Last update...

Yesterday I arrived back at Schiphol airport. I made it, 4 1/2 months in South Africa. It's been a time that has been both rewarding as well as challenging. I'm glad it's over, but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy my time there - I'm just happy to be home again. I have my own room, don't have to worry about kosher food and I have my pets and my family around. It's lovely to be here in this cold, cold country!

The last two weeks have been both long and short. Some days I've been incredibly bored, others were more exciting. I've said goodbye to lots of people; the Nano group (well... just Michelle and Alison because no one else showed up at our "TGIO" party (thank god it's over). Friends, people at the synagogue, my colleagues at Japari.

Japari... Our Christmas/end-of-year party was lovely. Good food, nice atmosphere... A bit sad, too. For our secret Santa I got a scarf and hand cream. The best thing was the letter Andrea (miss Bozolli) wrote for me about my time there. So positive! It really motivates me even more (and I'll be sure to add it to my portfolio as well as taking it along to any job interviews in the future ;) they were very happy with me at Japari, it seems!)
And while we're on the topic of 'job interviews', today I went to Eefde (zmok school Rentray) to talk about my teacher training for this year. Very nice people there and the school looks like a good environment, too. I'm really looking forward to starting there on Tuesdays and Wednesday in February.

... I don't really know what else to write. South Africa is over and a new phase in both my life as well as in my education is starting. But first... some time to relax (and complete my portfolios - it's mostly just 'putting things together' and writing some final summaries... so that shouldn't be too bad). I've already made quite some plans - going to the House event on Thursday (and meeting up with Sebas, Mariette and possibly Mariska for some coffee/tea/hot chocolate). Next week I'll go to Jena, Germany to visit a friend from my time in London and this weekend I'm going to see a movie etc. (excited about that, haha). Sascha (my sister's boyfriend from Berlin) is coming over this Friday and... well... it's December and I'm really enjoying the holiday season for a change!

Thanks for reading this blog!

Holidays?

Yesterday I decided it would be better if I think of my final two weeks here as 'holidays'. (Because if I don't I'll feel that much more bored, unfortunately.)

Last week we went to Doron's sports awards and his valedictory service. It's summer holidays for Doron now! (He has made lots of arrangements so he isn't actually home most of the time.)

I also went to my last write in of the year; not a lot of writing happened but we did meet a new girl (she managed to talk without a break for 2 1/2 hours straight. Amazing.) On Sunday we had Joshua's birthday party (soccer party + art ... it was kind of boring, to be honest... I have pictures but not with me in them so I won't bother posting those...)

Yesterday I went to Jenny to grab some books to read (she has an amazing collection). I couldn't choose so I took 7(!) books... now, I'm not going to finish reading all of them, I'm sure... but at least it gives me something to do when I'm incredibly bored.
I also got this wonderful headache yesterday night - it was still there when I woke up this morning. The joy. Anyway, it seems to be gone now (Panadol did the trick) but I really hope it won't come back! Ugh.

This week I have several more 'events' planned; tomorrow evening is Ariella's valedictory (some schools start high school in grade seven, others in grade eight... So even though the kids aren't the same age they're both leaving primary school this year.) Friday is the Japari staff lunch (and my final goodbye to the awesome Japari people :(). Then on Sunday it's the 'TGIO' (Thank God It's Over) party for Nano... and ... that's it. No plans as of yet for next week, but I'm sure things will come up - they always do.

I can't wait for the flight (even if I wouldn't actually go home - I just love flying!) and I can't wait to see my parents and sister again. It's been long enough now.

End of Nanowrimo, my time at Japari and new plans

Nanowrimo 2010 - Temerity
As you can see on my word-counter I reached the 50,000+ mark on my story. What's even better though is... for the first time ever I've completed a story! While The Obsidian Shifters is still incomplete Temerity is (as far as first drafts go) complete! It desperately needs a rewrite, though. I'm planning on making it into a short story (my best guess at the moment is that it might go down to about 35-40k words, but it might end up being slightly more or less than that estimate) for now.

I reached the magical fifty thousand during Sunday's write in. To be honest it didn't even feel so great... I'm just happy it's over! Even though the emotional part seems to be missing I'm still pretty proud of my achievement.

Japari
Monday I went to work at Japari for the last time ever. (Although I'm still going to the staff lunch Friday next week) I had hoped for an exciting day but in the end I just sat around in the staffroom for most of the day - they didn't need my help at all. Oh well, we had a nice brunch made by the team of therapists which included anything from pancakes, sausages to crackers + cheese and hummus to strawberries and samoosas. Pretty good! I wasn't very emotional, not as I had expected to be, but it's a strange idea that my Japari days are now officially over!


The staff room


The Japari magazine - it was lot of fun (and a challenge) to get the whole school into the picture and everyone looking cheery ;)


Because I'm not allowed to show pictures of random students without permission I could only take pictures of my cousin - so lucky he goes to school at Japari!



New plans
With less than 20 days to go before I fly back home I need to start making some plans! My diary is filled with 'words+10' 'blog post' 'work on religion assignment' and other such notes. I'm trying hard to complete my portfolios before going back home (mainly because I'm actually really lazy and like to relax during test weeks and whenever it's possible... although 'relax' means 'being busy with my own projects' more often than not). But other than that I'm already thinking of new projects for next year!

I love writing, somehow I manage to forget that in between events such as Julnowrimo and Nanowrimo. So for 2011 I want to do things differently. Instead of aiming for huge projects I'm going to do what I call my 'short story challenge'. 12 months in the year... so let's write 12 short stories (5,000 - 15,000 words each). My rules? The stories have to be written during the actual month - so if I end up writing two stories in March, it won't count for April. This means that no matter how much I do, I still have to write something every month of the year.
Why five thousand as my minimum? Well, in two days of writing I can easily get to the 5k if I need/want to. So even during a really busy month I can manage to get to my goal - without neglecting other responsibilities. It also means I can safely try to do Julno and Nano, too (finish in 20~25 days and there's enough time in the month left to write a short story).

I want this challenge to be as much fun as possible so I'm leaving the themes and other 'rules' open for now. Mostly.

Of the 12 stories:
- 1 has to be in Dutch
- 1 has to be sci-fi/fantasy/horror so that I can submit it to a contest (in October) (sadly, also needs to be in Dutch)
- one will be written using code-switching whenever it feels natural (English/Dutch). (I guess that counts as experimental writing, hm?)
- 1 will be a fanfic
- 1 needs to be realistic fiction

If I end up writing realistic fiction in Dutch that counts for two of my goals, though...

I'm already looking forward to January! I might attempt my code-switching short story first, it sounds like a challenge but also like a lot of fun! (Finally I'll be 'allowed' to write freely mixing languages as I do in my thoughts and in conversations with family/friends :))
(I love code-switching now, although I used to hate it when I was younger...)

Busy times

And another week gone by! Less than four weeks left in South Africa.

Writing Temerity has been a bit easier and more fun during the last week. I went to two more write-ins (not as productive as the ones after week one, but I'm one of the luckier participants who don't really have to worry about their word count so I'm not complaining) and even went to see a movie with some girls from shul (the synagogue).

About the movie (because I think people understand what write ins are like by now), last Wednesday (or Thursday, or Tuesday? My memory isn't too great it seems) I went to Ster Kinekor in Rosebank together with Sarit, Tova and Nadine. I hadn't met Tova before, but she's awesome. She's studying to be a primary school teacher so we had a nice teacher-y chat (oh and she's just crazy - in a good way - so it was a lot of fun to talk to her anyway). Initially Sarit had picked a different movie to see (didn't quite catch the title of that one) but we ended up seeing 'Life as we know it' instead. Drama comedy.

Now, I don't usually do comedies, at all. But this one was actually quite good. I didn't get bored and while the story was pretty predictable it was still more than entertaining. On our way back we had to stop at a petrol station and wait for the worst of the rains to stop because Nadine has an old, old car (no seatbelts in the back! Scary!) and her windscreen got very, very greasy/blurry once the pouring rain started. So we chatted some more before finally going home.
We usually go to bed around 9~10 pm here. That night I only got home about 11.30 pm so it was quite late... The next morning, however, I woke up before the alarm (at 6) and had lots of energy. So, good times!

Japari
I went to Japari on Thursday and Friday last week. The Friday wasn't according to plan, but hey sometimes you have to help out, yah? One of the teacher's father was in hospital and she couldn't teach the grade fours for the day. So I did. English, maths and Afrikaans. My very favourite subjects *insert sarcasm for the last two in the list*. Maths wasn't too bad (they're grade four after all!) but Afrikaans got tricky when the instructions told the kids to draw a 'Sambreel' (die tegen die boom leun). I really, really had no clue as to what a Sambreel could be. Eventually I allowed one of the kids to go ask the teacher next door ;) Turns out it's an umbrella.

So I wasn't just taking some lessons, no I was a proper class teacher for the day :)

Grade 4 is very, very different from the grade sevens. You actually have to, you know... teach. (Sure, that happens with the grade sevens, too... but about 30 % of the time, if not more, you're just trying to get them to BE QUIET OKAY?!?!?). Grade fours will just stare at you "So, what happens next?". They were more challenging than I had expected, but it was a good day nonetheless.

Then on Monday I had to take Ingrid's grade six class for a full hour before their Afrikaans exam started. Ingrid had to be at a meeting and I just had to get them to study for their exams. Easier said than done when there is this wonderful, yet horrible, boy in this particular group. Oh, and we had to sign a card for one of the learners because... his dad died last Friday. The teachers also had to write something, so I did... It's always hard to find the right words for situations like those, if there are 'right words' to say. It really shows you that teaching is very diverse, you deal with all sorts situations.
Other than that, though, I also did two reading lessons with some grade fives. Reading lessons are real 'remedial' lessons. 1 teacher, 2 learners. Very different from teaching a class full of kids. I prepared a lesson (half hour) about the Netherlands with a short text, a list of 'Did you know that...'s and some questions the teacher can use. Mrs Dale (the usual reading teacher) actually asked me to do a follow up lesson on Thursday because one of the kids was so enthusiastic about it. It was a joy to teach these kids and challenge them by asking for synonyms for some words and just have a discussion about the topic. After that was over I had a short chat with Mrs Dale and she told me to 'never give up' and, to my surprise, that I'm a 'natural' at this kind of teaching (remedial, have the patience necessary (apparently!) and that she was very impressed with my lesson. Positive feedback is always nice to hear!

Some more on Nano:
Temerity current word count: 37k+
Goal for the day: Get to 40k
Plot complete: About 80~85 %
Percentage of 'random'/filler scenes in the last 37k: 5~10% (more than I would like but certainly still acceptable)
How much I'm in love with this story right now: 40% (try to stay positive, try to stay positive)

Funniest moment during Nano so far: I always thought people were joking when they said they accidentally used the name of one of their characters for someone in real life. Friday with the grade fours I called Emma 'Tesza', I had to try very, very hard not to giggle out loud (because you know, teachers don't do giggling ;)). I managed but it was a close call. It felt so ridiculous, but I guess I'm more into the story than I thought I was, after all.

Nano continued

While my word count is certainly coming along nicely I have found myself struggling to get through this story. July (Julnowrimo) was so much easier! I blame the fact that I'm just that much more interested in the world of The Obsidian Shifters. By comparison Temerity seems like a rather drab world (and the characters aren't as fleshed out which only adds to the difficulty in writing about their adventures). But all that is perfectly acceptable because this is Nanowrimo – I'm not aiming to write the best novel ever, I'm just trying to get this story out of my head (to clear the way for the editing process for Obsidian Shifters) and have fun in the process.

I wish November was in September. My social life here in South Africa has gone in overdrive ever since Nano started – I've been to the kick-off party, two write-ins (so far) and more is on the way. It's sad to realise that now when I'm finally making friends I'll leave soon. Next weekend? Saturday write-in with the same bunch of wonderful people I've spent last weekend with and on Sunday it's time for the half-way party (together with the wrimos (Wrimo (n): A person participating in Nanowrimo) of Pretoria – we'll be meeting in a Mugg & Bean in Midrand). If it's good to be around people (roughly) my age ... it's even better to be around other writers. In fact, it's amazing. Write-ins work better than I had expected, too. Yes, you 'waste' quite a bit of time just chatting away and socialising... but even so both Saturday and Sunday have been days with the highest word count since starting Nano (almost 4000 words on those days). Word wars are partially to blame (Try to write as many words as possible in 15 minutes time! It's like a race (with the only prize being the words you write, so everyone wins!). Michelle (aka 'WinterWhite') has been amazing – because I don't have transport she agreed to take me to the write-ins! I'm so happy I don't have to miss all the meetings. Writing is a lot of fun as it is, but having the actual – real life – support to keep on going even when it's starting to get tough has added a whole new dimension to Nano.

So to share some more pictures:

Sunday group


Writer's fuel! (Halloumi + sweet red pepper wrap)


Saturday

To summarise some of the things my main character had to go through, so far:
* Buried a relative
* Was drugged and semi-abducted
* Joined a rebel force
* Saw a man die in front of her eyes
* Tried and failed to convince a friend-possibly-turning-lover to stay with her
*Had a very narrow escape and had to resort to ... drastic measures to dissuade a member of the religious order of the Idaites to follow her.
* Came very, very close to falling into a stream of human waste.
* Gave away food tickets to a bunch of pre-teens that mugged her party at the market
* Insulted a man in front of his mother's eyes – without realising the woman was his mother (and her friend)
* Found an excuse to leave a drunk guy and his son behind with a crazy barman
* Had to transcribe an old map (first from the Jirandean script to the New Idaite form of writing, then try some homophones to get the real message)
* Lost two beautiful and perfectly good Fire Prints in the process of stealing boring volumes of Idaite history and plans
* Contact another nation's leader (ok, her superiors did that, but still) to ask for some help in their fight against the Idaites
* Deal with declining numbers of their Freedom Army and try to fix this

Some random observations I've noticed about my stories:
* Somehow my characters like to eat, a lot. And I enjoy writing about what they're having. In less than 25k words I've managed to mention porridge at least three times, soup or stew at least twice and... Did I mention my rebels have their home in a basement under a bakery?!
* Dye makers. If I need a random profession for someone, they turn out to be a dye maker. I have a family of them in Obsidian Shifters and now my main character's grandma was one, too.
* I like names starting with the letter T. I actually used the name 'Tera' in both Obsidian Shifters as well as Temerity. I had to rename Temerity's Tera to Denla (because I also have a Tesza and Tobi – too many two-syllable T-names, oops!)
* From my writing you can't tell I'm interested in languages. Just kidding, I've mentioned 'adenoidal' voices, have a character with a strong accent + 'strange' intonation, another character that sounds a bit off because of 'long disuse of the language that was once so familiar to her' (she left the country as a child, apparently – so she sounds outdated and a bit too formal). Oh, yes and I based the test to join the rebel force on useless language skills. That's just silly. Most 'See I'm a language student!!!"-thing I did though? Make a list of my character's names, country names etc. In IPA. (Because I might forget that Jirande is /dʒi:'rɑndə/ or Niroh /'ni:ro/ Idaie and Idaite are /i:'dajə/ and /i:də'ait/)
(And that's ignoring the fact that writers usually kind of like languages. It's your main tool, after all.)

School and other things
I'm going to Japari on Mondays and Thursdays now (to evade the long wait after school on Wednesday when my cousin plays his cricket matches – they last forever!). This also gives me some time on Wednesdays to work on another project I've started... (Lots of projects going on at the moment.)
This week I just try and keep the grade sevens quiet during exams.

I also finally managed to get my stamp (which turned out to be a sticker, oh well. How disappointing.) in my passport at Home Affairs. Another trip on Wednesday fixed the problem – I got lucky and arrived just as they were letting the people coming for collection inside. They then took our receipts (scary! Because that meant I had to stay there until... well, whenever they would decide to return my receipt or give me my sticker.). I got a fright when the security guard started to hand out receipts and called 'my name'. It turned out to be someone else (a guy, too) with a name like 'Charidza' ... Well, he had to go back home and wait another week or so because his application was still pending. Mine, however, was ready and after another hour or so I finally got my extended visitor's permit! The 'all clear'-sign. I can go home on December 13th without any problems. I'm looking forward to it.

Nanoing (should be a word)

Day two of Nanowrimo 2010 and so far I'm doing fine. I'm still sane and I'm still managing my daily word count so far. In fact I've gone over the minimum by quite a bit during day one and two. (My total is (or should be) displayed in the top left of this page.)



This Sunday I attended the Jo'burg Nanowrimo Halloween Hat Kick-off Party. I met some amazing people there and had lots of (insane writers) fun. I even managed to get transport on Saturdays - Michelle (aka WinterWhite) is going to take me to the write-ins! (What is a write-in? Well... Imagine a bunch of people sitting in Star Bucks (or the 'Mugg & Bean' here in SA - which is much better than Star Bucks anyway) with their laptops, trying to reach the word count they should have reached earlier during the week.) So I'll be going there every Saturday!


Besides meeting some other Nano participants from Jo'burg and the surrounding area we also got our 'nano toolkits' to keep us going when the writing gets a bit more challenging...


In a cup!

I think it's amazing what the organisers did for us!


The whole cup was made up out of (not counting the calender and bookmark) "Horribly bad puns" (quoting one of the people who made the things).

* A piece or rope to help you when you're at the end of yours.
* Inflatable origami bunnies* (*plotbunnies - With a plot!)
* A marble
* A straw (to suck the life back into you after nano)
* A stirring-stick(?) - to stir up ideas
* Hair elastics (to keep you from pulling out your hair) etc. etc.

Needless to say, I love my toolkit a lot.

After all the fun on Sunday it was time to start writing on Monday! Temerity was off to a good start with over 3500 words during the first day of the month. Today I managed to get to 6k+ (I'm aiming for at least 2500 a day - this will mean I'll reach the 50k early, but that's fine.).

Because it wouldn't be fun to keep all the good stuff to myself I'll share some of my favourite sentences/excerpts every update.

"I can't tell you, I'm afraid. But a mutual acquaintance might be able to tell you more." The vague instruction fuelled Tesza's desire to do something to support one of Jirande's old leaders – well one of their offspring, at the very least – even more.
"As you wish, my ruler." The words were followed by a lousy mock curtsey and Leone smiled.
"Don't ever do that again, or I'll feed you to those Idaite dogs." The woman's intonation had nothing to do with the words she had spoken and Tesza finally burst out laughing.

My favourite sentence of day 1 (part of chapter 2):
A fire was blazing in the hearth, turning the place into a refuge from the cold - if you didn't mind your refuge smelling of stale beer and unwashed workmen, that is. - (Inns are smelly places.)

Day 2 (also chapter 2)
Careful as he was with information, this attentiveness did not seem to extend to carrying unconscious girls to places unbeknownst to them.

Needless to say I'm having way too much fun throwing my characters into impossible situations and letting them struggle their way out only to end up in the mess that is the next major plot point.

=============================
On to other things though, because while I would like to say that Nanowrimo IS my life at the moment, it isn't ... not completely.

No Japari this week. On Monday we were supposed to go to Home Affairs to collect my stamp in my passport that is supposed to be a visa. In the end we didn't because Mondays are the busiest days and it was already ten before we could even leave (we had to help my uncle moving the office).

Then today I actually went to Home Affairs... Usually they make a list with the names of the people trying to get into the office to collect or apply for some permit. Today however the list was nowhere to be seen. (After my aunt had dropped me off at the place and would only be back at 12/half past 12!) Eventually one of the other people waiting suggested I go inside to see if I could get my name on the list. (They keep the gate closed and only let 10 people in at a time... The security guard was nowhere to be seen and the gate was open, so upstairs I went.)
Upstairs there were more people waiting outside of the actual office. After about twenty minutes a female security guard came to us and... spoke in Zulu (or one of the other African languages) to everyone - ignoring me. After she closed the door again I asked the other people what she had said - apparently she would be with us 'soon'. Another 10 minutes later she told us to go outside again. I did. (Although no-one else made a move.) Back outside I decided to go back in because I needed to get on the list - if only I knew I wasn't waiting for nothing!

After more waiting and asking the security guard finally told us that there was a 'crisis' and they wouldn't be taking down any more names for the list today. We were to come back tomorrow. Such a waste of time, petrol and energy... But as my aunt says "This IS a third world country, after all." So I phoned Japari to let them know that I'm struggling with Home Affairs-issues and won't be coming in this week.

Luckily one of the other people there lent me their phone so I could ask my aunt to fetch me early...

Waiting at Home Affairs:

My NaNoWrimo Adventure.

Seeing as I will probably be rambling on and on about my story, word count and the whole NaNo experience during November I figured an introductory post would be a good thing.

In its most basic terms NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is just this; a challenge to write a novel (defined as 'lengthy work of fiction') of 50,000 words during the 30 days of November. It's what I'll be doing during November.

I first heard about NaNoWriMo several years ago, upon which I immediately signed up. I never even wrote a single word. In July 2010 (there are events like this year-round, but NaNo is the biggest) I tried once again for 'JulNoWriMo'. I wrote 50,427 words on a (still incomplete) fantasy novel titled The Obsidian Shifters. I loved it. Pushing yourself, going all-out in trying to come up with a decent plot, seeing your characters evolve and start to decide which way they want to take your novel (instead of what you, as their creator, had so carefully planned), the stress, the utter elation upon reaching the magical 50,000. I loved all of it.

This time, I wasn't planning on doing NaNo - I still need to finish 'The Obsidian Shifters'. (And for NanoWriMo you have to start a novel from scratch - finishing another manuscript isn't allowed). In the end though, I decided to write something new for Nano and try to finish The Obsidian Shifters in December/January.

So what will I be writing this time? Temerity is another fantasy story, but this one has less magic (and not enough technology to be called 'science fiction', although it might be closer to that than to fantasy). My 15-word summary (or less, mine is 14 words... It's a thing we do on the forums, minimalist summaries) is "Girl joins Freedom Army to send invading Idaites home, oh and solve personal grudge." More information, including a longer synopsis can be found at my profile page.

November is going to be a frantic, fun-filled month. The world in which Temerity is set is less complete than the one I created for The Obsidian Shifters. I have a basic plot and chapter summary... But only for 14 chapters and one POV (Obsidian Shifters has over 5 POV characters). I'm hoping this will enable me to get to the end of the story in 50,000~60,000 words, instead of leaving me with a story that's far from complete at the end of November.

Want to hear more about my story? Don't worry, I probably won't be able to talk about anything else starting this Monday.

English benchmarks

The grade 7's have started writing their exams. First up? English benchmarks. Officially they have to write three papers on one day (27th of October, for this year) but as Japari is a remedial school, we have decided that they need some extra time, and they will do one paper every day.

On Tuesday it was time for English comprehension (reading). The theme of this year's English benchmarks (comprehension, poetry and visual literacy) is 'Robin Hood'. On Tuesday Ingrid asked me to cover for the maths teacher for the morning (uh-oh, not maths again!), but immediately after she had asked me that Andrea asked me to help her and take some stuff to her classroom. (I was supposed to help her out that day, and take a look at the benchmark for Wednesday.) I ... tried to get the grade 7's to calm down, but without work for them to do (and half of them not even having their books with them) I was soon lost as to what to do. (And the maths/music classroom is HUGE which didn't help either.) After about 10 minutes of looking lost and just telling the class 'Go study, something - anything. Your exams are next week, so I'm sure you have work to do.' (Which was pointedly ignored by all but two learners ... fun fun fun.) I decided to go find Ingrid to ask what they had to do (she had told me there would be worksheets on the desk for me to hand out - there were no worksheets).

I couldn't find Ingrid so I went over to Andrea's classroom (who luckily didn't have any class at the time). She decided we would start the benchmark early, to give me something to do... and give the class some extra time for all the work they had to do. (Phew!)
The rest of the day we worked on the benchmark with both grade seven groups. Once again it showed that the grade 7B's are so much faster and simply know more than the grade 7L's... I hope my cousin managed to do alright (he's in 7L...)

Today was more fun! Poetry benchmark (a bit easier, in my opinion) and one grade six lesson. I took the second group to do the poetry benchmark by myself (and got a compliment to boot! Andrea told me I did *really* well! Seems like I'm getting somewhere with this teaching thing.). I also did one of the grade six groups ... a social science lesson on the 'kingdoms of Southern Africa' (Mapungubwe, Great Zimbabwe and Thulamela... Luckily I've been listening to lessons about this for the past 3 months, so I do know something on the subject...). They just had to fill in a worksheet which was a kind of summary of everything they have learnt during the term (and for a grade, too).
Random facts: Mapungubwe means "Place of jackals", Zimbabwe means 'stone buildings' and Thulamela means 'place of giving birth'. In all three kingdoms (different time periods) the royals/leaders/kings lived separately from the common people (either on a hill or in an enclosure). All kingdoms traded - with groups of people as far away as China and the middle east! You can visit the ruins of Mapungubwe and Thulamela in South Africa (both are in the Limpopo province). You know what, I love teaching things like history, geography and life orientation - it's so much fun!

After that I helped one of the grade seven students (who was absent yesterday) with his English Comprehension benchmark - we sat in the library and I had to give him the same hints and explain questions as we had done for the others. After that.. it was time to go home :) But not without waiting another hour and half for my aunt, again (after phoning her and she told us 'I'm 5 minutes away!' it still took an hour... that's 'African time' for you!) and sharing my chocolate with the 'Japarians' who were still waiting to be fetched. (And seeing them 'play' a rather rough game of 'spearing' anyone who was walking around... Really, teenagers, sometimes...)

Later during the break some of the other teachers remarked on my English (that it's so great and all that ;)) and even better... When I was helping the one student with the benchmark he needed to catch up on... Several grade seven students invaded the library and handed me... a slab of chocolate! "From Mrs L, for teaching yesterday." A thank you for taking her classes - now that's sweet! (pun 100 % intended) Too bad it was mint chocolate (everyone seems to love that here in SA... I don't, really.)

I'm going to miss this school! Luckily, though, I've been invited to the end of the year/Christmas lunch! I'm sure that'll be fun!

Books books books

Books I've finished since last time I mentioned reading:

Brent Weeks - Beyond the Shadows
Brent Weeks - Shadow's Edge
Rick Riordan - The Lightning Thief
Rodman Philbrick - Freak the Mighty
Deborah Ellis - The Heaven Shop
Erik van Lustbader - The Miko
Cecilia Dart-Thornton - The Ill-made Mute
Cecilia Dart-Thornton - The Lady of the Sorrows

I've done quite a bit of reading, which brings my total for this year to 41 books (goal was to read at least 30).

While on the topic of reading, I'd like to mention one of my new favourite websites: Shelfari (http://www.shelfari.com/ and my profile: http://www.shelfari.com/misssavara ).
Shelfari is a place to keep an online version of your 'shelf' (hence "Shelf-ari" (haha, Safari for books!)). You can make friends you actually know, or friends that have a similar taste in reading as you do. It's a wonderful place to review books, discover new authors and just show off how much you read ;)

The books of this list that have made the best impression/were the most interesting are: Freak the Mighty & The Heaven Shop.

'Freak the Mighty' is a book I picked up in a second-hand store for a mere 10 Rand (about a Euro). It's tiny book with a quirky story. It's about two 'special' boys. Freak is huge, but not very smart... The other boy is very smart, but tiny (and has lots of problems with his body). Once they make friends they're always together and live through wonderful adventures (that Freak never really understands, but enjoys all the same). Eventually the smaller boy dies, and it's all very emotional.

It's a powerful story in an unlikely package. I really enjoyed it.

'The Heaven Shop' is a Southern African story (not South African, I think it's set in one of the other countries here). It's about Binti, a girl who plays on a radio soap in her native language. After her father dies (presumably of aids) she gets schlept around the country to ungrateful family and eventually to some other family member. It's about how HIV/aids affects a community and how people deal with the misconceptions surrounding the disease. Once again a powerful tale. It's fiction, but it could just as easily have been based on a true story.

I actually got 'The Heaven Shop' to read for my lesson series on South(ern) African literature.

Voice posts + reading out loud

I made a voice recording after about 6 weeks, but never got around to uploading it (as we didn't have internet at the time). Today I made another one... and somewhere in between those I made a recording of reading the "Mma Ramotswe" story I had to teach to the grade sevens as preparation for their benchmark. So, here they are! (Sorry you have to download them, can't listen to them online...)

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=3BAS27AN - After 6 weeks in SA
I'm glad to say I can hear that something has changed - when comparing the 6 and 12 weeks recording!

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=CXV0B8IZ - 12 weeks in SA

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7KY9ZPBB - Mma Ramotswe reading (about 9 weeks in SA)

My day as a substitute.

This week has been a rather hectic one. Lots of things happened, but the 'main event', so to say, was the fact that I taught a whole day - by myself - because one of the teachers was absent. (And an adventure it was. I had to teach EMS (Economic Management Science) and maths. Anyone who knows me even a tiny little bit knows that those aren't really 'my' kind of subjects!

When I arrived in the morning Ingrid waved her hands frantically at me and said "I had forgotten you would come in today! I have to talk to you!" but as we were in the middle of the announcements for the week it had to wait for a few minutes. Immediately after the headmaster had concluded his speech she approached me and blurted out: "Could you please take the grade sixes until break-time?" I nodded without hesitation and Ingrid took my arm (after talking to some of the other teachers; the timetable had changed for the day so not everyone knew what they would be doing) and guided me to Mrs W's classroom. She handed me a piece of paper with basic instructions "6K - English (DEAR) 1st hour. 6K EMS (study mindmap about debt, banking and savings) 2nd hour - etc." and left me alone to figure things out. From outside of the classroom I heard "Grade six, please line up quietly! You can come in when you are told to come in." I took out my phone (because clocks are something that seems to be missing from most classrooms in South Africa) and took a deep breath.
"Good morning grade sixes! Come in please!" My day as a substitute teacher had officially begun.

In total I had to teach for 8 periods - the whole day minus 2 periods (a period is 30 minutes). I had one grade six group for 4 periods (EMS, maths and English reading), another grade six for EMS and maths (3 periods), and one grade seven group for EMS. It was a bit hectic to have to teach with less than 5 minutes notice. (I prefer to actually plan my lessons, thank you very much.) Overall it went very well, though. I'm happy and proud that Japari trusts me enough to let me teach by myself like this. (It makes me feel like a 'real' teacher ;) Whatever that means.) There were some challenges during the day, as expected, during the EMS lessons I didn't really know what to do. My instructions only mentioned a 'mindmap' when instead they had to study from something that was more like a summary/explanation than a mindmap. (So the grade sixes didn't know what to do - and I made a mindmap on the whiteboard with them... The problem in that being... I don't know much about debt, savings and banking! So I kept it simple, talking a bit about interest and tax and why credit cards can be dangerous - without explaining *how* these concepts work. Well, I'm studying English, not EMS, so it couldn't be helped, I'm afraid.)

After those lessons it was even harder to keep them interested in maths - I can't say maths interest me at all, so I couldn't blame the learners. They 'sort of tried' to do some work, but when some of the learners asked me some questions I was in trouble. I can blame the 'different ways of doing things', partially, but I couldn't really help them. After almost a full hour of doing maths it was clear they couldn't focus on it anymore (neither could I) so I decided to make a mindmap about 'The Netherlands' with them. We all enjoyed this, and then it was time for assembly!

Assembly is, as it is in the UK, something that most schools do. I love assemblies. They create a feeling of unity (as the whole school gets together for a change) and I love to see the grade noughts and grade ones sing songs, or see the older learners get certificates for their achievements in sports or tests. It's cute! And it's lovely when the whole school starts with "Good morning Mr. (Headmaster), good morning teachers!". It does, in fact, give you this warm and fuzzy feeling, just to know you're a part of this wonderful environment.

After break - second EMS lesson (different grade six group). This didn't go too well. It wasn't too bad, but they didn't feel like studying. Instead of the mindmap I wrote four questions on the board and had them answer these in their own words ("What is debt?" "How do people get into debt?" "What is interest?" and "Saving up for something is better than buying on credit. Explain why.) most learners merely copied the questions into their notebooks without answering them, however. 30 minutes is such a short time for a lesson!

The last 3 periods were ok. I even got some cake (I love primary schools, haha. Any reason for a party means all the teachers get cake!) when two girls from another group knocked on the door during class. This grade six did some more maths than the other one, and again I concluded the lesson by a few minutes of 'Let's talk about my country!'. Grade seven is always a bit more challenging (and awkward at times because my cousin is in this group) but they were better than usual.

Thoughts and feelings about the day:
"Like a real teacher!"
I'm proud that Japari feels confident in leaving me by myself to teach.
I felt calm while teaching, not scared or nervous (even when they didn't want to be quiet).
I'm confident I can do teaching as a job :)
It feels good to be useful, I was afraid this day was going to be another rather useless day (on Mondays I don't typically do much, so I'm glad I could help out).

I kind of hope I'll get another chance like this while I'm here - but I don't want to wish anyone harm, so I hope no one will get sick of the other teachers!

The rest of the day was about as busy - after school I took my cousin to Scusi's (an Italian restaurant around the corner) for a coffee (ice coffee for him) and a toasted cheese sandwich. My younger cousin's 'concert' (aka musical) was that same night, so we had a quick dinner before we rushed off to Crossroads school to see the "Wizard that Woz". It was cute, but also slightly boring, to see the whole musical (Joshua was only in 1 scene).

And Tuesday... I'm at the office because our receptionist is away for the day. More work, of a completely different kind, though! Answering the phone while doing some homework for Windesheim, oh well... it's the best way, because I'm sure I wouldn't have gotten so much done if I had stayed at home!

Other noteworthy things:
One of the teachers asked me "Where in America do you live?" (Me: "Ehm... I'm Dutch..." Teacher: "Oh so you understand Afrikaans?" (She continued in Afrikaans, I replied in English.)

- After 2 1/2 months at their school some teachers still didn't know I'm not a native speaker. That's like, so... cool! (*Insert American teenager-voice*)

"BE QUIET!" said Zak.

The last week has been rather challenging in some ways. I wouldn't say I'm exactly homesick but I'm not all that happy here, either. Just two more months to go, though, so I'm sure I'll manage!

Our internet connection has been giving us some trouble yet again. I phoned both Mweb and Telkom (service provider as well as the telephone company that handles the actual line-related things) but got nowhere in doing so. My uncle phoned them once and... yes, they managed to fix it. (I still think they don't take females inquiring about IT related business serious. Oh well.)

As usual I worked at Japari on Monday and Wednesday. Monday wasn't very interesting, but I did go shopping in Parkview after school. I met the lady from the second-hand book store there and she asked me about the books I bought there. It seems she likes to read fantasy, too, so we chatted for a bit. Last week I discussed the prices of books in Europe/Holland/South Africa with her. She seems like a lovely person, and it was good to just have a chat with someone random for a change.

Wednesday was funny, I sat in on some classes of a different teacher (Ingrid - teaching English and Afrikaans) and because she had to go to a meeting I took the last period. We just read from a book (the class had to follow along while I was reading) but a certain learner was being quite impossible (noisy and he kept making faces)... So when I came to this part in the story where it said "Be quiet!" said Zak. I used the opportunity to make myself very clear to this particular learner. The whole class was laughing after that, and it was very funny :D
After that I watched the Japari team play cricket (they won from Glenhazel primary school! Yay!) and sat at the Zoo Lake Sports Club restaurant for the whole afternoon (because cricket matches take ages, quite literally). I had some good coffee and a toasted sandwich, though, so it wasn't too bad. I've also been reading quite a lot (because of the internet being offline) so I found quite a few new words this week.

Finally... I have been working on my SLB portfolio. This lead to a (mildly) sarcastic post over at my other blog Random Breakfast Coffee. Not to be taken too seriously, but it does reflect (pun semi-intended) my view on SLB quite accurately, I'm afraid. (Just want to add this doesn't mean I'm not trying to make an effort for SLB, quite to opposite in fact. I just needed to vent my frustration concerning the challenge that SLB poses to students...)

Words of the week:
Remittance
Crag
Taltry
Pail
Petering out
Parlance
Skeins
Sidereal
Mycelium
Gangling
Scufflings
Wencher
Cochineal
Kenned
Rife
Sidled
Girders
Frondescence
Assuager
Loquaciously
Fashed
Twanging
Coppice
simulacrum
flanges
gurruping
tangential

End of Sukkot, Simchat Torah and more

I'm really glad the holidays are finally over! We had our last '3-day-break' without electricity etc. Thursday last week was the final day of Sukkot, we had our last meal in the Sukkah and just relaxed. Friday was Simchat Torah (when you get chocolate at the synagogue - or the kids do, at least - and they dance with the Torah. A really special day.

This week (finally a normal week again) I did some research at Japari (I really started with my assignments now). I made a questionnaire for the learners about languages (covering everything from "What is your home language" to "Which language classes do you enjoy most") and another one for the teachers ("Should all children be raised (at least) bilingually?" and about the difficulties of teaching children with a different native language than English.) I also worked on parts of the general report I could already write about and caught up with my weekly journals. And I did some more teaching, I took the grade 4's for Life Orientation again (about emotions and how to deal with them, we did an 'affirmation booklet' this time (an activity I used to do in London with the groups) and they really liked it. One of the kids even talked to me after school, saying "Miss? Thank you for the fun lesson!" (It was so cute!)

Oh, and we celebrated teachers' day! A bit late, but instead of Tuesday we had cake and sausage rolls and cookies on Wednesday! (Lucky for me, because I don't work on Tuesdays...) It was lovely.

Other than work things I decided to take my aunt and two of my cousins to China Town for lunch. We had lovely noodles, spring rolls and a fortune cookie. This weekend we might be going back to Magaliesberg for another hike... I really hope we will.

Summer is on its way and it seems like the rains might be with us soon. (It doesn't rain here in winter, during summer it rains every day in the afternoon.)

As for language progress... Some of the learners at Japari have asked me "Are you Scottish?" and I've noticed I'm starting to differentiate between 'just now' and 'now now' in the South African way (finally! I used to say "We're going just now" when I wanted to say "We're going RIGHT NOW" but right now is "now now", haha) as well as using 'Ag man' (which is, technically, Afrikaans and not English... but still).

On to yet another week... 9 1/2 left here!

Sukkot continued

After a long, long weekend without electricity (and internet) another week arrived. We've had guests over for dinner or lunch every single day since Saturday night. It has been quite hectic - I made 'Hachee' (the traditional Dutch stew) yesterday, and every day I set the table for 16-20 people (in our Sukkah, which is actually a tiny bit too small for this amount of diners).

Sunday night was probably the best night - we were allowed to use electricity (and play musical instruments) on that day, so I decided to take out my ocarina and play some songs. My favourite ever 'older' person came over for dinner, too. I think I can safely say that Jenny (or Jean, actually) is my friend, she's almost 3 times my age, but she's a friend nonetheless. We chatted and people commented on my 'talented' performance (I've only been playing the ocarina since March 2010, so I wouldn't say I'm that good... But it helps that people generally don't really know what an ocarina is!). I also chatted to Neil (Jenny's son) - it was very nice to be able to chat to someone around my age. I even forgot to have ice-cream and fruit salad, so there.

Today I had my first real test at Japari. Teaching the grade 4's a lesson of 'social science' last week was fun, but teaching the grade 7's is more like the real thing. It was nice to see how different classes can change the atmosphere, there are 2 grade seven classes at Japari (one a bit slower - and louder - than the other). I did the same lesson with both of them (and I'm continuing the activity tomorrow). They are preparing for their benchmarks (a kind of exams), so I went through (part) of an old benchmark with them. A long text (3 pages) about Mma Ramotswe (a story about a woman in Botswana) with 6 full pages of questions. Andrea (their usual teacher) left it to me to decide on how to teach this lesson.

I decided it would be best to read the text to the group first (because if I let them take turns they would worry too much about 'Am I reading next???' to listen to the actual story). I asked questions about difficult words, figures of speech and other important things - hinting at the questions. After that I asked some of the learners to read a paragraph out loud and gave them some time to answer the first few questions. Go on to the next paragraph, next set of questions, rinse and repeat.

We didn't finish the whole thing because the school had to practice for the assembly on Thursday (they are officially opening the school hall - it's a pity I can't be there because (you guessed it) Jewish holidays) but I'm continuing with the benchmark tomorrow.

Afterwards I felt more than a little exhilarated - it feels so good to finally be doing what I had wanted to do for so long. I simply love teaching. And I love working with special needs learners/learners at a remedial school. It can be draining, but it's also so rewarding and worthwhile once they do get something you're trying to explain.

Let's end with some more Sukkah pictures!





Comments of the week:

Teacher at Japari (after I said I was at home affairs to apply for an extension for my visa): "I didn't even realise you weren't from here!"
Cousin of my cousins: "Shouldn't you have an accent, if you're from Holland?!" (I even asked him "You think I don't have one?" Haha)

Word of the week:
Lapa (which apparently isn't even an English word, but they use it here all the time - it's one of these.

Yom Kippur and another week gone by

12 weeks left, time is starting to move faster for me now!

Saturday was Yom Kippur, a day of fasting and praying for forgiveness for the Jewish people. As I'm not Jewish myself I fasted for only part of the day (Friday night until around 11 on Saturday) but I did stay away from coffee and I didn't eat as much as I normally would during the day. My aunt and uncle went to the synagogue, I decided to have a little reading marathon myself. Books I've finished since last updating my booklist:

- The Book Thief (Markus Zusak)
- The Way of Shadows (Brent Weeks)
- Specials (Scott Westerfeld)
And a compilation of 3 short 'war stories for girls' (didn't have anything to read and my cousin had this book).

The Book Thief was amazing, and I can certainly recommend this to anyone. In fact, I'm hoping they'll make a movie out of it, because I'd love to see it.

I'm now reading the second book in the Night Angel trilogy (Brent Weeks) and "The Lightning Thief" (I have to confess I have this exciting affair with young adult novels - easy to read, lots of adventure... I love it!).

On Saturday night we visited my uncle's parents to break the fast. We had a wonderful meal of fried fish, different salads (pasta, rice, cabbage) and cakes, kichel (sweet crackers they usually eat with fish - I like them plain) and lemon meringue etc. etc. Very nice!

Oh and have some pictures of our Sukkah! The festival of Sukkot (plural of Sukkah) is coming up, it's a time when the Jewish people remember the time they spent in the desert before being allowed to enter the lands of Israel. You eat in the Sukkah (a hut with palm leafs - you have to be able to see the stars through the roof, but it also has to provide shade) and invite people over for meals... It lasts a week!

My aunt painted the scene

Completed:


On Thursday I had the best experience I've had so far. I went with my aunt to collect some money at a client and we chatted to this lady for about 5 minutes. After a short while my aunt decided to introduce me, saying "Oh, this is my niece from Holland!" and you know what the lady said?
"Oh really? Your English is amazing! I didn't hear any accent!" (I know that 'no accent' doesn't exist, but still!). I've heard all sorts of things "You're German aren't you?" (At Japari) and even "Are you Scottish?" (well... no!) but this is the first time that I've heard the 'no accent' comment so I'm insanely happy with that!

That said... I think that while I'm finally starting to get the hang of this bat/bet problem and my th's are starting to feel more natural to me... I still have a long way to go. The 'oo' in 'book' is still hard to get right...
When we're on language related things, could you explain "He had his daughter kidnapped." in two ways? I said this, meaning that 'He' had it happen to him (someone else kidnapped his daughter) my aunt keeps telling me I can't say it like that, because it would mean (and could ONLY mean) that he arranged to have his daughter kidnapped, himself. In my opinion this sentence isn't different from "He had his car stolen" (i.e. it happened to him) but... well, just double checking. I'd say in the kidnapping one it's pretty ambiguous who arranged what, if anything.

Back to South African life...

Summer is still a while away, but the weather has been improving. Yesterday I took a dive and did 21 lengths in our pool. The water is still a bit chilly, but once you're in it it's wonderful! I just need to swim more often, because after 21 lengths I had some trouble lifting myself out of the water at the deep end! Haha... Well, at least it's something that's nicer here than in the Netherlands. Maybe I'll swim again today, I think I should. The South African lifestyle is kind of lazy, because you have to drive everywhere... I need the swimming!

And finally... We managed to get our internet connection sorted out! I'm online using my own laptop (Sephiroth) at the moment and it's such a wonderful feeling to know that whenever I need it, or just want it, the internet is there for me. Even at a max of 376 kb/s. (But hey, we have a pool in our garden! Bet you you can't say that! Even with your super fast internet!) So while I'm waiting for my downloads to finish (at about 10-20 kb/s) I'll just have a cup of rooibos and take a swim.

Rosh Hashana -> The Jewish new year.

Wednesday night until Friday night was Rosh Hashana – the Jewish new year. After that we went into shabbos immediately, which meant we couldn't use electricity, write and other things that are 'creating' in some way or the other for three days straight. I've come to like shabbos, after a busy week a day of doing 'nothing' (of not having to do anything/not being able to do anything such as watching television, using the computer etc.) is actually very welcome. Three days though? A bit much.

On the first day we went to shul (the synagogue) in the morning and evening, after the evening service we went to Jocelyn (my uncle's sister) for dinner. We had a good time there, the whole family was complete and the boys played soccer, we had some nice chats and wonderful food. Earlier during the day Sarit (a girl that does the children's service at shul – she's about my age) invited me for lunch at their place on Friday. I accepted, even though the idea made me more than a little bit nervous. (I am getting used to all the parties and having dinner pretty much anywhere, but this was the first time I was invited somewhere by myself!)

Lunch on Friday was wonderful, besides Sarit and her two sisters and mother, four more girls were invited. One from Canada (Sarah), one from Durban and two others from Jo'burg. We had the usual lunch – chicken, rice, salads, vegetables and very yummy non-dairy ice-cream after. (You can't combine meat with milk in Jewish cooking, so if you have meat in a meal you can't have milchik ice-cream or pudding... It's kind of complicated but I just accept it the way it is.) It was a good experience to be around people my age for a change.

Saturday was a different story, I ate breakfast as usual but when we got to shul I felt sick and had a stomach ache. At the Brocha (the meal after their services – we didn't have a brocha on Thursday and Friday, so I was looking forward to the nice food) I felt too sick to eat anything other than a few bites of pineapple. Another ten minutes passed, and I asked my uncle to take me home because I was scared I was actually going to be sick. And I was. The rest of the day was spent either in bed or in the bathroom, luckily today I'm feeling much better (and I even had a slice of toast and some tea, without any problems so far... I'm still not hungry, though). Tonight we have yet another party... The Bar mitzvah function of the son of a friend of the family, and I'm invited, too. I'm not sure yet about going... There will be wonderful food, but if I'm feeling even a little bit sick or weak I'm staying home – I have to work tomorrow and don't want to have to phone in sick because of partying while I'm still not feeling 100 %.

Wordlist so far

iridescent clouds iridescent: displaying a play of lustrous colors like those of the rainbow.
irate - I was irate irate: angry, enraged
crinkle (v) to wrinkle, ripple.
to make slight, sharp sounds; rustle.
litigation (a matter that is still in litigation) /ˌlɪtɪˈgeɪʃən/ the act or process of litigating (to make the subject of a lawsuit)
trifecta a system of betting in which the bettor must pick the first three winners in the correct sequence
upend (upended a popular legend) overthrow, destroy, invalidate
ledger (n) a slab of stone laid flat over a grave
filch (to filch ashtrays from fancy restaurants) to steal (esp. something of small value)
histology the branch of biology dealing with the study of tissues
curb (High interest rates put a curb on spending) something that checks/restrains
non-mimetic - To open up and re-define the literary canon to include the non-mimetic side of our literature. non-mimetic adj.
mimetic -> characterized by, exhibiting, or of the nature of imitation or mimicry: mimetic gestures.
trope /troʊp/ - genre trope Trope (n):
A figure of speech using words in nonliteral ways, such as a metaphor.
make one's bones (exp) v. to kill a person as requirement for membership in a criminal gang, especially if it is one’s first murder; to become a made man; (hence) to earn a reputation.
heady (adj) exciting; exhilarating. ("Heady days")
preternatural powers (adj) out of the ordinary course of nature; exceptional or abnormal:
gouge - to gouge holes (v) to scoop out or turn with or as if with a gouge: to gouge a channel;
Shale A fissile rock composed of layers of claylike, fine-grained sediments.
Buttresses - Huge stone buttresses, surrounded by ramps and scaffolding. Buttress:
A structure, usually brick or stone, built against a wall for support or reinforcement.

Something resembling a buttress, as:
1. The flared base of certain tree trunks.
monomaniac - Sturman was his usual monomaniac self. an inordinate or obsessive zeal for or interest in a single thing, idea, subject, or the like.
coracle - He dug out a coracle (...) A small rounded boat made of waterproof material stretched over a wicker or wooden frame.
paroxysm - He went into a truly alarming paroxysm. any sudden, violent outburst; a fit of violent action or emotion: paroxysms of rage.
Doilies - To lift the doilies any small, ornamental mat, as of embroidery or lace.
chartreuse - chartreuse colour a clear, light green with a yellowish tinge.
adenoidal - adenoidal voice being characteristically pinched and nasal in tone quality: a high-pitched, adenoidal voice.
frazzled - frazzled mothers worn-out; fatigued: a party that left us frazzled.
Gossamer - faint as gossamer /ˈgɒsəmər/ gossamer - a fine, filmy cobweb seen on grass or bushes or floating in the air in calm weather, esp. in autumn


any thin, light fabric
impervious - she babbled on impervious incapable of being influenced or affected
valet - your valet has unpacked for you a male servant who attends to the personal needs of his employer
penchant - he had a penchant for me a strong inclination, taste, or liking for something: a penchant for outdoor sports.
jocular questions given to, characterized by, intended for, or suited to joking or jesting; waggish; facetious: jocular remarks about opera stars.
contingency - He was prepared for every contingency. a contingent event; a chance, accident, or possibility conditional on something uncertain:
gauderies - paid the penalty of gauderie finery, gaudy or showy things
boorish - I've become boorish of or like a boor; unmannered; crude; insensitive.
inviolate - something inviolate free from violation, injury, desecration, or outrage.

2.undisturbed; untouched.
despondency - state of being despondent; depression of spirits from loss of courage or hope; dejection.
subterfuge - talk of Monaco was a subterfuge to win a lift an artifice or expedient used to evade a rule, escape a consequence, hide something, etc.
frock - a gown or dress worn by a girl or woman.
succour (n) 1.help; relief; aid; assistance.

2.a person or thing that gives help, relief, aid, etc.
ineffectual - my little ineffectual smile unavailing; futile: His efforts to sell the house were ineffectual.
pallid - like pallid snowdrops pale; faint or deficient in color; wan: a pallid countenance.
blowzy - something rather blowzy about roses having a coarse, ruddy complexion.

2. disheveled in appearance; unkempt.
raucous - raucous laughter. harsh; strident; grating: raucous voices;
shingle - the white shingle of the beach 1.small, waterworn stones or pebbles such as lie in loose sheets or beds on a beach.

2.a beach, riverbank, or other area covered with such small pebbles or stones.
froth - superficial froth something unsubstantial, trivial, or evanescent: The play was a charming bit of froth.
robot (SAE) (n) traffic light
temerity - She was appaled at their temerity. very confident or bold behaviour likely to be considered rude or disrespectful by others.
desultory - Jasper's lessons had been desultory at best. desultory - lacking purpose or enthusiam, randomly going from one subject to another
absconded - 102 people had absconded with them. leave quickly or secretly.
Carapace - K stood up on the carapace of their pede. the hard upper shell of a turtle/lobster or related animal.
rankled - and that rankled cause continuing annoyance or resentment
guffaw - one of them yelled, between his guffaws. a loud deep laugh
whingeing - and stop whingeing complain persistently and irritably
ratify - ratify him in the position give formal consent to
panniers - the panniers on the pedes bag or box carried by donkey or mule
corralled - they were corralled together gather in a group together (as animals in a pen)
amorphous - blurred the (...) into an amorphous mass without a definite shape or form
keening - she fell to her knees, keening. wail in grief for a dead person
anorak - a shiny anorak waterproof jacket with a hood
Jersey (SAE) "Get your jersey" Jumper (B)
Grenadilla (SAE) - Grenadilla icecream Passion fruit (B)
stopstreet - She just ran the stopstreet! Intersection where you have to stop (with a stopsign)
Junglebunnies - Look at that junglebunny! Silly black person - e.g. someone who crosses the street without checking for cars. (slang)
Brinjal (SAE) - Let's buy brinjal, too. Aubergine
Baby marrow - Do you like baby marrow? Small courgettes or other squash
Juice/syrup - We need juice/syrup this week. Cordial
obtuse angle angle between 90 and 180 degrees
revolution (maths) - angle of 360 degree
syllabication - division into syllables
denominator (maths) - bottom number of a fraction
rhombus (shapes) - Draw a rhombus NL - Ruit
trapezoid (shapes) (NL) trapezium
guy - (technology) ground anchor (that pulls something down) - e.g. wire attached to a tent

Picture post!

According to my aunt it's a cotton tree! I'm not sure cotton actually grows on trees, but hey the fluffs look cool, for sure.


Ariella went on an outing with her school, and because we ... lost the car keys (we found them again, don't worry) we had to walk to school (we usually walk Ariella to school – but not with this much stuff.). It looks like we're all going on a trip!




Waiting for the bus to depart, being very typical Jewish mums (and cousins) – We didn't want to leave our kids! (Me, Jean and Sandra).

Ariella took my camera with her, and they went to this park where you could hold a baby lion – cute!


And... well, my aunt has lots of bunnies, she got them spayed and... they still had babies! So we had to sell them to pet stores – it took ages to catch them...


Doron (14)


Joshua (7)


Don't have to tell you who this crazy girl with a Hello Kitty shirt is.


Ariella (12)



'Old' people don't want you to know their age! (Sandra)


Tali (good friend of Ariella) had her Bati (Bat Mitzvah) party on Saturday night. She looked gorgeous! We had mini springrolls, Chillers (a milkshake, basically) and pizza and hot chips and ice cream and... lots of good food :)


Hiking in Magaliesberg (near Mountain Sanctuary) – it was a 2 hour-ish drive to get there, pff. We had to get up at 6 – after a late night (only got to bed around 12.30). EARLY. Josh is charming as ever. (Johannesburg Hiking Club)


First things first


























The hike was gorgeous (lamest joke I've ever made: Gorge-ous). I still have a slight muscle ache left over to remind me.

Rosh hashanah is coming up this Thursday and Friday. It's the Jewish new year. I won't be online until next week, because this means we're not allowed to drive etc. etc. (Just like on a Saturday because it's Shabbos). I'm sure it won't be boring though, more food, more visitors etc. etc.
Next entry might just be a 'review' of my experiences with Jewish holidays! Until then!