Wednesday, May 26, 2010

grade 3 goes mtv.

When Grade 3 won't pay attention at the end of the day, sometimes all you can do is dance to Beyonce.  But I'm almost positive I've never seen Beyonce dance like this...



Wednesday, May 19, 2010

worth 1000 words...

back to 'ubuntu'.

You know you live in South Africa when you go for your Saturday morning run and see what you are convinced is yet another pesky monkey... but upon closer inspection, it turns out to just be a cat.

And then you go two days without running water because "the reservoir is empty" and have to fill up buckets, jugs, anything you can find-- just to be able to wash dishes and brush your teeth-- when the eThekwini Municipality water truck trundles down the street.  You learn why Zulu women carry their heavy loads on their heads; who knew it would be much easier to walk back up Warwickshire Crescent once you learn to maintain balance with a couple of kilos on your head?  And then, after dutifully accepting that you'll have to suffer one more day before trekking to the parish at Kloof for a shower, the water spurts out of the taps and for the next couple of days, every time you turn on the tap you'll be thankful for the gift of running water.

Amidst homesickness, frustration, even fatigue, it's hard to forget where I am. Constantly being reminded of my surroundings has helped to bring me back to the reasons I decided to sign up for this crazy experience.
I stand at morning prayer with my students at St. Leo's, basking in the smiles on their faces, humbled by the devout way they close their eyes and fold their hands while they pray.  I watch the boys of Cottage 4 at St. Theresa's Home for Boys struggle through the choreography during a dance class, and can't help loving them even when they won't sit down to do homework.  They're getting ready to perform at Moses Mabhida stadium here in Durban during the World Cup, and the prospect of seeing them on TV might be the thing I look forward to most during this FIFA fever craziness.

I share frustration, sadness, and laughter with the three other girls in my community-- even sometimes sharing silence too-- and our level of comfort and closeness with one another is such a good thing to have.  We may spend every waking moment together, but we can't be completely tired of each other yet, and we're not, if our excitement about a weekend away together is anything to go by!

It's not easy to be a volunteer, and I have to admit that May has been the toughest month personally so far, but with the midway point in sight, I'm trying really hard to keep in mind the fleeting nature of time.  Before I have a chance to absorb all my experiences and feelings during my time here, that time will have passed and I'll be back in the US, heartbroken to have left my year here in the past.

And so, I'm repositioning myself and getting back to where I was before-- excited, motivated, and feeling very lucky to be able to nurture the friendships and relationships that South Africa's ubuntu has given me.
I am, because we are.


"A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed."
- Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Monday, May 10, 2010

the god of small things.

Sometimes, it's in the smallest ways that you realize someone is looking out for you after all.



Found by Becca, taken while camping in Scottsburgh this weekend.

Monday, May 3, 2010

a monday in may.

In many ways, I find it hard to believe that the first of May has come and gone.  Here in the Southern Hemisphere, the green is draining out of the trees and grasses and the flowering trees have long since shed their blooms.  But the weather continues to surprise us Northern Hemisphere natives, and with trips to the beach in what should be the onset of winter, I can't complain about the weather.

I find it really hard to keep up with this blog thing, which is hard to admit because I really enjoyed blogging previous to my arrival in South Africa, when my life was much more average and the most exciting things in my day were discoveries on the internet.  But the pace of my life as a volunteer has been very different than I'd expected coming into this year.

I have to take things one day at a time, because trying to think ahead, especially when I'm feeling stressed out or homesick and lonely makes the next seven months seem very long indeed.  Making lesson plans from one week to the next is about the furthest thing I can do in advance, and even that is a real effort most of the time.  With long workdays, language barriers (which are being broken down little by little, but still), and four hundred learners in the classroom a week, I'm exhausted when I get home at the end of a day, and by the time Friday rolls around, having a drink with my roommates and our South African friends is a real treat.  After laundry, a trip to the farmers' market, maybe some time at the beach or out in Durban on a Saturday night, and mass together with my community, all of a sudden Sunday night has come and gone and Monday rears its ugly head once again.

But I can't complain.  Though the days are long, weeks are flying by and I sometimes feel like time is passing too quickly.  Although I miss home very much, I'm very distracted most of the time which helps keep my mind off the many miles in between me and the people I love.  But I'm managing fine, and finding that I have very little trouble operating normally in a culture and society very different from that of the northeastern United States.  I had suspected in the past that I was adaptable, but I think being in South Africa has made me realize how grateful I am for the spectrum of experiences I've had thus far in foreign places, and how they've shaped me into a receptive, interested person.

In other, petty news...

1.  Our house is home to a mouse or two, one of whom I have named Wilbur.  He likes to scratch in the room where Becca and I sleep at night, just to let us know he's still around.  I wish he would eat the poison we left out for him but he doesn't seem to like it.
2.  We got two flat tires in one week in our big car, thus continuing to prove my theory that I have the world's worst luck with car tires.
3.  Though I've been much better at trying while here in South Africa, I still cannot dance, which my students love to point out every time we bring an iPod into class.
4.  South African avocados are huge, mutant things (photo to come), but have gotten me horrifically addicted to homemade guacamole.
5.  As my finances look quite shabby upon my return to the US come December, I have decided to bring the almighty bunny chow stateside.  Look for "Sinead's Bunny Chow Shack" franchises opening near you in 2011.

I feel quite guilty that my lovely family paid me an extended visit over the Easter holiday, and I have yet to prove that they were ever here... so as soon as I can, I'll get some photos up here and try to recap our whirlwind ten days together.
But I think I'm afraid to start looking through the pictures as it will just make me miss home (and Mum's cooking) all the more!

And thus ends the most scattered blog post ever.  Apologies.