Friday the 13th

We had a wicked thunderstorm move in Thursday night starting around 8 that lasted until about 3:30 am. I woke up a handful of times during the night to a huge thunderclap. It made me think of when I was little and used to count from the thunder to the lightning to count the seconds so I knew how long I had on the next one to get down the hall and into my mom’s bed!

Anyway, I woke up feeling a bit sad on my birthday. I had two glorious video messages waiting for me from friends plus a handful of texts, and seeing faces and hearing from so many so early made me really miss my people.

I cheered up once I got to school because my teammate spoiled me rotten with flowers, a protea plate, my favorite candy and balloons. She bought me a green juice later and lead the students in singing happy birthday.

The kids brought in cards and gifts and hugs and they were so excited. All throughout the day, staff members would stop in to give me a hug or a card or just wish me well. Our schoolwide WhatsApp flowed with birthday wishes all day. I felt like I belonged here!

It also reinforced the priorities of South Africans. Christmas, Halloween, Easter and such do no get much fanfare, but they love to celebrate people on their birthdays. It’s such a warm and personal culture and my day was no different than every other teacher in terms of celebration and being made to feel special. In a culture of “How’s your shopping and wrapping going?” as the weekly question in Winter, this was a nice contrast!

After a chaotic day of partying and my class not at all interested in instruction, I was happy to see the day end. I went out during my prep to meet with my doctor about my blood results, and I was again floored by her thoroughness and thoughtfulness and I got a lot of answers.

A small group of us headed up to Fort Klapperkop for a sunset festival. The fort is one of four that stood on the corners of the city of Pretoria, down in the basin. Today it is a museum detailing the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902). The views were stunning and the museum interesting. Unfortunately, clouds moved in and eventually rain, so we left and went to a restaurant for dinner. It was a fun night!