The train was late.

     As the title says, the train was late for Lynedoch.  We had only thirty minutes to work with the kids in the first hour which sucked because it was period and hygiene day for the girls.  We covered the basics very quickly and then asked them to write a few questions down in order for us to see where they are in their knowledge of puberty.  They seem to know a lot but they don't know how to use tampons or any of the science behind it, so I guess that's what we will go over.  One of the questions we came by wasn't really a question at all, but was a note saying that they are having issues with their teacher and their classmates.  We just happened to know who wrote this particular one and I went to talk to her.  This girl was born without a leg and is super insecure about it.  This is the same girl that the teacher introduced as evil the first day.  I asked her what was wrong and she said that recently her friends haven't wanted to play with her too much because she can't run very well.  Kids aren't always the most considerate at this age, so it didn't surprise me.  What did surprise me is that Mr. Williams (their teacher) has been calling her out in class and making fun of her leg.  I asked Grant if this was actually what was going on or if there was a misunderstanding and he said that it he is sure that she is telling the truth.  He makes me so mad.  Well, apparently Grant told the Principle who found me and talked to me about Mr. Williams and how I should bring her to him in private so they can talk about the tension between them.  Apparently it's like a feud between the two of them. 
     After interval I walked into the classroom before the other two in order to do our little trick.  I asked all of the kids to stand up with their bags and whenever I said their name to go to the desk I pointed at.  I divided the friends, trouble makers, boys, girls in order to prevent anyone from wanting to speak while we were talking.  Two of the more outspoken boys were SO MAD!  One of them refused to go to his new seat until Mr. Williams stepped in.  We gave them a worksheet and told them to do it in silence and if they speak they will be sent to the back table to sit by themselves.  We let this go on for about five to ten minutes and then I got their attention again.  I asked those who were having fun to raise their hands.  I got some of the dirtiest looks I have ever seen in my life.  It was kinda funny.  I looked at the other girls I work with and asked if they were having fun and they said no and I said I wasn't having any fun either.  I told the children that we want to do fun things with them, but if they refuse to be respectful to us and to behave properly then we will have to do things the way we did them this morning.  I then told them we weren't doing the worksheet and that they can go sit wherever they want and then they all started laughing.  The two boys who were particularly mad came up and gave me a high five, so I guess they weren't too mad.  The rest of the day they behaved pretty well.  Even more surprisingly, Jeffrey spoke to me and the kids in the classroom!  I don't know if I have mentioned, but Jeffrey has never spoken in front of me since I have met him.  We had a lesson on poetry and expression and divided them up into groups to write their own poem or skit or story or whatever they wanted.  It was pretty fun.  One of the groups wrote a rap which was sooo cool.  For the most part the second hour went well.  Now I am going to get Tyler to write something.
     Today in class we talked about Heroes. We then folded a piece of paper in 4 and in a one block they had to draw their favorite superhero. In the second block they had to draw a famous person. In another they drew their personal hero they knew like their mom, dad, or teacher. One kid actually chose one of his teachers in school, his name is Mr. Williams and he teaches 8th graders. We asked him why and he said that he smokes in the back of the room and he hits students and its funny. We informed him that heroes don't do that. The last square they drew themselves as a hero. All in all it was a good activity.
     Holy cow!  Do y'all see how much he wrote that time???  I am impressed.  After class we got on the train and went home.  we have just been watching TV and hanging out, so it's been boring.  The only thing I have really done is my journal for class my Xhosa homework.  This is the first time I have ever had homework in Xhosa and it was emailed to us.  Here it is!

     There were only two words I couldn't figure out, so I guess I am doing pretty well.  That's about it for now.  Hamba Kukuhle.