The Journey Inward

The short week at school was a nice way to ease back in. For the kids and also for the teachers! Some of my colleagues were commenting on being a little rusty with their English as they had spoken in their native tongues almost exclusively with their families over the break. That was a nice reminder for me that the students might feel the same way. It’s interesting to reflect how teachers in my old district would so often complain about the kids speaking in their first language, all summer or over breaks, viewing that as a setback. I found myself envious of those having another language they spoke so fluently.

We kicked off the year with a few mindfulness lessons as a good reset. Growth mindset is always one of my favorite lessons. And a good reminder at any age. The power of yet is no joke. That also made me think of an excellent podcast I’ve been listening to on Feel Better Live More with Dr. Rangan Chatterjee. I love when the same message comes at you from multiple places simultaneously. One of the things the guest mentions is that many of us identify as what we do, our job or being a parent, but that is not our essence. She recommends having hobbies, and not necessarily even being good at them, to remind ourselves that we are so much more than what we do or what our title is.

Thursday evening I dropped by my neighbor Sue‘s house for some tea and catch up. Her little dog, Mia loves to sit on my lap as we visit. This particular time, she got up on a chair, one into the table, then walked across the table and onto my lap! Her dogs helped me when I’m missing my pups. When I got home later, the kids had sent this picture of Taylor and Henry. I love how much the four of them have bonded.

Jan and I both have a love of discovering hearts out in the natural world. While I was taking my 2 mile lunchtime walk on Thursday, I found these two in the concrete sidewalk

Getting students to listen and follow actions can be one of the frustrating parts of being a teacher and requires constant self reflection to think about your delivery and timing. One solution I have is to do an activity a week from this listening skills packet. I read from a set of directions and only repeat one time. The activities are all fun things for the kids to do. Here are the directions I read and a few student examples! One of the kids said it was so awkward to do number nine. I told him it was not nearly as awkward as being the one everyone was staring at and sketching! Sidenote for teachers: this is from tin man press, which has amazing material that I’ve been using for over a decade, and it is still so relevant. Most of the packets are designed for problem-solving, using creative and critical thinking.

Friday was an absolutely gorgeous 83° day in Pretoria, perfect for the students to transition into the swimming unit during PE. I went out to watch them during my prep for a little while. Just three hours later, Pretoria’s rainy season hit us with wind, pouring rain, thunder, lightning, and hail! This went on for over an hour! We lost power a few times. Our main activity was just looking out the windows! The kids were mostly excited, with a few shrieks for big booms of thunder. To calm us all, I put on the weirdest video of people putting their hands in slime. The only soundtrack is the squishing noises.

I was worried that our much anticipated happy hour would be rained out. We were going to a café near my house that has been on my list. We were going to be in an outside space downstairs, so that the smokers could smoke freely. The rain did stop, but everything was very wet. Instead, we stayed inside in The Bunker. Smokers sat by the window windows! I haven’t been indoors with a smoker in decades! Anyway, I pass Blos every week or so and thought it was just the stand you could see from the road and maybe a little seating area. Instead, it is massive, with party halls and even suites to stay in. There is a full-blown restaurant, as well. I had a wonderful IPA as we toasted the new year, but not looking to go home and cook, I had an amazing moroccan chicken wrapped in naan and an affogato for dessert, as well.

As many of you know, I told the girls that I would get a tattoo when I’m 75. I joked that it would take me that long to choose which image and where to put it. Over the holidays, I told the kids that I think I will get one here in South Africa and about my two front runner images, the baobab tree and the protea flower, both of which resonate deeply. I was picking the brains of the teachers at happy hour who had tattoos, and later that night Lydia and I had a phone conversation about them. While getting something out of my closet, I came upon two temporary tattoos that a woman in one of my classes had given me. I applied it to my wrist to try out the feel of that location!

The rainy season has brought such lushness to Pretoria. Here are a few images from my backyard. This yard, as was the one at my Broad Street house, is a labor of love! I enjoy picking out plants that are both nostalgic of home, but also brand new to me and moving them around until I find the place where they thrive. I have a gardener named William who comes twice a month to help me. We are both enjoying the fruits of our labor. In the case of these strawberries, literally.

I have three friends who are coming to visit me in July, so every once in a while, I send them propaganda, not that they need any urging at all! I sent them these three videos of my three bedrooms so they can see where they’ll be staying.

Saturday was a huge errand day for me. I kicked the day off with a nice 3 mile walk, discovering some areas I had not been to yet. After a facial and some grocery shopping, I stopped by Boma, which is a popular meat market. I felt like they took Costco free samples to the next level, having a braii almost in the parking lot. I grabbed a delicious beef curry take away for dinner later, as well as a sweet potato side dish. I tried unions hairstylist for a wash and blowout to test the place out and had such a wonderful conversation with my stylist. I also had the most comfortable hair washing I’ve ever had. You lay completely flat on your back, no bending your head back at that terrible angle! On the way home, I stopped to buy some journals for my students, some more fans for my house and a cute plant stand to support my ever-growing plant habit! I came to South Africa with one screwdriver and it is serving me well.

My niece sent these pictures of my great nephew and great niece, who are just the sweetest!

I woke up very early Sunday morning, and when I couldn’t go back to sleep, I decided to get up and get going, knowing it was report hard day. I’ve been waking up much earlier than usual since vacation, often between 5 o’clock and 530. I’m finding I’m enjoying having more time, rather than just waking up and being out the door in 30 minutes. I’m reclaiming my childhood morning person persona! Anyway, this morning was 4 AM. It was chilly so I put on my robe and had some breakfast and drank some tea before setting up my office.

I devised a system whereby I could work with my shorter attention span. After writing up every three students, I would take a break and do something I enjoyed. One break was a 2 mile walk, another was a second breakfast, and yet another was a 2 mile reserve hike. When I am finished, my reward is to start working on two watercolor by number canvases that I bought!

In other news, I bought a Picnic Table for my back patio and had it delivered today! I’m so excited to start eating out there and to entertain. Here she is…

Here are some pictures from my hike this afternoon. This was my reward after I was 75% complete with report cards. I’m so happy to have my hiking boots now! And I loved that somebody wrote words of encouragement on that rock!

Report cards are now done! I had a nice long chat with Gabrielle and then a Zoom with one of my brothers and my sister for an hour and a half. All in all, it’s been a good Sunday! Shooting for an early bedtime with that early morning week!

Looking forward to a full week of teaching this week and getting back into the groove.