Life is Good

This weekend was another crazy one! I went to a rugby match on Friday which was a lot of fun. Charlie took the time to explain the game to me beforehand and even drew out the field, the players and the rules so it wasn't as confusing. All of the girls went to the game, so it was really exciting to see everyone after being apart for a week and to hear about their host families, adventures and schools. By the end of the game I felt very fortunate for the placement I have as some of the girls are barely getting fed, and one of the girls is even getting removed from her host family because she has been treated so poorly. Some of the girls are really struggling in the schools because corporal punishment is being used often and dangerously in the classrooms. Although I have not experienced severe corporal punishment at Brooklands Primary, the degree to which the teachers use their power over the students is much more common and harsh than in American schools.

On Saturday the MSU group met up again for a mountain walk to a city called Kirstenbosch. It was another beautiful day, but the hike was more strenuous than we originally thought and we were out for 4 hours- way later than expected. After a late lunch, I got dropped off at my house and ran in to shower and get ready for the braai a family friend was throwing for me.

I discovered that the Keets have a ping pong table in their garage so Randall and I have been playing whenever we get a chance. He has an amazing serve, but so far it is pretty evenly matched (although I did just beat him 5 times in a row, and he was not too happy about that).

During the past two weeks I've been at Brooklands Primary School observing and teaching in a sixth grade class. There are 3 sixth grade classes that exchange twice daily with class sizes of 39, 38 and 30 students. Class begins at 8:00am and ends at 2:00pm. The school has two small 15 minute breaks in which the students go outside to eat lunch and play. There is no cafeteria and every student brings a small sandwich with them to eat. Instead of juiceboxes, chips, fruit, candy, or even a paper bag, students merely bring a single sandwich to eat for the day which makes me feel very spoiled looking at the amount of food I usually eat.

I've been lucky enough to teach all three classes and, so far, all of my lessons have gone quite smoothly. I taught a large vocabulary lesson to two classes where different groups acted and/or drew the meanings to their words and presented them to the class. I got some great videos of their skits! A few of them even stayed in during their recess to work on their presentations! One group gathered props and created costumes to describe the word 'mascot'. I also taught a lesson about the phases of the moon which required the students to physically act out the motions. They were extremely attentive and really understood the importance of the sun and earth's placements in regards to how we see the moon over the course of a month. (Never thought I'd say it but, Thank You SME301.)

Currently I'm helping Marena to create a reinforcement program which will provide the needed extrinsic motivation for the children to display good behavior. Often, too much attention is given to the children displaying bad behavior (which many of the students are immune to now), so this is an attempt to give positive attention to students with model behavior. Thus, shifting the focus from negative things to positive ones will hopefully help to promote good behavior. I'm also trying to help Marena establish a classroom community so that her learners feel a responsibility to their peers and their classroom. I’ll keep you posted on any progress…

The school, like many homes and facilities in SA, has no central heating in the building. During their winter months (June-October), it gets extremely cold throughout the school so I’ve been wearing my winter jacket and a scarf all day long. In fact, I could see my own breath while teaching yesterday morning!


While in South Africa, I've been writing down some of the vocabulary and language differences between American English and South African English. Below are some examples: (our word is first, and the SA equivalent is next)

-barbeque= BRAAI (they have these all the time and the food is amazing!)
-students= LEARNERS
-traffic light= ROBOT
-gas= PETROL
-waiting in line=QUEUING
-carry out= TAKE AWAY
-text message= SMS
-pick-up truck= BAKKIE
-trunk (of a car)= BOOT
-horn= HOOTER
-turn signal= INDICATOR
-glove box= CUBBY HOLE
-tennis shoes= TAKKIES
-cereal= PORRIDGE

Here are some more unique things and facts about SA:

-Leftovers are kept out on the counter all night. For lunch one day I had cheese bread that sat out on the counter overnight before I ate it. Surprisingly no one gets sick, but I also think that the temperature inside SA homes is much colder than back home.
-Milk is heated in the microwave before they pour it in your cereal. In fact sometimes they place the entire bowl into the microwave until the milk is boiling and the cereal is soggy. I actually quite like it!
-Most electronics and bills are prepaid. You must buy airtime for your phone before you can use it, as well as with electricity and water.
-Speaking of water, Cape Town has some of the cleanest and most delicious water in the world!
-Almost all homes in South Africa have a bath but not a shower. Even though the Keets are among the few to have a shower, I have yet to see them use it, and instead, they take long baths at night.
-South Africa has a very lopsided socioeconomic class structure. There is a HUGE population of extremely poor people and a decent sized population of very rich people, which leaves a very, very tiny middle class.
-When going out to dinner at night, many people look at us funny because it is still weird for a white woman to be seen with people of color outside of a normal workday interaction. It really shows how far South Africa still needs to come in terms of racial integration practices, acceptance, etc.
-South Africa is still considered a 3rd world country.


I'm trying to post pictures, but for some reason it's not working-- I'll post some soon :)