Feeling Conflicted- Playing with Cubs

**I am going to put a disclaimer on this post- what I am about to share is my personal opinion and doesn't reflect what everyone in our group felt.

Yesterday we went to a lion park in Port Elizabeth that allows you to pay to take pictures and "play" with lion and tiger cubs... For five minutes. (I couldn't resist adding the part about the five minutes since the lady we paid made it very clear.) 

I'm not sure I want to know what animal activists might think of our decision, but we thought- Hey, that sounds like every person's dream! Hanging out with Simba and Rahja? Yes, please!

We weren't off to a great start when we walked in. It was an odd environment and most South Africans we spoke to did not support the park. It didn't help that Rachel and I had read a poor review online awhile back. It could have just been me, but the atmosphere in the main center felt tense. The staff were all volunteers which means the chances were slim that they were trained professionals. They all seemed a little too non-chalant for what we were about to do.

When we got to the pen where the cubs lived, a young, just out of college, girl awaited us. She was in the pen with us the whole time, but I doubt she could have stopped  the cubs if something  went wrong. She was about our age and had no real control over them. She told us, as we entered, that the cubs were being extra naughty today... Never a good sign.

We were all so intrigued and excited by them at first. They were so playful with each other and super cute. As the cubs started jumping and scratching at Sarah's jacket and then Rachel's hair, I began feeling uneasy about the situation. I have been all about adventure during our time here, but seeing how rough the cubs were made me feel like I had made an unwise decision.

You may think, "Well they're wild baby cats, of course they would be rough and overly playful!" But I really hadn't expected that. I had not thought on the situation before I was actually in with the cubs. By the time I warmed up to the babies, my five minutes was up.

Obviously we made it out alive... Rachel does have some battle scratches she can tell her grandchildren about, but I'm still not sure what to think of the experience.

So now I have bragging rights that I "played" with lion and tiger cubs for a few minutes...

Was it worth it? I'm not really sure. 

Here is another thing I want to add: 

If I had posted these pictures and never written this blog post, you would have thought I had the time of my life with these cats. 
I didn't. 
You would have seen the pictures, with my big ol' grin, and probably would have wanted to play with them yourself! I mean, there is no doubt that they are ADORABLE! But the truth is, I spent a lot of my time with the cubs feeling scared. I felt scared for my friends and myself. Nothing happened but who is to say something couldn't have happened? My moral compass felt off yesterday.

If I could do it over again, I would have gone to a park that was better supervised and had qualified staff that were trained to work with  lions. I would have listened to the reviews I read online. I now understand why this place is not recommended by most South Africans.

So,  how often do we post things on social media just to say we did them? How often do we have situations, like this one, where a picture we post tells a completely different story from what really happened?

I would say I "checked off" playing with cubs on my bucket list, but it was despite my best judgement. This post was not meant to be negative, just realistic. We often have big dreams, but sometimes seeing a dream in reality puts your  priorities back in check.

It was an experience just like any other, and I learned a lot from it.

On a different note, we are off to Jeffrey's Bay today! I am excited for a fun, care-free day trip with new friends! 

Love,

Casey :)

SPRRRINNG BREAKKK...round 2!

Even though we enjoyed  our 2013 Spring Break back in March, that just wasn't enough for us!

Today marked the official start to our South African Spring Break! There are four school terms and today was the end of the third term. It's hard to believe that Rachel and I just finished our 7th week teaching! 

WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE?!? We need it to slow down...

I taught quite a few lessons this week. Some were more successful than others.

I wanted to mention a Life Skills lesson I taught on the food pyramid. Think for a second about how you would describe the food pyramid to an average person and then think about explaining it to a 7 year old. 

It's difficult.

I resorted to explaining  food groups by using vague descriptions like this one gives you energy and strength, this one builds muscle, or this one might make your tummy sore if you eat too much of it. (Students in my class don't say their stomachs hurt, instead they say their tummies are sore.) I think any health teacher or nutritionist would frown upon these descriptions, but explaining serving sizes and portion control to first graders is a joke...to put it bluntly. It goes right over their heads.

After the mini-lesson, I passed out a worksheet that my mentor teacher had given me. The students were supposed to cut out pictures of different foods from magazines and paste them in the appropriate places on the food pyramid.

My mentor teacher was not in the room while I was giving the lesson, but when she came back, she asked how they did.

I looked around the room that looked as if I had said, "Alright children, it's that time again to cut up magazines into hundreds of pieces and scatter them everywhere in the classroom that you see free and open space!" and thought she may not want to know the answer.

Basically it was chaos. 

I responded to my mentor teacher, as she surveyed her extremely untidy classroom with, "Well, they had fun!"  

Some turned out like this!

But most turned out like this 

You can't win 'em all! :)

On a different note, I wanted to share this Youtube video. It was very popular last year on social media. Today it was shown to our whole school during the morning assembly.

Hopefully this will offer you some encouragement to get through your day and BE AWESOME! 

We have met some wonderful new American friends. Some are here with an organization called Grassroot Soccer and the others are here on the Fulbright Grant. We are looking forward to spending more time with them over this holiday break.

Here are the links  if you want to learn more: Grassroot Soccer    Fulbright Grant

Sarah's parents arrived in South Africa on Wednesday night for their planned trip to visit Sarah and travel arounf.

 We have been blessed with a little taste of home with them here. :)

The children have a special way of finding extra energy to exert in the classroom when they know a break is approaching. Needless to say, we had some wild children this week! I know we will all appreciate the time to relax, catch-up, and hopefully explore some more of the country.

Have a splendid Friday!

Love,

Casey

Plettenberg Bay Adventures

We owe last weekend's incredible excursions in Plettenberg Bay to Freewalker Adventures!

If you have a second, "like" them on Facebook so you can check out the different trips they plan around South Africa. You never know-you may end up here needing some awesome guides to show you around! 

https://www.facebook.com/freewalkerSA

Sarah also provided me with some great pictures of this past weekend. So I decided between Murray's Freewalker pictures, Sarah's pictures, and my own, I would fill this post with pictures galore so you can get a good idea of our experiences.

We tried our best to pack light for the weekend. We haven't mastered it yet, but we are getting there...ish...

The next few pictures are all from the hike we took around the island. We  got up early Saturday morning and were not disappointed by the amazing scenerey we saw along the way.

After the hike we had a quick breakfast and then headed to Mossel Bay for shark cage diving!

Yep, SHARK CAGE DIVING!!!

I felt pretty sea sick on the boat, so I was pumped to get in the cage. It gave my head a rest from all the rocking. Once we were in the cage, the scariest part for me was not necessarily the sharks, but figuring out how to breathe through my mask in the cage! Luckily Sarah was next to me, and she helped me out. She is by far one of the most patient people I know and will obviously make a wonderful teacher. Calm, cool, and collected! Once we got used to being in the cage and using our masks,we had a blast watching the sharks come by. The water was fairly murky so not everyone could see the sharks from where they were in the cage. Buttttt Sarah and I had the best view! It was fun- we were sad when we had to get out.

I am the last one on the right of the cage and Sarah is next to me(you can see her red hair) and Rachel is next to Sarah!

Check out this video to see some clips from our shark cage diving experience!

On Sunday we went swimming with the seals back in Plettenberg Bay. All three of us would agree that it was our favorite activity from the weekend. The longer we were in the water the more comfortable and playful the seals got. It was a blast.

The final leg of our trip was spent at Monkey Land! The name makes it sound a little creepy, and I was skeptical at first, but it turned out to be a really neat place.

We got to see a lot of unique monkeys up close and personal.

This picture is Sarah's National Geographic submission... jk but isn't it an amazing  picture?!

We were sad to head back to Summerstrand after our weekend away.  Our students have spent this week at school completing the South African National Exam. Even grade one had to take it! I could write a whole additional post about this. It has been an interesting experience.

Just incase you haven't seen enough pictures... to complete this post, here is a glimpse into the less glamourous side of our lives in Port Elizabeth. Tonight, I let Rachel cut my hair! Those dead ends of mine were looking rough. Adventurous may not be the right word to describe this, but I will say it was risky.

Rachel did a wonderful job and if teaching, writing, or nursing doesn't work out for her, now she has another back-up profession!

Have a great Thursday everyone! 

Love,

Casey :)

Field Trip to Samrec

I was on the boy's bus and they kindly serenaded me with songs like "Old McDonald" and "the Wheels on the Bus" the whole way there :) Good to know singing on the bus during school field trips is universal for all children!

This is the girl's bus blowing me kisses and making silly faces

My class took a wonderful field trip to Samrec today. As I mentioned in a previous post, Samrec is a rehabilitation center for penguins and it also offers other educational opportunities. One lesson the guides at Samrec give is on rock pools, which is what my class took part in today. 

Our guide showed the students lots of  plants and creatures they might see while exploring the rock pools. She taught useful information, and the children loved asking her questions about the sea animals. They also enjoyed having a lesson in the sand! It was a pleasant experience, and they loved the view of the ocean. Fresh air and a place to run around is always a good combination for the little guys! 

It was nice for my class to take advantage of an amazing facility that is so close to our school.

After the rock pool lesson, the students were allowed to explore and observe the rock pools. This was especially fun because they saw a lot of the sea creatures they had just learned about. They loved seeing starfish and sea urchins. We then went back to the main building for lunch and topped the day off with a visit to the penguin area.

The lesson before exploring the rock pools

At the rock pools

Our guide told us how the penguins are rescued. She explained that the faculty at Samrec nurses the sick penguins back to health and then sends them home to their natural habitat. As she was explaining the other countries these particular penguins are found in, she didn't mention America. My children kept adding after every country she listed, " and America." They continued to do that until our guide finally stopped and told them that African penguins are not found in America. It was VERY comical. I got a good laugh.

Just incase you weren't aware after this post...African penguins are NOT found in America ;)

The roomies and I are headed to Plettenberg Bay this weekend. It is going to be action-packed so I will have lots to blog about when we get home!

Love,

Casey :)

First Observations

 Today Rachel and I were both observed by our South African supervisor who works at the local University in Port Elizabeth. One twist we both were not expecting is that he asked our mentor teachers to step out of the room during our lessons so he could see how we managed the class on our own! YIKES!

I didn't know this was going on until it was already happening, but I am proud to say that no fights broke out, the classroom didn't catch on fire, and while the students were still chatty-they were very well-behaved.

My lesson was on plant parts and how they can be identified specifically in fruits and vegetables. My main focus was that students understood that fruits and vegetables are types of plants.

I began the lesson by explaining the definition of each of the four plant parts: roots, stems, leaves, and flowers/fruits. Then I explained where each part is found using the poster I drew with pictures of a flower, apple tree, and a carrot.

After the explanation time, I chose students who were sitting quietly to come and put labels on the poster. (see below the picture of the completed poster) I was very impressed with the students and the information they retained. It was their first time learning about plants and where they are found. They even knew that the part of the carrot we eat(the orange part) was a root!

The students asked some good questions about where seeds come from, and I was excited about the discussion we had. After the question time, I chose four students to come to the front of the room. I handed them a fruit or vegetable and asked them to identify what it was and how the plant was grown. The trickiest ones were the strawberries and the yellow peppers. Some of the other students in the class were able to help them out and explain how they grew.

I then sent the students to their tables and explained the worksheet they would be completing. I gave them a few minutes to draw their two favorite plants to eat and then allowed each student an opportunity to share with the class.

I have found that because it is a class of 24 students, very rarely are they all able to share their work in front of their peers. Even though it took a little longer than expected, and some of the students got a little restless, all 24 students presented their work. It was well worth it. I could see how proud each student was when they were in front of the class. One student even used my teacher moves and said, " I am going to wait until everyone is quiet." It was sweet and I know they appreciated the opportunity.

Even though I was not expecting my mentor teacher to be unable to observe my lesson, I am grateful for the opportunity. It helped to boost my confidence in the classroom and show me that the students respect me as a teacher and genuinely enjoy learning.

I hope everyone is doing well! September 1st was the first day of Spring in South Africa so we are excited and ready for some warm weather!

Love,

Casey

Catching Up

I promise I haven't forgotten about the blog!

 One downside to working with first graders is that the students spread germs quickly. Rachel and I both caught nasty colds and spent most of our free time this week/weekend in bed resting and getting better. 

So let's catch up...

Two Fridays ago grade one had a cake sale during break time. All of the first graders brought something to sell and the other grades bought goodies from us. Each grade gets the opportunity to have a cake sale as a grade level fundraiser. It was fun to be a part of.

One of my students and her cupcakes!

Students buying cakes at the cake sale

Then this past Friday, not only was it my roommate Sarah's birthday, but it was also our school Variety Show! (School wide Talent Show) Most of the classes contributed a number to the show. It was well-planned and  a very enjoyable afternoon of entertainment!

My class while they were waiting to perform!

Performing "You put the Beat in your Feet"

Rachel's class singing and dancing to "In the Jungle"

Sarah's class dancing to Katy Perry's "Firework"

After a long day of Variety Show activities, we came home and celebrated sweet Sarah's birthday!