Moving on up

Our time at Deo Gratia is over for now. It had been real but I am ready for some privacy and a hot shower. I mentioned the Southern most point which was fun. Emily Arbour had the most spectacular time ever. It was adorable.

We had an event Tuesday night to meet our host families. I met my "mom" and then she had to leave because her brother-in-law was still in town from the World Cup. Instead, I bunked at Professor Jansen's guest house with our professional schlepper, Dayle, and Ally. We had good times. I have now lost incredibly in scrabble and in Wii Bowling. I can't be good at everything. Although, the scrabble loses have taken a toll on my confidence. I blame the fact that we have been playing at 11 pm or midnight. I cannot think that late.

I had my first day of school today. I observed for the majority of the school day, which is 8:00-2:00. The kids are hilarious. I was greatly amused at listening to them try to pronounce my last name. I am now officially, "Miss. S." It's pretty cute, and I may just stick with it. One girl asked me if I was married. I was also laughed at when repeated some of the kids' names.

The classroom has 42 students and one teacher, my host mom. She seems to easily control all of these kids, most of whom she has had for 2+ years. I have been in the classroom for only a few hours and I had to become somewhat of an enforce within the morning. I love the power that comes with being a teacher, as soon as I walk up to a "naughty" group of learners they quiet up immediately. Apparently, my authority is intimidating even though most of the kids come up to my shoulders. Speaking of tall things, door handles here are placed incredibly high up on the door. The other day I rammed my shoulder into the door handle. Another reason to hate doors.

My host family seems to be incredibly amazing. I am with an Indian family. I've only had one dinner and one lunch and it has been spectacular. I have had the most delicious foods here. In Hermanus I had the most fantastic lamb curry. The family has an amazing house with a beautiful view of Table Mountain from the back yard.

Everyone is asking me about differences between the classrooms here and in the US. It is hard to say at this point. One of the biggest things I've noticed is that the student to teacher ratio is much higher. There are 42 students in my class. The students are not given as much freedom as the students in the States. The students are also much more respectful here. They rarely use the teacher's last name. They just refer to my host mom/teacher as "Mrs." and I am "Miss." But, children are universal so of course there are similarities in how students act when the teacher goes out for a moment. Also, there is no cafeteria. Kids bring their lunch and eat in the classroom. Usually the teacher eats in the class with them but on Wednesdays there is a large staff lunch. I was able to join in on this and it was interesting to watch the interactions between everyone.

I think that is all for now, I have not been getting much sleep lately so I may go to bed early. How cool.