“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.”

—	Ibn Battuta

Another Community Engagement Post

Thursday September 26, 2013

It’s Thursday! And we all know what that means….JABEZ!

The only people on the shuttle into the township today were Jabez volunteers. It was  very hot, dusty ride up to the centre (hotter than usual, I mean. It was in the 70’s today, which means it was approx.. 5,960 degrees on the bus).

When we arrived, 16 kids were already standing at the gate, waiting for the padlock to be opened. We all funneled inside where the chairs were already set up in a circle. The volunteers went straight to work dishing out rice and stew onto plastic plates. Before we even had 5 plates assembled, half a dozen kids wandered in. It was going to be a very busy day. We didn’t have enough plates to serve everyone at once. As soon as one child was done with his or her meal, we washed the dishes, and put it through the food assembly line again.

Once nearly everyone had eaten, I left the kitchen and squeezed into the loud crowded main room. The kids were so hyper today and so eager to play with us (normally they kind of sit for a bit and stare at us like “Why are you here…”) I played hand games with a bunch of little girls who were sitting near the door. A beautiful little girl with light eyes, whom I’d never seen before, kept asking me questions I didn’t understand then laughing at me. Katie and I let them play with (rip out) our hair for a bit, before trying to organize the chaos a bit. We tried to get them into teams like we usually do, but today they all kind of just moved their chairs to the center of the room and became a large wailing mass. A perfect environment for absolutely nothing.

I came up with a spelling game that everyone could play at once. One letter at a time, I spelled the name of an animal, and to guess the answer they had to act like that animal. They were so cute! One kid would scream out the answer “LION!” or “ELEPHANT!” and then everyone else would answer too as if they had known all along. There were a couple really sharp kids in that group. With some prompting (and foolish acting on my part) I got them to roar and trumpet and ribbit and bark like the animals I was spelling. I asked some of them to spell something we could act out. Then I started with the imitations first. I would bark like a dog or scratch my head like a monkey and they had to spell what I was. It went so well!

When they were bored of that we did some math problems, but honestly, all they do for that is shout out random numbers, except for a few of the really bright ones. At some point we kind of lost the attention of our massive hyper group. I ended up in the corner with about 5 really eager kids who wanted to keep playing something. After a few failed attempts at teaching times tables (one of them knew all the answers, and the others were just not getting it) I taught them to count to 5 in French. They were so cute!!! The youngest in the little group caught on really quickly.

Next thing I knew, everyone was running outside. We don’t normally play out in the yard on Thursdays, but it was so nice out and the kids were so rambunctious it seemed the only thing to do. They played a lot of clapping and singing games in a circle.

From my Applied Theatre class I actually knew one of the songs (we’d learned it as a warm-up). It felt so good to be able to sing along. Then they played another one I sort of knew that was kind of like a concentration game. One kid looks to the kid next to him the circle and says:

“Go buy ‘oomoo’”

“What?”

“Oomoo”             *I don’t know what “oomoo” is and I don’t think I’m spelling it right.

The second person says to the third person: “Go buy oomoo” and it starts again.

This exchange continues around the circle, but it always comes back to the original person. So you ask back down the line “What?” “What?” “What?”….”Oomoo” “Oomoo” etc.. It’s kind of like a game that I know called “This is a Duck”

“This is a Duck”

“A what?”

“A Duck”

“Does it quack?”

“Of course it quacks, it’s a Duck”

“Thank you I’ll take it. This is a Duck”

Gosh I loved it! Suddenly, we were all asked to come back inside. The older boys were going to put on a show for us! It was such a great surprise. (If the shuttle home had been on time we would have missed it all together). They did two skits (entirely in Xhosa so I had no idea what was happening) and I smiled like a proud dorky mother throughout. Next, 4 girls did some singing and dancing.

Sadly the bus arrived to take us home and we had to miss the rest of the show, but it was such a special treat to experience that part of their culture and to see the joy with which some of them performed.

I always come home from Jabez feeling fulfilled and exhausted. I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Definitely taking my camera next week. ;)

Drodsty's Got Talent

Drodsty’s Got Talent

Saturday September 21, 2013

On Saturday night, Katie and Sean’s dining hall had a talent show. Katie would be performing “Part of Your World” in the show, so naturally ALL OF THE INTERNATIONALS showed up to support her. Gotta love this family <3

The show was made up of singers, poets, drama performers, and a bit of sketch comedy. The judges were a bit harsh (still not sure if they were trying to be funny) but all the performers were fun to watch. I felt like a proud parent at a holiday concert just waiting for my kid to get on the stage.

Katie was gorgeous! She wore a beautiful turquoise dress and completely stole the show. So proud of that girl! She was so nervous, but we were all there for her, smiling back at her for the entire song.

The whole event was meant to raise money for Drodsty Dining Hall’s Hall Ball happening next weekend. Glad I could support the cause! 

Pinotage...Shaken...Not stirred

Friday September 20 2013

Friday night was a formal occasion around the world! At home it was Homecoming for Washington College. At Rhodes University, the winetasting society was hosting a shindig for committee member elections – the theme: Casino Royale.

I started the day early at the gym (super proud of myself, don’t mind my bragging). Afterwards I joined Becca and Anne-Laure for coffee in the upper room at the Provost Café. It was so nice of them to let me crash their weekly date. Love those girls. After that I went to the Cave (a café like place by the library) to crash another weekly ritual. Caitie and Gillian meet at the Cave for donuts every Friday morning before they go to their community engagement. This was all before 10 o’ clock.

Okay, after that I did a bit of work (had to be productive sometime). Gillian, Jes and I worked a bit on our physical theater group assignment. By “worked”, I mean we hung out in the lobby of the theater department while Jes had some lunch, Geoff played with the settings on her digital camera, and our friend Hana chatted with us. Oh so productive. I   Later in the afternoon, I got a henna tattoo! This past week was an awareness week for Rhino poaching. I donated R5 to the cause and got a super cool design on my hand!

That night we all got fancy schmancy and traversed the rocky brick pathed campus to the Great Hall (where incidentally we will take our final exams in November… I think there will be less wine present at that event). The whole event was beautiful and classy and just so much fun. Pretty much all the BC people were there and we got to take tons of pictures and just have a grown up night in pretty dresses drinking all kinds of wine and eating figs and brie. Don’t even get me started on the figs…!

I left winetasting a bit early to go to my friend Kelsey’s 22^nd birthday party. Gillian and I met up and we went over to Kelsey’s digs where we had a grand ol’ time with all of the very best drama people there are here.

I got back to my room just in time to skype with Jimmy so we could see each other all dressed up for our respective formal events. My night had just ended, but he was just about to head out for a night of Homecoming fun!

Left to Right: Caitie, Nora, Lauren, some chick, Becca, Meghan

Katie, Caitie, dork, Ericka

Courtenay-Latimer dining hall girls <3

Katie and I both had fancy hair lol

Sean and me

my sweet Jameson compadre. Weirder than weird

Community Engagement Reflections

Thursday September 19 2013

I just got back from the Jabez HIV/AIDs clinic. As you may or may not know, Thursdays are my volunteer days. Lauren, Katie and I go to Jabez, a small clinic tucked away in the township, for about an hour each week to play with the kids. By now we’ve gotten into a routine. We arrive, set up the chairs, say a quick prayer with the kids (aka stand silently while the kids pray in Xhosa), serve food, clean up the meal, then play some kind of educational game. When the bus arrives to pick us up, we give high fives and hugs all around, then board the bus with big smiles on our faces.

Today when we arrived, the sweet barely 3 year old boy who lives next door to the clinic came running out of his yard. He paused for a second at the gate, and when I waved at him, he sprinted towards us, thwacked into me and buried his face in my legs. He held onto my hand as we walked into the center and danced all over the floor while we set up chairs.

When all the other kids had arrived and eaten (we never quite know who is going to show up. Some days there aren’t enough chairs, other days there’s about 10 of us), we played a hot potato/ musical chairs game. A purple Frisbee was passed around the circle. Whoever had the Frisbee when the music stopped (provided by Katie’s phone) had to either jive (dance), sing, or rap. These kids are so self-conscious but so talented too! It was really cool to hear some Xhosa rapping. By the end of the hour some of them were holding onto the Frisbee in order to get the chance to dance or sing. Each time the music stopped, whoever was holding the Frisbee looked up, their eyes wide like, “Who? Me!?”, and then they would smile these huge smiles. At some point, Katie played Wavin’ Flag by K’naan, and every single person in the room sang along. (FYI: Wavin’ Flag was a major song of the FIFA world cup that took place in 2010 in South Africa).

During the game, the sweet little boy who hurtled himself into my thighs when we first arrived, floated between me Katie and Lauren, each of us playing our own made up game with him. He ended up on my lap and started falling asleep near the end of the game. I miss him already. Strange side note, his head, I kid you not, smelled a bit like Play-Doh and it made me think of home in the most sentimental and nostalgic way possible.

Some days I wake up exhausted and know that my volunteer hour is just one more thing I have to do that day, but without fail, I always leave Jabez with a healthy dose of perspective and a little more love in my heart. I can’t pronounce their names. I don’t speak their language. But for an hour every week they let me into their world and we just smile at one another and something somewhere seems right.

Day 09 Spring Break

“HOME” – Edward Sharpe
Sunday September 8^th 2013

We woke up Sunday morning to the sound of Mary knocking on the window of the passenger side door of our car. It was very early in the morning and somehow after a night of dancing and sleeping in a car Mary still looked like her gorgeous put together fashionable self. Kudos! She told us her car was heading back to campus already.

My car slept in a bit more then headed back too. We arrived in Grahamstown about an hour or so later and, not knowing whether the dining halls or res’ were open to students yet, we went to Delizzia for breakfast. (Red Café is closed on Sundays otherwise we would have finished our trip the way it started). Delizzia hit the spot and we stayed there for a really long time. Becca joined us a bit later and we all just reflected on what a great week it had been and lamented having to start lectures again the next day.

I spent the rest of my day uploading pictures, doing laundry and unpacking my room again. It’s weird to say it halfway around the world from my family, but it was really great to be home. 

Day 08 Spring Break

“Happy Birthday”
Saturday September 7^th 2013

Our last day in Plett went kind of like our last day in Cape Town. We all got up kind of haphazardly and started packing and making breakfast. Midway through the breakfast preparations, Becca and I snuck, ever so stealthily (aka not stealthily at all) out of the hostel to go on a cupcake mission. Today was Mary’s birthday, and earlier in the week she had expressed a very clear desire for a cupcake (and mimosas) on her special day.

Becca and I would make terrible secret agents, detectives, cupcake retrieval artists… We tried Pick n’ Pay (where we found some sad Giant/ACME brand-like cupcakes), and a random coffee chain. A cashier directed us to a bakery across the parking lot that we happily ran to. It was a Jewish bakery, and the sign on the door thanked us kindly for allowing them to be closed on the Sabbath. Back up the hill we went where we blissfully discovered a place called Clare’s Cakes. The cupcake display that awaited us inside was to die for! We were so relieved and we bought cupcakes for everyone to celebrate (as well as some coffee for ourselves).

We returned triumphantly to Amakaya, where scrambled eggs and toast were already on the table. As we opened our mouths to sing “Happy Birthday”, Nora flashed us a warning look and we fell silent. Apparently, the bank in Plett had given Mary trouble that morning when she went to try and retrieve some money her mom had sent her. Still without her bank card, this posed quite a problem. She had been told to go to a bank that was about an hour away that incidentally would close in about an hour and a half. She and Caitie took the car and left ASAP, but not before we gave Mary her red velvet birthday cupcake.

Those of us left behind ate, cleaned up breakfast, and loaded up the car while we waited for Caite and Mary to come back. We waited a long time, but eventually, Mary came back with the money she needed and we drove off to Port Alfred for BOAT RACES!

Boat Races is an inter-university regatta. Everyone gets dressed up in their overalls (glorified and decorated painters coveralls) to show their school spirit and then there is a huge party. Because of our morning set back we got there after all the races, but there were DJs going all night long. We ran into a bunch of our friends from Rhodes and met some new people from other universities. It was a fantastic last night of vacation.

Most people who come to boat races pay to camp on the grounds, but because we had gotten there late and we were very broke we slept in our cars. We are very classy. But if you can’t sleep in your car when you are 20….when can you?