Molweni Guys! Unjani? My Xhosa has unfortunately not improved much in the last week, but I’m starting to pick up the odd word here and there! But everybody laughs at my pronunciationJ
It’s been a good week with much more work to do. Youth Leads are going fine at all three schools. The kids have decided on tournaments and I’ve been doing Workshops on Fair Play which have been going great. I recommend the fruit salad as a Icebreaker, and one grade 5 can not get enough of JihaaJ They don’t really get the game jet, but just love saying jihaa and 4 gear TractorJ So work in schools are good now. It’s really interesting to see how the school life is here compared to back home. Two of the schools have some half finished buildings with broken windows and no doors, and at the third school the wind broke of the roof in two of the classrooms. There are usually around 60 students in each class so I understand the teachers find it difficult to do PE with hardly any equipment. Some of the teachers are really interested in what I’m doing, while others don’t seem to bother. But the kids are great and I love working with them.
With community sport we still haven’t done any SCORE For All, but I play a lot of soccer in the afternoons so time goes by. Tomorrow I’m actually going to Mthatha again to play soccer. The university team we played against there called my teams coach and wanted me to come and play for them. So I’m really looking forward to that! :)
Otherwise life is still good. I’m leaving for CT next Friday. And then Mid Service with the rest of the SA team somewhere in Free State right after that. Can’t wait to see everyone again and to take a showerJ
Have a great weekend everyone!! Thank you for all the comments, keep them coming!J Pictures will come when I’m in CT!
XOXO Nolita
Friday, August 24, 2007
Friday, August 17, 2007
In the Rrural Communities...
Molo!!! Unjani? Ndiphililie.!:) That’s how far my Xhosa has gotten. Man it’s a hard language!
Three weeks have passed now, seems so much longer and shorter at the same time. Have been some long days doing nothing (when I start reading articles and manuals and taking notes I don’t have a test on, than I’m bored. Maybe you can borrow me “Ona Fyr” Iva? ;), and some fun days with lots of great people. Work in the schools is going slow, and holidays and rain have not helped!
But I’m being patience, and on Tuesday I finally had my first whole day in a school. Started at 8.am with Volleyball for grade 7. 60 students, two balls and one court. A bit different from volleyball with Ola at NIH! But the kids were great so it worked out fine! :) I then did two sessions with two Youth Leads groups before soccer training with a boys community team in the afternoon. So that’s how my day can look like, but no days are the same, and if it rains you do nothing, if it’s cold you don’t do any sports. So I play soccer in the streets with the kids, read and I am now on episode 20 of Grey’s Anatomy :)
Today I went to another school. I was sitting in the Principals office. He had found a paraffin heather for me, and some kids came with some matches. We have one at the house so I thought I knew how to light it. Well, I didn’t so there were really big flames coming from it and I didn’t know what to do. Luckily some grade 9 students came and helped me get it outside. They worked on it for an hour before they managed to kill the flames, but the heater was broken. The Prinicipals office was covered in smoke and it smelled really bad. Good first impression from the stupid foreign Girl!!!...:)
I have also started to play football for a girl team here. Think the plan is to help out with training as well, but they are very well organised and have two coaches, so I just bring some equipment and play with them. Went to Mthatha; city about an hour west of Mt.F, on Saturday and played a match against a university team there. A lot of people there, including Frank (another SCORE volunteer). Great to see a familiar face and to share experiences and frustrations with someone. We won the game 3-2. I scored one, one assist and was named woman of the match! Not bad!:)
So I’m starting to get use to the (semi)-Rrrural life in South Africa. The food is still good, except the cows head they served me, and the chicken I watch them kill and cock before serving me and the father the liver! Gina, you would have had a problem here my friendJ
The chickens don’t wake me up at 4 am anymore, it’s more like 5.30, and then at 6 am the radio is turned on with the volume on max, and stays on till 6 pm. I don’t mind listening to the radio, but it’s in Xhosa so I don’t understand much. Same with the TV. The only program I watch is Generations, and I bet all of the Volunteers in SA do the sameJ It’s SA version of Hotel Cæsar, you will love it Ann-C:) So there is only three things I really miss:
- a shower (there is only a bath here)
- Seeing the News in English or Norwegian(I don’t know what’s going on in the World)
- A couch ( Tv is in the kitchen so that’s were we sit all afternoon)
In two weeks I’ll be going to Cape Town with the other Norwegians. It’s with NIH so we will be at the University there for a week attending lectures ect. Really excited about seeing everybody again and taking a showerJ Will post some pic then, because the internet here is just to slow.
So life is good, have no regrets and no homesickness. But I still miss you all.
I hope you are doing fine, and good luck with your studies, work, travelling and keep me updated!:)
Best of Wishes, Nolita
Three weeks have passed now, seems so much longer and shorter at the same time. Have been some long days doing nothing (when I start reading articles and manuals and taking notes I don’t have a test on, than I’m bored. Maybe you can borrow me “Ona Fyr” Iva? ;), and some fun days with lots of great people. Work in the schools is going slow, and holidays and rain have not helped!
But I’m being patience, and on Tuesday I finally had my first whole day in a school. Started at 8.am with Volleyball for grade 7. 60 students, two balls and one court. A bit different from volleyball with Ola at NIH! But the kids were great so it worked out fine! :) I then did two sessions with two Youth Leads groups before soccer training with a boys community team in the afternoon. So that’s how my day can look like, but no days are the same, and if it rains you do nothing, if it’s cold you don’t do any sports. So I play soccer in the streets with the kids, read and I am now on episode 20 of Grey’s Anatomy :)
Today I went to another school. I was sitting in the Principals office. He had found a paraffin heather for me, and some kids came with some matches. We have one at the house so I thought I knew how to light it. Well, I didn’t so there were really big flames coming from it and I didn’t know what to do. Luckily some grade 9 students came and helped me get it outside. They worked on it for an hour before they managed to kill the flames, but the heater was broken. The Prinicipals office was covered in smoke and it smelled really bad. Good first impression from the stupid foreign Girl!!!...:)
I have also started to play football for a girl team here. Think the plan is to help out with training as well, but they are very well organised and have two coaches, so I just bring some equipment and play with them. Went to Mthatha; city about an hour west of Mt.F, on Saturday and played a match against a university team there. A lot of people there, including Frank (another SCORE volunteer). Great to see a familiar face and to share experiences and frustrations with someone. We won the game 3-2. I scored one, one assist and was named woman of the match! Not bad!:)
So I’m starting to get use to the (semi)-Rrrural life in South Africa. The food is still good, except the cows head they served me, and the chicken I watch them kill and cock before serving me and the father the liver! Gina, you would have had a problem here my friendJ
The chickens don’t wake me up at 4 am anymore, it’s more like 5.30, and then at 6 am the radio is turned on with the volume on max, and stays on till 6 pm. I don’t mind listening to the radio, but it’s in Xhosa so I don’t understand much. Same with the TV. The only program I watch is Generations, and I bet all of the Volunteers in SA do the sameJ It’s SA version of Hotel Cæsar, you will love it Ann-C:) So there is only three things I really miss:
- a shower (there is only a bath here)
- Seeing the News in English or Norwegian(I don’t know what’s going on in the World)
- A couch ( Tv is in the kitchen so that’s were we sit all afternoon)
In two weeks I’ll be going to Cape Town with the other Norwegians. It’s with NIH so we will be at the University there for a week attending lectures ect. Really excited about seeing everybody again and taking a showerJ Will post some pic then, because the internet here is just to slow.
So life is good, have no regrets and no homesickness. But I still miss you all.
I hope you are doing fine, and good luck with your studies, work, travelling and keep me updated!:)
Best of Wishes, Nolita
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Nolita says hi from Mt.Frere
So I finally arrive in Mt.Frere Friday after almost 3 weeks of holiday (as my brother called it) in Cape Town and 2 days East London. Mt. Frere was colder, windier and bigger than I thought. Mandla dropped me of at my hostfamily at night. A really strang experience but everything went well. Got my own room with electricity and a dobbelbed. Proper!! Not sure how many people actually live here, but we have never been less than 8 people for dinner. Must say I have been a bit nervous about the food, but after eating fryed meals for three weeks, my diet now concsist of a lot of vegetables, rice, paap( not sure how you write it, correct me please), potatoes and some meat.It is hard to explaine how my home is, you have to see it with your own eyes. When we came we couldn’t really see the house couse there are so many cars on the property. There are also 4 house including my hostdads workplace/garage. One of the houses are a small convenience shop where my workexperience from Spar back home have commed in handyJ The mainhouse is where my bedroom, the bathroom, kitchen, livingroom and the parents bedroom is. The family has also a lot of animals; chickens, cows,sheeps, pigs, dogs pluss two dead turtoures in a bathtub. The chickens wake me up every morning at 4.am...
Monday I visited one of the schools I’ll be working on, Nkulisha with about 400 kids. It’s a 5-10 min walk from my house. The teachers and parents were very positive and the kids are so great. Will start my work hopefully on Monday. Am really excited about getting started. This last couple days I haven’t done much so I’m already starting to get a bit bored and restless. But it’s good training for my patience.
So everything is Proper. Will post pic from Mt.Frere later. Not a good ide to flash my camera in front of the kids jet. I will never get them of my back..
Sharp Sharp as they say here! My contact person also gave me a Xhosa name: Lolita. It means something like bright light, rising sun... yeah..:)
Keep me updated on anything new. Football results, the weather. whatever:)
Miss you all!!
Xoxox
Monday I visited one of the schools I’ll be working on, Nkulisha with about 400 kids. It’s a 5-10 min walk from my house. The teachers and parents were very positive and the kids are so great. Will start my work hopefully on Monday. Am really excited about getting started. This last couple days I haven’t done much so I’m already starting to get a bit bored and restless. But it’s good training for my patience.
So everything is Proper. Will post pic from Mt.Frere later. Not a good ide to flash my camera in front of the kids jet. I will never get them of my back..
Sharp Sharp as they say here! My contact person also gave me a Xhosa name: Lolita. It means something like bright light, rising sun... yeah..:)
Keep me updated on anything new. Football results, the weather. whatever:)
Miss you all!!
Xoxox
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