School has started down here in South Africa. NMMU is amazing and I love every aspect of it. The campus is beautiful, monkeys practically walk with you to class, and there is always so much going on. On Monday, the group and I had our first service learning/volunteer day. After thinking about all the spots to volunteer I ended up picking Pendla Primary School. The kids there are great and won me over. Me and 11 others head to Pendla every Monday and Tuesday morning while the others split off and go to Missionvale and House. I chose Pendla because I feel it needs the most help and that I can get the most out of my experience there. Would Missionvale focus more on what I would like to do with my life? Possibly. However, I will most likely never get to teach again in my life and want this opportunity abroad to try new things. At Pendla I am two things: a teacher and a jungle gym. There is nothing better. I get to teach 4th grade South African children english, math, science, social studies, and life skills. I am partners with my friend Shannon who also is on the study abroad trip. At recess, the kids swarm us. And when I say swarm, I mean swarm. I had about 15 little guys trying to drag me down the other day. It was so much fun! They love to hold hands, jump on you, and have you pull them up. They also love to play soccer and a game they call "run" which entails me running from a mass of kids until they catch me!
In class, the kids are great even though they can get a little rowdy at times, but what kid doesn't. At Pendla the major thing they lack is structure in their teaching and education system. So by being there it helps me understand what they struggle with and how I can help. I hope to suggest some ideas and ways for them to better structure their school. You may be thinking "Why would a college kid from the U.S. get to suggest ideas on South African teaching?" and I would agree, why would I? However, that is a major reason why we are there, other than helping the children, and they have asked us to suggest ideas. I would like to suggest ways for them to improve their teaching because as of now many of the teachers fail to show up or lead class in a productive manner. The children end up repeating many things over and over which doesn't help them progress.
Moving on with my other classes... On Monday I had South African Jazz Music. We learned about many different tribes and the instruments and music they make. It was interesting. The class has a few field trips that will allow us to see multiple performances and different kinds of instruments.
Tuesday we all had service again. After service a portion of us who signed up for South African Politics went to class. The teacher is a 26 year old and is pretty cool. Laid back and nice. We learned about the history of South African politics all the way from 1900 to the election of Nelson Mandela.
Wednesday morning I had Human Rights and Actions which is a Peace Studies course. I feel like I will really enjoy this course because it allows for a lot of discussion on many important aspects that I know will pop up throughout my life. Plus, there is nothing I like more than discussion.
Finally, tomorrow brings us Marine Biology and Study Abroad Seminar. I am not currently signed up for Marine Biology but I think it would be a lot of fun to take. So I asked my director, Sister Mary Jane, if I could sit in on the class. She emailed the professor and she said it would be great if I would sit in! I will receive no credit and earn no grade, however, I will learn a ton. Plus, as a double major the last thing I am worried about is not having enough credits. So hopefully tomorrow everything will go smoothly and that I will be able to remain as a sit-in on the Marine Biology course. After Biology, I will have Study Abroad Seminar which is with the entire group. I feel as if this class will probably be the most work but also a lot of good discussion. We have no class on Fridays.
Overall, everything is going great and school has been a lot of fun. It is currently pretty humid here, but hopefully that will die down over the next few days. Besides school, I have bought a gym membership to NMMU's gym, walked the campus just to get a feel for everything, and took a few cab rides home from school by myself just to meet some new people and to get me out of my comfort zone. Not sure what the weekend holds but I think some of us may take a day trip somewhere. Finally, on Monday the Madiba's have a rugby game which myself and some others are going to. Super excited!
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