ETA Reunion!

This last weekend, Alice and I traveled to Gauteng for a Fulbright Mid Year Conference at The Cradle of Humankind (an area about an hour outside of Joburg). It is called the Cradle of Humankind because one of the first full skulls ever was discovered here. Unfortunately the conference schedule didn't allow us any time to go see it, but we had a nice weekend regardless. 

"Mrs. Ples"- one of the oldest skulls ever discovered.

It was great to see all the other ETAs, most of whom I have not seen since we arrived in Pretoria. We also got to meet the Fulbright students and scholars who are here on research grants, as well as the South Africans that are preparing to leave for the United States on their Fulbright in August. The weekend was a great opportunity to hear what everyone has been up to in their respective parts of the country. More specifically, it was great to share experiences/frustrations with the other ETAs. There have been times, especially recently with all of our down time during exams, that Alice and I have questioned our purpose here. Are we actually making any sort of impact or difference on these learners? What does it mean to be a white American, coming in to "make a difference" and what repercussions does that have on Walmer? Are we spending our time meaningfully and thoughtfully? etc. etc. It was great to hear that other Fulbrighters were asking many of the same questions (and many even more so than Alice and I). After watching everyone's presentations, we definitely seem to have one of the more full schedules out of the group, which is nice to remember when we think we have a lot of down time.

A handful of Fulbrighters at happy hour- from left to right: Alice, myself, Nick, Andrew (ETAs in Bloemfontein), Allie (ETA in Stellenbosch), and Ryan (student researched from Denver!)

Speaking of downtime, we have had quite a bit of it. We are invigilating exams, as they call it here, which go from 9-11am ish. We spend a bit of time in the library afterwards, usually with the same group of Grade 8 boys that come in every day, and then head back home. With the rest of our time we workout (exam time is going to make us SUPER fit), practice Xhosa (which is getting pretty good btw- can't wait to show the fam next week!), put a little too much planning into our dinners, and power through books. It is nice to remind myself that while the downtime doesn't feel nearly as productive as our busy schedules did earlier in the term, the shift in schedule has allowed me to enjoy some new things. The invigilating has demanded our presence in the teachers lounge more than usual which has allowed us to get to know the staff much better (something we can't usually do because the library is normally the busiest during the long and short breaks when the teachers are in the lounge). It has also allowed us to get to know some of our students a lot better because we can spend more time with them in an informal context- more specifically this little group of Grade 8 boys that are so sharp and witty and always keen to help us with our Xhosa. (I think I'll do one of my next blog posts in all Xhosa, with a translation of course).

We don't have too much planned this weekend- the Euro soccer tournament is going on so Andrew and most of our Grassroots Soccer friends are excited to watch that most of the weekend. Saturday is National Youth Day here so Alice and I will got an event in the location that some of our students are participating in that morning. And Sunday will start bright and early with a trail run- Alice, Andrew, and perhaps a few of our other friends are running a 5k and I'll be a few hours behind them after 18ks! I am registered for a half marathon the weekend after my family leaves (great planning right?) so I'm excited to get a long run in on a beautiful trail through a valley that ends at a great cafe/brewery... we'll see which I feel more up for after the run, coffee or beer!

Bridge Street Brewery- one of the only places in town that sells craft beers! Also has great food and is tucked right into Baakens Valley, has become one of our favorites! 

My family arrives one week from today!! Couldn't be more excited to show off this awesome country and spend some good time with them. Our travels start in PE before spending time on the Garden Route driving from PE to Cape Town, a few nights in Cape Town, a night in Jozi, and a couple nights on safari in Kruger. Should have some great stories and photos for the next blog post! Cheers, x