Day 3 and UCT

Today was hectic. We did four classes for the first time, and they were all younger kids (oldest being around 12-13). To our surprise, the kids finished their "You Are Special" circles much faster than anticipated based on yesterdays classes. In some classes, we had them do name cards and decorate them and in one class we even had them do cut out snowflakes. The kids seemed to appreciate any sort of activity and were willing to do anything and follow instructions. It still amazes me how well disciplined these children are and how excited they are about doing any sort of project. We are rarely met with any resistance, and usually any resistance is related to a lack of skill or understanding.

One thing that we encountered today that stressed me out was an entire class that did not speak English. There were maybe one or two children who spoke a bit of English, but most spoke Afrikaans. The stressful part was that the teacher, who sometimes translates for us, was out of the room for most of the class. We were able to communicate to most of the class and they did their projects, but they seemed to be more fascinated with teaching us Afrikaans :P. They laughed at me once when they asked me how to say "circle" in Afrikaans and I said I didn't know. Turns out it's the same as English :). They are always pleasantly surprised when we know a phrase or two in Afrikaans. I hope to learn more to try and keep up basic conversation with them, which shouldn't be too hard because Afrikaans is so similar sounding to English.

The images we saw today continued to be centered around family and the students. Some stereotypical images of cars from the boys and flowers from the girls were also seen, but that is to be expected. At least they were talking about what makes them happy and making good social interaction. I've never seen so many smiles! Which is ironic, actually, because several children have drawn pictures of people that are either crying, angry, scared, or injured. The children draw these images and explain them with a smile on their faces, as if the emotion pictured does not match the way they feel. Some may have problems matching visible emotions to feelings, and may be autistic, but I think a great deal of it has to do with how they are told to behave in class and in public. I believe they are taught to say they are "good" or "fine" when asked how they are...I could be wrong, but it's just a hunch.

I also took some pictures in the class today and the children loved it. They just love having their picture taken! Here are some:






After lunch, Paul and I went into Rondebosch and went up to the University of Cape Town. We found the free shuttle service easy to use, but the campus was a little confusing. It was so gorgeous though! Every part of campus has a beautiful view of the city of Cape Town on one side and Table Mountain on the other. Here are some shots of that (taken with my not so great point and shoot, so I plan to go back to take better photos):


-k