Sunny Days...

Monday 30th January:
People will be saying at home “I can't believe it's nearly February” but I'm still thinking “How is it January or even February when it is summer here!” I really can't get used to the idea but I'm loving this weather! I heard that it might be snowing back home. The pre- R's and grade one's launched an army onto me as they wanted to braid my hair and hold my hands and I found out from one of my 8's that they were saying “we have never seen anything like this before” which I think is a BIT of an exaggeration unless I really do look strange! This afternoon, I was teaching the grade 9's last and for the first time since I have been here I got a whole class to be quiet when they were doing their work for about ten minutes and even the rest of the time they were quite good. When it got to 2pm and we still had half an hour to go they complained to me “Miss the sun is too hot” and after asking them what they would like me to do about it I let them have a five minute break AND they came back on time- even the boys at the back! I couldn't believe how good they were. We got given our new timetables which includes helping out in lessons for those learner's (they call them learner's here) who are struggling in grades 4-7 for English, science and maths. Now we only have one free lesson a day so it's going to be so busy everyday! This way we won't get bored and also it will be nice to work with some of the younger one's with smaller groups. We stopped off at the shops on the way home and there was long queues outside spar which confused us but then we realised that the people were giving in their welfare slips that give them money. We got stuck behind a drunk in the queue for the till, as always.

Tuesday 31st:
So here is the end of the month and after what I said about the weather yesterday it decided to rain this morning. However, the day turned into a beautiful hot and sunny one and again I wish I hadn't of worn jeans to school! This morning the high school had a talk which was supposed to be about twenty minutes and I was teaching the grade eights who finally came back with about twenty minutes of the lesson left! I was actually quite happy about this because I really didn't feel like teaching a group of forty five first thing this morning. Their behaviour was shockingly bad! I set them a simple task that they could finish for homework and with the exception of the usual few who always do the work, the rest would not sit down, stop chatting, stay in their places and then most of the class ran out at the end of the lesson. I asked TB who lives in the house next to us to have a word with them as he is their class teacher because both Katie and I are fed up with the way they treat us. So it was not much of a lesson! We are now helping out in the lower school with learner's who are struggling in English, science and maths. I seem to be with the grade fours a lot and I asked Bongi who their maths teacher was and then she asked me if I could please take that class because the teacher was away! Katie was also free so we took it together and the grade fours are so cute and such a nice change from our stroppy teenagers! They had to do their times-tables in a race and some of them worked so hard to get it right. I can't believe how tiny some of them are! They begged us for stickers when they got the work right which was funny and I'm looking forward to getting to know them. My 9b's last lesson were good as usual and I'm starting to learn their names. We did a shop on the way home and it was so hot outside it made me really tired. We met a guy in Spar who works at 'Fancy Stitch' and he recognised us as the 'gaps' straight away- it was great to be recognised as real people! This evening I have been marking books and watching generations with the girls. Also collecting a lot of water and explaining to TB the English money and showing him the currency I still have in my purse!

Wednesday 1st:
We have been at our placement for three weeks now and I truly can't believe it's only been that amount of time- it feels like so much longer! So much has happened and yet we are still only at the beginning and settling in. On Saturday we would have been in South Africa for a whole month! It was extremely hot today from when we woke up and I had had a restless night. I think I have bed bugs because I wake up every morning with new bites on my feet...it's always something here!! I gave both my classes today sheet work and I felt a little bit guilty because I haven't done much teaching this week but they really work hard at the texts and we usually read them through together first. I'm starting to like both my grade 9 classes, I just cannot be bothered with those grade 8's any more! I now know 9 names in my 9A class- this is such an achievement! The most common surnames here are 'Mngomezulu' and 'Gumede'.One of the grade twelve's has asked us if we can help with the school newspaper as they don't have access to a computer or printing so we happily agreed to type anything up for them. We walked home early after lunch and the high school students were walking that way to the sports grounds in Ingwavuma so it made the walk less tiring as we chatted to them. We bought more internet time at Spar and then just chilled with our house mates in the afternoon in the living room reading our books. It was too hot to do anything! I helped Katie mark her grade 8 maths books this evening and we stayed up quite late putting our classes names on spreadsheets so we can track their progress.

Thursday 2nd:
Today was such a good day!!! I went to bed feeling so happy- something I haven't felt in a long time. I kept in the boys at the back of my grade eight class for ruining my lessons for fifteen minutes at lunch and had a 'chat' with them about wasting their education and saying how smart they were but they were choosing not to use their talents and all that and I tried not to laugh as I heard myself saying these things but it really worked! They said they were sorry and asked if they could sit at the front from now on. I was shocked to discover that none of them are retakers- they are in the right year but we thought they were older. In my 9A class I learnt everyone's name (I can only remember if they sit in the same place!) and they cheered me on which was funny. I'm happy that I'm finally getting to know my students. The lower school were outside preparing for their athletics day tomorrow and in the afternoon the teacher's gave them a really long break so it was a bit of a different day – it felt like being back at school on one of the last days of term when it's really chilled. This evening has been spent marking half of my grade 8 books, washing up and a bit of washing- it's surprising how much more motivated I felt after having a good day! We had spaghetti bolognase for dinner. I felt this needed to be included. Happy Days!

Friday 3rd:
It was extremely hot when we woke up- it reached 30 degrees today! Katie taught first lesson then walked up to one of the high schools where the lower school were having their athletics day. I wanted to go but I had to carry on marking my grade 8 books and then had to teach lesson four and five. The 8's were ok but annoying as they kept questioning my marking- we have set up spread sheets for all our students to mark their progress so it's easier for us to see who needs more help. In their books I had written: what they are doing well, their targets, a number out of 5 for effort and a number out of five for their level of english. It's a similar system to back at home and I think it is going to work well. The boys even sat at the front and most of them are trying hard not to chat! I asked the principal if I could take the week off before Easter (we are allowed to negotiate holidays because we are volunteers) to go to Cape Town to see my friend Sonia who has that week off from uni and he said yes!! I was so happy! We got a lift to Manguzi with Mr Mkonto but had to pay petrol this time but it's so much better than having to get taxi's! One of Patrick's neighbours lent us their braii and we bought some wors (like sausage) and burgers at spar and some drinks and had an awesome braii in the sunset :) We watched a few movies and then tried to sleep but it was ridiculously hot!

Saturday 4th:
This morning we were going on a boat tour to see hippo's at the Kosi Lakes- I was too excited! We got a lift to Thobeka backpackers and met our guide there- Steven- and a Dutch couple who were also going on the tour. We sat in the back of his land rover and it has to be the most uncomfortable journey I've ever endured! The weirdest feeling was sitting in a car full of white people- it sounds so odd but I have become so used to hearing black Africans chatting away in Zulu and being the only whites that for a moment it was totally weird to be talking in English all the time! So hard to explain! When we got there it was just as beautiful as I remembered and we met four more people also going on the tour- a couple of Afrikaans guys biking around Africa and an older South African couple on holiday. The boat fortunately had shade and we set off round three of the lakes to spot some hippo's and also some beautiful birds! There are four lakes in the system but boats are not allowed in the fourth one as it has so many hippo's and crocs. The first sighting of a hippo was a mother and her baby and I was just so happy to be seeing these amazing creatures in a natural habitat- not like the one's at Longleat! They are so fascinating to look at and when they both popped their heads up it looked so good! We moved on and did a bit of snorkelling around the man made fish traps where the locals who still live in the reserve catch their fish and it was so peaceful swimming through the hot water and watching all these pale coloured fish waiting by the sticks- it looked like they were all waiting for something to happen! During the tour we saw a lone bull hippo but we couldn't go too close because they get quite angry and he stayed under the water the whole time. We then saw three together which was pretty special and we got quite close. A truly amazing experience! We did a bit more snorkelling and on the way back I chatted to the older couple about the country and places we could go and they were lovely. We got back to the backpackers in the evening (we spend a lot of time there just chilling) where there is a pool and a bar in a hut sort of thing- I'll try put a picture up! Then we headed home and still having the meat from yesterday we had another braii- although it took longer to build the fire this time because it had rained so much the night before so the wood was damp. An awesome day!

Sunday 5th:
Today we were not sure what to do but decided on planning our easter holidays which we are SO excited about! I am going to Cape Town the week before Easter and then meeting the other two in Durban where we are hiring a car for fifteen days. We researched hostels in durban and then in the Drakensburg (mountains) where we will spend about a week. It was really exciting to be planning! We are hoping to spend some time in Mozambique the second week as we are so close to the border. I can't wait! Afterwards, we walked into Manguzi and got a few bits from spar and some lunch and then just chilled back at the house chatting about what to do in the weekend between now and Easter. We are trying to have a few low budget weekends as we seem to go through our money so fast- I'm scared I'm going to run out after Easter! We got picked up at half three and the drive back was beautiful- today was the first time I appreciated the scenery that surrounds us, it is just incredible in these mountains. I saw cows drinking from watering holes and small children pushing tires along the road- so South Africa! Tonight we are just back at home with Rose and her husband has come to visit which is nice as we rarely have visitors. I have had such a good week and it's just made up for all the rubbish I was feeling a week ago. Although I do still miss my Mum! Hope everyone's alright and not feeling too cold ;) xx

"Issy like Sunday Morning"

This week I decided to write something everyday instead of trying to remember everything at the end of the week. It's been a fairly emotional yet uneventful week and I've found things pretty hard but I'm hoping for a better week with lots to look forward to! The title of this post is something our housemate says to me everyday- they pronounce my name like the word 'easy'. Not sure it's a great saying I want to be known by!

Monday 23rd January:
So after a busy weekend in Manguzi, we were pretty tired. We got up at six as we usually get a lift to school with the principle who likes to be early. However, now we are going with Nhlanhla, our house mate so now we can wake up a little bit later because he doesn't leave until about twenty past seven- yay! I didn't have a lesson until last so I slept in the staffroom on the desk in the morning (this is becoming a bad habit) and the grade 9a's were being annoying as usual so I wrote down their names to give to Nhlanhla because they are scared of him. I was not feeling too great when we came home and the heat doesn't help too. However, I cooked dinner for the first time all by myself! It was a bit of a disaster but edible so I guess that's all that matters! I felt quite proud of myself haha. Katie did most of our washing as we couldn't do it over the weekend and it takes a long time where everything has to be hand washed. I was happy to be going to bed!

Tuesday 24th:
Today I felt so so tired and a bit under the weather but as soon as I got to school and did some photocopying and got myself organised for my lessons, I felt a bit better. I had the grade 8's in the morning who were being quite good and then Katie and I went to do our shopping at Spar as we did not have lessons until the end of the day. We discovered the post office which is fairly near to us and also the prison! We wanted to get some postcards but could not see any so came back home to discover later that we have to ask for them at the desk! I thought that was a little bit strange because then how can you take time to choose which ones you want when there's a huge queue of people who want to do their post! We had lunch at home, rested and then walked back to school. I don't mind walking to school because it is all downhill. We met some elderly ladies and one kept talking to me in Zulu and repeating it more clearly so I might understand her! She just laughed at us and on she went! At school I saw a teacher slap a child on the head- we know it happens here but I didn't believe it until I actually saw it. It made me feel angry- what did that small child do so wrong to be hit like that? It probably didn't hurt that much but just seeing it was a bit of a shock! The 9b's were great in the afternoon- they wrote their own play scripts in pairs whilst I marked the grade 8 books. We got a lift home with Mr Boreki who lives in the house next to us and stopped at the shops. I'm not joking- ALL the teachers from the school were at the shops! We kept seeing them and it was quite funny.

Wednesday 25th:
I was feeling a bit better today after a good nights sleep and my 9a's were actually quite good for once! (Probably because they had got told off for being so horrible last lesson!) On Wednesday it is assembly day so we made our way up to the high school where the boys and girls in each grade stand in separate lines. They have to sing and this girl just started singing by herself and they all repeat her. I thought she was so brave for being able to do that. The girls here are very loving towards each other- they have always got their hands round each others waists and are just very touchy feely compared to what we were like at school in England. In lesson 4, I watched the 9b's perform their play scripts they had written yesterday and some were actually very funny and based on true stories. I awarded a first, second and third place to three pairs who I thought were the best so I am giving them sweets as prizes tomorrow. Due to having no more lessons in the afternoon, Katie and I walked home and I finished off the washing and she planned her lessons for the rest of the week- I really need to plan mine too! I am missing my Mum today.

Thursday 26th:
Last night we went to bed at 8.30pm- we were so tired! My grade 9a's had fifteen minutes to finish writing their play scripts from yesterday's lesson and I discovered that some groups had not even started which was so frustrating as I gave them so much time and they wasted it. However, they managed to put some good idea's together and I found myself watching some students who are hilarious actors/actresses. I awarded my first prize to the girls who did a scene on a group of girls who were bad students and frequently got told off by their teacher (hmm) and one good student who was praising God so they made fun of her and told her they were going clubbing. She told them that they were going to get pregnant. The girls walked back through the classroom door and one had put a jumper up her shirt and I laughed so much- more for the serious expression on her face than her unconvincing bump! The class were in hysterics too which was so lovely to hear. One group of boys asked me if they could sing some Zulu in theirs which I said yes to because I thought it was part of the scene...it turns out that just two of the four boys (they are the ones that cause trouble every lesson) got up to the front and danced around a table for a minute singing in Zulu. I was SO not happy. They had had so much time and not even a hint of a script so they are being dealt with by another teacher who they are scared of. It was such an insult to all the other groups who had worked quite hard at the play script. My class of 45 that is the grade 8's learnt about debates today and we wrote down the for and against for “should it be compulsory to wear school uniform” and I split the class into two rows being against the motion and two rows being for it. It took some of them a long time to understand what to do and some of the boys kept getting up and walking round- I sent one of them out to the principals office in the end because I refuse to get angry with them. It made the others think. The best thing about the grade 8's is that they are still willing to do the work for a sticker in their book! Today we asked Bongi, our mentor here, if we could get involved in the lower school if any students needed one to one tutoring and she loved the idea as the classes are often huge so the ones that struggle do not get the attention they need. So hopefully we will being doing that in our frees as it gets quite boring as we are only teaching two lessons a day and it makes us feel even more tired. After school, the principals daughter Lulu came round to us and loved experimenting with all our products on the desk- she had no idea they were anti-mozzy sprays and anti- back gel but she had a great time anyway! I am so pleased it's Friday tomorrow!

Friday 27th:
My bath this morning was so amazing- I really appreciate feeling so clean! The weather was beautiful today- hot and sunny with a nice breeze. The worst thing about Friday's, even though they finish an hour early is that I teach lesson four and five whereas Katie finishes after lesson one. Where I had already planned my lessons I didn't have much to do in the morning so just read my book that my sister got me for Christmas- 'The Red Tent'- I would recommend it to anyone. My 9b's were great as usual and even the grade eights were much better last lesson than last week. We went home and to the post office to get envelopes and I wrote some letters home to my grandparents and a few others. We met Patrick at the shops as he was staying with us this weekend, did some shopping and walked home. He used the public taxi's to get here from Manguzi which was 70 rand (about £7) which we thought was quite good for the distance. We just chatted over dinner and went to bed so early as we were shattered from the week.

Saturday 28th:
Today I woke up feeling sad because I knew my lovely cake shop where I used to work on a Saturday for over three years at home would be having its last day. The weather was beautiful again and we showed Patrick the school and posted our letters home. Showing Patrick around Ingwavuma just made me realise how little there is here to do or even just show. We got invited by some teachers to a football match at another schools sports grounds further up the road and we watched the teachers from all the schools in Ingwavuma play the doctors and then the police. There was also some younger girls playing netball in the courts and they were really good. A stupid drunk man ruined my day though by refusing to let me pass until I had given him a phone number. It was really scary at one point as I thought he was going to get angry. In the afternoon I just broke down because I haven't been feeling very happy here this week and very homesick. I rang my mum in tears but it is so frustrating because it is so expensive so we can't chat for very long before one of our phone's credit runs out. I really miss her, it's so hard not seeing her everyday, especially when nothing seems to be going right. I felt a little better when us three sat up just chatting about our schools and home lives. We are going to bed past eleven pm- the latest since we have been here!

Sunday 29th:
Today I was feeling much the same as yesterday and we walked back down to the shops so Patrick could get his taxi home. I spoke to Rose and Mienky because they could see I was upset and they knew where I was coming from as they have to leave their homes and families in the cities to be here for most of the year where people used to think they were foreign just because they were speaking a different South African language. They agreed that there is nothing to do here but they are taking us to 'Fancy Stitch' after school tomorrow which is a tearooms with an art gallery (this confuses me) just up the road from where we live. There are also volunteers there from other parts of the country so hopefully we will make some more friends. I think a combination of being fed up of being treated like aliens or objects men want to marry and homesickness has just really got to me this week. Mienky brought me round some magazines, then I had a long phone call with a friend in Cape Town which helped so much and then Katie and I started to plan our Easter holidays which is really exciting- only eight weeks to go! They don't have half term here which is annoying. We are going back to Manguzi next weekend (there is no way we can stay here again!) and are going to Tembe Elephant Park which will be amazing! Now for another week at school...hopefully we will helping in the middle school this week too so we wont be so bored! Missing everyone LOADS and even just England itself where everything is familiar. Xxx

Settling into life in Ingwavuma....

We have been living in Ingwavuma for almost two weeks now but sometimes it feels much longer than that! I think I should start with our first full week at school.

School life:
On Monday morning we received our timetables which was quite exciting because it meant that we were going to be some actual use at the school! I am teaching English to three classes a week for three hours each. My first lesson was on Monday afternoon with the grade 9a's and it was an hour and a half. I felt fairly confident until Katie came back from her first lesson with the grade 8's (she teaches them maths and science) and then I started to get nervous. It felt really daunting knowing that I was only about four or five years older than these children, even know they don't know that! I started by telling them a little bit about myself and we did a brainstorm of England...they tended to know the football players and that was it! Then we did an exercise from the textbook on a newspaper article and it slowly went downhill from there. They just chatted away and some of them have such an attitude. By the end of the lesson I felt like I wanted to cry and that evening I never wanted to teach again.
However, as the week progressed and I discovered that I had started off with a class with a bad reputation and the others were a lot better, it became easier and started to become more enjoyable. The 9b's are my favourite class so far- they ask questions, do their work and generally listen. The grade 8's are hard work because there is 45 of them which proves a little difficult sometimes when you need them all to be quiet. They are quite sweet though (except for Friday afternoon last lesson!) and want to do well. The standard of English is actually very good- it is one of the only schools in the area which teaches in English all the time and it is good for them to be taught by us because they can't say anything to us in Zulu, so it is improving their English just by communicating with us. We are slowly learning more Zulu though and trying to learn words with clicks in them! The staffroom, where we spend our free lessons, is in the primary school so I have befriended a few of the little Grade one's who all want to hold my hand and tell me their names. There is a little girl called Jobi in Grade two, who has bought my artificial flowers two days in a row. She wraps them up like they are a in a bouquet and then again like a present. The first one had a note in it saying “I love you, from Jobi”. It's very sweet and I'm not sure why she has taken such a liking to me but they have been great for decorating our room with!
So, what I have learnt from teaching so far is: do everything one step at a time; walk around the room so the students know I'm watching them; get them all to answer questions and not just the usual ones; getting them up at the front to act out role plays works really well and never give in to boys who want to go to the toilet when there is only five minutes to go! Oh, and always prepare enough to do! I'm finding the lack of help and support quite difficult at times because no one else is teaching English except the principal who is always busy. I do have a head of department who is supposed to teach English but for reasons I won't say, he is absolutely no use to anyone!! It gets a little frustrating at times. I have had a few moments which have shocked me- reading students stories about celebrations and reading things like “when my mum was alive” and “they gave the little children alcohol” and also some funny moments such as when I had to ask a very sweet girl what she meant by “We all went to the bitch and it was such a great bitch” and she meant beach! It's things like that I'm going to remember!

Home life:
Another teacher, Nhlanhla, moved into our house last week and he is lovely although I struggle to pronounce his name! We have moved into his old room because it has so much more space than our tiny one and more storage. We had a bit of an issue with lizards coming in though! I'm so glad we have mosquito nets! Not much else has happened at home really...we spend our evenings planning lessons, watching our favourite soapie “Generations” with Rose and cooking dinner. Last week it rained so much which got really annoying because we never knew what to wear as the weather became quite unpredictable. We have had to go to spar quite a few times to get odd things and I'm kind of learning to cook! We continue to make new friends in the street on the way to the shops or the school as people are so friendly! Other times we want to scream because people will stare and stare. We are adapting to the culture better now though :)

Our weekend in Kosi Bay!!
Ok, now to tell you about our weekend. I felt shattered after a horrible last lesson on Friday afternoon and so we were glad to be getting away! We went straight from school with Mr Mokonto to Manguzi. He lives there at the weekend with his family so he offered us a lift down there and back which was really kind as we didn't have to pay. After all the rain, Manguzi was quite hot and sunny when we got there which we were pleased about. We met Patrick (who is volunteering there) at KFC and walked back to his house. Manguzi has a lot more shops and is a proper town- it was nice to walk on a pavement! People blare music from their shops and there is a colourful market. It was a short walk to his house, which is opposite a Methodist church and he shares his house with another teacher, Nonto, and her young son Thapelo who is cute but really loud! Once we put our stuff in our room we walked into town and ate at this pizza place then went back to the house and watched the Lion King, Jungle Book and Anchor Man on his laptop and played with Thapelo. It was good to be back to some kind of normality!
On Saturday, the plan was to borrow Nonto's car and drive to the beach, however she still needed it so she arranged for her friend to take us in his Bukkie for 200 rand (about £20 between the three of us). We were a bit wary because this meant we were sitting on the back of his truck in the open air like we have seen so many people do around here. He was actually a very safe driver and it felt like we were having a real African experience! Although I can tell you that wearing a bikini top is definitely not enough support on the roads that are full of potholes! The trick is to not get hit by massive flying bugs like Katie did, because it actually really hurts! He took us to this backpackers lodge first that Patrick knows and we hired snorkels from the owner, Sylvia, who is lovely and she invited us over for a braii in the evening but we were unable to make it because Nonto needed the car then. Then we got driven to the beach which is right next to the Mozambique border. We had to purchase a permit there to access the beach because it is a protected area. There is a lodge there too. Then we made our way down the long sandy road to the beach which took FOREVER. It was really hot but it was worth it when we got there. We had to cross this lagoon thing to get the coral reef and we had to hold our bags above our heads because it got quite deep but there was no current. Luckily Patrick is very tall so he could carry the bag with important things in!! Kosi Bay is definitely the most beautiful place I have ever seen! I feel so lucky to have been there...
Learning to snorkel was hard and a bit scary to start with because you can't breath through your nose at all, you have to do it all with your mouth. It's almost like I was panting into the mouth piece but as long as you remember to keep to the same pattern it's fine. The water was not very deep and unfortunately the reef was destroyed a few years ago in a bad storm but there is still some life there. I saw a lion fish, some yellow and black striped fish, a huge orange fish, a multi coloured and an eel. It was really cool but a little scary at times. We bought some crocs in the 'Happy Supermarket' in Manguzi (it's actually really depressing in there) which was good because the reef is quite slippery and we didn't want to stand on any fish that might get angry! I'm glad I had the chance to do it. We didn't go to the part where there are waves because that's where the sharks live! There were a few others down there and we got chatting to a south African lady who was with a tour guide and they were staying at the lodge at the top of the beach. They were with an English family too. We spent the afternoon there and then started the journey back about three pm. The tide had come in so the two lagoons were harder to cross because they had got a bit deeper and there was a small current. At one point Patick was up to his neck and he had to carry the backpack so high above his head- I got a little bit panicky then but we soon got to the shallow bit. There was a little island with loads of cows on it for some reason! The walk back was SO hard- it was so steep and I was surprised at my own strength! We got back to the lodge and had a drink and a swim with the group staying there and got to know the English girl who now lives here permanently in Richards bay and she gave us her number just in case we ever needed a place to stay. That's what I love about the people here- you meet them once and they are so lovely. We got picked up in the bukkie, had dinner, then we watched another film and went to bed after an amazing but tiring day. I am really sunburnt on the top of my legs- it was so hard not to because we were constantly in and out of the water!
On Sunday morning we went to the backpackers lodge again mainly to use Sylvia's swimming pool because it was really hot. We bought drinks there from the hut next to the pool which was so cool and just sat in the pool chatting. We went home and had lunch and researched car hire company’s because we are thinking of doing that in the Easter holidays as the public transport here is really slow and maybe a little unreliable. We met Mr Mokonto and the weather got worse as we got closer to home but it wasn't raining. Rose was really pleased to have us home- she said she had been lonely and gave us a big hug and we sat down and had tea and chatted about our weekends. So all in all it was an amazing weekend! I did not want to go back to school today!

This weekend, Patrick is coming up to Ingwavuma to stay with us. We are really struggling with what to do whilst he is here because otherwise we would just do our washing- it takes a whole day! There is not a lot to do around here but I think we are going to show him the general area and the school. Now we are settling back into another week at school and keeping up with lesson planning. We have also joined the sports committee although they currently have no equipment to play with! I am also going to offer to help tidy up the library for Kenny the librarian because he has been so good to us and it is such a mess in there...they have barely enough books for the students! I feel so lucky to have had such a good, well resourced education and I will never take that for granted now I see what the students here do not have. I am thinking about home a lot but I am quite happy here now- there are ups and downs everyday but mostly I am just learning SO much. Love to all at home xxx

Our first weekend in Ingwavuma

s weekend we needed to be busy to be feeling happier. Bongi invited us to her house the other side of the school but we met at the shops and whilst waiting for her we made a friend who is a manager of the clothes shop 'Dunns'. It is very hard to know who to trust here so at the moment- “we don't have south African phone numbers yet” is our way out! We have been warned that we will get marriage proposals! The town of Ingwavuma is dusty and full of sheep and goats just wondering around the market stalls which are made of wood and look like they need a bit of tlc! The area is very Zulu and we have only seen one white person since we have been here which makes you very aware of being white because people just stare at you and some students at the school just shout “white person!” in Zulu out of the classroom windows at us. This was to be expected though, but I'm sure it will calm down soon as people get to know us and that we are staying here. However, most people are friendly and you have to greet pretty much everyone that you pass in the street. The only Zulu I know so far is “Sabona!” which is 'hello' and “unjani?” which means 'how are you?” because we have said them so many times! Some people do talk to us in English though and strangers will come up and shake your hand to introduce themselves which is actually really nice. Today we were greeted by a girl who said “Hello Miss Guess and Miss Donald” which is what we are called at school so she was obviously a Nansindlela student. It was really lovely to be recognised like that as it felt like we were part of the community.
So we spent Saturday morning at Bongi's house with her two year old boy Unati who is very cute and we talked about our problems and felt SO much better afterwards after learning a bit about the history of the school and the way it works. She found out for us that the high school timetable has been sorted and I am going to be teaching grade eight and nine English which I'm very pleased about but have not been able to prepare for because I don't have any of the books yet. When we returned home we did all of our washing which seemed to take up the whole day and then watched a film in Rose's room and chatted to Mienky about our homes. This morning we went to Bongi's church which was just such an experience! You could hear it from half way down the road it was so loud! It was mostly spoken in English with Zulu translation which is why we chose to go there so we could understand and because we knew Bongi. They made us stand up when they introduced us which was very embarrassing and they pronounced my name like “Icy” which I thought was quite funny. The choir sang for about an hour and it was just incredible listening to some of the young girls singing with the microphones- really emotional at times. People were singing along and dancing and clapping and waving their hands about- it was not like church in England at all! I really enjoyed the singing but the actual preaching was a bit scary at times! They have several pastors for that church but the 'Apostle' led most of it. His wife started by saying that if people were attending this church but had not bought the apostle's book then they were a disgrace! It was surreal- being in a place of worship and being shouted at for not buying a book! The service starts at 9 and finished at 12.30pm- luckily we went at 10 so it wasn't so long but the Apostle spent the service talking about the spirit being separate from the flesh and that we worship god with the spirit so the flesh is irrelevant. He shouted the whole time and then his Zulu translator did exactly the same afterwards- did I mention how loud it was! People cheer and shout “Hallelujah” and “Praise God” and get really excited when he is shouting the service. It was just mental but a great experience! For some of the service I got passed a sleeping baby which is what people seem to do- pass the baby around so the mother doesn't have to hold him the whole time. The children sit at the side and I noticed that some were even sleeping through the shouting. Towards the end some people of the other side started dancing and they quickly removed the chairs because they just dance around with their eyes closed not looking where they are going. It sort of turned into a mosh pit which was so weird and that's when Bongi asked us if we wanted to leave because it gets a bit much as people start throwing themselves on the floor and we said “yes please!”. I'm glad we experienced it though and luckily I’ve got some of the singing and preaching on video so I can remember what it was like and show other people.
Since then we have come home and had lunch and slept and it has taken me AGES to write this blog post, the day has gone so quickly. I have been bitten all over the bottom of my legs as I stupidly went outside whilst on the phone the other day when it was just getting dark. We are taking our anti malarials- some people say that malaria is here, some people say it is not but it's best to stay safe. Hopefully we will have a more successful week at the school and I'm quite nervous about taking my first lesson when I have nothing prepared. I think I'm going to talk about myself and where I am from and ask the students what they have been doing so far. I'm really hoping they will be cooperative- the grade eights we saw the other day were very pleasant and well behaved and as older ones they don't tend to focus so much on the fact that we are foreigners. Fingers crossed!
So yeah, my first week has been eventful and I have learnt so much. I have laughed, cried, been scared, tired, excited, amazed and surprised! We are hoping to go and visit Patrick at Kosi Bay on the coast next weekend which will be something to look forward to as it is meant to be beautiful there and it will be nice to be somewhere different. Missing everyone loads and if anyone is still reading this ridiculously long essay then you deserve a medal! TIA- “This is Africa” xxx

The start of our journey...

Katie, my volunteer partner at the school in Ingwavuma and Patrick, who is volunteering in Manguzi about an hour from us and I all got a greyhound coach from Jo'burg to Richards Bay which took ten hours! We were fortunate enough to sit at the front of the second floor of the coach so we had a great view. We were sat next to a family with a little girl who was the most adorable child ever- so easy to please and very content with being placed on our laps to be entertained. Her dad was afrikaans and the mother was an English South African and they told us lots of stories and asked a lot about england. Some of their opinions regarding black people were a little bit surprising to hear but then I remembered that they were brought up in a time when that was all they were taught and you have to accept that. I had to bite my tongue a few times and just listen.

The journey went surprisingly quickly and we were met in Richards Bay by Janice Hall- who has hosted 'gaps' before and we were to stay with her the night before beginning our journey to Ingwavuma the next day. Even though it was evening when we arrived, it was incredible humid outside and we nearly cried with happiness when she asked if we would like to go in her pool when we got to hers! We literally got changed into our swimming stuff and jumped into her pool after meeting her husband Mike, and his mum Jean (the sweetest 89 year old I've ever met!) with their sheep dogs Jess and Jamie. It was so funny when Jamie kept jumping into the water with us and running around the edge of the pool. We had a braii which was so good! The Hall's were originally from England but moved out to Richards Bay over fifty years ago and we could not have asked for better hosts. The next morning Janice showed us around Richards bay which was incredible as the water was so blue and we ran down to the water on the hot sand and even saw a monkey just chilling on the beach! I would love to go back there!

We started the two hour drive to Mkuze which seemed like the perfect place to put a Wimpy in the middle of nowhere! We had lunch there with Janice and then had to wait for Allan who is looking after Patrick at Kosi bay to pick us up and take us further into the mountains towards our placements. He brought a mini bus which was great as we each had a seat each and a great view of the journey. A highlight was seeing the Jozini dam which is so beautiful. Stopping there and seeing some school children just waiting and not looking at the view made me think “why aren't you looking at the beautiful view?” but then they are surrounded by this all the time and it's just home to them. We finally reached our point after Patrick decided to play some songs on the cd player such as 'Africa' and some Lionel Richie which was hilarious, at the town of Bombanana (I still think this name is funny) with a t-juction where Katie and I were being met by our principle to go left to Ingwavuma and Allan would take Patrick right to Kosi Bay/Manguzi.
After looking for a grey polo and lots seeming to turn up at the same time, our principle Linda Sikonyana (this is a guy for any confusion about the first name!) finally arrived and drove us up the mountain to Ingwavuma. It was really strange because we were in this really backwards place but everyone had their radio's on playing modern music. We drove past Nansindlela school to where we are staying which is in a teachers compound which consists of about four houses which is where two teacher families stay and the rest are teachers who leave their homes in the cities to live here when they are working. Matt, our country manager was already here and we all went down to the school before he departed and I was surprised that the school was fairly big and the buildings were in good condition. The primary school and high school are separated by a swamp with a path running between them and because it was evening and very quiet we could hear all these frogs screaming and it was such a tropical sound. You don't even notice it when the place is full of students! The path is a bit scary when there are students going either way because I'm worried I'll get pushed off into the swamp- better be a nice teacher to them! The principle and his wife invited us to their for dinner and we had pasta and watched TV with them and their four year old daughter who is very naughty and cheeky and showed us her dance moves. She was so excited to have us here! We had to stay in another house for that night because our one had not been lived in for a while and so they had no electricity. Katie and I shared a single bed in Rose's room (Rose is now living with us) and it was a fairly uncomfortable night as we hadn't had a wash and it was quite cramped in the single bed.
Our first two days at school were hot and full of meeting different teachers. I still can't remember anyone's name!! we were introduced to everyone at the staff briefing in the morning by the principle and everyone came up to us to introduce themselves which was lovely. In the mornings before the briefing starts, all the staff start singing a prayer and then one person says a prayer afterwards, which was really nice to hear in the morning. It is about half an hours walk to school in the morning and you see students on the back of 'bukkies' which are small trucks and the law not to sit in them as it is clearly quite dangerous has not been enforced in this area yet. The children at the school, especially the younger ones, treat us like we are famous and are always saying “Hi, how are youuuuu?” and following us. One little girl gave me an apple with both her hands after I sat talking to them at break time and we were taught in orientation that this is a sign of respect- I felt like a proper teacher getting an apple on my first day! Some of them asked to touch my hair which I thought was a little bit strange but it was because their hair is so different and they all said “it's so soft!” to me. We just sat in on a couple of lessons to get the feel of how the school works which was useful because I forgot what it was to be like in a school environment. It was very hot though- there has been a heat wave here and it has reached up to 35 degrees! One thing that really shocks me is that lots of the people here are still wearing their jumpers- I just don't get it, it's boiling! There are chickens and dogs running round the school which took a while to get used to at first but they leave you alone and are quite fun to watch.
Bongi, is a teacher at the school and is looking after us whilst we stay here. She is one of the most sweetest people I have ever met and looks after us so well. Katie and I were feeling really down and trapped here over Friday and Saturday and she has been so good to us, inviting us to her house and talking to us to sort our problems out. We felt like we were not needed at the school any more because it seemed that the person we were meant to be replacing for maths and science has been replaced by someone else so it was all a bit confusing about what we are actually doing. Also the house has really been getting us down as it was left in a horrible state. The people living here last year did not clean and so we were confronted by a kitchen and toilet full of huge cockroaches. They are the most horrible, disgusting creatures I have ever come across and it's not fair that we have had to work so hard to get rid of them. Finally after hours of cleaning, spraying and killing it seems that they are going away. We must have killed hundreds of them and we find them in our room. Sometimes it's funny because we scream at each other when we are concentrating on getting one and there is another one heading for our feet, but after a while you get so tired and just want to cry because they keep coming. Flip flops are no longer a shoe, they are a cockroach killing device! Hopefully our efforts will pay off soon.

We are living with Rose and another teacher who has not come back yet (people are very relaxed here) will be moving back in next week and apparently he is lovely. We make a special effort to clean up after ourselves and Rose has been amazing sorting out our electricity and replacing the broken cooker. I have seen the occasional lizard but they don't really bother us and I think they are quite sweet! Due to not having any running water, we have to collect rain water from a water tank and if we use the toilet, to flush it we put water into the tank. To have a bath, we boil water and put cold water into a basin which sits in the bath and you kind of have to lean over it to wash which is an art I'm still trying to master! So basically, we try not to waste any dirty water as it is used for flushing the toilet! Our meals so far have been basic and i'm ashamed to admit I have not cooked yet and Katie has done them. I really don't have a clue! I tend to stand by and kill roaches and then wash up! Mienky and another male teacher (I am terrible with names here!) are frequent visitors to our house which is nice because then it's never lonely here in the evenings.

Orientation Week- Johannesburg

So...I've been in South Africa for just over a week and already so much has happened!

I left Heathrow with four other volunteers on Friday morning and after a very long flight stopping in Abu Dhabi, we arrived in the city of Johannesburg at about 5am on Saturday morning. The first flight was very uncomfortable and cramped but the second was better however I barely slept the whole time so after 3 hours sleep before I left home it took me a couple of days to return to normal.

When we were landing in Joburg the first thing I saw was lots of colourful lights for miles which looked really pretty. We got through customs easily and then looked for the guy from the hostel who was picking us up. The heat hit us even though it was so early and I was in jeans and a hoodie! The journey to the Backpackers Ritz where we were staying was magical because the sun had just come up and the sky looked beautiful. We were surprised to see people already up and on their way to work and also people jogging. I felt like I didn't want to go to sleep because the whole world seemed to be waking up at this time. We got to the Ritz and were shown to our dorms as we wanted to get some sleep before our day started at about 9am. Emily and I, being the only girls at the time went into our dorm but quickly turned around because we scared ourselves as we didnt expect other people to be in the room for some reason and they were all so still...it was really freaky! Where it was so light it was so hard trying to sleep on my top bunk when I could see over the city and hear these really loud birds outside and I was just feeling a little bit over tired to even sleep. It was all a bit surreal! However, I did manage to sleep for a couple of hours.

We stayed in Jo’burg until Tuesday morning. I wont bore everyone with what we did everyday but when we had talks on culture, history and travel and just general meetings with Matt, our country manager, we went to a church hall just down the road from the hostel. In total there was eight of us- seven from England and one guy from New Zealand. My favourite part of the orientation was when we went to Soweto- the famous township which is just outside Jo’burg which I expected to be still full of tin huts and poor conditions. However, I was surprised to see that even outside of the wealthy parts, the majority of the houses have been rebuilt over the years and the conditions are much better for the millions of people who live there. I particularly enjoyed learning about the June 1976 student riots in Soweto where black students protested against the government law that they must speak Afrikaans in their schools which they were not prepared to do because they had their own languages to learn in already and the system started to become too much. In these riots some of the students died as the white police fired at the crowds and the museum was really interesting. It occurred to me how little I know of the history of this country and how I wish they had taught it in England at school because it's such an important piece of history. Going to the apartheid museum afterwards reinforced this as we learnt about the life of Nelson Mandela. It was a huge shock to find out that he survived the prison on Robbin Island for twenty seven years and still came out of it with his original beliefs about the apartheid system. The weather stayed beautiful throughout our time in Jo'burg with short storms in the afternoon which cleared the air and one of my highlights of the orientation was sitting on my top bunk with another volunteer, Sophie, watching an electric storm over the city which we kept trying to capture on camera and failing because it was so quick! There were a couple of people we met in the hostel who were lovely including a South African lady who gave us lots of good advice about the country and a couple of Dutch girls who had been studying here for sixth months and told us that it is not long enough to explore the country! On the last evening we had a braii- the south african barbeque- outside with everyone looking over the city which was really fun and we were all excited to be finally starting the journey to our placements.....

35 days

So...the weeks are going really fast and my big adventure is just around the corner! I'm feeling really excited now but also nervous and unprepared at times! I got my South African visa last week which made it seem so real and met up with Katie (fellow lattitude volunteer) and her family for lunch which was lovely.

I'm now going to be staying in the country for seven months, the last three weeks after my placement will hopefully be spent with my friend in Cape Town which will be amazing as I haven't seen her in 5 years! There's so many things I want to do whilst I'm out there- climb table mountain; go on safari (elephants are most important!); go to the Drakensburg mountains, travel down the east coast; go to swaziland...the list goes on!

The plan for teaching at Nansindlela was originally to be in the junior school where we would assist with classes and take those when a teacher was absent, I believe, but this has now changed... One of the teachers has left and they don't have a replacement for him yet and so he asked if we would take over his role in the high school....but there was a slight problem- it would be teaching the equivalent of A level maths and science! I didn't do either of those subjects and it would have been impossible for me, however, Katie and I still wanted to help so now we are teaching the younger grades and their teachers are going to take the older ones. So, I will be teaching grade 8 english, and grade 9 english and maths! That covers just over 20 hours a week- a full time teaching position. It's a huge challenge but I can't wait! It makes me feel that we really will be contributing something to the school and it will be so worthwhile :) Better start learning my maths again!

What I'm looking forward to...

• A new country and culture: one of the reasons I wanted to do this in the beginning was the opportunity to immerse myself in the culture of somewhere so different to where I live. England is just so boring sometimes and I can't wait to go into a colourful country and meet so many new people!



• Travelling: we are going to have so much opportunity to travel at weekends and school holidays and it's going to be amazing to just explore somewhere new!



• Wildlife: I think I mentioned elephants earlier.... There is an elephant park really near where we are staying too :D



• Teaching: I've had a little experience of this before and loved it- so although the full time position is a little daunting I know it's going to be a lot of fun! Also, I'm going to learn so much myself about the job and it's going to be great work experience if I decide I want to become a teacher after uni.



• Orientation week: We are spending 3 or 4 days in Joburg with all the volunteers from the UK, New Zealand and Canada and are going to Soweto and the apartheid museum which I'm really looking forward to. We are also doing a teaching course there.

Current concerns/worries...

• The flight!: I'm not the biggest fan of flying and we have a 7 hour flight to Abu Dhabi and then another 8 and a half hours to Johannesburg- it's going to be a long journey!



• Malaria tablets: I'm in the process of sorting out my prescription but apparently the ones I am going to take make you feel sick all the time and I am terrified of being sick. There are other brands but they all have horrible side effects so I can't really win :(



• The lack of electricity and no running water: we are staying in a house with some other teachers and it has no running water and limited electricity. I know this will make me appreciate what I have at home but I love my showers in the morning and will really miss them!



• Being homesick: I don't usually get homesick but I've never been away from home for more than a week! 6 months living in a completely different culture and adapting to a whole new way of life will take some getting used to and obviously I'm going to miss my family and friends.



• The language barrier: I don't speak Zulu. I think that kind of sums it up!



• Sunburn- lets face it, I'm quite pale and it will be quite sunny...

I wasn't sure what to write in this post but hopefully it's given a nice overview of how I'm feeling about it all. What seemed like 'just an idea' about eighteen months ago is suddenly happening! I'm looking forward to my friends coming home from uni for Christmas and seeing all my family before I go, this time is going to just fly past. Big thank you's to a few people who have supported me throughout :) xxx

10 weeks to go!

My trip to South Africa is not so far away anymore! The weeks seem to be going really fast and I can't wait to go! I have saved up all the money now which is a huge step because it was a lot to raise and I never thought I would do it with three months still left to go. On Friday I went to a pre-departure meeting in Reading and met the other volunteers and had a great day :) I found out the school I am going to which is called Nansindlela school and also the girl I am going to be with so it all seems very real now! Nansindlela is in the Kwa-Zulu Natal province of South Africa and the area is very rural and I think teaching at the school is going to be quite a challenge, which I'm looking forward to! Thanks to everyone who has helped me get this far, I really appreciate it!

Five months to go...

Update: flights have been booked; travel insurance paid for; CRB form sent off; 2 out of 3 injections done; new passport on its way and I have got a new full time job starting in less than 3 weeks! still lots more to do but I am getting there! :)

"Believe you can and you're half way there"

A year after I first started saving and fund raising for this trip I have managed to raise £1500, which is around half my total that I need to go to South Africa! I am hoping to raise the other half by writing to trusts, hopefully doing a sponsored swim and mostly through working full time. I am currently trying to find a job where I can work in the week so fingers crossed that I will find something soon (i have applied to so many places!!) Only 6 months until I leave!