springtime.

Another early morning, another month begins... the first of October is here and with it, Durban's signature humidity and the gorgeous purple, yellow, and magenta blooms on the otherwise bare trees all around.  Spring is in the air and though it gets up to almost ninety degrees during the day, I'm enjoying the heat at the moment.  It allows for Sundays spent reading at the beach, gives enough light for running after our return from St. Theresa's in the evenings, and now that the nine-month mark is approaching, emotions are running high at 8 Warwickshire Crescent.

Two weeks ago, we had our final site visit from the office back home; April, our esteemed director arrived and after a brief stay here in Bothas Hill, we packed up the car, awoke at an ungodly hour, and drove north for twelve hours until we were 20 kilometers from the border of Botswana, at the Madikwe Game Reserve.  We stayed at Mosetlha, a bush camp and eco-lodge inside the park, at Becca's recommendation-- she had stayed there as part of her six-week study abroad experience in Pretoria during college.  Though some might have found the idea of no running water and no electricity daunting, the four of us have stuck to a low-maintenance regimen since beginning our year in South Africa, so heating our water in a donkey boiler and using paraffin lamps at night was lots of fun.  We had two game drives a day with our guide Sam, and my favourite part of the program involved a cooler full of beer and cider, snacks, and beautiful sunsets halfway through our evening drives.

We saw tons of animals, even a handful of lions which I'd missed on my safari with my family in Hluhluwe-Umfolozi back in April.  I think the highlight of the safari was our evening drive on Saturday; we spotted a baby rhino and his mother racing through the bush, with two young male lions following closely behind.  After two minutes, the lions gave up and settled down for yet another nap... proof that big cats and small cats are all the same: lazy!

Otherwise, we had a lot of rest and relaxation time.  On the way home, we had to drop April off at the Johannesburg airport, and decided to make a stopover in Jozi before driving back to Durban.  On Sunday afternoon, we paid a visit to the famed Apartheid Museum, built in 2000.  Each visitor to the museum is assigned either White or Non-White upon purchasing a ticket, and must enter using the appropriate entrance.

Unfortunately, that was the beginning and end of the segregation simulation; the rest of the museum was laid out for us to peruse as we wished.  It was enlightening, but I found the exhibits a bit confusing and the layout was not exactly chronological.

The most interesting insight for me was being in the city where my parents spent the first few years of their marriage back in the early Eighties.  The city has changed a lot since then, as has South Africa itself.  I wrote my high school research paper on apartheid, but to look out over the Johannesburg skyline and feel connected through family and history and my present experience was a really powerful and moving feeling.

Meg has some family that stay in Sandton, a suburb of the city, and they graciously hosted us on Sunday night.  After a delicious breakfast of fruit and yogurt and muesli on Monday morning, the four of us, armed with our AA Road Atlas and recommendations from friends and family, explored Parkhurst and Melville.  We only spent a few hours walking around, then had a bite to eat before our drive home... but I really enjoyed Johannesburg and I hope I get to go back and spend more time someday.

Meg and I also made it a real South African roadtrip by investing in some biltong to chew on.  South Africans are awfully proud of their version of beef jerky, and though I was thirsty for about eight hours after devouring a packet, I think I'm hooked!

It was a great trip-- especially with the addition of my new camera to the family.  I still have a lot to learn, and I'm nervous when it's around sticky children and the dusty wind, but I'm still very excited.

We're on school holidays again; this time it's spring midterm break, which seems like a funny way to describe the three weeks that we had school since the World Cup.  But I've busied myself with job applications in the hopes that someone will hire me come December.  I've discovered lots of education non-profits on the East Coast that have openings, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for some sort of sign... and trying to remain in-the-moment about my last two months here in South Africa.

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worth 1000 words...

Here are a few snapshots of life as it's happened lately...

Back in July, our community took a trip to a game farm with our friends Brian, Matt, and Martin... lots of giraffe viewing and quart drinking ensued.

We reaped the many benefits of the Durban International Film Festival, and might have gone on a top-secret poster-stealing mission on the streets of Durban one night... as the organizer of said mission, I was elated.

One of my favourite books we've got in the library (along with The Gruffalo), Room on the Broom led to a really great creative art project with Grade 5.


Sanele wore his pants up to his neck one morning.  Gosh I love that face.

And then Becky came to visit!!

We met in Cape Town, and toured Stellenbosch to taste some delicious South African wine...

... and drove around the coast in style in our little red Kia (free upgrade, no big deal).

Even though school was closed due to the strike, she got to meet and consequently fall in love with our St. Theresa's boys.

We spent a day touring Durbs-- complete with a formal introduction to the Indian Ocean.

And then we celebrated Becca's (far left) 24th birthday with a Mexican fiesta at home.

I bought some gorgeous Indian silk at Essenwood Market (6 metres for R100... that's about $15!) and got to try it on as a sari, but I don't think I could pass for Indian.

Then we introduced Becky and Meg, Mary-Kate's friend from home, to the joy that is the Durban Sharks playing a rugby match in the Currie Cup.

On her last day, Beck and I took a short drive towards Pietermaritzburg to a game reserve called Tala, which was small, but we got to hang out with lots of wildebeest (yes like the ones that killed Mufasa) and giraffes... cue Becky doing lots of animal impressions, all day.

Then our guests left, and we were left to celebrate St. Augustine Day with the Augustinian sisters next door and our three friars/friends-- Fr. Frank, Baba Benji, and Fr. Jack.  I made mum's poached pears as a little tribute to St. Augustine, and they went down a treat.

Unfortunately, my digital camera bit the dust two weeks ago; keeping it safe in a case was to no avail, and the screen cracked and would cost about $350 to fix.  But, luckily, I'm really excited to announce that after some hefty discussion with my parents, this little baby is on her way to me as we speak.

Our coordinator April is on her way for our last site visit, and she arrives tomorrow night.  We'll have two days here with her, then on Friday morning, we'll be driving up to Mosetlha Bush Camp, in Madikwe Game Reserve, up on the border of Botswana, for a weekend of safari adventures.  We'll finish our trip with an overnight in Johannesburg on Sunday.  We mainly want to see the famed apartheid museum in Jozi, but I'm really looking forward to spending a small amount of time in the city where my parents spent two years before I existed.  Even though much has changed since the early 80s, I'm excited to see it nonetheless.

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in the line of duty.

When the end of a month approaches, I often find myself feeling a bit down.  I don't know where the feeling comes from, but I do know that unfortunately, I'm not the only one in my community who gets the end-of-the-month blues.  And July was no different.  With the World Cup over, the weather much chillier, and work back in full swing again, we were all feeling a bit blue as July came to an end.
And then August arrived, but instead of perking up, the weather took a turn for the colder and my mood didn't improve much.  There are the usual frustrations that accompany work, and anyone who has volunteered in a program like mine (or who has lived with a group of people he or she cares about) knows that living in community isn't always a walk in the park.  But something about the past two weeks has really made me feel exasperated, and after a tear-filled conversation with Mum on Saturday night, I decided that something needed to be done about it.  I'm not the type to count down the days until this year is over, though when December comes, I think I'll be ready to hand the job over to someone else.  I scribbled down a list of things that make me really happy here, and thought I'd share a few thoughts.

Things Worth Smiling About

1.  Walking through the schoolyard at St. Leo's and hearing children of all ages call out, "Hi Miss Sinead!" when I'd expected having to change my name when I started teaching.  Even if I sometimes get called Shanela, which means "to sweep" in Zulu, I'm okay with that.

2.  Seeing the sun rise in the morning-- yes this does remind me that my wakeup is very early here, but the colors in the sky over the valley at 6:30 in the morning are just breathtaking.

3.  Moments at St. Theresa's like on Tuesday, when Philane was in charge of cooking dinner. I peeked my head in the kitchen every few minutes to see if he was okay, and not long before I left for the evening, he presented me with the finished product: a small dish of rice, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, and pilchards (with a little dab of mayo on the side; it's all about the presentation) to try.  I can't even remember what it tasted like, but the look on his face when I broached the topic of culinary school was something worth remembering ("You mean a kitchen?  A big one?  Of my own?")

4.  When teaching grammar and sentence structure seems to be futile, and then Mary-Kate and I are standing in the classroom, teaching nouns.  We divide them into people, places, and things, and ask the class to give examples of each.  When trying to get the kids to say "learners" two weeks ago, the following happened:

Teacher: Okay, so what are you guys?

Thabiso: People!

Teacher:  Good, that's right.  Now, what kind of people?

Thabiso: Black people!

5.  Seeing Visa/Vie and Altiplano at the Durban International Film Festival (we also saw My Hunter's Heart but it was absolutely atrocious).  Getting to participate in the film festival was really unexpected and a pleasant surprise for the most part.  If you have Netflix, I recommend adding Altiplano to it immediately.  Amazing film.

And last but not least, Becky, my best friend from college and former roommate extraordinaire, is coming to visit... and arrives tomorrow!  She's en route from LA to Atlanta right now, and then flies to Johannesburg.  She'll meet me in Cape Town tomorrow night, and we'll be spending the weekend there, before coming back to Durban for ten days.  It'll be so nice to have a familiar face around for the next two weeks.  Becky was a Jesuit Volunteer in San Francisco until the end of last week, so having someone here who has an idea of the volunteer lifestyle will be great.  I went to visit her in SF in November of last year; I can't wait to show her my life here in South Africa!
The past couple of weeks have been really draining, especially because there was a massive strike brewing for all public workers, including teachers, at the beginning of the week.  It looks as though things are operating as normal now, but police officers visited St. Leo's on Tuesday to make sure we were safe-- as the only school remaining open in the Molweni area, we were at risk when the wrath of other teachers threatened us.  Hopefully settlements will be agreed upon soon, and schools and hospitals won't suffer too much.
That being said, I still feel as if there's nowhere else I'm supposed to be.  The above are just a few of the reasons I get up in the morning, and though it's easy to get bogged down by the rough patches, making an effort to stand in the winter sunshine every once in a while is really worth it.

worth 1000 words...

happy easter!

Dear friends all over the world,

Happy Easter!  I know I've been absent lately, but between internet limitations, busy schedules, and visitors (the Cloughleys are here!), it's been hard to get around to updating....... but this just means I'll have plenty to report when I'm back on a normal schedule again.

Enjoy the day and I hope all is well wherever you are.

happy happy news!

In just seventeen days, I'll be driving to the airport to pick up my family!  With good deals on airfare, time off from work on my end, and great South African weather, the package is just too good to be true.
There's talk of Capetown, a Sharks game & curry in Durban, Zulu mass on Easter Sunday, and two nights in a game park.  I cannot wait!

See you soon, Cloughleys!  (And I promise I won't make us crouch and take weird family photos on this holiday... maybe...)

jump-rope is dangerous.

Last Tuesday, South Africa was abuzz celebrating the 100 Day countdown until the opening of the World Cup.  St. Leo's was no exception; each classroom was assigned a participating team at random (ours was Switzerland, how thrilling-- we talked a lot about cheese and chocolate), and on Tuesday, each class dressed in team colors.  After break, the teachers broke out into festive clothes of their own and with the whole school gathered around the schoolyard, the teachers decided to entertain the kids with some games of their own, one of which was jump-rope.  I wanted to join in and not seem like the awkward volunteer, so Mary-Kate and I kicked off our flip-flops and proceeded to make fools out of ourselves, much to the delight of everybody.

And then, because I didn't wear sneakers and because I wanted to impress everybody with my skills, I left a chunk of my big toe on the schoolyard at St. Leo's.  I came down pretty hard and stubbed my toe badly, but didn't realize anything was seriously wrong until a couple of minutes after I left the game and one of the kids pointed out the blood gushing from my foot.

When all was said and done, I hobbled away with some cuts and bruises.  Now, a week later, I've had to visit a doctor from the parish who recommended that I take some penicillin and perhaps get a small procedure done on my toe to remove the possibility of an ingrown toenail.

It's surprising how debilitating a simple thing like stubbing one's toe can be when I'm on my feet all day teaching or trying to run around and have fun with the boys at St. Theresa's (after their homework is done, of course).

In other news, we've had the pleasure of hosting a couple of guests during the past week.  Brian Strassburger, a former AV who served in the Bronx and then here in South Africa in 2008, is here for ten days.  He now works for the Augustinian Missions Office, and his boss, Father Tony, arrived in South Africa last Thursday.  They're here to play host to a film crew from Visionaries, a PBS television show that profiles various charities and non-profit organizations.  The group has elected to spotlight the Augustinians for a future documentary, focusing primarily on their work with the poor in Philadelphia through ADROP, and the Augustinian mission here in Durban.  It's really exciting, especially for those of us who enjoy public television.

I'm not sure if I'll make it into the final cut, but if I do, I'll be the one hobbling around in the background, with a large bandaged toe.

That being said, I did make it out to a club in Durban on Saturday night with a crowd of friends, sore toe and all.  We had a really good night, and rounded out the party the next morning by grabbing breakfast at Suncoast, a casino on the waterfront in Durban.  Bizarre, but true.  It's been really nice to socialize with Brian-- looking at his photos and hearing stories of another community's experience here in South Africa has made me really appreciate my time here in a new way.

In an ironic twist of fate, following a conversation on the ride home from work today about the lack of criminal activity during his volunteer year, Brian came home to find he'd been robbed.  Though his passport and laptop are safe and sound, it's a little disconcerting that his possessions were stolen from this very property-- but it just means we all have to be a bit more vigilant about things like setting our alarm and keeping our slam door closed.  

We'll all be sad to see Brian go, but in just a few weeks, Pat will be here for our first site visit of the year.  Time really is flying.

Hopefully next time I sit down to write a blog post, I will be sans bandages and I'll have had my five minutes of public TV fame.