Long Update

Sorry that it has been so long since I have updated!

Since the last post the group had an eventful weekend at the beach house in Pringle Bay. The house was perfect for our group! There was a basement, main floor, and loft. The kitchen and seating area was huge. The best part was that we were a small sand dune away from the beach. It was nice being all together after a long week in the schools. Friday we witnessed the most beautiful sunset! It was amazing because the sun went down behind cape point, the spot that we hiked the previous monday. Some of the group made us a pasta dinner and we all hung out on the porch for most of the evening. The next day Kayla and I read the hunger games all morning. We finished the first book and moved onto the second. The books have been passed around to almost everyone on the trip.

While reading downstairs on Saturday, I was startled by the sound of screaming. I look up to find a 250-300 pound baboon breaking in the window of our beach house. It was the most terrifying thing ever! The house came alive as people tried to make as much noise as possible to scare it away. When that didn't work, Jeremy threw a trash can at it. It hit the baboons chest and was not affected by it. Then, Kayla came running down the stairs with a 2x4. She hit everything that was in her path as a last attempt to scare the baboon away. She was two feet away and about to smack the baboon when it decided to climb out the window. The baboon wanted food for it's family and took some chocolate with it. We were lucky to still have all of our food. Later that evening Jermey and Kayla were reenacting the baboon scence for the people who were not in the house at the time. All 18 of us were laughing so hard and having a blast when all of the sudden, a large window shattered. Now, we were in trouble because an open window means more baboons. The boys found a large piece of cardboard in the basement and covered the opening. We had to prop a couch against it to keep it in place. Katie (my roommate at the house) and I were scared and stacked our suitcases in front of our door that night just to be sure than no baboons would attack. You probably think I am exaggerating but this was the scariest thing!

The next morning, Sean woke up early to be on baboon lookout. Some of the group decided to go to the beach. Mid morning we hear screaming from the house and see our group running toward the house. They were being surrounded by 15 baboons. Everyone made it back safely but the baboons were not gone. They lined up on the dunes ready for battle staring at us in the house. Sean held the cardboard window with a shovel and we shut the other windows. They surrounded the house. Once we thought they were gone, Kayla, Laura, Kala, and I headed up on the porch which has outside stairs. I saw the baboons coming back toward the house and quickly ran inside. Kayla, Kala, and Laura didn't think that they would come so they stayed up on the porch. Two minutes later the baboons are attacking and climb on the porch. The girls grab their stuff and are about to head down, when the HUGE dad baboon blocks the stairs. All we can hear from inside is screaming and crying. They were literally stranded up there. Rob and Lizzie grabbed 2x4's and headed out to scare them away. After a few minutes the girls would run down into the house. The baboons were not gone. The entire pack (15+) were surrounding the house. We called security and the baboons moved down the street. The guy told us that the baboons are vicious and becoming more comfortable around people which is scary. Our transport came and we left the house.
***The actual scenes of these encounters were much scarier in person! I have pictures and videos to show back home :)

After that crazy weekend, we had a full week in our classroom. The days flew by and I was able to help out more in my class as time went on. I was able to have a 4th grade class write letters back to Rayna's class and my second grade class write back to Mrs. Baxter's class. The letters went well and the kids really enjoyed hearing about America. I took pictures of each student to show those kids back home. I can't wait to get back and share them. Thursday, I brought in all of the supplies that I brought to help the class. My teacher needed rulers, pencils, paper, books, expo markers, pencil sharpeners, stickers, and more. My teacher was so thankful and the kids loved it! The class wrote me and thank you note on the white board with the new markers. It was the coolest thing to be able to help!

On Friday Lizzie, Kayla, and I decided to have a treat yourself day. We got pedicures and went shopping at the mall. After we went out to dinner at a italian restaurant and met up with Annie, Laura, and Julie for drinks. I spent way to much money but it was so worth it! On sunday we went back to the salon and I got a manicure as well.

Saturday our entire group went to Capetown. It was an early morning but we had a lot to accomplish. First stop was Robben Island. We loaded the ferry for the 20 minute boat ride. It was extremely foggy and kinda spooky out. On the ferry we saw a pod of 200 dolphins swimming next to the boat. It was the most amazing thing! I have been waiting the entire trip to see wild dolphins in the ocean. It was definitely one of my favorite parts of the trip so far! We toured the Island and saw the prison where Nelson Mandala was held. For lunch we ate at the Capetown Harbor. There were street performers and many shops. We couldn't stay long though because we were off to green market square. After and hour of bargaining we went to Table Mountain. We took the cable car up to the top. The top of the mountain is flat and is often covered by clouds which looks like a tablecloth hence the name. We were very lucky that the clouds lifted by the time we wanted to go. There were some walking paths on the top, which Kelly and I explored. Great picture spot!

Sunday was our free day. This was a chance to spend time with our host families. My entire family including the dad which we don't see often, all of the kids, and the dogs went on a walk/hike around stellenbosch mountain. It was so much fun and a great chance to bond with the kids and family. The weather was PERFECT!

My 2E1's <3

On top of table mountain!

Our trip has less than a week left which is CRAZY. Seems like yesterday I was packing to leave and now we are starting to pack our souvenirs to head home. Bring on the last week :)

It's Friday!

It's been a busy week! I was in my class tuesday- friday. My teacher takes a little bit of time to warm up to. Her style of teaching is much different than I have ever seen. At first the students were doing a lot of busy work. Busy work is having the teacher write questions or math problems on the board and having the students copy it down in their notebooks. Yesterday and today I saw a bit more instruction. Every morning the class starts out by counting from 0-100 by 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s. The students are awesome and I almost have all of their names down. The names are difficult because they are spelled different than they are pronounced. I am hoping to become more active in the classroom and even teach lessons. Today was the first day that I led something. I read a book and started a game of simon says.

My favorite part of the day is after school. My class gets out an hour earlier than the upper elementary classes so if my teacher doesn't have work for me to do, I get to hang out with the kids. They love braiding my hair and asking me thousands of questions. They are so loving and curious. Stickers are also a big hit :)

Wednesday night my host parents went out to a dinner and left Kayla, Lizzie, and I to babysit all 5 kids. It was cool to be able to hang out and spend time with the kids. We had a water balloon fight. 4 boys vs. 4 girls. It was fun until it turned into dumping buckets of water on each other. It was also Andre's birthday. Leisel and Pieter left us lasagna and Nicola made us chocolate syrup to put on ice cream to celebrate. The three of us have become so attached to those kids that they will be the hardest to leave.

In a couple of minutes the group is leaving for a beach house in Pringle Bay. We have the entire weekend to hang out and relax right on the ocean. It is 95 degrees now and hopefully the weather stays nice. I'll update next week!

It takes up a lot of internet to load pictures but here is a Sneak Peak :) 

 Sunset at Tsitsikamma

Zip Lining in the African Jungle

The southernmost tip of Africa where the two oceans meet

Passing out bubbles in the township!

Second part of holiday!

More overview of our holiday adventures:

We traveled to gansbaai next to go shark cage diving. This city is known for great white shark sightings. We ate lunch and loaded onto a boat ned nemo. They launched the boat into the water and we were out in the Atlantic ocean. There were some huge waves, bigger than I have ever seen. I was so sea sick that I was unable to dive but I did see the sharks up close and personal. Five great whites were circling our boat and liked to jump out of the water. After we headed for Cape Agulhas backpackers. It was the nicest place yet! There was a pool and bar/hangout area in the middle of our rooms. They provided authentic African food for breakfast and dinner. Our second day there we went to the most southern tip of Africa which is also where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet. We took some cool pictures and climbed to the top of a lighthouse there. Inside the lighthouse are pictures of other famous lighthouses and Grand Haven made the cut :) In the afternoon nine of us went to three wineries for wine tasting. It was so much fun and I ended up buying two bottles. The backpackers place was two blocks from the beach so Laura and I walked there around sunset. There was jellyfish everywhere.

We tried to feed the string rays today but the water was too cloudy for the rays to come near the beach Now we are on our way to Montegu which is our last part of holiday. On our way we stopped at the hot springs. It was such a hot day (100 degrees in the sun) that the pools were perfect. After the hot springs we went to our sleeping location. We stayed at the De Bos farm which was awesome! The guest barn was rented out for us. The barn had stalls which two or three people slept in. Andrea was my stallmate and we had a fantastic time. The best part was that all of us were in the same place. The stalls were separated by half walls. This was the perfect ending to our holiday trip. Outside of the barn were horses, goats, dogs, and peacocks.

Saturday was when we rode a tractor to the top of a mountain. At the top there was a cottage with refreshments. While we were on top it started down pouring. By the time we rode the tractor down to the lunch spot we were all soaked. The lunch was made up of poikes which are traditional meals made over a fire in a large black pot. It was quite an experience. Afterwards we went to two more wineries for tastings. At night we hung out and played games. Pierre made us braai and we all ate at the longest picnic table ever.

Today we wine tasted at a huge winery and took a tour. It is so cool being in the middle of wine country and tasting pinotage wine because it is special to South Africa. We headed back to our host families for the night. My family is out of town though so we are on our own. Tomorrow is our last day with pierre and antoinette :( and we are going to cape point where the penguins live.

Surfing

Today was our free day in Mosselbaai. I lounged in the morning and it was quite cloudy. As noon approached the sun was shining. 6 of us decided to take a surf lesson. The instructor picked us up from the backpackers and took us to a beautiful part of the ocean. The entire beach was pure sand and the water was bright blue. The waves were constant and perfect for beginners. We put on wetsuits and carried our boards down to the water. The instructor taught us about currents and how to help ourselves and others if we were in danger. Before we went out in the water, the guy had to save some children who had swam out too far. The guy helped us take many runs on the board. I got up on one foot after a couple tries. The water was super salty and I can still taste it in my mouth. Such a cool experience!

Holiday update!

Hey everyone! Right now I am in Mosselbaai which is located in the western cape of Africa. This is the first and only place where we can get internet on holiday. Soooo much has happened that it is hard to type it all on my phone so I will try my best.

Our entire holiday is throughout the cape of africa. First We drove 7 hours to Knysna on the eastern side. This place is known for seahorses. All of us stayed in a nice backpackers house. There we took a ferry across the seahorse estuary to the Featherbed Reserve. On the other side of the reserve was the Indian Ocean. We took a tractor type vehicle to the top of the reserve which was on a mountain. We hiked down on a path in the forest. They also fed us a huge buffet lunch. The views were amazing. The coolest thing was the fog that comes and goes quickly. It became so foggy that I couldn't see ahead of me and then it was crystal clear the next minute. I also got bit by something poisoness at this spot and had to go to the clinic for antibiotics. Its healing now.

Our next spot was Addo elephant park. We stayed in Forest cabins which housed 4 and had a bathroom. I stayed with kelly and laura. As soon as we arrived at the park we went out on our first game (safari) ride. Some people passing us said that they spotted lions on the far side of the park but it was closing in 2 hours. Since there are only 9 lions in the entire park, they are not spotted often and we went for it. Pierre our fearless guide sped through the park. We got to see 3 lions and many other animals. That night we went on a night drive and the next morning we went on a sunrise game drive. We have been one of the luckiest groups because of all of the rare animals we saw. We saw a rhino at night which is special because they will be extinct by 2015 due to poachers. I was face to face with an elephant. We also saw zebras, warthogs, buffalo, kudu, meercats, hyenas, monkeys, and much more. I cant wait to post all of my pictures when I get to good internet and have my computer back.

After Addo we drove to Tsitaikamma. We stayed at the national park in forest huts overlooking the Indian Ocean. I stayed with Abby. The bathrooms are in a separate area and it brought me back to remembering all of my WAC trips. We had some rainy weather but it didnt matter because the scenery was beautiful. The first night some of us climbed rocks to put our feet in the ocean. The first full day there we went zip lining in the jungle. There were ten different zips and it was awesome! I thought I would be more scared but after the first two I got the hang of it. Dont worry because I bought the dvd incase you want to see for yourself :) The next day we hiked to a waterfall which was 6.5km. The hike was on the side of the mountain along the coast of the indian ocean. The path was muddy and the rocks were slippery from all the rain which made it difficult. It was definitely unlike any hike that I have ever done before. When we finally got to the waterfall it was a shock to our leaders because it was so forceful. Usually students are able to cliff jump but due to the rain it was unsafe. That was a bummer but it was beautiful anyways. The pool was on the ocean too. That night I did laundry overlooking the ocean. We had some great group bonding time here and everyone on the trip is getting to know each other well.

Yesterday we arrived in Mosselbaai. We are staying In another backpackers house. This one is fully stocked with a bar, pool, and wifi! Today we left early for an ostrich safari. We were up close to the birds. I never knew how big they were. We saw an ostrich race and some people went for a ride. Then we went to the conga caves. After the caves we went to a Afrikaans Festival. It was awesome with sooo many craft booths, food, music, and culture. I bought some really cute engraved wine glasses. Also, My friends and I were also mistaken for africans today. We are finally starting to blend in a little bit and have learned a few words. Haha.

We have eaten out many times on holiday at all different kinds of restaurants. Its fun because you don't really know what you are ordering and most restaurants have gift shops. When we don't eat out we self-cater. We had a braii (bbq) and have had pasta dishes. Usually for lunch we have sandwiches if we don't eat out. It is a blast going grocery shopping for 20 people in a foreign country.

Tomorrow we have a free day and I am planning to try surfing and sitting on the beach. Pierre and Antoinette (our guides) are preparing dinner for us at there home. Hopefully I will update more soon! The trip is already a third over. I still have to remind myself that I am in Africa because it doesn't seem real! I miss everyone!

3-23

Last day of the term! We watched a movie all morning in school- Spy kids two. It is interesting because the students aren’t as attracted to movies as they are in the states. Classroom management techniques are not used in A F loud so most student talked and played handclap games during the movie. During break I taught some students how to play link tag and they all loved it. After the movie the students got their reports. It was already sad to see the kids leave for so long. It will be hard to say goodbye at the end. There is just so much love from the children. After Jodie (driver) dropped us off at our house we ate lunch, did laundry, and headed to phoebe’s house for a pool party. It was nice to finally get some sun with everyone on the trip! The rest of the afternoon was spent with the kids. We also had some quality roommate bonding time. At night we went to Ida’s Valley for cake and ice cream to celebrate Brian, Andrea, and Abby’s birthdays.

3-22

Today at our debrief after school we used three words to describe our day at school. Wild, Loud, and creativity sum up my day pretty well. My CT handed her keys to me and set me free to fetch the kids and start the day. I also cut paper and led sport outside. I feel good because the students are so happy that I am here. It was stressful to be thrown into a brand new situation with 30 faces staring at you. We had a good time singing and counting and I was able to take some pictures of the class. We went into town today and saw the “big” mall. We had time to do laundry today. No dryer of course. The Roos kids are awesome! They are the most beautiful and friendly children ever. We played go fish and pick up sticks for a long time before dinner. I tried fish for dinner with squash. I am trying to be adventurous and try new foods on this trip! 

3-21

Today we walked to the town in Stellenbosch. Then we took the train to Cape Town. It was about an hour ride with all of the stops. The scenery is amazing with mountains all around us. We also saw our first animals from the train! Zebra and Ostrich were roaming around. We explored the district 6 museum there and ate lunch at an Indian Bizzare. The food was good but it took an hour to get it! (I know what you are thinking miche and morgs). Then Sandy took us to Green Market Square, which is a huge craft market. Our entire group loved it and bought many things. We have some professional bargainers among us. Everything is really cheap too because it is in Rands and the cost of living is much lower. The booth owners were very friendly and helped our group out a lot. We walked to the Malay district where the Muslim population lives. The houses were each a different color. We took many pictures and headed back. After taking the train back to Stellenbosch some of the group went to a gourmet pizza place. It was like CPK but BETTER. At night we talked to our host family and had roommate bonding time! Lizzie and Kayla are great and I’m glad we are placed together :)

3-20-2012

           We get picked up for school everyday at 7:10. Pulling into school we were all nervous. First we went to the teachers daily meeting.  Then a teacher assigned us to classrooms. I am with a second grade class. The school and the classroom management techniques are way different then it is here. The kids were so excited to have more teachers in the room. The entire morning all I heard was TEACHER! TEACHER! It was exciting to work with new students. It will be hard to learn and remember all of their names. We had an assembly today, which was a marching band with steel drums. It was awesome and they played popular American songs. After school we debriefed at Sandy’s place. After we walked to town and had gelato. It was delicious! We found an internet café aswell.

Then we walked back and tried to play uno with Andre, Paul, Nicolea, and Neil. Our host mom had us a delicious pasta dish for dinner and they we headed out. Everyone walked to town together to celebrate Lizzie’s birthday! We went to cabana for a while and it was a cool experience. We also made a deal with the girls who have internet here and was able to get wifi in our house. With the time change it is hard to talk to people back home but I loved being able to facebook chat/email with some of my besties. I miss them so much already. Tomorrow we are heading into Cape Town because it is a human rights public holiday. 

3-19-2012

I started off the day meeting the boys of my host family. Daniel is 12, Paul is 8, Andre is 5, and Neil is 3. Nicola and Liesel got two baby cats this morning. Both are almost 6 weeks old. The boys are outgoing and LOVE to climb. They showed us how they climb trees and on the roof of the house within the first half hour of meeting them. Neil doesn’t speak very much English yet but he can understand what we are saying. This morning we also visited four different schools. I will be teaching at AF louw starting tomorrow. Went we went to the school today the kids were so welcoming. Hugs and Smiles were instant. It was an amazing thing to have tons of students run right up to you the second you open the door of the van. All of the students loved posing for pictures.

   After the school tours we walked to town for lunch. We ate at a fantastic pizza place. Then we raided the ATM to take out Rands. Then we returned to our houses for a couple of hours. Lizzie, Kayla, and I had tea with Liesel and the kids. We learned a lot about their lifestyle. We also found out that two girls are living in the apartment behind ours and teaching in the high school. We begged them to share their Internet with us so hopefully we can get some wifi tomorrow.  For dinner all of the people on the trip as well as our host families met for dinner. It was like a potluck and everybody brought something. It was fun to meet everyone. Now we are exhausted and experiencing jet lag. 

First Hug

The school I am at

Plane Ride!

Sunset on the plane

Saturday morning Danielle and Kristen drove me to the airport in Grand Rapids. On the way we stopped at Panera with our best friends. The eleven of us had a great last breakfast and then headed to the airport. I am so lucky to have had my friends there to see me off since by family couldn’t make it. It was hard saying goodbye and many tears were shed. All 18 people on my trip had on our South Africa shirts. We attracted so much attention in the airport and everyone was curious as to what we were doing in Africa. We boarded our first flight from Grand Rapids to Detroit. After we settled onto the plane there was a mechanical problem, so we had to move to a later flight. It cut down our layover time in Detroit. The flight to Amsterdam seemed to take forever because no one got any sleep. It was nice to have tv screens though. I watched two movies. They provided a good dinner, which included pasta, salad, a roll, and cheese and crackers. There was also a small breakfast, which I didn’t like. The trip from Amsterdam to Stellenbosch went well. It was much more comfortable and everyone on our trip slept between 4-7 hours. They provided a ton of food and even ice cream. There was a beautiful sunset on the plane! Once we landed in Cape Town, we went through customs. The officers were very friendly. We then met David Taylor, who is our South African Coordinator. We loaded vans and then drove for 45 mins to our host families. Lizzie, Kayla, and I met only Liesel, the mom because it was 1am and the kids were sleeping. We are staying in a little apartment in the back of the house. It is cozy with our own small kitchen and bathroom. 

2 Days to go!

Only two days until departure!

So many good thing have been happening but I have had no time to write about it!
Today my class threw me a surprise going away party! I was in shock when they brought out a huge cake! The entire class drew me pictures and wrote me letters (picture below). The love was overwhelming. It will be sad to say goodbye tomorrow.

Tomorrow we are writing letters to my students in South Africa and my sister's class has already completed their letters. All of the students are excited to write to people who live across the world. 

Tonight was the last meeting before South Africa! We all camped out in the Eberhard parking lot for a while and packed our donations bag. It was an exciting time and we are so lucky to be able to bring so much with us. Our group is totally 950 pounds of school supplies, games, books, and activities!

In my bag: 

12 notebooks

2 packs of lined paper

6 bubble wands

3 boxes of sidewalk chalk

2 jump ropes

2 packs of erasers

3 beach balls

2 frisbees

13 boxes of crayons

3 packs of markers

2 packs of colored pencils

35 children's books

52 highlighters

10 expo markers

2 boxes of binder clips

30 bookmarks

715 stickers

18 mini staplers

11 three ring hole punchers

We have received our host family assignments. Kayla, Lizzie, and I are staying with the Roos family. The father has worked on two famous wine estates and is now studying theology. The mother is an occupational therapist. There are five children between 4 and 12 years old! All of the children love swimming and seem very talented and motivated.

I cannot wait to meet them all and get this adventure underway! 

4th week update!

There was a lot of firsts in my class this week! 

-I am now officially the person who goes over the seatwork in the morning with the students. The seat work is math problems, which I am thankful for because those are my speciality ;) The kids seem to respect me while I am going over the answers and the students always volunteer. I am also getting better at breaking down the questions to help the students understand.  

-I was given an advance reading group to work with everyday this week. The teachers edition had a layout of questions to ask but I was the one to faciliate the discussion. The group went well and the kids are very smart, but there were many behavior problems that I had to address such as taking away pencils and moving seats. I will also being teaching my first ITIP lesson to this group Feb 13th. I told the students that my coordinator was coming and they got really excited. Hopefully they will listen better on that day :) 

-I went on my first field trip as a teacher. In the morning my teacher let me create the groups for the field trip. It was harder than I thought it was going to be because I was trying to avoid all of the potential behavior problems. We went to Fredrick Meijer Gardens. The bus ride was interesting to say the least. The kids were bouncing off the walls. When we arrived the students were split into groups and I was with a group of 12 students. The doscent shows us around and it was awesome. I also filled out the comment form that the teacher completes at the end of the trip. I felt like I had a lot of responsibility like a real teacher!

-I taught my first whole group lesson today. Mrs. Baxter gave me the lesson plan yesterday so I had time to prepare. The lesson was relating their past poetry experience to a rap. After rapping to the class an example and pointing out the writing features of a rap, we started to create our own as a class. I gave the idea that we should write it about our field trip and the students agreed. They were all engaged in the lesson which is hard to come by with this set of students. We started sharing ideas and will continue on monday. It was a really fun experience. I will post the rap on here once it is complete.

-I also stayed 3 full days instead of one to complete my observations. I observed a 2nd grade classroom with a younger teacher and a fifth grade classroom with a more experienced one. I loved them! I was there for a classroom meeting with the fifth graders and I learned a lot about management plans. 

Overall, it was a great week! 

Winter Semester Craziness

I have now been with my 4th graders for 2 weeks. It has been interesting to say the least. I am so glad that I have the opportunity to see what public school is like in an inner city. My class is made up of 26 students. 5 of the students receive special education services and 4 others have behavior issues and contracts. The kids are all sweethearts but I have seen what a handful they can be. My teacher has had many subs in the past two weeks and as soon as the sub walks in the class gets rowdy. I am learning many discipline techniques which is definitely a good thing. I mostly walk around and help the students with their work during the day and sometimes I will read aloud to the class or help the teacher Mrs. Baxter get organized. (since I am awesome at it). OOOO and I also grade papers and tests which I love! I am starting to really get to know the students and they are starting to feel more comfortable with me around. This monday is my first observation. My field coordinator will be observing me interacting informally with students. I will have two more observations in February/March and I will be teaching lessons then.

8 Weeks from today I will be on my way to AFRICA!
It is starting to be come more real but I try not to think about it since I have EXTREME amounts of work to get done before then. My teachers have been very accommodating with assignments and due dates since I will be missing the last 5 weeks of classes but it is overwhelming. I am thankful that I have other students going to south africa in my classes with me because we are going through this process together. It is awesome because we are starting to get to know each other better. At our weekly meeting we did a icebreaker activity. We also talked about getting a gift for our host family and writing introduction letters to both our host family and the teacher that we will be working with there. It seems like everyday Kelly, Laura, or I think of something new to take or remember about Africa. The group has already started to make plans for the layover in detroit :) and coordinate the games that we will bring to keep us entertained. The date is also set for our going away party! There is so much to look forward to!
Last thing, I have had a wonderful weekend spending lots of time with my friends and I will miss them terribly while in south africa :/