Well, it's finally here - the last week of this incredible experience as a Fulbrighter in South Africa.
Friday morning was the official Early Childhood Department goodbye breakfast at The Blue Crane, a beautiful restaurant near our campus. There was lots of laughter, lovely gifts, and a card filled with kind messages. Then we had to head back to the office for a 2 hour department meeting! Believe it or not, even at the end of our department meeting, Marie, Judy and I talked about extending my "Image of the Child" research project into the UP programme, Nkidi and I tried to figure out how to make revisions to the mother tongue grant proposal without the promised template from the Department of Education, and Miemsie and I interviewed Ina for our research. The rest of the afternoon was full of cleaning up the office for me and going through things that needed to come back to the flat for sorting or returning to colleagues for materials that we had shared for our collaborative projects.
Next stop, supper at Elizabeth's house in Tembisa. To celebrate my consistent ability to get lost on almost every trip I take, Themba managed to forget exactly which street Elizabeth lived on, but we eventually made it without anything but a little wounded pride. Friends from St. Peters joined us (fortunately without getting lost) for a wonderful meal, fellowship, and goodbyes. We ate our rice, roast beef and gravy, creamed spinach, and beets. It was just fabulous!! For dessert Elizabeth bought cake and served homemade malva pudding. As Steven poured the vanilla custard on his pudding, Isaiah began to laugh, remembering their first meal in the US when we had a stop at a restaurant on the way from the airport to the Valley. We had a buffet breakfast and Rev. Zibi got some fruit salad. Consistent with his custom to add custard to his fruit salad, Zibi did the same thing at the buffet and returned to the table. He sat down at the table with us and began to eat, but was shocked at the taste. Turns out, he poured melted cheese over his fruit! This has remained a favorite funny story that seems to be retold every time we are together and have custard. Our time together ended in song and prayers for safe travels and love for the people at Trinity.
Saturday: The living room/dining room is my staging area with even the ironing board up as a place to sort through things. Last week I began packing and promptly filled my 2 suitcases, searched for a large plastic tub to serve as a trunk, and still, there was stuff still laying around. So I went through papers and notebooks, books and journals, all trying to cut back. I went through clothes that I could leave behind and give away and there was still the need for more storage. So on Saturday, I had a VERY long morning at Menlyn mall, trying to spend down a gift card at Cross Trainers, pick up some odds and ends from the Checkers Hyper, and purchase the fourth suitcase. Then it was home to pack more stuff, throw out more papers, pick out more things to give away, and figure out a plan for getting to the airport with all this luggage! I took down paintings I had bought while Ben was here, packed my warm FIFA blanket that Becky and I bought at a World Cup game, emptied all the cupboards and drawers, and have everything in the parlor now so basically, the home front is a mess rather than my cute little space.
Sunday became a turning point. Somehow, almost miraculously, I started shifting my focus from saying goodbye to South Africa to saying hello to family and friends in America. With my original plans for a trip to the Voortrekker Museum canceled, I had the luxury of reading Ina's book for that book review I need to write before I leave. Then it was lunch with Nkidi and her family (more great food!), and now I'm back at home. I can't stand the mess in the living room and can't wait to get the rest of my stuff put away so there's space on the table and the ironing board is back in the closet. I'm also restless, eager to finish up the tasks that feel like they're hanging over my head. I'm thinking about the details of packing cars and traveling to the airport, of weighing luggage and checking in for my flight, of last hugs and farewells. But most of all, I'm ready to come home to see everyone I've actually missed quite a lot.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
The Countdown
Well the countdown to USA has begun! My family has heard my moaning and groaning about packing up, the challenges of finding a way to ship home all the things I've managed to collect since arriving, and the tears that I seem to shed on a daily basis. And I really am torn about leaving here and coming home. Perhaps over the next several entries, you'll see why.
Yesterday, with 10 days to go, I celebrated my birthday. Now this is generally a pretty quiet event for me because I don't care for all the fuss and bother. My children are wonderful about sending birthday greetings, even when I'm out of the country for my birthday and that was the case this year as well. Ken always remembers my birthday and we do something special, like dinner out and a present. But for the most part, I don't like a big fuss and simply enjoy knowing I made through one more year.
Well, here birthdays are apparently a big deal. At the monthly department meetings, there is a place on the agenda where birthdays are announced. Then, there's the email that goes out at the beginning of each month to remind people of the upcoming birthdays and a request to submit money to the birthday fund. Then, on your special day, people come up to wish you a happy birthday, give you a hug, send you sms's (text messages) with birthday wishes, and your closest friends give you presents, take you out for lunch and supper, and generally amaze you with lots of attention. Who knew?
So yesterday, Simla, one of our secretaries saw me coming in early to get some work started. She immediately came over to say, "Happy birthday. I hope you have a wonderful day. Why are you here so early?" and offered a big hug. When I entered the office and got the computer going, there were messages from family and friends to greet me, even though the time difference is significant, and there was a knock on the door. Marie, the friend who took me to the Drakensburg Mountains for a holiday with her husband as our driver, came in with a bag of presents: a hand painted place mat, Ndebele beaded bookmark, and Christmas ornaments made here in South Africa. We are working on 2 teacher identity projects and putting together a new research study with one of her colleagues from the UK and she wanted wish me well and thank me for our friendship. I couldn't believe that with all she had given me, that she was thanking me when clearly it should be the other way around! We exchanged hugs and Marie left.
A few minutes later there was another knock on the door and I thought that Marie must have forgotten something. But no, it was Annalie, the fairy friend. Annalie has hand-drawn most of the maps I use to get from Point A to Point B. When I get lost, it's her husband who tries to figure out where I'm calling from and provides directions, calling every 5 minutes to make sure that I'm going "straight, straight" along the path rather than making a wrong turn along the way. We have been in the midst of revising all the ethical clearance (IRB) paperwork for the different projects we're working on so I figured she had more stuff for me to do. But no, it was birthday hug time, pink fairy wings, and apologies for leaving my present at home. Then we discussed the evening plans she had made with her family: Dinner at Menlyn Mall and then 10-pin bowling. She left to get back to our paperwork and I started getting ready for an interview for the study that I am doing with Miemsie.
Knock on the door (again!) - and you must understand that no one comes up to my office, but instead, calls or sms's with what they want. It was Miemsie in person with a hug and a gift, a beautiful necklace and earrings from a local specialty shop in silver, black, pink, and orange, because those are the colors I've worn frequently (my wardrobe selection is NOT extensive). I immediately added my jewelry since those were the very colors I was wearing and we headed off for that interview with Mariejie. (Miemsie, you should note, has served me frothy coffee with my 7 a.m. wake up call when I stayed with her at the cape for our study leave to write an article and then she offered her place to Rebecca and me when we came down for a long weekend. We're currently working on our third paper in the series that will not end!)
With the interview complete, Mariejie and I headed back upstairs to our offices that just happen to be across from each other. She pulled out her remote control for the heater/ac unit and turned on the heat in my office. I haven't had a remote and never really thought about too much about it, but we've had a miserable cold spell lately. This has been THE BEST gift! It's so warm in here that my cold-natured friends don't enjoy it too much but it makes all the difference when you're working late in the day.
With emails and ethical clearance revisions flying back and forth, it was time for lunch with Miemsie at the loveliest little restaurant, Isabella's. Everything is homemade and the buffet was incredible! There was a layered potato/cheese casserole, roasted vegetables, beets in chocolate sauce (something too wonderful for words), pasta with pesto, and the list just goes on. Of course after filling our plates full, devouring every single morsel, with lots of conversation going back and forth, Miemsie decided we each needed our own nougat for dessert and who was I to object?!
Back to the office with an VERY full stomach, it was time to face the frenzy of revisions to consent letters and ethical clearance issues until I was completely lost. At one point I ran into Ina who apologized for not bringing my gift and for being tied up with class all day so we settled for a hug (and 2 beautiful candles handmade in Swaziland were in my box today). Later in the afternoon, Nkidi gave me a birthday hug; she had been working all day in her office with projects. These two dear friends look out for me and keep me busy with research as well. I'm reviewing Ina's new book on children's perceptions of citizenship for a South African journal and we're doing an Art Around the World project together. Nkidi is involving me in her grant proposal for African Languages in the Foundation Phase in the hopes that there will be money for me to return as an external reviewer. She's convinced that she's going to make me into an early childhood languages and literacy person before we're finished.
By 5:00 I was exhausted from multitasking on ethical clearances, reviewing Ina's book, looking for accredited journals where we can submit our work and being well cared for. I stopped by Annalie's office to let her know that I was heading home. By 6:15 (about 30 minutes after arriving home) she called me to let me know that I needed to meet her outside my gate so that we could head to the mall for supper. We talked about our fairy book and the work that we need to do in the next week, met up with Nico, her husband, and ordered a bottle of Pinotage while we waited for their son Onic and his girlfriend Vanessa to join us. Before the wine made it to our table, we were moved to a larger booth and began a laughter-filled evening of storytelling (consistent with the article Annalie and I are finishing up now for publication) that led to an intensely humorous bowling tournament in which I did participate and managed to come in 4th place. I made it home about 11 p.m. to skype with Abbey and then crash into bed.
As you can see, the people with whom I live and work are pretty remarkable. They have looked after me personally and professionally for the past 6 months with invitations to join them in all kinds of events. Much of what I've experienced with them is the very same love and care that I get at home from family, friends, and colleagues. I guess, I forget to appreciate how wonderful everyone is because you're always there. And I know that my friends here didn't have to go out of their way to be kind and inclusive - that's just who they are. I really don't know how to say goodbye, but tomorrow morning at our farewell breakfast, that's exactly what I'll begin to do. I'll fill you in on how that goes tomorrow.
Yesterday, with 10 days to go, I celebrated my birthday. Now this is generally a pretty quiet event for me because I don't care for all the fuss and bother. My children are wonderful about sending birthday greetings, even when I'm out of the country for my birthday and that was the case this year as well. Ken always remembers my birthday and we do something special, like dinner out and a present. But for the most part, I don't like a big fuss and simply enjoy knowing I made through one more year.
Well, here birthdays are apparently a big deal. At the monthly department meetings, there is a place on the agenda where birthdays are announced. Then, there's the email that goes out at the beginning of each month to remind people of the upcoming birthdays and a request to submit money to the birthday fund. Then, on your special day, people come up to wish you a happy birthday, give you a hug, send you sms's (text messages) with birthday wishes, and your closest friends give you presents, take you out for lunch and supper, and generally amaze you with lots of attention. Who knew?
So yesterday, Simla, one of our secretaries saw me coming in early to get some work started. She immediately came over to say, "Happy birthday. I hope you have a wonderful day. Why are you here so early?" and offered a big hug. When I entered the office and got the computer going, there were messages from family and friends to greet me, even though the time difference is significant, and there was a knock on the door. Marie, the friend who took me to the Drakensburg Mountains for a holiday with her husband as our driver, came in with a bag of presents: a hand painted place mat, Ndebele beaded bookmark, and Christmas ornaments made here in South Africa. We are working on 2 teacher identity projects and putting together a new research study with one of her colleagues from the UK and she wanted wish me well and thank me for our friendship. I couldn't believe that with all she had given me, that she was thanking me when clearly it should be the other way around! We exchanged hugs and Marie left.
A few minutes later there was another knock on the door and I thought that Marie must have forgotten something. But no, it was Annalie, the fairy friend. Annalie has hand-drawn most of the maps I use to get from Point A to Point B. When I get lost, it's her husband who tries to figure out where I'm calling from and provides directions, calling every 5 minutes to make sure that I'm going "straight, straight" along the path rather than making a wrong turn along the way. We have been in the midst of revising all the ethical clearance (IRB) paperwork for the different projects we're working on so I figured she had more stuff for me to do. But no, it was birthday hug time, pink fairy wings, and apologies for leaving my present at home. Then we discussed the evening plans she had made with her family: Dinner at Menlyn Mall and then 10-pin bowling. She left to get back to our paperwork and I started getting ready for an interview for the study that I am doing with Miemsie.
Knock on the door (again!) - and you must understand that no one comes up to my office, but instead, calls or sms's with what they want. It was Miemsie in person with a hug and a gift, a beautiful necklace and earrings from a local specialty shop in silver, black, pink, and orange, because those are the colors I've worn frequently (my wardrobe selection is NOT extensive). I immediately added my jewelry since those were the very colors I was wearing and we headed off for that interview with Mariejie. (Miemsie, you should note, has served me frothy coffee with my 7 a.m. wake up call when I stayed with her at the cape for our study leave to write an article and then she offered her place to Rebecca and me when we came down for a long weekend. We're currently working on our third paper in the series that will not end!)
With the interview complete, Mariejie and I headed back upstairs to our offices that just happen to be across from each other. She pulled out her remote control for the heater/ac unit and turned on the heat in my office. I haven't had a remote and never really thought about too much about it, but we've had a miserable cold spell lately. This has been THE BEST gift! It's so warm in here that my cold-natured friends don't enjoy it too much but it makes all the difference when you're working late in the day.
With emails and ethical clearance revisions flying back and forth, it was time for lunch with Miemsie at the loveliest little restaurant, Isabella's. Everything is homemade and the buffet was incredible! There was a layered potato/cheese casserole, roasted vegetables, beets in chocolate sauce (something too wonderful for words), pasta with pesto, and the list just goes on. Of course after filling our plates full, devouring every single morsel, with lots of conversation going back and forth, Miemsie decided we each needed our own nougat for dessert and who was I to object?!
Back to the office with an VERY full stomach, it was time to face the frenzy of revisions to consent letters and ethical clearance issues until I was completely lost. At one point I ran into Ina who apologized for not bringing my gift and for being tied up with class all day so we settled for a hug (and 2 beautiful candles handmade in Swaziland were in my box today). Later in the afternoon, Nkidi gave me a birthday hug; she had been working all day in her office with projects. These two dear friends look out for me and keep me busy with research as well. I'm reviewing Ina's new book on children's perceptions of citizenship for a South African journal and we're doing an Art Around the World project together. Nkidi is involving me in her grant proposal for African Languages in the Foundation Phase in the hopes that there will be money for me to return as an external reviewer. She's convinced that she's going to make me into an early childhood languages and literacy person before we're finished.
By 5:00 I was exhausted from multitasking on ethical clearances, reviewing Ina's book, looking for accredited journals where we can submit our work and being well cared for. I stopped by Annalie's office to let her know that I was heading home. By 6:15 (about 30 minutes after arriving home) she called me to let me know that I needed to meet her outside my gate so that we could head to the mall for supper. We talked about our fairy book and the work that we need to do in the next week, met up with Nico, her husband, and ordered a bottle of Pinotage while we waited for their son Onic and his girlfriend Vanessa to join us. Before the wine made it to our table, we were moved to a larger booth and began a laughter-filled evening of storytelling (consistent with the article Annalie and I are finishing up now for publication) that led to an intensely humorous bowling tournament in which I did participate and managed to come in 4th place. I made it home about 11 p.m. to skype with Abbey and then crash into bed.
As you can see, the people with whom I live and work are pretty remarkable. They have looked after me personally and professionally for the past 6 months with invitations to join them in all kinds of events. Much of what I've experienced with them is the very same love and care that I get at home from family, friends, and colleagues. I guess, I forget to appreciate how wonderful everyone is because you're always there. And I know that my friends here didn't have to go out of their way to be kind and inclusive - that's just who they are. I really don't know how to say goodbye, but tomorrow morning at our farewell breakfast, that's exactly what I'll begin to do. I'll fill you in on how that goes tomorrow.
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