Home Sweet Home

Being Mam Redican

Good morning!

Good morning, mam.

How is your morning?

Fine, mam. How is your morning?

Fine.

Teaching here is pretty much the same as NYC.

Teachers here, my colleagues, ask a lot about how things are done in the US, we are both surprised to find that both systems are very much the same, just different jargon.

As far as the classroom, I am very lucky. They were kind enough to give me only 4 sections to teach (11A, and 10 A,B,C), and I teach them each 4 times a week. Other than that, I have lots of time for planning and grading, etc.

Also, for the next couple of weeks I have a student teacher helping me with the grade 10s. She is the sister of the other Physical Science teacher I work with, and she needed to complete student teaching hours before heading back to college coursework. The timing of this was great, since she was able to take over my classes while I was dealing with my car.

The Roadworthy Saga

I tell you this in all seriousness—go to your local Motor Vehicle Department, just stop by and say, “Thank You!” No, really. Maybe send a Hallmark card. Flowers would be nice. But please, thank them for their speed and efficiency. Now, I know you are thinking that I may be suffering from malaria hallucinations or something, but no, I am perfectly well.

It began a week ago, when Abram noticed that my car registration had expired back on Dec. 31. This wasn’t too bad because there is a 21 day grace period. Monday, (Jan 21^st), I had my student teacher take over my classes and I went to the Traffic Department.

DAY ONE: I arrive at the traffic department at 7:30 am, and the rain is coming down steadily. Already about fifty people are standing outside waiting for it to open. Luckily, Abram found out from the guard that this long line is for driver’s licenses, not car registration, so my line is much shorter. I stay in my car, warm and dry, until 8:00 am when we are allowed to line up outside the main door. At 8:30 am, it opens. I get in line and around 9:30 am I am told to fill out a form and go outside to the vendor to get a picture id. By 9:30, I am back at the front of the line and turn the forms over. However, the school’s address I put on the form won’t do, they need a personal address or PO Box, and I don’t know my address. I have been living here a week, I should know my address right? Wrong, there are no street names or numbers where I live. Luckily, Abram sent a teacher from the school to help me out and she arrived just in time, and I used her address on the form.

From here, I took my forms to another line to enter the information into the system and pay the fees. I wait in line about an hour, and then the power goes out. I’m told to stay the power should come back on. I wait and about two hours later, the power is back, but now the employees are on lunch break. By 1 pm, they come back from break and check their computers, and while their computers have power, the system is down. Please come back tomorrow.

DAY TWO: I arrive at 8:00 am. I get back in line, and I say hi to a couple people I had met in line yesterday (at least I’m making friends). By 10:30 arrive at the front of the line and the paper work is processed, but I’m not done. Before the registration can be renewed the car needs a roadworthy test certificate. I go to work, and after school Abram (poor Abram) and I drive to Pretoria (1.5 hours each way) to get my tire fixed from last week’s pothole incident and to go to a garage where they do roadworthy tests. The garage checks my car and says it’s fine and roadworthy; however, the traffic department entered an incomplete engine number and the roadworthy test will now need police clearance.

DAY THREE: I take a mental health break from dealing with my car, though I do get directions to the police department.

DAY FOUR: I go to the police department and the person at the front desk has no idea of what I’m talking about. Luckily, someone in the back comes out and tells me that I need the other police department, the anti-crime dept. that’s down the road. I drive and see a small sign with a badge on it and turn down a muddy, bumpy dirt road which leads to a small rather abandoned looking compound – this is it! I find the right guy and he looks at the engine confirms the correct number. He gets ready to enter it into the computer, but the system is down. Please come back tomorrow.

DAY FIVE: I go to school and teach my first two periods, and then during my long break I go to the police dept where, YES!!, the computers are working. I have Police Clearance! I optimistically travel directly to the Traffic Dept to turn in my forms, and as I turn into the area, I see over 100 people milling about outside the building; this is not a good sign. Yep, the computers are down. I try again after school, and they have closed for the day. Please come back on Monday.

The Roadworthy Saga… to be continued.

The Old Man is Snoring

When I was little, there was this song:

It’s raining, it’s pouring,
The old man is snoring…

I hadn’t thought about that song in years, probably decades, until this past week.
It has rained here almost every day since I arrived. For the first few days, I was so busy, I didn’t really notice. After about 10 days of rain, I started to notice – it’s very wet here. The rain is a big topic of discussion this week. The school yard is very muddy and going from class to class (teachers move, not students) is a bit messy. I plan on buying some boots at the mall this weekend. Once I have boots, I doubt it will rain anymore; at least, I hope we get a break.

(PS I will say that it doesn’t rain 24/7, but on and off all day, so its not as bad as all that.)

Driving in SA

I felt quite proud of myself, driving on the left side of the road, etc.

Until today…

Today, I was driving to work (thankfully with Abram, my principal, whose family I have been staying with) when I hit one a pot hole, a big pot hole which caused a flat tire. Thankfully, the car had a spare, donut tire (when I got the car last week I didn’t even think to look!), and Abram had it fixed in no time, I didn’t even miss my second period class.

The road where I got my flat is a main road, which kind of makes it even more stupid that I hit the pothole, anyway, a number of my colleagues drive on this road, Moloto Road. Throughout the day, they kindly commented on my misfortune and the poor state of South Africa’s roads (they really aren’t that bad). They also reassured me that it was not my poor driving (I am not convinced).

To end the day the way it began, on the way home I made a left turn into the right side lane, luckily no cars were in sight, and Abram ( poor Abram, putting up with my driving) kindly told me I was in the wrong lane and suggested that perhaps I was thinking of America.

Dymela!

Dymela!
Agee.
O kae?
Ke gona.

This is about all of Sepedi I know so far, a colleague at work is teaching me.
Very loosely translated,
Greetings!
Greetings.
How are you?
I’m fine.

People here are VERY patient with my language deficit and my accent.
I know for a fact that more than several people can not understand anything
that comes out of my mouth.

Language is interesting…here are a few differences I have picked up this week (by being totally misunderstood) [ If nothing else this year, maybe I can be comic relief for the school.]

Students ---- learners ( students only refers to university students)
Grading-----marking
Homework -----home activity
Ms. ----- Mam
Teacher’s lounge---- staff room
Schedule ----- time table
Index cards ---- record cards
Eraser ---- rubber
Chalkboard eraser ---- board duster

I am sure there will be many more errors to come.
As I have been told frequently this week, I will learn a lot this year.

Leaving Pretoria

Last night, the U.S. Fulbright Exchange Teachers, myself included, went to our first braii (barbecue) hosted by Mary and Lucy from the Embassy. I was able to meet former Fulbrighters and my principal and his lovely wife whom I will meet again today when I arrive in Kwamhlanga to see my new school. So, today is my first real driving adventure from Pretoria to Moloto which is only about a 50 minute drive, but with my "NEW" driving skills it may take twice as long.

Arriving in SA

The flights from Atlanta to Tambo Airport with a stopover in Dakar was pretty good. For spending 30 some hours in airports and planes, the time went by quickly. Though I will say that the insecticide they sprayed in the plane at Dakar was weird, but apparently mandatory.

All five of us (US Fulbright teachers) were met by Lucy from the Embassy, and then we travelled to our guest house which is beautiful. Today, we went to the Embassy and to the Brooklyn Mall for some shopping. If that wasn't funny enough, then we had lunch at the Tribeca Cafe where we had pizza. Basically, it's like being in NYC.
Exciting news, I drove my car today on the "wrong side", with no problems, though I had two people in the car helping me, and I turned on the window wipers about 8 times, instead of my turn signal!
The weather is cooler than I thought, but hopefully it will warm up this weekend when I travel to Kwamhlanga, my new home for the next year.