Leaving and Last Minute Trips and Events

Soweto Cultural Park
View from Center of Soweto
Sterkfontein caves where oldest fossil of early man was found
Memorial Site for Student Uprising of 1976 in Soweto
Ndebele Wedding Cooking



Bye to Fulbrighters
Just a few words about my Fellow Fulbrighters – I really don’t know if I could have made it so well throughout the year without all of them – they were awesome!! Michelle was in Sterkspruit, a very rural village, her home was two rooms (you had to go outside to go from one room to the other, and she had to bring in water and heat it for her bath each day) and her learners were 70+ to a room. Language was a big challenge for her, yet she seemed very successful with her learners. Dan was in Parys, he lived in a small, cute town and worked in the township next to the town; he faced challenges with admin support and firm and consistent discipline at his school. Aminah was in New Castle, at a school with a large Indian population and an majority Indian staff; she faced many challenges with admin and learners and issues of respect. Sharyn and her family were in Cape Town. Sharyn’s school was fairly white with some diversity and her school was very high functioning ( a former model C school, it was like a very nice private school—with Smartboards, computers, a pool, etc.). However, living in Cape Town posed a few challenges , dealing with high crime rates, and a different kind of SA experience. And of course, I was spoiled rotten in KwaMhlanga. Living in a very nice township close to Pretoria and so many wonderful places to tour and visit. My challenges were learner apathy and language. Without my Fulbright 5 to talk to about issues and exams, life would have been frustrating indeed. So THANKS!!
I will miss them all.

Sterfontein Caves and Soweto
All year I have been meaning to go to the Sterkfontein Caves and Soweto. Finally, with a week or so to go, I got my act together and visited. The Sterkfontein Caves are where they found “Mrs Ples” (really thought to be male now, “Mr Ples”) which is the oldest recorded human skull ancestor. Many skeletal parts of early humans have been found (and continue to be uncovered) at this renowned archeological site. Quite interesting to see and learn about, especially after my Earthwatch dig in Spain last year.

Then, onto Joburg. I stayed a night in Melville; a pretty cool spot on the outskirts of Joburg CBD. Great restaurants and cafes and bars all along one main street. The next morning, I went on a tour of Soweto. I took a small tour, led by people living in Soweto (versus the large tour bus thing). Soweto is huge; a collection of about 21 townships. From central Soweto, we climbed the tower, and as far as you can see in every direction is Soweto – incredible. Presently, Soweto ranges from very poor townships (tin shacks) to government homes (cement brick houses), to larger private built homes. We toured the usual spots – seeing where the Freedom charter was signed, visiting a cultural village and park, Mandela’s former home site (new under construction to become a museum) and Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s home, and the area where the 1976 student uprising took place and the memorial for it. We also visited a local sculptor, a local community center in Kliptown (a very poor section of Soweto), and saw everything from fancy new shopping malls to many vacant apts (because no one can afford the rents). A very interesting day. Though I have lived and worked in townships, they can vary greatly; a fact confirmed by my visit around Soweto qnd traveling through SA.


Durban and Sodwana Bay--Soaking up the Sun
After returning from Soweto and spending a day packing, I was ready for my holiday beach vacation. I hopped in my car, and many hours later I arrived in Durban, KZN. The next day I headed to uShaka Marine World where I toured a very nice aquarium (5th largest in world), saw a dolphin show, splashed down water slides, and had a nice day at the beach. The water is the Indian Ocean and it is SO WARM!! A great day at the beach was followed by some Christmas shopping at Gateway (one of the largest malls in SA) and a trip to the movies to see Madagascar 2 (which I have wanted to see since my June Madagascar trip). After a great night’s rest at a backpackers, I headed to the beach for a quick swim, picked up my fellow Fulbrighter, Sharyn, from the airport, and we headed to Sodwana Bay (a few hours north of Durban). We stopped on the way at a craft market and bought some Zulu masks and drove onto the Bay. We stayed at Coral Divers (a 5 star PADI diving place). I have my open water scuba cert, but have never dived since my test check-out dives, so I had a very early (6 am) morning “refresher” dive course in the training pool, a quick breakfast, then it was off to the beach for my first dive. I have to say I was nervous, but the refresher course made me feel ready to get in the water and try. The dive was great; we saw so many beautiful fish and the coral reef is amazing. Over the next couple of days, Sharyn and I did 3 more dives, each one better and better. [Water temp was 26, visibility was 25 meters, and max depth only 15 m, perfect for me], We saw schools and schools of fish (I love how they can be so still and also move in sync so well, like one organism). We saw a giant sea turtle (sadly we were ascending at the time), a paper fish (rare sighting), honeycomb moray eels (not so scary as I would have thought, more fascinating), and manta rays (amazing to see them seemingly come out of nowhere in the sand and sail/fly along the bottom). At first, I thought “this diving fine, but snorkeling is easier and just as great”, but by the end of the week I definitely liked diving a lot, and I hope to go again (warm water only please). It really was like living in Finding Nemo for a few hours, but better! And I did see Nemo, actually a few clown fish , and there they were swimming in anemones just like in the movie – in fact, I believe I saw many, many fish from the movie (I plan on trying to look them up before I start to forget them all). And last, but not least, …drum roll please,…….. I swam with a whale shark!!! (the only shark I really wanted to see, and I did , up close, probably 2 to 3 meters away from me. ) It moves so slowly and it is pretty big , at least from my point of view – I was very PSYCHED!! DIVING is AWESOME.

Weddings
I ended my stay with a couple of weddings. I went to a traditional Ndebele ritual where the bride is dressed and pinned from shoulder to ankle in an Ndebele blanket (traditionally women married to Ndebele men will where a blanket around their shoulders year-round for their entire married lives). Sbongile, the bride, was in her room for the day, and we visited for a while (I had met her a children’s birthday party a few weeks earlier, the philosophy is definitely the more the merrier here). Afterwards, I met up with Lally(a teacher at my school and a good friend), she was part of the wedding party and had been at the house for a couple of days with the other women, they had been very busy cleaning and cooking. They cooked huge pots of food of open fires, and everything was delicious – oxtail, woors (sausage), pap, rice, morogo (spinach salad), butternut squash, custard, trifle and more.
While the cooking continued, I went to sit with the other women and watched some traditional dancing. Afterwards the presentation of gifts from the bride to the groom’s family began. This took a couple of hours. A handmade woven mat was placed in the center of the circle of women and each woman of the groom’s family came to sit and was presented with many gifts, each gift one at a time. Gifts included traditional rainbow blankets, traditional beads and rings, housedresses, tea sets, umbrellas (immediately opened and used to shade the women), comforters, handmade brooms, and so much more – very thoughtfully, it all came in a storage box or piece of luggage with wheels to take home. By the end of the presentation of gifts, the entire yard was filled with women and piles of gifts surrounding them.
Oh, while this is going on, the men, for the most part, are sitting separately and singing and dancing and drinking. One of the drinks was a traditional sorghum beer (quite sour to my taste, honestly I didn’t like it, it is nothing like the lager or ale I am used to). Throughout the day, the men stayed pretty separate from the women.
After the presentation of gifts, everyone just ate and chatted. Throughout the afternoon members of the groom’s family visited the bride’s room to give gifts of money. At the end of the day, young women (those who had already gone through initiation) dressed in traditional clothes danced for the families, and then the bride and some of her family were loaded into several combis/ taxis for the trip to the groom’s family home where she will stay. A few of the bride’s family traditionally travels with her to make sure she is properly welcomed at her new home.
All in all a nice day.
Lastly, the day before I flew home, I attended the Western wedding of GS, a teacher and friend from King Makhosonke (you may remember her, she was promoted to another school to be HOD, and I took over her classes). Her wedding was beautiful -- quite a large wedding party and lots of dancing. The wedding party dances in sync to leave the home and go to the church and later dances into the reception -- it was quite a sight. Congratulations GS and July, now, Mr and Mrs Mahlangu!

LEAVING SA
Leaving SA was difficult. On one hand, I wanted to be home for the holidays and see my family, but leaving my new family and friends and new life was not easy. Not to mention leaving sunny days, for NYC's cold, gray, and slushy weather. Also, I will miss my Fulbrighter friends too. But the day had come, I packed my overstuffed bags into a taxi that I hired to take me and my friends to the airport. On the way, we stopped at Kollanade Mall (the mall I went to a lot for internet service when I first got to SA), my friends bought me two really nice and cute outfits to take home and show off my new SA style, we got to hear the Soweto String Quartet play (they sounded great and lifted everyone's spirits), and with a last yummy frozen yogurt in hand -- we headed to the airport. I will miss everyone, but especially my housemate Poughie ( watching Generations together, her teaching me language, an my cooking lessons, and oh, so much more), her son Karabo (yes, I will miss him, even though teens can be a worry to live with at times), and most especially, my two best friends Lally and Sma -- we were the "power of 3" and had so many laughs together - we talked about everything and always made each other smile - such good times. I know we will stay good friends and plan to sms (text message) using our cells, to keep in touch. Goodbye for a little while South Africa...

My Farewell and King Makhosonke’s Closing Party

Last week schools here in South Africa officially closed, and while I am happy to be done with lessons and marking for a few weeks, I am also really sad to not see everyone each day, learners and staff.
However, the last days were memorable. With my heading back to the US, they gave me a farewell party – complete with a few speeches, gifts, a braii, and some jiving.
Way back in January when Abram, my principal, introduced me to the staff, he asked them to make me feel at home, and now, I am at home here. I have two homes and families now; I know I am very lucky!
At my closing party, one of the teachers (who I didn’t think liked me very much in the beginning, but now we are nice friends) said that they didn’t see the color of my skin, they just saw a beautiful African woman (they are so nice!!), and it is true – in the beginning, being the only white person for miles and miles, I really felt like I stood out. A few weeks ago, I went out shopping with my teacher friends here and we split up, I asked them where to meet, and they said they would find me – and I replied, but how? (ok, to clarify, I have not become the dumb blonde here, it is just that I totally forget I look different because I have been made to feel so at home here.)
My farewell party was so much fun, and the gifts from the staff were BEAUTIFUL!! An Ndebele beaded necklace, belt, bracelet, ear rings, sandals, keychain, and traditional doll. They were very, very generous, and I have to say I looked great! The party continued with everyone having a photo with me, then my fav foods woors and pap with tomato-onion gravy, and then some jiving.
Though my farewell party was done, the school year was not yet complete. Report cards still had to be written and mounds of paperwork to be completed. In addition, I decided to take on a couple of thank-you and I-will-be-back projects. The librarian and I tackled the scary bookroom; imagine thousands (literally) of books lining the shelves and them covering the floor in heaps at least two feet deep – books everywhere with no rhyme or reason – this was the scary bookroom. It took us two complete workdays to get most of it cleaned up and somewhat organized (hundreds of books had to be trashed because of mold too). This led to my next project – a school library.. The library building was constructed by the Dept of Ed several years ago, but it was never put to use as such and became a storage area for broken desks, pipes, doors, and all other things broken. Over the years, the building itself became somewhat a mess and in need of many repairs. So I used some funds and worked with the School Governing Board (Go Sis Rose and Maja!!) to hire contractors. (I have to say I have heard many stories-- all right, nightmares-- about contractors, but it really wasn’t too bad.) After a week, the library walls were patched and painted, the ceilings was repaired, and a new door and burglars were put into place. [next step, the SGB and school needs to remove the broken storage stuff and have shelves made – then the king Makhosonke Library will be ready. --- just a note to all of you: 1)Moloto (the area where the school is located) is a very economically depressed area and this library would be the first in the Moloto region 2) the library only has about 100 non-textbook books; basically, two sets of old encyclopedias and random books donated by a few organizations – the school has over 1000 learners and the Moloto region thousands of young people – this brings me to a note that I hope and plan to have book drives in the spring when I return to the states to help fill the shelves of King Makhosonke’s new library.
Last, the end had come – the final day of school was Tuesday, December 9th. Lots of last minute paperwork, handing out report cards to my advisory (40 learners), closing the lab for the last time, one last look at the library and newly painted 8 and 9th grade classrooms (another mini-project with some learners doing the painting – go Aubrey and friends!), and quite a few tears on my part. About noon, we knocked off and about 15 staff (myself included) hired a transport and headed to Hartesbeesport Dam for a closing party. One thing about trips here – the journey is half the fun - lots of music and laughter and some dancing along the way. We took quite a roundabout route, but the park was lovely with the Dam, waterfall, and river flowing by us. They sang and taught me a South African song (which I will try to remember); the song is a bit naughty, basically saying , “Hey, its just the two of us here (meaning no other spouses around), so turn out the lights.” Between singing, dancing, chatting, and eating, everyone had a great time – we didn’t get home till 11pm (which to NYC people may sound early, but let me tell ya, 8pm is considered “late” where I live here). Bye to everyone at KMSS – but I will be back to visit, I promise!

Mini- trip to Swaziland

Last week (the weekend before school officially closed), I decided to get away from the painting, dusty/moldy books, and paperwork and just relax, swim, and shop. Swaziland is not so far away , and I wanted to see another country while I was here, so I hopped in my car and seven, not so short, hours later I was there. OK, why seven hours? Well, driving to the border of Swazi, easy, waiting in lines to cross border, less easy, being re-routed from main national highway through Mbabane city central on a Friday evening, not easy at all! Lots of slow moving traffic, and I was not exactly sure if I was still following the detour correctly; did I mention it was stormy and I was driving in a downpour?
However, it was all worth it. I went to Mlilwane Nature Sanctury; a quiet, peaceful place which was just what I was looking for. Even though I was two hours late, they kindly had a key and showed me to my beehive – yes, beehive. Well, it is a traditional hut structure that looks like a beehive. Very cool. (This has been a fun year housing-wise– rondavels, a treehouse, camping in rainforests of Madagascar, my home in the township,etc.)
The next morning, I went for a quick bike ride and walk around (my bike ride would have been longer , but a male wildebeest seemed unhappy with my choice of trail, so I turned down a short path). The place was all shades of green and clouds and mist hung over the mountains and hills. Next, stop shopping!
I went to the famous Swazi Candle shop (which is actually one of a cluster of craft workshops all selling hand-made goods, and the best part (for me) was watching the crafts people at work.
I spent way too much time at the candle shop, but there are SO MANY candles and each one is a little different. Also, one of the craftswomen gave me some paraffin, so I could try my own hand at candle-making. After ten minutes of work, I declared my candle to be the ugliest candle I ever saw. The craftswoman kindly took pity and said that I was clearly making a cheetah head candle, and then she proceeded to shape my mess into just that, and I still have it as souvenir. After my candle shopping, I spent some more time watching them shape elephant, hippo, and many other shaped candles by hand (they are very fast) and adding eyes and a wick; next, the outside layer of multi-colored and patterned wax is added to the shape. I have to say I was pretty fascinated by it all.
After my candle watching phase, I went onto the hand-dyed and hand-woven fabrics workshop. Far more complicated, I was happy just to watch. After looking at quite a few really pretty pieces, I chose two scarves made from bamboo and banana peel fibers that had been hand-dyed and woven together. I think the two different materials and textures made the scarves more interesting and the colors/patterns (so many to chose from) were wonderful. Hungry from a tough day of shopping, I headed to the café where I had the best soup I have had in southern Africa , and maybe the best chicken soup ever (EXCEPT my Mom’s chicken corn soup!) . The chicken soup was made with coconut milk, cilantro, a little fresh ginger, chicken, and sweet potatoes and other fresh herbs and spices , and it was absolutely delicious.
After checking out a couple more craft stores on my way back to camp, I arrived to find that I had guests waiting outside my beehive. A group of five impalas were lazily grazing around the campsite. I hung out with them a little while and headed for a swim with a breeze in the air and views of green hills all around. My last day, I went with a guide and another campground guest on a longer mountain bike ride around the nature sanctuary seeing gnus (wildebeest), zebras, impala, blesbok (a new kind of deer I hadn’t seen), cute and ugly at the same time baby wart hogs and their moma (my fav in the park) and many, many birds. As drove through the park heading for my SA home, I stopped by the hippo water hole and saw a couple of hippos spraying water and playing around as a crocodile (flat dog) swam by. I think I was expecting some sort of scene from Fantasia or a Mutual of Omaha’s Wildlife special, but no, the croc swam quietly on by, seemingly ignored by and in turn ignoring the hippos at play.
After a much shorter trip (no rain and no detour), I was home sweet home again.

Rubber Fetish ?

My favorite sign in SA.