Hello!
I can’t believe I’ve been here for nearly 4 weeks already. Part of me feels like I just arrived, but a bigger part of me feels completely settled and comfortable in my new home. This past week wasn’t too exciting but it was definitely enjoyable. I have so much more free time here than I do when I’m at St. Mike’s. No work study during the day, no practices in the afternoons, no meetings at night. I think it will take some time to get used to this, and to find some things to keep me busy, but right now I’m just enjoying the opportunity to take a few naps each week and really relax. The naps were definitely necessary this week especially because I stayed up on Sunday night to watch the Super Bowl. It started at 1:30am on Monday actually, and I’m ashamed to say that I went to bed at half time. So I finally got to sleep around 3:30 and had to wake up at 6:45 because we leave our residences for the train station at 7:30 on Mondays. But I got the details of the game the next morning and am very glad the Saints held onto their lead.
Our second week in the classroom went just as well as the first. We ran with the kids in the morning then taught them some proper stretches. After going back to the classroom we reviewed the names of the muscles we stretched outside and had them write in their workbooks about what they learned. Their teacher, Mrs. Adams, informed us that the kids write very slowly and it takes them a long time to think about what to write because they are worried about it being incorrect. She suggested that for future lessons we should just discuss the activities or do a guided worksheet on them. Some of our 6th graders have the writing ability of a 2nd grader so it will definitely be easier to go over things verbally, but I think it’s important that they practice writing so they can improve. When we returned to the classroom in the afternoon for our enrichment lesson we had each student present their collage from the previous week. Some of them were really shy and spoke softly but others were excited to share their interests with us. Many of the students presented in English, but those who were less confident spoke in Afrikaans.
During our yoga session in the afternoon we didn’t actually do yoga. Bryce, our instructor, sensed the exhaustion in the room so he did some breathing exercises with us. We did a few sitting up straight with our legs crossed then he had us lay on our backs. Supposedly he did quite a few exercises with us after that but I fell asleep, as did many of my classmates. It was a lovely way to end the day. After yoga we walked to the train station as we usually do and caught the
2:50 train back to the university. The ride’s only 10 minutes, but then it’s a 30 minute walk from that station to our residences. When I got back to my room I slept for an hour, made some dinner, then headed out to the rugby game. It was the first varsity game of the year and it was tons of fun. The stadium was packed and we won 62-0! I’ve heard that our team is really good but I wasn’t expecting that. The atmosphere at the game was great and we even blended in with the undergrads because we all had on our free rugby t-shirts that came with the season tickets.
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were fairly uneventful – I went to class, did a little shopping, checked out the school’s library, kept training for the half marathon, and went to the Irish bar to watch the Arsenal vs. Liverpool soccer game. I don’t want this post to be overwhelmingly long so I’ll save Friday’s activities for the next entry. Here are a couple pictures though!
the view from my bedroom window!
a marketplace with lots of African things
some of the little kids at school dressed in red for Valentine's Day
I can’t believe I’ve been here for nearly 4 weeks already. Part of me feels like I just arrived, but a bigger part of me feels completely settled and comfortable in my new home. This past week wasn’t too exciting but it was definitely enjoyable. I have so much more free time here than I do when I’m at St. Mike’s. No work study during the day, no practices in the afternoons, no meetings at night. I think it will take some time to get used to this, and to find some things to keep me busy, but right now I’m just enjoying the opportunity to take a few naps each week and really relax. The naps were definitely necessary this week especially because I stayed up on Sunday night to watch the Super Bowl. It started at 1:30am on Monday actually, and I’m ashamed to say that I went to bed at half time. So I finally got to sleep around 3:30 and had to wake up at 6:45 because we leave our residences for the train station at 7:30 on Mondays. But I got the details of the game the next morning and am very glad the Saints held onto their lead.
Our second week in the classroom went just as well as the first. We ran with the kids in the morning then taught them some proper stretches. After going back to the classroom we reviewed the names of the muscles we stretched outside and had them write in their workbooks about what they learned. Their teacher, Mrs. Adams, informed us that the kids write very slowly and it takes them a long time to think about what to write because they are worried about it being incorrect. She suggested that for future lessons we should just discuss the activities or do a guided worksheet on them. Some of our 6th graders have the writing ability of a 2nd grader so it will definitely be easier to go over things verbally, but I think it’s important that they practice writing so they can improve. When we returned to the classroom in the afternoon for our enrichment lesson we had each student present their collage from the previous week. Some of them were really shy and spoke softly but others were excited to share their interests with us. Many of the students presented in English, but those who were less confident spoke in Afrikaans.
During our yoga session in the afternoon we didn’t actually do yoga. Bryce, our instructor, sensed the exhaustion in the room so he did some breathing exercises with us. We did a few sitting up straight with our legs crossed then he had us lay on our backs. Supposedly he did quite a few exercises with us after that but I fell asleep, as did many of my classmates. It was a lovely way to end the day. After yoga we walked to the train station as we usually do and caught the
2:50 train back to the university. The ride’s only 10 minutes, but then it’s a 30 minute walk from that station to our residences. When I got back to my room I slept for an hour, made some dinner, then headed out to the rugby game. It was the first varsity game of the year and it was tons of fun. The stadium was packed and we won 62-0! I’ve heard that our team is really good but I wasn’t expecting that. The atmosphere at the game was great and we even blended in with the undergrads because we all had on our free rugby t-shirts that came with the season tickets.Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were fairly uneventful – I went to class, did a little shopping, checked out the school’s library, kept training for the half marathon, and went to the Irish bar to watch the Arsenal vs. Liverpool soccer game. I don’t want this post to be overwhelmingly long so I’ll save Friday’s activities for the next entry. Here are a couple pictures though!
the view from my bedroom window! a marketplace with lots of African things some of the little kids at school dressed in red for Valentine's Day
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