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!