I had one day to recover from the kids, and then I got to go off with the educators of the Primary School for a beginning-of-the-year motivational retreat/professional development. Again, I was not called to the school the day before to prepare, but this time I was told that I'd *only* be doing a session on Classroom Management. So I stayed home Thursday and really confused Lebo with this amazing program called PowerPoint.
The transport was supposed to pick us up at school at 7am. I met about half our teachers at school, the other half was just doing lip service when they said they'd attend this workshop. The women all surprised me with Happy New Year kisses on the mouth, another example of culture shock. And we waited. and waited. After the kids' retreat, I wasn't going to wait past 9:30, I think 2 and a half hours is more than fair. The bus finally arrived at 9:15. Mpho and about half his teachers were already on the bus, our school's are BFFs and do a lot of activities together.
This adult retreat was in a resort close to Vryburg, but of course we had to stop in town. The excuse was hunger, we could all quickly get something to eat. It turned into a big shopping trip, with teachers splitting off, going to a Clicks (like Walgreens), grocery stores, liquor stores, etc. I went with a couple of my teachers to KFC.
Until this point, I'd avoided KFC, I don't really like it in Kentucky and didn't think I'd like it here. The food wasn't great, but South Africans seem to LOVE it. And I have to say, KFC is THE MOST EFFICIENT THING IN SOUTH AFRICA!! I'd ordered and had my food in less than 3 minutes, that's good timing in America too, and for South Africa it's unbelievable. Maybe that's why everyone eats KFC, they want to be amazed at how fast their food is ready.
So we get back on the bus and wait for everyone else. We finally get to the resort at NOON and jump straight into sessions.
The main speaker, a guy I'll call Morutibana (Preacher, I think he actually was one) started out pretty mean. He asked everyone what they did over vacation and then challenged it. He was playing Devil's Advocate, and asked one woman about her illness and treatment until she just gave up and said she got better because she "prayed really hard" (as opposed to soft prayer), not the fact that she also followed the doctor's treatment plan. Mpho told about his Drakensburg trip, mostly in Setswana, and impressed everyone in the room. Thanks a lot, at least 3 teachers told me that they would stop speaking to me in English until my Setswana improved. At one point Morutibana tried to get me to comment on if one other woman's religious belief was correct or not, and I pulled the race card "Oh, you don't want to start a religious debate between Americans and South Africans." "Christianity" here is weird, a little corrupted with ancestor worship and traditional beliefs. Jesus is my best friend but I don't feel like I have anything in common with some of the most devout Christians here. In a room full of South Africans, that's one can of worms I'd rather leave closed.
So Morutibana lost me after that. I know he transitioned into subjects that related to teaching, he read from a book about how black South Africans can get their pride and respect back through higher education. At tea, Mpho's Principal asked me how it was going and I used my straight American talk to tell him what I thought, "the beginning was a little hard to swallow, but it's getting better."
After tea, I asked David if I could skip out on the last session of the day, these curriculum related matters weren't so important to me and my role in the school this year. So I got in the pool instead. Mpho came and sat on a chair, he made sure to warn me about parasites and pointed out the tadpoles in the corner of the pool, but by that point I didn't care. We talked about what we're planning to do this school year and he gave me some pointers on my forward crawl (freestyle) technique. :)
I was out of the pool and showered just in time for dinner. The teachers all saw me and several asked, "You were swimming? You like to take care of yourself, no?" I laughed and said yes. I'll let them believe I was exercising instead of just lazing in 1.2 meters of water talking.
I shared a room with a teacher named (I kid you not) Pinky. I've been holding myself back all year to ask her if she knows a Brain. Women here aren't modest, and she stripped naked in the room before going into the bathroom for a bath. We were both really tired and went to bed really early.
The next morning, she blasts the TV (everything here is loud! TV's, radios, the older people get the louder they talk) as she irons the same clothes she was wearing yesterday. After breakfast a guy from our school's Area Office gives a talk about curriculum, then tea, then it's my turn. I have made a short PowerPoint presentation about Classroom Management tips and techniques, and I expected to go through it quickly. However, as so few teachers have heard of or practice effective classroom management, I ended up talking and answering questions for over an hour. I was pleased that so many teachers seemed interested and were willing to move away from corporeal punishment and towards a fair and consistent discipline plan. We'll see how the new school year goes.
After lunch, Morutibana comes back in and gives a long inspirational talk. I'm pleased that I'm not the only one preaching positive things, he's also talking about how these kids are the future and teachers should respect them and give them the tools and attitude for a successful life. But he talks too much, loves the sound of his own voice. At about 3pm (we were supposed to be done at noon) we stand up for some singing, dancing and praying. We finish out the meeting holding hands in a big circle and listening to Morutibana praying for like 20 minutes. Finally, we can go outside and get ready to head home.
Not so fast! Outside, we have to pose for pictures, and most teachers want a picture with the white people, Mpho and I posed with one after another. Then a few people had to get a picture in front of the pretty flowers before we could go. Most people here don't know how to use a digital camera or are able to share or print pictures, I still don't know why my teachers think this was important to spend our time on.
We loaded the bus at 4. By 4:35, the last of the teachers had gotten settled, closed all the windows, avoided the sun like they are vampires, and off we go!!
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