I really don’t think I’ll ever want to leave this place, because life here is pretty as close to perfect as I’ve ever been. So much has happened since my last post and I have been extremely busy (the reason why I haven’t had time to write one). We are now in the swing of classes and service, which takes up 9-3 Monday through Thursday, but I love every minute of it. Classes are so interesting and everyday of service is even more eye opening and amazing than the previous. The seven of us working at Manenberg Primary have officially become part of their community. Everyday we are welcomed by flocks of children hugging, kissing, and reaching for a piece of our hands. All of us are beginning to find our niche in the school as well. I am working with the foundation ages (grades 1-3). I will be taking groups of 10 kids out of their classroom to the schools library, where I will be reading to them and teaching them lessons based off of the books I choose. This concept is in hopes of teaching kids that reading can be fun and not simply something that they solely need to do for academics. Additionally, it will give the kids access to the schools library that is currently unused since the school is unable to afford a librarian. On Thursday while I was starting to find a group of books for lessons, Mr. Jensen (one of the teachers we work closely with) sent me a boy who had been ‘very bad.’ The boy, Miskunde, and I spent the afternoon reading stories and doing numeracy. He was so enthusiastic about reading stories, handing me book after book. It was amazing to see this kid who was so misbehaved in the classroom so well behaved. To the children at the school we inspire a new motivation for learning and it is very moving to see that drive in the children’s faces.
Apart from classes and service we have been doing some incredible activities as well. Many of them have involved crazy trips on the mini-busses, which are sort of local taxi busses that cram anywhere up to 18 people in them, have crazy drivers, a door person yelling to people on the street—basically they are an experience to say the least. Recently we fit our entire group of 14 into one mini bus that already had 5 people in it excluding the driver and door person! One day we went down to Parliament and saw President Zuma speak! We also spent one afternoon at Clifton Beach, staying to watch the sunset and grabbing dinner in Camps Bay after. Last Saturday morning we went to a market at the Old Biscuit Mill. It completely blew away any market/farmers market I have ever heard of. There were several tents full of the most incredible food including pizzas, cookies, paella, and basically anything you could imagine. Daunted by the many choices, several of us decided to buy different things and share! Our first choice was an eggs benedict type thing served over a potato pancake and some sangria—yum! Next we tried a pizza that I cannot even begin to describe and some local wine. I think we would all be more than happy making weekly visits to the Old Biscuit Mill—it’s a shame it is only on Saturdays. Later, we experienced our first true South African braai (barbeque) at our friend Dave’s house. It was really fun and we were able to meet more locals. Sunday we went to our first soccer game, which was a great experience. The stadium was packed and nearly everyone had a vuvuzuella (giant horn). At night we went to see Goldfish, a local band who I love back home, perform at St. Yves club. It was unreal. I felt as though I was a celebrity. The club was on the beach with a balcony full of white cabanas. It was so much fun and we are hoping to see them next Sunday at Kirstenbosch gardens. This past Friday after class we headed down to Kalk Bay for some fresh fish and chips by the pier and then a little shopping around. We constantly find ourselves questioning if this is really our life, because as I mentioned before, it is pretty close to perfect. This Saturday morning we spent two hours sea kayaking. It was amazing (though a lot more of a workout than we had been expecting). At one point there were four or five seals swimming underneath our kayaks, popping their heads up and jumping out of the water! Today (Sunday) we went to Kirstenbosch Gardens for one of their Sunset Concerts. It was SO beautiful. Everyone packs picnics and sits on the lawn, which is at the base of Table Mountain with incredible views. It reminded me a lot of the concerts in Cape Cod that I used to go to with my family.
Ok time to get back to the ‘hectic’ schedule. As the locals say, ‘Away me bru.’
Love,
Catie
(Kayaking in Seapoint)
time for a new post Catie!!
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