My first weekend

Hello and sorry for the delay, I am told that the blog is generating some interest which is great. Hello to everyone new. Unfortunately I cannot update it at weekends as I have no internet access.

I have lots to report though. On Thursday I spent the day with Mr Scheepers again before going out to a nice Jamaican restaurant called Banana Jam Cafe. On Friday I had a much better day at school, joining the Grade 4s with Ms Fortuin. These kids are 10 and I was very surprised to discover that none of them can add or subtract, despite all of them being adamant that this work had been covered in the past. They are unable to expand brackets and do simple times tables. As a result I spent the whole session individually helping them with every single sum they were given. I'm not sure what is going on at this school. Either they are not assessed at all, or the assessments are made and the work is just forgotten by the time they come back after the summer break. The main issue is the fact that they cannot stay quiet. I'm not sure why this is because all of the teachers are very strict with them. After the lesson I was given time to speak to the class about myself and about England, and the children had time to come and talk to me.

I was released at 1pm on Friday and I went to Newlands to meet Callum. We had lunch and then looked in some shops before heading to Muizenberg and the beach where the surfers work. Here it is:



Muizenberg is also home to the famous and very colourful Victorian beach huts:



Friday was Jannes's last day so by way of tradition we all went to a steak house called Pirates. What I thought would be a quiet meal turned into an all-nighter. Reports of me dancing with Mrs Bagley are unconfirmed.

On Saturday I went back into the city to walk around Company's Gardens. This is the main park in the city and originally belonged to the Dutch East India Company, hence its name. It's a beautiful area and contains pathways lined with trees and grassed areas with a large cafe in the middle that is sheltered by the canopy. Here are two pictures of Company's Gardens, with table mountain in the background on the second one:





Following this, I walked back to the station via Long Street. This road is the main nightlife spot in the city. In the day time it's quite relaxed, but you still need to keep your wits about you as there are many people who approach you ultimately looking for money. As a result, I couldn't take many pictures but here is one showing the Victorian architecture that is common here:



Sunday was probably my favourite day here so far. I have been spending a lot of time with Callum. Now that Jannes has left, the German girls in our house seem to do their own thing. We hired a cab for the day and went to Simon's Town and Boulders Beach, the latter being famous for its colony of wild African penguins. At the visitors' centre we walked down a wooden walkway to the beach and although you can't go onto the beach you are able to get some good photos. Sorry Annette, I couldn't bring one home with me. It was amazing to see them in the wild, jumping out of the sea and waddling around a huge beach. They are so enchanting that I could sit here all day uploading pictures, but here are just a few:









Following this we headed to Cape Point, the most south-western point of the African continent. We had lunch here at a restaurant on a cliff edge and then walked over a treacherous mountain path towards the Cape Of Good Hope:



Along the way we encountered lizards, baboons, a rock hyrax and a lonely ostrich. In a typically British way we were unequipped, burned by the sun and both wearing silly and inappropriate flip flops for the walk:



But with strength of loin and a stiff upper lip we made it to the finish:

JAWS!

Several of the shark cage diving companies here have been criticised over the last couple of years. Some of them have been using bait to attract the sharks, therefore enabling the divers to have a closer look. As a result, the great whites are learning to associate food with people...not wise.

So, here's a story! About a month ago a man was in the sea at the nearby town of Fish Hoek. He was standing up to his neck in the water and the coastguard saw him disappear under the water. He resurfaced momentarily before disappearing again. The water turned red and he was gone. Some believe sharks will not deliberately kill people but given that this one came back for the man a second time and that no part of him was ever found, there was no case of mistaken identity in this case!

It turns out that the sea bed drops away very steeply at about neck height at Fish Hoek. The sharks are believed to be patrolling this ridge in wait. Stay out of the water!

Sun, sand and shots for one rand

I have been in the school for two days now and I am already deflated by the realisation that it is very difficult for Projects Abroad to make any real difference here. I have plenty of ideas, but talking to the other teachers reveals that there is absolutely no sustainable funding to implement new initiatives. The classrooms are old, they use chalk and blackboard, there are no visual displays and there is very little structure to the children's learning from what I can perceive. The children, however, are bubbly and full of life. I took a picture of the playground here:



As soon as they saw my camera, a large group of them requested to be snapped and I have several pictures like this:



I already feel a bit frustrated with the school. A particular teacher has very little planned each day and the children sit idle for large portions of time. This teacher then shouts at them for talking but they are not at fault. I have some lesson ideas and I will be talking to the principal to try and move around to several classes. This way I will gain a fuller understanding of how this school works. I am supposed to be teaching English and at present I'm under-used.

I returned home for the evening and took this rather lovely photo of the sunset at the Table Mountain range from the house. I believe this particular section is part of the Twelve Apostles:



At 9pm myself and my housemates ventured to Long Street, the main spot for nightlife in town. We were headed for a club called Chrome followed by a pub called Dubliners. We were collected from the house by Archi, the friendly cabbie. I had the misfortune of landing the front seat and was therefore hit by Archi's story of how his boss has given him a warning for taking sick leave without notifying him. Archi doesn't like his boss and felt that this alone was reason not to inform him. This is of course ridiculous and completely Archi's fault, but when you're in a strange cab with a strange man in a strange country you just agree "yes, how terrible Archi. Take him to court!"

Nothing exciting about either the club or the pub, but shots are 1 rand in Chrome. That's 8p! Long Street at night is interesting though and there are lots of bars, restaurants and people cooking meats and other food on the streets. It's also safe at night when you're in a group. We met up with Jannes's fellow volunteer, a man named Jan who is the most German German I have ever met (yes that is a girl's name, isn't it?) Unfortunately I didn't take my camera out, but Callum did and he should tag me on Facebook soon I have no doubt!

A big hello to Claire and Jose. Welcome to my blog. I have been expecting you!

Off to school and a museum!

So off I wandered at 7:30am to the school after 'unbolting' the front gate by taking the wiring off (more 5am singing this morning, by the way). This picture shows the scene of my commute:



This picture is the school taken from the road:



The classrooms are stuffy and pre-fabricated and here is a picture of one:



I was introduced to the staff during a brief staff meeting and then to the teacher I would be spending time with, Mr Scheepers. Walking in to face 35 twelve year olds was daunting but not altogether new to me. The principal introduced me, I introduced myself and off we went. We worked on maths (expanding brackets) and plural words and then the kids went home at 1pm - not bad, eh? My initial impression was that the children are smart but a bit lazy in some cases. I sense a lot of frustration from Mr Scheepers though and the school is under-resourced as expected. I was actually left on my own with them for a long 20 minutes while Mr Scheepers made some photocopies. With nothing prepared I just chatted to them, about to begin an improvised maths game when he finally returned. I am the only volunteer at this school but I think that's a good thing as I already feel rather immersed into the project.

Oh and another thing. Each classroom has a loudspeaker on the wall. Periodically the principal will interrupt and relay information to the teachers about registration or "learners walking around the grounds aimlessly." It's quite distracting and possibly costly so I was surprised to see such technology considering the slow internet connection which only works on 3 machines in the I.T. room.

I returned home at 1pm and decided to take the plunge and venture into the city centre alone, namely to visit the District 6 Museum. Trips like this are littered with defining moments and I was hit with one as I left the house and walked up the road again. A girl in her Hyde Park Primary uniform ran up to me saying hello and see you tomorrow...so that was nice!

I jumped on the cramped minibus and got a train to the centre. Here is the District 6 Museum, on Buitenkant Street:



Briefly, District 6 was a central and poor area of Cape Town occupied by non-white residents. The Government under apartheid decided to clear this area and relocate these people to the Cape Flats (where I am staying). In doing so, the area became a whites-only zone. The museum is small but tells some heart-breaking stories, with many of the evictees being relocated to different areas to the rest of their families.

Here's one for the planners (sorry, it was only a matter of time!) Le Corbusier, the famous designer and architect, had a vision for geocentric cities. At the time of apartheid, the South African government adopted his vision and even used it as a reason to clear District 6 of its 'slums' and start a regeneration project. So in effect, town planning and urban design may in some part be responsible for some of the apartheid actions of the government here...perhaps we should keep this quiet!

The train home was odd and I could probably write an entire post on them! At the main station the platforms are shown but the train times are all about 2 hours ago. I have now learnt that the trick is to go to the platform number displayed and either ask the driver or some other equally confused passenger as to whether you are on the right one. There isn't really a timetable as such. Also, there are no announcements on the train so you have to scan the platforms as you pass them, hoping that the right station names appear. All of this before having to physically force open the hydraulic doors when the train stops. I got home, after whacking my head a couple of times on the minibus roof, and decided that was enough for today.

Induction and first day

I was woken at 5am by singing and although I was aware of Cape Town's Muslim community, I didn't realise there was a mosque just next door. Something I will just have to get used to!

I managed to get a chance to write this on Monday Afternoon and the wind here is crazy. Imagine the hottest day of the year in the UK and the windiest rolled into one and that's about how it is here.

At 9:30am myself and Marjam were escorted to the Projects Abroad office in Newlands by Alex and another of his colleagues. We crammed into a local minibus and arrived a Wynberg station to travel north a few stops. Aaron met us there for our induction. Aaron is from Nottingham and landed a job at Projects Abroad straight from Uni. Newlands is a nice area of town and he bought us lunch. I also purchased an SA mobile phone and sim card. My number is 0720650131 (although you may need to add +27 to the start of it, I'm not sure).

Here is a picture taken from the car journey back to Parkwood:



Following this I was driven back home to Parkwood and to Hyde Park Primary School. This is just at the end of our road and I will be able to walk there in a couple of minutes each day. I met the principal (Mr Jurgens) and he, like many others here, was more interested in talking sport than education. My school days will start on Tuesday at 7:40am and the children leave at 2pm.

Following this I returned home to try to digest all the info and myself and the other volunteers stayed home playing pool.

Bye for now!

Kaapstad

Hello from Cape Town. Despite some last minute doubts I boarded the plane and here I am. The flight was good and I spent most of it half asleep, landing in a warm but very windy Cape Town on Sunday morning.

I got through security quickly but was unnerved to discover that my driver hadn't arrived. After several uncomfortable minutes with my backpack digging into my shoulders I spotted a burly and vacant-looking man holding up my name. Denver turned out to be very friendly and we talked about the World Cup and the parking problems at the airport. The South African casual attitude to safety and security soon became apparent as we arrived at his ancient VW van with no seat belts. "Don't worry, you won't fall out" said Denver, but I was more concerned about being thrown out. Despite my initial fears, Denver reassured me and we weren't carjacked at every junction!

When we arrived at my lodgings (Mr & Mrs Bagley's house) I immediately thought 'what have I done?' Although the area was built up with housing, it was clearly very poor and I was instantly conscious of the fact that I was very much in the minority ethnically. I knew in an instant that this would be no picnic and it was the most frightening arrivals at any destination I have ever experienced. I stepped inside promptly to be met by Lester, the Bagleys' son. I was shown to my room and met Alex, a Projects Abroad worker who is staying there for a while. After getting my bearings I was met with the arrival of the other 4 volunteers (Taylor, Vivian, Callum and Jannes). Callum was to be my room-mate and is an 18 year old from Salisbury. We talked in our room about how shocking the arrival is and then met Mr & Mrs Bagley as they arrived home. They are hard to describe but they are certainly loud, funny and friendly. We sat and drank beer all afternoon with one of the Bagley's daughter's husbands (Tyron) and some other guy.



The Bagley family home

I should point out at this point that the Bagley household is teeming with people. There are about 20-30 relatives and friends who come and go throughout the day and I don't think I will ever know all their names.

We spoke about politics and their perceived failings of President Zuma before the final volunteer arrived, Marjam. We then all decided to go out to the Grand Hotel Casino. Jannes is a long-term volunteer and we piled into his hire car.

The attitude here is so different to home. Windows are left open in the day and although the house is gated it is not locked...and the two arthritic German shepherds are a bit cowardly. Also, the rear French window doesn't lock at all. Despite this, I'm told there have never been any major incidents.

This time tomorrow...

...I shall be on my way to Cape Town. I'm feeling an odd mix of excitement and mainly apprehension. The months of reading, planning and booking have now led to a moment of realisation that I will actually be going through with all of this!

My next post will come to you from 12 hours and 6000 miles away.

Farewell and stay tuned!