This week there was a wheelchair assessment completed by a charity at the disability home - this is something that our supervisor at the school told me about and I organised. A lot of the wheelchairs at the disability are wholly unsuited to the needs of their owners or simply in a state of disrepair.
There are some chairs which are fine - but their occupant needs a new cushion to be comfortable.
The assessment went really well; there was a large team of therapists and assistants who were pro-active and helpful. Unfortunately the follow-up from the visit has not been quite so forthcoming - but there's not much I can do about that.
There was one day of chaos at the drug rehab centre - we did do some paper mache work with them but overall it wasn't the best time for the clients.
Later on in the week however I filmed them doing some role plays they did as part of their weekly drama activities; lots of fun -- but video editing is a schlep - I'm very inexperienced...
We also sat in a 'self-management skills training' group which was interesting as we've not really had much opportunity to get a better understanding of it.
Had some much overdue supervision (its been awkward because we have two supervisors who are now in two different locations and working with different client groups.)
Gail helped the creche workers fill in some forms to get more training. I did a playdough activity with the children in the meantime...and then got clambered all over :P
At the end of the week Gail and I attended the 'Friday Masuvo (sp?) Disability Lecture' Friday Masuvo was a high profile disability rights campaigner; one of the very first in SA. He passed away a while ago - this lecture is held in his memory.
The lecture was delievered by the Minister of Housing and Rural Developement; very interesting insight into some of the projects that are being run and the attempts that are being made to integrate disabled people into society and get them involved in different initiatives. He was very open about his own perceptions of disability and how they have been changed through visits to different intiatives.
Different issues were brought up about the perceptions of educating disabled children and the level of education that is available to them, the accessibility of these different initiatives that the department wants people to join etc. It was interesting to hear the ministers' plans and some of his concerns and areas of need.
some of the discussions and issues that were raised were pertinent and gave me a better understanding of the issues that are facing disabled South Africans.
On the weekend we were going to go for a hike at a place called Silvermine which is part of Table Mt National Park but the weather was rubbish (misty and overcast) so we went down to Muizenberg - sandy beachy area. S, C, Gail and I walked and picnicked. Then drove to another beach area and ate ice-cream in the cold and wind (or at least I did)
On Sunday Gail and S did a hike up Elephants Eye...apparently I missed a really good one - but I had a very relaxing date with my pillow instead - which at the time was far preferable to me. In the afternoon we just chilled out and then the normal church times.
Very good to have a chilled out day.
More blog coming soon!
I love Table Mt
Peace out x
Thursday, 18 November 2010
Monday, 8 November 2010
Week 10 - 18/10 - 24/10
OK, so I'm working on catching up with all of this. Week 10 was a bumpy ride. Plenty of good times with some interesting times thrown in for good measure(!)
There is also a site nearby which was the home to many lions and the sport of lion baiting in years gone by!
We had a lot of fun exploring and tried to decide on something to do in the evening; but suggestions fell to the floor so we went home and chilled instead :)
Tuesday we started making paper mache with the residents of the rehabilitation centre. For those of you who know something of my irritational issues with balloons and the bursting of said items you will realise that this was not an easy session for me to be part of. Especially because the residents are perceptive and will play on whatever they say which annoys you/makes you jump...
I just tried to keep myself busy...and Gail and our supervisor were aware of my ridiculous anxieties and cut me some slack which I greatly appreciated :)
Wednesday was an interesting day. In the morning we did different activities with children at the creche (mostly involving playdough), did puzzles and played skittles while I continued in information collection for the wheelchair assessments being done next Monday.
Our lesson plan for the week (anonymously putting a fear/struggle into a hat (read box) in class then discussing issues as they arose went well with the two classes we had that afternoon.
Thursday was characterised by the purchasing of a tyre, more good lessons and a distinct lack of organisation when it came to evening activities; as everything we had semi-planned to attend ended up being sold out!
Friday - Gail didn't feel well enough to go to placement so I once again braved SA roads by myself(!) There was an event known as 'the wishing well' for those in their final year at the school so instead of lessons I was treated to a morning of gumboot dancing (a Xhosa tradition), dancing, singing, acting and other good things.
Once the afternoon lessons were done I came home, persuaded Gail that she would love to drive to the car rental place with me again (as the car was positively eating oil...total number of cans purchased now = 8!!) This time the mechanics paid us more attention and took our 'something isn't right' slightly more seriously; which felt nicer.
They said that we needed to swap the car so they could take the time to get it fixed so we'd need to come back early next week; so they filled the oil and we drove away satisfied and hoping that Whitey would make it safely through the weekend.
Weekend:
We chilled out in Stellenbosch, visited Spier vineyard, Gail still not feeling 100%, considered visiting Chinatown and ended up just having another chilled night in. I never complain about that - I love chilled out evenings!
Early on Sunday morning S and I (along with a couple of friends) climbed Lion's Head. In reality it was only S and I as the other two walked much faster and so left us trailing. This was alot of fun - with some really spectacular views until it started raining and hailing while we were at the top!
I had very wisely left my rain jacket in the car (it had looked so promising!) so we got soaked and freezing cold as we slipped and slid for the hour it took to make our way down.
The rest of the day was spent recovering from said experience by showering and curling up with many blankets before heading out to church in the evening.
So that was that... working on catching up with the blogging I promise!
I love Table Mt
Peace out x
Tuesday, 26 October 2010
Week 9 - 11/10 - 17/10
This was more of a topsy-turvy week where things were not quite normal.
The week started in the school. On Monday afternoon we visited an organisation called 'Facing Up' in Lavender Hill on the Cape Flats. This area used to be where the coloured people were forced to live during apartheid and as a consequence is till home to a large coloured population; gang and drug crime is rife.
Facing Up works in a number of local schools - looking to address occupational balance and provide interest groups and address social issues with the children. The organisation was set up by a UCT OT lecturer and is run by OT students while they're on placement. This obviously means that there is an issue with continuity - but gives teachers and pupils in the schools opportunity to take responsibility.
There is the possibility of employing a full time OT in the programme but this has not yet been funded and the logistics would be difficult! It was good to chat to the occupational therapy students who were working there and compare our courses and styles of working
Tuesday we did a painting session at the rehab centre - simple and effective. Unfortunately Gail wasn't feeling so great, but we got through it!
Wednesday was a busy busy day! Gail and I went into Langa - did finger painting at the creche with the 5-6 year olds!
We shot ourselves in the foot rather because we chose to do the painting activity outside; meaning we spent most of the time sellotaping paper to tables and weighting down paint containers. But we all had a lot of fun nonetheless.
Things were slightly less chaotic at the disability home. I started collecting information about the clients wheelchairs and other basic information - ready for wheelchair assessments being completed by a charity group I contacted recently. The rest of the time the residents completed puzzles and did sculpting with play dough.
Gail and I went back to the school for the afternoon and facilitated a lesson plan we'd made. Learning about and discussing through issues surrounding TB. The lesson was good; helped us to see the insight that the learners had into TB as a condition...we also played a learning game with them so that was good.
In the evening I went with C and a friend of hers to a monthly pasta night in Bo Kaap...hosted by one of the teachers in the school.
A lot of fun - met a lot of cool people - mostly foreigners; German, Dutch, Scottish, British, American, Zimbabwean. I wasn't sure which accent was which by the end of the night! Some very cheap food and good company - with an amazing view of Table Mt from the house :)
Thursday - more TB lesson plans... going to get the car fixed (again!) instead of going to the rehab centre..
What was the problem now I hear you ask! Well essentially we ran out of oil - despite having put three cans in over the last 2 months of having the car...mechanics looked again, said that there was still a problem with the oil cap and replaced it (again...I think..)
In the evening Gail still wasn't feeling good and I was very tired so we didn't go to our usual church group!
Friday was a normal morning at school and then we headed to the UCT (university of Cape Town) buildings in a local suburb. We met with an OT lecturer there (the one who set up 'Facing Up' that we visited on Monday) and talked to her for a long while about the organisation, OT in Cape Town and occupational therapy in general. It was a highly insightful and friendly conversation which I learnt a lot from.
Somehow by the end of our conversation we were talking about disability in general; the lecturer told us about an art exhibition at a local theatre around sexuality and disability.
So we said our thankyous and goodbyes and went to have a look.
The exhibition wasn't so much an art exhibition as a collection of photos and description. It was very interesting; just less abstract than i had expected it to be! While we were there we also saw a sign for an integrated dance company performance over the following two nights so we got tickets for that :)
Then we went to a local mall and got haircuts and coffee :) for those of you who haven't been on facebook and seen my more recent photos now is my chance to tell you -- I've had a very short haircut!..I've been thinking about it for ages - haven't had my hair shortshort for years so finally got the guts up the change :) I'm liking it, growing to love it and virtually all the feedback I've had has been good so its all cool!
And then it was the weekend - we drove to the Waterfront on Saturday with CDA and CT(!) took a tour of Robben Island ( a former leper colony, prison and WWII defence point) the words WWII defence point are used lightly though because the guns weren't actually completed till 1947....just abit late by most people's watches..but this is Africa (T.I.A..) so its fine - don't worry about it!
I have been to Robben Island before - however this time was alot nicer because it was warm - meaning the ferry ride didn't make me feel violently ill, the view of Table Mt was much nicer and, well, it was just nicer!
After the tour. The entire trip took longer than I remembered so we were hungry for lunch when we got back (cue yummy wraps and frozen yoghurt!)
Saturday evening we went to watch the integrated dance performance that I mentioned we bought tickets for on Friday. It was really good; the piece that they performed had been commissioned for women's day and heritage day. It was different to the work that I've seen by StopGAP in the UK. This had more ballroom involved and sometimes felt less cohesive than I'm used to seeing integrated dance on stage; but it definitely had flair. Lots of humour, thought provoking stuff - one of the pro dancers was deaf which I didn't know til afterward but really does give it an edge when I think back to the performance! Very enjoyable and highly recommended should you ever be in Cape Town!
To find out more about the two dance companies I've mentioned visit www.stopgap.uk.com/ and www.remixdanceproject.co.za/
Sunday we went to Nia in the morning which made a nice change as we normally go during the week.
Gail and I drove along Chapmans Peak. So much fun to drive and some amazing, amazing amazing views!
Went to Nordhoek beach; sat on the sand dunes and ate lunch and chatted about nothing and everything.
Visted a farm shop in Norhoek and bought goodies - stopped and had ice-cream. A really nice Sunday!
Then we went to church and that was the weirdest thing - we had baptisms in a large paddling pool then split male/female. Def not your average Sun night - but fun nonetheless.
Just time to say, I know I'm waay behind on the blog..I'm gonna work on getting back up to date..annnd I love Table Mt!
Peace out x
The week started in the school. On Monday afternoon we visited an organisation called 'Facing Up' in Lavender Hill on the Cape Flats. This area used to be where the coloured people were forced to live during apartheid and as a consequence is till home to a large coloured population; gang and drug crime is rife.
Facing Up works in a number of local schools - looking to address occupational balance and provide interest groups and address social issues with the children. The organisation was set up by a UCT OT lecturer and is run by OT students while they're on placement. This obviously means that there is an issue with continuity - but gives teachers and pupils in the schools opportunity to take responsibility.
There is the possibility of employing a full time OT in the programme but this has not yet been funded and the logistics would be difficult! It was good to chat to the occupational therapy students who were working there and compare our courses and styles of working
Tuesday we did a painting session at the rehab centre - simple and effective. Unfortunately Gail wasn't feeling so great, but we got through it!
Wednesday was a busy busy day! Gail and I went into Langa - did finger painting at the creche with the 5-6 year olds!
We shot ourselves in the foot rather because we chose to do the painting activity outside; meaning we spent most of the time sellotaping paper to tables and weighting down paint containers. But we all had a lot of fun nonetheless.
Things were slightly less chaotic at the disability home. I started collecting information about the clients wheelchairs and other basic information - ready for wheelchair assessments being completed by a charity group I contacted recently. The rest of the time the residents completed puzzles and did sculpting with play dough.
Gail and I went back to the school for the afternoon and facilitated a lesson plan we'd made. Learning about and discussing through issues surrounding TB. The lesson was good; helped us to see the insight that the learners had into TB as a condition...we also played a learning game with them so that was good.
In the evening I went with C and a friend of hers to a monthly pasta night in Bo Kaap...hosted by one of the teachers in the school.
A lot of fun - met a lot of cool people - mostly foreigners; German, Dutch, Scottish, British, American, Zimbabwean. I wasn't sure which accent was which by the end of the night! Some very cheap food and good company - with an amazing view of Table Mt from the house :)
Thursday - more TB lesson plans... going to get the car fixed (again!) instead of going to the rehab centre..
What was the problem now I hear you ask! Well essentially we ran out of oil - despite having put three cans in over the last 2 months of having the car...mechanics looked again, said that there was still a problem with the oil cap and replaced it (again...I think..)
In the evening Gail still wasn't feeling good and I was very tired so we didn't go to our usual church group!
Friday was a normal morning at school and then we headed to the UCT (university of Cape Town) buildings in a local suburb. We met with an OT lecturer there (the one who set up 'Facing Up' that we visited on Monday) and talked to her for a long while about the organisation, OT in Cape Town and occupational therapy in general. It was a highly insightful and friendly conversation which I learnt a lot from.
Somehow by the end of our conversation we were talking about disability in general; the lecturer told us about an art exhibition at a local theatre around sexuality and disability.
So we said our thankyous and goodbyes and went to have a look.
The exhibition wasn't so much an art exhibition as a collection of photos and description. It was very interesting; just less abstract than i had expected it to be! While we were there we also saw a sign for an integrated dance company performance over the following two nights so we got tickets for that :)
Then we went to a local mall and got haircuts and coffee :) for those of you who haven't been on facebook and seen my more recent photos now is my chance to tell you -- I've had a very short haircut!..I've been thinking about it for ages - haven't had my hair shortshort for years so finally got the guts up the change :) I'm liking it, growing to love it and virtually all the feedback I've had has been good so its all cool!
And then it was the weekend - we drove to the Waterfront on Saturday with CDA and CT(!) took a tour of Robben Island ( a former leper colony, prison and WWII defence point) the words WWII defence point are used lightly though because the guns weren't actually completed till 1947....just abit late by most people's watches..but this is Africa (T.I.A..) so its fine - don't worry about it!
I have been to Robben Island before - however this time was alot nicer because it was warm - meaning the ferry ride didn't make me feel violently ill, the view of Table Mt was much nicer and, well, it was just nicer!
After the tour. The entire trip took longer than I remembered so we were hungry for lunch when we got back (cue yummy wraps and frozen yoghurt!)
Saturday evening we went to watch the integrated dance performance that I mentioned we bought tickets for on Friday. It was really good; the piece that they performed had been commissioned for women's day and heritage day. It was different to the work that I've seen by StopGAP in the UK. This had more ballroom involved and sometimes felt less cohesive than I'm used to seeing integrated dance on stage; but it definitely had flair. Lots of humour, thought provoking stuff - one of the pro dancers was deaf which I didn't know til afterward but really does give it an edge when I think back to the performance! Very enjoyable and highly recommended should you ever be in Cape Town!
To find out more about the two dance companies I've mentioned visit www.stopgap.uk.com/ and www.remixdanceproject.co.za/
Sunday we went to Nia in the morning which made a nice change as we normally go during the week.
Gail and I drove along Chapmans Peak. So much fun to drive and some amazing, amazing amazing views!
Went to Nordhoek beach; sat on the sand dunes and ate lunch and chatted about nothing and everything.
Visted a farm shop in Norhoek and bought goodies - stopped and had ice-cream. A really nice Sunday!
Then we went to church and that was the weirdest thing - we had baptisms in a large paddling pool then split male/female. Def not your average Sun night - but fun nonetheless.
Just time to say, I know I'm waay behind on the blog..I'm gonna work on getting back up to date..annnd I love Table Mt!
Peace out x
Saturday, 16 October 2010
Week 8 - 04/10 - 10/10
Man! I need to stop leaving it so long to blog...
The week after the holiday was a goood one. We were refreshed and felt better equipped to deal with and respond to the changing situations around us. We were well-rested and coming back to placement with new determination despite some anxieties about getting back into routine and how the latter part of our placement would/will play out.
I must say a big thankyou to our friends at church for supporting and encouraging us when we were frustrated and anxious despite not knowing us very well. You okes are legends :D
Had some eye-opening conversations with the learners in life orientation lessons about some of the situations a few of them had been in or heard about during the holidays.
Life in the township is a parallel universe to the sheltered upbringing I was so privileged to know. Crime is high especially involving sexual and gun/knife crime.
It is one thing to know that these things are commonplace and quite another to discuss the crimes as all too often lived experiences of 14-16 year olds.
We do discuss a lot of difficult issues like this all the time; after the break there were simply more discussions to be had.
Tuesday we did a mixture of life orientation and arts and crafts with the residents of the rehab centre; we asked them to design a poster to promote HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention. It was very difficult to get most of the boys engaged with the drawing. And although the conversation we then attempted to facilitate relating to HIV and AIDS had some good moments they weren't focused and therefore it was difficult to break through mindsets like 'if I have HIV I want to infect others so that I won't die alone'
The girls unfortunately never came to the group because there were ongoing issues that other staff members were working hard to resolve but which took most of the afternoon.
Wednesday I visited the creche that Gail has been working in; met some of the staff and saw the resources available. Gail then joined me visiting the disability home where we were fortunate to arrive at the home at the same time at some physio students from a local university who are doing weekly placement hours there at the moment. They ran their exercise group with the residents while we set up the painting activity.
We all then pitched in with assisting the residents painting which then freed me up for conversations with the manager and her son about some exciting plans I have up my sleeve (more on that later).
It was also really good to talk to the physios about what their plans were, inform them about my current objectives - they also helped me out with understanding the manual handling techniques that are used in the home.
We left the home tired and my hands resembled a smurfs/Avatars (delete according to your personal knowledge base..) but I enjoyed my morning there as usual :)
Thursday afternoon we were at the rehab centre in the afternoon and watched some roleplays which the residents had put together themselves. They did a very good job and I volunteered the use of my video camera to record the roleplays the following week :)
Friday was just a day at the school...I must explain that although I don't mention what we do in the school very often its because the specifics are often either not particularly interesting or would involve too much typing to explain; I'm thinking of explaining the structure of the two types of lessons we will often have. But I think that might come further towards the end when we're reflecting on the placement as a whole.
And then it was the weeekend!!
I love the weekends :) as always when you're working hard in placement...I can feel the nods coming from my fellow healthcare students right now :P
Friday night C and I went to Observatory - a local suburb which is described as 'hip and vibrant' in the tour guides and 'be careful' by some local South Africans.
We went to get late night coffee and (a rather mahoosive slice of) cake - I'm not sure that that was our initial intention but that's what happened :)
Coffee and cake led to a few hours of deep discussion; the best type of discussion there is...
We then wondered around a bit (don't worry we stayed on the well-lit streets..) and looked into a few bars but nothing appealed to us. We spoke to some random strangers for awhile - that sounds ridiculously dodgy I know - but it really wasn't!
We then drove back towards home with the aim of going to a bar along the way - but then the tiredness hit so we went home, talked some more and finally hit the pillow at 2am.
Not very hardcore of us I know - but thats just placement/working hours for you!
Saturday Gail, C and I went to Kirstenbosch Gardens (which Gail and I had visited with my family a few weeks ago) this time was more chilled; more time to wander aimlessly, look at the 'useful plants' section which was very interesting, eat picnics, soak up the glorious sunshine, take endless photos etc.
C headed home, Gail and I picked up some friends from UCT who then came and prepared some lovely food for all of us; then we headed to a joint birthday party for a couple from church...much fun - a shedload of crazy dancing - lots of sweets - plenty of good company and a generally great night.
However Gail and I were rather bored of introducing ourselves and explaining what we're doing in Cape Town by the end of the night!!
Sunday was actually a horrible day - wet and very windy which led to much sleeping/watching of movies/not doing very much. I actually really enjoy a day like that every once in a while so I mustn't complain!
S ran a 10km run (props - she's a great runner!) and we had a good Sunday eve - ready for the inevitable Monday morning!
The week after the holiday was a goood one. We were refreshed and felt better equipped to deal with and respond to the changing situations around us. We were well-rested and coming back to placement with new determination despite some anxieties about getting back into routine and how the latter part of our placement would/will play out.
I must say a big thankyou to our friends at church for supporting and encouraging us when we were frustrated and anxious despite not knowing us very well. You okes are legends :D
Had some eye-opening conversations with the learners in life orientation lessons about some of the situations a few of them had been in or heard about during the holidays.
Life in the township is a parallel universe to the sheltered upbringing I was so privileged to know. Crime is high especially involving sexual and gun/knife crime.
It is one thing to know that these things are commonplace and quite another to discuss the crimes as all too often lived experiences of 14-16 year olds.
We do discuss a lot of difficult issues like this all the time; after the break there were simply more discussions to be had.
Tuesday we did a mixture of life orientation and arts and crafts with the residents of the rehab centre; we asked them to design a poster to promote HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention. It was very difficult to get most of the boys engaged with the drawing. And although the conversation we then attempted to facilitate relating to HIV and AIDS had some good moments they weren't focused and therefore it was difficult to break through mindsets like 'if I have HIV I want to infect others so that I won't die alone'
The girls unfortunately never came to the group because there were ongoing issues that other staff members were working hard to resolve but which took most of the afternoon.
Wednesday I visited the creche that Gail has been working in; met some of the staff and saw the resources available. Gail then joined me visiting the disability home where we were fortunate to arrive at the home at the same time at some physio students from a local university who are doing weekly placement hours there at the moment. They ran their exercise group with the residents while we set up the painting activity.
We all then pitched in with assisting the residents painting which then freed me up for conversations with the manager and her son about some exciting plans I have up my sleeve (more on that later).
It was also really good to talk to the physios about what their plans were, inform them about my current objectives - they also helped me out with understanding the manual handling techniques that are used in the home.
We left the home tired and my hands resembled a smurfs/Avatars (delete according to your personal knowledge base..) but I enjoyed my morning there as usual :)
Thursday afternoon we were at the rehab centre in the afternoon and watched some roleplays which the residents had put together themselves. They did a very good job and I volunteered the use of my video camera to record the roleplays the following week :)
Friday was just a day at the school...I must explain that although I don't mention what we do in the school very often its because the specifics are often either not particularly interesting or would involve too much typing to explain; I'm thinking of explaining the structure of the two types of lessons we will often have. But I think that might come further towards the end when we're reflecting on the placement as a whole.
And then it was the weeekend!!
I love the weekends :) as always when you're working hard in placement...I can feel the nods coming from my fellow healthcare students right now :P
Friday night C and I went to Observatory - a local suburb which is described as 'hip and vibrant' in the tour guides and 'be careful' by some local South Africans.
We went to get late night coffee and (a rather mahoosive slice of) cake - I'm not sure that that was our initial intention but that's what happened :)
Coffee and cake led to a few hours of deep discussion; the best type of discussion there is...
We then wondered around a bit (don't worry we stayed on the well-lit streets..) and looked into a few bars but nothing appealed to us. We spoke to some random strangers for awhile - that sounds ridiculously dodgy I know - but it really wasn't!
We then drove back towards home with the aim of going to a bar along the way - but then the tiredness hit so we went home, talked some more and finally hit the pillow at 2am.
Not very hardcore of us I know - but thats just placement/working hours for you!
Saturday Gail, C and I went to Kirstenbosch Gardens (which Gail and I had visited with my family a few weeks ago) this time was more chilled; more time to wander aimlessly, look at the 'useful plants' section which was very interesting, eat picnics, soak up the glorious sunshine, take endless photos etc.
C headed home, Gail and I picked up some friends from UCT who then came and prepared some lovely food for all of us; then we headed to a joint birthday party for a couple from church...much fun - a shedload of crazy dancing - lots of sweets - plenty of good company and a generally great night.
However Gail and I were rather bored of introducing ourselves and explaining what we're doing in Cape Town by the end of the night!!
Sunday was actually a horrible day - wet and very windy which led to much sleeping/watching of movies/not doing very much. I actually really enjoy a day like that every once in a while so I mustn't complain!
S ran a 10km run (props - she's a great runner!) and we had a good Sunday eve - ready for the inevitable Monday morning!
Thursday, 7 October 2010
Mostly just holiday time. Week 6 & 7 - 20/09 - 03/10
Week 6 - 20/09 - 26/06
A bit of a patchy overview of this week....too much has happened since the beginning of that week!
Tuesday we did an arts and crafts session at the drug rehabilitation centre - the only session in the rehab centre that is a certainty on our schedule. We had some clay so got the residents sculpting their names/something to do with what they want to do when they're older/miscellaneous other..). A lot fun with the boys and the girls (they are separate for almost all activities because chaos reigns otherwise!)
The only downside was that the boys had a longer session than we planned so clay was used as ammunition and ceiling decoration(!) rather than for sculpting purposes...there were also a handful of fist fights and a incident with a chair being used as a weapon.
Tensions ran high and so the afternoon ended on a rather stressful note - but you definitely live and learn!
I went into the disability home on Wednesday with the learners (pupils) from the school.
It was nice for the learners to be there because I could run an activity without having to be everywhere all at once; which happens very easily when there are 10-15 residents all doing one task and only me (and sometimes Gail) available to help out.
So the residents made collages with the learners and I floated around a little bit. Taking to the manager and her son about possible future activity ideas in the home, chatting to a new resident about his interest in playing darts and generally helping out with the activity.
It was really good to see the learners engaging with the residents rather than just standing around or helping with the garden and the cleaning; obviously those things are important but opportunities to interact and boost the spirits of the residents shouldn't be missed.
Thursday we had a very interesting morning in the drug rehab centre.
A long, intense meeting (that really wasn't planned!) lots of talking, more emotion than you can shake a stick at and generally a very tiring day. I'm really not sure how to even begin to describe or explain what happened, my brain is still working on processing everything!
All throughout the week my family were staying in a guesthouse close to where we live so they spent the days gallivanting around and seeing the sights of Cape Town in pretty much record time! We saw them most evenings - either with them coming over to eat, us going out to eat or at least just hanging out together for a few hours, so great to have them around - even if it threw our routine around a bit!
On Friday it was Heritage Day or National Braai Day or both! A public holiday :)
Gail and I were up early and packing everything into the boot of the parents hire car :)
We (i.e. my dad :P) drove the 5-6hrs (which actually turned out to be 7-8hrs because of roadworks and holiday traffic!) down to Knysna, a town on the coast; along the Garden Route; very beautiful scenery while driving.
We spent the weekend chilling out, watching films, bike rides and canoeing on the lagoon near our house.
I say 'our house' it was actually a friends of ours in the UK - who said that we could stay there for a few days. The house was on a small, exclusive island just past Knysna - so lovely of them! Leisure Island is an amazing holiday destination!
Week 7 - 27/09 - 03/10
We were in Knysna till Wednesday as it was a week of school holiday - sleeping, shopping, eating good food and drinking good wines, going on hikes, canoeing every day, reading books, going to markets - generally just relaxing and enjoying ourselves.
Stopped by at Gordons Bay on our drive home. Ironically the day we drove home was the most consistent day in terms of hot, sunny weather - other days had a tendency to be cloudy and overcast, specially for the visiting Brits!
My family left shortly after we got back from Knysna - which made me feel rubbish for the rest of the evening :s
Luckily Thurs morning was bright and sunny - I got a text saying the fam were home safely (its soo weird to fly to the other side of the world in 12hrs!)
We went food shopping, chilled out at Mugg&Bean with S and used their internet as our home connection was temporarily indisposed.
If you don't know what Mugg&Bean is you obviously haven't been reading my blog so far (shame on you :P) ..just go and read some previous posts...
Friday was work day, that became otherwise known as laaazzeee day. oops. nevermind though it was very nice.
Saturday was the Old Biscuit Mill (marketplace). So. much. fun. Lots of cool shops and stalls; plenty and plenty of amazing, cheap(ish) food and drink (beer for 90p..yes please!), sunshine, good company, great atmosphere. Love that place!
Late afternoon was chill time and I cooked my mums mushroom lentil bake in the evening which went well and initiated many conversations on how the recipe could be played with to suit different people's taste.
Good times!
Sunday we went to Hout Bay Market again with S, C and many new friends. We love that market! Onto Hout Bay - ate the largest fish portion I've ever been served and then went home to work and attempt to prepare ourselves for Monday morning!
A great week this one :)
I love my family, I love all our friends in Cape Town, I love Table Mt!
Peace out x
A bit of a patchy overview of this week....too much has happened since the beginning of that week!
Tuesday we did an arts and crafts session at the drug rehabilitation centre - the only session in the rehab centre that is a certainty on our schedule. We had some clay so got the residents sculpting their names/something to do with what they want to do when they're older/miscellaneous other..). A lot fun with the boys and the girls (they are separate for almost all activities because chaos reigns otherwise!)
The only downside was that the boys had a longer session than we planned so clay was used as ammunition and ceiling decoration(!) rather than for sculpting purposes...there were also a handful of fist fights and a incident with a chair being used as a weapon.
Tensions ran high and so the afternoon ended on a rather stressful note - but you definitely live and learn!
I went into the disability home on Wednesday with the learners (pupils) from the school.
It was nice for the learners to be there because I could run an activity without having to be everywhere all at once; which happens very easily when there are 10-15 residents all doing one task and only me (and sometimes Gail) available to help out.
So the residents made collages with the learners and I floated around a little bit. Taking to the manager and her son about possible future activity ideas in the home, chatting to a new resident about his interest in playing darts and generally helping out with the activity.
It was really good to see the learners engaging with the residents rather than just standing around or helping with the garden and the cleaning; obviously those things are important but opportunities to interact and boost the spirits of the residents shouldn't be missed.
Thursday we had a very interesting morning in the drug rehab centre.
A long, intense meeting (that really wasn't planned!) lots of talking, more emotion than you can shake a stick at and generally a very tiring day. I'm really not sure how to even begin to describe or explain what happened, my brain is still working on processing everything!
All throughout the week my family were staying in a guesthouse close to where we live so they spent the days gallivanting around and seeing the sights of Cape Town in pretty much record time! We saw them most evenings - either with them coming over to eat, us going out to eat or at least just hanging out together for a few hours, so great to have them around - even if it threw our routine around a bit!
On Friday it was Heritage Day or National Braai Day or both! A public holiday :)
Gail and I were up early and packing everything into the boot of the parents hire car :)
We (i.e. my dad :P) drove the 5-6hrs (which actually turned out to be 7-8hrs because of roadworks and holiday traffic!) down to Knysna, a town on the coast; along the Garden Route; very beautiful scenery while driving.
We spent the weekend chilling out, watching films, bike rides and canoeing on the lagoon near our house.
I say 'our house' it was actually a friends of ours in the UK - who said that we could stay there for a few days. The house was on a small, exclusive island just past Knysna - so lovely of them! Leisure Island is an amazing holiday destination!
Week 7 - 27/09 - 03/10
We were in Knysna till Wednesday as it was a week of school holiday - sleeping, shopping, eating good food and drinking good wines, going on hikes, canoeing every day, reading books, going to markets - generally just relaxing and enjoying ourselves.
Stopped by at Gordons Bay on our drive home. Ironically the day we drove home was the most consistent day in terms of hot, sunny weather - other days had a tendency to be cloudy and overcast, specially for the visiting Brits!
My family left shortly after we got back from Knysna - which made me feel rubbish for the rest of the evening :s
Luckily Thurs morning was bright and sunny - I got a text saying the fam were home safely (its soo weird to fly to the other side of the world in 12hrs!)
We went food shopping, chilled out at Mugg&Bean with S and used their internet as our home connection was temporarily indisposed.
If you don't know what Mugg&Bean is you obviously haven't been reading my blog so far (shame on you :P) ..just go and read some previous posts...
Friday was work day, that became otherwise known as laaazzeee day. oops. nevermind though it was very nice.
Saturday was the Old Biscuit Mill (marketplace). So. much. fun. Lots of cool shops and stalls; plenty and plenty of amazing, cheap(ish) food and drink (beer for 90p..yes please!), sunshine, good company, great atmosphere. Love that place!
Late afternoon was chill time and I cooked my mums mushroom lentil bake in the evening which went well and initiated many conversations on how the recipe could be played with to suit different people's taste.
Good times!
Sunday we went to Hout Bay Market again with S, C and many new friends. We love that market! Onto Hout Bay - ate the largest fish portion I've ever been served and then went home to work and attempt to prepare ourselves for Monday morning!
A great week this one :)
I love my family, I love all our friends in Cape Town, I love Table Mt!
Peace out x
Monday, 20 September 2010
2 weeks for the price of 1! 06/09-19/09
Week 4: 06/09 - 12/09
OK, I've officially left it too late to start writing this: struggling to remember what happened when!
This past week started well - we got an introduction to the rehab centre on Monday and helped to run the residents craft and sports activities on Tuesday!
The activities were rather impromptu because of a lack of resources and time to plan. The sports and craft materials have not yet been budgeted for, so we're not allowed to buy anything just yet
(say it all together now..) T.I.A!
One of the ice-breakers/trust games that was explained in the drama workshop was played repeatedly in the lessons we help facilitate; a lot of fun albeit slightly repetitive!
We were able to go into the disability home this week - driving our car.
We ran a painting group with the residents and found that there were more resources than I'd previously known about.
This is great news as the residents currently don't do anything during the day because there aren't enough members of staff or motivation for anything to be run; so I am glad that even though my once a week activity session is far from adequate I can hopefully stay in contact with this new initiative and hear of the positive steps which will be taken next year towards a more engaging routine in the home.
On Weds eve we went to an exercise class called NIA (more info here: http://www.niasouthafrica.co.za/)
I tried out one of these classes in Cardiff during my first year and enjoyed them but stopped going because I didn't really have enough time and classes were quite expensive.
The classes here are cheaper and alot of fun so it looks like they're going to be a regular thing :)
I would like to carry on going to Zumba on a regular basis aswell - but we'll see!
Thursday was an interesting day. We were both feeling stressed about work and frustrated about a mis-understanding about study hours. We ended up having an awkward conversation with our supervisor but ultimately we got the day off to study; which was such a relief!
The sun came out, we studied at home, went food shopping and had a study break at Mugg&Bean (the best kind of study break there is..)
I finally satisfied my craving for chocolate mousse cake and was very full for the rest of the afternoon (after only half a slice of cake...the portions are that big!)
In the evening we went to the bible study group that one of my friends from last time in SA has introduced me to.
Had such a great time making friends, meeting new people! The topics discussed and prayed through were very pertinent to Gail and I that we came away feeling refreshed and re-motivated. I officially wish that the group could meet every night!
Then Friday rolled around; and what a bizarre day it was!
And then, there was the afternoon...
The man who had run the drama workshop the week before had said there was a drama group that he would like us to be able to meet at UCT (the university of Cape Town) this week.
So after work those of us left in the office trundled off to the UCT drama, dance & arts campus in the CBD (centre of town).
We had rather vague instructions about what was going to happen and consequently ended up wandering around asking random people if they knew anything about this event we knew very little about..there was a drama festival taking place so there were quite few options to choose from!
You never know whats going to happen in the future though eh!?
So that was that and we managed to escape dazed but otherwise unharmed(!) after 3 hours.
And then it was the weekeennnndd!
C, an American student teacher working at LEAP joined us on Friday evening for the last minutes of the film 'the notebook 'and slept in the spare bed in my room.
Saturday morning we were going to go to NIA again but sleep was too inviting (esp as C and I had been awake til the early morning talking away)
We ended the day with a smoothie each before heading to a braai (bbq) of a fellow colleague.
By the time we got there a fair amount of alcohol had already been consumed which led to a fair amount of funny conversation :)
Sunday was a lovely day we went to Llanduno Bay, Hout Bay Market and the V&A Waterfront, again with T, who took us down to Cape Point the weekend before!
Week 5: 13/09 - 19/09
Another week, another challenge, more learning!
- Origami activity, sport and yoga at the drug rehab centre.
- Lesson facilitation and intense meetings galore at the school.
- A morning in the disability home - frustrated with the lack of daily acivity and routine, therapeutic input and motivation for change; a lot to do - but every drop in the ocean counts.
Been inspired/motivated by this quote I found:
- Meeting my family at Cape Town Airport on Friday morning; then getting stuck in traffic on the way back to work, sitting in one lesson, visiting a local crèche, lunchtime, drug rehab (only to find we actually need to be back at school to meet with both our supervisors!)
Alot of driving that day for sure!
This trip continues to be the steepest learning curve I have ever been on.
In terms of my learning about OT; yes thats rolled in there, but mostly I'm finding myself challenged on a personal level - particularly emotionally and spiritually.
Adjusting to our role in the school is interesting - we are in more of a teaching role than a therapist role. The difference in roles didn't match with our expectations (although its sometimes difficult to work out exactly what I was expecting) and its been a difficult transition - moreso for Gail than me, but there's alot to learn for the both of us.
From day to day I sometimes wonder how all these thoughts, feelings can be circulating in me without exploding.
Its interesting for sure!
The weekends are a refuge!
Lots of fun, stunning views, sunshine and good company.
Kirstenbosch Gardens are STUNNING - can't wait to upload the photos and look through them properly - I got very snap happy with all the flowers, scenery, statues, beautiful people I was with etc :)Gail and I are hoping to go back and spend more time exploring the gardens properly - as more time is most definitely needed!
OK, I've officially left it too late to start writing this: struggling to remember what happened when!
This past week started well - we got an introduction to the rehab centre on Monday and helped to run the residents craft and sports activities on Tuesday!
The activities were rather impromptu because of a lack of resources and time to plan. The sports and craft materials have not yet been budgeted for, so we're not allowed to buy anything just yet
(say it all together now..) T.I.A!
One of the ice-breakers/trust games that was explained in the drama workshop was played repeatedly in the lessons we help facilitate; a lot of fun albeit slightly repetitive!
We were able to go into the disability home this week - driving our car.
We ran a painting group with the residents and found that there were more resources than I'd previously known about.
The residents all really got into the painting which was very encouraging and a lot of fun to see them engaging in an activity.
This is great news as the residents currently don't do anything during the day because there aren't enough members of staff or motivation for anything to be run; so I am glad that even though my once a week activity session is far from adequate I can hopefully stay in contact with this new initiative and hear of the positive steps which will be taken next year towards a more engaging routine in the home.
On Weds eve we went to an exercise class called NIA (more info here: http://www.niasouthafrica.co.za/)
I tried out one of these classes in Cardiff during my first year and enjoyed them but stopped going because I didn't really have enough time and classes were quite expensive.
The classes here are cheaper and alot of fun so it looks like they're going to be a regular thing :)
I would like to carry on going to Zumba on a regular basis aswell - but we'll see!
Thursday was an interesting day. We were both feeling stressed about work and frustrated about a mis-understanding about study hours. We ended up having an awkward conversation with our supervisor but ultimately we got the day off to study; which was such a relief!
The sun came out, we studied at home, went food shopping and had a study break at Mugg&Bean (the best kind of study break there is..)
I finally satisfied my craving for chocolate mousse cake and was very full for the rest of the afternoon (after only half a slice of cake...the portions are that big!)
In the evening we went to the bible study group that one of my friends from last time in SA has introduced me to.
Had such a great time making friends, meeting new people! The topics discussed and prayed through were very pertinent to Gail and I that we came away feeling refreshed and re-motivated. I officially wish that the group could meet every night!
Then Friday rolled around; and what a bizarre day it was!
The morning was fairly normal, it was Eid (the end of the month of Ramadaan) so the office was quieter than usual (read: there was space for everyone to sit down..) as our Muslim colleagues were celebrating breaking their fast.
The conversations in the classes was quite informal - talked about the solar system and the universe (not the usual curriculum/lesson plan) but a lot of fun nonetheless.
And then, there was the afternoon...
The man who had run the drama workshop the week before had said there was a drama group that he would like us to be able to meet at UCT (the university of Cape Town) this week.
So after work those of us left in the office trundled off to the UCT drama, dance & arts campus in the CBD (centre of town).
We had rather vague instructions about what was going to happen and consequently ended up wandering around asking random people if they knew anything about this event we knew very little about..there was a drama festival taking place so there were quite few options to choose from!
Eventually we got to something resembling a workshop and joined in.
Some say that we entered the twilight zone when we entered that room, others simply say we got the wrong place (we're not actually sure) but what ensued can possibly only be described as some of the weirdest hours of my life.
You never know whats going to happen in the future though eh!?
So that was that and we managed to escape dazed but otherwise unharmed(!) after 3 hours.
And then it was the weekeennnndd!
C, an American student teacher working at LEAP joined us on Friday evening for the last minutes of the film 'the notebook 'and slept in the spare bed in my room.
Saturday morning we were going to go to NIA again but sleep was too inviting (esp as C and I had been awake til the early morning talking away)
The day was gloriously sunny and blue so we packed a lunch and went to Camps Bay.
Camps Bay is such a great beach! It is set in a very fashionable and upmarket area, stunning scenery, foaming breakers on the beach, freezing cold sea, lots of friendly people, the occasional bike enthusiast and plenty of shops and restaurants.
We ended the day with a smoothie each before heading to a braai (bbq) of a fellow colleague.
By the time we got there a fair amount of alcohol had already been consumed which led to a fair amount of funny conversation :)
Sunday was a lovely day we went to Llanduno Bay, Hout Bay Market and the V&A Waterfront, again with T, who took us down to Cape Point the weekend before!
Week 5: 13/09 - 19/09
Another week, another challenge, more learning!
- Origami activity, sport and yoga at the drug rehab centre.
- Lesson facilitation and intense meetings galore at the school.
- A morning in the disability home - frustrated with the lack of daily acivity and routine, therapeutic input and motivation for change; a lot to do - but every drop in the ocean counts.
Been inspired/motivated by this quote I found:
"Treat people as if they were, what they ought to be and you help them become what they are capable of being." Johann W von Goethe
- Good sunshine and cold evenings
- Meeting my family at Cape Town Airport on Friday morning; then getting stuck in traffic on the way back to work, sitting in one lesson, visiting a local crèche, lunchtime, drug rehab (only to find we actually need to be back at school to meet with both our supervisors!)
Alot of driving that day for sure!
This trip continues to be the steepest learning curve I have ever been on.
In terms of my learning about OT; yes thats rolled in there, but mostly I'm finding myself challenged on a personal level - particularly emotionally and spiritually.
Adjusting to our role in the school is interesting - we are in more of a teaching role than a therapist role. The difference in roles didn't match with our expectations (although its sometimes difficult to work out exactly what I was expecting) and its been a difficult transition - moreso for Gail than me, but there's alot to learn for the both of us.
The rest of the learning (if you can ever quantify it!) has come in finding ways to support each other; we are struggling, learning, coping together.
'Intense' is one of the most frequently used words in my vocabulary when I am asked to summarise my daily life.From day to day I sometimes wonder how all these thoughts, feelings can be circulating in me without exploding.
Its interesting for sure!
The weekends are a refuge!
This last weekend was busier than most because my family are visiting us at the moment - and they were very eager to get up early and make the most of our days. A fun weekend - but I've needed two cups of coffee already this morning(!)
Saturday - got lost on the way to Constantia because of a genuine fault in Gail and I's map book which had us all on the wrong stretch of road for a good 20mins..fun times!
Lots of fun, stunning views, sunshine and good company.
Kirstenbosch Gardens are STUNNING - can't wait to upload the photos and look through them properly - I got very snap happy with all the flowers, scenery, statues, beautiful people I was with etc :)Gail and I are hoping to go back and spend more time exploring the gardens properly - as more time is most definitely needed!
The gardens made me wonder if this is what the Garden of Eden/the world without any pollution and development would have looked like. 'mazing.
There was a plan to go up the cable car on Table Mt for sunset but there were a few too many clouds to make that worthwhile when the time came; so we made our way to a local restaurant which had been recommended to my family earlier on.
Sunday - A group of 7 of us. My family, Gail, S, C and I drove to Stellenbosch - did plenty of wine tasting and then made our way to Moyo restaurant...a tourist experience thats worth having if ever there is one!
I went to a Moyo restaurant with my fellow volunteers (Team Wildcats - i miss those okes!) in Durban two years ago and was determined to introduce my friends and family to the same fabulous experience!
We spent several hours there skipped the planned second wine tasting and drove home to chill for half an hour before going to church.
Church was fun but also slightly surreal - because I've known people in the church and started to make friends for about 3weeks now - so to suddenly go 'and here are my family' was pretty intense (for them more than me) but everyone was very gracious and welcoming which was cool!
I'm excited for this week and thinking carefully how spending time with my family and still keeping some form of routine and work discipline is going to work! (I mean its pretty unusual for your family to be there instead of a tutor during your 'half way visit' :P)
There's a public holiday this Friday and then a 10day school holiday which we're all looking forward to.
Time is going so quickly!
I hope this post hasn't been too mammoth and apologies to my regular readers who may have noticed my poor timekeeping - after the school holidays (which will no doubt make the timing of my next post a little tricky to predict!) I will strive to resume my weekly posts...more for my benefit than yours - typing up two weeks takes forever!
Thankyou for reading, I think the typing goes some way in helping me stay sane!
I love Table Mt!
Tuesday, 7 September 2010
Week 3: 29/08 - 05/09
Phew!
Am I glad its the weekend!
If the stress levels are going to increase like this every week I'm not gonna have anything left by the end!
We have had more car issues than you can shake a stick at...over three days we had four separate issues - I'm sure you'd like to hear all about it...
1) We've had v.squeaky brakes since recieving the car so this week we contacted the company and asked them to come have a look so that if the brake pads were too worn we couldn't be held responsible for any damage.
Of course this issue by itself would have been fine, however...
2) On the way home from placement on Tuesday we were sat in traffic moving at snails-pace when a fellow Citi Golf shunted us from behind. Nothing major, no one else involved, driver v.apologetic, damage rather minor - but we took details anyway seeing as its a hire car and we want to avoid extra costs!
Lots and lots of stares from fellow south african drivers as said exchange took place!
Again, not really a problem, just one of those things....
3) We stopped to get gas/fuel/petrol/LRP (delete as appropriate..) on Tuesday - and is fairly standard practice at South African garages/forecourts/petrol stations we asked the guy who filled up the tank to check our oil and water...the responsible hire car drivers that we are....
Side note for readers from other countries....in SA people fill your petrol tank for you, a job born out of a need for employment and a certain laziness on the car drivers side too I'm sure.
The typical tip for a pump attendant upon completion of fuelling = 2-3 rand...more if they have checked oil or water etc.
Oh, and in my experience you might occansionally recieve a mud brown coloured mug with your change if the attendant likes the look of you :P
Moving on, the pump attendant said we needed some more oil so we bought some more oil, he poured it in and off we trundled.
All fine until steam/smoke starts rising from under the bonnet/hood.
So we check the engine when we get home and find some sticky brown stuff smoking nicely.
Decision is made to clean it up tomorrow morning before we leave as its too hot at that moment.
So Weds morning rolls around we clean off the visible oil as much as possible, check the oil cap is on properly and keep a old rag in the car, just in case....
Fastforward about 15 minutes into our morning journey and we're looking worriedly at yet more smoke coming out.
Being girls with no particular interest in the details of a car engine...or most types of engine for that matter we pull over at a petrol station...open the bonnet and find more oil in the engine - and what appears to be a dribble from the oil cap.
So we clean it up again - as much as we can, fiddle with the oil cap for a while, no problem or solution is found so we close up again and carry on
By the time we get to school the smoke is bad, Kat and Gail have been gassed with oil fumes and anxiety levels are high (at what point does oil get hot enough to combust?!?)
(Side note for those who are now worried about oil leaks...we have since been told that oil doesn't combust v.easily without a spark - but caution is advised because it is an engine and there are spark plugs in there..more on those later unfortunately..)
So we phone the car rental company - who were planning to come look at the brakes anyway and inform them of the current situation, they tell us that they'll let us know when they're on the way.
By mid-afternoon we're antsy and so call them again - they're too busy with other cars to come to where we are - can we drive to the offices where there is always a mechanic or two on site?
Not having much of a choice we left school an hour early and made our way nervously across the suburbs
Just under half way through the journey we stop again because the fumes are bad and we're stressed. Man comes to help, said help is suspiciously regarded and held at arms length but he helps anyway.
We are informed that the seal on the oil cap is missing hence the constant smoke and oil in engine, brilliant!
Pressing on we finally make it to the car hire company, very nice people, fix the oil cap quickly, offer the passenger a beer, knock the sand out of the brake system so they will stop squeaking, take the details of the shunt incident the day before (yes, it felt like a long time ago by then to us too...) and we thanked them and went on our merry way home.
Well I say merry, it was rush hour and I got cut up by like a million taxis (who have their own rules of the road...i/e. no rules..) and had to cut up one driver myself..needless to say we're avoiding that stretch of road in rush hour again.
Car saga over!?
No, unfortunately not...
That evening we went for a meal out with our two housemates and fellow student from the school (C) - as a belated birthday gift for our South African housemate (J) - really nice food (I mentioned this trip is actually all about the culinary delights of SA right!? :P)
But when we drove C home we found we had NO acceleration, interesting - we hadn't noticed that issue earlier!
This problem persisted the next morning on the way to work and even with the petal on the metal we were dead slow and stop.
So once again we phoned the company (with whom we are now on first name terms with now...!) and reported the latest installment of the saga.
This time they were able to come out to our house in the evening...and not just one mechanic either but FIVE!
I tried to make jokes about how many mechanics it might take to fix a car - but this Brits lame attempt at humour/sarcasm got blank stares and 'can we have the keys?'
So I curiously/awkwardly hovered at the edge of the action while things were prodded, pulled out, put back in, changed and checked.
Further attempts at conversation and 'I don't know if this makes any difference but' were met with more stares and occansional Afrikaans muttering; so I just shut up as I didn't have Gail there to translate or feel stupid with...
Not long after the problem was identified as a 'dead' spark plug which means the engine had been firing at half-capacity (two cylinders rather than four I think...) and therefore a 1.4l engine was reduced to somewhere in the 0.something catergory
Hardly the nippy acceleration we've become used to!
You'll be pleased to know that this is the end of the car saga and we hope that it will be the end of it for a substansial amount of time to come!
I now know more about a car engine, will be dealing with my own oil and water levels in the future and will most definitely just keep my big mouth shut the next time a group of men are discussing/dealing with their beloved metal on wheels....
OK, other things that happened during the week....we had a fun planning and facilitating our very own life orientation lesson with one of the classes - which went well
but inevitably has some room for improvement
I didn't get to go to the disability home because of transport issues...this week we're taking our car so that I don't have to make that embarassing phone call
all over again
We went to a drama workshop in the drug rehabilitation centre which was a lot of fun and thought provoking...we'll get to see/use some of those skills over our time
at the rehab centre
Dealt with yet more office politics and got v.frustrated (not helped by the levels of general stress from the car or own expectations etc)
Things will be better this week...we've had a very good weekend to help us relax...
Saturday - Zumba class in the morning, chilled out day at home, then S, our housemate cousin, her school friends and I went out to Long St for a night of partying.
I had never experienced Long St before and really enjoyed the laidback atmosphere and music. Was glad to find a relaxed dress code aswell :)
A few drinks and ances later S and I came home - leaving the younger ones to party the night away (literally!)
Sunday mornning came round too fast but a friend of a friend of S (we're all about the random connections on this trip) came and took us out for the day.
By 10.30AM (!) we were sunbathing and sipping champagne and wine at a vineyard in the shadow of Table Mt - bliss!
Then off to Cape Point for lunch and exploration -- and I actually saw Cape Point this time! Last time the actual point itself was completely shrouded in rain and cloud!
Also saw a whale from a long way off - so exciting...I also managed to spot a whales tail disappearing into the sea on our drive home - but it happened too
quicly for everyone else to look..
Finally we stopped near Boulders Bay (the penguin sanctuary) and took a few photos but didn't pay to go into the sanctuary because we were all pretty tired by
that point.
So we were dropped off home, Gail and I had a nap and some food then went to church-on-main where we had a great evening - met the waiter who had served us wine
in the morning (seriously, what are the chances!?), drank free hot chocolate (the perks of being a visitor :P), met a teacher from the school where our housemate
S is working and generally had a fun time!
This week (although I am well aware that I could very easily write the first half of the next post already...sorry...when you go out on Sunday and mess up your
routine things get a bit hectic on the blogging front...)
- Get more involved with drug rehab/actually find out whats going on
- Go to the disability home and grovel for not being there last week
- Be less stressed (i.e. have less car trouble!!)
I love Table Mt!
Peace out x
Am I glad its the weekend!
If the stress levels are going to increase like this every week I'm not gonna have anything left by the end!
We have had more car issues than you can shake a stick at...over three days we had four separate issues - I'm sure you'd like to hear all about it...
1) We've had v.squeaky brakes since recieving the car so this week we contacted the company and asked them to come have a look so that if the brake pads were too worn we couldn't be held responsible for any damage.
Of course this issue by itself would have been fine, however...
2) On the way home from placement on Tuesday we were sat in traffic moving at snails-pace when a fellow Citi Golf shunted us from behind. Nothing major, no one else involved, driver v.apologetic, damage rather minor - but we took details anyway seeing as its a hire car and we want to avoid extra costs!
Lots and lots of stares from fellow south african drivers as said exchange took place!
Again, not really a problem, just one of those things....
3) We stopped to get gas/fuel/petrol/LRP (delete as appropriate..) on Tuesday - and is fairly standard practice at South African garages/forecourts/petrol stations we asked the guy who filled up the tank to check our oil and water...the responsible hire car drivers that we are....
Side note for readers from other countries....in SA people fill your petrol tank for you, a job born out of a need for employment and a certain laziness on the car drivers side too I'm sure.
The typical tip for a pump attendant upon completion of fuelling = 2-3 rand...more if they have checked oil or water etc.
Oh, and in my experience you might occansionally recieve a mud brown coloured mug with your change if the attendant likes the look of you :P
Moving on, the pump attendant said we needed some more oil so we bought some more oil, he poured it in and off we trundled.
All fine until steam/smoke starts rising from under the bonnet/hood.
So we check the engine when we get home and find some sticky brown stuff smoking nicely.
Decision is made to clean it up tomorrow morning before we leave as its too hot at that moment.
So Weds morning rolls around we clean off the visible oil as much as possible, check the oil cap is on properly and keep a old rag in the car, just in case....
Fastforward about 15 minutes into our morning journey and we're looking worriedly at yet more smoke coming out.
Being girls with no particular interest in the details of a car engine...or most types of engine for that matter we pull over at a petrol station...open the bonnet and find more oil in the engine - and what appears to be a dribble from the oil cap.
So we clean it up again - as much as we can, fiddle with the oil cap for a while, no problem or solution is found so we close up again and carry on
By the time we get to school the smoke is bad, Kat and Gail have been gassed with oil fumes and anxiety levels are high (at what point does oil get hot enough to combust?!?)
(Side note for those who are now worried about oil leaks...we have since been told that oil doesn't combust v.easily without a spark - but caution is advised because it is an engine and there are spark plugs in there..more on those later unfortunately..)
So we phone the car rental company - who were planning to come look at the brakes anyway and inform them of the current situation, they tell us that they'll let us know when they're on the way.
By mid-afternoon we're antsy and so call them again - they're too busy with other cars to come to where we are - can we drive to the offices where there is always a mechanic or two on site?
Not having much of a choice we left school an hour early and made our way nervously across the suburbs
Just under half way through the journey we stop again because the fumes are bad and we're stressed. Man comes to help, said help is suspiciously regarded and held at arms length but he helps anyway.
We are informed that the seal on the oil cap is missing hence the constant smoke and oil in engine, brilliant!
Pressing on we finally make it to the car hire company, very nice people, fix the oil cap quickly, offer the passenger a beer, knock the sand out of the brake system so they will stop squeaking, take the details of the shunt incident the day before (yes, it felt like a long time ago by then to us too...) and we thanked them and went on our merry way home.
Well I say merry, it was rush hour and I got cut up by like a million taxis (who have their own rules of the road...i/e. no rules..) and had to cut up one driver myself..needless to say we're avoiding that stretch of road in rush hour again.
Car saga over!?
No, unfortunately not...
That evening we went for a meal out with our two housemates and fellow student from the school (C) - as a belated birthday gift for our South African housemate (J) - really nice food (I mentioned this trip is actually all about the culinary delights of SA right!? :P)
But when we drove C home we found we had NO acceleration, interesting - we hadn't noticed that issue earlier!
This problem persisted the next morning on the way to work and even with the petal on the metal we were dead slow and stop.
So once again we phoned the company (with whom we are now on first name terms with now...!) and reported the latest installment of the saga.
This time they were able to come out to our house in the evening...and not just one mechanic either but FIVE!
I tried to make jokes about how many mechanics it might take to fix a car - but this Brits lame attempt at humour/sarcasm got blank stares and 'can we have the keys?'
So I curiously/awkwardly hovered at the edge of the action while things were prodded, pulled out, put back in, changed and checked.
Further attempts at conversation and 'I don't know if this makes any difference but' were met with more stares and occansional Afrikaans muttering; so I just shut up as I didn't have Gail there to translate or feel stupid with...
Not long after the problem was identified as a 'dead' spark plug which means the engine had been firing at half-capacity (two cylinders rather than four I think...) and therefore a 1.4l engine was reduced to somewhere in the 0.something catergory
Hardly the nippy acceleration we've become used to!
You'll be pleased to know that this is the end of the car saga and we hope that it will be the end of it for a substansial amount of time to come!
I now know more about a car engine, will be dealing with my own oil and water levels in the future and will most definitely just keep my big mouth shut the next time a group of men are discussing/dealing with their beloved metal on wheels....
OK, other things that happened during the week....we had a fun planning and facilitating our very own life orientation lesson with one of the classes - which went well
but inevitably has some room for improvement
I didn't get to go to the disability home because of transport issues...this week we're taking our car so that I don't have to make that embarassing phone call
all over again
We went to a drama workshop in the drug rehabilitation centre which was a lot of fun and thought provoking...we'll get to see/use some of those skills over our time
at the rehab centre
Dealt with yet more office politics and got v.frustrated (not helped by the levels of general stress from the car or own expectations etc)
Things will be better this week...we've had a very good weekend to help us relax...
Saturday - Zumba class in the morning, chilled out day at home, then S, our housemate cousin, her school friends and I went out to Long St for a night of partying.
I had never experienced Long St before and really enjoyed the laidback atmosphere and music. Was glad to find a relaxed dress code aswell :)
A few drinks and ances later S and I came home - leaving the younger ones to party the night away (literally!)
Sunday mornning came round too fast but a friend of a friend of S (we're all about the random connections on this trip) came and took us out for the day.
By 10.30AM (!) we were sunbathing and sipping champagne and wine at a vineyard in the shadow of Table Mt - bliss!
Then off to Cape Point for lunch and exploration -- and I actually saw Cape Point this time! Last time the actual point itself was completely shrouded in rain and cloud!
Also saw a whale from a long way off - so exciting...I also managed to spot a whales tail disappearing into the sea on our drive home - but it happened too
quicly for everyone else to look..
Finally we stopped near Boulders Bay (the penguin sanctuary) and took a few photos but didn't pay to go into the sanctuary because we were all pretty tired by
that point.
So we were dropped off home, Gail and I had a nap and some food then went to church-on-main where we had a great evening - met the waiter who had served us wine
in the morning (seriously, what are the chances!?), drank free hot chocolate (the perks of being a visitor :P), met a teacher from the school where our housemate
S is working and generally had a fun time!
This week (although I am well aware that I could very easily write the first half of the next post already...sorry...when you go out on Sunday and mess up your
routine things get a bit hectic on the blogging front...)
- Get more involved with drug rehab/actually find out whats going on
- Go to the disability home and grovel for not being there last week
- Be less stressed (i.e. have less car trouble!!)
I love Table Mt!
Peace out x
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