We thought life would slow down a little after Sarah and Jennifer’s visit… but we were kind of wrong. Apparently our house has become the new hangout (any teenage boy cant resist the allure of itunes and youtube). Every night after dinner we sit at the table, doing what we do- ie drinking tea and relaxing, and we strain our ears every time we hear a noise outside and hope its not the guys coming over again. So that started off our week with going to bed late, and not getting the amount of sleep that Ayla likes.
Lately, the breadth and scope of our internship has been expanding. Into nursing and health care. A man in the village burned his entire forearm with third degree burns, and we are still aren’t sure how it happened, tho we have gotten many possible stories from the man. The burn was pretty fresh, it had been wrapped for the first time a few days ago. However, the man was out chopping wood, and dirtied his bandages. Which meant they needed to be changed. Enter social work interns. Apparently, to really survive what they call here “village life,” you must be a jack of all trades. (Due to the unfortunate quality of health care in South Africa, and their odd refusal to deal with burns and sores, the man had to be treated at Botshabelo).
So here is the scene: old man sitting in chair, surrounded by audience of children, as Dr. Marion wets his bandages and ever so slowly starts cutting them off. Ayla and Ilene are gloved and ready at Marion’s side. Layer after layer. Until we see skin. Or rather the complete lack of skin. As Marion began pulling off the last layer of bandage, and the man’s skin started coming off with it, Ayla began to feel a little sick. The man was black, and his forearm was pink- the pink of muscles- because that’s all there was there, absolutely no skin, except for the new growth that had started in the last 2 days, and that was now being peeled off. Exit Ayla. Ilene handled her shit. End scene.
The last few days have been a bustle of activity in preparation for a funeral. There is a family of 3 sibilings, whose mother died last Thursday (foul play is suspected, most likely poison). The kids hadn’t seen or heard from her in 2 years, so they were already somewhat emotionally disconnected. Fortunately they were able to contact one of her sisters, who she hadn’t seen in 25 years- thank you apartheid, to come up and help organize the funeral. Since the family is very poor, they buried her here at the cemetery in Botshabelo. Tragically, there was a secret plan to send the ever-hard-working Con and Marion on a mini vacation for a few days, but the money had to be used for the funeral instead.
Fast forward to last night, the start of the funeral. At sundown a vigil was started including singing, clapping, a little swaying/dancing, and some preaching thrown in. It was really amazing to see how the Botshabelo family came together to support the three kids. None of them actually knew the woman being buried, but they stayed up all night at the vigil with the kids. Also starting at sundown: the digging of the hole for the coffin. It took til 3 in the morning- about the same time the vigil ended. In the morning there was another short service (again preaching, clapping, singing), before making the long trek to the edge of the property where the cemetery lies. There was also a short viewing of the woman before she was taken to the cemetery. Not only did Ayla attend her first funeral, but both Ayla and Ilene saw their first dead person. At the cemetery there was more clapping and singing and swaying. The coffin was lowered, and then the older boys worked like maniacs to fill up the whole with their shovels and dirt. It only took 15 minutes to be completely finished with the burial. The we all marched back down, washed our hands in water with aloe plant, and then technically, ate. However, the family feared our stomachs couldn’t handle the food (we are not sure why), so they told them that Passover had started early and we couldn’t eat anything. Unfortunately, Ayla and Ilene had been asking to go to the grocery store for daaaaays, and only had eggs and corn meal at home, and were really looking forward to that meal. Bummer.
Now most of the kids are going home for Easter holiday, and the campus is eerily quiet. Sorry U.S. kids, South African schools close for 2 weeks for Easter. Hopefully we wont get too lonely, because we have adventures ensuing. Now you will wait in anticipation for our next blog. Ha.
-Ayla and Ilene
Friday, March 26, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
South By South Africa
Ilene, Sarah and Jennifer met at the Johannesburg airport on Sunday afternoon. Sarah, after thirty hours of travel, looked like hell, especially her feet, which were swollen to a size 14. Jennifer had just arrived from an amazing trip to Cape Town and was ready to jump into Botshabelo. Ilene, shrieking from across the airport, ran up to Sarah and Jennifer and nearly knocked the wind out of them with a giant Ilene-esque BEAR HUG!!!! Ilene had brought Bongani on a birthday outing and managed to treat him to three orange Fantas, a burger and chips and two candy bars in the four hours to and from the airport.
As the three of us arrived at Botshabelo and settled into the spacious wooden flat, we could hardly believe it was all really happening. Ilene took Sarah and Jennifer on a tour and we met up with Ayla in the village. Together at last!!!
Top 30 Reasons Why this Week Has Been AWESOME:
30. Jennifer and Ilene making wishes at the Medicine Wheel that David and Nkosi become famous rappers.
29. “That was a DELICIOUS marshmellow,” said Tshepiso, hands outstretched for seconds.
28. Getting in for free at the caves and free parking at the Cradle of Human Kind because Joseph has connections. Oh ya!!!
27. Being connected through the umbilical cord of humanity...in the most beautiful place on earth.
PS: Can you see the elephant in the mountain?!?!
26. The thirty minute flat ride to the canopy tour, including stopping for petrol AND getting lost (usually an hour and a half trip). Joseph is a “good driver.”
25. Ilene drunk off one glass of wine, complete with random bursts of laughter and the spins.
(Note: Ilene is NOT drunk in this picture)
24. Six full meals a day. It’s the South African way.
23. Getting to know one another intimately (no bathroom door).
22. Ayla and Ilene knocking three things off the To-Do List…especially getting to the museum after trying every single weekend since they’ve been here.
21. Mr. BoJangles.
20. “SARAH’S NOT SINGING!!!” (At the bonfire we were divided into two teams to sing traditional Tswana songs and Sarah got called out for having no idea what was going on…by a four year old.)
19. Being forced to dance…in the circle …one at a time…in front of EVERYONE.
18. Jennifer’s mad group facilitation skills and the bracelets that resulted.
17. Gopalong, Gopalong, and more Gopalong: the cutest short-attention spanned six year old who likes to hit and hug you’ll ever meet.
16. Sarah’s outrageously good and Jennifer’s outrageously bad volleyball skills.
15. The ant colony that formed in the bathroom after leaving soaking pots overnight.
14. Sarah’s and Ilene’s poor choice of clothing for the canopy tour (aka “The Bunch).
13. Evening tea with the Cloete family: learning the kids’ stories, Botshabelo’s story, Marion’s story and a few speculations about Jennifer’s and Sarah’s stories.
12. Totally skipping out on the work part of volunteer work at the Lion and Rhino park, thanks to Joseph oversleeping and traffic. Whoops! Sorry! ;)
11. Ilene and Ayla going native, cooking several traditional South African meals.
10. Finding our soul mates!!! Sarah’s was a an old man vulture, Jennifer’s was a cat missing an eye, Ayla’s was a hungry rat, and Ilene, well, Ilene is still searching…
9. Sticky thumb.
8. Sarah and Jennifer getting the most amazing Botshabelo Welcome Party, featuring five million children jumping all over them, shaking hands, hugging, climbing, screaming their names, showing off their playground skills, and trying on their sunglasses.
7. The miracle of the productive carrot bran muffin; like Hanukkah, it lasted EIGHT days.
6. An amazingly smooth St. Patrick’s Day bash that all came together an hour before it started.
5. “Your hands are no match for my balls!” “Woman, woman, WOMAN!!!” “Yes, Sarah, smack it, Ilene, yes, go!, Ayla, perfect, Jennifer, aaaarrrrgggg!!!”
- Luke, The Volleyball Soundtrack
4. Chocolate-covered rice cakes, the vegan and gluten-free dessert: two for the price of one!
3. Staying up way too late doing paint therapy.
2. Petting lion cubs to sleep on our laps after being charged, scratched and bitten.
And…the number one reason that this week was AWESOME:
#1: “Thanks Jennifer, Sarah, Ilene and Ayla!” … “Pleasure!”
Love,
Short Fast & Easy, Toilet, Glitter Butt and Nechama Sticky Thumb.
(guess who’s who…)
As the three of us arrived at Botshabelo and settled into the spacious wooden flat, we could hardly believe it was all really happening. Ilene took Sarah and Jennifer on a tour and we met up with Ayla in the village. Together at last!!!
Top 30 Reasons Why this Week Has Been AWESOME:
30. Jennifer and Ilene making wishes at the Medicine Wheel that David and Nkosi become famous rappers.
29. “That was a DELICIOUS marshmellow,” said Tshepiso, hands outstretched for seconds.
28. Getting in for free at the caves and free parking at the Cradle of Human Kind because Joseph has connections. Oh ya!!!
27. Being connected through the umbilical cord of humanity...in the most beautiful place on earth.
PS: Can you see the elephant in the mountain?!?!
26. The thirty minute flat ride to the canopy tour, including stopping for petrol AND getting lost (usually an hour and a half trip). Joseph is a “good driver.”
25. Ilene drunk off one glass of wine, complete with random bursts of laughter and the spins.
(Note: Ilene is NOT drunk in this picture)
24. Six full meals a day. It’s the South African way.
23. Getting to know one another intimately (no bathroom door).
22. Ayla and Ilene knocking three things off the To-Do List…especially getting to the museum after trying every single weekend since they’ve been here.
21. Mr. BoJangles.
20. “SARAH’S NOT SINGING!!!” (At the bonfire we were divided into two teams to sing traditional Tswana songs and Sarah got called out for having no idea what was going on…by a four year old.)
19. Being forced to dance…in the circle …one at a time…in front of EVERYONE.
18. Jennifer’s mad group facilitation skills and the bracelets that resulted.
17. Gopalong, Gopalong, and more Gopalong: the cutest short-attention spanned six year old who likes to hit and hug you’ll ever meet.
16. Sarah’s outrageously good and Jennifer’s outrageously bad volleyball skills.
15. The ant colony that formed in the bathroom after leaving soaking pots overnight.
14. Sarah’s and Ilene’s poor choice of clothing for the canopy tour (aka “The Bunch).
13. Evening tea with the Cloete family: learning the kids’ stories, Botshabelo’s story, Marion’s story and a few speculations about Jennifer’s and Sarah’s stories.
12. Totally skipping out on the work part of volunteer work at the Lion and Rhino park, thanks to Joseph oversleeping and traffic. Whoops! Sorry! ;)
11. Ilene and Ayla going native, cooking several traditional South African meals.
10. Finding our soul mates!!! Sarah’s was a an old man vulture, Jennifer’s was a cat missing an eye, Ayla’s was a hungry rat, and Ilene, well, Ilene is still searching…
9. Sticky thumb.
8. Sarah and Jennifer getting the most amazing Botshabelo Welcome Party, featuring five million children jumping all over them, shaking hands, hugging, climbing, screaming their names, showing off their playground skills, and trying on their sunglasses.
7. The miracle of the productive carrot bran muffin; like Hanukkah, it lasted EIGHT days.
6. An amazingly smooth St. Patrick’s Day bash that all came together an hour before it started.
5. “Your hands are no match for my balls!” “Woman, woman, WOMAN!!!” “Yes, Sarah, smack it, Ilene, yes, go!, Ayla, perfect, Jennifer, aaaarrrrgggg!!!”
- Luke, The Volleyball Soundtrack
4. Chocolate-covered rice cakes, the vegan and gluten-free dessert: two for the price of one!
3. Staying up way too late doing paint therapy.
2. Petting lion cubs to sleep on our laps after being charged, scratched and bitten.
And…the number one reason that this week was AWESOME:
#1: “Thanks Jennifer, Sarah, Ilene and Ayla!” … “Pleasure!”
Love,
Short Fast & Easy, Toilet, Glitter Butt and Nechama Sticky Thumb.
(guess who’s who…)
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Short and Not So Sweet
Hi Everyone,
So its 7:35am and today is gonna be a good day. The homeopathic doctor is coming and going to run some tests on us and give us some very nasty tasting medicine (we will write more when we more), and Ilene's friends from Austin are coming today! This next week is gonna be jam packed with touristy outtings for Ilene's friends, and we are throwing a Saint Patrick's Day Bash for the kids! We are supposed to do an educational piece about St Patrick's Day... I dunno if you have ever looked into it, but there's not that much educational value in this day, its just sort of drunken debauchery and parading.
Anyway, what I really wanted to blog about is karate. For years now there has been a Sensai (master karate teacher) coming to Botshabelo and teaching the kids karate twice a week. A couple times in the year the kids can go to Johanesburg and test for a new belt color. A few of the older boys are already black belts! Yesterday 3 more boys went to test for blackbelt... they were the only 3 black boys at the testing... can you guess where this is going.... and all 3 of them were denied black belt status even tho their Sensai and the boys that were already black belts said that they did more than enough to pass. Needless to say, everyone was in a pretty crappy mood when they returned from Jo-burg. There is not really much else to tell about this besides how surprised and deeply disturbed and saddened we were by the news. In my best Jewish grandmother voice: they're such good boys! They will try again for black belt during the next round of testing in August. Send them some love!
Ayla
So its 7:35am and today is gonna be a good day. The homeopathic doctor is coming and going to run some tests on us and give us some very nasty tasting medicine (we will write more when we more), and Ilene's friends from Austin are coming today! This next week is gonna be jam packed with touristy outtings for Ilene's friends, and we are throwing a Saint Patrick's Day Bash for the kids! We are supposed to do an educational piece about St Patrick's Day... I dunno if you have ever looked into it, but there's not that much educational value in this day, its just sort of drunken debauchery and parading.
Anyway, what I really wanted to blog about is karate. For years now there has been a Sensai (master karate teacher) coming to Botshabelo and teaching the kids karate twice a week. A couple times in the year the kids can go to Johanesburg and test for a new belt color. A few of the older boys are already black belts! Yesterday 3 more boys went to test for blackbelt... they were the only 3 black boys at the testing... can you guess where this is going.... and all 3 of them were denied black belt status even tho their Sensai and the boys that were already black belts said that they did more than enough to pass. Needless to say, everyone was in a pretty crappy mood when they returned from Jo-burg. There is not really much else to tell about this besides how surprised and deeply disturbed and saddened we were by the news. In my best Jewish grandmother voice: they're such good boys! They will try again for black belt during the next round of testing in August. Send them some love!
Ayla
Monday, March 8, 2010
Valentine's Day in March
In Botshabelo style, we celebrated Valentine’s Day the first weekend in March. The best time we have had since we’ve been here! The annual v-day bash is composed of 5 areas: karate display, contesting (aka beauty pageant), singing, eating, and dancing. We were lucky enough to be the judges of the beauty pageant (although I would say “lucky” is a subjective opinion bc for me -ayla- the pageant began at 4pm and ended at midnight. That is a friggin long pageant. Longer than my wee attention span).
judges' table
ayla does makeup for the beauty contestants
There were 4 rounds: casual wear, skirts, bathing suits (called “costumes” here in SA), and formal wear. Each round lasted 25 minutes to half an hour, where the girls walked together endlessly in geometric configurations as well as individually strutting their stuff and dancing for the crowd (you could not pay me to dance in front of the crowd in my bathing suit- but those girls sure can shake it). Ooooh, we almost forgot to mention the best part of the pageant: dancing grannys!!!! One granny in particular hit the booze pretty hard, and tried to join in the contest. Moments later we see her in the center thinking she is auditioning for girls gone wild, playfully raising her shirt. We thought it was a tease, but she wasn’t bluffing. The bra made an appearance, a few actually. We took video of the grannys dancing, we will try to put it on the blog.
the girls in the contest
granny joins the contest
There was mad drama when the dj, who was payed to play from noon to midnight, came at 3:30 and decided he was done at 8:30 and tried to sneak away. However, in the end it was settled, and we danced til 3 am. In fact, we danced sooo hard that two days later ayla is still sore. We spent some of the dance trying to get down the kids’ south african moves, but they are insanely good dancers with crazy intricate footwork.
It seems that at least half of the money that came in for the v-day bash was set aside to buy new clothes for the kids. Everyone got new shoes, jeans shirts, and underoos. Remember how we mentioned a few blogs ago boys dressing like girls….. now we know why. The family buys whatever is cheapest and decent quality. In the shoe department, it turns out that it was lime green fake crocs that were bejeweled for the boys. We know we shouldn’t laugh… but that shits funny.
Next on the agenda: Ilene’s friends come on Sunday and stay for the week, and then its our spring breeeaaaak! This semester is flying…
Ayla and Ilene
random pic of the promised chicken feet meal... soo rubbery
we tried to upload the granny dancing video, but it just uploaded forever and wouldnt finish, so we had to delete it. soorry
judges' table
ayla does makeup for the beauty contestants
There were 4 rounds: casual wear, skirts, bathing suits (called “costumes” here in SA), and formal wear. Each round lasted 25 minutes to half an hour, where the girls walked together endlessly in geometric configurations as well as individually strutting their stuff and dancing for the crowd (you could not pay me to dance in front of the crowd in my bathing suit- but those girls sure can shake it). Ooooh, we almost forgot to mention the best part of the pageant: dancing grannys!!!! One granny in particular hit the booze pretty hard, and tried to join in the contest. Moments later we see her in the center thinking she is auditioning for girls gone wild, playfully raising her shirt. We thought it was a tease, but she wasn’t bluffing. The bra made an appearance, a few actually. We took video of the grannys dancing, we will try to put it on the blog.
the girls in the contest
granny joins the contest
There was mad drama when the dj, who was payed to play from noon to midnight, came at 3:30 and decided he was done at 8:30 and tried to sneak away. However, in the end it was settled, and we danced til 3 am. In fact, we danced sooo hard that two days later ayla is still sore. We spent some of the dance trying to get down the kids’ south african moves, but they are insanely good dancers with crazy intricate footwork.
It seems that at least half of the money that came in for the v-day bash was set aside to buy new clothes for the kids. Everyone got new shoes, jeans shirts, and underoos. Remember how we mentioned a few blogs ago boys dressing like girls….. now we know why. The family buys whatever is cheapest and decent quality. In the shoe department, it turns out that it was lime green fake crocs that were bejeweled for the boys. We know we shouldn’t laugh… but that shits funny.
Next on the agenda: Ilene’s friends come on Sunday and stay for the week, and then its our spring breeeaaaak! This semester is flying…
Ayla and Ilene
random pic of the promised chicken feet meal... soo rubbery
we tried to upload the granny dancing video, but it just uploaded forever and wouldnt finish, so we had to delete it. soorry
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Pictures related to the last blog that I have been too lazy to update until now...
Hi everybody,
I feel like its been a long time since I've updated the blog... but that is mostly because nothing of serious interest has occurred. Ilene has been really sick for the last five days (like stay in bed all day sick), and ayla so far (knock on wood) has masterfully avoided it. The last week while Ilene has been in bed rest, I (ayla) have been working on filling out the annual government school survey. Not the glamorous job. I had to interview every single child in the school and find out their birthday, what language they speak at home, if their parents are alive, etc.
In other news today, I think everyone will be happy to hear that our neighbor, the spitting black cobra, has been captured and re-located far far away from here.
The weekend of Valentine's day, the staff were hoping to throw a big bash that included a beauty contest, karate display, talent show, a bar-b-que, singing and tribal dancing, and then a regular dance with a dj. Unfortunately the donated money didnt come in on time, so it had to be postponed til the next weekend. But by the next week the money still hadnt arrived so it was postponed again. Then the same thing happened again. But finally, the money arrived today and we are throwing our valentine's day bash almost a month after the fact. oh well, a party is a party. altho the momentum really died the third weekend it didnt happen so i dont think anyone remembers what they were going to do for the talent show. but this is life as usual at botshaeblo.
im trying really hard to come up with something else interesting that has happened... but im falling short.
if i have a stroke of genius later i will add it to the blog
ayla
Hi everybody,
I feel like its been a long time since I've updated the blog... but that is mostly because nothing of serious interest has occurred. Ilene has been really sick for the last five days (like stay in bed all day sick), and ayla so far (knock on wood) has masterfully avoided it. The last week while Ilene has been in bed rest, I (ayla) have been working on filling out the annual government school survey. Not the glamorous job. I had to interview every single child in the school and find out their birthday, what language they speak at home, if their parents are alive, etc.
In other news today, I think everyone will be happy to hear that our neighbor, the spitting black cobra, has been captured and re-located far far away from here.
The weekend of Valentine's day, the staff were hoping to throw a big bash that included a beauty contest, karate display, talent show, a bar-b-que, singing and tribal dancing, and then a regular dance with a dj. Unfortunately the donated money didnt come in on time, so it had to be postponed til the next weekend. But by the next week the money still hadnt arrived so it was postponed again. Then the same thing happened again. But finally, the money arrived today and we are throwing our valentine's day bash almost a month after the fact. oh well, a party is a party. altho the momentum really died the third weekend it didnt happen so i dont think anyone remembers what they were going to do for the talent show. but this is life as usual at botshaeblo.
im trying really hard to come up with something else interesting that has happened... but im falling short.
if i have a stroke of genius later i will add it to the blog
ayla
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