It's All Happening at the Zoo...

Friday, for work, I got to chaperone 19 six year olds at the Johannesburg Zoo. It's a tough life.

Seriously though, I love LOVE the zoo. Aside from the normal excitement, uncontrollable grinning, and need to see everything, my joy was heightened each time I looked at one of the grade Rs; it was their very first visit to the zoo and they'd been thinking about it for over a week.

A company (I don't remember the name) donated money for each child to go to the zoo, have lunch, a snack, and a christmas present. And they needed adults to go along. (I'm an adult!)

We got to see two elephants, a hippopotamus, crocodiles, zebras, lions, monkeys, tigers, snakes, polar bears, and others. The monkeys were the biggest hit. There was one chimpanzee that sat against the glass and allowed the kids to have their picture taken (see facebook for visual aid). I felt sorry for the polar bear. It was out in the heat and surely it was uncomfortable. I was glad though that the kids were able to see it. I will show them where the North Pole is on Monday.

Another fun part of the day was the kiddie rides. The zoo had the kind of rides you would find at a county fair, and one of the men from the donating company gave us enough money for each child to have two rides. Not only were they experiencing the zoo for the first time, but also theme parks (sort of). Even Sesi, the teacher's assistant for grade R, got to ride for the first time. She screamed much louder than the kids which was amusing.

At the end of the day, we all hopped on the bus and a good number of the kids were fast asleep before we left the parking lot. What a great day.

Kwasa Break-In Numero Dos

Earlier in the week, Kwasa was victim to another robbery. It was a bigger break-in this time. Windows broken, computers stolen, and pots and pans taken from the kitchen were among the missing. It's so frustrating, because people work so hard to provide things for this community and it can so quickly disappear. It was also a little frightening to see that the security bars on the windows were bent so that a person could crawl through; I imagined them being a little sturdier. Since the pots and pans were MIA, the kids could only have one meal for two days: bread. No pap or soup.

However, by the end of the week, the culprits were found. I'm not sure what's happening at this stage, but these men had stolen from Kwasa before, received a second chance, and used it to steal again. This makes me sigh. The good news is many of the items taken have now been found.

November Blues

Dear November,

I know you're used to making me wear scarves and gloves and causing me to ponder if I really should be walking to class in this sort of weather instead of comfortably snuggled under my covers...but I'm in South Africa now. Please cooperate. There is no reason for these frigid temperatures when I only brought shorts and sundresses.

Thanks,

Catherine

Ok, so today was a fluke. It's actually been quite pleasant here as far as weather is concerned. This is why I'm having such a hard time believing that Christmas is about a month away. Seeing Christmas cakes and bathing suits in the same store (which is weird to begin with) really makes me double take. Christmas has always been surrounded by snowmen, warm clothes, and way too much shopping and traffic. So far, not a single kid at Kwasa has told me what she wants for Christmas. When I asked who knew Father Christmas/Santa Claus, only a few raised their hands. For lots of people, Christmas is just another day...only with no school.

We're currently practicing for the Kwasa Christmas Concert which is going to be awesome in case you were wondering. We're singing songs about "disco hair", "crying gorillas", and a strange variation of the hokey pokey only it's to Celtic music. I know you're all intrigued. Maybe I'll take pictures when I tell you more about it.

Have a spectacular day! Oh, and Mom, I cooked dinner for myself tonight. Pasta.

Planes, Trains, and Automoblies

The last few weeks, we've been learning all about transportation. We've learned to look right, then left, then right when crossing the street, how many wheels a bicycle, car, or bus, has, and games like "red light, green light". This week however, we've begun talking about something that is pretty much only imaginary: air transport. As a teacher explained it, these children and their families have never had the opportunity to travel much farther than town, much less get on a plane and fly to a far away and exotic place.

What a strange thought for me. I drive all the time at home. Hours on end. Just to go to a movie or a mall or school, or to visit friends. I play on the boat in the summertime. And I fly 17 hours and 32 minutes to another hemisphere to work for a year. As we were pretending to go on a plane ride, we asked the kids where they would like to go. Many of them said, "to town!". After a more detailed explanation, they then said either "America" or "England". I wish I could take them all on a holiday.

In other news, today is my first day as an independent woman! By that I mean, I'm driving by myself! It's a great feeling, being mobile and knowing that if I need something, I can just get in the "bakkie" (truck) and go. So, when you come to visit me, I'll be able to pick you up from the airport. You should know, I feel as if I'm the average South African driver. That may or may not put you at ease. I'm about to drive to the gym...wish me luck!

Dance, Dance Wherever You May Be

"Dance, dance, wherever you may be

I am the lord of the dance, said he

And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be

And I'll lead you all in the dance said he"

**If you only have time/patience to watch one video, I recommend the second.**

....dancing seems to come up a lot in my life lately. I'm line dancing. And not good at it. But what's great is that there are people who are worse, so I actually am very graceful relatively speaking. We're currently learning a dance to George Straight's "One Night at a Time". Many of you may not think this is funny, but those of you who have listened to the chorus, I hope you're laughing with me.

Kwasa is currently preparing for its annual Christmas concert (you are all invited). Each morning, we practice the songs, and now that the kids are comfortable with the words, we're adding some pretty rockin' moves. So, the other day we were practicing when Gill decided to have a dance party. It was so fun! Five and six year olds are fantastic dancers because they think that whatever the other does is so so cool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFwHQyLOw58

Wednesday was a particularly great day at Kwasa. I was late for work for various reasons, and when I arrived the kids were so happy. Not because it was me, they were just happy in general. So because it was raining and they couldn't play outside and because we just finished learning about trains for a solid week (who knew one could talk about trains for that long?) I taught them musical chairs and played "Come on Ride the Train". It was hilarious. The champion got a piece of candy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSJP1tzEadk

I'm not sure the moral of this story, but it makes me happy.

P.S. It took me seven hours to upload the video. If it doesn't work, don't tell me.

All Saints Day

Happy All Saints Day everyone! As many of you know, this is one of my favorite church days. I hope you all got a chance to sing Hymn 293 today. I definitely owe you all a good blog posting, but that's just not going to happen today. I am feeling quite crummy and you should see all the tissues (and let's be honest - tshirts) I've used this week. I think I should get in bed and sleep. Hopefully, I'll be at work tomorrow (I promised to take the after care kids "treat-or-treating" as a reward for earning five stars!). Love to you all!