The Journey Inward

Yesterday was a long and busy one. The kids have an early release day, leaving at 1:30, but we stay until 4 in various meetings. Because the school day was condensed and the time after was not ours, I needed to stay later to get my work done in the classroom. That put me leaving school around 5:30 in need of doing an errand and for the first time, I experienced Pretoria rush hour traffic! No different than anywhere. Twice the time to get where you need to. Same stuff, different land.

The evenings fly past quickly, despite it getting dark so early. I’m always tempted to stay up and talk to friends as they finish their day, but I’m really trying to get better at going to bed earlier.

Pauline started today in the house and she is so wonderfully sweet. She was here at 6:45 as I left for work and is so cheery and friendly, even at that time. I asked her to let me know if there was anything she needed and she promised she would, but I came home to a spotless space, decor arranged better than she found it (I had stacks of books and picture frames on the floor against the wall waiting for a tv stand and/or bookcase and they were neat and tidy and cute!) and no list. I have no dryer, so she had washed my laundry, dried it in the sun, ironed it and had it hung and folded in my bedroom. Such a treat! Pauline and other “domestics” as they are called here, take buses/taxis around town. These are Toyota vans that are absolutely everywhere.

My school day was another busy one and full of drama! Small class sizes are lovely in many ways, but tricky when it comes to socializing. The kids sometimes act more like siblings than classmates and know exactly how to push each other’s buttons. The girls had gone to a birthday party last weekend at a large shindig and gotten very long press on nails applied. Also, there are these little flower gems (3D) that stick out. The girls have been tapping, taping and tempting along this week. Today it all came to a head when one girl lost a nail that belonged to another girl. There were tears, shouts, pouting and the children didn’t handle it well, either. Seriously though, I heard from every special teacher about the nail drama today. At the end of the day, one of only four boys in my class was leaving and he came and hugged me and said, “I’m tired of nail talk.” Same same, Little Man!

A great place to meet people is at the coffee truck that appears on campus every now and then at 7:00 am. Today I met a sweet and energetic woman named Stephanie who actually bought me a chai latte. When she ordered a dirty chai, I immediately wished I had thought to add the dash of espresso, and our barista immediately grabbed mine back and gave me a splash! Stephanie invited me to her annual Halloween party since the holiday isn’t celebrated here. I met her son, William, too. Jude informed me that tomorrow night’s Happy Hour (again, not called that here, but maybe I can get it to catch on) will be in honor of her husband, Mark’s birthday. She asked if I knew him and I was confused how I would. Just then he walked up to the truck. He apparently teaches in the middle school. We have more than a handful of teaching couples here.

Anyway, Jude and Mark (British) and two of their three kids moved here from Bulgaria where they had spent 6 years. I told her I had visited my daughter in
Sliven when she was living there for a year on her Fulbright Scholarship. We swapped some Bulgaria stories.

I chatted with Teighler, the teacher who had the class before me and is still floating between my room and Eunine’s room. She is 7 months pregnant and was going to “see Baby” today (ultrasound appointment). Teighler is delightful and I was so happy to find out that as healthy as she is, she has a sweet tooth, too. When I found out, I told her about my chocolate deprivation and she showed up today with a stash for me and a sweet note!! I asked about birthing here and she said the vast majority of births are scheduled c-sections. If you want vaginal delivery, you have to sign off via a bunch of paperwork, basically agreeing not to blame the doctor. Teighler has done just that. Fun fact: the obstetrician here is called the “gyny” (rhymes with hiney, my dad’s favorite word for buttocks).

Teighler’s husband is a personal trainer and apparently has quite a female following at his gym! He is so sweet and brings her coffee almost every day on his way home from morning training. He turned 37 yesterday and she ordered a birthday cake with a picture of them and their 2 year old boy on it. She was so proud to show it to me this morning. I had a million questions about training and low weight/high reps versus high weight/low reps, my Body Pump class, and anything else that popped into my mind. She told me two of her husband’s trade secrets are to put your thumbs up when doing that chest pull machine (neither of us could remember what it’s called) and to curl your toes up when doing squats, which we both tried together and he’s so right! Her husband is Afrikaan and she is South African.

It’s very dry here, and not just lack of rain. We’re about .85 miles high, so there’s not much humidity (my hair hasn’t gotten the message). My lips are perpetually dry!

We have the cutest lizards here. One guy on the sidewalk at school yesterday was a chubby, slow thing and let me take a picture of him.

I’ve ordered from Amazon South Africa this week. The selection is small, but I found what I needed. One thing I was missing was my sound machine. The hadida birds have taken to flying over my house around 5 am and squawking that pteradactyl screech of theirs. I pulled my travel sound machine out and used it Wednesday night, but it drowned out my alarm and I overslept! I woke up at 6:30 yesterday morning and was still out the door by 6:50 with breakfast eaten! Anyway, I have one that works with a South African plug and can sit across the room now.

Today was another late day at work, then a Pilates class at gym and a 2.5 mile walk up on the rooftop track! There was a HUGE event happening just down the street from me since I got home from work and there are cars parked everywhere out on the main road. Getting to the gym usually takes 4 minutes, but instead was 12.

If I haven’t mentioned my security guards, I must end with that now. They are very friendly and we always have a nice greeting, but there is one who always stands up and cheers when I come home! He makes my day every day!