A day of shopping?

 Earlier this week, a teacher at our school, Mrs. Tandos, asked if she could take us shopping on Saturday. Of course, we agreed and we were very excited to have a day out with her. She is an absolute joy and she is full of surprises. Well, yesterday (26 November) was our "shopping" day. She arrived at 9:30 in the morning with her friend in another car to take us shopping. We piled in the two cars not knowing where we were going. She ended up taking us to a huge mall in Walmer. We had a great time walking around the stores window shopping. We all decided to save our money for the South African street fairs in Cape Town. We thought that we were going to go home after the mall, but little did we know that she had an entire day full of adventures planned for us. 

The next step was lunch at her house! We stopped by the grocery store and loaded up on food for our big lunch. We were so thankful! Her home was absolutely beautiful! She let us make ourselves at home and turned on her favorite music really loud. Mrs. Tandos is a dancer at heart. She never stops moving and singing. She is so funny! Lindsey and I decided to practice our dancing while we waited for lunch. We all ate together and it was wonderful. 

The next part of our day was spending hours driving around going to see the house where she grew up, her friend's home, her friend's friend's home, her mother's friends home, and so on. It was crazy! She told us that she wanted us to experience true South Africa. We got to meet her friends and her family and learn a ton about her life. Also, we drove through locations, which I learned are poorer areas where only blacks live. She told us that if we had driven through there during apartheid we would have been killed. She said that our car would have been mobbed and we would have been stoned. That is how much unrest used to be in the places that we were driving through. My heart broke as she told us what it was like during apartheid. 

I could never imagine the things that happened there... We still got very interesting looks as we drove through the streets that  held so much history. Our last stop was definitely a grand finale for our day... somehow we found ourselves standing at the reception of a traditional South African wedding. It was insane. In America that is one of the most improper, disrespectful, unheard of things that you could do. However, Mrs. Tandos explained to us that it is not like that here. Her and her friend had been invited and they were free to bring any of their friends! She said, "It isn't about who is invited or not, the only thing that would make you upset was if you didn't know about it. Anyone can come!" We were shocked. Everyone at the wedding was dressed in traditional South African dresses and outfits. They were breath-taking! We showed up in shorts, cotton dresses, and t-shirts, while they were dressed in their best beads and dresses.
The wedding was exquisite. We got to learn about so many different parts of a South African wedding and the roles of a husband and a wife in their culture. The people invited us to stay and eat, but the American in us could not sit and eat at a wedding that we were not invited to. I am so thankful that we got to see this beautiful event! This shows you how welcoming and giving these people are! We had an amazing day full of learning and adventures! It went from a shopping day for a couple hours, to a day of adventure from sunrise to sunset.

Tigers and Lions

Friday quickly and almost immediately turned into fun day when we arrived at Emafini! There were only around 75 students in the whole school. Therefore, it became a field day! We broke the students into groups by grade and then directed a variety of relay races and games. I was with the grade 3 and 4 learners with Emily and Lindsey. We had a blast organizing different relay races for the kids! They had so much fun! They deserved a little bit of fun after a week of exams. One of their favorite games was "Little Sally Walker", where they were able to dance a sing. After we played for a while, I took my grade 4 learners to the classroom so that we could make bracelets. My class at Ogden made bracelets for me to give the children while I was over there. Since there were only around 20 learners in my class, I was able to give each one of them a bracelet. I had the perfect amount! Thank you class! Then, I taught them how to make their own. I had so much fun helping them make bracelets and singing will be intertwined the string together. I was able to ask them questions and talk to them about their lives and about their families. I had to say my last goodbyes to a couple of the students because they will not be returning. It was hard, but I know that they are being looked after by someone far more loving than me. Next week at school we are going to focus on organizing their library!

After school, we headed straight for Seaview Lion Park. It was a journey just trying to get there! Somehow we ended up on a dirt road that said, "No entry!" However, we eventually made it and it was stunning. They had all different kinds of animals there. They had lions that were 6 weeks, 4 months, 1 year, and then fully grown adult lions. Also, they had 2 month old tigers and adult tigers. I was able to play with the 2 month old tiger cubs. They were precious! The park also had meerkats, cheetahs, alligators, peacocks (?), giraffes, zebras  and more...

Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday! I love the food, the spirit, the joy, the love, the thanks, the giving, the family, and everything else that is associated with this beautiful holiday! Before this trip, I knew that there was the potential of being very homesick one this specific day. However, it was an amazing day here in South Africa! Of course I missed my family, but I was with family... my family here in South Africa. One of the most indescribable things about PE is the love and kindness that the people here radiate. It is who they are.

Anna and Priscilla

 They are welcoming, kind, loving, joyful, and they show true servant-hood in their generosity. Also, this group that I have the pleasure and joy of being with are some of the most wonderful people in the world (and I am allowed to say that since I am on another continent:) Anyways, Thanksgiving was great! We are staying at a beautiful Bed & Breakfast on the beach. We have become best friends with the staff here, and the manager, Billy Jean, has definitely become like a mother to all of us. They have taken great care of us! Also, Billy Jean's mother, Anna, has become a part of our lives here in PE as well. Anna is an amazing cook, and she has become our grandmother of the house. She is the brilliant woman behind our unbelievable Thanksgiving dinner. We arrived home to a beautifully decorated table set for 14 people.

Beautiful!

We were blown away! They do not have Thanksgiving here in South Africa, but Anna googled everything that she could about the decorations and the food. Her love for us displayed in this way was enough to bring all of us to tears. We had also invited our driver, Neil, and our principal, Mr. January (also known as Papa J) to have dinner with us. At 7:00 we came downstairs to a table covered with the most exquisite dishes that I have ever seen for Thanksgiving. The ham looked just like the one on The Grinch.

So excited...

It was an amazing night! We had chicken, ham, macaroni and cheese, salad, rolls, vegetable casserole, carrots and peas, stuffed squash, corn on the cob, and so much more. For dessert we had the famous pumpkin pie, pudding, milk cream pie, and cake. Throughout dinner we talked about things that we were thankful for- it was just like home. I am so thankful for all of these beautiful people here in South Africa. They not only made Thanksgiving extra special this year, but they have made this trip unforgettable. I am so blessed and thankful:)

My South African family

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving day was full of adventures! We did not go to Emafini because we went to a variety of schools within the area. We began our day at one of the campuses of Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. While there, we were served tea and sweets while we were educated about the different ways that the university supports the schools within the area. Then, we were off to our first school. On the way, we stopped at a center located in a poor location. We walked in and saw these precious children sitting in these tiny chairs. 

They were precious! We were at the Ubomi Obutsha Centre. Obomi Obutsha means "new life". The front of the building says the following: The New Life Centre is a community development project of Combined Christian Ministries to the Poor. I was completely blown away by everything that this center does to help the community that they have contact with. It was started by two missionaries from America and has since been taken over by a couple her in Port Elizabeth. Mark is the "director" of the center, and his passion for his job was inspiring. He gave us a tour of the center, and then we were able to sit down with him and he told us their entire story. They are involved with numerous things within the area. The center has youth programs on Monday and Wednesday nights for the middle school and high school ages.
Here, the students learn about values and morals and life skills. Also, on Sunday's they have Sunday school for the younger children. Everyday of the week they run a preschool for toddlers in the community. Their focus for all of these things are children at risk for becoming orphans or children who are orphans. They invite children to join the program from the community around them. Their goal is to build a foundation of love and hope in their lives. They also partner with older students who are in school and need help with their school work. They offer a place to come after school to receive tutoring and get needed supplies. They also think that it is very important to have a holistic approach. Therefore, they are very involved in the adults' lives as well. They have parenting classes, life skills classes, and many more programs to aid the parents or guardians of these children. They also have a huge garden in the back to provide food for the soup kitchen and a place of work and ownership for the community. 

 Different adults in the community work the garden in order to build that feeling of ownership and learn the importance of responsibility. Also, they have people who oversee a certain amount of the children who attend the center. They must make home visits and stay in touch and involved with the parents and guardians of the children. The center also runs a soup kitchen for the community to receive free meals. All of these things take place through the gracious, giving hands of volunteers. The center receives no money from the government. It is a fully supported program, and therefore it runs off of donations, support from the community, volunteers, and faith and hope. I was touched by the people at the center, their cause, and their faith that kept them going. It was so inspiring to see the love and passion of individuals who are willing to give with nothing in return. 

Mark talked about how sometimes it is hard because you don't really know if you are making a difference in someone's life. However, you see them years later or you step back for a second and you realize that lives are changing and that hope is being born. It was incredible to see men and women their who grew up in the center and were now serving alongside of Mark and his team. I am hoping that we get to visit Ubomi again before we leave, but if not I will never forget this special place.

Our next stop was a completely different world. We could never have expected what we were going to encounter unless we planned on being in the movies Harry Potter or The Dead Poet's Society. We pulled up to Grey High School and we were amazed. It felt like we were in another world. Grey High School is an elite school for boys. Here is the link to their website and you can get a better idea of what we experienced: http://www.greyhighschool.com/. It is an incredible school! I have never been called ma'am so much in my life. Every boy that we passed was dressed to a tee in his Grey uniform and greeted us with a nod and "Ma'am."

 It was shocking to watch the Rector (the principal) call on each student by name and then have them speak to us. They would stand and greet him as "Sir" and then wait to be excused to sit. Then, he would call on one student to have them tell us what they were doing in class or how they liked Grey. I have never heard grade 2 and grade 5 students talk with a vocabulary as broad as theirs, and with a confidence as high as theirs. They were so proper! Tea could have been served at any moment...
Their facilities were impeccable! I felt myself starting to wish that I could go to school their school... It was such a strange thing. It lead to many thoughts and conversations about what equality looks like in education. Is it attainable? The Rector talked with us after our tour and I was very impressed and encouraged by his remarks. Grey is very involved in the community through service projects and partnerships. This helped put my heart at ease a little bit. Schools like Grey need to reach out, because everyone longs to reach in.




Our last stop before going home was at another township school called Kama Primary School. This school was very similar to Emafini. The principal was a joy to meet, and she was very enthusiastic about her job. She knew that we were coming, and therefore she gathered a group of students together to sing to us. They were incredible! They sang four beautiful songs for us. It was a South African treat. Here are some pictures from Kama:

A little boy named Litho...

Litho and I

Litho (pronounced Lita) is an 11 year old boy who loves to learn! He is not in my home class, but he is in grade 4. Therefore, I met him the first week of school and saw him outside all of last week. His smile lights up our school. He has always been intentional about coming to find me, saying hello, and asking me how I am doing, and then asking when I am going to teach him. I have been waiting for these last couple of weeks to come so that he can join our classroom. Finally, it is here! He has been in our class everyday this week. On Monday, I got to read one on one with him towards the end of the day. As we were reading, I noticed that he had no fingernails... I got nervous to ask him what happened because I knew I was not prepared for what he was going to tell me. My first thought was that it was that maybe it was a health problem, but then the thought crossed my mind that it was some form of punishment... However, the real truth was more startling than either of these thoughts. I stopped Litho from reading and grabbed his tiny little hand. I held it tightly and asked what happened to his fingernails. He looked at me, smiled hopelessly, and said, "I eat them." My heart stopped... I was never expecting this to be the reason for his pitiful hands. The next response was even more heartbreaking. I asked Him why... he replied, "I eat them if I am hungry or bored." Tears welled up in my eyes as his sweet voice continued to read aloud to me. I could barely hold it in. My heart was completely melted for this precious little child who relies on his own body for a food source. It wasn't even just what he said that jerked me so much, it was the way he said it. He said it like it was normal, ordinary, a necessity. I could barely continue reading with him because my tears would not stop as I followed his little finger as he pointed to the words in the book. My vision was clouded, my heart was breaking, and yet I felt so much JOY from having the opportunity to meet such a sweet child and love him with everything that I have. Today, he walked me up to the front of the school at the end of the day. I asked him how he gets home from school and he told me that he walks. This wasn't surprising to me, but I immediately got protective. I asked him if he walked alone and he said yes... I wanted to tell Neil (our driver) that I would be walking home today... I wanted to walk him home or give him a ride. However, I felt a peace that he would be taken care of! He smiled at me and told me he would be careful! Then, he said, "By Miss Mary, I love you!" What a great way to end the day! As we drove off I saw him walking down a dirt hill covered with cows grazing on the sparse grass. He smiled his precious smile and waved as we drove away. My eyes were again filled with tears- but this time they were tears of JOY. He is so special to me and he brings me so much joy! Little Litho... I cannot wait to spend the rest of the week with him...

So excited about writing letters and reading:)

JOY!

This week is a week of JOY. Ashley and I have had an incredible past three days with our students. It is starting to hit me that I only have one more week with these sweet little ones... all the more reason to embrace this week and have the time of our lives teaching and learning! On Monday we introduced "Morning Work"to the children who actually came to school. The entire school finished their exams last Friday; therefore, we were told that we would be lucky if half of our class showed up at school. We were told that the main reasons the students still come are to eat the free lunch. The teachers do not teach anymore... they just grade and prepare for next year. Completely different... However, we had a full class! We only had like 30 learners from our home class, but I invited more grade 4 learners to join us. We made them all a small "Morning Work Notebook". They got to put their names on the front and decorate it with the amazing colored pencils. Color amazes them! It took the whole morning to complete the morning work that we assigned. We did math and english mini-lessons. We discussed patterns and the differences between to, too, and two. After break, we spent the afternoon reading. I got to read with my friend Litho whom you will meet soon! 

 Tuesday was letter day! Both of our classes back home wrote letters to the students here in South Africa. Therefore, we had a mini lesson on writing letters and then we spent all morning reading and writing letters. Each student received a letter and we helped them read them. Then, they were able to write their own letter. It was very difficult for some of them, but they turned out great! I cannot wait to share them with the students back home! Ashley and I had split the class into two groups. I was talking with my group about things that they like that they could share in their letters. Then, one student asked me if I knew Justin Bieber. Is that even a question? haha. I said yes and he started singing, "Baby, baby, baby..." This turned into another front row concert from the entire class! Enjoy this video and please ignore my singing in the background- I was having a little too much fun:) I think they deserve to be on stage with him one day... wonder how we could make this happen... Tuesday afternoon we worked on multiplication in groups. It was a great day, definitely one full of JOY and laughter.

Wednesday was math day! We started our day with the usual morning work. We were still working on patterns in math, and then grammar and spelling in english. After we completed our morning work, we started math. We reviewed comparing and ordering numbers. Then, I gave each student I sentence strip with a number on it. They had to order themselves from least to greatest (smallest to biggest for their understanding). It took them a little while to work together. However, they successfully ordered themselves! We then tried it with decimal numbers, but we quickly found out that they had not learned decimals yet. Therefore, we moved on for the day. Next, I taught the students how to use a coordinate grid to find ordered pairs. We used the chalk board to do a whole class lesson, and then we broke into partners. There were only 18 students today! It worked out wonderfully! We were able to do a fun math game with our limited resources. We taught them how to play Candy Coordinates! I used this game as a math center in the States. They were so excited to use hands on materials! They did incredibly well with the activity. After break, we had our afternoon reading time. 

 Tomorrow we will not be at school. We are going to visit a variety of other schools in the area and  Nelson Mandela University campuses. I hate to miss a day with these children, but we will be back on Friday! I cannot believe that tomorrow is Thanksgiving! I have so many things to be thankful for! We have big plans and I cannot wait to tell you all about it. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving:)

Race Day!

Our team!

Sunday was race day! We woke up early to head down to the beach for the Ocean Racing Series 5k race. Registration began at 7:30. We got a lot of funny looks as us six girls strutted down the street in our matching t-shirts and hats. President Zuma's wife gave us all t-shirts and hats in association with a diabetes foundation here in South Africa. We decided to all wear them in order to feel more like a team:] (even though the shirts are larges, and the hats make us look like truckers or farmers).We got our numbers and had until 9:00 to hang out before the race began. It is an event that occurs every second weekend in Port Elizabeth. There is a 1k run, a 5k run or walk, and a swim. The swimming events were canceled due to rough seas. However, the beach events were still on! We were unaware that we would be running on the actual beach... Two of us were running and the four others decided to do the 5k walk. We got to the starting line and the gun was fired! The run was challenging- I was running off the energy of a dinner consisting of popcorn and an apple, I was running on the sand, there were tons of rocks and shells, and my shoes got wet within the first 3 minutes because a huge wave came and I was stuck near the shoreline. I never thought that I would make it the whole way... but I did! At the halfway point we got water and I made a new friend. His name was Siko and he was 13 years old. He was running at the same pace as I was, and we both needed a little break at the same time. We walked together for less than a minute and decided we were going to finish the race together. The whole way back we stayed side by side. When he needed to slow down for a second, I did too and vice a versa. We were nearing the finish line when he turned back and spotted his friend coming up behind us. All that I heard was, "Run!" Oh no... I was not in the condition to sprint the rest of the way. But I had too! Siko and I sprinted into the finish line together! It was such an amazing moment! He was so excited and so was I. I would have never made it through the entire race without my dear friend Siko. He is so precious to me! Sharing this experience with someone made it so much more special. Also, Doctor Roseboro came to cheer us on and document our race. We were all so thankful! The rest of the girls came through and we rejoiced together over our success. It was such a great experience! We all received medals for completing our 5k. It was well worth the soreness that I am feeling today! I love having a goal and working towards it together with others.

My sweet friend Siko.

Addo

Saturday was the adventure of a lifetime! We got in a bus at 9:00 to start our journey to Addo National Elephant Park! I was so excited! Elephants are one of my favorite animals! There are around 500 elephants at Addo; therefore, you can understand my eager anticipation and my choice of shirt for the day. Mike was our tour guide and he was absolutely amazing! Again, another sweet-hearted man with such a love for his country. We learned so much from him throughout the day. We arrived at Addo and I immediately had a flashback to Jurassic Park. We all concluded that we were in Jurasic Park as the trip continued.
 Addo is a National Park stretching over 400,000 acres. It is a reserve- therefore, the animals roam wild and free. You drive along the long stretches of dirt roads to look for the animals. It is like a scavenger hunt! We had a list of animals to check off as we spotted them.

 We were so fortunate to see a vast amount of animals throughout the duration of our adventure. One of the first animals that we saw were two lions! It immediately changed from being in Jurassic Park, to being in The Lion King. It was incredible to see all of these animals in their natural habitat. Mike told us that he hadn't seen the lions in months. We were very lucky to be able to see them! What a great start to our trip!

Mufassa (Simba was hiding)

Zebras!

We also saw three different types of antelopes, warthogs, zebras, turtles, tortoises, buffaloes, ostriches, birds, and so much more! It took us a couple of hours to make our way through the park as we approached the water hole where over 200 elephants were gathered. The pictures do not do it justice! We were definitely back in Jurassic Park. There were elephants of all ages and sizes. It was amazing to watch them interact with one another. This is a video of us pulling up to the water hole. Then, there are some facts that we learned about elephants!

• Their trunks have over 60,000 muscles in them.
• They use their trunks to eat and drink, and they also use them to interact with one another. 
• They have "hand shakes" that are special to each relationship that they form.
• Elephants' life span is usually up to an average of 65 years old. 
• The gestation time for an elephant is 22 months. 
• The young play with one another just like humans.
• They mourn the loss of another elephant.
• They walk on their tip-toes.

 

It was an incredible day! I might add some more to this post later! However, it is bedtime here in the southern hemisphere:] School starts back tomorrow!