So being back to work has actually been good. I have my moments where I don't want to work at all--but don't we all? I still think about what would I rather be doing--you know sometimes I just want to be doing anything but what I do! Sometimes I want to work internationally, sometimes I want to be in social work, or counseling. So I don't know. What I can say is that I don't dislike my job when I'm doing it, it's when I'm thinking about work after the weekend or something. Who knows. Anyway, I have all new schools and a new supervisor, which means, all new kids! These kids are so much more needy than my kids last year. It's been keeping me busy, which actually helps me enjoy my job more. I had a classroom assistant stop in my office today and tell me that I was great! Ahh, moments like that are nice too--even if I don't necessarily love what I do, I'm doing ok at it :) I had known that the OT's who were previously at my school--who have moved on--weren't doing everything they needed to do last year but I had no idea. The classroom assistant told me that the OT last year just sat in the room and observed and gossiped about parents!! The thing is, these kids really need some therapy! Plus, in the world of therapy, sadly, you run into this a lot. We have a lot of freedom and plenty of people abuse it. I know how easy it would be to not do my job at all...but at the same time, it's just as easy to do my job! It's not a difficult job...I play with kids all day..! Yes there's some thought and planning behind why we play what we play, but the bottom line is that when working with kids, you play a lot! And it just gives other therapists a bad name. People are always skeptical when you come in...'what if this therapist doesn't do anything for us either?' On the flip side of that, it doesn't take much for people to think you're great when you follow a bad act! I mean, I've only been seeing kids for 2 weeks and I already got the "you're great" comment. Simply because I am actually treating them. And it means more coming from this particular person because she has a special needs child and deals with therapists all the time. Anyway, that was cool...
So I'm getting itchy feet. I want to go somewhere!! I'm torn between being responsible and paying off some bills, and flying somewhere for a long weekend. I have a fall break in October and I've looked into tickets to Calgary (to see one of the girls I volunteered with in Africa), Miami (to stay in Key Largo), Austin (to see Ivan's sister), Providence (to see my penpal), or coming home... But then I get a nagging feeling that I should just stay in AZ, pay some bills and hang here. Ivan will be gone that weekend--it's his birthday weekend and he always goes home to St. Louis/Jacksonville for his birthday. Ahhh! I don't know...
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Special Friend
Tonight I had dinner & paperwork with a woman from "Parenting Arizona." That is the organization that has the 'Special Friend' program, which is like Big Brothers/Big Sisters for foster kids. So, within a month I should be matched with a girl in the area who needs a mentor :) I'm excited. All the while this woman was talking about various circumstances these kids have gone through and things like that and I had to keep myself from tearing up. I think mostly because it made me think of my kids left behind in Africa. My friend Bonnie (a volunteer from Australia) who's super funny by the way, was just joking with me that I shouldn't fret about Lona because one day she'll "set out in the world looking for her soul mum--the woman with the bandanna from Home of Hope." haha Then she said I should have got 2 lockets, one for me & one for Lona with a picture of me in Lona's so she can find me someday :) Too funny. And yet I'm crazy enough that 20 years from now I'll probably be sitting here going...maybe Lona will walk through the door.... haha I'm the kind of person who is sure that I will win the lotto every time I play, and still thinks Santa might actually be leaving those gifts...wishful thinking but I don't care!
Monday, August 18, 2008
A Long Way Gone
So I read a new book yesterday...yes, just yesterday. Actually I started it around 9:00 Saturday night and finished it last night.
Anyway, it's called "A Long Way Gone" and is the memoir of a former child soldier in Sierra Leone. Clearly it was good because I couldn't even put it down. I've seen this kind of stuff in "Blood Diamond" and I've heard about it in various news articles and things like that. But it is so hard to wrap my head around. As I was reading I couldn't believe the things that happened and as a story alone it was so crazy, but to really try and believe that this was someone's life, this stuff REALLY happened, is crazy.
If you're looking for a goodie, read it. Which in itself is such a weird thing to say, because it's someone's life...
Saturday, August 16, 2008
What to do?
So I talked to some people at Home of Hope and they have assured me that while there was some confusion at first, Lona is going into a foster home within her community...so with a family. Which is good I guess. Eleanor has told me that it's definitely better for the kids to be in a family setting than a group home setting, which I know is true, I just hope it's a good family. You know? Eleanor also said they can still check in on the families. I'm still sad. But I guess this is a step in the right direction. So that's that.
Going back to work has been good. I stayed in the same school district (first time for me!) but they gave me all new schools and a new supervisor. On the one hand I totally miss my supervisor because I liked her and we worked really well together, and I loved my kids & the teachers I worked with. But you know I like change. So I'm enjoying getting to meet new kids, teachers & schools. It will keep me from getting bored, at least for awhile. And my new supervisor is cool too. She's young but has a few years experience and I think we'll get along great. This week was just organizing our treatment rooms and setting up our schedules. Kinda fun. Next week we start seeing kids. I think I'm going to have a more challenging year than I had last year, which is fine. Just from first view, it looks like I have some lower level kids than I had previously--but I've had super low kids in California so it's nothing I can't handle. Just different than last year.
I'm on a break from my classes because my computer is broke, hopefully getting that fixed in the next couple weeks, because I need to be busy! I have all this free time I'm not completely used to having and frankly it's driving me crazy. Me & Nan (my coworker) always talk about how people need to enjoy just "being"....but I had a revelation: you have to have the doing part to appreciate the being! As with everything, it's about balance. So anyway, in the next few weeks I should start the "American Friend" volunteering I've been talking about for a year. Apparently my name got lost off the list of people who wanted to volunteer! That ended up being ok since I was gone for the summer but I've been in touch and now that I'm back it should be kicking off soon. Refresher: that's where I will be paired with a refugee family and teaching them about America and living with modern conveniences they may not know anything about. And I am going to be starting another volunteer thing too. It's a lot like being a Big Brother/Big Sister, but it's called the "Special Friend" program and you are paired with foster children. One thing is that I need to occupy my time, I enjoy volunteering, and after working with my kids in Africa I feel a little bit more connected to the cause of helping foster kids. Nan actually introduced me to this program. She & her husband volunteered with them for like 15 years. I wanted to find something Ivan & I could do together. He would rather do something with an organization than a specific child--such as volunteering in group homes or something. I'm hoping I'll get more information about group homes and what we can do there through this program, but also, now that he's started his Masters program he's a bit busier as well and won't have the time to volunteer like I hoped. He's also on a softball team and looking into a basketball team. So we'll have to save the volunteering together for another time I think. Oh speaking of teams, we're not bowling this year. We had fun but we all agreed we didn't really miss it that much either. We might try to find a shorter season to participate in. Sometimes they have seasons that are for just 10-12 weeks, which would be so much better than the 37 week one we were in!! Plus, my school district has intramural sports going on here & there. In fact in a couple weeks they are having a one-day bowling competition that I got a team together for. Should be fun :)
Anyway, gotta go. We're going to go rent a movie I think. Earlier we went and saw, "Tropic Thunder." Very funny!!
Going back to work has been good. I stayed in the same school district (first time for me!) but they gave me all new schools and a new supervisor. On the one hand I totally miss my supervisor because I liked her and we worked really well together, and I loved my kids & the teachers I worked with. But you know I like change. So I'm enjoying getting to meet new kids, teachers & schools. It will keep me from getting bored, at least for awhile. And my new supervisor is cool too. She's young but has a few years experience and I think we'll get along great. This week was just organizing our treatment rooms and setting up our schedules. Kinda fun. Next week we start seeing kids. I think I'm going to have a more challenging year than I had last year, which is fine. Just from first view, it looks like I have some lower level kids than I had previously--but I've had super low kids in California so it's nothing I can't handle. Just different than last year.
I'm on a break from my classes because my computer is broke, hopefully getting that fixed in the next couple weeks, because I need to be busy! I have all this free time I'm not completely used to having and frankly it's driving me crazy. Me & Nan (my coworker) always talk about how people need to enjoy just "being"....but I had a revelation: you have to have the doing part to appreciate the being! As with everything, it's about balance. So anyway, in the next few weeks I should start the "American Friend" volunteering I've been talking about for a year. Apparently my name got lost off the list of people who wanted to volunteer! That ended up being ok since I was gone for the summer but I've been in touch and now that I'm back it should be kicking off soon. Refresher: that's where I will be paired with a refugee family and teaching them about America and living with modern conveniences they may not know anything about. And I am going to be starting another volunteer thing too. It's a lot like being a Big Brother/Big Sister, but it's called the "Special Friend" program and you are paired with foster children. One thing is that I need to occupy my time, I enjoy volunteering, and after working with my kids in Africa I feel a little bit more connected to the cause of helping foster kids. Nan actually introduced me to this program. She & her husband volunteered with them for like 15 years. I wanted to find something Ivan & I could do together. He would rather do something with an organization than a specific child--such as volunteering in group homes or something. I'm hoping I'll get more information about group homes and what we can do there through this program, but also, now that he's started his Masters program he's a bit busier as well and won't have the time to volunteer like I hoped. He's also on a softball team and looking into a basketball team. So we'll have to save the volunteering together for another time I think. Oh speaking of teams, we're not bowling this year. We had fun but we all agreed we didn't really miss it that much either. We might try to find a shorter season to participate in. Sometimes they have seasons that are for just 10-12 weeks, which would be so much better than the 37 week one we were in!! Plus, my school district has intramural sports going on here & there. In fact in a couple weeks they are having a one-day bowling competition that I got a team together for. Should be fun :)
Anyway, gotta go. We're going to go rent a movie I think. Earlier we went and saw, "Tropic Thunder." Very funny!!
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Bittersweet...mostly bitter
Lona is being transferred to a different children's home. Apparently they think she'll have a better chance at being adopted in a different home...I don't know why.
1. For selfish reasons, I don't want her to be adopted! I want her! And I'll never know anything more about her.
2. However, I can see that IF she's adopted it will be a good move obviously.
3. The new home will likely not be as good as Home of Hope... which is sad
4. Sad, especially if she doesn't end up getting adopted: new crappy home, changing her environment unnecessarily, still unadopted, and I still won't know anything more about her.
The only good thing is if it actually works and she gets adopted...
This sucks.
1. For selfish reasons, I don't want her to be adopted! I want her! And I'll never know anything more about her.
2. However, I can see that IF she's adopted it will be a good move obviously.
3. The new home will likely not be as good as Home of Hope... which is sad
4. Sad, especially if she doesn't end up getting adopted: new crappy home, changing her environment unnecessarily, still unadopted, and I still won't know anything more about her.
The only good thing is if it actually works and she gets adopted...
This sucks.
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Just throwing it out there
You know Megan & I are planning our European vacation next summer.
Well after that I'm considering 'swinging' by Africa for a bit. If anyone's interested in coming get in touch with me. You know I'll do it alone regardless, but I thought since I survived it once already maybe more people would realize they could/wanted to do it. Anyway, this is the organization I'm looking into going with: www.eliabroad.org One of my beloved roomies from South Africa volunteered in Tanzania through them and LOVED it! Plus it is so much cheaper than any other program I've seen (and I've done my research!)
I'm looking at Tanzania working with special needs kids or Kenya in a "work camp." The work camps have a huge variety of things to do--teaching, counseling, farming.
This is all of course based on time & money so it might not happen, but it's something I'd really like to do. And again, based on time & money, maybe a quick trip to Cape Town... who knows. Maybe just Europe with Megan, but I don't think it's too early to think outloud :)
I've just been missing it so much and talking with everyone I met there, and people who are still there. I just love traveling, meeting new people, and trying new things...period. The short time you spend with the people is all you need to make some amazing friends...it's such a unique experience that only the people you were with truly understand and I'm addicted to that experience. Still think about my Key Largo gals all the time and although we don't talk as often anymore we're still in touch and I love 'em. Now I've just added my Cape Town girls and I can't shake 'em :) hehe
Well after that I'm considering 'swinging' by Africa for a bit. If anyone's interested in coming get in touch with me. You know I'll do it alone regardless, but I thought since I survived it once already maybe more people would realize they could/wanted to do it. Anyway, this is the organization I'm looking into going with: www.eliabroad.org One of my beloved roomies from South Africa volunteered in Tanzania through them and LOVED it! Plus it is so much cheaper than any other program I've seen (and I've done my research!)
I'm looking at Tanzania working with special needs kids or Kenya in a "work camp." The work camps have a huge variety of things to do--teaching, counseling, farming.
This is all of course based on time & money so it might not happen, but it's something I'd really like to do. And again, based on time & money, maybe a quick trip to Cape Town... who knows. Maybe just Europe with Megan, but I don't think it's too early to think outloud :)
I've just been missing it so much and talking with everyone I met there, and people who are still there. I just love traveling, meeting new people, and trying new things...period. The short time you spend with the people is all you need to make some amazing friends...it's such a unique experience that only the people you were with truly understand and I'm addicted to that experience. Still think about my Key Largo gals all the time and although we don't talk as often anymore we're still in touch and I love 'em. Now I've just added my Cape Town girls and I can't shake 'em :) hehe
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
This just in...
Lona took her first steps today!
That's probably the happiest I've been since I left.
Hopefully once I'm back in the flow with work and have an income, so I can do things, I won't feel so blah!
That's probably the happiest I've been since I left.
Hopefully once I'm back in the flow with work and have an income, so I can do things, I won't feel so blah!
Monday, August 04, 2008
Back to work soon...
Whew....so life is totally back to B.A. times...that is "Before Africa." Sadly it seems like a distant memory already. A great memory though. So, I was in Arizona for 2 days before flying off to Illinois for the week. That was fun, but I also kinda hit a wall while I was there. As in...I've been traveling for 7 weeks and I'm exhausted. I felt bad because the last couple of days I just didn't do much of anything and there were people I still wanted to see. There will be more opportunities I suppose. It's likely that everyone will be right where I left them.
I flew back to Arizona on Friday (the 1st) and went straight from the airport to Ivan's softball game. We didn't get back to Surprise until after midnight. Then we got up at 8 a.m. and drove to L.A. for a wedding. I haven't been back to California since we moved, but Ivan's been back a couple of times to visit friends and family. We stayed at Breigh's place, which is in the apartment complex of the first place we lived, in Rancho Cucamonga. So that was kinda surreal. And nice. To be in a familiar place I guess. However, I also remembered part of the reason I left California...there's so many people!!! The traffic, although it really wasn't that bad, is crazy. There's just so many cars on the road.
The wedding was so beautiful. They had it at a country club, outdoors on the patio. The bride is Catholic and the groom is Jewish so they had a mixture of traditions in the ceremony and it went together wonderfully. Plus it was cool to see some of the Jewish traditions. Right after the ceremony there were drinks and appetizers on the patio, then we went inside for the reception. The food was awesome and decorations too. As favors they made CD's of love songs, which was cool. We listened to it a few times on the drive back. Pretty songs and a favor you'll actually use and appreciate you know? Overall, great wedding and a nice visit back in Cali.
We got back to Surprise yesterday evening and I had a lot of unpacking and washing to do. Now everything's settled and I just have some last minute paperwork things to take care of before I go back to work on Wednesday. It's so crazy that literally from the time I got done with work on May 22, until I go back on August 6th, I will have had 5 days when I wasn't traveling or somebody was visiting! On the one hand I think it's good because I never really had a chance to get lazy...on the other, it would have been nice to just kick back here & there. But, I really have no complaints. One of my best summers for sure...the other being my summer in Florida of course!
Not much else to say I guess. Hope I adjust back to work ok! haha Ivan started his masters program last week so wish him luck on that. I'm taking a small break from classes until I get my computer fixed. Hopefully within a month that'll be taken care of. Anywho, gotta go. Hopefully when I start getting a paycheck again I'll have some fun stuff to write about!
I flew back to Arizona on Friday (the 1st) and went straight from the airport to Ivan's softball game. We didn't get back to Surprise until after midnight. Then we got up at 8 a.m. and drove to L.A. for a wedding. I haven't been back to California since we moved, but Ivan's been back a couple of times to visit friends and family. We stayed at Breigh's place, which is in the apartment complex of the first place we lived, in Rancho Cucamonga. So that was kinda surreal. And nice. To be in a familiar place I guess. However, I also remembered part of the reason I left California...there's so many people!!! The traffic, although it really wasn't that bad, is crazy. There's just so many cars on the road.
The wedding was so beautiful. They had it at a country club, outdoors on the patio. The bride is Catholic and the groom is Jewish so they had a mixture of traditions in the ceremony and it went together wonderfully. Plus it was cool to see some of the Jewish traditions. Right after the ceremony there were drinks and appetizers on the patio, then we went inside for the reception. The food was awesome and decorations too. As favors they made CD's of love songs, which was cool. We listened to it a few times on the drive back. Pretty songs and a favor you'll actually use and appreciate you know? Overall, great wedding and a nice visit back in Cali.
We got back to Surprise yesterday evening and I had a lot of unpacking and washing to do. Now everything's settled and I just have some last minute paperwork things to take care of before I go back to work on Wednesday. It's so crazy that literally from the time I got done with work on May 22, until I go back on August 6th, I will have had 5 days when I wasn't traveling or somebody was visiting! On the one hand I think it's good because I never really had a chance to get lazy...on the other, it would have been nice to just kick back here & there. But, I really have no complaints. One of my best summers for sure...the other being my summer in Florida of course!
Not much else to say I guess. Hope I adjust back to work ok! haha Ivan started his masters program last week so wish him luck on that. I'm taking a small break from classes until I get my computer fixed. Hopefully within a month that'll be taken care of. Anywho, gotta go. Hopefully when I start getting a paycheck again I'll have some fun stuff to write about!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Checking in
Just checking in...moreso for my new friends I met in South Africa :) It's good to be home I guess...Now that I'm settling back in, but everything there was just so much fun! All the time! Right now I'm in Illinois visiting old friends and family. I've been busy with that and should be visiting people right now but I'm also feeling pretty lazy at the moment. Coming back to Illinois is always a mixed experience too because I see how some things just never change. Which can be nice and some things about that can just be annoying! Things always seem to pick up where they left off, for better or worse. Anyway, I miss you all very much and I'll be in full reunion planning mode before long. haha
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
I'm Baaack
Well I'm back in the states. The flight home was so long! I had an 18 hour flight from Cape Town to New York--stopping to refuel in Dakar. Thank God this time we got out of Dakar without trudging to a resort! The worst flight was from New York to L.A. It was 5 hours, but I think after the 18 hours I was hitting a wall. And 5 hours is long enough to suck, yet short enough to where you're counting the minutes. I swear I looked at my watch every 15 minutes thinking..surely another hour has passed. No such luck. The 18 hour flight truthfully just feels like a time warp. Somehow it only feels like a few hours. You watch a couple movies, I read an entire book from start to finish, did some word searches and sudoku, and slept. Bam, before I knew I heard, "We're now starting our descent into New York, please put your seats and trays in the upright position." At which put I got a little teary eyed. As long as I was just on a plane from Cape Town the trip wasn't over right? I wasn't sure if I was relieved that I had made it back to NY without any trouble, or sad that this was it, back in the U.S. and everything was over. Although if I had to guess I'd say I was sad. As I sat in New York waiting for the next flight the news was on and was talking about some food poisoning from tomatoes and they were trying to pinpoint the exact tomato it all started from. For whatever reason it just annoyed me. I was thinking...yeah I'm back alright. The news is reporting on stupid crap that doesn't matter. And then a ton of stuff about Obama. I'm an Obama fan but my God, I don't care if I ever heard another word about anything. And in the stores I saw the new entertainment magazines, which I buy and read, but for some reason they annoyed me too. I think I got used to being a little less saturated with news. I hardly saw news when I was there, and while I did tune into a lot of crap TV on the E network...it pales in comparison to the abundance of "news" here. Another way I knew I was back and the trip was over!
I'm pretty sure when I landed in Phoenix that I was a huge disappointment to Ivan. I was definitely very happy to see him, but I had also just come off 33 hours of traveling, and was in a bit of a dreamlike state. Like...wow I'm really here, that's really you, you're really standing next to me. So I don't think I gave him the loving and excited reaction of running through the airport and tackling him that he was hoping for! haha I'm not that kind of person anyway, but I know he was expecting more from me. I felt a little shy towards him but it's all good. Now that I've been here 24 hours it's almost like I never left. Which is scary and nice all at the same time.
When you've been away and you walk back into everything it's almost like walking into a dream because you haven't seen that stuff, it's just been a memory really, and then it's real again. Kinda weird. And while 6 weeks isn't that long, in some ways it is I guess. I just got so into my routine and way of life over there that I'm readjusting back to the way life was here. When I left, the dogs had just gotten haircuts so that's how I remembered them, and when I walked in they are these fluffy furballs! So that was kinda funny, I was like oh my God, you're my dogs?! hah Good to see them though. And Jeff's son Ryan looks like he's grown a foot while I was gone.
Ivan has all my TV shows recorded so I'm going to start catching up on those. Sadly they are weekly entertainment shows so...I'm diving right back into seeing what celebrity's did for the past 6 weeks....the shows are damn funny though. That's why I watch!
All of my souvenirs have the kitchen table covered! I have to figure out what I absolutely need to keep and what can be given away because I need to pack up again tomorrow to head to Illinois. That'll be fun. So anyway, that's all for now. I'm back. Distracting myself so I don't think about the fact that I have to go back to work in 2 weeks...if anyone remembers what it is I do for a living let me know, because I've totally forgotten at this point...!
I'm pretty sure when I landed in Phoenix that I was a huge disappointment to Ivan. I was definitely very happy to see him, but I had also just come off 33 hours of traveling, and was in a bit of a dreamlike state. Like...wow I'm really here, that's really you, you're really standing next to me. So I don't think I gave him the loving and excited reaction of running through the airport and tackling him that he was hoping for! haha I'm not that kind of person anyway, but I know he was expecting more from me. I felt a little shy towards him but it's all good. Now that I've been here 24 hours it's almost like I never left. Which is scary and nice all at the same time.
When you've been away and you walk back into everything it's almost like walking into a dream because you haven't seen that stuff, it's just been a memory really, and then it's real again. Kinda weird. And while 6 weeks isn't that long, in some ways it is I guess. I just got so into my routine and way of life over there that I'm readjusting back to the way life was here. When I left, the dogs had just gotten haircuts so that's how I remembered them, and when I walked in they are these fluffy furballs! So that was kinda funny, I was like oh my God, you're my dogs?! hah Good to see them though. And Jeff's son Ryan looks like he's grown a foot while I was gone.
Ivan has all my TV shows recorded so I'm going to start catching up on those. Sadly they are weekly entertainment shows so...I'm diving right back into seeing what celebrity's did for the past 6 weeks....the shows are damn funny though. That's why I watch!
All of my souvenirs have the kitchen table covered! I have to figure out what I absolutely need to keep and what can be given away because I need to pack up again tomorrow to head to Illinois. That'll be fun. So anyway, that's all for now. I'm back. Distracting myself so I don't think about the fact that I have to go back to work in 2 weeks...if anyone remembers what it is I do for a living let me know, because I've totally forgotten at this point...!
Monday, July 21, 2008
Me & Nomsa
I had wanted to take a picture with Nomsa last week but she said no, because she wanted to be "sexy" for the pic. We rescheduled for today and she totally forgot to dress up & do her hair. We joke though, that Nomsa is sexy 24/7 so it doesn't matter. But she was reluctant to have a pic without looking her best. haha Nomsa's the housekeeper in case you forgot. And just to add, she's got a magnificent ass. hah
Thank you from Home of Hope
When we leave HOH they give us a little picture collage and thank you letter and I just wanted to share part of it because I thought it was so well put.
"We send you away with the unconditional love as a memory of our little ones. May it have touched your life as it has ours and know that you have played an important role in their small lives. If it felt that it was only for a short time please know that it will last a lifetime in the development of their characters. You have played an active role in where hope begins...."
"A little bit of heaven
drifted down from above-
A handful of happiness,
a heart full of love.
The mystery of life,
so sacred and sweet-
The giver of joy
so deep and complete.
Precious and priceless,
so lovable too-
The world's sweetest miracle,
a baby to love."
"We send you away with the unconditional love as a memory of our little ones. May it have touched your life as it has ours and know that you have played an important role in their small lives. If it felt that it was only for a short time please know that it will last a lifetime in the development of their characters. You have played an active role in where hope begins...."
"A little bit of heaven
drifted down from above-
A handful of happiness,
a heart full of love.
The mystery of life,
so sacred and sweet-
The giver of joy
so deep and complete.
Precious and priceless,
so lovable too-
The world's sweetest miracle,
a baby to love."
Goodbye Africa
So I'm leaving today. I can't believe it. And I don't really want to. It'll be great to see Ivan, and the dogs, and I'm really looking forward to my trip to Illinois and seeing everyone, but after that I know me, I will hit a wall and be like, "now what?" I'm sure after a few weeks I will be back in the daily grind and living exactly how I did before I came here, but I hope I don't. I hope some things stick with me and that I've changed a little.
1. I've talked about this with my coworker Nan before, but I hope I live a little bit more "in the moment." Hard to do when you're planning trip after trip and having something to look forward to, but at the same time I need to learn to enjoy what I have, the time I have, and the people around me. In general I think we all need to do this, but if there is one thing I saw while I was at Vicky's that just stuck out to me, was that it seemed like people just lived life. It wasn't a rush to get one thing done to move onto another and just talking with your neighbor was a good time...it wasn't the idea of, "Oh I don't have plans tonight so I just talked with my friend all night." That was the plan. And it was enough, and it was good. And the act of making dinner and cleaning wasn't something they seemed to just be trying to get done. The people were singing and chatting away the whole time. I just don't want to feel like I always need to be doing something. And on the other hand, there's a part of you (me) that says, "yeah, but I don't want to waste a moment either." I guess like with anything, it's about finding a balance...
2. I hope I'm less materialistic!! Even in all my souvenir shopping I did when I first got here, a few weeks later I'm looking at it all going...I didn't need that! I'm sure I'll appreciate it when I'm home and can look at it and remember where I was and what I did that day, but overall I've lived with less here, and survived, and seen how little other people live with, and are happy. Plus I'd rather save my money for more trips and experiences than furnish my house and have expensive clothes. I like to think I'm not that materialistic anyway...but I've been known to go one some shopping sprees...haha
3. I don't want to forget that anything's possible. In everything I've ever thought was impossible or difficult at least, and then did it...I learn that I can do so much more. Before the marathon obviously I thought that I could never do that, I did, and now I know I can do anything if I really want to. Coming here...I used to think, "oh someday when I'm retired" well I've been here now and know that I can go anywhere and do anything if I really want to. It's doing the things you think you can't, and the people you meet along the way that show you anything is possible. One of the girls here (now one of my favorite people in the world) is travelling the world for 2 years!! Just going where she pleases, volunteering or just vacationing. If you're like me you're thinking..."how can she do that? I could never do that." She sold her house and is living her dream. So...it is possible. ANYTHING is if you just want it bad enough. Where there's a will there really is way, it's not just something people say, it's true. I say this all as a reminder to myself and because I have a lot of friends who tell me all the time about the marathon, moving away from home, traveling here--"I couldn't do that!" Yeah ya can. And as soon as you do you'll realize how much more you can do.
This trip has been amazing. I've seen, learned, and done so much stuff! The people I've met along the way have been the best part. Lately it's been a never ending slumber party here as a group of us have just clicked really well. I haven't laughed so much and so hard in a long time.
So, when I get home I hope to just take with me everything I've experienced here, try to live it everyday, and figure out where to go (literally and figuratively).
See you soon.
1. I've talked about this with my coworker Nan before, but I hope I live a little bit more "in the moment." Hard to do when you're planning trip after trip and having something to look forward to, but at the same time I need to learn to enjoy what I have, the time I have, and the people around me. In general I think we all need to do this, but if there is one thing I saw while I was at Vicky's that just stuck out to me, was that it seemed like people just lived life. It wasn't a rush to get one thing done to move onto another and just talking with your neighbor was a good time...it wasn't the idea of, "Oh I don't have plans tonight so I just talked with my friend all night." That was the plan. And it was enough, and it was good. And the act of making dinner and cleaning wasn't something they seemed to just be trying to get done. The people were singing and chatting away the whole time. I just don't want to feel like I always need to be doing something. And on the other hand, there's a part of you (me) that says, "yeah, but I don't want to waste a moment either." I guess like with anything, it's about finding a balance...
2. I hope I'm less materialistic!! Even in all my souvenir shopping I did when I first got here, a few weeks later I'm looking at it all going...I didn't need that! I'm sure I'll appreciate it when I'm home and can look at it and remember where I was and what I did that day, but overall I've lived with less here, and survived, and seen how little other people live with, and are happy. Plus I'd rather save my money for more trips and experiences than furnish my house and have expensive clothes. I like to think I'm not that materialistic anyway...but I've been known to go one some shopping sprees...haha
3. I don't want to forget that anything's possible. In everything I've ever thought was impossible or difficult at least, and then did it...I learn that I can do so much more. Before the marathon obviously I thought that I could never do that, I did, and now I know I can do anything if I really want to. Coming here...I used to think, "oh someday when I'm retired" well I've been here now and know that I can go anywhere and do anything if I really want to. It's doing the things you think you can't, and the people you meet along the way that show you anything is possible. One of the girls here (now one of my favorite people in the world) is travelling the world for 2 years!! Just going where she pleases, volunteering or just vacationing. If you're like me you're thinking..."how can she do that? I could never do that." She sold her house and is living her dream. So...it is possible. ANYTHING is if you just want it bad enough. Where there's a will there really is way, it's not just something people say, it's true. I say this all as a reminder to myself and because I have a lot of friends who tell me all the time about the marathon, moving away from home, traveling here--"I couldn't do that!" Yeah ya can. And as soon as you do you'll realize how much more you can do.
This trip has been amazing. I've seen, learned, and done so much stuff! The people I've met along the way have been the best part. Lately it's been a never ending slumber party here as a group of us have just clicked really well. I haven't laughed so much and so hard in a long time.
So, when I get home I hope to just take with me everything I've experienced here, try to live it everyday, and figure out where to go (literally and figuratively).
See you soon.
The Best Souvenir
So, this is my last surprise before I come home! I got a tattoo few weeks ago and wasn't going to tell anyone because I wanted to just surprise Ivan when I got home, but I buckled and told him. I just sent him an email saying, "Look at this cool souvenir I got" with a picture attached. He was surprised! haha I knew I had wanted to get something to do with Africa but I didn't know what and I didn't think I'd get it done here. Once I got here I realized it was safe, like anywhere else in the world, just be careful of where you go to.
So, the new one is on my left wrist, diagonal from the one that is already there. It is the continent of Africa, and if you look closely (I may have to show you when I see you) the zebra/cheetah looking design actually spells out HOPE. I wanted it pretty much hidden in the design so that any random person couldn't just read it. Hope for Africa, Home of Hope. I love it.
Ivan's only concern is that I chose to get another one on my wrist and that one day I'm going to wake up with sleeves! (tattoos covering my whole arm) That won't happen! But a watch alone sure doesn't cover it anymore... And the computer wouldn't upload a pic so you'll see it when I see you! ***Just tried again and it came up, so there you have it!**
So, the new one is on my left wrist, diagonal from the one that is already there. It is the continent of Africa, and if you look closely (I may have to show you when I see you) the zebra/cheetah looking design actually spells out HOPE. I wanted it pretty much hidden in the design so that any random person couldn't just read it. Hope for Africa, Home of Hope. I love it.
Ivan's only concern is that I chose to get another one on my wrist and that one day I'm going to wake up with sleeves! (tattoos covering my whole arm) That won't happen! But a watch alone sure doesn't cover it anymore... And the computer wouldn't upload a pic so you'll see it when I see you! ***Just tried again and it came up, so there you have it!**
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Mama Africa's again!!
Today was an absolute fabulous day! I worked, and the kids were all on their best behaviors and just ridiculously cute all day. The weather was awesome. During my lunch break I walked up to the beach and there was an ice cream man there. So I got a cone, sat on the boardwalk, and ready my book while taking in the scenery--the water was especially blue today and Table Mountain was clear as could be. And I saw a seal in the water. Kinda cool.
Tonight we all had planned to go to Mama Africa's. If you remember, I went there my first week here and ate all those different meats. Well a huge group of us went tonight and nobody else had been there before, so it was a treat for them. There was live music again, which was amazing as usual, but then the band I saw last time walked in!! This was awesome! The lead singer of that band was a great singer, but so much of an entertainer. I was hoping I'd see them again before I left. He didn't sing while I was there, but he did dance and you should have seen the place transform when he got there. Just at that time the band that was already performing kinda stepped it into high gear. It was awesome. The music and energy there tonight, and pretty much everywhere you go here, is just unbelievable. People are so free, and entertaining, and lively. I love it! I couldn't have ended the trip better than seeing that band again. I'm a total groupie now. Anyway....I'm still on a high clearly. haha Oh, and this time I got the ostrich fillet...yummy!
Also--today I took some videos of Lona & Ntlanta (my babies!) so you can see them in action. They're not doing a ton, but I know the videos will totally make me smile when I'm home. So just follow the links if you want to see them.
Lona
http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=197103045&k=X3E46653Q6XMZGGDSG33S
Ntlanta
http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=197103045&k=YYD3XVSX4WVMZGGDSG33S
Tonight we all had planned to go to Mama Africa's. If you remember, I went there my first week here and ate all those different meats. Well a huge group of us went tonight and nobody else had been there before, so it was a treat for them. There was live music again, which was amazing as usual, but then the band I saw last time walked in!! This was awesome! The lead singer of that band was a great singer, but so much of an entertainer. I was hoping I'd see them again before I left. He didn't sing while I was there, but he did dance and you should have seen the place transform when he got there. Just at that time the band that was already performing kinda stepped it into high gear. It was awesome. The music and energy there tonight, and pretty much everywhere you go here, is just unbelievable. People are so free, and entertaining, and lively. I love it! I couldn't have ended the trip better than seeing that band again. I'm a total groupie now. Anyway....I'm still on a high clearly. haha Oh, and this time I got the ostrich fillet...yummy!
Also--today I took some videos of Lona & Ntlanta (my babies!) so you can see them in action. They're not doing a ton, but I know the videos will totally make me smile when I'm home. So just follow the links if you want to see them.
Lona
http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=197103045&k=X3E46653Q6XMZGGDSG33S
Ntlanta
http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=197103045&k=YYD3XVSX4WVMZGGDSG33S
Friday, July 18, 2008
Happy Birthday Madiba!
It's Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday! I haven't left the house today but I'm sure there are celebrations occurring in various places. The other day I went to the ATM and the screen had a happy birthday message on it for him. I'm almost finished with his book, 60 pages to go. So I have to finish it before I come home, which I don't think will be a problem.
So, just a few things I've learned when reading the book that I thought were interesting, well, downright crappy. So I wrote before about the different standards for colored prisoners compared to blacks on Robben Island, and how overall it was really horrible conditions. Well, I also learned in the book that the prisoners were only allowed to write/receive one letter every 6 months! Isn't that crazy? I can't imagine. And they were only allowed 1 visitation every 6 months, and sometimes those would just be cancelled without warning. It could only be immediate family and they couldn't talk about anything but family. And the visit was only a half hour, and they couldn't touch. So, Nelson Mandela couldn't even touch his wife's hand or anything, for 21 years! Can you believe that? And even when Winnie was planning a visit, sometimes she was banned because she too was a political activist. There was a time when he didn't see her for 2 years.
Obviously there is a lot more to the book but you know I like my communication so those little tid bits really stood out to me. I totally recommend the book, it's a long one, but it reads easily and is very very interesting.
(By the way, Madiba is his clan name, which is just like a tribal name and is used as a term of respect...)
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Gloria's
OK, I'm back and rested up to write about my day at Gloria's. So, I went back to Gloria's around 9 a.m. and it was breakfast time. I sat in a chair and the kids lined up to be fed their porridge. I was feeding kids between the ages of 2-4, and can I just say, it was so nice to feed kids who wanted to be fed, rather than the babies I've been fighting with for 6 weeks! After breakfast the kids were to be separated into the babies (ages 0-2), another group of 2-4 year olds, and then t he 5-6 year olds. Gloria asked me who I wanted to be with and I opted for the 5-6 year olds so to have a different experience from the babies.
She then handed me a broom and said I needed to sweep my classroom...so I did. Then all the kids came in for 'ring time' which is basically circle time where they all stood in a circle with hands linked, singing, dancing, and reciting their ABC's, counting, days of the week, and months of the year in English and Xhosa. The singing was so fun to watch, and they sang A LOT! After this it was time for exercises. They all lined up and Gloria lead some exercises, then she turned it over to me. It was funny because I do this for a living; in therapy sessions we're always doing various exercises and at that moment my mind was racing with 'what do I do in therapy????' So we quick did some animal walks--bear walks, crab walks, walking like elephants, and then we did some stretching. After this it was free play time and I was sent to the kitchen to slice up a ton of apples for morning snack. After that I went outside to fill up a tub of water for the kids to wash their hands in before snack. I brought the tub back into the center of the circle. They each washed their hands in the tub and I had a towel for them to dry their hands on. They ate their apples and I was to read a story to them. This was a bit like madness though. I chose an Arthur book and every time I turned they page they all lost their minds laughing at the pictures, I couldn't even be heard, nor could they really understand what I was reading anyway! After this they all lined up to march!
So, we took them on a walk around the block, all the while they were marching and singing. The people were in the streets waving and watching. One house had their TV in very loudly watching some Christian Xhosa music, so we stopped outside their house for awhile and the kids danced in the street. When we got back to Gloria's block the kids all lined up to race back down the street.
Back inside it was time for 'school readiness.' So I brought out 4 tables and tons of little chairs to the classroom. We put play-doh on one table, ABC blocks on one, Lego's on another, and puzzles on the last ones. The kids all came out to the tables and played here for awhile.
After this it was time for lunch. The big kids all just stayed at the tables to eat their rice. The little ones sat on the floor in their classroom lining the walls, eating their rice. When lunch was over it was time for 'rest time.' So I put all the tables and chairs away and we laid padding down on the floor and all the kids are laid down on the floor head to toe for a couple hours.
This was time for lunch for the teachers and I got to talk to Gloria a little bit too. She opened the pre-school 4 years ago and at that time there were only 8 children. Each year it's grown and now she has 70 kids in a 3 classroom space! Given that there are so many children in such a little space, everything really runs very smoothly. The kids are pretty well behaved and there's definitely a level of respect there. (Which I also noticed at Vicky's--kids actually respect their elders, listened when told to do something, without exception. Brought them tea and looked after me as well.) I could see a vast difference in behavior between these kids and most American kids I deal with... At this time Gloria doesn't receive any government funding because they say the space is too small...it's one of those things though where if she had more money she could expand, but she can't get the money to do so. She charges the families 50 rand a month (about $6) and sometimes the parents can't pay her, but she won't turn any child away. She does get some donations from tours and people like me who just drop in, which helps to buy the food. All of the kids come from within the township and so their parents don't have a lot of money, need to work, and often times aren't comfortable leaving their kids with anyone else. I also asked Gloria how long she had lived in Kayhelitsha and she said 15 years. I asked her if she'd ever want to leave and she said, "Oh no, I like it here."
Which brings me to a realization I had. Before when we were on our tours in the townships and passing them on the highway I would think 'that's so sad' and 'these poor people.' But the truth is...a lot of these people are happy there. This is home, they make the best of what they have, it's all they know, and it's ok for them. It was definitely an eye-opening experience and I'm so glad I went back for a night and spent the time there. Granted it was only 24 hours and my entire experience was very positive, but I came away feeling so differently than I had. It was comforting to me to see that it's not all doom and gloom to the people who live there. Now, with that said, there's definitely room for improvements!! Of course living conditions could be improved a bit, unemployment is high, there's HIV/AIDS, drug & alcohol abuse, rape... BUT the spirit of the people was undeniable and just really uplifting to see.
Anyway, back to Gloria's. After naptime we picked up all the mats, put shoes on everyone and it was snacktime. After that it was just free time until their parents came.
Some funny things: the kids (both Vicky's and all the kids at Gloria's) were like obsessed with my legs! I had capri's on and many of them would stroke my legs or just touch them and look at me with these grins. I'm still not sure why--is it because they were smooth, or because they don't see legs much as the women are usually wearing long skirts and tights?? I don't know. But it was funny. They all were very taken with my necklace too--I always wear a diamond pendant that Ivan gave me and any kid who came near me held it in their hands and oohed and aahed over it. My watch too--which is just a cheap digital watch--many at a time would be pulling on my wrist and pushing all the buttons. My tattoos were a hit as well--they saw the one on my hand and both of them on my wrists and would just turn my hands over and over again running their hands over the tattoos. And my hair. I had a hat on but several kids took it off my head to run their fingers through my hair, and Vicky's son said, "Ooh, nice." They don't often get to touch white hair so it felt different for them. And of course they were loving having their picture taken and like any kid would rush to see what the picture looked like after it was taken.
All in all it was so much fun. There were a few times throughout the day that I just wanted to cry and I have no idea why. I wasn't sad. I mentioned this to one of the other volunteers and she said she has felt that way at Home of Hope before...just suddenly hits you--what you're doing and the whole experience. I don't know what it was. Maybe it was seeing what little they had and how happy they were, maybe it was knowing I'd probably never see them again, maybe it was creeping up on me that I only have a few days left here. I don't know. There was one kid in particular that I took to. I didn't ask anyone what his story was, but I could tell he was slightly special needs--I'm guessing CP, very mild retardation. Of course he grabbed my attention since I work with special needs kids at home and maybe part of it was that seeing him made me miss my own kids from work. I was also wondering what his life would become...it's not like special education is probably a priority and it just made me a little sad. But again, he was happy!
So that was my 24 hours in the township. I know I want to come back. I know wherever I travel in the future I want more time with a host family or something of that nature. You just get a totally different experience. I will take more from that 24 hours than from weeks of my suburban house with the electric fences around me...
Enjoy the pics!! The bottom one is my little guy...:)
She then handed me a broom and said I needed to sweep my classroom...so I did. Then all the kids came in for 'ring time' which is basically circle time where they all stood in a circle with hands linked, singing, dancing, and reciting their ABC's, counting, days of the week, and months of the year in English and Xhosa. The singing was so fun to watch, and they sang A LOT! After this it was time for exercises. They all lined up and Gloria lead some exercises, then she turned it over to me. It was funny because I do this for a living; in therapy sessions we're always doing various exercises and at that moment my mind was racing with 'what do I do in therapy????' So we quick did some animal walks--bear walks, crab walks, walking like elephants, and then we did some stretching. After this it was free play time and I was sent to the kitchen to slice up a ton of apples for morning snack. After that I went outside to fill up a tub of water for the kids to wash their hands in before snack. I brought the tub back into the center of the circle. They each washed their hands in the tub and I had a towel for them to dry their hands on. They ate their apples and I was to read a story to them. This was a bit like madness though. I chose an Arthur book and every time I turned they page they all lost their minds laughing at the pictures, I couldn't even be heard, nor could they really understand what I was reading anyway! After this they all lined up to march!
So, we took them on a walk around the block, all the while they were marching and singing. The people were in the streets waving and watching. One house had their TV in very loudly watching some Christian Xhosa music, so we stopped outside their house for awhile and the kids danced in the street. When we got back to Gloria's block the kids all lined up to race back down the street.
Back inside it was time for 'school readiness.' So I brought out 4 tables and tons of little chairs to the classroom. We put play-doh on one table, ABC blocks on one, Lego's on another, and puzzles on the last ones. The kids all came out to the tables and played here for awhile.
After this it was time for lunch. The big kids all just stayed at the tables to eat their rice. The little ones sat on the floor in their classroom lining the walls, eating their rice. When lunch was over it was time for 'rest time.' So I put all the tables and chairs away and we laid padding down on the floor and all the kids are laid down on the floor head to toe for a couple hours.
This was time for lunch for the teachers and I got to talk to Gloria a little bit too. She opened the pre-school 4 years ago and at that time there were only 8 children. Each year it's grown and now she has 70 kids in a 3 classroom space! Given that there are so many children in such a little space, everything really runs very smoothly. The kids are pretty well behaved and there's definitely a level of respect there. (Which I also noticed at Vicky's--kids actually respect their elders, listened when told to do something, without exception. Brought them tea and looked after me as well.) I could see a vast difference in behavior between these kids and most American kids I deal with... At this time Gloria doesn't receive any government funding because they say the space is too small...it's one of those things though where if she had more money she could expand, but she can't get the money to do so. She charges the families 50 rand a month (about $6) and sometimes the parents can't pay her, but she won't turn any child away. She does get some donations from tours and people like me who just drop in, which helps to buy the food. All of the kids come from within the township and so their parents don't have a lot of money, need to work, and often times aren't comfortable leaving their kids with anyone else. I also asked Gloria how long she had lived in Kayhelitsha and she said 15 years. I asked her if she'd ever want to leave and she said, "Oh no, I like it here."
Which brings me to a realization I had. Before when we were on our tours in the townships and passing them on the highway I would think 'that's so sad' and 'these poor people.' But the truth is...a lot of these people are happy there. This is home, they make the best of what they have, it's all they know, and it's ok for them. It was definitely an eye-opening experience and I'm so glad I went back for a night and spent the time there. Granted it was only 24 hours and my entire experience was very positive, but I came away feeling so differently than I had. It was comforting to me to see that it's not all doom and gloom to the people who live there. Now, with that said, there's definitely room for improvements!! Of course living conditions could be improved a bit, unemployment is high, there's HIV/AIDS, drug & alcohol abuse, rape... BUT the spirit of the people was undeniable and just really uplifting to see.
Anyway, back to Gloria's. After naptime we picked up all the mats, put shoes on everyone and it was snacktime. After that it was just free time until their parents came.
Some funny things: the kids (both Vicky's and all the kids at Gloria's) were like obsessed with my legs! I had capri's on and many of them would stroke my legs or just touch them and look at me with these grins. I'm still not sure why--is it because they were smooth, or because they don't see legs much as the women are usually wearing long skirts and tights?? I don't know. But it was funny. They all were very taken with my necklace too--I always wear a diamond pendant that Ivan gave me and any kid who came near me held it in their hands and oohed and aahed over it. My watch too--which is just a cheap digital watch--many at a time would be pulling on my wrist and pushing all the buttons. My tattoos were a hit as well--they saw the one on my hand and both of them on my wrists and would just turn my hands over and over again running their hands over the tattoos. And my hair. I had a hat on but several kids took it off my head to run their fingers through my hair, and Vicky's son said, "Ooh, nice." They don't often get to touch white hair so it felt different for them. And of course they were loving having their picture taken and like any kid would rush to see what the picture looked like after it was taken.
All in all it was so much fun. There were a few times throughout the day that I just wanted to cry and I have no idea why. I wasn't sad. I mentioned this to one of the other volunteers and she said she has felt that way at Home of Hope before...just suddenly hits you--what you're doing and the whole experience. I don't know what it was. Maybe it was seeing what little they had and how happy they were, maybe it was knowing I'd probably never see them again, maybe it was creeping up on me that I only have a few days left here. I don't know. There was one kid in particular that I took to. I didn't ask anyone what his story was, but I could tell he was slightly special needs--I'm guessing CP, very mild retardation. Of course he grabbed my attention since I work with special needs kids at home and maybe part of it was that seeing him made me miss my own kids from work. I was also wondering what his life would become...it's not like special education is probably a priority and it just made me a little sad. But again, he was happy!
So that was my 24 hours in the township. I know I want to come back. I know wherever I travel in the future I want more time with a host family or something of that nature. You just get a totally different experience. I will take more from that 24 hours than from weeks of my suburban house with the electric fences around me...
Enjoy the pics!! The bottom one is my little guy...:)
Vicky's B&B
So much to say. As I was seeing things and realizing things, I knew I wanted to write about it and now I'm just hoping I don't forget anything.
Ursula came to get me around 2:30 yesterday and we headed to Kayhelitsha (one of the townships). First, we went to Vicky's, I chose my room, dropped off my bags, and then we walked back to Gloria's to meet her because when I went there the first time I didn't get to meet Gloria. Gloria runs the day care/pre-school behind Vicky's B&B. I met Gloria and she was very excited for me to come to help because 2 of the teachers are out on holiday until Monday. I went back to Vicky's and Ursula left.
So, I took a seat in the living room at Vicky's with an elderly man, who I'm guessing is Vicky's dad (her mom passed away earlier this week), a couple of young girls (8-11 years old), 2 older girls (17 & 24), 2 young kids (2-3), and Vicky's husband. Vicky was actually taking a nap when I got there, and I don't think she was feeling well, plus still dealing with her mom passing. So all of the people are just in and out of the room and the house. We are watching a DVD of some Christian Xhosa choir and the kids are loving it! All the kids are singing along and dancing. All I could think when I was watching one of the girls was that she's the most beautiful child I've ever seen. Really. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of her but just trust me. And she was so happy, and imitating everything they did in the video. In one scene a woman is standing on a staircase singing, so she moved to the staircase to sing along. Too funny.
Vicky has clippings hung on her walls of newspaper articles about her B&B, and emails & letters from tourists who have stayed with her before. So I kept busy reading those for awhile and the kids were venturing outside to play, and then I decided to head upstairs for a bit to read my book (all that was left was me and the old man and I didn't get the feeling he was up for talking, or possibly even knew English anyway). By the way, I'm reading Nelson Mandela's memoir, "Long Walk to Freedom," which is an excellent book. It's a long read, 768 pages to be exact, but I've only got about 80 to go. I was surprised that I would get that into it because for the most part it's strictly political, but it's all very interesting. And now that I've been here awhile I actually know of some of the places he's talking about. I'm thinking I'll write a big blog about the book & what I've learned tomorrow, which happens to be his birthday too by the way, big 9-0!
While I was upstairs some people on tour stopped in, a huge group of Germans, and Vicky's oldest daughter asked if I wanted to go for a walk. So away we went. Me, Vicky's oldest, and the 2 little ones. (I don't remember anyone's names, I could make guesses and spellings and pronunciations but I'm sure I'd butcher them horribly!!) The walk was the coolest part of the night. Obviously because I got to see the township and the people just living their lives. The closest comparison I can make is that the townships are like never ending block parties. Everyone is always outside in the streets talking, working, singing, and the kids are playing. Everyone greets everyone and stops to talk, even to me, and everyone is friendly. This was when I realized how different it was from home. When we were back in the house later I was telling Vicky's daughter that it's not like that at home; that often you may not even know who your neighbors are. She said to me, "How do you live in those conditions?" Funny...that's what we all think when we drive through her neighborhood. And today I was telling Gloria the same thing. She said, "So you just greet each other and keep walking?" I told her we rarely even greet each other...she said, "Oh I couldn't live like that!" So what we have in material wealth, we are severely lacking in emotional wealth & relationships. I don't think I've ever really seen what I thought a neighborhood should look like. And I was thinking over & over while I was there, this is what life's supposed to be like. Somewhere along the line we messed it up. The bigger the house and the bigger the yard the better you are...right? Here they have tiny houses and no yards, and probably because of that, they have amazing relationships and interactions with people. I've told Ivan before that I don't want a huge house because I think a family gets lost in it, when everyone has their own rooms and own TV's, I'd rather have smaller space and keep people together...I think that's totally been reaffirmed for me. Maybe they're pushed out of their tiny houses into the streets, but the friendships and support on the streets was just really amazing to see. And this went on until after dark. I could still hear people singing and kids playing, Vicky's 2 year old was just running in and out of the house down the street and back and nobody worried. Everyone was safe. I'm sure I would have been safe as well. Which is something else I wanted to add. I've started to figure this out and have had some discussions with other volunteers about this too, but before we come and after we got here all we've been told is how careful to be; hide your money in different places; you're almost guaranteed to be pick pocketed, all these different things. And after being where I was last night, I never felt unsafe, I was never scared; but what I realized is that everyone who has preached these things are white. And you can see it in the white neighborhoods how much fear there is-- I mean the house I live in, and every other house in our neighborhood, is surrounded by concrete or iron gates, topped with barbed wire, and then 3 lines of electric fence on top of that... this also coincides with what I'm learning as I'm reading Mandela's book, that the whites are totally afraid of the blacks. Keep in mind that apartheid only ended in 1994... that's not a lot of time to deal with racism and totally change a way of thinking. I mean look at the U.S. We've had gobs more time to adjust and still deal with racism regularly. All I'm saying is that I was made to believe I needed to be soooo cautious and on alert all the time, when I don't think that's 100% the case. I think there is a fear, and part of it is with good reason, and part of it is unnecessary.
Carrying on now... then it was time for dinner. Which Vicky's daughters brought me a whole heap of food!! Baked chicken (although can I say the pieces were more intact than we typically make them in the states...), mealie pap (which is ground up corn, looks just like mashed potatoes, and I'm so glad to have had because Mandela talks about it a lot in his book), cabbage, white & brown beans (which is apparently one of the main foods for Xhosa people, as is mealie pap), and some seasoned vegetables. It wasn't bad, but I don't myself ever seeking any of it out again in the future! After I was done eating, another tour group came in who joined me at the table for their dinner; 2 Americans who were doing research on local tourism or something, 2 English women doing some teaching, and a a guy from Belgium on holiday.
After dinner they went upstairs to see the rooms and I had a good conversation with their tour guide about American music--specifically rap. He says rap just makes him think of gangsters, but that he respects rappers anyway because everything they do they believe in 100%. We also talked a bit about George Bush & Iraq. Just imagine how that went and know that he & I totally agreed on everything...
Speaking of, Vicky's oldest daughter was wearing a shirt that said, "Obama 08!" and I actually had a discussion with her 11 year old about Bush & Obama. Trying to explain to her why we're in Iraq (which didn't make any sense to her...and really there's no way in telling that story that makes sense anyway...:) She said to me, "I wish for you that OBama wins!!" haha This election definitely has a global following.
After all the guests left I went upstairs and read for a few hours before falling asleep.
This morning for breakfast I had porridge and tea...if you know me, you know I normally only drink my mom's tea, and I don't like anything in the porridge/oatmeal family...I'm getting better at eating things I don't care for!!
After breakfast I headed to Gloria's...but I'm tired of typing, cold, and can't think!! haha So I will write about Gloria's later.
Enjoy some pics--some are the view from upstairs at Vicky's--so those little shacks are people's houses...and that one is my room.
Ursula came to get me around 2:30 yesterday and we headed to Kayhelitsha (one of the townships). First, we went to Vicky's, I chose my room, dropped off my bags, and then we walked back to Gloria's to meet her because when I went there the first time I didn't get to meet Gloria. Gloria runs the day care/pre-school behind Vicky's B&B. I met Gloria and she was very excited for me to come to help because 2 of the teachers are out on holiday until Monday. I went back to Vicky's and Ursula left.
So, I took a seat in the living room at Vicky's with an elderly man, who I'm guessing is Vicky's dad (her mom passed away earlier this week), a couple of young girls (8-11 years old), 2 older girls (17 & 24), 2 young kids (2-3), and Vicky's husband. Vicky was actually taking a nap when I got there, and I don't think she was feeling well, plus still dealing with her mom passing. So all of the people are just in and out of the room and the house. We are watching a DVD of some Christian Xhosa choir and the kids are loving it! All the kids are singing along and dancing. All I could think when I was watching one of the girls was that she's the most beautiful child I've ever seen. Really. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of her but just trust me. And she was so happy, and imitating everything they did in the video. In one scene a woman is standing on a staircase singing, so she moved to the staircase to sing along. Too funny.
Vicky has clippings hung on her walls of newspaper articles about her B&B, and emails & letters from tourists who have stayed with her before. So I kept busy reading those for awhile and the kids were venturing outside to play, and then I decided to head upstairs for a bit to read my book (all that was left was me and the old man and I didn't get the feeling he was up for talking, or possibly even knew English anyway). By the way, I'm reading Nelson Mandela's memoir, "Long Walk to Freedom," which is an excellent book. It's a long read, 768 pages to be exact, but I've only got about 80 to go. I was surprised that I would get that into it because for the most part it's strictly political, but it's all very interesting. And now that I've been here awhile I actually know of some of the places he's talking about. I'm thinking I'll write a big blog about the book & what I've learned tomorrow, which happens to be his birthday too by the way, big 9-0!
While I was upstairs some people on tour stopped in, a huge group of Germans, and Vicky's oldest daughter asked if I wanted to go for a walk. So away we went. Me, Vicky's oldest, and the 2 little ones. (I don't remember anyone's names, I could make guesses and spellings and pronunciations but I'm sure I'd butcher them horribly!!) The walk was the coolest part of the night. Obviously because I got to see the township and the people just living their lives. The closest comparison I can make is that the townships are like never ending block parties. Everyone is always outside in the streets talking, working, singing, and the kids are playing. Everyone greets everyone and stops to talk, even to me, and everyone is friendly. This was when I realized how different it was from home. When we were back in the house later I was telling Vicky's daughter that it's not like that at home; that often you may not even know who your neighbors are. She said to me, "How do you live in those conditions?" Funny...that's what we all think when we drive through her neighborhood. And today I was telling Gloria the same thing. She said, "So you just greet each other and keep walking?" I told her we rarely even greet each other...she said, "Oh I couldn't live like that!" So what we have in material wealth, we are severely lacking in emotional wealth & relationships. I don't think I've ever really seen what I thought a neighborhood should look like. And I was thinking over & over while I was there, this is what life's supposed to be like. Somewhere along the line we messed it up. The bigger the house and the bigger the yard the better you are...right? Here they have tiny houses and no yards, and probably because of that, they have amazing relationships and interactions with people. I've told Ivan before that I don't want a huge house because I think a family gets lost in it, when everyone has their own rooms and own TV's, I'd rather have smaller space and keep people together...I think that's totally been reaffirmed for me. Maybe they're pushed out of their tiny houses into the streets, but the friendships and support on the streets was just really amazing to see. And this went on until after dark. I could still hear people singing and kids playing, Vicky's 2 year old was just running in and out of the house down the street and back and nobody worried. Everyone was safe. I'm sure I would have been safe as well. Which is something else I wanted to add. I've started to figure this out and have had some discussions with other volunteers about this too, but before we come and after we got here all we've been told is how careful to be; hide your money in different places; you're almost guaranteed to be pick pocketed, all these different things. And after being where I was last night, I never felt unsafe, I was never scared; but what I realized is that everyone who has preached these things are white. And you can see it in the white neighborhoods how much fear there is-- I mean the house I live in, and every other house in our neighborhood, is surrounded by concrete or iron gates, topped with barbed wire, and then 3 lines of electric fence on top of that... this also coincides with what I'm learning as I'm reading Mandela's book, that the whites are totally afraid of the blacks. Keep in mind that apartheid only ended in 1994... that's not a lot of time to deal with racism and totally change a way of thinking. I mean look at the U.S. We've had gobs more time to adjust and still deal with racism regularly. All I'm saying is that I was made to believe I needed to be soooo cautious and on alert all the time, when I don't think that's 100% the case. I think there is a fear, and part of it is with good reason, and part of it is unnecessary.
Carrying on now... then it was time for dinner. Which Vicky's daughters brought me a whole heap of food!! Baked chicken (although can I say the pieces were more intact than we typically make them in the states...), mealie pap (which is ground up corn, looks just like mashed potatoes, and I'm so glad to have had because Mandela talks about it a lot in his book), cabbage, white & brown beans (which is apparently one of the main foods for Xhosa people, as is mealie pap), and some seasoned vegetables. It wasn't bad, but I don't myself ever seeking any of it out again in the future! After I was done eating, another tour group came in who joined me at the table for their dinner; 2 Americans who were doing research on local tourism or something, 2 English women doing some teaching, and a a guy from Belgium on holiday.
After dinner they went upstairs to see the rooms and I had a good conversation with their tour guide about American music--specifically rap. He says rap just makes him think of gangsters, but that he respects rappers anyway because everything they do they believe in 100%. We also talked a bit about George Bush & Iraq. Just imagine how that went and know that he & I totally agreed on everything...
Speaking of, Vicky's oldest daughter was wearing a shirt that said, "Obama 08!" and I actually had a discussion with her 11 year old about Bush & Obama. Trying to explain to her why we're in Iraq (which didn't make any sense to her...and really there's no way in telling that story that makes sense anyway...:) She said to me, "I wish for you that OBama wins!!" haha This election definitely has a global following.
After all the guests left I went upstairs and read for a few hours before falling asleep.
This morning for breakfast I had porridge and tea...if you know me, you know I normally only drink my mom's tea, and I don't like anything in the porridge/oatmeal family...I'm getting better at eating things I don't care for!!
After breakfast I headed to Gloria's...but I'm tired of typing, cold, and can't think!! haha So I will write about Gloria's later.
Enjoy some pics--some are the view from upstairs at Vicky's--so those little shacks are people's houses...and that one is my room.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Table Mountain- 1, Chelsey- 0!!
Yesterday me, Bonnie (Australia), and Corrinne & Kevin (Canada) went to Table Mountain. It was finally sunny out and couldn't have been a more perfect day. I had left a note on the house bulletin board saying, "I'm going to Table Mountain on Sunday if anyone wants to go. I'm planning to take the cable car up and abseil down." Obviously Bonnie, Kevin & Corrinne took the bait. We got there, bought our tickets for the cable car and headed up. Let me say, this mountain can be deceiving because the top is flat (like a table, hence the name Table Mountain) and so it doesn't seem that high. As we're watching the cable cars you can barely see the point at the top of the mountain where the cars stop because it's so high up! The cable car itself is pretty big, probably holding about 30 people. You stand in it and the floor rotates so you're seeing every angle possible as you spin around and travel hundreds of meters up in the sky. There are windows all around and about every 4th window, there are just bars, no glass, so you're just looking straight out, could stick your hands out. The higher we get the more scared I am because I'm realizing how high we are. I can't really express in words what this looked like or how at that moment I was thinking, "Ok, so maybe I won't be abseiling today!" By the way, abseiling is just repelling, I don't know why it's called abseiling here though... So anyway, we get to the top and walk around, do some picture taking, and watch a group of girls get ready to abseil so I can decide if I'm going to do this or not. After some watching, and gripping the ledge even as I stand still, I confirm that I cannot do it!! Everyone else did though, which is funny because nobody else had planned on it, just me & my note and I'm the one who backed out! Yes, we found the thing I couldn't do. I think it's because I didn't expect to be scared at all. Especially not in the cable car and when I was that freaked out I was thinking..."what if I'm that scared the entire abseil? I don't want to be that scared for that long of time, and have to be controlling something too!!" So I didn't do it. And I've made peace with it!! So I took pics for everyone else. Although all I could see was them take their first steps backwards off a cliff 1000 meters high...after that they were gone from anyone and everyone's sight. Table Mountain is the highest abseil in the world! I think I could have done it and I'm sure been scared to death, and very pumped afterwards, but again, I'm totally ok with it. Kinda scary thinking about it! So anyway, as I was saying, the views were amazing up there. You could see for miles and miles into the ocean, a good view of Robben Island, just awesome stuff in every direction.
Here's a few pics. The one with the cables in view is my view as we were coming down from the mountain...see how the cables keep going and there's a teeny tiny building at the very end that you can hardly even see...that's where the cable cars stop...gives you can idea of how high up we were!!!
Here's a few pics. The one with the cables in view is my view as we were coming down from the mountain...see how the cables keep going and there's a teeny tiny building at the very end that you can hardly even see...that's where the cable cars stop...gives you can idea of how high up we were!!!
Friday, July 11, 2008
Sandboarding & Quadding!!!!!
Wow! I had so much fun today!!! The van picked us (Me & Stephanie) up at 10:30 and it was only like a 20 minute drive to Atlantis where we sandboarded. So, Atlantis used to be totally underwater, the water receded, and the sand dunes were left. No picture I took can really express how cool this place looked. Just rolling hills of sand--super steep and just beautiful. So we go out there, get our boots on, get a board, and tromp across the sand. We start on an "easy" hill...this is not like ski/sandboard places at home where the bunny slopes barely have an decline in them, it's a drop off! We waxed our boards, strapped in, and away I went (although first I was scared, wacthing everyone else, and very hesitant). Quisto (our guide/instructor) said, "Just do it, get the fear out your head, look where you want to go and that's where you'll go, and keep your weight on your front foot." Okay...so I headed down. I "fell" a couple times...I put fell in quotes because it wasn't really falling. I just got scared and sat down! Then, I'd get back up and finish the hill. I'm a wuss...but it was awesome! So, we'd move onto bigger hills and carry on. Walking back up killed though! We'd be taking like 10 minutes between each trip down just taking pictures and catching our breath. Towards the end Quisto told Stephanie and I that we definitely needed to sled down on the board at least once before we left. We'd been waiting to hear that all day! haha So we did, and it was like amazing!! We went so much faster and just rolled off the boards at the bottom. One time I think I was flying through the air off the board and twisting in the air, my shirt was up and I landed hard! My ribs and shoulders were killing. But it was so fun. So then we had lunch just sitting at the top of the dunes. Shortly after, 4 quads (4 wheelers for those of you who call them that, like me) pull up on the dunes. We grabbed our boards, each hopped on one with the guys driving and headed to drop off the boards.
We drop off the boards, and the guys, get helmets and head out. There's one guy in the front leading us and we are to just stay in a single file line while we ride for safety reasons. I'm guessing there's some places where sand could collapse in and there's tons of steep hills and drop offs so they don't want people just shooting off those! Basically, I thought I was gonna cry and/or die several times!! These things were so freakin' steep. One that we came up on he got off his quad walked back to each of us to tell us how to go down them, "just pump your brake, if you don't do it right you'll flip." Thanks... So scary!!!!!!! And he took us on ones like this several times. However, it was so much fun. And reminded me how much I love 4-wheeling, and made me think that Ivan & I need to get some and quad in Arizona, which is a great place to quad too.
It was amazing. I put up a couple pics, but they just don't do it justice. They might have more pics on the website of the company we went with that you can look at, but if you weren't there, it's hard to understand what the dunes look like & how steep the hills are. (http://www.downhilladventures.com/ )
Sidenote: Quisto was super cool, and it wasn't until I was looking through the pics when I got home that I realized he's got a resemblance to Heath Ledger...do you see it??! Although he was being a bit goofy in our pic (making fun of me with my hand on my hip) in Stephanie's pic you can really see it... anyway, it was an incredible day!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Mama Chelsey & Mama Rachel
Here's my co-mama of Lona, Rachel. She volunteered at HOH last year through AVIVA, like me. This summer she came back on her own and volunteered, working with kids and the social workers. She is heading back to England tomorrow (so Lona will be mine again...) just kidding. Oh yeah, Rachel had long hair but shaved her head to raise money to come here for HOH! :) I saw pics of before, I like them both, but I think the short hair looks good on her. Anyway, here she is.
And a pic I took on my lunch hour on the beach, which HOH is a block from the beach. It happened to be cold & rainy when I was there (duh, it's always cold & rainy here).
Babies Galore
Whew. I just got home from my most exhausting day at Home of Hope. A couple days ago we got a new little girl... I don't know how old she is but I'm guessing 2. We're just holding onto her until her mom can take her back. Basically her mom was arrested for stealing and has been held for a couple days and when she gets out she'll take her back. She's a good kid, just one more to look after.
Then, we got Adrian. His mother died of AIDS and so he's been with his dad and step mom ever since then--I don't know how long ago his mom died or how well she did or didn't take care of him, but anyway, Adrian has HIV, and TB, is 19 months old but is literally the size of Lona (who is a small 9 month old), has a face that screams fetal alcohol syndrome, and on top of that has been so neglected that his skin is just flaking off. His diaper rash around his legs and waist are like nothing I've ever seen. He doesn't have any teeth from such poor nutrition. He ended up with us because his step mom took him to the hospital because she "thought he might be sick." Ya think?! And it turns out that this woman is also on a committee in her township for ensuring kids are taken care of...?! Hello?! Your own son looks like a burn victim with skin falling off and you didn't think this odd until now? So, he has to bathed very painstakingly, and his first couple days was wrapped head to toe like a mummy. After his bath he's covered in a vaseline like mixture, and socks cover his hands so he want claw at himself because I'm sure the itching is unbearable. On the upside, he's super sweet, developing a personality, eating well, playing with the other kids, and his skin is improving.
Today, we got Simdi. Simdi was born about a month and a half ago, at only 6 months along. She's been in the hospital and 2 days ago her 21 year old mom left the hospital with her, dropped her at the 18 year old dad's house, and ran away. The dad did what he could but ended up taking her to the police station, knowing he didn't know what to do with her. Props to him for taking her to someone rather than just throwing her out like many other people do. So, she comes to us weighing probably around 1-2 kilos (roughly 2-4 pounds)... could easily fit in a shoebox. Her skin seems so thin and loose on her body. Eleanor has instructed us to take "kangaroo care" with her. Meaning, nearly all hours of the day, one of us needs to be wearing those carriers that people have, under our shirts, with her in it so she can get skin to skin contact. I was the first lucky carrier today :) She's so light that it's not an issue, just slows you down. We instantly knew what it felt like to be 6 months pregnant as far as reaching for things goes! And I don't know how many people got to look down my shirt today because they wanted to see the baby! haha Right now they are working to see if there's any other family to help with the baby, until then, or if there's not, we will have her. If nobody in the family ever takes her then it will turn to finding a foster family. If that doesn't happen she'll stick with HOH for the long haul. Although, I'm sure she'll have no problem getting fostered since she's so young.
So anyway, it just made the day crazy. Everything was slower and after my shift of carrying her, it was time for baths, so I gave 8 baths today whereas we normally alternate. One of our babies is quite needy from spending weekends with a foster family so she was noisy for attention--good news is she's heading to a family tomorrow for good! Anyway, I'm beat. And my back is killing me (bathing the kids and carrying the little one for a few hours--mostly from moving differently I think...)
Tomorrow I traded shifts with another girl so Stephanie and I can go sandboarding and quadding tomorrow. Hopefully I can actually stand up!! I'll be putting up some pics of the new kids...
Then, we got Adrian. His mother died of AIDS and so he's been with his dad and step mom ever since then--I don't know how long ago his mom died or how well she did or didn't take care of him, but anyway, Adrian has HIV, and TB, is 19 months old but is literally the size of Lona (who is a small 9 month old), has a face that screams fetal alcohol syndrome, and on top of that has been so neglected that his skin is just flaking off. His diaper rash around his legs and waist are like nothing I've ever seen. He doesn't have any teeth from such poor nutrition. He ended up with us because his step mom took him to the hospital because she "thought he might be sick." Ya think?! And it turns out that this woman is also on a committee in her township for ensuring kids are taken care of...?! Hello?! Your own son looks like a burn victim with skin falling off and you didn't think this odd until now? So, he has to bathed very painstakingly, and his first couple days was wrapped head to toe like a mummy. After his bath he's covered in a vaseline like mixture, and socks cover his hands so he want claw at himself because I'm sure the itching is unbearable. On the upside, he's super sweet, developing a personality, eating well, playing with the other kids, and his skin is improving.
Today, we got Simdi. Simdi was born about a month and a half ago, at only 6 months along. She's been in the hospital and 2 days ago her 21 year old mom left the hospital with her, dropped her at the 18 year old dad's house, and ran away. The dad did what he could but ended up taking her to the police station, knowing he didn't know what to do with her. Props to him for taking her to someone rather than just throwing her out like many other people do. So, she comes to us weighing probably around 1-2 kilos (roughly 2-4 pounds)... could easily fit in a shoebox. Her skin seems so thin and loose on her body. Eleanor has instructed us to take "kangaroo care" with her. Meaning, nearly all hours of the day, one of us needs to be wearing those carriers that people have, under our shirts, with her in it so she can get skin to skin contact. I was the first lucky carrier today :) She's so light that it's not an issue, just slows you down. We instantly knew what it felt like to be 6 months pregnant as far as reaching for things goes! And I don't know how many people got to look down my shirt today because they wanted to see the baby! haha Right now they are working to see if there's any other family to help with the baby, until then, or if there's not, we will have her. If nobody in the family ever takes her then it will turn to finding a foster family. If that doesn't happen she'll stick with HOH for the long haul. Although, I'm sure she'll have no problem getting fostered since she's so young.
So anyway, it just made the day crazy. Everything was slower and after my shift of carrying her, it was time for baths, so I gave 8 baths today whereas we normally alternate. One of our babies is quite needy from spending weekends with a foster family so she was noisy for attention--good news is she's heading to a family tomorrow for good! Anyway, I'm beat. And my back is killing me (bathing the kids and carrying the little one for a few hours--mostly from moving differently I think...)
Tomorrow I traded shifts with another girl so Stephanie and I can go sandboarding and quadding tomorrow. Hopefully I can actually stand up!! I'll be putting up some pics of the new kids...
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
1 step forward, 2 steps back
The other day at work Eleanor had an opportunity to sit down and talk with us a bit and we (me and the other volunteer I work with, Bonnie from Australia) just kinda picked her brain. First, I had been misinformed about where Lona came from. She wasn't abandoned, she has parents. Mom has HIV and a huge drinking problem. Which I think I mentioned before, probably means that if she was taking anti-retroviral meds while pregnant to prevent transferring HIV to the baby, it wouldn't have worked. Eleanor is pretty sure Lona is HIV too because she's so tiny, and she's betting on fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) as well, which is affecting most of our kids. Partly because it's just likely since her mom drinks, but also because Lona is so active. Which, I personally don't think any of the babies are any more or less active than any baby I've ever met, but Eleanor also has years of experience so who knows? She did say though, that this will show up in the kids later in life. They are highly impulsive, and explosive--hard time managing their emotions and things like that. As teenagers, typically, they are more than a handful. Also, if they don't establish those bonds with people as infants, later in life they will be either clingy or so independent from people that it gets in the way of relationships, possibly having little regard or respect for anyone or anything, and even further down the line, possibly not be good parents themselves. Which is why they really emphasize love & attention as so important for the babies. At the same time though, we shouldn't get too attached which would make the leaving hard on us and the babies. The truth is, these babies have so many people coming in and out that they're not going to be affected by my leaving, even if I'm crying all the way back to America!
So we discussed the adoption path again...and of course it just gets more complicated every time we go that route. The good news: while establishing residency here you can foster, so if I moved here I could essentially raise Lona while passing the 5 years time to gain residency. After the 5 years I could adopt, and we could come back to America. However, problem #1: South Africa isn't quick to hand out residency in the first place. Because unemployment is so high here, you have to bring a skill that is unique or come with a company, otherwise there's a good chance they won't give you residency. Problem #2: America isn't always quick to give residency to the children you're bringing back--so I could spend years here and then not even be let back into the country. Plus, I don't know what the view is on bringing back a child with HIV...
On top of those issues, Eleanor was almost talking us out of any thoughts simply based on the issues these kids will have later in life. If she's HIV positive, that's a whole load of issues in itself, if she's FAS, I could plan on major behavior and learning problems. That part doesn't scare me...I deal with those things for a living so I know what to expect (although not 24 hours of it, I still know the potential problems). She was just going on and on about how big of a commitment it is. Duh....
The bottom line is that, the easiest route is to marry a South African man. I told her I wasn't sure how Ivan would feel about that... "Honey, don't worry, I'll be home in 5-6 years and I'm going to marry a man here, but it's only to adopt Lona, whom I don't think you even want, so just wait for me...you'll love her..." I joked with Eleanor that I want them to foster Lona, keep her with them, and I will send them the money to support her...whatever she needs, just contact Aunty Chelsey. Just so I know she's ok. Eleanor laughed...but I'm dead serious... the problem is, if she gets adopted, or even if she doesn't and leaves HOH into a children's home when she's older, there is NO way of knowing where she goes or how she does. Once she leaves HOH that's it.
So anyway that was a lot of our discussion. Surprise: it was all about how can I get Lona?!
Yesterday was my day off so I went to visit SANCCOB--which is the place that rehabs birds and penguins that our other volunteers work at. They were cute!! There was one with a broken wing, and one missing a foot!!!! So sad. But cute. Today I'm just going to hang around the house. It's raining of course. At this point I don't want to go anywhere because I can't afford to shop anymore (and I will if I leave the house!) and the only thing I still want do before I leave (that hasn't been scheduled) is Table Mountain...so I wait for the sun to come out!!
Saturday, July 05, 2008
The Gala!!
So the gala was fun. There were people in tuxes and women in dresses looking like they could have just come from prom. Upon arrival we were given champagne, and then waited for our 4 course meal to start. First was salad, although types of salads I've never seen before. Then we waited about 30-45 minutes and the meal came. The choices were fish, chicken, and beef. I chose the chicken and it was very good! Then we waited some more, and finally dessert came, the choice was cheesecake or creme brulee (I had cheesecake). All the food was good, and the Apple Martini's were amazing! I always get those back home and I had the best Appletini I've ever had, here! It actually tasted like an apple, and even had an apple slice in it. Wonderful. At the beginning of the evening Richard gave a welcoming speech and then the host for the night took over--who is the host of Survivor South Africa! Which, wasn't that exciting since we didn't know who he was or anything, but it was exciting because he's a celebrity here and everyone else knew him :) Later on Eleanor gave a little speech too. She spoke about the kids. Stephanie and I were in tears of course because we actually know the kids. I'm hoping the rich people there with gobs of money were touched, but who knows. They also showed a video with some of the kids, and stating what all Home of Hope does for the community, with a girl singing "Who's Going to Stop the Rain." She was amazing! And the song was beautiful. After this there was a live auction-- they were auctioning of jet getaways, safari's, diamond earrings-- really awesome items. It was so fun to watch these rich people actually bid on things and the whole bit. Also, all the while, there was live music and dancing-- some jazz, and some modern stuff. It was pretty cool. It also raised a lot of money-- about 300,000 rand ($39,000!) Which is amazing, but they still need to raise 650,000 rand ($83,000) for the new house. (So if anyone wants to donate, or organize a fundraiser, or get their church involved or something like that, please let me know). What I learned was that the new place is actually 2 houses on one lot. So all the kids at the farm, and all the kids at the house I'm working in will all move there. There's also more room to house more children I believe. The house we're in right now is rented. In August they have to be out, and the owner is tearing it down to build condos. Luckily, as I had posted before, a wealthy businessman has secured the house for them by giving them 3 months interest free loan, but he needs to be paid...which is where the money needed comes into play.
As I was watching it also kinda pissed me off that they have to go through this big event and woo all these rich people to take care of kids who need it...it's just something people should be doing anyway, but these people have to be put on you know?
So, enough about the gala. Not much else going on for the moment. Just been working. Our little boy with the trachea tube in was supposed to have a doctor's appointment yesterday to see if he can have it out, but apparently some social worker (not one in our house) didn't do what she needed to do to permit the doctor visit, so we're right where we were. Which sucks. Poor kid. Speaking of, I also found out some info about his older sister whom I've mentioned. Apparently, when she was still with their mother, one night her mom came home and she was sitting outside on the front steps. Because her mom had wanted her to be inside, she threw scalding hot water on her and beat her. You can still see the scars on her legs from the water.
The other day I was sitting at work visiting with one of the women who works there full time, Tiny, and she said to me, "You're good with the kids. You're better than the others, they know nothing." I take this as a huge compliment! haha The women who work there (Tiny, Gloria, and Athlena) don't speak to us much because English isn't their first language (They speak Xhosa-pronounced Kosa--and some Afrikaans). They do great in English, but you know sometimes it's a struggle. Plus, they are so busy cleaning and taking care of everything else that makes the house run smoothly. I also value what she said because I'm sure they are thinking we are all stupid and have probably dealt with some really crazy questions, as they watch hundreds of volunteers come in and out of there. For example-- I was packing diaper bags the other day for all the kids because they were painting the nursery so all the kids were leaving with temporary foster parents or social workers for a couple days. On the list was something called "Baby Grows" for one of our kids. It was on the list for our kid who has to have a thickener added to his bottles, so I thought maybe that is what she meant. I looked to Tiny (she was helping me) and said, "Aren't we out of that?" and pointed to the cabinet where the thickener is. She just started laughing at me. I'm like what??! She leads me to the laundry room where she gets out a onesie!!!!!! We were dying laughing. I said..we don't call these "baby grows!" (which I'm thinking could be a brand name?!) Either way, it was funny, and an opportunity for her to think I'm a total moron. Oh well.
I guess that's all for now... hope you all enjoyed your 4th! No celebration here, the Americans in the house were a little bummed yesterday. I work tomorrow and then am off for a couple days. Wish me sunny weather so I can finally get to Table Mountain. Next week I'm going to stay at "Vicky's B&B" (the smallest B&B in South Africa), and volunteer at "Gloria's Kindergarten" one day. Those were the places in the heart of the township that I wrote about awhile back. I'm a little nervous to be staying in the township, and seeing what meal is prepared for me too! Plus, last time I was there, I was upstairs looking out the window and there was a teenager on the street below looking up at me making a gun with his hand... a little unnerving... but Ursula keeps telling me, "You're very safe there darling." Megan (house mom) has told me, "Just don't go wandering around!! No walking the streets!!" Hadn't planned on it! It's only one night and I just really want the experience since my whole trip I've been living in luxury. And Vicky is so well respected that people don't mess with her or her visitors. And on top of that, everyone has really said that there's nothing to worry about, just use common sense. I'm sure once I'm dropped at Vicky's I won't be leaving, unless to see Beauty across the street. Which by the way, did I ever mention that it's just dirt lanes in some places in the township , not even wide enough for 2 cars... rambling now...
Seeya!
As I was watching it also kinda pissed me off that they have to go through this big event and woo all these rich people to take care of kids who need it...it's just something people should be doing anyway, but these people have to be put on you know?
So, enough about the gala. Not much else going on for the moment. Just been working. Our little boy with the trachea tube in was supposed to have a doctor's appointment yesterday to see if he can have it out, but apparently some social worker (not one in our house) didn't do what she needed to do to permit the doctor visit, so we're right where we were. Which sucks. Poor kid. Speaking of, I also found out some info about his older sister whom I've mentioned. Apparently, when she was still with their mother, one night her mom came home and she was sitting outside on the front steps. Because her mom had wanted her to be inside, she threw scalding hot water on her and beat her. You can still see the scars on her legs from the water.
The other day I was sitting at work visiting with one of the women who works there full time, Tiny, and she said to me, "You're good with the kids. You're better than the others, they know nothing." I take this as a huge compliment! haha The women who work there (Tiny, Gloria, and Athlena) don't speak to us much because English isn't their first language (They speak Xhosa-pronounced Kosa--and some Afrikaans). They do great in English, but you know sometimes it's a struggle. Plus, they are so busy cleaning and taking care of everything else that makes the house run smoothly. I also value what she said because I'm sure they are thinking we are all stupid and have probably dealt with some really crazy questions, as they watch hundreds of volunteers come in and out of there. For example-- I was packing diaper bags the other day for all the kids because they were painting the nursery so all the kids were leaving with temporary foster parents or social workers for a couple days. On the list was something called "Baby Grows" for one of our kids. It was on the list for our kid who has to have a thickener added to his bottles, so I thought maybe that is what she meant. I looked to Tiny (she was helping me) and said, "Aren't we out of that?" and pointed to the cabinet where the thickener is. She just started laughing at me. I'm like what??! She leads me to the laundry room where she gets out a onesie!!!!!! We were dying laughing. I said..we don't call these "baby grows!" (which I'm thinking could be a brand name?!) Either way, it was funny, and an opportunity for her to think I'm a total moron. Oh well.
I guess that's all for now... hope you all enjoyed your 4th! No celebration here, the Americans in the house were a little bummed yesterday. I work tomorrow and then am off for a couple days. Wish me sunny weather so I can finally get to Table Mountain. Next week I'm going to stay at "Vicky's B&B" (the smallest B&B in South Africa), and volunteer at "Gloria's Kindergarten" one day. Those were the places in the heart of the township that I wrote about awhile back. I'm a little nervous to be staying in the township, and seeing what meal is prepared for me too! Plus, last time I was there, I was upstairs looking out the window and there was a teenager on the street below looking up at me making a gun with his hand... a little unnerving... but Ursula keeps telling me, "You're very safe there darling." Megan (house mom) has told me, "Just don't go wandering around!! No walking the streets!!" Hadn't planned on it! It's only one night and I just really want the experience since my whole trip I've been living in luxury. And Vicky is so well respected that people don't mess with her or her visitors. And on top of that, everyone has really said that there's nothing to worry about, just use common sense. I'm sure once I'm dropped at Vicky's I won't be leaving, unless to see Beauty across the street. Which by the way, did I ever mention that it's just dirt lanes in some places in the township , not even wide enough for 2 cars... rambling now...
Seeya!
**The pics are at the gala, the first with Richard, Eleanor & Stephanie, the second is us with the Survivor guy (Mark Bayly).
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