Fact: seagulls in SA do not sound like they do in America...
Fact: sunrise is at 7:30am...weird
Fact: The Church in SA is just the same as in America\....we went to the cathedral..St. Mary's. As I looked around, I saw Blacks, Coloreds and whites all together singing and pray\ing and I thought....it is possible here.
we spent the day in the sun at the Botanical Gardens in Kirshenbosch...It was a 50 acre garden nesteled against table mountain. EVerywhere we turned there was something beautiful to look at and Art was snapping away here and there. He said it was his best day ever here. The sun made it so to us. THere is nothing like breathing the air and see green. Kids are kids any where....I spent time watching kids roll on the grass and enjoy tag on the dells while art snapped away. l\
LaSt night 6 house mates had gotten a chocolate cake and gift and came in singing Happy anniversary to us....so sweet. After we watched soccer
Today at my placement one of the ladies is a massage therapist and she gave me reflexolgy....so sweet...she plans to move away from the center and make a new life for herself in Massage. She even said, "dianne, i remember what you taught us on Thursday and so I taught a crises women on the weekend and she felt good." I smiled so much at her and thanked her for learning
Bye and love........Dianne
Monday, June 29, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Molweni Bantu
T hat is for all of you. Greetings in Xhosa.....we are now experiencing the other side of CT....away from townships. Yes, there is beauty in CT....when the sun comes out, and finally we are promised three days of sunshine. This cape is windy of course because we are towards the end of the penninsula. TOmorrow we will do something fun for sure, since we had o cancel the safari due to clumsiness on my part...a bad fall in a restaurat in the bathrromm. So ladies came in and there I was crawling to the wall toget up...they thought I was drunk, but now chance here. The hotel sent a doc to the room, complete with drugs for me..so everything is ok now, an the doc told me to get a "proper walking stick" so I have an ebony stick, complete with an elephant on the top. With rest fo today, tomorrow I should be good to go....the meds are taking care of the pain. So Last night weate at "Mama Africas"...We tried aligator meat///uck....and ostrich meat.....more yuck.....liked the deer and kudu but who can like eating Bambi. But we have tried many African dishes now. I love the flat bread and the fatcake(fried balls of bread). The fruits and veggies are fresh and good and they cook alot of this at our place.
Many of you love our blog so far....thank you for your mails about this. In the Malls you would think you were in SF...and the music the young people like are the same... I asked a young lady at the center...15 years who she likes and it was Beonce and Myria.....I want to hear more real african music... I think they are taking us to this next Thursday.......
This wharf feels like SF.....the many colors of people are interesting...people in long outfits, people scarved on their heads, languages from all over...all of this makes it facinatig.
Goood to be down by the sea...the sea is always good to breathe and clear. Until I blog again...Love, Dianne
Many of you love our blog so far....thank you for your mails about this. In the Malls you would think you were in SF...and the music the young people like are the same... I asked a young lady at the center...15 years who she likes and it was Beonce and Myria.....I want to hear more real african music... I think they are taking us to this next Thursday.......
This wharf feels like SF.....the many colors of people are interesting...people in long outfits, people scarved on their heads, languages from all over...all of this makes it facinatig.
Goood to be down by the sea...the sea is always good to breathe and clear. Until I blog again...Love, Dianne
On The Waterfront
Molweni bantu,
We are celebrating our 34th wedding anniversary by indulging ourselves with a stay at the V & A Waterfront Hotel. The hotel is quite nice and we love our room. Sleeping in a king bed is quite a change from our sleeping arrangements at homebase 2. We had thought we were going to sleep in bunkbeds. My mind raced with the multiple dangers of forgetting I was on the top bunk when I needed to get up to use the facilities down the hall at night. That would have been our experience had we been put up at homebase 1. We are on the first floor, have our own toilet and shower, and are not in bunkbeds. We are in twins that are put together, so being in a king is luxurious.
Central heating is not the norm in Cape Town. Our house is nice, but it does get cold at night since we are in winter here. Of course, all temperatures are in Celcius and I forget how to convert to Fahrenheit. Suffice to say it does get cold at night. When the Cape was getting blasted by storms last week, the wind was howling and there were times when the rain came down with a vengeance. One morning at breakfast Bettina, one of our fellow volunteers, discovered that the toaster was wet due to a leak in the roof directly above it. Needless to say, that toaster was out of commission for awhile. The bedrooms do have heat of a sort. A large white metal 30"x30" square is attached to the wall. When plugged in, the square is hot. Sounds good, right? The heat seems to radiate no farther than 3-6 inches from the surface, so all in all, not too efficient. Layering clothing is the answer. There have been nights when Dianne has resembled Nanook of the North as she gets into bed. I use an extra blanket on cold nights.
We are enjoying some fine weather now. The sun is out and temps in the high 60's. I know it's in the 60's thanks to CNN on the hotel TV. There seem to be certain universals when one travels overseas. You can usually count on MacDonalds, KFC, and CNN all of which have a presence here in Cape Town. Of course, all of the news media and radio stations here are filled with news about Michael Jackson. I got to talk to the young adults with whom I work about MJ. He was quite popular here in Cape Town. I am sure his music will be selling like crazy for awhile.
Lots of anticipation about World Cup here next year. Major construction is taking place all over Cape Town. Here at the waterfront we are close to the new soccer stadium as we can see the upper rim of the stadium and the construction cranes from our hotel window. One of the young women with whom I work was wondering yesterday what will happen when the World Cup is over. Will things be better for the people of Cape Town. I find that the young adults I am priviliged to be associated with are very wise and hope for a better Africa. The same young lady was telling me about the violence by South Africans against people from Zimbabwe that occurred last year. She could not understand the why of the violence. She asked "Aren't we all Africans?"
Time to check out now. More later.
Art
We are celebrating our 34th wedding anniversary by indulging ourselves with a stay at the V & A Waterfront Hotel. The hotel is quite nice and we love our room. Sleeping in a king bed is quite a change from our sleeping arrangements at homebase 2. We had thought we were going to sleep in bunkbeds. My mind raced with the multiple dangers of forgetting I was on the top bunk when I needed to get up to use the facilities down the hall at night. That would have been our experience had we been put up at homebase 1. We are on the first floor, have our own toilet and shower, and are not in bunkbeds. We are in twins that are put together, so being in a king is luxurious.
Central heating is not the norm in Cape Town. Our house is nice, but it does get cold at night since we are in winter here. Of course, all temperatures are in Celcius and I forget how to convert to Fahrenheit. Suffice to say it does get cold at night. When the Cape was getting blasted by storms last week, the wind was howling and there were times when the rain came down with a vengeance. One morning at breakfast Bettina, one of our fellow volunteers, discovered that the toaster was wet due to a leak in the roof directly above it. Needless to say, that toaster was out of commission for awhile. The bedrooms do have heat of a sort. A large white metal 30"x30" square is attached to the wall. When plugged in, the square is hot. Sounds good, right? The heat seems to radiate no farther than 3-6 inches from the surface, so all in all, not too efficient. Layering clothing is the answer. There have been nights when Dianne has resembled Nanook of the North as she gets into bed. I use an extra blanket on cold nights.
We are enjoying some fine weather now. The sun is out and temps in the high 60's. I know it's in the 60's thanks to CNN on the hotel TV. There seem to be certain universals when one travels overseas. You can usually count on MacDonalds, KFC, and CNN all of which have a presence here in Cape Town. Of course, all of the news media and radio stations here are filled with news about Michael Jackson. I got to talk to the young adults with whom I work about MJ. He was quite popular here in Cape Town. I am sure his music will be selling like crazy for awhile.
Lots of anticipation about World Cup here next year. Major construction is taking place all over Cape Town. Here at the waterfront we are close to the new soccer stadium as we can see the upper rim of the stadium and the construction cranes from our hotel window. One of the young women with whom I work was wondering yesterday what will happen when the World Cup is over. Will things be better for the people of Cape Town. I find that the young adults I am priviliged to be associated with are very wise and hope for a better Africa. The same young lady was telling me about the violence by South Africans against people from Zimbabwe that occurred last year. She could not understand the why of the violence. She asked "Aren't we all Africans?"
Time to check out now. More later.
Art
Friday, June 26, 2009
Away for the weekend
We have left the friendly confines of hb2 and are now ejoying luxury at the V & A Waterfront Hotel in Cape Town. The weather has changed from stormy to cloudy with a promise of sun for the weekend. We will really enjoy our time here at the V & A as the accommodations at hb2 are comfortable, but far from luxurious. Our day at hb 2 begins at 6:20 and hopefully a hot shower. I say hopefully because with 18 people sharing hot water, the supply goes fast. I have found that if I get up early, I am guaranteed a hot shower.
We have become close with the volunteers at hb 2. Along with Juanita, we are the over 60 contingent. There is a father named Rick who is here with his twin teenage sons, Max and Nick. We also have Erin who is a recently laid off high school teacher from Seattle. She is a real joy to be around as she is so full of life. We also share with Bettina who is still waiting for her luggage that somehow did not make the trip from South America to South Africa. Katie leaves tomorrow. She is a perky 19 year old who is on her third CCS stint. We also have Aimee from Manchester England and Meaghan. Katie, Aimee and Meaghan are veterans which means they have been here for three weeks at least. Jen is a college student who will be joining me at Etafeni next week but will work on a different project. Amanda also leaves tomorrow, but she will meet up with her fiance and travel around South Africa a bit. We also have Shanika from Virginia going into her senior year in college in N. Carolina. We have fun together and have a nice little community. We think some of the young ladies may look on us as surrogate parents as I have seen Dianne in heart to hearts with some of them.
We had HIV AIDS briefiing yesterday. 6.5 million South Africans (out of 40 million) are infected with HIV. There are over 1 million AIDS orphans in South Africa. Treatment with ARV's begins when T Cell count falls below 200. If below 200 a person is eligible for disability of 640 Rands (about $80) per month. Once T Cells are higher, disability stops. Result, some people choose to keep T Cells below 200 by not taking drugs on regular basis so they can still collect disability. The middle generation is hardest hit by HIV AIDS. Result, grandparents (if alive) care for orphaned children. Obviously, this is a huge problem for all of Sub Sahara Africa.
I have made contact with the Salesians here in Cape Town and we hope to meet with them to find out about their work in Cape Town. Having been a Salesian teacher gives me an immediate entrance with Salesians around the world.
We hope all is well with all of you and will keep you posted.
Art
We have become close with the volunteers at hb 2. Along with Juanita, we are the over 60 contingent. There is a father named Rick who is here with his twin teenage sons, Max and Nick. We also have Erin who is a recently laid off high school teacher from Seattle. She is a real joy to be around as she is so full of life. We also share with Bettina who is still waiting for her luggage that somehow did not make the trip from South America to South Africa. Katie leaves tomorrow. She is a perky 19 year old who is on her third CCS stint. We also have Aimee from Manchester England and Meaghan. Katie, Aimee and Meaghan are veterans which means they have been here for three weeks at least. Jen is a college student who will be joining me at Etafeni next week but will work on a different project. Amanda also leaves tomorrow, but she will meet up with her fiance and travel around South Africa a bit. We also have Shanika from Virginia going into her senior year in college in N. Carolina. We have fun together and have a nice little community. We think some of the young ladies may look on us as surrogate parents as I have seen Dianne in heart to hearts with some of them.
We had HIV AIDS briefiing yesterday. 6.5 million South Africans (out of 40 million) are infected with HIV. There are over 1 million AIDS orphans in South Africa. Treatment with ARV's begins when T Cell count falls below 200. If below 200 a person is eligible for disability of 640 Rands (about $80) per month. Once T Cells are higher, disability stops. Result, some people choose to keep T Cells below 200 by not taking drugs on regular basis so they can still collect disability. The middle generation is hardest hit by HIV AIDS. Result, grandparents (if alive) care for orphaned children. Obviously, this is a huge problem for all of Sub Sahara Africa.
I have made contact with the Salesians here in Cape Town and we hope to meet with them to find out about their work in Cape Town. Having been a Salesian teacher gives me an immediate entrance with Salesians around the world.
We hope all is well with all of you and will keep you posted.
Art
First Free Weekend
Since this is our anniversary weekend, we said goodbye to our new family and headed down to the waterfront to the V and A hotel. My my, it is fancy..Compared to what we are sleeping on this is definitely luxury. A big fluffy bed and fluffy pillows awaited us inside with a lot of bells and whistles. This will be a nice break away for sure. Now Ilove the people in our house...most are going on an extreme sport weekend up to the Eastcoast...we will all share photos on Sunday night. We will have our safari photos to share and they willhave their bunjee, zip, photos to share. I needed a mental break away too..since I am working in a setting with women who have tough lives, and I see going to work the poorest dwellings...I find I need to fill up this weekend. Tonight we have chosen an African restaurant named Mama Africas...they have dancing African style and singing during dinner.
Today I actually got the privedge of Counseling two different women in our center. Most of the time, I just listened to their feelings because I cannot give guidance since i do not know what services are available for the women. They really try to get the women to venture out and get jobs, take care of their paper business and see to their children in school. THey do not want the women to get to lazy and not do for themselves. So they are gentle but they push. The social worker sees the women daily and is there to motherthem and always give help. Today the women had smiles because some big benifactor sent clothes for women and children and babies...they had big smiles And where happy to show "auntie" as they call me their new things. One of the women is a masage therapist and I am going to have her give me reflexology next Monday. The staff all want to come to SF...they have really taken me under their wing. THey were all giggly about my weekend away for my anniversary.
There are many services in the townships there to help thehomeless, the HIV/AIds patients, the abused women, the orphans, the abused children.. THere, amid the dwellings you can see a building providing some service. The biggest problem in SA now are the people immigranting from Zimbawee and other areas such as Ghana...over 1000 weekly. Then they need to get an assylum card to assure they can stay..But the paper work is extensive and it can takedays and days for them. You might wonder, where do they stay until then....onthe streets, under bridges....this is where the crime comes in because the township SA do not want the zimbawees at all...there is so much prejudice between Africans from every area. One of our house mates works at the immigration house so that is why I know so much now about the process.
Hope you are enjoying my blog....until next time..Love, Dianne
Today I actually got the privedge of Counseling two different women in our center. Most of the time, I just listened to their feelings because I cannot give guidance since i do not know what services are available for the women. They really try to get the women to venture out and get jobs, take care of their paper business and see to their children in school. THey do not want the women to get to lazy and not do for themselves. So they are gentle but they push. The social worker sees the women daily and is there to motherthem and always give help. Today the women had smiles because some big benifactor sent clothes for women and children and babies...they had big smiles And where happy to show "auntie" as they call me their new things. One of the women is a masage therapist and I am going to have her give me reflexology next Monday. The staff all want to come to SF...they have really taken me under their wing. THey were all giggly about my weekend away for my anniversary.
There are many services in the townships there to help thehomeless, the HIV/AIds patients, the abused women, the orphans, the abused children.. THere, amid the dwellings you can see a building providing some service. The biggest problem in SA now are the people immigranting from Zimbawee and other areas such as Ghana...over 1000 weekly. Then they need to get an assylum card to assure they can stay..But the paper work is extensive and it can takedays and days for them. You might wonder, where do they stay until then....onthe streets, under bridges....this is where the crime comes in because the township SA do not want the zimbawees at all...there is so much prejudice between Africans from every area. One of our house mates works at the immigration house so that is why I know so much now about the process.
Hope you are enjoying my blog....until next time..Love, Dianne
Thursday, June 25, 2009
The Sun has come out..
This is big here...the sun is out and it has not rained all day. For me who has been freezing since I got here, this gives me great hope. Who said that African never got cold...they lied.. It is even snowing in the high mountains.
Last night, five of us took off for the biggest Mall I have ever seen and a great restaurant for \make your own pizza. After a good glass of "Fat Bastard" Chardonay and a delicious pizza overlooking a canal like venice, I felt refreshed and good to go again. The contrast between this Mall and the Townships is drastic for sure. All high end clothes sold there and very good restaurants. But one needs a mental break now and then and that is what we got.
One of the great things about our house is the way folks gather after dinner to play games or like last night popcorn and sharing photos of family. Art very proudly showed photos of "his kids" for all to see. One girl showed us the video of her bungee jumping here in SA. Don't worry...art will not be bungee jumping here..he promised , although I can tell he would really like to show the younger folk how "super stud" he is.
I am hoping this weekend that the animals will show their faces when I go on a safari..if I must get up at 4am they better be there. Sunday we hope to go to the Botanical Gardens and chill away from this house a bit.
Today I got to help lead a women's group with my partner, Juanita. I began with yoga and relaxation and stress relief they can do daily and Juanita followed with Affirmation therapy. we were the bomb..and we had the women smiling and laughing after. we get to have women's group two days a week and children's group on anger management issues two days. and then one day combine women aND THeir children to teach the mom's how to work with their chidlren.. They have not learned how to nurture because so much time was spent on warding off the abuser. I continue to work in the kitchen, a fav of mine since we sing and serve food and laugh a lot. Bye for now Dianne
Last night, five of us took off for the biggest Mall I have ever seen and a great restaurant for \make your own pizza. After a good glass of "Fat Bastard" Chardonay and a delicious pizza overlooking a canal like venice, I felt refreshed and good to go again. The contrast between this Mall and the Townships is drastic for sure. All high end clothes sold there and very good restaurants. But one needs a mental break now and then and that is what we got.
One of the great things about our house is the way folks gather after dinner to play games or like last night popcorn and sharing photos of family. Art very proudly showed photos of "his kids" for all to see. One girl showed us the video of her bungee jumping here in SA. Don't worry...art will not be bungee jumping here..he promised , although I can tell he would really like to show the younger folk how "super stud" he is.
I am hoping this weekend that the animals will show their faces when I go on a safari..if I must get up at 4am they better be there. Sunday we hope to go to the Botanical Gardens and chill away from this house a bit.
Today I got to help lead a women's group with my partner, Juanita. I began with yoga and relaxation and stress relief they can do daily and Juanita followed with Affirmation therapy. we were the bomb..and we had the women smiling and laughing after. we get to have women's group two days a week and children's group on anger management issues two days. and then one day combine women aND THeir children to teach the mom's how to work with their chidlren.. They have not learned how to nurture because so much time was spent on warding off the abuser. I continue to work in the kitchen, a fav of mine since we sing and serve food and laugh a lot. Bye for now Dianne
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
My First Two Days
I am on an amazing project at the Etafeni Day Care Centre in Nyanga Township. I work with a woman named Deborah who runs a program for umemployed youth who show promise. They enroll in a six week program that helps them with life skills such as preparing a resume and CV, job interviews, computer skills, and having a realistic plan for their lives. I hope that I do well . The young people are at least 18 years old and have completed at least high school. Most if not all are in dire financial straits, so this is a real opportunity for them. I spoke with a young lady today named Natalie who said it is very hard for her family. Her mother died last year and she has had to stop school because of lack of money. She wants to be a teacher, but needs money to attend university. She told me she was very hungry today because she had not had dinner last night because of no food. I am sure her story is not untypical for people in townships in South Africa.
Cape Town is a a city of contrasts. There are very wealthy areas, and then there are the townships. The government is attempting to build new homes for township dwellers, but it appears to be an impossible task as the population of Cape Town is growing faster than new buildings can be constructed. Even within the townships, there are marked differences. There are substantial homes, but the vast majority of the dwellings are shanties that are tiny and flimsy. Most are constructed of lumber scraps and/or corrugated tin. When the weather gets cold and wet, as it has been these past three days, it is not unheard of that big fires occur in the townships as people do what they can to fight the cold. People use storage containers as their place of business whether it be a tyre repair shop, a beauty salon, or a barber shop. There is massive unemployment. I think one of our tour guides said Cape Town's unemployment rate is around 40%. There is great anticipation about the World Cup next year and the government is doing a lot of construction near the highways so that people will see it; but there is no hiding the townships from view. We were told by our tour guide that people in the townships actually intentionally put up shanties near the new buildings and in full view so that visitors will see the real townships.
We had our first language lesson in Xhosi yesterday. Some of the sounds are so foreign to English speakers that the language is a real challenge. I will try to communicate with the adults in Xhosi and hope that I don't say anything that will cause an international incident. It is one of those clicking languages but sound very lyrical when spoken by a Xhosi speaker.
We have learned that there are different classes in South Africa such as the white, the colored, the black, the malay, the indian. Colored refers to mixed race and is not politically incorrect as it is in the states. Referring to a person born in South Africa as a Native South African is considered an insult, though I can't remember why now. At the risk of belaboring the obvious, we are discovering and trying to honor the cultural differences we are experiencing here.
We hope all is well with all of you and will try to keep you posted.
Art
Cape Town is a a city of contrasts. There are very wealthy areas, and then there are the townships. The government is attempting to build new homes for township dwellers, but it appears to be an impossible task as the population of Cape Town is growing faster than new buildings can be constructed. Even within the townships, there are marked differences. There are substantial homes, but the vast majority of the dwellings are shanties that are tiny and flimsy. Most are constructed of lumber scraps and/or corrugated tin. When the weather gets cold and wet, as it has been these past three days, it is not unheard of that big fires occur in the townships as people do what they can to fight the cold. People use storage containers as their place of business whether it be a tyre repair shop, a beauty salon, or a barber shop. There is massive unemployment. I think one of our tour guides said Cape Town's unemployment rate is around 40%. There is great anticipation about the World Cup next year and the government is doing a lot of construction near the highways so that people will see it; but there is no hiding the townships from view. We were told by our tour guide that people in the townships actually intentionally put up shanties near the new buildings and in full view so that visitors will see the real townships.
We had our first language lesson in Xhosi yesterday. Some of the sounds are so foreign to English speakers that the language is a real challenge. I will try to communicate with the adults in Xhosi and hope that I don't say anything that will cause an international incident. It is one of those clicking languages but sound very lyrical when spoken by a Xhosi speaker.
We have learned that there are different classes in South Africa such as the white, the colored, the black, the malay, the indian. Colored refers to mixed race and is not politically incorrect as it is in the states. Referring to a person born in South Africa as a Native South African is considered an insult, though I can't remember why now. At the risk of belaboring the obvious, we are discovering and trying to honor the cultural differences we are experiencing here.
We hope all is well with all of you and will try to keep you posted.
Art
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