next couple of hours. It was a blast! The hardest part was walking back up the dune to get to the top again. It ended up being easier than I expected (the downhill part) and it is something that I would do again in a heartbeat! We returned back to PE, returned the rental car, and went to watch the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and University of Northern Florida Choirs perform. It was a fantastic show complete with African singing and dancing! It was a lot of fun to watch!

On Thursday, I went to class in the morning while Angie took the morning to rest up after our busy week thus far. We then took a tour of the townships with my advisers. We had bunny chow at a backpacker in Red Location in the New Brighton township with the Mamas who run the place. They are always so warm and welcoming. They greeted us with big hugs and chatted with us while we ate. We then visited Pendla, the school that I volunteer with at twice a week. The kids were so excited to meet Angie and each learner wanted a picture with her. They also gave us a brief Xhosa lesson and sent us on our way. We then drove through Missionvale where we were able to look at the shacks that are the homes of millions of people in South Africa. It is always a humbling site to see. And something that one cannot put words to. We headed back to our luxurious PE and had fish and chips for dinner, another South African must and watched a movie as we fell asleep.

Riding the Giraffes

Our plans for Friday were to go deep-sea fishing, but were cancelled when the guy called and told us that his fuel line was broken on his boat. It was a big let-down, but we did not let it ruin our day. Angie took her first kombi/taxi ride to downtown PE. We walked the streets for a while and did a little shopping. We walked inside the Public Library which is basically the coolest library I have ever seen. We then walked through an artistic part of town made of mosaic steps, a pyramid, lighthouse, and sculptures dedicated to Nelson Mandela. It was another cultural experience. We then got a bird’s eye view of the city from what used to be the “sky-deck” on a building. I had visited the sky-deck a few days before and the guy still remembered me, so he gave me the keys and let us go up on our own, only in Africa. We headed back and had a variety lunch made of all South African favorites: Chelsea buns, Simba chips, Stumpie milk, fruit bought off the side of the road, and Cadbury bars. Yummy! In the afternoon we went mini golfing where Angie beat me by a fair amount. We came home and began a braai with a few of the people that I live with. We had chicken and sausage and some delicious bread. Halfway through, the power went out at Langerry for about an hour. We cooked by torch light (flash light), told ghost stories, and sat on the balcony and watched the lit parts of the city.

On Saturday morning, while Angie still slept, I participated in South Africa’s Most Beautiful Road Race- a 5K just for women, men were only allowed to race if they dressed in drag. I ran it with 2 girls from my group.  Over 12,000 people were in the 5K race and we finished in the first 20% of the group, at the very least. It was an amazing experience and a lot of fun! I got a t-shirt and a medal and I crossed the finished line with a guy dressed in a pink dress and long haired wig. He gave me a big hug as soon as we were done. Probably the most random thing in my life, ever. My 2 friends that I raced with, my advisers, Angie, and I all went out to eat breakfast at Tiffany’s once again. Ang came back, did some last minute packing and we drove her to the airport. I was sad to see her leave. It was probably my most fun week in South Africa so far. I’m glad she had the opportunity to come to visit and see some of the things that I have been seeing these past 4 months. As I said before, words can’t describe much of what I do here and I’m so excited that I got to share this with another person. I think Angie had as much fun as I did and I hope she sleeps well on the plane!