BUNGEEEEE!!!!!

Saturday August 6, 2011

           

If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you? Well, we were about to find out. Breakfast was at 7:00AM, I ate although I thought I would just throw it up later. 12 of the 16 people in the group were planning on jumping off the bridge, while the other four were going on a zip line tour. As we were driving Kristin decided to write a B on the window and say “that B is for bungee” and then proceeded to write J and say that “J is for Jump.” After a quick reminder of what she just wrote on the window the whole car laughed for about 10 minutes. Our drive was about an hour and when we arrived we all went to the bathroom so we didn’t in our pants later. After we signed our life away and were weighed, we were put into a harness and reminded that we would not die. I was not nervous at this point but I would be later on.

            As the other 4 left, the bungee jumpers walked down a dirt trail that led to a narrow but long walkway scaffolding that led to our bungee jump site. As we walked across the bridge Kristin became very nervous. I did my best to walk backward on the walkway so she could look at me and not look down. She made it to the end was has a little bit in tears and still very nervous about jumping. The first step was to make sure all of our weights were correct as it mattered for our jumping order. After that he called the name of the person that would be going first, it was Kristin. With every emotion running through her, she began to cry, yell, and smile as while they got her ready to jump. The workers turned on pump you up music and really did a great job at keeping everyone’s spirit up and ready to go. Tears and all Kristin was helped to the edge, counted down and after she did not jump, she was pushed off the bridge. The correct technique is jump away from the bridge; Kristin was pushed and did a summersault as she plummeted. After she went I just sat back a waited for my turn.

               My name was called and this started my nerves. I was called around seventh or eighth and was ordered to sit on one of the benches they used to do some prep work. I was harnessed in and strapped to my chest. After Kayla went, I moved to the next bench which was to strap in my feet. I was once again reminded that this is 100% safe and that nothing would happen. After being tied into my feet, the workers carried me to the edge. For some reason I looked down and knew nothing would happen but still became nervous. They quickly count down from 5 and then yell BUNGEE! I was totally ready to jump on my own and that is exactly what I did! After 1 I jumped as far as I could off the bridge and tried to grab the mountain in the distance like they told me to do. The drop is 216m, just over 700 feet and you fall anywhere from 160m-180m (520 ft- 580 ft). The first 5 seconds of the jump is a free fall until the bungee finally grabs you and then you bounce for about 3-5 minutes before a man comes down and pull you up the other side. As I jumped off the bridge I tried my best to keep my eyes open but I was moving so fast I physically couldn’t. The free fall was extremely scary. As the bungee caught me I opened my eyes and was amazed that I just jump off a bridge. Looking at my surroundings was incredible and really breathtaking. As I bobbed up and down, I felt as if my feet were going to slip out of the harness, I knew that they wouldn’t but it was a weird feeling. The man finally came down to get me and talked to me as we were pulled back to the top of the bridge. They pulled me up, unharnessed me and they took a picture with me and that was it. I joined the group and was greeted with screams, high fives, and hugs. It was such an amazing, wonderful experience that I would absolutely do again.

            After everyone went it was time to head back across the scary bridge and head to the gift shop to buy our videos of us jumping off a bridge.  As I watched myself jump, I still could not believe that I actually did it! Standing in the restaurant after the jump you could look out and see others jumping and watching them jumping was just as scary as jumping myself. The sad part of the day was the fact that the zip liners were late to their appointment and missed out on the tour. They were pretty disappointed, especially Megan D and Abby.  I felt really bad because everyone was talking about how cool jumping was and they missed out on their tour. After eating and talking about how awesome everything we were back on the road heading to the Featherbed Nature Reserve.

            Bungee Jumping was awesome and Featherbed was a good way to wind down the day and share all the stories. Featherbed was first a boat ride followed by about a 2 mile walk around that was quite beautiful. The houses on the nearby islands were so elegant and extremely expensive. The walk was nice and pleasant, not too intense so everyone could make it. After the walk we rode the boat back to the dock and then headed back to the hostel for a braai. A braai is a South African Barbeque and it was delicious. Lots of meat, salads and vegetables followed by a little volleyball with my favorite Fox rounded of a truly incredible, break taking, fear facing and all around awesome day! 

A Day With Ned

This is the assignment I had to do which describes a day at school (Ned Doman HS)...PS it's also not proof read either, sorry.

A Day with Ned

            The day begins as usual with the piercing sounds of my alarm. Once showered, dressed and full from breakfast I jump into the car and head to Ned Doman High School. All I can think about as we drive is “what is going to happen today?” Every day I have been at Ned Doman something strange, rude, unfamiliar, out of control, crazy along with so many other adjectives have shaken me to my core. One major reason I want, or wanted some days, to be a teacher is that no day is alike and that monotony is never an option but I never anticipated the days I experience at Ned Doman.

            As the car parked and I got out I was greeted as usual, “good morning sir.” This greeting seems nice and genuine but everyday it seems like a forced and unnatural welcome. The clock strikes 8:00am and this meant it was time for our daily morning staff meeting. By staff meeting I mean humungous waste of time. Every morning the principle stands in front of the teachers and reads off a laundry list of announcements dealing mainly with behavioral problems of the students and that could easily be put into a memo and handed out or hung on the wall for staff to read at their convenience. In my inexperienced but well thought out opinion, that fifteen minutes a day can be used much more efficiently; department meetings, teachers evaluating student work, or even time spent in their classroom to give extra reading and writing help to the students are all viable options to replace these fifteen wasted minutes.

            Today is Tuesday, I loathe Tuesdays. I teach three classes (two grade 9 and one grade 10) and usually sit in on Ms. Moses’ four other classes during the day. I understand three classes do not sound like much but with the behavior of the students in these classes, it borders on too much. I teach periods 4, 7 and 8. Ms. Moses starts the day with a double period of grade 8 English whom I have to watch grow more and more out of control every day. As Ms. Moses tries to explain answers to a previous assignment, I sit in front of the room and watch the students become unruly. Students are throwing paper, orange peels and anything else they can grab all while texting and yelling; they are a talented bunch. I stay out of any confrontation and refrain from and disciplinary actions because one, it is not my class and two, the students do not listen to a word I say. In order to feel like my time is not wasted, I sit and write.

            Third period is Ms. Moses’ off period. An off period is exactly what it seems, a period with no class. The period is meant for administrative and prep work but seems to be spent by most teachers in the staff room or in the halls smoking, talking or just sitting around. Those activities would all be acceptable, minus the smoking, for one period a day as sort of a break or relaxer during school, but some teachers may have 2, 3, 4 , or even 5 off periods on a single day. Time that could be spent working on lessons, helping students, or even just picking up the massive amount of garbage that lines the blacktop and halls is once again wasted.

            After the third period is one of two interval periods. Interval periods reminds me of recess in elementary school where students scatter to get outside and play sports or hang out with friends. Again, this part of the day seems harmless but the fact that there are two during one school day confuses and frustrates me. Interval periods are 30 minutes each (1 total hour) and are a wonderful break during the day for both students and teachers but is it necessary to have two? Couldn’t the  school just have four periods, then a 30-40 minute interval then the final four periods? These students are anywhere from 14-22 years old and do not need two “recesses” during the day as if they were preteen and in elementary school. The goal of school is to educate and prepare children for the outside real world, a place that does not take multiple recesses during the day. The interval periods are just another example of a wasted period of time. To put this into perspective, the school day is seven hours (8:00AM-3:00PM), a teacher with two off period, to go along with two intervals, will not have students for two and a half hours. A teacher with four off periods will be off almost four hours of the seven hour work day!

            One of my two grade 9 classes followed the first interval. This class, even for how loud and crazy they are, is actually my better grade 9 class. The topic of discussion today was Martin Luther King Jr. and his contributions to the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. I was excited to get through the short lecture portion in order to get to, what I thought was a genius activity. The first five minutes of class was dedicated to a failing attempt by both me and Ms. Moses to get students to sit down, turn off the music and to be at least partly quiet. I have tried throughout my time at Ned Doman numerous ways to quiet the class; the silent treatment where I would stand in front and stare around the room until they quiet down, yelling both politely and impolitely, slamming the door, talking very quietly in hopes they would follow along, having other students help quiet the class, reasoning with them and even a demand or two have all been stomped down and proven ineffective by a room full of ninth graders. As I struggled through the +discussion of MLK, I had to dodge paper and Nic Nacs being thrown when I turned my back, only some intended for me. Finally I got to the activity I stupidly thought they would enjoy. Their assignment was to write his/her own “I Have a Dream” speech concerning dreams for themselves, Ned Doman or South Africa as a whole. I thought this would be a time for them to write about their desires, hopes and goals…I was wrong; in fact this quickly became a time to continue yelling, do each other’s hair, and mocking me for having an American accent. The bell could not ring soon enough. I received 6 out of 40 student’s speeches.

            Fifth and sixth periods were grade 11 history, a class I do not teach but enjoy sitting in on. It is incredible to observe the maturity difference between grades 9 and 11. Granted there are only about 10 students in the class, most of them seem motivated and make it evident they have an actual educated opinion. During this two period block I tried to think about what to change for my next grade 9 class so it could run smoother than the last. Start differently, talk more, talk less, give them a different assignment or no assignment at all, and run from the building screaming were all things that I took into consideration. I ended up making minor adjustments to the lesson structure but decided to keep the “I Have a Dream” assignment in hopes they would take it more seriously. The next step was to sit back and pray that it goes better.

            The students lines up outside my door for seventh period peering in waiting for me to say they could come in. The ironic part being how badly they want to get into the classroom coupled with the lack of anything productive they do once they get inside. After another robotic sounds “good morning sir”, class began. Again class started with yelling screaming and any other disruptive behavior you can think of. I tried all my failing ways to get the students to quiet down, again to no avail. I could not help but stand in front of the room and laugh to myself at what an ineffective teacher I am. The class went as I expected, me trying to talk over students and struggling to get them to be quiet so the four or five students that wanted to learn could. After getting through the lecture part I, as I did in the other class, gave the “I Have a Dream” assignment. And just like in the other class, students were unenthusiastic and unwilling to do the work. The bell, and by bell I mean loud siren they use as a bell, rang and I said I would like the papers no matter if they were done or not; I received 5 of the 42 student’s work. The best part of the class is that I am one hour closer to going home.

            Eight and last period of the day begins as the tenth grades, anything but quietly, filter into my class. The grade 10 are much more respectful than grade 9, the reason being that after grade 9 many students drop out or schools will sometimes force underachieving ninth graders out of the system. Keep in mind that more respectful does not mean quieter by any means. The class is still very talkative and few do the work but at least they don’t Nic Nacs at me. The American Revolution is the topic I am teaching which is boring enough in the US so imagine learning about it in another country. We work through a timeline the students created the previous week as a review and then we begin discussion. The timeline is not meant for them to memorize dates but more for them to takes notes without having the monotonous task of copying notes off the board or out of a book.  We discussed the causes of the war and then they were assigned a writing assignment. Their goal was to pick a side, Colonists or the British, and defend who you would fight for and why. I continually give writing assignments for two main reasons, one being that the students need as much practice with reading and writing as possible and the other is that my voice cannot take yelling for 45 minutes.  Many students did the assignment while most did not. The bell to end the day could not come soon enough because the rest of the week is usually much easier; due to the flawed and ridiculous time schedule I have three off periods both Wednesdays and Thursdays and to add to that every Friday is a half day.

            Through the negative experiences I had and will continue to have at Ned Doman, I do see some very motivated, determined and bright students whom I know will be successful. As I dust the chalk from my hands, shirt, pants and other areas I shouldn’t have chalk, I pack up my things and consider the day another learning experience with Ned.    

Last Days in July

Saturday July 30, 2011

            This week at school was the longest week EVER! My teacher that I am working with was not there Monday or Tuesday and I was in charge of all of her classes, including the 8^th grade English class that is insane. I also had very little guidance when it came to lesson plans for the classes I usually do not teach, so that was fun. Monday and Tuesday were awful and every second I doubted myself in so many ways. Wednesday through Friday went better mainly because Ms. Moses was back but also because I tried to get out of the class as much as possible to check my email or sit in on other teacher’s classes. The weekend could not come soon enough.

            Our destination this weekend is Friday Island in Langebaan. The goal of this trip is an extremely relaxing weekend after our first full week at the school; it was much needed. The drive was fairly easy as we stopped a few times on the way to the resort. Our first stop was at Khwa Ttu, don’t ask me how to pronounce that. This is reservation of the San People which is one of the first inhabitants of South Africa, similar to our Native Americans. Our first task was to learn the different clicking sounds that occur in many of the past and present languages, including Xhosa and Khoisan. The group sounded hilarious as we none of us could click properly but all of us wanted to try over and over again. Next we took a small tour around the reservation and visited some replications of original huts and I tried to make a fire with stick, didn’t work to well. After that we headed to Friday Island just before 6:00PM. The group sat on the beach of the Atlantic Ocean and watched the sunset. It was a beautiful sight to see and my camera had its work cut out for it as I couldn’t stop taking pictures. Not to mention it was super romantic to sit on the beach with Karen and watch the sun go down. The night continued with dinner, drinks and more drinks as Nate, Jenn, Karen and I walked up and down the beach until it was time to go to bed.

           

Sunday July 31, 2011

The morning began as usual with breakfast, stories and laughs. After breakfast we packed up and headed to maybe the most boring thing we will do on this trip. We went to a place where they are doing archeological digs and we got an exhilarating tour of the bones they have found zzzzzzz…..zzzzzz…. sorry I feel asleep typing about it. After I discovered I never want to be an archeologist we went to a random place where we were supposed to see some lions but the tours had ended so we just looked at birds. As Kristen would say “Narcs with the sharks. And Birds.” We then headed to lunch for another health trip to KFC. I have gained probably 10 pounds on this trip with all the junk I have eaten. Before we split up to head back to our host families we stopped at Table View. This is basically the Post Card picture of Cape Town and Table Mountain. It’s on a beach that looks directly at the downtown area with Table Mountain as the backdrop. It is really a site to see. After a quick debrief, lots of pictures and a quick prayer to get us through the next week, we all headed our separate ways back to our host families. Once back at the Cranfield’s I unpacked, awed over Abby’s new princess fairy sheets got put on her bed, and began to dread the school week ahead… only a 4 day week though!

July 16th-July 23

Saturday July 16, 2011

           

Today was full of driving. We left Deo Gratia around 11, and had about a three hour drive to Hermanus. We stopped a few times on the way to look at a few beaches and arrived around to Zoete Invol (another B and B). Nate and I again had our own room which much bigger beds this time which was very nice. This place also had the coolest water I have ever showered in, and by ‘showered’ I mean through my head and limbs into the water to try to clean them while standing in the far corner of the shower. We dropped off our stuff and headed into downtown Hermanus for the rest of the day.

            Karen and I kind of split away from the rest of the group and wandered through a bookstore for about an hour, and then went to lunch at this great placed called The Zebra Crossing. The lady that worked there was so pleasant, and wrote own her address so we can send her a post card when we get back to the states. After eating we walked through the market where they were all closing, which was fine because I was not in the mood to get hounded to buy something. Karen and I then walked around the rocks and water front for the rest of the evening before dinner.We went to Mugg and Bean for dinner and I had a salad that was decent and a scone that was not too bad either. After dinner we all rode back to Zoete. Nate and I sat in our room waiting for one of the girls to come get us to hang out, yeah right. We ended up meeting this nice girl from Austria who was also staying at Zoete. We introduced her to the girls and then Nate and I made them hang out with us. The group played a game where everyone would write down a fact about yourself and we all had to guess who it was. Bed time followed.

Sunday July 17, 2011

            Today was another day full of driving. We at breakfast at Zoete Invol and then hit the road. Our destination was Cape Agulhas, which is the southernmost point of Africa and the debating meeting point of the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. The true meeting point of the two oceans in at the Cape of Good Hope according to most South Africans. It was another 2 or 2.5 hour drive, again I slept. When we got there we ate lunch at this lighthouse restaurant, I ordered a very messy chicken sandwich. After eating, Karen and I began our walk to the southernmost point. It was probably less than a half of a mile, but we stopped a lot to climb on some of the coastal rocks and to just take in the scenery. Everyone took a bunch of pictures when we got there, and after we piled into the vans and headed back. We got back around 7:30 and some of us watched the USA versus Japan World Cup Final…Balls. After the game I decided to go to bed because we had a very early morning starting at 6 am tomorrow.

Monday July 18, 2011--Live Every Week Like It's Shark Week

            Getting up at 6 am was totally worth it today, because today was Shark Cage Diving day. The drive was not too long as we made our way to the shark cage diving place. As we arrived they served us breakfast and gave us a bit of a briefing on what will and can happen on the boat. We next drove down to the harbor and got aboard the boat. We headed out about 15 minutes away from shore and anchored down. The captain again gave us some safety talks and told us more about the cage and the suits. The next step may have been the hardest- putting on the wetsuit. It was quiet a struggle to shimmy this already wet, wet suit on in a very confined space, all while not falling over.

            Once I was suited up, I got in line behind Erin and Karen to go into the cage. Let me explain how this works. The cage is about 8 feet long by about 3 feet wide and 8 feet high. 4-5 people can go into a cage at once. What the workers do is they throw bait or chum out on a line in front of the cage until the shark comes close and then they pull it away (towards the cage) and then the sharks are basically right there. So Erin, Karen, Kristen and I all got into the cage at once. They give you a pair of goggles as you enter and put weights around your neck so you don’t float up. When you get into the cage you sit on the back of the cage with your feet also on the back and hand holding the bar in front. The workers on the boat will yell “Go” when a shark is near and everyone will go under water and watch until the shark leaves. As we all got into the water we waited for what seemed like an hour but really only 10 minutes for any sharks to come by. The wait was so worth it! I got to go under at least 15 times to see the sharks and there were about 3 different great whites all in the area at the same time. They bumped into the cage and swam past and right at us. I literally could have touched them many times with how close they got to the cage. The experience was so much better than I would have anticipated. I would absolutely go again and recommend it anyone who has a chance. After I got out of the water I went to the top deck of the boat and watched the other scream and get excited as the sharks jumped and hit the cage ect. Karen had maybe the best and definitely the scariest experience out of all of us, when a shark’s nose got stuck in the big opening of the cage a mere 6 inches from her legs for about 5 seconds before wiggling its way out. She and Jenn came out of the water in pure shock. We were on the water for about 2 hours or so then we headed back to the dock. The company fed us lunch and we watched the video that they took while we were onboard so we could relive the trip. The whole thing was so incredible and worth every cent. I cannot wait to show pictures to people back in the States. This is one of the coolest thing I have ever done and I will never forget it as long as I live.

            In comparison the rest of the day sucked. We drove back to Deo Gratia as every told stories of their experiences with the sharks. We also had to pack because we were leaving to go to our host families tomorrow.

Tuesday July 19, 2011

            After breakfast we loaded up the van with all of our suitcases and backpacks and said our goodbyes to Deo Gratia for which we would not return until the last weekend of our trip. We made our way to Langa; which is the oldest township in Cape Town. Townships are places where blacks were forced to live during apartheid. The communities had little to no resources and are still struggling to this day. The residents of Langa are very poor with most living in shacks or huts. There is an area of the township where the more well off live but these houses are still not up to conditions that most Americans would live in. The shacks or huts are made or sheet metal that is taken from local junk yards and pieced together. Kids running around the street playing with anything they can find. Many kids ran up to me and the others in the group and wanted food, toys or just some love. They mostly got high fives from me and seemed so very excited. This very cute girl came up between Karen and me and held both of our hands and walked in the middle of us. It is so sad to see the living condition of not only these kids but the adults. The people that live here struggle to survive from day to day. One mean of income for some is giving tours of the townships to groups like us. I did feel very strange at times walking around and looking at people like I was at some sick exhibit. Jobs for most were in the township at local markets, meat shops or just selling goods out of their homes. The emotions were high for much of the day.

            After the long and emotional walk around Langa we drove around another township named Nyunga. Nyunga was very much like Langa but with more squatter camps. Squatter camps are vacant land where people have set up homes and are basically living there illegally but the government has not done anything about it; with the reason being that it is a waste of time and resources to kick those people out. After a quick drive through Nyunga we headed to St. Johns Church to meet and leave with our host families.

            As everyone waiting for their host family to arrive, I really began to realize how much I was going to miss my MSU family. Leon, Levona, Kaylyn, and Keegan are my host family. I am also living with Abby, who is also on the trip. We packed up the car and headed to our house for the next 4 weeks. The house was familiar because we had dinner there a few nights ago. Levona showed me and Abby to our rooms. Abby is in Kaylyn’s room and I am in Keegan’s room. Kayln and Keegan are living in the guest house which is near the garage. The house is very nice; 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms (one for Abby and me). The only downside being that I do not have any internet, meaning little access to the outside world or back home. My room and bed are pretty big, and the room does have a TV but with only about 4 channels. I basically just unpacked some of my stuff and then went to bed.

July 20 - July 22—First week at the Host Family’s

           

School Life —

The first week at Ned Doman High School was, as the South Africans say, hetic. Ned Doman is located in Athlone about 5 minutes from where I am staying. I am working with Lindsay Moses focusing mainly on grades 9 and 10 history. Lindsay has an array of classes; grade 8 English, two grade 9 history classes and one 10^th, 11^th and 12^th grade history classes.  My students are majority black from the local townships, like Langa. I heard for the past two weeks that Ned Doman would be a challenging place to do my placement and after the first week that statement was nothing but reinforced.

Pulling into the parking lot, or what I could see of the parking lot, the first thing I noticed was the barbed wire that lined the fence on the top and the bottom. I next saw that numerous homeless that were using that fence as support as they sleep. As I walked into my classroom I noticed that the room was not in great condition; the desks were carved and had no backing, some window panes were broken and barely open, and dirt and garbage were covering the floor. Ned Doman clearly does not have the resources that most schools in the States do, whether that is due to the area the school is in, the students or still some remnants of the apartheid era, I do not know.

The school day has 8 periods of about 40 minutes each and 2 break periods that they call “intervals.” The teachers have a different schedule every day; different in terms of not only what class during what period but how many off periods you have. Lindsay has zero off periods on Monday, one on Tuesday, 3 on Wednesday and Thursday and one on Friday. Fridays are also half days getting out around 12:30. My first day was on Wednesday and it seemed like a day off; with 3 off periods and 2 intervals, Lindsay is literally off 3 hours of the school day. It seems like a waste of time and a waste of resources because most teachers do not use their off periods to their advantage or benefit. On the other hand once I tell you about the students, these teachers have earned the time off.

The students, or learners as they are called, are completely out of control, especially grades 8 and 9. The only silence I had during the day was when I went to the bathroom, and that was because the students are not allowed to go to the bathroom during the school day because of the abuse of the privilege. At no point during the day were the students quiet. At first I was confused on whether this disruption was out of disrespect or the unknowing of what they are doing. I determined that the majority of it comes from blatant disrespect toward authority. The students are not only disrespectful but mean toward not only me and other teachers but to other students. Although instruction is in English, he students speak Xhosa as their primary language. This makes it impossible to understand student conversations and it adds to the language and accent barrier that I already have.

The class sizes vary anywhere from 10 in her grade 12 to 40 in her grades 8 and 9. This is mainly because the students are legally allowed to drop out after the ninth grade so naturally the numbers go down. The school has three main sections, two of those sections are classroom or offices that surround a courtyard, meaning that when you step out of the class you are outside. The other section is an open area that seems like it would be used as a cafeteria or gym like area surrounded by classes. That open area is only used for an assembly that takes place every morning that the principle puts on and tells the kids about school news. The building has no central heating so the classrooms are sometimes very cold. I usually where a long sleeve shirt, a button up dress shirt and a sweater and still struggle to stay warm. The floors are concrete that are covered in dirt. I walked around outside during the first interval to get a sense of what the students do and what the grounds look like. As I walked around I was quite disgusted at the condition around the school. The ground was full of garbage and old clothes that have clearly been there for some time. Some students were playing soccer on the concrete slap that is being passed off as a playground area, while other just hang around eating and smoking…yes smoking. This may be more surprising if I didn’t see some of the teachers smoking not only outside but inside the building as well. Great examples.

At the end of the first week I am not looking forward to the next 3 weeks.    

    

Saturday July 23, 2011

            It was so nice to see everyone today! The whole group met up at Rhodes Memorial on the UCT campus and prepared for a long hike to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. I was really very excited to be able to spend the day with Karen. Exchanging stories about school and host family life was extremely entertaining. Everyone seems overall pretty happy with their host families and how they are being treated. The schools vary, from Ned Doman and Athlone to Southern Peninsula (best school in the Western Cape.) Me typing some of my stories will not do them justice, so I will save some of mine to tell everyone when I get home. The hike was really nice and very scenic. The contour path that we took started up the side of Table Mountain and then a hike around the side of it and then down to the gardens.  I loved spending time with Karen as we hiked and enjoyed telling and hearing stories about not only her week but the weeks of everyone else.  We hiked around the mountain for about 3 hours and then had about an hour and a half at Kirstenbosch Gardens. The gardens were very beautiful even in the winter, and I can only imagine what it looks like in the warmer months. After the gardens we all said our goodbyes to each other. I arrived back at my host family’s house exhausted and basically laid around until it was social acceptable to go to bed.    

UCT Week-- Friday

Friday July 15, 2011

            Our last day at UCT. I would love to tell you what happened today but I was so tired that I really was not in to any presentations today. Karen and I did have a race to the first one to write down the 50 states, I won.

            We ended our academic week around lunch time and then took a quick tour of UCT campus and went to the Rhodes Monument. Cecil John Rhodes is the founder of UCT and a humongous racist. He founded the university to further white education and would probably roll over in his grave if he knew the university is now integrated and very diverse. But other than that the monument was beautiful. I also met a man from Michigan who is a professor at the University of Michigan and chatted with him for a few minutes. We headed back to pack our backpacks for 2 days and 2 nights because we are heading to Hermanus, South Africa.    

UCT Week-- Thursday

Thursday July 14, 2011

            Today was our day off from UCT. We went to a children’s orphanage and was given a tour of the grounds in the morning. Our next stop was to go do some laundry. They charge you by weight, and I only did a very small number of clothes because my host family has a washer a dyer, and I will be a shit child and use those. After dropping off the laundry, we went back to Cape Gate Mall to eat, shop and exchange money (I did all the above). I will not take the time to tell you about the money… The currency is called Rand and the exchange rate is about $1= 6.80 Rand. Things are really not that much cheaper here, so you end up paying R35 at McDonalds. And Mom, the price of gas is R9.75 per liter, which is around 5.50 a gallon. Well that seems to be enough about the money.

            We had a pizza for a quick dinner before most of us headed out to go see the newest and last Harry Potter movie, a day early mind you. I am not really a big Harry Potter fan but I decided to go, mainly to hang out with Karen. I had zero expectations of this movie but Karen had a lot and the movie did not live up to them at all. She could not have been angrier at Harry, and was complaining for quite a long time. After the movie was bedtime for sure.

UCT Week-- Wednesday

Wednesday July 13, 2011

            Wednesday was another exciting day at UCT (that was sarcasm). I had to present my chapter on changes in teacher education post apartheid. The presentation went fine, no major complaints (Major Complaints!). 3 other groups also presented and come to find out they were just as boring as mine. I think this week was so bad because we did such incredible things last week and now we are back in school. Crain Soudien was our guest speaker and lectured on the Education and Youth in South Africa. Although interesting and full of lots of great material, Crain was not the greatest public speaker and lost lots of our attentions. Blah Blah Blah, School school school. I have lots of notes and some initial opinions on education in South Africa that I will discuss later.

            The best part of the day was dinner. We went to Corvell’s brother Leon’s house, who is my host dad and got to eat with him and the rest of my host family. The house was very nice, dinner was again delicious and they family seems so nice and accommodating and I am really excited to spend my time with them. Leon’s wife’s name is Levona (Kind of sound like Livonia), and two kids, Kayln and Keegan. I got to speak with Leon about what we would be doing, the teaching I will be teaching with and just some logistics. I am really looking forwarding to living in Atholone with the Cranfields.