"The Ark"

Today we went on a walking to of "The Ark". The Ark is a facility where people who are down on their luck (homeless, jobless, etc) go to work and live in a secluded community. The facility has a doctor, schools, church, community center, etc. It was an odd experience for me because I felt like there was something that was not quite right. The people seemed very content with their situation, but I felt like it was a pretty depressing place. The community is based around a certain sect of Christianity and in order to be accepted into the community you must attend church, devotion, and bible studies daily. I had a problem with this because I feel like if the mission of the facility is to help people it should not matter how a person worships, or if they even believe in God. Also, it was difficult for me to understand the fact that the facility used a barter system to help people get back on their feet. What happens is that there is no money exchanged between people, you live there for free and each person has a job ----Utopian Society. The problem is that the people living at this facility may never be able to leave because they have no means to support themselves because there is no money or resources to live on your own. These are just a few thoughts I had about the tour today, I hope that people don't get upset reading this, but if so then write me something back and I will respond.
The rest of today I will be relaxing by the pool and reading a book. It will be nice to enjoy the beautiful day and relax before leaving on our 2 week holiday vacation. Tomorrow we will be leaving for a long adventure. During the holiday we will do a number of things: visit wild life preserves, bungee jumping...maybe, swimming, repelling, hiking, camping, and...... a lot more. It will be difficult, maybe impossible for me to update my blog during holiday so I will be keeping a journal on the trip so I can come to the internet cafe after we get back and remember what I did! Alright, well I may not be back on here until April 15th so I hope that everyone stays well and stays safe.

Kayamandi

Today we took a walking tour of Kayamandi. Kayamandi is a township just outside of Stellenbosch. The tour showed us the reality of most peoples lives in South Africa. There are about 40,000 people living in the township that is no bigger than 3 square miles. Most of the town is shanty houses with no sewage system or electricity. This was a very interesting and shocking moment for all of us. The most interesting thing I noticed on the tour is how friendly and happy everyone living in the town seems to be. I love the mindset that all of the inhabitants of the town have because it seems as though happiness is not based around your house, or car, or personal possessions. Happiness is a choice of each person. This was something that I needed to see, and I feel that every person should see how the people of the village live and how the react to their situation. The rest of today I will be doing some shopping (if I can get charlevoix state bank to let me take my money!!!!!) and then going to a rugby game later tonight. I hope all is well for everyone reading my blog and I promise I will update more frequently!

Saturday and Sunday March 28/29

On Saturday we went wine tasting all day! We visited three local wineries and spent a good amount of time at each wine farm. It was interesting to see how serious they take wine tasting here in South Africa. I was just there to have fun, but locals seem a bit more serious. After our third wine farm in about 6 hours everyone was pretty "sleepy" so we decided to head back to town and rest up a bit. After we recovered from the day we all gathered at one of our houses for a little pool party day, which turned out to be more of a card playing day. It was pretty chilly out, about 65 degrees, so we did not feel like swimming. After playing cards we went to a pizza/italian restaurant and spent the night enjoying the view and our wonderful food.
On Sunday we took a tour of Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. It was soooooo windy! There are a few pics of me almost falling off of the point that Jeff and I made it up to because the wind was at least 60 mph. We finally saw some wild animals.....Baboons are very annoying. At the Cape of Good Hope they would follow us around and it was a bit uncomfortable because there were no fences to stop them from getting to us. But, we made it so it was enjoyable. After we hiked around a bit we went to Simon's Town to swim with the Penguins. The water was very cold, but I could not pass up the chance to swim in the ocean with wild African Penguins. There were thousands of the little guys and it was quite an enjoyable experience.

Friday March 27

Friday morning and afternoon I spent at Cloetesville Secondary School. I taught a lesson about the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis. The students have been learning about the Cold War and it was my responsibility to discuss and teach about the United States' involvement in the "conflict" with communism. The students were very receptive and active during my lesson, all of them were hanging on every word I was saying, probably because I am just a difference face than their usual teacher. After school on Friday Jeff and I climbed Mt. Stellenbosch. We took some great pictures of the valley below and the city and villages in the area. I have been shocked at the tremendous beauty all over the region. I was farely scared climbing the mountain because I have never done anything like that before, but I made it! After we climbed the mountain we went to a brai (briy) with everyone in the group. A brai is like a barbeque, and they definitely know how to BBQ in South Africa. We had lamb, chicken, sausage, potato salad, chips, and of course, wine. For the first time on the trip we were able to go out and experience the night life in Stellenbosch. We went to a couple of local pubs and participated in some of the festivities with some locals. Overall it was a great night and I had to take care of a few of the people on the trip, but it was a lot of fun.

March 25/26

Sorry I have not been updating my blog a whole lot over the past week, the internet has been down all over town and it has been difficult to find the right time to check the cafe. On Wednesday and Thursday we spent the morning and afternoon working in the schools. Wednesday night we had dinner with our host family and discussed different kinds of English dialects in the United States. It was a pretty funny conversation because they were amazed at hearing me impersonate a southern accent. I just thought of George W. and remembered back to hearing him speak, however, I think I sounded a bit more intelligent. Anyway, on Thursday we went wine tasting at a local wine farm and sampled six different wines. It is interesting how wine is so much a part of the culture here in South Africa. After wine tasting I went out to dinner with 5 others and our professor and ate an amazing beef kebob. The food was terrific and the wine was even better.

The second week away

The past couple of days have gone very well both inside and outside the school. I am starting to get to know some of the students and they are more comfortable with me. Whenever Jeff, Kate, or I walk around the school we have students coming up to talk to us and yelling across the courtyard. Last night, Monday, we all went to the University Cup Semifinal rugby game at the stadium here in town. It was a lot of fun and reminded me of a football game in the states. After one full week here I am started to get used to the area and the people here in South Africa. I enjoy my time at school every day and look forward to the little adventures we take every day after school. We have some fun things planned for this coming weekend, I will mention a little about what we have planned later this week. Until then, stay well!

It has been a while

Okay, where do I start? I have been extremely busy over the past 4 or 5 days so I have been unable to post anything new. Last Thursday Jeff, Kate and I had a pretty rough day at the school. We had a few conversations with some students and realized how tough life is for most young people in South Africa. We were all pretty bummed after school so Jeff, Jessica, and I decided to climb Mt. Stellenbosch in the afternoon. I have some great pictures from the hike, and I definitely stepped out of my comfort zone on the climb up the mountain. There were a few times where I thought to myself "this is probably the dumbest thing I have ever done". But, in the end it was worth it because the view was absolutely amazing. On Friday, after a great day at school, the group left for the beach house on Pringle Bay. The weekend consisted of laying on the beach and swimming in the Atlantic Ocean. A few people ventured on a hike, but I was content relaxing on the beach. The scenary was once again beautiful. The pictures I have taken do not do the view justice. In order to appreciate the beauty of South Africa a person must BE HERE! However, the pictures are still amazing. We got back from Pringle Bay on Sunday night and ate dinner with our host family and chatted a bit with them.

Jeff's Cheese Sandwich

This morning was our first day at Cloetesville Secondary School. Jeff, Kate, and I all got to experience the different atmosphere at a school here in South Africa. There are a few differences between SA and America. For example: the students line up outside the classroom (boys in one line and girls in the other) the teacher then walks outside to let the students into the room where they remain standing until the teacher says "good morning class", the students then say "good morning mister or misters or misses". This formality exists during class as well, the students do not speak unless given instruction to do so. Only the teacher speaks until questions are asked during class. This is much different than the United States (in most cases). I met a few extremely nice teachers at the school and was greeted with many welcomes from the staff. One funny thing that happened today was while Jeff, Kate, and I were sitting in the teacher's lounge waiting to head to the classroom. Jeff was very excite about his sandwich for lunch because his roommates made it for him. However, he never looked at it before he left his home this morning. So, when he opened his lunch and found two slabs of bread with one slice of cheese covering 1/3 of the sandwich I saw the saddest look imaginable come across his face. As for the rest of today, I will be hanging out in the village for a few more minutes and then proceed to eat dinner with the entire group around 7 PM tonight. I do not have much more time, so I hope all is well in the US!

Arrival in South Africa

We got in to South Africa at about 10:30 PM last night (430 in Michigan). The flight was very long, but I slept and watched tons of tv shows and movies. I enjoyed watching episodes of Family Guy and The Office and watching Step Brothers. After getting through customs last night I met the father of my host family. He is very nice and excited to have us visiting. We did not get to the house until about 1:00 AM. Waking up this morning was amazing. I am living in the room called "The Crow's Nest". It is called this because it located in the top level of the Taylor's large house. When I woke up at 8:00 AM I looked out the window and was shocked to see three large mountains right out my window. THis was my first time seeing mountains!This morning we all met at my host family's house and proceeded to go visit the 3 schools we will be working at. I will be at Cloetesville Secondary School with Mr. Henry teaching History and Health. I am very excited because Mr. Henry is a very funny guy who is also one of the acting principal's of the school. After touring the schools all 13 of us ate lunch at the Stellenbosch Hotel and now I am typing at the Internet Cafe in the "village". I am astonished at how beautiful the area is and amazed at how much this town feels like a European city. I will try to upload a few pics whenever I get a chance. I am sure that I have left out a ton of stuff, but I will be writing more in the next few days. I hope all is well wherever you are reading this from. Take care.

Anxious, Excited, Nervous....

This afternoon my mom and I drove from Charlevoix to Grand Rapids to stay in a hotel close to the airport (we were both scared of a possible blizzard up north). We arrived in GR and went out to the Grand Rapids brewery for dinner, and now I am trying to watch as much basketball as I can before I leave tomorrow afternoon. I am getting very excited to leave! I found out today that Tuesday morning we will be meeting the principals and the teachers of the school we will be working at, so we do not get a whole lot of time to rest, but I am excited to get into the schools as soon as possible. The next time I will post anything on here will probably be Tuesday or Wednesday from Stellenbosch, South Africa. Until then, stay well!

Here is a picture of the University of Stellenbosch. This area is a couple miles from where I will be living.

March 10 2009

Hello everyone! For all of you who do not know, I will be traveling to South Africa for a six week study abroad trip with Grand Valley State University. There is a total of 13 of us going (12 students and 1 professor) and we will be participating in a number of different activities during our six week trip. I will be teaching at a secondary school just outside of Stellenbosch, South Africa. I am planning to post at least 3 or 4 times a week so I can keep everyone up to date with what I am up to while on my trip. I am starting to get very excited....and a little nervous. I am excited to travel and experience a new culture, but I am a little nervous to get on a plane for the first time! We will see how it goes... Just so everyone knows, I will be leaving on Sundary March 15 at 3:00 PM from Grand Rapids, MI. We are flying to Detroit and then flying to Amsterdam from Detroit. We will have about a four hour lay-over in Amsterdam, followed by a very long flight to Cape Town, South Africa. We will be arriving in South Africa late Monday night and we will be given a couple of days to tour the town (Stellenbosch) before we begin teaching on either Wednesday or Thursday. I am looking forward to meeting my host family and getting to know as much as possible about their culture. If anyone has any questions or comments you can write back to me on this blog and I will try do my best to respond to you.

Jake Teuscher