Hike.

On the recommendation of Nadine, we hiked up to the top of the Drakensberg mountains to overlook the Ampitheatre. The views were spectacular the entire way. The hike itself was long and arduous, especially because of the snowfall from earlier this week. I appreciated the "hiking mindset" that I developed as I concentrated on each step. We snaked along the sides of the mountains, along paths made narrow and slippery from the snow. We ascended the "dodgy chain ladders" to the top of the mountains, and then walked the distance in knee-deep snow. We were cold, and wet, and tired, and the day faded quickly. It was worth it. We made it back to the car just as the sun set behind the mountains, and then Mike and I shared the long drive home.

Explore.

I drove the entire way out to Drakensberg today, and it was the brownest, driest road I've ever seen. We arrived at the Royal Natal National Park, and a man at the visitors' centre recommended that we hike the Cascades (it was already quite late in the day).

The rest of the afternoon was spent marveling at the beauty of South Africa. "Eish!" I would say happily, whenever I would turn the corner and see the smoke from campsites filtering through the pines, or the water that cascaded over stones, or the vast horizon of hills, or the majesty of the mountains as they changed from brown to gold in the light of the setting sun.

Everything made me stop and smile. It felt good to be surrounded by beauty today.

Describe.

I considered for a long time what to write about today. I did many things, but none of them seemed especially worthy of discussion or documentation. I think it is because as this week wraps up, I find myself in a world that has become completely normal.

This morning, I commuted with Josephine to work on mini-bus taxis. I marveled at the morning light, as I do most every morning when I drive to work because it is always just before dawn and everything comes alive as the sun rises.
We nearly froze to death, because another cold front has hit Gauteng, and it's fuh-reezing.
Nadine and I walked to Shoprite and she purchased a large...what does she call them? slop-chip, or something. It's just a big mess of fries with salt and vinegar and it is my new favorite thing.
We walked with the students to the Diepsloot mall and meandered about in the small science exposition.
Later, I got a ride to Dainfern and helped the students begin their business plans. They worked amazingly hard for a late Friday afternoon, and I have perhaps never seen a Friday afternoon class so focused on the task at hand.
I rode with the students back to LEAP 3, as today marks the end of my homestays. I shared a blanket with Karabo and Zinhle.
I went to the market (grocery store) with M & Kr and we picked up food stuff for our weekend trip. I also purchased snacks on behalf of the girls staying at LEAP 3, and this was an adventure not unlike Supermarket Sweep ("top deck? what's a top deck?").
In the evening, M & Kr and I packed our things, and relaxed a bit, and that's the day.

It's a lot. But you see, today I think is the day that merely represents that my life here is another life entirely. It's normal. The names, the faces, the personalities, the routines. What can I say about what I have done? I have done so much, and yet, it seems like nothing. That's all I can say to describe.

Commute.

I woke up early this morning to commute to school with Josephine. As Josephine is fairly new to the area, she opted to leave her car in Cape Town and use the mini-bus taxis to get to work each day.

For me, taking the mini-bus taxis was an adventure. We woke up so early, and the city still stood quietly in the dark, and then we caught our taxis. The sounds and feeling of all of this were so unfamiliar to me, and I loved this new experience.

I also loved the way the city looked with the sun just on the horizon of the day. Eish.

We left the house today at 10 till 6, and returned at half past 8. Long, long, long day.

Read.

I have been reading, Leadership: The Care and Growth Model during the past week and a half that I have been with LEAP 4. This is a book about running a successful and healthy business that LEAP is using as a focus for their school.

Overall, the book is a dry read (no offense to the author -- but there are far too many examples that explain the same thing!), but I am finding little nuggets that help me understand my own philosophies about educational practices.

Today, I appreciated Chapter 12, "Holding People Accountable." Here is a relevant quote:

"...[F]ar from being a virtue, a results focus is probably the most pernicious vice one can cultivate in an organization.... [F]ocusing a person's attention on results is focusing the person on something he or she cannot do anything about. By definition, results are something which one gets. However, one only has power over what one gives or contributes. This means that if your attention is on what you are getting you are paying attention to that which you have no power over. To focus a manager's attention on results is to fundamentally disable him."

Education is a very results-oriented sector, and we commonly look to test results, expecting them to indicate how well teachers performed. Yes, test scores may tell us something about a teacher's ability to teach, but they also may be information about the child's home life, what they ate (or didn't eat) for breakfast that morning, or how much money their parents make.

Results do not always tell us what we want them to tell us. Ultimately, this chapter insists that organizations must analyze what each person has contributed, and not just the results. To do anything else would unfairly hold people accountable for that which they cannot control.

Enjoy.

Today was my last night staying with Nadine & Chase, and so we celebrated by going to Cape Town Fish Market and eating half-priced sushi from a conveyor belt, which was beyond cool (and so tasty).

On the teacher-y side of things, today the students presented the social businesses that they researched last week, and now we will get to move forward into their own original ideas. I am excited to hear what they come up with! In English, all of the students read this blog, and I got lots of comments from them. I have so enjoyed getting to know them and work with them in the past two weeks!

Attend.

We were invited to attend a talk at Witswatersand University this afternoon, about astronomy and being alive. The talk was entitled, “You’ve got to know where to scratch.” I had a really good time walking around the campus with the LEAP 4 students and gawking over everything and wishing I were in college again. The talk was good – I was struck by his discussion of how change is the only constant, and that our lives are what we do when we submit to the chaos and challenge ourselves to make the most of it. I thought Lesego said it best when she said, “We must use failure as a fertilizer,” and never give up. For whatever reason, I supremely enjoyed today, and was very glad to accompany the students to the university and to the talk.

Pet.

I began my homestay with Nadine today, and she has a mission to make absolutely certain that I experience South African things! It is very exciting for me. Already, I have had biltong, Nik Naks, poikkie, milo, Steers, and white Kit Kats (all of which were fabulously delicious).

This afternoon, Chase and Nadine surprised me with a trip to the Lion Park, and I actually got to go into the exhibit with the baby lions and pet lion cubs. It was basically amazing. I thought lion cubs were cute before, and now I am forever in love. At the Lion Park, we also got to drive through the enclosures, like on our own mini-safari and I took a billion pictures of everything.

Share.

Today was a long, full day. We began with a quick drive to Diepsloot to help proctor examinations for potential LEAP 4 students.


Afterwards, we drove 2 hours to Cullinan, a little spot off in Pretoria east. LEAP 3 hosted a study camp for their matric students as they prepare for exams. We only stayed with them for a few hours in the afternoon, and only had a few opportunities to engage with the students.

For me, this proved to be challenging. I have struggled to engage with new students, again and again, and remember that my time here is limited. I don’t have time to just sit on the outside and observe. I must begin straight away to participate. But I am intimidated by language barriers, and also, by a sort of subconscious inclination to just stay to the side.

We had an opportunity to reflect with the students, discussing, What was I like when I came to LEAP, and how have I changed? We were instructed to find two natural items that resembled our experience. I also shared with them part of my own struggle of how I came to LEAP, and how I feel that I have changed. The natural item that I selected was a bit of dirt from the ground. This represents how I came here sort of on shifting grounds, because of the tragic circumstances of the week that I left. I didn’t know how to stand, where to place my feet, what was my foundation. The item I selected for where I am now was a stick that branched off in two directions, symbolizing the opportunity I have to choose how I will move forward from now.

After our reflections, we talked generally about the United States, and how our cultures are different. I honestly don’t know what good my sharing was. I don’t know how four or five hours with them this afternoon could have made any difference at all, but I shared openly and honestly, and so I guess that’s about as good as it gets, neh? This was a very full Saturday. I am wishing for a weekend.

Teach.

I began a project with the students today, and gave a little lecture on Muhammed Yunus and social businesses (thanks, Cady Staff!). When they introduced the Combined Studies subject to me, they told me that it's all about culture and history and society and I was so excited because that's what I teach and what I love!

Then they told me that that's what they covered last term...and this term, I was to begin with business. I was like. Mm. OK. I can do that.

But it's not very thrilling.

I remembered that Cady Staff had done her Action Research Project on a "social business project" and so I decided to start there and see if there was anything I could glean from it to start a project with the LEAP students, and it turns out to be this awesome and amazing concept of social businesses, which is not only about business, but ALSO about society (which I love!) and so now I am happy, and also am totally hooked up with resources.

So today we started the Social Business Project. I am abbreviating it, so that I can finish it while I am here, but they could continue with it for longer if they wanted to. When I look at the calendar of what we're doing in class, my time here seems to vanish in an instant.

Participate.

Dainfern tour today! This was a very exciting opportunity for the LEAP students, and I felt really privileged to be a part of it. As I mentioned, Dainfern is LEAP 4's partner school. It is a private school just a few kilometer's away -- I have been told that Dainfern is one of the wealthiest suburbs in Johannesburg, and it neighbors Diepsloot, which is one of the poorest townships.

This was a unique day for the students, because they do not usually get to interact with one another. Many of the Dainfern grade 9 students had never been inside of a township at all. The LEAP students were thrilled to get to show them their community, and their school.

It was amazing to get to see the students talk together, and nevermind the vast differences in their economic classes. I have already posted pictures of the township, and to put it in perspective, Dainfern students mainly have their own golf carts which they use to drive to one another's houses, or to school. It's that different. But today, they begun to get to know one another, and could see that whatever divides us, there is much more that makes us similar.

We toured extension 10 today. I spoke with many of the Dainfern students, too, and got to share some information that I've taken from the book that I'm reading about Diepsloot. I also got to experience bunny chow, which we all ate for lunch (it's like... 4 sandwiches in one -- kind of hard to describe). Today was exhausting, but also very inspiring and I was glad to share in it.

Begin.

I think I already mentioned this, but my role at LEAP 4 is to fill in for the Combined Studies teacher (who is currently in the United States -- odd how that works out). Since yesterday was Mandela Day, today was the first that I was to teach.

I had to wake up wicked early to get to Diepsloot by 7:30, and despite my best efforts, did not make it until 7:35. It turned out OK, and tomorrow I will leave earlier. I introduced myself as a teacher, and then we got started by just thinking through their tour with Dainfern students tomorrow.

Dainfern is their partner school. In the afternoons, the students from LEAP 4 bus over to Dainfern and are able to use their computer and science labs.

Today was not without the natural awkwardness of finding myself teaching in someone else's school, and trying to do my best with that. I know that forging relationships take time, so I'm trying to be OK with the part where we're still just learning one another and figuring all of this out.

Play.

Today is Mandela's 93rd birthday! People all around the country celebrate his birthday by giving back to the community. For 67 years, Mandela fought in the apartheid struggle, and so today, each South African is challenged to give 67 minutes in honor of his life. At LEAP 4, we celebrated his birthday by going to Smile Kids pre-school and playing with the kids there.

We sang songs, and the LEAP students taught lessons on numbers and the alphabet, and we painted beautiful pictures on the walls of their pre-school. I had so much fun. I spent a lot of time playing hand games with the little ones (the girl pictured in the top left... we seriously played the same hand game for at least 30 minutes) and then giving them piggy back rides. The little one in the upper-right, she couldn't be more than two-years-old, we played together taking pictures on my iPhone for a while. A lot of the kids, when they saw I had this phone, were more than eager to pose for cute pictures.

At the end of the day, I felt tired and happy. I got to play with kids all day, and get to know some of the LEAP 4 students even better. Tomorrow starts the first official day back from the holiday break, and I will be working with each of the teachers to do the Combined Studies course, and that begins at 7:30 sharp.

Shop.

Today we went to the African Craft Market in Rosebank and I shopped for over an hour. It was a lot of fun just browsing the booths, chatting with the merchants, and thinking about everyone I love and what they would love to receive.

I would post evidence of this, but that would totally spoil the surprise... :)

Culminate.

I enjoyed today immensely.

It began this morning (as many days do), and the students at LEAP 3 had the opportunity to showcase the work that they had completed during the past week of activities and workshops. [Check out this video of one of the poems performed.] I felt so different at the end of the week, looking out across the "sea" of faces. Now, they have names. Now, they have stories. I was proud to know the students of LEAP 3 in some kind of intimate way, even if it was just a little line I know about their grandfather, who fought in the apartheid struggle, or about an uncle who went to America to become a director, or a part of the stomach that her family doesn't eat because it would make you go crazy.

I smiled to know them now.

This week culminated my official time at LEAP 3, as well. Next week, I will be fully positioned at LEAP 4 in Diepsloot. The kids at LEAP 3 were bummed, and I didn't realize it until today, but so am I, even as I am excited to work with the LEAP 4 students.



In the afternoon, we went to Greenstone and watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2! I cried twice. It was so intense. I love those movies. I wish that we'd gotten to see it on Wednesday when it came out (it came out 2 days earlier in South Africa), but that would've been only for bragging rights. As it was, Saturday after the showcase was the perfect time to watch it. I felt like I was seizing the opportunity afforded by Saturday.

After the movie, we speed-shopped like on Supermarket Sweep, then we got lattes at a cafe in the mall, and then I bought five CDs to accompany my journey to Diepsloot all this week!

Oh, yeah, and we also culminated our time with Wendy at Moyo, with an intimate program reflection in the cozy outdoor space with blankets & drinks. We will miss her so much! It's hard to imagine Joburg without her. Wendy made us get our faces painted. :)

Encourage.

The afternoon at LEAP 4 was a little chaotic today as students scrambled to finish their puppet shows that they were working on with Mike. I had only a few students that did not finish their artwork from yesterday, so I encouraged them to finish with the time they had remaining.

One of the students had a very difficult time with her drawing, and yesterday, had basically given up on it. It struck me as very interesting, because Melissa is not the type of girl you would take for insecure. She is always smiling and dancing and singing. She won the girl's individual talent show last Friday, and today was one of the members of the winning group for the group talent show. She even got on stage and did an impromptu dancing/singing number with a couple of boys [click to see a video of this delightful, spontaneous moment].

But with her art, I could see that she struggled. Even though I don't know exactly what her friends were saying (they speak in like, 10 different languages here), it was clear that her art was becoming the brunt of many jokes and comments.

Yesterday, she'd given up. She'd taken an earlier draft from someone else, had erased the name, and claimed it as her own.

So today, I called her out. I brought to her the artwork that she'd started, and asked her if she wanted to finish it. She was embarrassed when I held up her drawing, and said she had another. Yes, I said, but you didn't draw it. I asked her if she wanted to give up, or if she wanted me to work with her and show her how to save her original piece. She took a moment, and decided to keep going.

Later, we worked together to talk about how to blend the colors, how to use the darker colors to correct her facial structure, and how to save the background (which had gotten messy). I was so proud of her for working through it, and appreciated an opportunity to intervene in someone giving up, even if it was just a drawing.

Congratulate.

The students at LEAP 4 finished their self-portraits today. I decided against continuing on with the poem, because that would have just added unnecessary stress. Sometimes teachers forget that we are the task-makers, and we get all stressed out because "there's not enough time" but in reality, there's always enough time, and usually too much to do. But I am in control of that. Anyway, I've written that "Where I'm From" poem like, three times this week, and have led almost 100 students from LEAP 3 in that activity, so it seemed an easy thing to let go.

So I pursued all of our peace, and I am super pleased with the results (and I think the students are as well). They were not extremely thrilled with using the oil pastels (many of them had never used oil pastels before), but they quickly figured out strategies, such as using tissue to blend the colors.

After they finished their art, I asked to take a picture of them. There is another class of pictures, but my camera is not working on account of the South African double A batteries that I purchased that were dead before they entered my camera. What a waste of 20 Rand.

Write.

Today was Day 3 of the holiday programme, so it looked very much like Day 1. In the morning, I worked with two new groups of students on their Where I'm From poems. Even though my Silver group was abnormally small, I took advantage of the intimate setting and had a chance to actually hear from all the students after they had finished their poems. I continue to be struck by the rhythms and sounds of their language, the depth of their histories, and the stories of their families.

The Silver group was also abnormally self-sufficient (probably just because there were fewer) and so I took the opportunity to write a new poem about where I am from. This is what I wrote:

Me?
I am from books--
books about white rabbits & getting too tall when you need to be small.
books about finding yourself amidst unfortunate circumstances, and discovering the hideousness and beauty within, about writing and wondering and most of all, imagination.
I am from summer camp love stories -- would you believe it? from the fortunate coincidence that my mom did have another name.
I am from a church hoedown, and a surprise kiss that led to a marriage that led to generations, which include me.
I am from abuse, physical and emotional, from adultery, and painful forgiveness.
I am from anxiety and depression, from striving again and again when you fail, and from fighting that is stubborn and silent.
I am from email and chat rooms, screen names and away messages, from webcams and mistakes.
I am from a weekly allowance that I used to buy birthday presents & Nutter Butters.
I am from committing to mountains before I know how large they are, from twisting my ankle, but always continuing the hike.
I am from sudden tears, "I'm not OK," and dozens of songs promising otherwise.
I am from equal parts faith and doubt, and believing in promises, because living is too hard without hope.
I am from so many other moments, from before me, and now. Moments which I can't explain to you in full, but I will always try, at least in part, to say what I have to say.

In the afternoon, the students continued their drawings and added color (with much difficulty) using the oil pastels. I hope that we will be able to continue our workshops there. There is a petrol strike here in South Africa, and many of the nearby petrol stations have gone dry. Crossing fingers!

Present.

The theme for the week at LEAP 3 is "Be You, Be Beautiful" and so many of the workshops revolve around celebrating our ability to make and create beauty within ourselves.

This morning, I had the opportunity to do a short presentation for all the students on the subject of damaged beauty. When I saw the four sub-themes for each of the days, I felt drawn to this subject, because I can relate to it. Celebrating my own beauty, physical and otherwise, is something that has challenged me since I was little.

Even though I was nervous about what would be lost in translation (even though we all speak English, it really is not the same [haha, Wendy & our heatuh]), I felt that the presentation went well. I saw a lot of understanding faces, and nodding, as I shared with them about such a difficult subject.

Today, no picture, but I am attaching my notes, which I followed pretty closely, even though I didn't use them.

Instruct.

Today was a real Monday! I got to lead workshops at both LEAP 3 and LEAP 4.

At LEAP 3, I am doing a bit of a poetry workshop, and having the students work with the "Where I'm From" poem by George Ella Lyons. I've done this poem with my students at HTHCV before, but doing it with the students here is also inspirational. I was explaining to Nomkhitha that I am endlessly excited about the different stories and details that each person can bring into the poem, the things that separate us and make us truly ourselves. I could tell she thought I was a little nuts. Her poem is the one at the end of this post.

Later with LEAP 4, I had the students begin with self-portraits. I enjoyed encouraging them to be kind to themselves and to appreciate what they could create (no comparisons, we all make art differently, and everyone is an artist). I love each of their sketches, and look forward to doing the poem with them later this week.

Long day, full of instructions, but also full of discovering new people.

Where I'm From
by Nomkhitha

I am from the womb
of an African woman
Born and bred in
the red soil of
endwana village.

I am from the
African forest
chased by wild
animals, yet
go back home
with meat.

Yes I am from
the Orange river,
I am from the
Kilimanjaro mountains
I climb with the
passion and the
memory of freedom.
I stand in the greenstone
watching the river flowing
I am from the heart
of the motherland.

I am from a respective
village, where my neighbour
is u-Aunty, where my
Aunty is uMama.
I am raised by my
Aunty, but to me
she is a mother.

Yes I am from a family
where u-Aunty is a mother,
where she is the father.
I am from the wings of
an African woman who
raised six African youth
without any help.
Yes I am from the
centre of strength,
from the hills of wisdom.

Attend.

Today I visited London Roach Church, an evangelical church about 1.5km from LEAP 3 (where I'm staying). It was more charismatic that churches I usually attend, and people happily jumped up and down and danced during the opening worship.

As we were singing, "Trading my sorrows" I realized that I hadn't been to church since Sean died. It's just circumstantial. The Sunday after he died, it was my first full day in South Africa, and the Sunday after, we traveled to Joburg, and the Sunday after that was today. I realized this because singing "Yes Lord, yes Lord, yes yes Lord," meant something different in the wake of his death. I struggled to be in a place of surrender, because I am still in such disagreement about all of this.

Some nights, especially after watching True Blood, I can't get the image of his death out of my mind. I think that saying "Yes Lord" doesn't necessarily mean that I agree with injustices or foolish mistakes (I don't know how to think about what Tom did, actually), but it means that no matter what the situation, I trust that the universe will unfold the way it needs to, the way God wants it to. That doesn't mean he wanted Sean to die the way he did, but that he can use Sean's life and death to impact the world in a positive way despite the tragedy.

This is still hard.

Church felt right. I was tempted to not go, because it was cold and I was tired, but I'm glad that I ventured out. It is a positive ritual for my existence, whatever the topic of the sermon (something, actually, I wasn't quite sure of, if you peruse my notes).

Eat.

After a failed attempt to find a faster Internet service, we drove out to Boo and Scott's house and had a braai (like, a barbecue). We visited in her lovely backyard with her chickens and kittens and dog, and then feasted on all sorts of delicacies, like some sort of special South African sausage (boerewor?), chicken kabobs, braai brikkie (sp?), lamb shoulder, fresh garden salad, mash, and varieties of vegetable dishes.

The dessert was interactive banana pastries, which you got to design yourself and then accessorize with caramel, fresh whipped cream, and frozen yogurt.

It felt good to feel welcome, and full.

Interact.

I feel like this is my favorite day of our journey so far, because today, we actually got to work with students!! I forgot how delightful it is to teach, how lovely it is to laugh, and encourage, and instruct.

This afternoon, we ventured once again to Diepsloot to meet with the Grade 9 students at LEAP 4. The students had organized a talent show, and so the first two hours or so we spent just watching each of them perform. They sang, danced, performed, rapped, and even showcased art. Every single person from LEAP 4 in attendance today had to contribute something, and after each performance, a panel of four judges said "It's a yes," or "No, sorry."

I was impressed with the judges' honesty, and especially, with performers' bravery.

Afterwards, we were promised an hour to do activities. I led them in two quick activities: team juggling and birthday line-up. They worked hard to get them right, and we processed together what went well, and what could've gone better. When they got it wrong, we laughed at the mistakes. We all tried again, and then celebrated when they got it right.

I was so encouraged by their openness, and by how welcomed we felt to just jump in and be family. It was a good day.

Tour.

Today we visited our third township in less than two weeks. Jeanette, one of the teachers at LEAP 3, said, "Now you've been to South Africa."

Our wonderful foundation tour guides led us on three separate walking tours (we were broken into three groups) and I got to tour extension 1 and 2. The students explained that the zones are very different. Zone 1 is mostly shacks, and it has no electricity. Zone 2 has a fire station, library, community center, many paved roads and sidewalks, and far more established shops (even ones that sell televisions).

We passed by a couple shebeens, with loud music and people milling about or playing pool.

We stepped over many drains, and puddles of running water. A student asked me if I thought Diepsloot was disgusting, and I told her that I didn't. The students asked me if we had shacks in America, and I told her that we didn't.

Not all of Diepsloot is shacks. There are suburbs, too, and government housing that takes ages to acquire, and you have to live in a shack first. The students explained that it is difficult, mainly, because of how many people have to use only one toilet. And that toilet doesn't have running water, either. It's just a hole in the ground. "So it stinks," a student concluded.

The students at LEAP 4 come from all over Diepsloot.

We concluded our tour just as the sun was setting over a park in extension 2. The students made sandwiches for themselves, and gave us delicious chicken pies and soda. We ate quickly, to get home before dark. They reminded me of Team Alpha, my first class of 9th graders, because for now, these forty students are the entire school. These were the first students we got to really interact with, and it reminded all of us of how much we like young people and how excited we are to work with them.

Tour.

A lot of the Teach With Africa program revolves around the deepening of our understandings of South Africa's complex history, and so they place a lot of real value on getting us out into the communities where the LEAP students live (Langa, Gugulethu, Alexandra, and Diepsloot) and also getting us into museums and other culturally important landmarks that contribute to our understanding. Today when we visited the Apartheid Museum in Joburg, and Wendy said, "We've got it. This is a part of your orientation," I think I understood even better what they want to be about.

The Apartheid Museum's brochure reads: "Apartheid is exactly where it belongs -- in a museum." I could not agree more.

The tour was long, and silent. I lost my crew after a short while, and did most of the touring on my own. There was a lot to read. A lot to take in. Reading about apartheid doesn't begin to tell you anything about the brutality of the separateness. The forced removals from townships, the Casspirs that became a daily occurrence in the townships, the dogs that they used to attack, the rallying of anger and energy and passion. You cannot just read about that.

I was most struck by the photography of Ernest Cole (1940-1990). He spent much of his life trying to document the horrors of the system of apartheid, and everywhere there was violence: in home brews, in tsotsis, in the schoolrooms (700 students with only 3 teachers?!). It was sobering, but I think it is important to remember. These are stories that must be retold.

Experience.

Our first full day in Joburg was full and exciting. This afternoon, we met up with a few LEAP students and student alumni, as well as Rebecca and Mapuleng, and took a walking tour all over the Alexandra township. We laughed and chatted, talked about poverty across our countries, and exchanged bits of cultural information here and there. We visited many of the heritage sites in Alex, like churches that held ANC meetings long ago and Nelson Mandela's one room home that he lived in while working in law offices when he first arrived here.

We also went to one of their social responsibility sites, which is a home for the elderly, and actually went inside and sang a song and danced. I think social responsibility is such a wonderful thing that they do here, and I hope that we can do something like it when I come back. It makes so much more sense to craft relationships with organizations, and have students elect for which ones they want. The way we do community service at my school is such a token gesture.

Alex felt very different from Langa. There were parts that were well-off, and parts that weren't. Many brick houses, some dirt roads, lots of fences with barbed wire or broken glass to deter people with poor intentions.

At the end of our tour, we went to Joe's Butcher and that's where the real experience began! It was outdoor grilled meat, and pap (mealies). We grilled one another on cultural differences, and explained that the United States is not a whole lot like it is in the movies (as Piladi would say, "sensualism"!).

Improvise.

We have finally arrived at the place that will be our home for the next 5 & ½ weeks. We are staying in the flat up top LEAP 3 in Linbro Park right outside Alexandra. Our plane got in around 2:00pm, and a whole fleet of LEAP students and LEAPSAs came to fetch us. They gave us a little tour around the school, and at last, I started to feel like home.

I told Piladi I hadn’t felt that way since arriving a week and a half ago. The school sits on probably an acre of land (I do not know what an acre is… but it’s a big lot) and there’s a soccer field, a barn, and a few stables in the back. The trees and plants are all things I know the names for, like Jacaranda and Eucalyptus and Ivy and Hydrangea.

Tumelo picked us up around 5:30 to get a few essentials, but everything at the mall was closed. We did manage to find some hot water bottles to heat up our beds, because it is very freezing here. We made dinner out of what we had – omelettes with tomatoes, individually wrapped cheese slices, and lunch meat – and then we set up an entertainment system in Kristin’s and my room with pieces of a futon, a comforter, lots of pillows, and Mike’s laptop. We watched two episodes of True Blood before curling up with our hot water bottle babies and getting to sleep.

Rest.

Today my goal was to sleep as much as I could, because I have not felt like I have woken up rested since I arrived here last Saturday. I finally got up at 9:42 this morning, then showered, made myself a cup of instant Joe, and then wrote the rest of my comments for my students. It has been hard to get caught up with that, but I did a good job spreading out the task throughout the week so that today I only had 12 or so more to do before emailing them to Angie to print and file.

I made some lunch, and read a bit, and wrote, and emailed, and sat around. I didn’t set foot outside of the house until 7:00PM. It was good to have a lazy day full of quiet and whatever struck my fancy in the moment.

Tour.

"I was assigned a cell at the head of the corridor. It overlooked the courtyard and had a small eye-level window. I could walk the length of my cell in three paces. When I lay down, I could feel the wall with my feet and my head grazed the concrete on the other side. The width was about six feet, and the walls were at least two feet thick. Each cell had a white card posted outside of it with our name and our prison service number. Mine read, "N Mandela 466/64," which meant I was the 466th prisoner admitted to the island in 1964. I was forty-six years old, a political prisoner with a life sentence, and that small cramped space was to be my home for I knew not how long."


"One morning, instead of walking to the quarry, we were ordered into the back of a truck. It rumbled off in a new direction, and fifteen minutes later we were ordered to jump out. There in front of us, glinting in the morning light, we saw the ocean, the rocky shore, and in the distance, winking in the sunshine, the glass towers of Cape Town. Although it was surely an illusion, the city, with Table Mountain looming behind it, looked agonizingly close, as if one could almost reach out and grasp it."

Excerpts from Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela.

Today Kristin, Mike and I went to the waterfront in Cape Town and took the Robben Island historical tour. The pier was piercingly beautiful, and the water sparkled like diamonds. It was hard to imagine this being a place of imprisonment and despair, because today, it looked like a treasure. The contrast was haunting.

The tour felt long and drawn out, I confess. We piled into a tour bus when we arrived and drove a few feet at a time before pausing and our tour guide would tell us different stories about the history of the island, all the way back from the 1653. It has long been a place of banishment, and later in the 1800s, was the home to a leper colony. More than 1500 graves are scattered about the island, which is 5 by 2 kilometers in length.

I appreciated seeing the places that became so significant to Nelson Mandela, and which I already knew a lot about from reading his autobiography. The prison grounds were bleak, and the sky felt like a ceiling to the tall grey towers instead of a glorious expanse. I cannot imagine what life must have felt like, how excruciating it must have been, to have been imprisoned there indefinitely merely for pursuing justice.