Phase 2 Complete

Little Successes

So, its been a while since I last posted and I would be lying if I didn’t tell you that my last few weeks have been filled with some of the biggest struggles I have ever found in my transitions throughout life.  These weeks have been full of struggles to find my place at my school, struggles of digestion, struggles of trying to find friends in the village, struggles to be myself again, and struggles to find my home in my new country.

These struggles have certainly not come because of a lack of support from my amazing family and friends back home, my school staff, my amazing host family and my amazing cohort.  But rather, these struggles are just the staples of what life has to offer sometimes.  We can’t grow and appreciate the amazing moments of our lives without also feeling the struggle.  I have appreciated the struggles that I have felt, but I also almost fully feel prepared to defeat them. 

As I closed out my tenth day of diarrhea due to a parasite in my body and chugged a bottle of powerade that smells like jalepenos (just don’t ask), my host father came to my room.  He had just accompanied me to my in service training where we had sessions on teaching practices, lesson planning, and the South African education system.  He came to my door to announce that this was the best conference he had ever been to, he wants to attend another in the future, and he cannot wait to implement new ideas in the classroom.  He further went on to say that he has phoned the principal about the library, he fears they have not taken the library serious enough as I have been working on it, and he wants me to let him know if there is anything he can do to help me in getting our library up and running. 

Anyone that has talked to me about my school in depth recently knows that one of the biggest struggles I have been having at my school has been a lack of excitement or desire from the teachers in things that I have been attempting to get done.  Therefore, this was a huge victory for me and I am excited to see the new attitudes in action in our new term, beginning in January. 

Since I have last posted, I have…

• Found a waterfall near my house to play at on days off.
• Saw a beautiful rainbow in my backyard.
• Make my best South African attempt at a thanksgiving dinner.
• Became a Tshangane woman for a day. (Note: I’m usually part of Venda culture). 
• Ventured to IST where I found another beautiful waterfall.
• Received two wonderful packages from my mama and some of my greatest friends, Ari, Val and the kids.
• Played with a bunch of African animals.

 

IST – In Service Training

IST is the point in our service in which we get back together with our cohort (the 50 lovely people I went through my original training with.) This is the first time we all come back together since moving to our sites about 2 months prior.  During this training, we receive more technical training on language, cultural norms, safety and security, and technicalities of our work.  This is also our time to share stories and bond with roughly the other 47 volunteers who are going through the same types of struggles.  However, we also had time for socializing and bonding.

Crèche graduation

On one lovely Saturday, I decided to spend the day at another volunteers site and attend their local crèche graduation.  (Note: a crèche is a preschool.)  During the duration of this 9 hour program, community members made announcements about available resources in the community, many groups performed dances, and the crèche graduates received their diplomas and their new school uniforms.  Alyssa and I were VIP attendees of the ceremony and therefore partook in many pictures with all of the graduates and even performed the tradition tshitonga dance in front of the crowd.  It was a great day full of laughs, food, and cultural exchange.

Animal Interactions

As an education volunteer in South Africa, I have about four weeks off from school in December/January for summer/holiday break.  The first week of break was full of adventure for me!  The first adventure I took part in was a trip to Letaba River Lodge where I was able to snuggle with lion cubs, get climbed on by a crazed monkey, cuddle a leopard, and hold many other animals.  Despite the scratch marks all over my arms, this day was absolutely incredible.

On a separate day, we adventured to meet Jessica…the hippo.  Jessica is a hippo that lives in the home of a man and wife who rescued her after a flood carried her away from her mother and onto their yard.  They nursed her back to health, let her wander their house, feed her daily, and let her sleep on their porch every night.  She is like a child to these people.  Every morning, they allow visitors to come feed Jessica her sweet potato snacks and her warm sweet tea.  We were lucky enough to be those visitors this past week.  While hippos are known to be the leading cause of more fatalities than any other large animal, Jessica was as friendly as can be.  There were some precautions to petting, feeding, and loving on Jessica.  Following those directions gave me a feeling of safety though. 

 

Within the next week, I will be headed to Durban for a week to lounge on the beach and see another part of South Africa.  While holiday times creep up, it definitely becomes hard to not be at home with my family and friends.  I’ll be thinking of you all though as I swim in the ocean and sleep on the beach.  : )

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!