EXCITEMENT :D

This upcoming week is going to be so AMAZING; I am so excited!  Monday we are going to a township school to see a completely different school environment than what we have been placed in for student teaching.  I am really looking forward to the observation.  Tuesday is basically the last day that teaching takes place; Wednesday I have the Grade 4 class party and Thursday is our last day and it ends at 1030! Friday we leave for our trip at 7am.  It is going to be the most amazing thing ever, I can tell.  We are driving to Cape Town with a friend that we met here and taking our time to get there so we can see everything on the way.  We are taking "The Garden Route," which we have heard is the most beautiful views ever!  There are a lot of stops along the way for example Congo Caves, Ostrich Farm, Storms River and beautiful nature reserves!  We will be spending a week and a half in Cape Town and then taking a bus back to Grahamstown.  

This past weekend was a lot of fun.  On Friday one of the teachers brought us to Kenton so we could go to the beach.  Out of all the places I have seen so far, Kenton is by far my favorite.  It is such a beautiful town.  Saturday I went on an outing with the junior prep boarding boys.  We went to Bathurst and went swimming and had a braai.  I also watched them play cricket, I am starting to catch on!  Saturday evening I went to Miss Intermediate.  One of my students really wanted me to come, it was so much fun to watch!  Miss Intermediate was like a little pageant for the students in the Intermediate House.  The Intermediate House is where students in the intermediate grades live if they are a boarder.  Me and April ended up being judges for the pageant!  It was a lot of fun and the students were all dressed up!

Sunday we were invited to another braai by one of the student's parents.  They were very welcoming and made such good food! Also on Sunday when I was walking back from the grocery store I FINALLY got a picture of the wild cows that roam the streets!

Here are some pictures!!!

Kenton part two

Miss Intermediate Pageant

Wild Cows!!! I live at the top of this hill! It is not the greatest thing to run up!

UnPreDiCtaBLe

Wow the weather is CRAZY! This past weekend we had absolutely GORGEOUS weather!  It was at least 80degrees and sunny on Friday, Saturday AND Sunday!  On Friday one of the teachers at the school brought us to Port Alfred to go to the beach and when we returned on Friday we had a Braai at the Wyvern which is Kingswood's restaurant/country club.  A braai is like a cookout/barbecue.  We had chicken, potato bake, salad, and bread; it was delicious :)

On Saturday we walked/shopped around Grahamstown and then went to my teacher's house to swim; once we got to her house though it soon became cloudy.  Sunday we went to one of our students' parents house for another braai.  We had the most delicious food and they taught us so much about the political aspect of South Africa as well as key places we must go to on our vacation.  On Sunday we also planned our two week vacation.  We are traveling to Cape Town and taking our time to get there and planned all of our stops along the way; we are SOO EXCITED!

So far this week, Monday and Tuesday, the weather has been chilly (probably low 60s, high 50s and rainy), yeah I know that is not chilly but coming off 80 degree weather it is!  Today (Tuesday) I went on an outing (field trip) with my grade 5s.  It was so great! We went to some students in my class' farm.  The first farm was a game farm and we went on a game drive.  We saw giraffe, a RHINO!, and buffalo. The buffalo was awesome because the students were able to pet the buffalo because the person who owns the farm can call them and approach them! It was CRAZY!

After that farm we went to another students' farm and we took a hike down into a beautiful valley.  We hiked to a cave and saw Bushman paintings (paintings from the first settlers).  It was really neat and the paintings were approximately over 15,000 years old!  I have attached the pictures.

That is the basic update.  I am also teaching as much as I am able and I am really getting along with my new cooperating teacher, she is fantastic.  She has such an active class and I have really learned a lot of new teaching strategies.  I can't believe next week is their last week of school.  It is going by so fast, but I still have a lot to look forward to.  I have been volunteering still at the Lebone Center and LOVING it.  I volunteer tomorrow and Thursday and then as much as I can next week, but their last day at the center is the 30th which is too bad because I really like spending time there.

Thanks Everyone Following :D

Students petting the WILD BUFFALO!

Giraffes are AWESOME!

Our view from our hike

Hiking :D

Do you see the handprint?  This is the Bushman painting.

Learn the LINGO :D

Alright now that I have been here for a month (I know CRAZY) I am going to teach everyone about the lingo here!

"sorted" - Teachers ask students if they are "sorted" for math, english, etc.  It basically means ready and organized.

"hey" - this is used often at the end of sentences, it is kind of like our "right?" For example, You went to the beach this weekend hey.

"smart" - if you are dressed nicely they say that you "look smart"

"just now" - one would THINK this means something is going to happen right now, but no, "just now" means in about 5-15 minutes or more.  For example, we will talk just now (translation:  we will talk later)

"now now" - this means right now.

"nice" - If something tastes good, it tastes "nice"

"shame" - If something bad happens to someone you respond with "shame"or if something funny/unfortunate happens you also respond with "shame".

"pleasure" - instead of responding with "you're welcome" you respond with "pleasure" For example, "Thank you for the book"  "Pleasure"

"is it" - this kind of replaces "oh really" for example, "I am going to make pasta for dinner" and you respond with "is it" or when you explain something that happened, "is it"

"biscuits" - are cookies

"scones" - are biscuits or muffins

There are more short vowels than long vowels.

"holiday" - means vacation

"passageways" - are hallways

"rubbish" - means trash

"chips" - either potato chips or french fries

"tomato sauce" - ketchup

"overtake" - passing someone on the road

"que" - lines at post office

"petrol" - gasoline

"fetch" - get

"Cokies" - markers

One last thing to know about South Africa is that everyone takes their time.  If you are at a restaurant it will take at least an hour, nothing here is about quick, efficient, convenience like back home (no coffee travel mugs!).  Also they have portion control of their food (no supersize here!)  Now you know more about South Africa :)

CRAZY AWESOME!

So I know I just posted yesterday, but that was because I thought that would be the most exciting thing that happened over the weekend, but I saw something pretty sweet today! We went to one of my supervisor's friends' house that she built completely out of mud! It was the coolest thing ever! She also has the most amazing view!  You must look at the pictures! ALSO I did NOT end up going on the helicopter ride, but that is alright because it was such a fun weekend anyways!  I cannot believe on Tuesday I will have been gone for a whole month! That is absolutely crazy, there are only two and a half weeks left of school here then time to travel! I am so pumped!

The view from her house! AMAZING!

The outside of the house - sweet

The inside of the house - that's Grandma!

Her view from inside the house!

Outside again

Kenton-On-Sea and Port Alfred

Today (Saturday) we went to Kenton and Port Alfred and saw the ocean, it was absolutely GORGEOUS! I had a hard time choosing which photos to post, so I am posting a lot!  My cooperating teacher took us, which was absolutely the nicest thing ever! We spent all day in the sun and relaxing by the ocean! It was FANTASTIC!  Here are the pictures!

My OH My....

This past weekend was very relaxing.  Saturday, we went downtown and bought some stuff from the markets and went to Aegean's basketball game.  Aegean is my supervisor's son.  He is a great basketball player and we had a lot of fun watching him play!  Sunday was absolutely a gorgeous day.  I went for an hour run, which I needed really badly, and spent time outside for awhile enjoying the sunshine and the 80 degree weather :)  It was Lauren's goodbye dinner Sunday night.  I am sooo sad to see her go, I really clicked with her and she has been my roommate for the past two weeks.  It is crazy how close us girls have become in such a short amount of time.  We took some pictures for her going away, the one on the railroad I thought would be so adorable, so I made everyone take it.  We ate chicken stir fry and potato bake (absolutely delicious) with brownie and ice cream for dessert.  It is crazy how good the chocolate is here.  We officially said goodbye to Lauren this morning before school, I miss her southern accent already :(

Besides Lauren leaving today, it was a GREAT day.  April, Nichole, and I met with the supervisor of a local volunteer opportunity today and we spend an hour and a half volunteering.  It is seriously the greatest thing I have experienced so far.  The program is for students from the townships who are recommended for the program by the government.  The students are very poor and most of the students' parents have died from AIDS.  It is such a sad situation, but the students are absolutely tremendous.  Today I played a couple board games with them, and then we went outside and played a game of hide n' seek.  They also taught us a song-hand game.  They are so much fun, I cannot wait to go back tomorrow or whenever i can go again.  I wish I could spend more time in this sort of aspect of the town.

I just thought I would give an update.  Here are some pictures:



This picture was taken a couple weekends ago, but I just got the picture from Lauren.  This is me and Lauren at the BEAUTIFUL Indian Ocean! <3 This!

Beautiful Grahamstown

Me and Lauren downtown shopping at the markets :)

Nichole, April, and I watching Aegean's Bball game!

Our cute railroad picture! haha

NO TIME!

Wow so I cannot believe a whole week has almost past and I haven't updated my blog, time just flies here. It has been almost three weeks since I have arrived in Grahamstown.  I was looking at the calendar when meeting with my teacher and there really seems to be like no time left here!

Teaching has been going so well.  I feel like I am really finally connecting with the students and I am starting to feel more and more comfortable in the school.  I introduced the concept of Flat Stanley to my class and came up with a way from my current class to keep in touch with my class back in Amery.    The plan is for the students to take an adventure with Stanley, journal about the experience, and then attach a picture to the journal entry.  Then we are going to send the whole journal to my class back in Amery!  My students are sooo excited about Stanley! They have already made him a girlfriend, a cat, some bowling balls, a fish tank, a couch, and they are working on his twin!  They have already take Stanley on some adventures and journaled about their experience.  The adventures have been really awesome so far!

I have my observed lesson next week, which I am very nervous about but I am teaching the lesson to the other 4th grade first so I can tweak it and improve it for my observed lesson.  Next week is my last week in the 4th grade and then I am actually moving to the 5th grade classroom.  While in the 5th grade classroom I am going to try and teach more math to both 5th grades and some 6th and 7th grade classes as well.  The teachers have mentioned me being able to teach a lesson in their class, so I am going to be proactive and try to teach math across the grades.  I just feel that if my minor is in mathematics I should have more experience teaching it, especially if I get certified up to 8th grade.

Last Friday, we went to a concert, Piano Man, it was AMAZING! I was surprised how much I enjoyed the concert, for I have never been one to willingly go to a strictly instrument music concert, but it was so good.  I was really impressed.  It was also a fundraiser for three schools in the area (including my school), so that was really neat.

On Saturday we went to the swimming gala in Port Elizabeth.  What they call a gala we would call a meet.  It was for 4th through 7th grade and we had some swimmers compete.  It was a neat experience to spend time with the teachers and the students outside of the school day.

ALSO I met one of my students' mothers and she invited me to the game reserve they own! She also said that they would take me and the other student teachers on a helicopter ride to view the game reserve! I am sooo pumped! I hope it really works out, for I think it will be the most amazing thing ever!

Tonight we went out to Geno's restaurant and ate pizza, it was delicious.  That's pretty much it for updates.  I don't really have any pictures worth putting up here except these two of the school.  Hopefully next weekend if everything works out I will be able to put up pictures of the game reserve and helicopter ride!  I will try to update before then, but who knows? I try not to make promises I might not keep :)

I miss EVERYONE! Give me updates as well!