December 12: Beauty

I spent all day inside.  From 8:30am when I arrived at work until 5:30pm, I didn't leave the building.  However, when I walked out to my car the sky was gorgeous (this picture doesn't do it justice).  It's the little things in life that bring me great joy!

Last Week in South Africa! :/

The last week was filled with lots of wonderful moments and it was the first time in weeks that all 143 students were back together!

Gerard's house where we had class

Monday: 

After class the academic staff went to the Mount Nelson hotel for High Tea! What a wonderful time!

 

Lori, me, and Mallory enjoying our tea and delicious treats (sweet and savory)

Our terrace overlooked the fountain and the grounds

Mallory taking a dive in the fountain

I became the holder of stuff :)

The academic staff (& Lori who we were happy to have!)

The Mount Nelson (from the backside)

The grounds were incredible.

After dinner I met up with some students at Bombay Bicycle. It's a fun restaurant that specializes both in ambiance and local South African cuisine.

Claire, Karishma, Michelle, and me

The chairs were swings hung from the ceiling!

So fun!

Although we didn't sit here for dinner; we got to snap a picture and sit as we waited for our taxi!

The taxi back was packed (21 people!) yikes! But it meant a cheap fare!

Wednesday: Final township celebration

All 143 students and staff headed back to the township for a final celebration. There were performances by both the global lead(ers) and the people from Sun City.  We also had a chance to visit with our family one last time. Each group was partnered with a soup mom or other family during our week.  Ms. Veronica and her family was our South African family for the week.

Emma, Kelly, Emily, Ms. Veronica, Anna Claire, me, and Elena

So sad about the shadow on Samatha's face. These are two of the young women I connected with throughout the week.  Baby Kelly is named after a former Global Leader.  Kaylee and Samantha are both extremely smart and I hope the best for them in their futures!

Thursday:

As we encouraged the students to think more about their transition back home, we did a poverty simulation to help them better understand poverty in the US. 

Friday: 

The reading rebels came and visited with us during class. The program (in Sun City) is supported by Global Lead. It targets students who are in gangs/fighting and hopes to turn them into productive members of society by giving them money in exchange for reading a book a month.  That evening I did some shopping and had dinner at the V&A waterfront.

Last amazing sunset

Friday night was then spent grading blue books!

Saturday: Old Biscuit Mill

Back to Old Biscuit Mill! Delicious latte!

If I haven't talked about the Chocolatire and the delectable homemade chocolate ice cream...there are no words for JUST how good it is! They would even pour chocolate shell on top. Yumm.

Claire, Haley, and me 

I talked everyone into ice cream. They didn't regret their decisions!

I was sad to say goodbye to Old Biscuit Mill, however, I'm sure all the delicious treats contributed to bit of extra weight I brought back with me from Cape Town ;)

Living Life in South Africa (Week 1)

Here is the recap of my first week in South Africa.
Sunday: we arrived, safe & sound, and after lots of travel time!  We added it all up and realized we spent 35 hours on planes and about 25 in airports.
Monday: We had a wonderful day touring the city.  We visited District 6 museum which is a tribute to a part of Cape Town.  During Apartheid, the government forced Blacks and Coloured out of their homes and into the townships outside the city.  All of District 6 was demolished and claimed as an 'all White' area.  It's an amazing museum dedicated to the people who lived in district 6.  

Here are some pictures from the city tour

 

A map of district 6 on the ground in the museum. It has amazing details from the district handwritten in by the families of those who were forced from their homes.

 

The balcony where Mandela gave his first address after being released from Robben Island in 1990.

 

 The view from the highest driving point in the city.

Tuesday we had class in the morning and as part of it, a panel of guests who lived through Apartheid, three of whom were from district 6. What an honor and privilege to hear their stories.

We also got to have lunch with them, which was such a treat!  The woman taking the photo also told us to squeeze together (clearly we didn't need to).

Wednesday was more class, including leadership and service learning topics.  In the afternoon, we took most of the 141 students on a hike up Table Mountain.

 

 During part of the hike up Table Mountain. It was beautiful and a bit treacherous.

 

 On top of the mountain!

Thursday was class and then the tour of an Amy Biehl foundation. Amy was an American who was brutally murdered over here in South Africa while she was trying to fight for rights for Blacks and Coloured. After her death her parents forgave her murders and even spoke on their behalf at their hearing (you should check out the whole story). Her parents then started a foundation to help underprivileged children in the townships. In addition, two of the men who killed Amy now work for the foundation.

Here are our students doing Tae-Bo with the children at the foundation.

Friday was a debrief and class as well as the first part of grading! Friday night the Global Lead staff and the academic staff all went out to dinner at a great Mexican food place. Laughs and good food were shared.
Saturday was filled with LOTS of grading, a brie, and then a Stormers rugby game

I had never been to a brie, it was kind like a BBQ, but with some sort of mystery meat ;)

 

Sunday was filled with more grading and Sunday dinner. It was a nice ending to the week. The first week had many many highlights including all the wonderful conversation I have been able to have with students. 

Oh and the view from our apartment; we are right on the beach & have witnessed magnificent sunsets!

Writing Retreat

I spent the last week up in the Georgia mountains on a writing retreat.  It was lovely!  We spent all day, every day, for a week, in cabins writing.  In the evenings everyone would get together and talk about our progress for the day...successes, challenges, etc.  Then various people would share snippets of their work and ask for a press, express, address, or bless.  Here are some highlights...

Revised my publishable paper prospectus (my population and methodology changed)
Fun memories with my cabinmates
Walks around the lake
Hike up to the waterfall
Wrote up a book review (hopefully for publication)
Lots of laughter about bugs and 'camping'
Learned more about qualitative research
Meaningful conversations around higher education & life
Wrote my way into my dissertation (I think I have a topic, pending advisor approval ;)

It was a wonderful retreat...although I am extremely happy to be sleeping in my own bed again! Here are a few pictures from the writing retreat (mostly our trip up Anna Ruby falls).

Devotional for the first day of the writing retreat.  I thought it was fitting.

 From my morning walks around the lake

 We each kind of staked out spaces.  Some of the rooms had desks, mine didn't, thus I took one half of the kitchen table.  We also rearranged furniture that first night to make more conducive writing spaces

 On the deck watching the sunset

 We had all sorts of bug friends that decided to visit

 We were given stickers to wear for our hike

 LaQuesha and my cabinmate Carla

 It was a beautiful day.  I love the mountains, cool(er) days and less humidity!

 Danny & LaQuesha are in my program & made the trek (.4 mile hike, ha)

 The group of us that treated ourselves to a break and a hike.

Carla, Katy, Jung-chi, Danny, LaQuesha, Josh, and me

 My cabinmates, Carla, Katy, and Carolina