Penguins, Lions, and Science!

A few weekends ago we took a tour of the Peninsula where we went to the Cape of Good Hope which is known as the Southwestern most point of all of Africa. We stopped at Boulder's Beach on the way, which is the home to the African Penguins! They were pretty cute! When we were driving on the cape there seemed to be a bit of a traffic jam and when we stopped to see what everyone was looking at, we noticed the baboon sitting atop of a lady's car, with her in it of course! Her husband was trying to get in but he had to refrain out of the fear that the monkey would hop in as well! It was quite the sight and made me remember that I am in fact in Africa!

This past weekend we went to a game reserve about an hour outside of Cape Town for a "Reflection Weekend" away. It was pretty fun, highlights include hours of talking about the program, feeding cheetahs, getting pecked by a baby ostrich, and petting a lion! The animals were great at least!

I've started implementing my capstone project which consists of creating and teaching hands on science lessons with the fourth grade class I've been working in. I'm following the curriculum as is slated by the Western Cape Province for the fourth term which consists of earth science focusing on soil and weather. My first lesson attempted to teach the class about the four different types of soil (sandy, clayey, silty, and loamy for those interested!). To do so I collected samples of all four types and had the students try and identify which one was which based on their different characteristics. It went as well as it could considering the fact that forty wild children were playing with dirt in the classroom...I think they had fun and hopefully learned something from it!

Today was a crazy day at school, while I was implementing a science lesson where the kids were making soil by rubbing two stones together, a South African Police Officer entered the classroom holding one of the little boys by his arm. Mr. Emmanuel was nowhere to be found of course, and the officer did not even acknowledge me before starting to shout at the students in Afrikaans. I just stood there not really knowing what to do....After a bunch of finger pointing and rapid chatter the officer began going through some of the boys' bags before leaving the classroom without saying a word to me...it was only after he left that one of the girls told me that someone in the class had brought a knife to school yesterday so I can only assume it was reported to the police and he was thus searching for it in their bags.

In the afternoon Mr. Emmanuel returned to the class in a fit of rage. He started yelling at some of the "bad boys" and even though he was speaking Afrikaans, "f-ing" is the same in many languages. For some reason he was absolutely furious at these students and picked up a plastic bin full of papers and threw it onto his desk knocking papers and clutter galore off of it. He then grabbed a tray of crafts that the class had made the day before and threw those onto the table, spilling their hardwork all over the place. As the students began cleaning up his mess, Mr. Emmanuel threatened to take his bag, walk out of the classroom and never come back. Another teacher came in and took the boys out of the class and left me with just the girls until the end of the day. It was a lot to take in and I just worry about the effects this type of behavior will have on the kids!

The strike finally ended and last week I was thankfully able to return to Manenberg Primary to continue with my service. Being back in Mr. Emmanuel’s class has been wonderful and wonderfully challenging. The kids seemed happy to see me back and it really was great to see them too. They are still as crazy as ever, I have spent the past week and a half being jumped on, breaking up fights, losing my voice trying to get forty children to be quiet at one time, getting locked in a classroom, reading aloud, teaching English, getting hugs, and dancing to the sound of the class’s impromptu choir concerts. A wide range of experiences to say the least!

Yesterday one of the seemingly more troubled boys – he has tried to stab a classmate with scissors, constantly has his hands on other boys, and throws chairs out of anger – wrote “27” on my hand. To those unfamiliar with the gangs of Cape Town, the 27s are one of the largest in the colored townships. I asked the little boy if he knew anyone in the gang and he first said that he himself is a member and then told me that his father is in fact involved in the gang. It broke my heart that someone so young would, if not actually a member himself, would have such close and intimate contact with someone who is. Even before the gang reference, I had a feeling that this little boy had a rough home life and thus made an effort to hug him each day and just show him a little extra love and attention. At first he didn’t understand why I would want to hug him and was very resistant to the whole thing. As I was leaving the classroom to go home this afternoon though he came running out after me and simply asked “my hug?” It was a great way to end the day!

Spring Break in September

After much deliberation of what to do, five of my housemates and I decided to spend our week off backpacking up the Garden Route on the Eastern Cape of South Africa. We each had a backpack of clothes and Saturday morning we jumped on the Baz Bus, a backpacker's bus that allows you to hop on and off all on its routes that travel all around the country. Our first stop was at the Wild Spirit hostel in the Crags, a small place in the middle of nowhere. The hostel is exactly how it sounds - the people who live there/run it/just hang out there are the crunchiest/earthiest/hippiest people I have ever met! There was a birthday party being held there that night, complete with drum lessons of course, and since it was spring themed we were asked to come wearing foliage and such...it was definitely a funny night!

Sunday was a big day - four of us jumped off a bridge that is home to the highest bungee jump in the world! I was nervous to say the least but the experience was definitely worth it! It was a rush unlike anything else and at times it felt like flying - definitely a highlight of the trip!!

We spent Monday and Tuesday in Jeffrey's Bay, a little surf town on the coast. It was unfortunately windy and a bit chilly so we didn't get to spend as much time on the beach as we hoped but we did swim in the Indian Ocean which I consider an accomplishment!

Wednesday was wonderful - we spent the morning at Addo Elephant Park where I was legitimately a foot away from many elephants. After a delicious lunch, we went out to Schotia, a private game reserve. We were in an open-air Land Rover and I was shocked at how many animals we were able to see. Within the first five minutes we saw lions, warthogs, and kudu

(which is in the deer family). Throughout the afternoon we were amongst countless giraffe, and zebras and at one point our "landie" came face to face with a charging rhinoceros...it was scary but very neat! Dinner was served on the reserve, kudu stew, butternut squash, potatoes, green beans, delicious fire grilled rolls, and malva pudding for desert. Yum! We took a night drive after dinner where we again were up close and personal with the lion family - they were literally walking a foot away from the open window I was sitting in! Crazy!

Our last days were spent in Knysna, a small town on the water that reminded me a lot of Cape Cod! We did some shopping and walking around and had just a nice relaxing end to our trip! All in all it I had a great break - it was a nice mix of adrenaline rushes, relaxing days, peanut butter sandwiches, kudu stew, and good company!

Protests and Football Games!

The public sector is still on strike here in South Africa. Millions of workers have spent the past two weeks out of work as an attempt to pressure the government to give them an 8.6% pay increase and a higher housing stipend as well. If an agreement is not reached soon it is rumored that the police will go on strike and some private unions are threatening to strike out of support for the public sector. It would be absolutely crazy if that were to happen! Since the primary school has been out of session, I've been spending my days at the Bookery which is part of an NGO called Equal Education. The organization is currently trying to supply more public schools with libraries since only 7% of all South African schools have a functioning library. The Bookery is pretty much a holding place for books that have been donated before sending them to schools. I've been sorting, organizing, labeling, and covering the books - not too exciting but it definitely beats sitting around all day!

The Bookery is right down the street from the parliament building in Cape Town and on

Thursday hundreds of public workers marched outside of parliament as part of the strike. My friend Noah and I were running an errand nearby and walked right through the crowd - it was really neat to see! An African protest is unlike anything you would see in America, without the signs they were holding it may be hard to tell they were even protesting - everyone was singing and dancing! It was a pretty cool sight!

Friday night we got tickets for the Cape Town Ajax football (soccer) match. They're one of the

teams in the Premier Soccer League, South Africa's national league and they played in Green Point Stadium which hosted some of the World Cup games. It is such a beautiful stadium, I had a blast! The vuvuzelas are even more obnoxious in person, but I could only imagine how great the atmosphere would have been in that stadium during a World Cup match - just amazing!

My Weekend in Langa

Last weekend I had the opportunity to participate in a homestay in Langa, one of Cape Town's townships or "informal settlements" as they are sometimes referred. On Friday afternoon we drove fifteen minutes away from our house and the difference that those short fifteen minutes can make is astounding. Langa is a place full of love, family, and community values with very little emphasis on material goods. The houses are small, many are simply shacks, and the families often times struggle to get by. We had a welcome dinner at one lady's house and it was there that we were introduced to our host families. My friend Mariah and I were paired together and our host family consisted of a single mother, her ten year old son Lihle, and her 18 month old daughter Phalo.

After the welcome dinner, we went out with some of the host brothers and sisters who are around our age. They took us to Style's Tavern where the men of the township go to drink, watch soccer, and play dominoes. We quickly discovered that alcohol abuse is a major problem in Langa, and at the bar 40 ounce beers were 10 rand, or a little over one US dollar. To put things into perspective, we normally think that a 12 ounce beer for 10 rand is a steal so these prices make it so much easier for the citizens of Langa to buy, and then abuse, alcohol. After leaving

the tavern we went to one of the host's house and listened to music and talked - one man followed us there from the bar and even though no one knew who he was, they didn't see, to care since it is part of the Xhosa culture to open your house to anyone. After a little while we were all pretty tired so we went back to our houses to sleep. My host mom and the baby slept on a mat on the floor of the bedroom while Mariah and I shared the bed with Lihle (who was quite the little snuggle bug I must add!).

Saturday we spent walking around the streets of Langa truly getting a feel of township life. There were a lot of people out and about and many people set up small food shops right on the road. We stopped at one to try sheep liver, not my favorite snack but it was better than I was expecting! After the tour we went to Ace's Place which is a bar in another township nearby. We sat at Ace's for a few hours, again with only men around as we discovered that the women are not usually supposed to drink with the men, and we then went back to one of the houses. Our hosts began drinking pretty heavily around one in the afternoon and this pattern continued until the end of the night. None of us were really drinking very much so at times it became boring to be sitting around so much, but after thinking and talking about it when we returned we realized that this is just how they live. That in Langa there is not much else to do but to drink, that alcohol sadly is the main form of entertainment for the young people living there.

Sunday morning I went to a Roman Catholic church, and it was nothing like I have ever

experienced! It was awesome, there was so much singing and dancing, it really was a celebration of their faith. Unfortunately a lot of the singing was in Xhosa so I couldn't understand much of that, but the sermon was in English as was the preparation of the Eucharist which was comforting in a way to see the similarities and connections to home. After church we went back to our host house where our mom was preparing a delicious lunch of chicken curry, potatoes, vegetables, and bean salad. Around three o'clock it was time to say goodbye and our time in Langa was over for now. It was a great experience for me to have, to be able to truly see how everyday life works in a township, and I am so grateful for such a chance!

Strikes...

I was back at Manenberg on Monday and Tuesday and life there is chaotic as ever! The students run around the classroom and it honestly seems like they don't do any work, I'm really not sure how and if, they learn anything. When I am there, Mr. Emmanuel often leaves me in charge of the classroom so I have been trying to work with the kids to make rules for them to follow when I am there. We've accomplished determining the important rules but have not quite mastered following them...

Usually when I am in charge of the class, the students continuously speak over me and silence in the classroom is very rare. For the first time on Tuesday I was successfully able to quiet them down all on my own, a small feat but a big success in my book! I've also found that the class really enjoys listening to stories read aloud to them and they are all very attentive when I do so!

The South African public sector is striking again - this time for an indefinite period of time. Because of the danger that the strike creates at the schools - cars being stoned, fires, and riots occurring in the townships, etc, we are not allowed to go at all. Its such a bummer to be here and not be in the school but it is also an important and interesting time to be in the country, I'm really interested to see how this will play out. So many people are effected by the strike - the students especially - and it stretches beyond the field of education as well, twelve patients died in one hospital last night due to a lack of staffing...hopefully an agreement can be arranged soon!

Catching Up...

So our internet has been down for the past week or so, and a lot has happened in that time! Last Monday was Woman's Day, a public holiday remembering a march led by women during the apartheid, so we didn't have classes or service. With our free day my housemates and I took the train to a coastal town called Kalk Bay where we walked around the quaint town, had delicious fish and chips and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. Even though it was a little chilly it was so nice to be back near the water!

The South African Public Sector held a strike for increased wages this past week so the teachers at Manenberg did not go to school at all on Tuesday or Wednesday so I wasn't able to go to service those days either. One of my friends Noah is working to develop a library at high school in the township of Khayelitsha so with my free time I've been going with him to various meetings to try and figure out where to start. Right now a full time English teacher has taken over the immense task of getting enough books, a computer, the correct software, a scanner, furniture, etc...so much work for one person to do, especially on top of teaching in a township! Noah's help will be a blessing to this school so I hope to continue to help him with this project as well!

On Friday we took a ferry to Robben Island which houses the former prison that was used during apartheid to hold political prisoners. Most notably Nelson Mandela was imprisoned there for almost twenty years. It was crazy to see how small the cells were and to know that so much history could still be created out of such a small space.

Yesterday was a gorgeous day, sunny and in the upper sixties, so a group of my housemates and I decided to hike up to Devil's Peak. It was an at times painful three hour hike to the top and three more tough hours down. Although it was an extremely challenging day both physically and mentally, the view from the top was absolutely unbelievable and made it all worth it for sure! When we reached the top we were extremely surprised to see a couch on the peak, who in their right mind would carry that up?! But we were thankful to have a place to sit!

Craziness in a Classroom...

Today my friend Mariah and I were placed in Mr. Emmanuel’s fourth grade classroom, the class he described as the worst behaved in all of Manenberg Primary School. I believe him. The students were absolutely wild, they did not listen to the teacher and would literally run in and out of the classroom whenever they pleased. Students were crawling under the tables, up the walls, talking, yelling, screaming, just being absolutely crazy. I honestly have no idea how any learning can be accomplished at all, there is constant noise and movement. Mr. Emmanuel would be talking to us about how stressful and about the trouble he gets in for his lack of discipline and he would start whacking a wooden stick on the table or scream at the top of his lungs to get the kids to settle down. Even though corporeal punishment is illegal in South Africa, Mr. Emmanuel, other teachers, and even administrators would spank the children when they got too out of line. This type of thing is extremely difficult to watch but it really isn't my place to judge the teachers and attempt to show them the "right" way. I understand how very frustrating to have no control over the classroom, especially with such behavioral and emotional issues in so many students and can only hope to assuage the problem by caring for and loving the students.

After almost quitting his job right then and there because of a fear of a nervous breakdown, Mr. Emmanuel left for the day to attend a workshop on autism. He decided to dismiss the most rowdy and misbehaving students early and then Mariah and I were on our own with the rest of the class. It was a challenge to say the least and unlike anything I ever experienced in any classroom before. No matter what we tried the students would not listen, there was constantly a loud chatter amongst them. We tried turning off the lights, raising our hands, clapping, and yelling, nothing would work. We were attempting to help the students read their English books but there was no way we could work with the entire group, they all just ran all over the place and would not focus. I wish I could have time to work one-on-one with the students because one little boy said he really wanted to learn to read English and that he wanted me to help him do so. I feel like many of the students would respond in the same way if they had the chance to do so in a supportive and encouraging environment

In the end many of the students left early but we were able to get some of them to write their names and draw pictures before going home. It may have been a simple task but many of the students seemed to enjoy it and I think it helped give them some sense of pride when I praised them on their work. When it came time for dismissal, I received hugs from the remaining students and requests for my return tomorrow. They may be a tough bunch but I love this class already, and I hope that with a few (major) tweaks these students can be turned into the greatest fourth grade class Cape Town has ever seen.

The First Week of School!

Classes started on Monday here and so far they've been pretty good! I'm taking Xhosa which is an African language (yes it uses clicks!) commonly spoken in and around Cape Town. It is the language spoken by the Xhosa people, the tribe in which Nelson Mandela is from. So far I've only learned very basic greetings and such but we go over how to say the different clicks next week so I'm excited for that! I also have to take a social research methods class which isn't too exciting but should hopefully help me in other areas. We have a class called Poverty and Development which is kind of like a sociology class focused on the causes of poverty and how to lower its prevalence and how development affects those living in poverty, using Cape Town as a case study of course! We also have a service-learning course where we discuss the uses and benefits of combining hands on service experience with traditional classroom learning. All in all I think that the classes will be manageable and fun, especially in combination with the service we will be doing!

Speaking of service, we've spent the week touring the sites where we will be devoting our time! On Monday I went to Mannenburg Primary School which is in the township of Mannenburg. It is a very impoverished area and the children were just absolutely adorable! They were cheering for us and had the biggest smiles - a few even blew us kisses! The teachers were so welcoming to us and were so excited at the prospect of having our help, they surely need a lot of it.

On Friday I went to a children's home in a different township where over thirty kids from newborn to six years old live. We weren't told the specifics about any of the children but they were brought to the home by social workers or the government. Right when we walked in the kids "chose" one of us to hang onto and they wouldn't let go! They were calling us mommy and mama, it was really cute but really sad at the same time. I would like to go and spend some time just loving the children there but I don't think its the place for me to do all of my work - I am pretty sure that I want to spend most of my time at the primary school so I cannot wait to get to know the students and teachers I will be working with and get started as soon as possible!!

A Morning to Remember

Word on the street was that Archbishop Desmond Tutu - the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, a friend of Nelson Mandela, Nobel Peace Prize winner and a major figure in the fight against apartheid - gives the early morning sermons at St. George's Cathedral on Fridays when he is in Cape Town. Yesterday we happened to pass by the church and could see him giving a press conference through the window. Knowing that he is in Cape Town, a group of my friends and I braved the early morning and headed downtown to hope to catch his sermon. And that we did! The Archbishop was super friendly and asked all of the visitors to share their stories about how and why they are in Cape Town. After receiving communion, the mass ended and the Archbishop shook everyone's hand as they walked out. Since he knew we were visiting, Archbishop Tutu offered to take pictures with us so we could remember this morning! My Aunt Janice is related to the former Catholic Archbishop Dennis Hurley of Cape Town who was a friend of both Tutu and Mandela and I even had the chance to speak with Archbishop Tutu about this "wonderful, wonderful, and very funny man!" All in all it was a memorable and beautiful start to my weekend!

The Township Tour

Yesterday we went into the townships on the outskirts of Cape Town. They are kind of like shantytown slums where some of the coloured (mixed race...and a politically correct term here don't worry) and black residents were forced to move during the apartheid. We had a tour guide named Thabo who is from a black township called Langa, which means the sun. He brought us to Langa where we started out at the visitors center where pottery, jewelry, and other art created by citizens of the township is sold. We met some of the artists and got to see them work and we even got lessons on how to play African drums, we sounded great, if I do say so myself!

Lunch was at Mzoli's, a restaurant in the township, where we had pap, grilled chicken, lamb, and sausage, it was amazing! Following lunch we walked around the township which was a very moving and educational experience. We went to an African healer who has learned everything he knows from visions passed on to him from his deceased grandfather...we then stopped in one of the huts where women make homemade beer, which we got a taste of - it was very bitter and almost had a metallic taste, I'm not rushing back for more any time soon!

The children who live in Langa are adorable! They were all outside playing and walking around when we arrived and immediately came over to us. They held our hands, sat in our laps, and just loved our cameras! One little girl was on my lap and she just kept playing with my hair, she couldn't get enough of it! The kids didn't speak much English at all but it startling to see that they did know how to ask us for money, even the littlest ones. It appears that the residents appreciate us taking the time to visit their homes to buy their goods and learn about their culture. I feel badly that we foreigners drive into these places as a tourist spot to marvel at the destitute poverty that is their everyday lives...

A Southern Braai

This weekend has been fun and full of African experiences, mostly involving food! On Friday night we went to an African restaurant where they served popular native cuisine family style. This included linefish, chicken wings, pap which is finely ground corn kind of like grits, and my personal favorite - oxtail! It was absolutely delicious and kind of hard to describe, but "the meat falls off the (tail) bones!" There was live jazz-type music and traditional dress and very cool art on the walls, it was a great experience!

The next day we went to the Castle of Good Hope which at one point was used by the Dutch to house soldiers, weapons, and prisoners.

Later

that afternoon we went to a braai, which is the South African equivalent of a barbeque. There was music, games, and delicious food! They served white sweet potatoes which before we realized what they were thought that they looked like regular potatoes but smelled like apples - a wonderfully pleasing combination! The main dish was lamb, I'm not really sure how it was prepared but it was served in small bits - almost like pulled pork - and was in a sweet barbequeish sauce. Divine!

Sunday was Madiba's (Nelson Mandela) birthday so we went to a street fair called the Ubuntu Festival where there was live music, vendors, and lots of spirit! In South Africa, the phrase "ubuntu" is very popular and used often to represent the level of respect that should be given to all people. It was a fun and vibrant place to spend a beautifully sunny African Sunday afternoon!

A New Continent...

So I have safely arrived in Cape Town and am beginning to get settled in here! There are ten other students in my program, CIEE Service-Learning, and we all seem to be getting along really well so far! For the first few days of my orientation we were staying in a really nice hotel in the heart of Cape Town, right at the foot of Table Mountain! It is absolutely gorgeous here, seeing the mountain right in the middle of the city is such a magnificent sight and I really hope it never gets old! We moved into our house yesterday - it is a spacious and airy place right off of the University of Cape Town Campus. I share it with the other members of my group and with Thandie, our RA who is a graduate student at UCT. I share a room with a girl named Katherine (she lived on my friend Maryn's hall at St. Lawrence University before transferring to Northeastern, such a small world!) and the house has four bathrooms, nine bedrooms, a kitchen with three fridges, and two stoves, and a common living area. It really is a great place to live - except that like most of the buildings here, there is no heat! And yes I am in Africa but it is winter here and the days have been raw and rainy so far, there is no escaping the cold!

I have learned more about what it is I will actually be doing here, yay! I will be taking five classes which include a few sociology-type classes, an African language course, and then my service-based research and capstone project. We went into the townships for the first time today, (which are the very poor areas on the outskirts of Cape Town) where we will be doing our service portion of the program. We get to decide where we would like to serve, some of the options include primary schools, high schools, an orphanage, a pre-trial mentoring program for young males, a TB/HIV and AIDs clinic, or a shelter for abused teenaged girls. We still have to see some of the sites but I am excited to start thinking about where it is I may like to work and what my project may be. Through my service work I will have to identify a specific need for the people in that community and through research and time spent there, come up with a capstone project idea that will hopefully provide a solution that will last long beyond my time here!

In the Air...

Hey there! I am beginning this very first blog post from my (somewhat) comfortable window seat upon a British Airways flight to London...

It has been a somewhat stressful and exciting past few weeks as I've slowly but surely gotten myself ready for this trip of a lifetime! It took a few rounds of "do I really need this?" packing decisions, a delayed Visa delivery, a borrowed camera (thanks Billy!), a backpack full of books, one last weekend at Humarock, and many tearful goodbyes but I am at last on my way! As my dad said at the airport cafe we were waiting in this evening "it's been a long time coming, and now it's really here." I am so lucky to have the chance to see and explore the other side of the world in this way and I am excited to share my experiences with all of you! As my plane took off and the lights of the Boston skyline filled the darkness outside of my window, I said goodbye to the people, city, country, and continent that I have loved and belonged to for so long. As the lights began to fade into the distance I realized that there was no going back, that I am in this thing for good, and even though I am absolutely terrified at the prospect of this, I truly am ready to arrive in the newest home I have long been waiting to say hello to.