The Journey Inward

This week I had parent teacher conferences, some with the students included, and they were amazing! I have always loved these meetings because it’s an opportunity to better understand the environment the child is coming from and learn things that often give you the perspective you didn’t have to make better instructional or interpersonal choices in order to have an even greater impact. I love telling parents about their child at school, which sometimes matches home, but many times doesn’t. I am well aware that I spend the day, sometimes more hours than they do, with their most precious person and I approach every meeting with the positive qualities I notice and anecdotes displaying their child’s kindness, humor, creativity, intelligence, or leadership. I want every parent to leave feeling good about who their child is with during the day, what the classroom culture is, and that I see and know their child.

I had lovely feedback from the parents and felt like I clicked with all of them. Some asked what they could do at home (we have a no homework policy), and I appreciated the desire to support. I admit to being a bit worried about whether I could show up with enough information, having only been with the kids a month (one week holiday in the midst of my time), but being a “kid watcher” benefited me more than I realized and I could speak with ease about their strengths, needs, behaviors, personalities and goals.

Conference time is exhausting because it’s so much prep work, then splitting days with teaching and meetings. But the students were given Friday off, so the whole day was conferences and with only 12 students and 5 conferences already completed Wednesday and Thursday, I had some time to continue organizing and sorting my classroom and Eunine and I planned for next week.

This week was also special because I recaptured my love of, and passion for, teaching. I enjoyed the students, connected with the parents, planned with my colleagues, and fell in love with my profession all over again. The last two years in my district were very difficult ones with our budget crisis. 100 staff and quite a few positions were cut. My Gifted and Talented position was chopped up and divvied up and my Reading Interventionist job was cut. I spoke at Board meetings, wrote letters to the Board, spoke to administration and parents, but ultimately I was demoralized by the lack of import they felt these necessary and beneficial programs were for our students and I felt devalued. This took a toll on me and caused me to dread work more than delight in it. It feels good to be back!

Some other notes from the week. There’s a raspberry patch by the lapa where the kids eat and some 5th grade girls were busy picking them the other day. They let me hang out with them while I was on duty and I enjoyed the wholesomeness of their activity. The coffee truck was on campus when I arrived that morning at 6:45, so Thursday was a thoroughly satisfying day!

It poured and poured starting around 4:30 on Thursday, so rather than leave, I stayed in my room and organized and planned and copied and printed and rearranged. It was such a lovely space to be in with the sound of the storm at my front and back doors and the quiet. When I left later that night, the guards shrugged at me like I was crazy to still be there, but it was a beautiful time.

On Friday, the head of HR came on my campus and sat down with me for quite a while. He apologized for the rough start I’d had with the house and for the lack of support and orientation they had given. His apology and vulnerability were so appreciated and I was able to say how it had felt to not have support as a single woman here on my own, but also to thank him and his department for the times they’d come through and for making things right now. He said I can move at any time, not just before I let them know in March if I want to renew the lease here.

With only teachers and parents on campus on Friday, my colleague, Abigail brought her dachshund puppy to school. Her dog had a litter of 8 and two teachers at the school each took one. So it was a sibling reunion for them. I fell in absolute love with Pixie!

The week ended with a beer at my favorite beer garden with, of course, live music. I sat with two teachers from my school around my age and we had such a nice time. Adie left a bit early because her son and his wife were arriving home for a weekend visit. I learned that her son had married a girl from the Virginia and he is trying to get his papers so they can move to Colorado together. Adie was born in Pretoria, but married and spent her adult life in Botswana. When she and her husband separated, she moved back to Pretoria. Ellen was also there, and I appreciated hearing about all of the international schools she’s taught at and what’s next for her (she only has one more year here at our school. After 7 years, you become a “local” and are paid as such…big difference from international teachers).

After happy hour, I went to see my car guy because he texted me to say that my car had come in! Indeed I think she might have. The Nissan Magnite had issues and was sent out for repair, so I was feeling like it had a lot of red flags. This baby is cute and sporty (Charl told me it matched my personality, though I didn’t ask what that meant to him) and is very popular here in SA. It’s about every 3rd or 4th car you see. It doesn’t have much get up and go, but it is a 2024 and is still under factory warranty. There are the same makes here, though a lot of Chinese manufacturers I’ve never heard of, but the models are mostly different. This is a Suzuki Swift. My friend, John says I should name her Rio. I love it!

I came home to watch some tv, but developed such an excruciating headache that I crawled upstairs, couldn’t shower, could barely brush my teeth and wash my face and collapsed on my bed. I was so nauseous, too. I finally got enough energy to go down the hall and get Motrin out of my travel bag. I slept for 9 hours and felt myself the next morning.

I started this on Saturday, then worked in the backyard for a bit before my neighbor, Sue, picked me up for tea. She is the sweetest thing and started sing songy talking to me about how excited she was for our girls day as soon as I got in the car. We were going to one of her favorite tea places. She says she feels like she’s on holiday there and loves the views of the mountains. Because it was 11:30 by the time she got up and ready, we rolled right into brunch. She kept telling the waitress that we were in no hurry, we wanted to take our time and chat and chat. She liked what I ordered and said she’d be healthy and good and order the same. The whole vegetable mix came on a hashbrown, so I explained it really wasn’t as healthy as she was giving me credit for! I started a list on my phone called Sue Adventures because she was reeling off all the places she wanted to take me! They included local teahouses mostly, but also a shopping center or two. When a bagel dish went by I said that I’m pretty spoiled when it comes to bagels and pizza being so close to NY and she said she’d take me to the Jewish Quarter in Johannesburg with her sister and we’d get proper bagels and bring them home and freeze them. During this conversation, she told me that she had never driven to Johannesburg until her husband “popped off” and I couldn’t stop giggling. They were very close and owned a business together, but she just is so funny with how she conveys things, and always in that sing songy way.

She liked the last picture I took of her dog, Mia, and made it her picture on WhatsApp, but she said she didn’t like the picture I took of us, though she sent it to all her friends and her children!

She took me by Monte de Dios, which is a wedding and event property. She said it used to have a coffee house, but wasn’t sure it was and so wasn’t sure we could get on. She was so disappointed so I said, “Well, maybe we’ll find you a husband and I’ll throw you a wedding there.” She giggled and giggled and said, “No, never that again!” So funny! But we did get on and the views were beautiful and we’ll be back because there is a coffee house. She was so funny interacting with the guards, too. She really is a fan favorite.

She showed me a place I could hike and said the safest places are ones you pay to get onto. This one was not far from home, but she said I shouldn’t walk here. I don’t think she meant because of danger or a busy street, she just doesn’t like exercise!!

She wanted to take me to a mall she likes, so we parked and walked all through. She needed to sit a lot, so I would say I wanted to pop in somewhere and she would sit happily and wait for me. She caught on after awhile and thanked me. She was ready for more tea and a sweet, so we stopped in a cafe and ate again! I loved the sign on their wall.

I took a quick walk when I got home, then dressed for my Halloween party. Stefanie, a teaching partner at school, was hosting her annual costume party. Her husband works for the US government and this is their last year here. They are American and many of their friends from the US Embassy came, as well. It was nice to meet them and see my friends from school, but I was an hour late and many people were not having the most coherent conversations. Stefanie invited me to a little get together she’s having with her Embassy friends in a few weeks and promised we would be able to all chat more then. There were people working for the Peace Corps, Department of State and more and we avoided talking politics for the most part, though I did share the upsetting Newsweek Op Ed piece about the Department of Overseas Education and the attacks on these international schools.

The party was fun and the decorations and food were so creative. Stefani’s son goes to our school, so his middle school friends were there, as well. Only two American men and 1 Peruvian woman got my costume, so I had to do a lot of explaining, but mostly because most people had never heard of a slip before. Women wear slips as dresses 100% more than they wear them under a dress like my mother did and made my sister and I do!!!

Today I am stuck at home with Sergio, who is fixing both my oven and my washing machine. The washing machine flooded my kitchen three times on Tuesday after maintenance came to fix it. The stove works, but not the oven. On top of that, my NJ house had a first floor ceiling leak that Pete thinks he tracked down and fixed and then the hot water heater blew. Pete and I spent a lot of time texting and talking this week to get Liz hot water asap! I am so grateful for these two wonderful beings living in my house and taking such good care of her. Pete is so handy and despite the enormous amounts of money I have been shelling out, he made me laugh through it all. Despite the hardships I’ve had in terms of the house, my transition has been smooth and I lay down every night with a smile on my face and think, I’m in South Africa!!!!!

So, onto lesson plans and some reading. Hopefully Sergio is done in time for me to go grocery shopping. Things close so early here. This may be first try at Checkers 60, which is the online shopping/delivery feature. Little motorbikes deliver groceries everywhere, all the time.

Okay, I think that’s all the news for now. I got to have a nice catch up FaceTime with Chris last night from 11:30-1 am and it was so good to see her face. Tonight I have Zooms with my writing group and then my brothers and sister. I’m so grateful for technology.