Last and Final Week in Grahamstown

My last four days in Grahamstown were extremely hectic!

On Monday, Leah, April, and I headed downtown to catch a taxi to the township school.  Students had finished writing their exams the day before, so when we arrived students were just playing outside. After talking to the principal she said that they really did not have classes, but children were coming so that they could get a meal. Luckily one grade R teacher was having class and sang songs with her students. They sang traditional songs like itsy-bitsy spider and twinkle-twinkle, though they also sang a song/chanted a poem that was as follows:

I am somebody,

I am somebody,

I might be small,

But I am somebody,

I might be poor,

But I am somebody,

I might speak another language,

But I am somebody

I might be another color,

But I am somebody

I am somebody,

I am somebody.

Imagine fifteen five year olds saying this… it brought tears to my eyes.

The grade R students singing songs at Vellem Primary

The rest of the day we ran errands around Grahamstown, getting presents for our host family.

            Monday afternoon we had to say goodbye to all of our wonderful friends that we made at the LeBone Center.  After all the children got there, we all got together in a room and they gave us their Christmas card, which was a picture of a bulletin board with all of the Christmas decorations we made with them! Saying goodbye to those kids was extremely difficult simply because we had no idea what their futures would be like-we can just pray for the best, and hope that we made a small impact on their lives.

Tuesday:

        Tuesday evening we had the carol service in the chapel which was very nice. It reminded me a lot Christmas Eve Children’s Mass at St. Martha’s, all the children dressed up as if they were part of the nativity scene and crowded around the Religious Education teacher on the altar.  Once again I had the opportunity to enjoy some Christmas carols, and again it seemed so odd to me! After the carol service I had a lovely dinner with my Bible Study group. Steffi, the woman whose home we go to, decorated the table so nicely and made us adorable bookmarks and wrapped up a bar of chocolate for each of us!

Wednesday:

            What a hard day at school! Both third grade classes had their end of the year parties. I had to spend three hours sitting in the sun by the pool watching students swim! After school I helped decorate the Dining Hall for the Leaver’s Dinner. Two forks, two knives, and a spoon at each table, crackers (fire crackers with prizes inside), and a chocolate at each plate setting! The Hall looked beautiful!

The tables all decorated in the Dining Hall.
 It kind of felt like Harry Potter.

The three of us went on a tour of the Grahamstown Township with the principal of a special needs school. While driving around she told us about some of the rituals that the Xhosa people have which was really interesting. It is just mind boggling how some of these people live!

            When we got back I got ready for the Leaver’s Dinner. It was a lovely evening for the seventh grade students who are ‘leaving’ the Junior School. Their teachers said something nice about each one and handed out awards and certificates. At the end, the Knighting Ceremony took place.  To be knighted simply means to be declared a member of the Kingswood Family. The seventh graders say, “I dub thee, Old Bug, Rise,” when placing the sword on each shoulder and head. It was quite the experience.

Me being Knighted

        After the dinner, Leah and I headed to the Wyvern for Jen, one of the stooges, twenty-first birthday parties. Twenty-first birthdays are a huge deal here-which is somewhat odd because the drinking age is eighteen. Jens party was Alice in Wonderland theme with a ton of decorations, a DJ, speeches, and food. It was really nice to spend some time with the stooges before we left.

Thursday:

            The last day of school! I received several generous presents from students, as well as a cute little scrapbook Debbie’s class made me, and a Kingswood Cookery Book!

            After school we had a quick meeting to discuss students and next year, and then the whole staff headed to Derek’s (Headmaster) house for lunch. The atmosphere at lunch was extremely relaxed-Holiday had finally arrived. One teacher even put a picture of Derek up on the dart board and we all took turns trying to hit the 'bulls’ eye.'

            Thursday night, Leah, April, and I made dinner for Jean, Aegean, and Grandma for our ‘Goodbye Dinner.’ We made fajitas, salsa, and a salad-which was delicious. Of course we had the traditional goodbye dinner conversation where everyone went around the table saying one thing we would miss about the person, and then hearing one thing they would miss about us. It turned out to be very lengthy and complicated with three people leaving! Fortunately, Aegean and Grandma will be in Cape Town so we should be able to see them again.

            Our friend Amy came over for dessert and to also say goodbye. I met Amy at the event at Rhodes University way back at the beginning of the trip. She student taught at Kingswood in grade two, and actually got a job their starting in January as a grade two teacherJ

The three of us with Grandma!

Friday:

Our adventure to Cape Town finally begins!