When I planned this trip, I never even began to imagine that it would turn out being great as it has been. People always seem to ask about summer plans, and even telling them about this trip of a lifetime, it was still just so inconceivable.
There had been a while after booking the trip itself, but not flights, at I had gotten really scared about it. I knew that it was huge, and something about it definitely intimidated me. For a while, I considered not going to Prague and just volunteering in SA all summer-- how wrong I would have been to make that choice! I ended up pretty much just telling myself to suck it up because I knew they were just nervous jitters.
By the time I was actually leaving, I was excited! But never did I imagine it to be so great, especially Prague! Everything about living in an unknown, historical city, taking classes at the sights of events, and meeting some of the greatest people I've ever known, helped to make Prague an experience that will forever be special to me. I do wish that SA had turned out differently. If nothing else, it had been quite an adventure the mere ten days I was there, and does make for a good story! I'm mostly kidding, it does make for a good story, but it's really hard not to be effected by going there and seeing what these kids live in each day. I forgot to mention it in my last post, but had wanted to share this quick story . . . On my last day at Sunrise, the kids had been given two small pieces of candy each, a big treat for them. I was working with Chikondi, who refused to eat either of her pieces, because "mommy likes sweets and tells me that when we get them, to bring them home to her." No matter what I said or did, she wouldn't even consider eating them, and it was just so sad to me . . . Something SA has definitely done for me, is that it has really got me thinking about leadership and program development. The program I was with was a huge mess when I arrived. They're really eager for feedback though, in order to make the program better. So when I told them I was leaving, feedback was something they really wanted and that I was happy to give. Going beyond the "this program sucked" mentality and really working to see key issues and to convey them to DTR constructively has been an interesting process. So much of it, honestly, comes back to being detail oriented. I really do hope that things get better for them, because they do have a good foundation for the program, but just need to really work beyond that-- in my opinion.
Re-entry culture shock hasn't been terrible. I think the worst of it is that I don't even fully have my head wrapped around this summer, so to now have tons of people seeing me and asking all about it, I'm probably a lot more quiet about it than they might expect. Even to me, the whole thing is just so completely unbelievable still! If I didn't have the photos, or this blog to look back on, I'm not sure if I would believe half the things I did.
I really miss the metro and walking everywhere in Prague. I miss familiar sounds and smells. And I especially miss the people.
I think that my stomach is taking re-entry the worst. I've had a stomach ache for days . . . And it's not like I even ate that well abroad! Czech is a meat and potato type of country that prides itself on fried cheese. And I never want another peanut butter sandwich after SA . . .
I was uploading some photos to Facebook last night and was really in such disbelief that I had such an amazing summer and got to do all of those amazing things! It was just like, are you serious, I did all of these things?! I so honestly can't even believe that all of it happened. Even more so, I can't believe it's over . . . I missed my family and was excited to be going to Bayside, but I had prepared myself for a full summer away, so I'm not sure I was quite ready to come home . . . I'm just itching for more adventures, I guess!
I'm not sure when my next adventure will be, but I'll be sure to write all about it on here when it comes! I actually really enjoyed putting all (or at least most) of my thoughts on here. I generally keep my thoughts to myself unless asked directly about them, so it has been kind of therapeutic opening up and just sharing everything. Thank you to everyone who kept up with this over the summer, or even just peaked at it a time or two. I've recieved a lot of messages and emails from people telling me how much they have liked reading it and seeing my photos. Knowing that people are actually reading this,and even enjoying it, has been so great! So thank you! This truly has been the summer of a lifetime, and I'm glad to have shared it.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
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Saturday, July 14, 2012
Sunrise
So I said I would be doing a whole separate post to show you all my kids from Sunrise, so here it is!
Before showing you the kids, I want to show you all the area that Sunrise is located in. Google Earth is really so neat. My stepdad was on it the other day, looking at the area I lived and worked in, and was able to get on ground level and "walk" around the neighborhoods. For any of you that have it, search for "Muizenberg". In relation to the point that my computer continues to bring me to (and hopefully yours as well), there is a big square of buildings above to the left of your initial position. That is the township that I worked in, and that my kids live in. Here are some photos I got on my last day there:
Here is the entrance to Sunrise, where I volunteered:
And my particular classroom:
Most important though, are the kids I worked with! I came in my last day kind of sad knowing that it was ultimately over, but really wanted to make the most of it. When we first got to the room, so many if the kids that I mainly worked with weren't there! I was really upset at the idea of never having full closure with so many of them. Luckly though, everyone eventually came to class, except Lauren. I was definitely upset that I didn't get a chance to work with her one last time, or to get to say goodbye. I was most upset for Lauren, and not even necessarily for myself. Just in the week that I had worked with her she had progressed so much and really had become attached for me. So it was really sad for me to imagine her coming into class the couple days following that, looking for me to be there for her and her not really having any kind of explanation. Even for the kids that were in class that day, it's hard telling them goodbye, because they just don't even begin to comprehend that it's not goodbye until the next day at school, but forever. And I really just wonder what it is like for them to wait for us at school the next few days, wondering where we are. And how long is it before they give up on us and lose hope?
I had mentioned a few of the kids in my class in other posts, so here are some faces to match to names!
Here are the Chi twins, Chikondi (in pink) and Chifundi (in black). I have some videos of them that I will post later in this post:
This is Kezia! She is another one that I really had to work hard with. She is so quiet that I never heard her speak once . . . I really bonded with her though! She is also one of my kids that can definitely do the work, but sincerely doesn't believe that she can. Her paper was of her writing her name:
This is Corbin! He is so naughty! He is th done whose grandmother is the principal. I found out later on that his mother also works int he school. He can be such a sweet boy, but will do anything for attention:
This is Rachel! She isn't one of the kids that required much of any help, but was still such a sweetheart! Her and Vanessa always came and played with me out on the playground:
A few group photos of some of the kids!
My class absolutely loved dr. Seuss, especially The Cat in the Hat. I think I read it all but one day!
The last thing i have are some videos of the Chi twins and Innocence (who is far from actually being Innocent). They loved seeing themselves on video, so here are a few videos they wanted me to record! You can so see all of the attitude they've got! I wanted to make it one video of the clips, but had some trouble transferring the video files from my phone and ended up just needing to upload right to YouTube . . .
Before showing you the kids, I want to show you all the area that Sunrise is located in. Google Earth is really so neat. My stepdad was on it the other day, looking at the area I lived and worked in, and was able to get on ground level and "walk" around the neighborhoods. For any of you that have it, search for "Muizenberg". In relation to the point that my computer continues to bring me to (and hopefully yours as well), there is a big square of buildings above to the left of your initial position. That is the township that I worked in, and that my kids live in. Here are some photos I got on my last day there:
I had mentioned a few of the kids in my class in other posts, so here are some faces to match to names!
Here are the Chi twins, Chikondi (in pink) and Chifundi (in black). I have some videos of them that I will post later in this post:
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Homeward Bound
Well, I've officially left Cape Town and am en route to home. I'm really not sure how I feel about it. To a certain extent, I'm really kind of disappointed in myself for ending it early. I think that might just be me being hard on myself though . . . It's just hard not ever really knowing what you "should" do in any big decision process, like this one. You never truly know what the right decision is, and really just need to have faith that you've made the best one. I personally believe that everything happens for a reason. There's a reason why I came to Muizenberg, but there's also some greater reason as to why I left so early. I'm at the point where I'm looking for any kind of explanation as to why this was all meant to be this way, but am at a loss right now. I don't know why my trip to South Africa panned out the way it did, and I probably never really will, but I do trust in that this is the way it was meant to happen for whatever unknown reason.
If my flights are any kind of indication as to how good of a decision I've made this time, I think I made a good one! After those horrible flights on the way to Cape Town almost two weeks ago, this flight is already so much better. I'll take that as a good sign!
Despite leaving early, I would 100% like to return to South Africa someday! Even in the midst of winter, it is one of the most beautiful tropical places I have ever been. In my visit to South Africa, I lived and worked in the worst of conditions it has to offer. In my last few days though, I was so lucky to have been exposed to the other side. Under very different circumstances, I would like to return eventually. I would also like to volunteer abroad again. Having had this experience though, I think that it would be important for me to go with a friend next time. Living in what can be such a scary environment sometimes, it would have completely changed my situation had I had someone who was wholly on the same page as me as far as what we imagined our experience being.
After almost two months away from home, I am excited to see everyone again. I'm not sure how long I'll be in Littleton though. Between being on the coast in Ireland and South Africa, I've really missed Belfast, Maine and will probably be going there as soon as I can. That, I am so definitely excited for!
Also, of course the one morning that I absolutely must be on the Internet, I am going to be stuck on a plane somewhere between London and Boston . . . Wish my mom luck registering me for my UNH business classes . . .
If my flights are any kind of indication as to how good of a decision I've made this time, I think I made a good one! After those horrible flights on the way to Cape Town almost two weeks ago, this flight is already so much better. I'll take that as a good sign!
Despite leaving early, I would 100% like to return to South Africa someday! Even in the midst of winter, it is one of the most beautiful tropical places I have ever been. In my visit to South Africa, I lived and worked in the worst of conditions it has to offer. In my last few days though, I was so lucky to have been exposed to the other side. Under very different circumstances, I would like to return eventually. I would also like to volunteer abroad again. Having had this experience though, I think that it would be important for me to go with a friend next time. Living in what can be such a scary environment sometimes, it would have completely changed my situation had I had someone who was wholly on the same page as me as far as what we imagined our experience being.
After almost two months away from home, I am excited to see everyone again. I'm not sure how long I'll be in Littleton though. Between being on the coast in Ireland and South Africa, I've really missed Belfast, Maine and will probably be going there as soon as I can. That, I am so definitely excited for!
Also, of course the one morning that I absolutely must be on the Internet, I am going to be stuck on a plane somewhere between London and Boston . . . Wish my mom luck registering me for my UNH business classes . . .
Final Days, part 2
It was so weird waking up on Monday morning, knowing that it would be my last one in Muizenberg. Tim, the director, just so happened to stop by that morning. We have no contact with him regularly, so up until then he hadn't known I was leaving. It's been a rough couple of weeks for Tim, I'm the third person (that I know of) who has left from my orientation group. Just from the new people in my house alone, there are three people who were only staying two weeks anyways, but every single other person, but one, has already moved their departure day up . . . Tim wanted to take me out for coffee, but because I was going to go on the tour, he offered to pick me up from where I was being dropped off early (in order to catch my flight), instead of me having to take the train by myself. I actually really wanted to meet with him to talk about the program and ideas that I have anyways, so I was glad to have run into him. With no cell phone or Internet at the house, I hadn't had any way to even just reach him to say I was leaving, especially with all the running around I was doing to tour the area. I had planned on emailing him from home . . . And sadly, aside from the people living in my house, my leaving would have gone completely unnoticed.
Dave came to get the people form our house going on the tour at about 9am. His friend Andrea was the second driver. I rode with Andrea, in her huge safari Land Rover, listening to Jack Johnson. I think that there were ten of us total going on the tour. Our first stop was at Boulder Beach, where all of the penguins live!
After the penguins, we drove to Cape Point! Even just the drive there was so cool. There were wild baboons and ostriches on the side of the road, and all kinds of great scenery. It was one of those drives where you're right on the edge of a big hill that eventually turns into a huge mountain, with nothing but ocean and beach houses below. So nice!
We eventually made it to Cape Point, where we were officially warned about the baboons that inhabit the area and will come steal your food if you bring it out and they see/smell it. We didn't end up on seeing any, but they were definitely there-- they left all kinds of fresh poop behind everywhere . . . It was so windy up at the top of the point, by the lighthouse! I feel like such a broken record saying this, but the views were great! The water was crystal clear, and all different shades, defendant on where the different currents met and mixed.
The wind at Cape Point was nothing compared to the Cape of Good Hope! If you didn't have good footing, it would have been so easy to have toppled over. There were a few times I thought I was seriously going to blow over . . . Compared to the other spots we had been, it is really just a big pile of rocks at the bottom of a cliff. We climbed up to an upper level of rocks and just hung out for a little bit. The waves below we're huge because of all the wind that day, literally howling in our faces. Dave said it normally isn't that bad, but that he prefers it that way because of the waves-- being a huge surfer. It was kind of sad for me, because I knew this would be my last stop. Dave would drop me off to meet Tim and everyone else would continue to more places. I was scheduled to leave the house at 4:30, but everyone wouldn't be back until about 6:30, so I had to say my goodbyes to Lesley, Andrea, Saffi, and Danny. We had not known each other for a week and a half, so it was nothing compared to Prague, but still sad.
There must have been some type of miscommunication or something, because I never met Tim . . . Dave showed me where to go to get on the train as a result. It was my first time on the train by myself, which I had fully intended on never doing. If you get a first class ticket, most of the creeps are left behind in the other compartments, so that's what I did. Still though, some creep had to freak me out . . . I was sitting by myself in a compartment with tons of extra room, and two super sketchy guys come in, one sits next to me-- not even across, but right next to me-- and the other stands for a while looking our general direction. Eventually he sat down across from me. Luckily, I only had three stops to get back to Muizenberg. When the train arrived, I stood up and got off. The two guys both got up and left the train as well, but only after I had been completely off and maybe even thinking that I was away from them-- or so they would have liked for me to be thinking. I'm so paranoid though, especially being by myself, so I caught on when they started following my towards Muizenberg Beach. Another lady was going the same direction and walked with me a bit. She was a local, and seemed nice, but I was scared of her too in the back of my mind, despite her nice clothing and designer bag. The paranoia was fully out. All I could think of was how smart it would be for muggers to have another person pose as someone well off, who would be the one to approach the target-- as the lady, who had happened to be in my compartment, had done to me-- and because they appeared to be more well off and not out to get valuables, you would let your guard down a bit. If that was the plan, it didn't work-- I'm way too paranoid for that. I feel bad for the lady even thinking all of these things, but it's so much better to have that mindset than to fall into some trap like that . . . I eventually made it to the beach with no problems, and eventually, back to the house for the last time.
My last day in South Africa had definitely been a success. I really feel like that last two days had really been great for seeing the area. Yeah, shark tank diving, zip lining, or safari would have been amazing as well. But honestly, they're what I would consider to be the "extras" of what you should see and do in Cape Town. And even safari in Cape Town isn't real safari-- part of what made it easy to miss out on. You do and see some great things, but unless you fly to Johannesburg and go to Kruger (for about $1000), the "safari" experience doesn't include any truly wild animals, they're all enclosed in huge parks and kept after . . . Had I stayed longer, I'm sure I would have done it, but it definitely wasn't necessary for my 10 days. Seeing all of Cape Town and making it down to Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope is what was important to me though. Doing all, or even any, of the "extras" would have been so much fun, but at least this time, they weren't what was important to me for making this a good trip.
Dave came to get the people form our house going on the tour at about 9am. His friend Andrea was the second driver. I rode with Andrea, in her huge safari Land Rover, listening to Jack Johnson. I think that there were ten of us total going on the tour. Our first stop was at Boulder Beach, where all of the penguins live!
My last day in South Africa had definitely been a success. I really feel like that last two days had really been great for seeing the area. Yeah, shark tank diving, zip lining, or safari would have been amazing as well. But honestly, they're what I would consider to be the "extras" of what you should see and do in Cape Town. And even safari in Cape Town isn't real safari-- part of what made it easy to miss out on. You do and see some great things, but unless you fly to Johannesburg and go to Kruger (for about $1000), the "safari" experience doesn't include any truly wild animals, they're all enclosed in huge parks and kept after . . . Had I stayed longer, I'm sure I would have done it, but it definitely wasn't necessary for my 10 days. Seeing all of Cape Town and making it down to Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope is what was important to me though. Doing all, or even any, of the "extras" would have been so much fun, but at least this time, they weren't what was important to me for making this a good trip.
Final Days, part 1
That last two days in South Africa have been amazing! I had learnt Sunday afternoon that my mom had booked a flight for Tuesday night, and at that point really hadn't seen much of what the Cape Town area has to offer. I was able to leave today and feel like I had done all of the things that should be done at minimum. Had I not done any of it, I would have really felt that this whole trip was such a waste. There are certainly other things that I would have really liked to have done, but with what I did and saw the last two days, I feel pretty good.
Monday was my last day of volunteering . . . I am going to do a whole other post about that after this one though. After placement though, Danny and I went into Cape Town to do the hop on hop off bus tour. The only place we knew for sure that we would be hopping off at, was at Table Mountain-- the absolute must go place, in my opinion. If nothing else, I wanted to climb Table Mountain. Aside from that, we were just going to go with the flow and decide where to hop off on the spot.
We took the train into Cape Town, about a 40 minute ride. We witnessed some HUGE racial tensions in our compartment. A "blind" keyboardist came in with another man, playing his keyboard and begging for money. This huge man, who was in what many people think of when they think of the stereotypical African dress, starts yelling for them to get off and go back to the Congo. Keep in mind that the yelling man was also white. So then another man, not white, stands up and starts yelling about how he's from the Congo and takes offense to that. The big, white man-- who happened to be sitting directly across from Danny and me-- just kept going on and on with ridiculousness. It got to the point that they were yelling right in each others faces. Luckily, by that point we were pulling into the Cape Town station. Regardless of what is and isn't true, in my time in Muizenberg I had heard multiple locals put blame on Africans from other nations, for all of the violence and poverty. Based on what I learned about District 6 and the townships, I don't believe that to be the whole problem, but apparently many locals believe it to be.
Once we got to Cape Town, we had no problems! We got on the bus and got to see just about every different aspect of the city. We drove all along the main stretch, to all of the different historical centers, up to Table Mountain, and all along the coastline. There definitely could have been better weather, but it was still so great! We sat on the second story of our double decker bus, with nothing but the sky over us. Being a Monday, most museums were closed. The weekend before we had visited the District 6 Museum and Slave Museum though, so we had at least seen some of them then.
The first place that we got off, was on Table Mountain. The bus literally goes up the mountain, right to the cable cars and trails. Even just going that far up, the views of the city were so great. There was so much fog though. Right after we got there, all of the fog started to cover the city-- we had gotten there just in time! Even the cable cars and top half of the mountain was nearly completely covered-- we couldn't see a thing. And unfortunately for us, or at least me, as Danny still has a few more days, the mountain was closed and no one was allowed up . . . Going to the summit was literally the one thing that I felt I needed to do, but even just being physically half way up it was good enough for me, considering the circumstances. Had we been able to go up, we wouldn't have seen anything but fog anyways. It was the one thing I had really wanted to do, but I didn't leave there in huge disappointment-- having been on the mountain was enough, at least until next time I visit!
Most of the mountain covered by fog:
The ride up:
Cruddy phone resolution, but here's the view from above:
Right after Table Mountain, the bus went over to Camps Bay, and then all the way up the coastline to the V&A Wharf. Danny and I were frigid from being up on the mountain, so when we got off in Camps Bay, we went right to a cafe to get something warm. There are a lot of restaurants and cafes, but not too many shops to check out right by the bus, so we walked down one end of the coastline and then the other before the bus came back. At one point, we noticed this group of four people, who looked like the type of people you might want to avoid. We had walked past where they were sitting, but they were still off in the distance a bit. Danny suddenly bursts across the empty street and told me to follow, because one of the guys from that group had started to follow us. I had my phone in my hand at the time, for taking photos, so I just tried shoving it down into my shirt, out of sight, as quickly as possible while crossing the road. He followed us across the street, but then must have seen that we were on to him or decided to stop for whatever other reason, because he started harassing some people sitting in a car instead. It was scary for those first few minutes, but obviously worked out . . .
Here was Camps Bay:
The next bus came a few minutes later, and brought us all down the coastline. It is so unbelievably beautiful there, and also so clearly a very different type of Cape Town. It's the kind of place I would probably like to go if I ever do make it back to Cape Town. Beautiful houses and hotels lining the coastline, with crystal clear beachs on one side and part of the Table Mountain range on the other side-- and still so close to the city. Even with the one guy that had followed us, we both agreed that the area just felt so much more safe than in the city, and especially compared to where we live.
The last stop we make, was at the V&A Wharf and waterfront. We were nearing the end of the bus' running time for the day, so we had couldn't exactly spend a huge amount of time there. We went into the Two Oceans Aquarium. It was worth it, but definitely has nothing on Boston's Aquarium. After that, we had about 25 minutes to explore the rest of the area surrounding the wharf. We did a quick walk through of all of it, and ended up running back to the bus-- running to buses seems to be a common theme of this trip . . .
We made it back to our original starting point, off of Long Street, and then went to go get some dinner. We asked the waitstaff about the best area to get a taxi and they were horrified at us for wanting to take one. Apparently, sometimes the drivers wont go anywhere until the car is full, regardless of where you are all going. Other volunteers had never had any problems with that particularly, but they had experienced drivers who would take them through bad parts of town just for a good laugh. The waitstaff really recommended that we take a bus. We already knew that the train was out-- you never take it after 5pm because its so dangerous. We really weren't feeling great about a bus though either. We eventually went outside and just looked for the nicest looking cab we could find. There was only even one decent looking cab out there, the rest all looked sketchy. The driver agreed to bring us straight to Muizenberg for a reasonable price, and we had no problems! Compared to all of the other drivers we had heard about, he was great.
We made it back to Muizenberg by the time it was dark. When we got in, everyone had all the plans for tomorrow set! Dave, a local who works with the volunteers in the surf outreach program, was going to do one off his tours to Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope!
Monday was my last day of volunteering . . . I am going to do a whole other post about that after this one though. After placement though, Danny and I went into Cape Town to do the hop on hop off bus tour. The only place we knew for sure that we would be hopping off at, was at Table Mountain-- the absolute must go place, in my opinion. If nothing else, I wanted to climb Table Mountain. Aside from that, we were just going to go with the flow and decide where to hop off on the spot.
We took the train into Cape Town, about a 40 minute ride. We witnessed some HUGE racial tensions in our compartment. A "blind" keyboardist came in with another man, playing his keyboard and begging for money. This huge man, who was in what many people think of when they think of the stereotypical African dress, starts yelling for them to get off and go back to the Congo. Keep in mind that the yelling man was also white. So then another man, not white, stands up and starts yelling about how he's from the Congo and takes offense to that. The big, white man-- who happened to be sitting directly across from Danny and me-- just kept going on and on with ridiculousness. It got to the point that they were yelling right in each others faces. Luckily, by that point we were pulling into the Cape Town station. Regardless of what is and isn't true, in my time in Muizenberg I had heard multiple locals put blame on Africans from other nations, for all of the violence and poverty. Based on what I learned about District 6 and the townships, I don't believe that to be the whole problem, but apparently many locals believe it to be.
Once we got to Cape Town, we had no problems! We got on the bus and got to see just about every different aspect of the city. We drove all along the main stretch, to all of the different historical centers, up to Table Mountain, and all along the coastline. There definitely could have been better weather, but it was still so great! We sat on the second story of our double decker bus, with nothing but the sky over us. Being a Monday, most museums were closed. The weekend before we had visited the District 6 Museum and Slave Museum though, so we had at least seen some of them then.
The first place that we got off, was on Table Mountain. The bus literally goes up the mountain, right to the cable cars and trails. Even just going that far up, the views of the city were so great. There was so much fog though. Right after we got there, all of the fog started to cover the city-- we had gotten there just in time! Even the cable cars and top half of the mountain was nearly completely covered-- we couldn't see a thing. And unfortunately for us, or at least me, as Danny still has a few more days, the mountain was closed and no one was allowed up . . . Going to the summit was literally the one thing that I felt I needed to do, but even just being physically half way up it was good enough for me, considering the circumstances. Had we been able to go up, we wouldn't have seen anything but fog anyways. It was the one thing I had really wanted to do, but I didn't leave there in huge disappointment-- having been on the mountain was enough, at least until next time I visit!
Most of the mountain covered by fog:
Here was Camps Bay:
We made it back to Muizenberg by the time it was dark. When we got in, everyone had all the plans for tomorrow set! Dave, a local who works with the volunteers in the surf outreach program, was going to do one off his tours to Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope!
Sunday, July 8, 2012
One Last African Adventure
One thing that really upsets me about leaving early, is missing out on all of the great sights here. There were (and still are) so many things that I wanted to do here. I found out this afternoon that my flight is booked for Tuesday night. So I have one and a half full days left here to do things.
Today, Andrea and I walked from Muizenberg all the way to Kalk Bay, where Brass Bell is. It was a really nice walk, all right along the beach! It was drizzling at least half the time, but just to be out and doing something was good. There were tons of cute boutiques in Kalk Bay that we checked out before walking back.
I decided I could risk taking my phone with me to capture at least some of South Frica in my last few days here!
Luckily for me, there is an Aussie here, Danny, who has only two weeks here as well. So he is really trying to squeeze in as much as possible in a little amount of time as well. Tomorrow we are going to go into Cape Town after placement to do a hop on hop off tour bus. It goes all over the city! I haven't seen the waterfront at all yet, so I'll get to do that. And then it goes to Table Mountain, which is my absolute must-do thing before I leave! I'm really excited! I would like to have some more time to do everything, but this is probably the best way to see as much as possible. There is a second route that the buses go, that covers farther down the peninsula. I would like to do it on Tuesday before my flight, but will have to see how long it is before I decide on anything . .
Today, Andrea and I walked from Muizenberg all the way to Kalk Bay, where Brass Bell is. It was a really nice walk, all right along the beach! It was drizzling at least half the time, but just to be out and doing something was good. There were tons of cute boutiques in Kalk Bay that we checked out before walking back.
I decided I could risk taking my phone with me to capture at least some of South Frica in my last few days here!
Friday, July 6, 2012
Change of Plans
So I've just talked with my mom and I am going to be coming home early . . . She is going to be calling British Airways to change my flight dates, so I'm not entirely sure what day I will be flying out, but it will be sometime in the next week probably. The safety problems, issues with the program I've been placed with, and the negativity I've been surrounded by because of those elements definitely played a huge role. Beyond sharing that basic explanation though, I don't think it's really needed for me to go into detail on here. I'm happy to talk to whoever about it in person though, so feel free to ask when you see me again!
I am really sad to be leaving my class. Unfortunately we're not able to spend that much time with them. Had this "volunteer trip" devoted more time of each of my days to working with my class, I think that I would have definitely been able to stick it out. With only 3 hours, max, a day devoted to my class though, there's just too much other crap from this program being a mess that fills up my day . . . The last week has been incredibly frustrating. I'm not supposed to be able to get a refund for the time that I won't be here, but I am going to talk to the director about using what would have paid for my food and such, to go towards supplies for my class. Each day we start with coloring and workbooks, but even with just half the class there aren't enough working crayons for everyone, and some kids have coloring books that are literally completely filled and are falling apart. Getting them some new supplies is something that I was going to do, and will be something that I do anyways with or without DTR's support.
I'm sad to leave, but really excited to be home. I don't really think ill of IVHQ (the company that connected me with DTR), or even DTR, for this experience that has not even begun to meet the expectations I had for it. I honestly think that there were just too many different elements that happened to work out poorly all at once. Even the volunteers that have been here for longer have repeatedly said how bad they feel for us coming into all of the drama that we've come into. Under different circumstances, I think it would have been a much better experience. Multiple volunteers have even talked about how great of experiences they've had with other IVHQ placements in other countries, but how it is just the South Africa program that is not up to par. And that just makes me really upset because I had considered other programs . . . That does give me hope though, that I could try another IVHQ program sometime and have a better experience.
I am really sad to be leaving my class. Unfortunately we're not able to spend that much time with them. Had this "volunteer trip" devoted more time of each of my days to working with my class, I think that I would have definitely been able to stick it out. With only 3 hours, max, a day devoted to my class though, there's just too much other crap from this program being a mess that fills up my day . . . The last week has been incredibly frustrating. I'm not supposed to be able to get a refund for the time that I won't be here, but I am going to talk to the director about using what would have paid for my food and such, to go towards supplies for my class. Each day we start with coloring and workbooks, but even with just half the class there aren't enough working crayons for everyone, and some kids have coloring books that are literally completely filled and are falling apart. Getting them some new supplies is something that I was going to do, and will be something that I do anyways with or without DTR's support.
I'm sad to leave, but really excited to be home. I don't really think ill of IVHQ (the company that connected me with DTR), or even DTR, for this experience that has not even begun to meet the expectations I had for it. I honestly think that there were just too many different elements that happened to work out poorly all at once. Even the volunteers that have been here for longer have repeatedly said how bad they feel for us coming into all of the drama that we've come into. Under different circumstances, I think it would have been a much better experience. Multiple volunteers have even talked about how great of experiences they've had with other IVHQ placements in other countries, but how it is just the South Africa program that is not up to par. And that just makes me really upset because I had considered other programs . . . That does give me hope though, that I could try another IVHQ program sometime and have a better experience.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Day 4 in Muizenberg
I'm definitely getting to know the kids better with each day. Today was a little stressful, mostly just because I have really seen for myself how some of my favorite kids interact, and how some of them truly dislike each other. We were out on the playground when all kinds of drama unfolded . . . I was pushing kids on the swings and sometime in all of that Lauren bit Chikondi, so then her and Chifundi went wild on Lauren-- flipping her off, repeating, "so you think you're funny, huh?" and all of that kind of stuff. Chikondi even literally snarled at Lauren at one point . . . It was a bit of a mess. Each of the Chi girls were glued to me today! I would have one on my back and carried the other one in front of me all over the place until I was too tired. They each just started talking to me about their mom and dad today, separately, but they mumble so much and it's so loud outside with all the other kids playing, that I could hardly catch any of it. Based on the duel I witnessed with Lauren though, I'm guessing home is far from perfect. At one point, we were drawing in the sand and they had me draw "mommy, daddy, you (me), Oncle Alex (another volunteer), and us". They definitely are attached! Even crazy Corbin was all over me today too. Our Teacha was gone the first part of class, and with only our assistant it felt so much less structured . . . Some of the kids just sat in their seats with nothing to do until I made my way around to them. The kids normally have porridge right in the morning and a fruit break after workbooks, but for some reason that didn't happen today either. Our Teacha will be gone starting tomorrow for break (this week and next is actually school holiday, and that's why I only have half a class right now), but so it is only me, another volunteer, and the assistant teacher, who does absolutely nothing generally . . .
Yesterday had been a generally good day, better than the past few anyways, but I am back to being a little iffy about being here. I think that I am over the culture shock and have just accepted that its dangerous to be here and to never carry around anything I wouldn't mind being taken. So I'm just not sure what it is that is eating at me and preventing me from just enjoying myself here. I talked with my parents yesterday, who are worried sick after hearing all about the gangs and muggings. They're really in board for sending me home. I would feel awful leaving some of the kids, and it would really be such a waste to have come all this way. At this point, I can see that the program is not at all like it was supposed to be, based off of all the pre-departure material I went over, but I would like to give it a shot stil . . .
For winter time, as well as the supposed rainy season, the weather here actually isn't that bad! The last three days have been sunny and bright, with no rain! At night though, it gets pretty cold. Last night particularly it became the coldest it has been since I had arrived. It was still cold enough to barely see our breath in class this morning . . . Our house has no heat either, so it can get pretty cold in here as well. The DTR staff keeps opening our windows during the day, to prevent mold they say, but it is so freezing that the second they leave we close them all up again. Except for today, the weather had been awesome for winter time! It's chilly now, but still really nice outside.
So I guess we're having a meeting tonight with the program directors. There has been a lot of drama lately, and definitely a lot of negativity towards the director, Tim, at least in my house . . . We all came here just as it had erupted, so it's difficult to dissect all of what we've been told and to actually separate what's really wrong with the program and what is just pure drama. Four girls moved out of our house after their first night, on Sunday, and another girl left the program entirely after only two days of volunteering, because of all the drama. Two of the four girls who moved out Monday were drama themselves, so no one was sad to see them go, but it's still really sad that things are so messed up that this is what it comes to . . . With the meeting in our house tonight, and everything that has happened the last couple of days, there is just so much negativity in this house. It has definitely been eating at me, and it's difficult to tell whether it's the program structure solely or everyone's attitudes that are really making my experience in the house bad . . . I honestly believe that it is some combination of both. Yes, the program could be run better, but I don't like being surrounded by so much negativity. I'm hoping that in the next week the commotion will die down over it and we can all just stop letting it consume us.
My thoughts about the program and South Africa are definitely really scattered in this post . . . I guess I'm really just trying to wrap my head around everything still!
Yesterday had been a generally good day, better than the past few anyways, but I am back to being a little iffy about being here. I think that I am over the culture shock and have just accepted that its dangerous to be here and to never carry around anything I wouldn't mind being taken. So I'm just not sure what it is that is eating at me and preventing me from just enjoying myself here. I talked with my parents yesterday, who are worried sick after hearing all about the gangs and muggings. They're really in board for sending me home. I would feel awful leaving some of the kids, and it would really be such a waste to have come all this way. At this point, I can see that the program is not at all like it was supposed to be, based off of all the pre-departure material I went over, but I would like to give it a shot stil . . .
For winter time, as well as the supposed rainy season, the weather here actually isn't that bad! The last three days have been sunny and bright, with no rain! At night though, it gets pretty cold. Last night particularly it became the coldest it has been since I had arrived. It was still cold enough to barely see our breath in class this morning . . . Our house has no heat either, so it can get pretty cold in here as well. The DTR staff keeps opening our windows during the day, to prevent mold they say, but it is so freezing that the second they leave we close them all up again. Except for today, the weather had been awesome for winter time! It's chilly now, but still really nice outside.
So I guess we're having a meeting tonight with the program directors. There has been a lot of drama lately, and definitely a lot of negativity towards the director, Tim, at least in my house . . . We all came here just as it had erupted, so it's difficult to dissect all of what we've been told and to actually separate what's really wrong with the program and what is just pure drama. Four girls moved out of our house after their first night, on Sunday, and another girl left the program entirely after only two days of volunteering, because of all the drama. Two of the four girls who moved out Monday were drama themselves, so no one was sad to see them go, but it's still really sad that things are so messed up that this is what it comes to . . . With the meeting in our house tonight, and everything that has happened the last couple of days, there is just so much negativity in this house. It has definitely been eating at me, and it's difficult to tell whether it's the program structure solely or everyone's attitudes that are really making my experience in the house bad . . . I honestly believe that it is some combination of both. Yes, the program could be run better, but I don't like being surrounded by so much negativity. I'm hoping that in the next week the commotion will die down over it and we can all just stop letting it consume us.
My thoughts about the program and South Africa are definitely really scattered in this post . . . I guess I'm really just trying to wrap my head around everything still!
Better Days as "Teacha A-lee"
Feeling a little more used to it now! There's really just such a huge culture shock of having to be on such high guard constantly . . . Here's a picture I was able to get of the swim and surf beach right by my house, without getting mugged or anything after!
I was really kind of homesick the first few days here. I live and work in a scary environment-- despite how gorgeous it is, I hadn't really talked with my family in a long time, and I was having a lot of issues exchanging money. I wasn't that bad, but I was definitely not loving it here. There is also a lot of political crap going on with how the program is run that just so happened to have exploded the day we arrived, so there was a lot of negativity circulating which certainly didn't help my situation. In general, the program is not as organized as it ought to be. I think that they do a lot to provide for the volunteers and make it as great of an experience as possible, but there are a lot of minor details that I think have been overlooked and need to be ironed out better . . .
Today things feel turned around though. I think that between some volunteer bonding and getting settled into our placements, I am much more comfortable. Last night, the "newbies" all had initiation. On Tuesday nights, groups from the two volunteer houses go to this place called Brass Bell for karaoke. Our initiation (which no one is actually forced into) was to sing a song of the other volunteers' choosing. Ours, which we only found out as we stood on stage waiting for the music to start, ended up on being "Living on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi. I had low expectations of Brass Bell, but it ended up on being a lot more fun than I had anticipated. Before Brass Bell, I felt like all of the old volunteers kind of already had their groups together, and even though they would help us with questions that we had and such, I didn't necessarily feel overly included. Everyone was kind of mixed in together last night though. In general, I feel much more comfortable here in Muizenberg and without a doubt getting to know and being more included by the others has helped with that.
Working with the kids has been so great! Yesterday was the first official day, and was kind of chaotic just figuring out the dynamics of my classroom. Today though, I feel like I have a good handle on it and can really help some of the kids in my class. I work at the "large" child care center in the township. What is considered small though is a one room preschool, so large doesn't necessarily mean it's that big either. There are probably about eight different classrooms, ranging from children just learning to walk, to age 5. My classroom is for kids ages 4-5, who will be going to school next year. The schools are on holiday right now, so my class is only about half full, but is still absolutely crazy! The class will have roughly 30 kids when everyone returns on the 16th. There are quite a few characters in the class! There are a few particular kids that have really stuck out to me that last two days: Chikondi and Chifondi are the twins, super adorable, but bursting with diva-like attitude; Thatho, Darwin, and Innocence are some of the most hyper, crazy boys in the class, but are really nice boys; Corbin is the craziest boy in class, whose grandmother is the principal and because of that he likes ot do whatever he wants, continually disrupting others; Rachel and Carolion are some of the nicest girsl in the class; and Lauren is one of the sadest little girls I've ever met, who has chosen to adopt me as her friend.
Leslie (another volunteer, here for 3 weeks) and I are in the same classroom. Yesterday, the teacher pointed out the students who we should try to work with becasue they need extra help. Chikondi was one of them, so I had sat at her table with Thatho and Ruth. On the other side of the room, Leslie worked with some of the others. My attention first went to Lauren when she started to cry over thinking she couldn't do something. I actually met Lauren for myself this morning, when "Teacha" asked that I work one on one with her. We were working on Writing numbers and her name. The students don't progress to the next level of work until they are able to look at a big list of names and identify their own, to spell out their whole name, to write out their numbers, and to be able to point to and say which number is which. Right now, Lauren really isn't able to do any of that. We started out writing numbers together, me holding her crayon with her and helping to guide her hand. Eventually, I just pretended to guide her hand, but as I suspected, she was able to do most of the numbers without my control over the crayon-- with as much accuracy as I would expect from any 5 year old. Gradually I worked her into doing the numbers by herself. Teacha was so, so happy with her. I later overheard her telling another teacher about Lauren's progress and how she had been considering moving her back down to be with younger kids before today. The assistant teacher with us had come up to me early on in the morning to warn me that, "This one's lazy. She's just going to sit there and cry, she won't end up doing much of anything for you." With all of the kids, the teachers are extremely blunt and negative about the kids right in front of them. I like my head Teacha, I think that her approach can still be somewhat blunt and harsh at times, simply because that is the customary practice here, but she is much less drastic about it.
I worked with Lauren for about an hour, creating different ways of learning to write the letters or numbers and eventually combining them. Lauren was extremely quiet at first. She really is just a sad, sad looking little girl. By the end of our workbook time though, she seemed incredibly more comfortable. I honestly think that she comes from an horribly harsh home life. All of the kids in my school live in huge poverty and many of them do not have much of any type of home life, but the devastation in Lauren's life is so clearly much worse than the others in my class. She would be doing so great, and I would really make sure to lay on the praise extra thick, but she still would think that she was doing horrible and start hitting herself over and over again. I'd have to stop her each time and try to tell her as best I could that she doesn't deserve that and remind her how well she was doing. By the end of workbook time she had stopped doing it as much as in the beginning, but it was still just so sad . . . After workbook time, we have a fruit break and story time-- they love Dr. Seuss, and after that we go outside to the playground. Again, Lauren seems just so much more affected by whatever it is that has gone on in her life. She is incredibly anti-social, or maybe has extremely dramatic social anxiety, but whatever it is, she wants nothing to do with any of the other kids. The large majority of kids run around with each other and try to have as much fun as possible. There are the few exceptions to this though, like Lauren, who just wants to stand and hold your hand or be held. What makes the situation even more difficult is when you have twenty kids all fighting for your attention, but the one you know especially needs you attention gets very uncomfortable with all of the commotion. Even taking Lauren out of the equation, it is so hard to divide yourself evenly amongst the kids-- everyone wants to be the one who is holding your hand, or closest to you, or who has your full attention. From the older volunteers, I have heard about how the "longer term people"-- a month of more-- generally try to focus in on a few specific kids who really need the help. Lauren is without a doubt one of my kids that I will be doing as much as possible for. I think that what she needs most is love, positive attention, some sort of social integration, and encouragement that she is actually worth something. In five and half weeks I would be completely unrealistic to dream of helping her with all of this, but hopefully I can help to get her started in a better direction.
Corbin is another one that I would really like to help guide while I am here. He is without a doubt the most naughty kid in the class. With his grandmother as principal of the school he likes to do whatever he wants and knows that he can get away with a lot more. Our poor Teacha can't just send him to the principal's office for acting up and is really stuck putting up with much more than is appropriate. I haven't got him quite figured out, but right now I think that it is all about getting attention. Once I've figured him out a little bit better, I really want to do something to help him see that he doesn't have to act the way he does. Again, I realize how ambitious this is though . . .
Today especially was very rewarding. I feel like I've gotten to know the kids so much better. I am also really excited to be doing something structured with them, instead of just playing with them. After working with Chikondi yesterday, and especially Lauren today, I have SO much more respect for child educators. I didn't by any means disrespect them in any capacity before this experience, but it takes a lot of energy to communicate effectively while being incredibly patient and reassuring for what are sometimes long periods of time. The kids in my class can be absolutely wild! Putting up with it, however chaotic it may be, has been nothing but great so far! To all of the kids, I am Teacha A-lee!
So I am definitely feeling much better about being here, now that I am over the huge culture shock of how scary of an area it is. It isn't too bad, as long as you aren't carrying any valuables or have them stuffed away somewhere other than a bag that would likely be snatched if mugged . . . I'm happy with my placement, which is definitely the most important thing to making this an important experience.
Also, special thanks to the lovely Katherine Moore for sneaking a note into my suitcase for me to find when I arrived to South Africa! I have been online a few times since arriving, but with all of the other craziness, have forgotten to mention how much I loved finding it!
Today things feel turned around though. I think that between some volunteer bonding and getting settled into our placements, I am much more comfortable. Last night, the "newbies" all had initiation. On Tuesday nights, groups from the two volunteer houses go to this place called Brass Bell for karaoke. Our initiation (which no one is actually forced into) was to sing a song of the other volunteers' choosing. Ours, which we only found out as we stood on stage waiting for the music to start, ended up on being "Living on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi. I had low expectations of Brass Bell, but it ended up on being a lot more fun than I had anticipated. Before Brass Bell, I felt like all of the old volunteers kind of already had their groups together, and even though they would help us with questions that we had and such, I didn't necessarily feel overly included. Everyone was kind of mixed in together last night though. In general, I feel much more comfortable here in Muizenberg and without a doubt getting to know and being more included by the others has helped with that.
Working with the kids has been so great! Yesterday was the first official day, and was kind of chaotic just figuring out the dynamics of my classroom. Today though, I feel like I have a good handle on it and can really help some of the kids in my class. I work at the "large" child care center in the township. What is considered small though is a one room preschool, so large doesn't necessarily mean it's that big either. There are probably about eight different classrooms, ranging from children just learning to walk, to age 5. My classroom is for kids ages 4-5, who will be going to school next year. The schools are on holiday right now, so my class is only about half full, but is still absolutely crazy! The class will have roughly 30 kids when everyone returns on the 16th. There are quite a few characters in the class! There are a few particular kids that have really stuck out to me that last two days: Chikondi and Chifondi are the twins, super adorable, but bursting with diva-like attitude; Thatho, Darwin, and Innocence are some of the most hyper, crazy boys in the class, but are really nice boys; Corbin is the craziest boy in class, whose grandmother is the principal and because of that he likes ot do whatever he wants, continually disrupting others; Rachel and Carolion are some of the nicest girsl in the class; and Lauren is one of the sadest little girls I've ever met, who has chosen to adopt me as her friend.
Leslie (another volunteer, here for 3 weeks) and I are in the same classroom. Yesterday, the teacher pointed out the students who we should try to work with becasue they need extra help. Chikondi was one of them, so I had sat at her table with Thatho and Ruth. On the other side of the room, Leslie worked with some of the others. My attention first went to Lauren when she started to cry over thinking she couldn't do something. I actually met Lauren for myself this morning, when "Teacha" asked that I work one on one with her. We were working on Writing numbers and her name. The students don't progress to the next level of work until they are able to look at a big list of names and identify their own, to spell out their whole name, to write out their numbers, and to be able to point to and say which number is which. Right now, Lauren really isn't able to do any of that. We started out writing numbers together, me holding her crayon with her and helping to guide her hand. Eventually, I just pretended to guide her hand, but as I suspected, she was able to do most of the numbers without my control over the crayon-- with as much accuracy as I would expect from any 5 year old. Gradually I worked her into doing the numbers by herself. Teacha was so, so happy with her. I later overheard her telling another teacher about Lauren's progress and how she had been considering moving her back down to be with younger kids before today. The assistant teacher with us had come up to me early on in the morning to warn me that, "This one's lazy. She's just going to sit there and cry, she won't end up doing much of anything for you." With all of the kids, the teachers are extremely blunt and negative about the kids right in front of them. I like my head Teacha, I think that her approach can still be somewhat blunt and harsh at times, simply because that is the customary practice here, but she is much less drastic about it.
I worked with Lauren for about an hour, creating different ways of learning to write the letters or numbers and eventually combining them. Lauren was extremely quiet at first. She really is just a sad, sad looking little girl. By the end of our workbook time though, she seemed incredibly more comfortable. I honestly think that she comes from an horribly harsh home life. All of the kids in my school live in huge poverty and many of them do not have much of any type of home life, but the devastation in Lauren's life is so clearly much worse than the others in my class. She would be doing so great, and I would really make sure to lay on the praise extra thick, but she still would think that she was doing horrible and start hitting herself over and over again. I'd have to stop her each time and try to tell her as best I could that she doesn't deserve that and remind her how well she was doing. By the end of workbook time she had stopped doing it as much as in the beginning, but it was still just so sad . . . After workbook time, we have a fruit break and story time-- they love Dr. Seuss, and after that we go outside to the playground. Again, Lauren seems just so much more affected by whatever it is that has gone on in her life. She is incredibly anti-social, or maybe has extremely dramatic social anxiety, but whatever it is, she wants nothing to do with any of the other kids. The large majority of kids run around with each other and try to have as much fun as possible. There are the few exceptions to this though, like Lauren, who just wants to stand and hold your hand or be held. What makes the situation even more difficult is when you have twenty kids all fighting for your attention, but the one you know especially needs you attention gets very uncomfortable with all of the commotion. Even taking Lauren out of the equation, it is so hard to divide yourself evenly amongst the kids-- everyone wants to be the one who is holding your hand, or closest to you, or who has your full attention. From the older volunteers, I have heard about how the "longer term people"-- a month of more-- generally try to focus in on a few specific kids who really need the help. Lauren is without a doubt one of my kids that I will be doing as much as possible for. I think that what she needs most is love, positive attention, some sort of social integration, and encouragement that she is actually worth something. In five and half weeks I would be completely unrealistic to dream of helping her with all of this, but hopefully I can help to get her started in a better direction.
Corbin is another one that I would really like to help guide while I am here. He is without a doubt the most naughty kid in the class. With his grandmother as principal of the school he likes to do whatever he wants and knows that he can get away with a lot more. Our poor Teacha can't just send him to the principal's office for acting up and is really stuck putting up with much more than is appropriate. I haven't got him quite figured out, but right now I think that it is all about getting attention. Once I've figured him out a little bit better, I really want to do something to help him see that he doesn't have to act the way he does. Again, I realize how ambitious this is though . . .
Today especially was very rewarding. I feel like I've gotten to know the kids so much better. I am also really excited to be doing something structured with them, instead of just playing with them. After working with Chikondi yesterday, and especially Lauren today, I have SO much more respect for child educators. I didn't by any means disrespect them in any capacity before this experience, but it takes a lot of energy to communicate effectively while being incredibly patient and reassuring for what are sometimes long periods of time. The kids in my class can be absolutely wild! Putting up with it, however chaotic it may be, has been nothing but great so far! To all of the kids, I am Teacha A-lee!
So I am definitely feeling much better about being here, now that I am over the huge culture shock of how scary of an area it is. It isn't too bad, as long as you aren't carrying any valuables or have them stuffed away somewhere other than a bag that would likely be snatched if mugged . . . I'm happy with my placement, which is definitely the most important thing to making this an important experience.
Also, special thanks to the lovely Katherine Moore for sneaking a note into my suitcase for me to find when I arrived to South Africa! I have been online a few times since arriving, but with all of the other craziness, have forgotten to mention how much I loved finding it!
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