Meanwhile in South Africa....

It's been almost 10 days since I have last posted and here in SA, life is still good!

During the week we got a tour around Genadendal in a "bakkie" a small truck. Mark, Lizelle's husband and a police officer drove us around so we got to see where some of the pupils live.

Some of our pupils live on "farms". When pupils told us they lived on farms we thought their parents were farmers like we have in NL but it's nothing like that. People from other cities move to farms to work and live there with their families. Those pupils live in tiny "houses" in bad conditions. Seeing this makes me realize why children sometimes don't prioritize school. Their number one goal is to survive and not to get their high school degrees but yet they sit there every morning. A number of them have to catch the schoolbus at 6AM every day… -_-

At Emil Weder and L.R. Schmidt everything is still going well... We enjoy teaching our pupils and they all seem to like attending our classes. I think the main reason is because our classes are quite interactive. We try to make it less boring for them by asking pupils what they would like to do/work on. There are teachers who just ask pupils to copy texts from the board every single class and then leave the classroom to do their own personal things. Imagine if you were a pupil in a class of 48, would you be able to concentrate, sit there and do what your teacher asked you to? Or would you just chat and do nothing throughout the entire period? I don't think I would be able to be motivated either and I think that that's one of the main reasons why some pupils fail for many subjects.

Last week we were asked by the principal to take over another class... It's a tenth grade with a lot of pupils who have behavioural problems and repeaters. Margriet and I split the class in two and work with groups of 24 now. Today was the first time we had to teach them and I must say I had a good time with them. We don't have to teach them English, we only have to talk to them about what's going on in their life and try to motivate them to get back on the right track. I discussed several topics with them today like smoking marihuana, which almost all of them seem to do (some on a daily base) but also about why I think education is important. It was nice to have an open discussion with them and to see that the pupils felt comfortable enough to talk. I hope it'll stay that way!



So about our weekend....

Last Friday we went to Stellenbosch. Once we checked in at the hostel we went on a shopping spree. It was the first time that I really did some shopping since I got here and I must say, shopping is nice here :). After shopping we went back to the hostel and spent some time at the pool and then got ready for dinner (SUSHIII). The thing with restaurants here in SA is that you can't walk into a restaurant and expect to be out of there in an hour. This time in Stellenbosch we waited for at least 1,5 hrs which is quite long when you're hungry. Luckily it was worth the wait (Margriet and I have been craving for sushi since we got here) and when we finished our meal we made our way to a party. One of our project coordinators were performing at a party, a “langarm dans”. We thought it was going to be a huge one but it ended up dancing in a dark primary schoolhall.

On Saturday we went for breakfast at "Cafe Dutch" where we could have "Hagelslag" and "Kroket". It's an odd combination, I know, but we couldn't choose so we just decided to have both. Once we finished we went to the V&A Waterfront. A big harbour in Cape Town with lots to see and do. In the evening we went for a real African experience: "Mama Africa", a restaurant where i ate Crocodile, Ostrich, Springbok, Kudu & Venison Sausage while listening to the live band that played African music. Of course we couldn´t leave Cape Town without going out on Longstreet, so that´s exactly what we did! It was a fun night out and we didn´t get to sleep until 5AM (knowing we had to check out at 11AM -__-).

It is quite miraculous, but we all managed to wake up early in the morning and went out for breakfast before we headed to Cape point. Driving there took us a while, since it's the most South-western point of Africa but we had the pleasure of enjoying the captivating beaches, mountainous areas and animals (wild baboons and ostriches). At arrival we walked up the mountain and looked at the stunning view.... the scenery was breathtaking and it is no wonder that I took about 140 pictures last weekend!


Okay, I think that’s about it… but before I finish my blog I want to share some funny facts with you!

Funny facts:
#1 Since pupils never get to see any Chinese people here I am asked to speak Chinese every time I meet a new class.
#2 A few pupils asked me if I know Jackie Chan (one even asked me if he’s my brother)
#3 Animals: dogs, horses, cows and donkeys walk around freely here, when you are driving you always have to be cautious because some random animal could be crossing the street.
#4 Pulling your front teeth (4 of them) is COOL in the Western Cape! It is a trend that was started by gangsters but it has become a fashion statement among youngsters. You are supposed to replace them with false dentures in gold afterwards but only few can afford it so the rest ends up walking around with a big gap in their mouth!
#5 When you’re at a school dance, all pupils do the same dance like they do in the Hollywood dance movies, which is awesome to see but makes us look like losers for not being able to keep up!

Baie dankie for reading my blog!!

Drukkies (hugs),
Angela