Going to Hluhlue Soon!

This will be a short post, but I needed to get one in before we leave for the game park tomorrow! Unfortunately, I attempted to put up some pictures but the computers here are slow so I haven't even been able to upload any! Hopefully I'll be able to put some pictures up soon...

Anyway, today we visited another primary school. I haven't been too thrilled with visiting the primary schools because this really isn't my area of study, but I've been sticking to the older classrooms anyway. The school was called Paul Sykes Primary and I was impressed again by the implementation of different cultures within the classroom. I sat in on a grade 5 class during and Arts and Cultures lesson. The students were learning about drama, and when I looked through their activity books, they had many different types of cultural expression (Zulu and Indian dances, different art forms, etc.) Each classroom had about 45 students---and for those of you unfamiliar with the set-up in the states, usually classrooms do not have any more than 25 students. The teachers here have to deal with almost double the children! The school also teaches Zulu as a subject.

After I sat in on this class, we went out for the break with the kids. This was a bit overwhelming because all 1,200 kids that attend the school were outside with us! I had a group of about 20 kids surrounding me and asking questions. They are so cute..asking if I have ever seen any celebrities and all about snow. I'll have to post pictures once I can finally do that! They are OBSESSED with cameras :-)

After the break, John insisted that I go to the doctor because I have been sick for a week now. I went, it took about 20 minutes and then I left with medication in hand. It was so much different than in the states. Even though the people here have to pay for insurance, the doctor did everything for me for free. We said, "Do we pay up front or how does this work?" and he just said not to worry about it. He had the medication right in the office too! Crazy. Also, it turned out to be some bronchitis thing...I'm fine though...just a sore throat and stuffy nose. Thankfully, I've still been running on the boardwalk here in Durban!

After going to the doctor, the whole group went to UKZN for a lecture. It was a really interesting one about the balance between caring and teaching. This woman got me thinking about what it means to be a teacher. I'm hoping I figure this out through my many experiences prior to taking a job.

Anyway, that's all I have for today. I think I'm going to shop in the mall now (2nd largest in South Africa!) I most likely won't be posting until Monday because we are going to Hluhlue Game Park tomorrow afternoon. Have a great weekend!

School Visits in Durban

Hello again! I decided against going to a jazz show tonight at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal because I am still sick and really just want to sleep :-( Thankfully, I found my camera cord so you all will get to see some pictures in this post!

On Monday in Durban, we went to the Clairwood Boys' Primary School. This was the first school that was visited (besides UKZN and Univ. of Pretoria). It is amazing how much you can learn just by looking at how education works within a country. This school was an all boys school with grades R (Kindergarten) through 7. When we first got there, we were greeted by the headmaster of the school and a few other council members that I believe were also teachers. I was a little shocked that the headmaster was so forward about not getting his school fees for the year. At this school, students are charged 950 Rand for the year (even though this is a public school). The school is run by mostly indians but almost all of the students that attend the school are black africans---and some of them travel very long distances to come to this school because it is better than the schools that are in their rural communities. The headmaster seemed very flustered that he only had about 20% of the school fees in for the year, which is understandable because this school get limited funding for upkeep. Although they are allocated a certain number of teachers that are state paid, everything else in the schools is run like a business. The schools have to pay for rent, electricity, service staff (cleaning people), textbooks, and anything else they need themselves. Another interesting thing about this school is that the primary medium of instruction is english. This begins in grade R. Although almost all of the students at the school speak isiZulu, there is only 1 teacher at the school that even knows this language. The students also learn afrikaans later in their schooling...which hopefully is starting to die out because this language is really not necessary to be learned in this country...

I sat in on a grade 7 class at Clairwood. The boys seemed very giggly and were eager to ask us questions about rappers we may have seen or if we drive mercedes! The kids were extremely polite and nice. They called all of us "Ma'am." I was not, however, impressed with the teachers. The teacher of the grade 7 class told me that she was not into reading south african literature because it didn't interest her at all. She also said that she hated Kuito--the most popular south african music. I'm not sure why she told me these things but I can't imagine having a teacher that didn't care about anything that had to do with her own country. Yes, she was indian, but she was not even first generation. She also said that it would be impossible to even teach isiZulu in the schools.

Yesterday, we went to Summerfield Primary School in Chatsworth (which is still part of Durban). This school, I felt, was doing a much better job at incorporating the different cultures of the children attending the school. The school had a mixture of black africans and indians, but it amazed me that every single student in the school was required to learn isiZulu. This is incredibly advanced for any of the schools I have heard of here. The students also learn english, afrikaans, and the indian students learn arabic. The headmaster here seemed very open to incorporating the different cultures in any way possible. Even at the end of the year concert that the students put on, they represent all different cultures. This was incredibly impressive. The school fees here were also much lower at R200 per child per year. I had a great time talking with the kids outside when they were on break. (I did sit in on a grade 7 class again, but there isn't much to say about that! The teacher left the room for about 20 minutes and left me and a friend to entertain/ask the kids questions! What a way to put us on the spot!) The kids were just interested in what it was like in America, while I was just as interested in asking them questions about South Africa. They are so willing to talk.

Today was a much different experience. We visited Westfield Boys' High School which is a former Model C school (all white, very well off). Here, the school fees come in at a whopping R20,000 per year. Now imagine what the differences must be. Mind you, all of these schools are public. There are hardly any schools that do not charge any type of school fees (which is very surprising to the people here). This school was mostly white students, with a few indians, and very few blacks. I suppose this is better than what the school was like during Apartheid, but it's just disheartening that this school with so many resources is where all of the academic power is and where the students who really succeed in the country are going to school. There is no way that many of the black families here could afford these fees. The school was a bit extravagent. They had every type of sport field imaginable, a swimming pool, an entire separate house dedicated to art...it was unbelieveable. I felt more uncomfortable here than in the other two schools!

The funny thing is, although Westfield was so extravagent and quite lovely, the hospitality at Clairwood and Summerfield was so much better. Even though these schools were obviously much poorer, they treated us to tea and desserts--and Summerfield even fed us an amazing lunch! The people there were so respectful and glad to have us. At Westfield, although we did get tea, we had to stand behind the entire staff to get it...and there weren't even enough seats for us to sit down. We were also not allowed to sit in on any classes at Westfield because we would be too much of a distraction...

Anyway, these past few days of school visits have been very interesting and I've certainly learned so much. Tomorrow I believe we're going to a township school which will also be an interesting experience. I'm going to make a separate post for pictures, so have a good night and I hope everyone is well!

The Last Few Days in Pretoria and Travel to Durban

Sawubona! Sorry it has been so long. We haven't had internet access since last Wednesday and now I must write a book to keep up :-) I have been having a great time but I definitely miss Pretoria now that we are in Durban.

On Wednesday night, which seems like forever ago, we went to a play called "Silent Voices." It was really interesting...I didn't quite understand the plot, but the basic story was that money isn't everything in life. The actors were great! After the show, we went out into the lobby and they were having a jazz night. There was a bar there and everyone was watching the ManU-Chelsea game. The jazz band was awesome---very talented. This club/bar was a black bar so they really weren't used to having a whole slew of whites in there but they took to us well! When one of the songs began, a few of the people there grabbed our hands and pulled us on stage because none of us were dancing! At the end of the night, EVERYONE was dancing together. It was an amazing experience. While Pretoria is incredibly conservative in terms of race, it was just a really neat sight to see a bar full of whites and blacks dancing together.

Thursday, we travelled to Soweto. Look up Soweto because there were some very important uprisings there in the late 70's. Basically, the African students there did not want their primary language of instruction to be Afrikaans anymore (which is basically the language of the opressor in this country) so they revolted. Many of the students were killed--including a boy named Hector Pieterson, in which there is a museum named after in the town (which we went to). Soweto also has Nelson Mandela's house before he was taken to Robben Island.

After the Hector Pieterson Museum and lunch, we went to the Apartheid Museum. For this being one of the most important museums in this country, I wish we would have had more time there! We got there late and only had about an hour and a half---I think we needed over 2 hours! I saw some really interesting things there and will be doing a lot of research on Steve Biko--one of the leaders in the anti-Apartheid movement. It is just unbelievable what people have gone through in this country. The police brutality is especially disgusting.

On Friday, I was unfortunately sick with a bad sore throat, so I couldn't attend the morning lectures. I did get to sleep in until 11am, with only a few interruptions from the cleaning lady who "would love to come to America!" I felt better later and was able to go to the Union Building (which we couldn't even go inside!) and the U.S. Embassy. I didn't really like the embassy...it looked like a huge cinder block and the security there was a little unreasonable. The programs being implemented here by the U.S., however, seem pretty effective. They are recruiting a lot of U.S. teachers to teach here because there is such a shortage. The also have a Fullbright program in which you can volunteer to spend the summer here and work in the schools --which I believe I will be taking advantage of in 2010. I love it here!

On Friday night we had a traditional braai (barbeque). I had some awesome chicken. A lot of the students went out after the braai (which they regreted Saturday morning), but I stayed in and invited the tour guide from Freedom Park (Goitsemodimo) to come to the lounge and talk to a friend and I. We had a great time just talking and playing cards. We taught him B.S. and he taught us Crazy Eights. The people here are amazing to talk to. They all have such interesting stories. Goitsemodimo, for instance, dropped everything he had to become a motivational speaker. He is one truly happy person.

Saturday was our travel day. We went from Pretoria to Durban in about 8 hours. On the way we stopped in a township called Zonkeziswe. The townships here are incredibly poor but the people are still so happy. We took a tour around the township and met some people that run an after-school program there. I chatted with a 15 year old boy named Packemahni for quite some time. He was excited to talk to me about the ManU game (probably because they won!). I asked him if he liked living there and he said he did but he wants to come to Michigan State for college :-)

When we finally arrived in Durban, all of us were very tired. My first impression of this city is not that great...they have a lot of crime here and the people in general are a bit more standoffish. Not that I haven't met nice people, but it's just not like Pretoria or the townships. On the first night, a black boy came up to me in this food complex and told me that these Indian girls were being racist towards him. When the girls saw him talking to me, they said, "what the f*** is your problem?" He let them know they were being racist and they said something awful in reply and walked away. Maybe the problem in this city is the fact that there are so many different people. In Pretoria, I was the only white person on the streets in the morning and everyone said hello and good morning to me, or at least smiled. The best part of Durban is that we are right on the beach and it's a lot warmer here!

Yesterday, I woke up early to run on the boardwalk and then 8 of us headed over to a place called SteetWise for a carnival. Basically, StreetWise is a program for boys who have been on the streets and want to have a better life. It is a residential complex and I think about 50 boys live there. I was helping with tye-dye. They loved it and I now have very colorful hands! It's really an interesting experience to talk to the kids here. They seem so mature. They also like it when I ask them to teach me some isiZulu :-)

I will save the rest for a later post since I have written so much already. Thank you for being patient with my late posting and I hope you all are having a great summer!