WeEk 8- a rElAxInG WeEk...

On Friday Jonny and I had our alternative visit to a local school called Cape Recife high school which is a public school for learners who have special educational needs. It was a good experience to visit a different school for children with special educational needs. This school serves children with a number of learning abilities. They include cerebral palsy and other physical disabilities such as children who have been left disabled because of accidents. We met a young boy, I think he was 16. He told us about how he was hit by a car in 1996. He told us how he doesn’t remember being hit by the car but remembers wakening up and told he would never walk again. Stories like this make me appreciate what I have. This guy has enthusiasm about life, he is a reminder that we should be grateful everyday. The teachers which spoke to us have excellent relationships with the kids. Within the school there is boarding part where some of the children stay as they live far away or their parents don’t have the correct facilities. The room was spacious and are able to look after the children in the best possible way.

The teacher who showed us around the school had a child who she is very close too. At the weekends she will take him home to give him a break from the school. She spends five days a week with the kids and still finds the time to take him home and look after him. This school had excellent facilities and the children here are getting an excellent education. They are provided with the correct help. Cape Recife high school is very similar to the schools back home. I really enjoyed this experience and hopefully will get the chance to go back for a couple of days once the term at NMMU finishes.

On Saturday we went on a train called the apple express. We left at 8:30am in the morning and set off on an old steam engine run train. We went through the country side, going past local townships. The children were running to wave at us. The children seemed so friendly and must know that each day the train will be passing. We had a picnic and relaxed at small farming village. We haven’t got to experience rural Africa yet. The people within the small village were very friendly, telling us about the local area. A good day had by all. On Saturday evening I had my first goodbye, first of many I’m sure. Kayla a trainee teacher from America was leaving and heading to Cape Town and then back to America. We went out for dinner at the boardwalk. My favourite restaurant called the news café. I love the food there. It’s sad to think that I won’t see her again but it’s all about the experience here. It makes me grateful that I still have a number of weeks left.

This week with regard to class didn’t get off to a good start. I was woke by my two flat mates who are nurses. They leave every morning at 6:30 as they are here on placement. My class was supposed to start at 11 so I was able to have a lie in. Having got up the girls had told me that the taxi’s which we use to transport us to university were on strike. The reason to this is a man who is up for a murder trail is the boss (not really sure) but the taxi drivers had to show their support. This is a cultural issue which I find hard to think that people can’t go to school or work because their usual method of transport is not available. If he committed the crime he should do the time regardless of who he is. Comparing this to Northern Ireland, we also have gangs etc who can affect the everyday life of people. On Monday I had a day off and loved it. Little did I realise this week wasn’t going to get much better.


Every Tuesday we have observation at our placement school. The three international students have been placed together which I enjoy. It means we can sit beside each other in the staff room. Jason the other international student was away for the week so I missed him greatly. Because of this it was just Jonny and I for school on Tuesday but on Monday night Jonny wasn’t feeling good and wasn’t feeling well enough for school. As a result of this I couldn’t go to school. The reason to this as I wouldn’t feel safe entering a township school by myself. Back home I would never feel unsafe to go to a school but in this case I did. The area where the township is located is a number of different townships surrounding it. Jonny agreed and so did my coordinator from NMMU that it wouldn’t be safe. This was a shock as it is a reminder that although over the weeks I have become more relaxed there is very dangerous parts of South Africa where a white girl just can’t go.

Tuesday also seen the first birthday of a few in March. Hege a close friend was turning a certain age. (I'd tell a girls age). To celebrate a had a tea party. Stine and I cooked buns and I made a banner. To finish it off we had tea from home. Great afternoon with lots of gossip.
Saint Patricks day arrived finally. I love the fact that there are only two Irish here. Jonny and I are unique here. I really enjoyed celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day. I dressed in green, did some Irish dancing and enjoyed being Northern Irish! I kept telling every one I was Irish and people kept taking photos of me. I loved being centre of attention.

Love
Jayne xx

WeEk 8- a rElAxInG WeEk///

Week 8- a relaxing week

On Friday Jonny and I had our alternative visit to a local school called Cape Recife high school which is a public school for learners who have special educational needs. It was a good experience to visit a different school for children with special educational needs. This school serves children with a number of learning abilities. They include cerebral palsy and other physical disabilities such as children who have been left disabled because of accidents. We met a young boy, I think he was 16. He told us about how he was hit by a car in 1996. He told us how he doesn’t remember being hit by the car but remembers wakening up and told he would never walk again. Stories like this make me appreciate what I have. This guy has enthusiasm about life, he is a reminder that we should be grateful everyday. The teachers which spoke to us have excellent relationships with the kids. Within the school there is boarding part where some of the children stay as they live far away or their parents don’t have the correct facilities. The room was spacious and are able to look after the children in the best possible way. The teacher who showed us around the school had a child who she is very close too. At the weekends she will take him home to give him a break from the school. She spends five days a week with the kids and still finds the time to take him home and look after him. This school had excellent facilities and the children here are getting an excellent education. They are provided with the correct help. Cape Recife high school is very similar to the schools back home. I really enjoyed this experience and hopefully will get the chance to go back for a couple of days once the term at NMMU finishes.

On Saturday we went on a train called the apple express. We left at 8:30am in the morning and set off on an old steam engine run train. We went through the country side, going past local townships. The children were running to wave at us. The children seemed so friendly and must know that each day the train will be passing. We had a picnic and relaxed at small farming village. We haven’t got to experience rural Africa yet. The people within the small village were very friendly, telling us about the local area. A good day had by all. On Saturday evening I had my first goodbye, first of many I’m sure. Kayla a trainee teacher from America was leaving and heading to Cape Town and then back to America. We went out for dinner at the boardwalk. My favourite restaurant called the news café. I love the food there. It’s sad to think that I won’t see her again but it’s all about the experience here. It makes me grateful that I still have a number of weeks left.

This week with regard to class didn’t get off to a good start. I was woke by my two flat mates who are nurses. They leave every morning at 6:30 as they are here on placement. My class was supposed to start at 11 so I was able to have a lie in. Having got up the girls had told me that the taxi’s which we use to transport us to university were on strike. The reason to this is a man who is up for a murder trail is the boss (not really sure) but the taxi drivers had to show their support. This is a cultural issue which I find hard to think that people can’t go to school or work because their usual method of transport is not available. If he committed the crime he should do the time regardless of who he is. Comparing this to Northern Ireland, we also have gangs etc who can affect the everyday life of people. On Monday I had a day off and loved it. Little did I realise this week wasn’t going to get much better.


Every Tuesday we have observation at our placement school. The three international students have been placed together which I enjoy. It means we can sit beside each other in the staff room. Jason the other international student was away for the week so I missed him greatly. Because of this it was just Jonny and I for school on Tuesday but on Monday night Jonny wasn’t feeling good and wasn’t feeling well enough for school. As a result of this I couldn’t go to school. The reason to this as I wouldn’t feel safe entering a township school by myself. Back home I would never feel unsafe to go to a school but in this case I did. The area where the township is located is a number of different townships surrounding it. Jonny agreed and so did my coordinator from NMMU that it wouldn’t be safe. This was a shock as it is a reminder that although over the weeks I have become more relaxed there is very dangerous parts of South Africa where a white girl just can’t go.

Saint Patricks day arrived finally. I love the fact that there are only two Irish here. Jonny and I are unique here. I really enjoyed celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day. I dressed in green, did some Irish dancing and enjoyed being Northern Irish! I kept telling every one I was Irish and people kept taking photos of me. I loved being centre of attention.


Love
Jayne xx

Wow what a weekend!!!

This weekend has been so much fun! Time is going so quick, I’ve now been away from home for 7 weeks and it only feels like I left the George Best airport. I’ve been so busy with university work. We have had group work, an online test and assignments and of course fun!

This weekend was FANTASTIC! I loved it. We left the bantry at 6:30pm and headed for Mossel Bay which is about four and a half hours away. It was a long journey, I’m not used to travelling for so long. I was the only one which isn’t. The American’s think that four hours is not a long journey. There was 8 of us who went to Mossel Bay. 6 American’s including two trainee teachers from St Cloud, Jason and Kyle. There was also a Californian called Ben and three others who are from different places within the USA. Sometimes I think I’m in America as there are so many here. I love being in a group of people from all over the world. It’s good to hear about where people are from. We arrived in Mossel bay at 12 at night as we had a number of stops to stretch our legs. Our first night we stayed in a train hostel. Although I stayed in a hostel last week, we didn’t have our own dorm this week. This week we had 4 others strangers sleeping with us. It was good to experience. Stine was woke in the middle of the night with a man pulling her foot.

We had an early start on Saturday morning so we all were ready at 6:45am as we were going to shark cage dive. Yes we were going to be in water with sharks swimming past. On Saturday morning it was extremely cold as you can see from the photos. We were given a safety talk about keeping our fingers and toes in the cage. We didn’t want to lose them. To attract the sharks, they use fish guts mixed with water. We only waited 20 minutes to see our first shark. When I saw it I was scared, these are great white sharks. All the sharks which we seen were female and were about 3-4 metres in length. It might seem big but they get bigger.

We got into our wetsuits and I have to admit that I was scared. I was thinking to myself that I was about to put myself into a cage with sharks in the water. Was I mad, YES! :).. There were two groups, Stine and I went in the second group and as soon as I got into the water, I wasn’t scared and it was more excitement. Who can say that they have been swimming with great white sharks? We were in the water about 20 minutes each time and got in twice. We were able to go under the water and see them swimming past. We were about to get out of the cage to head back to the bay when the instructor told us to under as a shark was coming. He had seen a shark coming from the left side but he didn’t realise that there was only coming from the right. The one from the right caught the tuna head. This shark was on mission and we were less than a metre from it. We were under the water watching it trying to get the tuna head. It was hitting the cage and I seen its teeth. A memory I will never forget. Stine told me I looked at her when the shark was hitting the cage with every emotion possible in my eyes. Fear was probably the biggest emotion. I can now say I faced fear and loved it!!

On Saturday we booked into a hotel with a flat screen TV, nice bedding and an amazing view. It only cost 50 rand more than the hotel which is about £5! Was definitely worth it. We went on a boat trip to a small island called Seal island. On the island there was about 300 seals all relaxing, soaking up the sun. They sound like sheep. On Saturday evening we had a ‘braai’ and relaxed getting to know each other. It was a great evening. You may not believe this but we were looking out of balcony on Saturday evening and seen Dolphins swim past. It sounds like a dream and believe me its fantastic here. After only four hours sleep, I was up again to travel an hour in the opposite direction from Port Elizabeth. We were going to an ostrich farm. It may seem dull but we got to sit on an ostrich and wait for it we got to ride on one. It

was a strange feeling to be holding onto an ostrich going around an enclosure. The instructor speeded mine up and of course I closed my eyes. I was scared encase I would fall off and they would stand on me. I’m such a girl about the thing.
On Sunday we travelled back along route 62, the garden route. This has definitely been a highlight of my trip. It was beautiful and over Easter I will explore more. Words can’t describe how beautiful it was. Unbelievable!

Monday was a stressful day for me with lack of sleep and on a low because the weekend was so good. I had to present a lesson in class with three others. It was extremely hard to stand in front of my peers and teach to them like 16 year olds. I am still not used to the curriculum here. Things which we have been taught at home I was told wasn’t acceptable here. For example reading from a handout isn’t not acceptable but back home it is. Teaching practise is going to be difficult as I will have to block out certain aspects which I have been taught. The pupils here are called learners which I find difficult to remember. I find the students from a Xhosa background can’t understand my accent so I have to speak so slow and people from home reading this will agree we speak fast.

Monday night was spent at les’s house. The trainee teachers from Minnesota are going home so it was a goodbye evening from the education department. Their professor from home is here so I enjoyed chatting and telling them about home. People love to here about where I am from, the troubles and of course love to here my accent. On Tuesday evening I also spent it with the trainee teacher, telling other trainee teachers about our school experience. They are a group of students from St Cloud, here for two weeks to witness briefly the educational system here. I enjoyed telling them about my placement school. They were interested to here the difference between a township school and a fee paying school. Although I find the township school hard to be in, I was excited to tell the trainee teachers about it. These experiences will definitely stay with me forever.

Phoned home this week and was glad to hear that people are reading my blog. Thank you Derek for printing it out so people can read it. Also I’m glad that Mollie is doing well. Thinking about you!

Love Jayne xxxx

The first big adventure- It has taken 6 weeks!

I love getting post especially when I know that my mum has sent me tea bags. It was like giving me a new pair of shoes!! Yes tea bags get me excited. It’s a small reminder of home. In the Bantry I have teapot so I can drink as much tea as I want. I still try to have my three o’clock tea. My mum will know exactly what this is about. I also loved the letter as I heard all about the gossip. Mum you defiantly know me inside out.
So now I have written a small paragraph on tea I should and focus on me in South Africa.

Oh also I want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM…hope everyone is spoiling you, you deserve it!

This weekend seen the first adventure out of Port Elizabeth, it has taken 6 weeks but we were happy to explore PE. So the adventure was a 45 minute drive to a seaside resort called Jeffery’s Bay. We packed out bags and waited on the boys. They take forever to get ready. Guys your beautiful and don’t need to take an hour getting ready every time we want to go out. We hired a car from the airport with Marco driving. Of course Marco forgot his passport so the first stop was back to the airport. We got all the correct documents sorted and headed of to J Bay but we had our first indecent. Macro reversed into a the road used as a entrance, blocked the car park with maybe five cars waiting to get out and maybe 4 waiting to come in and in the middle was a police car! He just gave us dirty looks. I thought to myself this is going to be a long drive……

Then we out drove into a township and past the same building twice. We were still in view of the airport and had been driving 15 minutes. We finally found The N2 and set off. The hostel which we were staying in was beautiful and we had a room to ourselves. The only problem was the owners dog took a liking to Stine and I. We were the only two who didn’t like the dog!
The weekend was jam packed with cycling through a township, shopping the surf shops, eating hot Mexican food (too hot for me), shell collecting and sand boarding which is like snow boarding only on sand. We only had one injury which is surprisingly good. We also had another who got a face full of sand. The area in which we sand boarded was beautiful, South Africa is a beautiful country. We also stopped off at a waterfall which is located in the country, it is a beautiful. People were chilling, jumping into the pool and of course having fun. This weekend was chilled and prepared us for a busy week ahead with tests for some, assignments and group work. The work is starting to come thick and fast!

We had a conversation about if we think we are in Africa. I have to admit I don’t. I forget that I’m in Africa. The sight of townships are becoming normal, I starting to get used to beggars and my personal safety being at risk. There are very poor people here and if you show your nice camera or flash your money people who can’t afford food will steal. They don’t have any other choice. I worry about tourists coming to SA for the world cup. There are also been the issue of safety in SA but people need to understand that people are poor. I hope people who are coming here to the world cup respect the way in which people live and understand that although this is seen as rich Africa there are people who are still poor.

When cycling through the township, I asked Stine if she believed that the people who grew up in a township will they ever have the opportunity to leave. As I said in my last blog, it’s not about what you have but your family and friends. Although I’m sure people are happy but how happy can they be living in some of the areas of a township. For people who haven’t seen a township, they are build on dirt paths, with rubbish everywhere. I don’t know if there is a service available here but I would think that there isn’t. I have to admit the townships here is hard for me to accept. I find it difficult that people are living in these conditions!! Africa has two sides, the rich and the poor. Some areas are just like home and others are definitely not!

I have another busy week ahead so I probably will write my blog later than normal. Exciting times are too come! ..:)..

Written with love, Jayne xxxxx