Thursday, August 20, 2009

World Cup

Tickets for the world cup are really expensive, right? Not if you're a South African resident! I can get tickets for less than ten dollars a piece, so if anyone is interested in attending with me and can scrape together enough money for a plane ticket, please let me know!

In other news, I am feeling much better, but the other trainees are dropping like flies. Some have simple colds, others the flu, but no one has a medical kit. Rumour has it that they're on the ground in Johannesburg, so we should get them soon.

I taught my first class yesterday at Sehokho Primary School, and I am pleased to report that it went rather well. The regular teacher told me that I was good at teaching maths, but I think I can do better. There were some things in my lesson plan that didn't quite make it into my lesson and a few other things I realized for the first time mid-lesson. I learned that sometimes sample problems don't always work out exactly the way you want them to. Teaching involves a lot of thinking on your feet.

Last Saturday was a Peace Corps field trip to the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg. It's a great museum and I highly recommend a trip to anyone who plans to visit the area. After we all toured the museum, we headed to a mall in search of food that did not involve pap or chicken feet. I had pizza, which has never tasted so good. A shopkeeper came over to meet and greet all the Americans. He was shocked when we told him that we weren't tourists, we didn't live in Jo'burg, and we were volunteers who lived in rural areas in which indoor plumbing does not exist. His reaction to us seems pretty standard among whites from urban areas. Another shopkeeper who just opened a grocery store in Marapyane warned us to be very careful, implying that the area is very dangerous for us. I have yet to experience any violence, but some of the volunteers who have been in country for a while have pretty scary stories.

Yesterday I experienced my first awkward walk past dozens of children, all screaming "Lekgowa! Lekgowa!" Lekgowa means white person in Setswana. It used to be mildly derogatory, now it's more a statement of fact. Still, what do you do when people start yelling and pointing at you? I waved and kept walking.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Kelsey-- When someone is yelling at you and pointing at you, just show a big smile and wave!! Thats what I do!! It usually works. I did a paper in high school on apartheid and my teacher wss kind of nonplused why I was doing it. I said I had a problem with a few million white people doing all that to 17 million black people and treating them horribly, to put it mildly, and it wasn't right. Its still amazing to me it happened. Of course, it happened in the US as well know, just in a slightly different form. Hope the medical kits arrive soon. Think of you often. Love, Uncle FRAN

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  2. When they stare at you, you can always dance in a cricle and start chanting UA-UAUAUA-UA-UA!!! It's also helpful if you have a burning flip-flop to dance around.


    Love you!

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