My Dads Visit

Sorry it has been so long since my last blog post i have had a crazy term. Due to the World Cup starting mid June the government has decided to take away i think for weeks out of the first school term so as you can imagine its been kind of crazy in the after school program because the teachers have been piling on homework. We've been quite busy at the Holy Cross School as well with having to finish assessments of each of the kids before the term ends.

One of the most exciting things of the past few months though was of course my dads visit. I'm so lucky that he was able to come visit me. It would have killed me if neither my mom nor dad ever had the chance to see this place and experience a little of what I've experienced every day for the better part of a year. The first few day or so we spent in Grahamstown, and the second day he was here i thought it would be cool to go to a game reserve and do the whole safari thing. When my dad arrived he rented a car which was so nice for me because i haven’t a large majority of stuff i would like to because of a lack of transport. So the second day the day after he arrived we drove to Addo Elephant Park and spent the day driving through the park seeing everything from water buffalos to lion and from elephants to dung beetles(my dads favorite). I knew after that first full day before we even started are trip on the garden route to Cape town that my dad was going to go home with hundreds of pictures.

The following day my dad and i headed out towards Cape town on the N2, this section of the national highway is about 9 hours and is called the garden route for its indescribably beautiful scenery every 100 kilometers you feel as if you have travelled to another continent. We decided we would take are time taking a few days each day. 3 hours or so after we left Grahamstown we drove through Jeffrey's Bay and Cape St Francis. After taking one look at the water and the waves there you would of thought my dad was going to pass out if he didn't get into the sea as soon as possible. So i took him to my favorite beach Seal Point, where the swell tends to be ridiculous, and certainly did not let us down that day.

After swimming and lunch we headed another two hours and stopped in Plettenberg Bay to stay the night. It is a beautiful town with a lot of Portuguese influence so of course we decided to go to a Portuguese restaurant that night for dinner. It might just be that i hadn’t had a really nice meal like that in about 10 months but there was something about that meal that stuck with me it was unbelievable.

The next morning we left Plett Bay and headed east towards Cape town. We drove through the amazing Tsitsikamma National Park home to the worlds highest bungee jump. we also drove through Mossel Bay, Knysna, and George.  Then when we were about 300 kilometers from Cape town we had to decide whether we wanted to spend the night in Cape Town or Stellenbosch.  We decided on Stellenbosch which is the famous wine country just northeast of Cape Town.  We stayed at the very nice Stellenbosch Hotel that night then the next day drove out to the vineyard and went to 4 very different vineyards which all were very good though. The first one we went to was actually Ernie Els’s personal vineyard. He owns a few large vineyards in Stellenbosch like Guardian Peak but the one we went to was his name. That was my favorite and not just cause it was owned by one of my favorite golfers.

That Afternoon we drove through Cape Town Town towards The Cape of Good Hope.

We stopped in Simons Town home to South Africa’s Massive Navy but more importantly the largest colony of penguins on a populated continent. This penguin had escaped from the sanctuary through the gutters and was just hanging out on the streets of Simons Town. I was a little nervous to get any closer after seeing this sign, i really did not want to get bit by a penguin.

The next day we drove 5 minutes out to Cape Point it was one of my favorite things we did. It is the most amazing spot i I've ever been. These pisctures were taken on the southern most point of the African continent.

 

 

 

 

We spent the rest of that day in Cape Town but mostly in Camp Bay where we met up with my good friend and fellow Yascer Emily Beal who is living in Somerset West on the other side of Cape Town. It was a really nice getting to spend time with both my dad and Emily we had a really good time together.

We left the next day to head back to Grahamstown to spend the rest of the few days together . He got to come spend time at the school where i teach and i got to how him the work i am doing with training the kinds on the One Laptop per Child computer we received. I also got to take him to Amasango the School for street kids where i used to spend some of my time. The last day we went up to the Holy Cross School in the morning. They loved my dads camera and of course all needed to have there pictures taken.

The whole experience was really great for me. I've been telling my parents so much of what I've been doing it was really nice for my dad to be able to see it with his on eyes. It was also great because we were able to do so many things that i haven’t had the opportunity to do in my time here, and it was extra nice to be able to share those experiences with my dad.  Only a month left before i leave Grahamstown for home I'm ready to make the most out of it.

Still Walking,

Robby

Christmas Break

Sorry about the long amount of time between posts, I’ve been incredibly busy. Christmas break was great! We started off Christmas break with a camping trip to a place called Assegai Trails. Brother Josias and I took all the teenage Sunday school kids and kids from the monastery. It was pretty interesting. We stayed up late around the camp fire they would sing and dance in Xhosa throwing in some Beyonce and Akon every once in a while. We spent the days hiking the trails around the site swimming and canoeing in the “pond” next to the site which was more of a giant puddle. i taught them some American games likes duck duck goose and red rover, both they got a kick out of. Then on the last day we met up with a bunch of the younger kids from the school and one of my digs mates Nstika who teaches at the Sunday school, and we all went to the sea for the day and had a braai. by the end of the four day needless to say i was badly sun burn and warn out.

I spent Christmas with the brothers at the Monastery. I spent the 3 days before Christmas with them then Christmas day and left on the 26th. It was really nice. The Christmas supper we had was amazing! A good friend of mind who had been spending Christmas break at my house and is also from the states spent Christmas with us at the monastery. The hospitality of the Brothers never seizes to amaze me.

The rest of the break i spent traveling. I spent a few weeks backpacking up and down the coast of the eastern cape between Coffee Bay and Jeffrey's Bay. It is an absolutely beautiful past of the country. One part of where i was is called the Wild Coast because there is no national highway that runs on the coast. There are many villages and I learned quite a bit about Xhosa tradition and culture. I spent a lot of my time at the ocean surfing and swimming. Two days after I left East London where i had stayed for a few days with friends surfing and enjoying the small city. There was a 21 year who had been surfing and had barely survived a shark attack right off the coast of the city.  I spent New years in Kenton at a all day concert on the beach which was unbelievable there were 12 bands and the shows started at noon and went to midnight then a DJ went on till 4 in the morning, it was quite the experience. Two days before that I went to a thing called Oxbraai in Bathurst which is only 30 minutes from Grahamstown.  It was a giant braai or barbecue that they cooked 10 oxen over an open flame that went from noon on the 27th to noon the following day. It also sort of like a giant tail gate. there were somewhere around 20,000 people there it was incredible. It was the most fun I’ve had since I’ve been here, I met people my age from all over Southern Africa.

I had to be back in Grahamstown for the opening of the new school on the 7th of January which was very exciting. We opened the school up with out a hitch, the kids have been having a blast and are learning so much. We go the playground built at the bottom of the hill from the school and they absolutely love it. The brothers have just finished the plans for the new school house that they are planning on building later this year. I'm just sad i wont be around to see it.

 

 

Still Walking,

Robby

Holy Cross School

I’m sorry its been so long since my last post, but these last few weeks have been quite crazy. I have had to say goodbye to coworkers, good friends and housemates. Matt Kellen after two and a half years of volunteering at the monastery and in Grahamstown left to go back home to Washington. This was very emotional for the community and especially the children that have grown so fond of him. Also Liz Haney left to go back home to Boston along with many other friends of mine who were at Rhodes University on exchange. School ended though two weeks ago. School was actually not supposed to end till the tenth of December, but after the students were done writing exams the teachers just decided to stop showing up (fairly common).

I have a new job starting mid January. When I first arrived here the brothers of the Holy Cross, had been discussing the possibility of opening up a primary school for the younger children in the rural areas around where they are. As I've mentioned the brothers sponsor a large number of these rural children to go to school, one of the largest problems they face is getting these kids into the good high schools. This is mainly because the rural  kids do not have the opportunity to go to school from grade R (Kindergarten) to grade 3. One of the reasons they started the after school programme is to help get the students caught up. The brothers have now begun raising money in the States and plan to open up a grade R school starting mid January. Ntobekhaya who is one of the teachers at the after school programme and also teaches at the best elementary school in town will be the grade R teacher. The plan is to start with grade R then add on a grade every year up to grade 3. This is very exciting!! The first year will be in the building that is now used for the after school program but they have made plans to break ground in the next year on a brand new multiple class room school house. They are know just trying to raise enough money to start building, but the school term will start this January the 15th. I will be working there helping out Ntobekhaya in the mornings then will stay for the after school programme. This should be very interesting because all the teaching will be done in Xhosa. I will be starting Xhosa classes at Rhodes in January.

There Is only one problem I am currently facing with this new gig. I have no way to get to the monastery every day. I was getting rides with Matt who had a company car or with Ms. Walters who is the head of the after school program, neither of whom will be working at the Holy Cross school. The monastery is about 16 k’s from where I live and it takes about an hour and a half to get up there by walking (I just did it and it was brutal). I have decided the best thing for me to do is attempt to raise money in order to buy a scooter. It would cost about $1000 or R7000 that's including a helmet and registration. When I leave I will be leaving the scooter with the brothers so the next Yascer will be able to use it, since from now on the Yascers will be working at the Holy Cross School.

          (Road to Monastery)

If anyone is interested in helping me do this please make a check out to St James’s Episcopal Church and in the Memo please put Rob’s Scooter. The address is

St. James’s Episcopal                                                  19 Walden St.                                                         West Hartford, CT              06107                                              

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season and remember to keep these wonderful children in your prayers.

Still Walking,

Robby

Amasango Career School

Over the past month or so I have begun my volunteering in the mornings. Trying to keep busy I have volunteered at Amasango Career School, which is the school for street children. At Amasango, about 65% of the students live at the shelter across the street, and the other 35% seem to be the less fortunate ones who still live at home. There is approximately 140-160 kids enrolled at Amasango and on a good day 90 will show up for school. I’ve enjoyed my time there immensely though it does wear on me both physically and emotionally. One of the “jobs” I've taken on is almost as there pseudo gym teacher. The built up energy these kids have is insane, the only issue is focusing that energy into a structured activity. We play all types of sports, there two favorites being soccer and handball. After school (even during school) the streets of Grahamstown are  flooded with these kids of all ages. They beg for change from university students coming out of the pubs and bars till the morning. They’ll stand outside the grocery store and ask for a loaf of bread. During the day they will wash your car for you if you park on one of the main roads while your inside a store, then hope you pay them for it. Some even sell bouquets of fresh picked lilies and ______ for 5 rand about 50 cents.

Many of these kids have been made orphaned by AIDS, some of whom were even born with HIV. The ones who live at home often come from broken families and are being brought up by a 17 year old older sister or what's often the case a grandmother and a 18 year old brother whose an alcoholic or drug addict. Many of these kids are sent on the streets to beg by their parents or older siblings who then take the money turn around and spend it on drugs or drink.

I could tell story after story about my time at Amasango because there is never a dull moment at . I’ve seen a 12 year old pregnant girl barely make it to her check up. I've wiped the puss from the cheek of a third grader who had her tooth pulled the day before, and by the next day it was infected. I've even seen multiple kids taken away by the police often for no reason at all. The stories just go on and on, so I'll just tell about my first experience there. Matt Kellen invited me to tag along to a readathon he had been invited to they were hosting at a local auditorium. it was one of my first days in South Africa and Matt had been invited because the NGO he works for Gadra does a lot of work with him; his landlord and our good friend is the founder and principal of the school. As soon as we got to the auditorium it seemed every student ran up to Matt yelling his name asking him who the “big guy” was (me). As soon as i whipped out my camera i stood in front of about 35 models posing. When we got inside all the students were sitting to the right of the stage in fold out chairs, there was another set of rows to the left but in front of those looked like a table and chairs had been left over from a wedding the night before. Being the first to arrive an Ms. Jane being the amazing women she is insisted that we sat  front row as “honored guests”. Feeling a little guilty considering this was the first time i had even been in any township let alone any school in South Africa i took a seat. Then there was a serious of introductions mostly done in Xhosa and then each grade had a separate reading demonstration/performance. Each grade went up and did a demonstration/performance in Xhosa then once they had all gone then each grade went up and did a different one with different students in English. I was amazed by the energy, enthusiasm an to be honest the showmanship of some of the performances. Some of the older grades did dramatic monologues or little skits in English which blew me away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the readings, skits and monologues there was some other artistic performances. A group of boys did a choreographed kind of dance called Gum-boot dancing. Gum-boots are what we call goulashes and men have been wearing them to work here for decades much like men in the states wear Timberlands. The dance was not only very impressive it was hysterical . I loved it. After the Gum-boot dance a group of girls no older then 14 got on stage ad performed a traditional Xhosa dance in traditional Xhosa wear.  After these performances there was a runoff of thank yous by Ms. Jane.Then  a number of speeches given by the other honored guests (all of which were in Xhosa). These were representatives from groups like The Eastern Cape Department of Education and The Department of Arts and Culture. Then at the very end a group of students got on stage and played the marimbas as everyone took pictures of the guests presenting Ms. Jane with a two large mobile bookcases.

I was truly blessed to have this experience with in days of being in South Africa. I also am thrilled about the rest of my year spending as much of my free time at Amasango and with these amazing kids.

   Still Walking,

Robby

A Trip to J-Bay a Dream Come True

Last week after the wedding i realized had had a week and a half of nothing scheduled. The students had the time off so there would be no after school program and I wouldn’t be able to start at Amasango till after the holiday. I decided that I needed to seize this opportunity and do a little traveling. The place that has been on the top of my  traveling destination list is Jeffrey’s Bay. That night i hoped on a bus and took the two and a half hour bus trip to Jeffrey's Bay. I arrived just before mid night and waited for a cab for an hour to take me what turned out to be only a twenty-five minute walk. The next day I got the chance to go surfing with three other guys who were staying at the backpackers with me. We were all there for the same reason. J-bay is the surfing Mecca of Africa and none throughout the world for its supertubes and the dolphins  which surf the waves with you. Below are pictures of the supertubes and of two of the friends i made at the backpackers i stayed at, the one on the left is Ignacio from Chile and the one on the right was Yota from Japan they were both backpacking through South Africa Surfing. I also met Mike who was from Westchester county and the three of us went surfing every morning starting early. The third day we got a ride to Cape St. Francis and St. Francis Bay.

On the last day the four of us went to St. Francis bay which was my favorite spot we went to. Its where the movie Endless Summer was actually filmed and where they supposedly found the perfect wave according to the infamous movie.This picture is of me in front of Bruce’s Wave “The Perfect Wave”.

This is a picture of my friends and I paddling out in Cape St. Francis, just north of St. Francis Bay.

  I have to admit that I did not believe that there were Penguins in South Africa, my sister Madison and I got in a big argument about this before I left she even looked it up and i did not believe her….There you go Maddy I have been proven wrong!!  This place was by far the most amazing place I have ever traveled to, I look forward to much more traveling especially in this amazing province of the eastern cape!!

A Big Traditional Xhosa Wedding

 

After being in Grahamstown for only a few hours I was invited to a wedding!!! I really don’t know if i could be any luckier. Ntobekhaya Is the head teacher at the after school program. When Matt took me to meet her my first afternoon in Grahamstown I met here daughter Thembesa, with in seconds of meeting me she invited Matt and I to her wedding which was this past Wednesday. It was a traditional Xhosa wedding what an experience! There was a small catch to our save the date, we needed to bring our cameras and take as many photos as possible. This was fine with me, this way i wouldn’t feel rude taking pictures of everything. We met everyone at Ntobekhaya’s were most of the women were dressed in traditional wear some even with their faces painted. everyone was singing an dancing out side the house waiting for Thembesa to come out. Then when she was ready the women went inside and lead here out singing and dancing.

We then all walked to our decorated cars and in a caravan  with are warning lights blinking honked are way through the township on our way to the Methodist church.

When we got there the grooms family was there singing and dancing as well.The bride and here family (still singing and dancing) went to the back of the church while the groom’s family was in the front by the altar singing and dancing but to different songs. then Instead of the whole father walking the daughter down the isle, her father walked her down the isle but her entire family was behind them singing. Later in the service after the vows, the two families start out on opposite sides of the front singing different songs then they slowly join together singing and dancing to the same song. The rest of the time the two families sing the same songs as one.

It was the coolest wedding I've ever been to. The way the songs are all songs they’ve known from a early age and they know hundreds by heart. Something that important in a culture used to symbolize not only the joining of two families but the creation of a new family. I only hope that I will have more opportunities like this one it was truly something very special and something i will remember for ever.

Still Walking,

Robby

Map of the Eastern Cape

Just thought This map would help explain where exactly i am in relationship to Major cities like East London and Port Elizabeth. Grahamstown is located a little less then a hour from Port Alfred and about an hour and a half northeast of PE. Both these cities are on the Indian Ocean.