Instead of writing up everyday of this week I decided I would write down the highlights and then tell you about my weekend. This week went so fast: I remember I was watching the grade eights performing Zulu songs in their Arts and Culture lesson on Monday period one and then suddenly I was shouting at them on Friday period five. I really feel settled into life here now even though everyday brings new challenges, especially with the teaching. I can't imagine not getting up at six and being surrounded by a net, washing with no running water and then listening to the awful music in the car on the way to school and then the beautiful sounds of the teacher's voices as they start the morning meeting with a song.
School has been great this week and I am really enjoying teaching the grade 9's especially the 9A's. I didn't like them at the start and now they are my favourite class! They respect me and do their work and I know all their names so we can have a laugh. This week we did all about the past tense and it's the sort of thing I didn't really like doing at school so I hope I taught it well. If I ever have to say 'past participle' again I might go mad! The grade eights on the other hand are a complete nightmare and I have had enough of them. Most of them want to work and do well but unfortunately the class is so big that they get distracted by just a few who ruin it. They have been spoken to by another teacher about their behaviour so maybe I will see some changes next week but I'm feeling doubtful- I'm glad they are not my only class! Katie has them everyday...I don't know how she does it! I am getting to know them though and secretly know they like me...hmm, maybe.
I have seen so much of the traditional Zulu singing and dancing this week- it seems every grade was out in the playground at some point practising and I love just sitting and observing- they get so into it and some of the girls are really good singers. As for the boys, they get so into the dancing which is hilarious! One of the grade twelve's asked me to come up and join them but I politely declined as I just wanted to watch but maybe next week I will give it a go!
I have started tutoring a girl called Thando in grade four who cannot read and also needs help with her maths. I take her for English once and maths three times a week. She is very quiet and shy but is learning quickly- this week we went through how to spell the numbers one to twenty so she can recognise them if they are written in maths. I'm really pleased with her progress and I enjoy the one to one after having classes of thirty plus normally.
I have a little project of my own...the walls in the high school classrooms are completely bare and I think this is so wrong. I asked Bongi, our mentor, about it and she said that they are supposed to have stuff on the wall but they just don't have the funding for it. I teach in two classrooms: G2 and G3 and my mission is to get the huge boards at the back covered in the students work. So far I have managed to get two of my classes to produce colourful posters and Bongi also found some old posters that I can use the back of because they are just white. I bought some coloured paper in Pep which was SO cheap but my only problem is that I desperately need drawing pins and more blue tac! The office did not get any supplies this year so I have put in a request for drawing pins as I can't find them anywhere! It's so frustrating when you don't have access to these simple things!
Home life has been fairly normal but lots of fun as always. It is great finishing school at half two because we have so much free time to do the things we need to at home such as washing as it's still sunny outside for it to dry. On Monday I cooked dinner- sausage, mash and vegetables- all by myself which I consider a huge achievement because we didn't die! I also booked my flights to Cape Town at Easter which was exciting. We are STILL suffering with bed bugs so my feet look horrible all covered in bites but I think maybe they are starting to disappear as we are having less bites than before. Rose is being a babe as usual making us laugh all the time and on Wednesday we helped her take her braids out because it had taken her the whole evening which was quite fun but also really fiddly. I often find myself looking at a student and thinking “you look different” and I realise that they've changed their braids or taken them out or shaved them off- they have different hair every day! We have watched a few movies on the laptop this week to fill the evenings including “Trainspotting”, “Memoirs of a Geisha” and tonight “Slumdog Millionaire”. We also had pancakes for dinner one evening as Rose likes them now we have introduced them to her! Where there has been no rain for ages, all of our water tanks except the one behind the far house ran dry which was a bit worrying when they had nearly run out of water in Spar too! Luckily the rains came this weekend...
This weekend we were back to Manguzi for a low cost quiet weekend and we got a lift with another teacher, Londiwe. She drove us near to where she stays at her sisters which is about twenty minutes taxi ride from Manguzi. We had a nice chat in the car with her and she has offered to take us to Sodwana bay with her one weekend. We got a taxi straight away and this was our first experience of one. The taxis here are not like the one's at home. They are basically mini buses that wait to fill up before they leave and pick people up and drop them off along the way. There was hardly anyone in the taxi and it only cost us 13 rand each- less than £1.30! It's so cheap to travel here. We met Patrick, did our shop at Spar then went back to his, cracked open the drinks and started the braii- can you tell we are getting into a bit of a routine? That night there was a horrendous storm- I could not sleep for about two hours because the rain and the thunder were SO loud and there was constant flashing from the lightning which lit up the whole room! On Saturday, it was cloudy but still warm and we called up the guy with the bukkie and he took us to the Kosi mouth. He dropped us at the lodge, we bought our permits and began the walk down. I actually enjoyed the walk this time because it wasn't too hot and we knew the way. When we got to the mouth we found a place to settle under a big palm tree and just chilled for a few hours before walking up to the actual mouth. This is where the water from the four lakes across the whole area goes out to sea so there is a fairly strong current. We let ourselves go into the current (it was very shallow) and be taken along until we could reach the sand again and before we went out of the mouth. SO MUCH FUN. There were quite a few people around this time which was nice as we got chatting to a South African couple about our travels and found out they were building a school for the poor in this area. I also got quite sunburnt despite factor 50 :/ On the walk back I saw a really cool crab- it was black but with bright red pincers. I imagined it to be Mexican with red maracas because I'm a bit sad like that. We stopped at the lodge, and Ken the owner let us use his pool and we waited for the bukkie man who had fortunately put the cover on. It poured it down with rain so much that the driver could barely see out the windscreen- it was actually a bit scary at times! There were loads of drips so we still got a bit wet but we would have been like drowned rats without the cover. The storm caused a power cut and the house is quite dark anyway so we lit candles. There is an outside shelter where we could braii but where the wood was so wet it was incredibly smoky so our clothes smell lovely now! We bought some sweet potatoes this week and also toasted marshmallows which was fun! We stayed up quite late just chatting and it was too hot to sleep.
This morning we had to wait half an hour for the taxi to fill up and I got really squashed in the back. It took us an hour to get to Bhambanana and then another half an hours wait there before we left for Ingwavuma which took half an hour. 60 rand for the whole journey- so so cheap and we had no issues with the taxi. It actually felt really good afterwards to have travelled by ourselves. We were back at lunchtime and today has been really chilled, just doing our washing, watching a movie with Rose, experiencing another power cut so lighting candles and cooking our dinner on a gas stove and toasting marshmallows over candles! Luckily the electricity is now back but it was really fun in the dark. We now have our own water tank just behind our house which is amazing as we don't have to walk as far! Thank you Mr Groundsman.
Next week is full of plans. On Tuesday the grade twelve's are raising money for their year as it's is Valentines Day so they are selling food and wearing their own clothes and the teachers wear the school uniform. We are borrowing some from two grade twelve girls. I think it will be a fantastic day. On Wednesday night, Katie and I are hosting an English evening for our house mates and anyone who wants to come and are cooking an English dinner but I'm not sure what yet- maybe a roast if we can use the oven in the house next door. Next weekend we are hopefully going to the elephant park as we now have a car to use! As for my students, I'm giving them all tests... not such a good week for them! My aim for the week is to get the boards in the classrooms started and to come up with a way to deal with the grade eights.
Random facts:
-I haven't worn make up since we got here, yet I used to wear it everyday.
-I've been in a hot country for five weeks and no, I don't really have a tan (for those that keep asking!). I do have some colour though, especially on my face.
-I enjoy simple living. Not having running water is sometimes a slight issue, but when we have it at the weekends I realise that it's not such a big deal. It's teaching me a lot to live like this.
-There is no one else that I miss more than my Mum and it's really weird not seeing her everyday.
-I literally have no idea what is going on in the world except that it's snowing in some parts of England.
- I am starting to actually seriously think about what I want to do with my life after uni after putting it off for so long.
With my boy, Sibongilile.
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