Ocean Adventure

Green Point Stadium

On Wednesday, I went as a chaperone on the 10th grade tourism class' field trip to Green Point Stadium in Cape Town.  The stadium is under construction for the 2010 World Cup.  The stadium will have a capacity of 68,000 and replaces an 18,000 seat stadium of the same name.

Evidence of the preparation for the 2010 World Cup is everywhere- they are literally widening the roads to get ready for the increase in tourist traffic!

We waited for the bus for 3 hours at the beach.

We made 2010 Coca Cola ads to pass the time.

Nelson Mandela's 90th Birthday/ De-Worming Day

Friday July 18th was Nelson Mandela's 90th Birthday!

It was also the day I had to administer a de-worming pill to the 43 students I happened to be substituting during "guardian" period.  I had to watch them put it in their mouth, chew, swallow, and then check their mouth.  If the pills do their job and the students have worms, there is a possibility that they might come out of their NOSES, as well as out of other places.

Happy Birthday Mandela!

Letters to HSTAT

L

Ocean View Secondary School

For the rest of my time here, I will be working at the Ocean View Secondary School.  It is the high school that serves the families in the "colored" area of Ocean View, and a small percentage from the neighboring areas.  I spent the first day as a teacher's assistant in an Afrikaans-only classroom, and quickly volunteered to play the role of substitute.  If a teacher is absent, the students are instructed to report to their "guardian" (homeroom) teacher- so they end up disturbing the other classes.  Now, they come to me. 

The students get 2 30 minute "intervals" (basically a recess) where they can have tea, eat lunch, walk around, and occasionally get into small fights that are quickly diffused by the grounds staff.

Table Mountain

Robben Island

Soetwater Refugee Camp

District Six Museum

Above is a map of the former inner-city residential area of Cape Town that was once known as "District Six" (and Shelly is pictured video taping).  It is best known for the forced removal of over 60,000 of its inhabitants during the 1970s by the apartheid regime.

These are the street signs of the area that, on February 11, 1966 was declared a whites-only area under the Groups Areas Act.  The colored and black inhabitants were relocated to the Cape Flats townships (in the area where I am).  The old houses were bulldozed.    Since the fall of apartheid in 1994, the African National Congress (ANC) has recognized the older claims of former residents to the area and pledged to support rebuilding.  So far, 24 houses have been built and construction is currently stalled.

Cape of Good Hope

We all hike around the Cape of Good Hope in the rain.  Because it rains in South Africa in the winter almost every day.  We all thought it was the southern most tip of Africa- but it's not, Cape Agulhas is.  But Cape Agulhas has an ugly name and a less dramatic coast line, so we went here.

That's me.

That's me in my explorer hat.

This is our leader, Roddy Brey.  He came to South Africa from England to volunteer for a year and never left.  He knows everything and the dates to go along with it.

African Penguins

Meet the African Penguin (formerly known as the "Jackass Penguin" because they sound like crying donkeys).  Amazing!