Views from the new office

The Children and Violence Programme moved downstairs all in to one office and outside one window is this Bird of Paradise.

It is so curious how we end up with different habits around the world. My housemate and I had breakfast together last Monday and he commented on me putting butter on my waffle. Apparently not done here.

New Mexican food night

Kate holding Jazz and Clare

Clare and Jane - rolling out tortillas

Last night I had a few friends over for to make some corn tortillas and dinner to go with them. My mom sent me the smallest package of masa harina she could find...about 5 pounds of it. We made black bean enchiladas, tortilla chips and Indian fry bread.

Tonight is a Christ's Church young adult social at someone's house in Constantia.

Tomorrow night is the South Africa Springboks vs. the USA Eagles in the rugby World Cup. I need to go find some face paint. :)

Saw the doctor yesterday for a medical clearance and chest x-ray for TB for my visa. Apparently in South Africa they get TB? boosters as children and therefore they do not administer skin tests here.

Plans for 2010

The one picture is the location of the World Cup soccer stadium in Cape Town. They took part of a golf course to build it. There is a lot of controversy over the stadium. Some people don't want it built there, others feel that it is not conveniently located for the people who are fans of soccer, others question whether it will be done in time.

The other picture of St. George Cathedral, where I attended the evensong service. I think it is also where the archbishop of Cape Town (oversees all of South Africa Anglican diocese) presides.

Mountain Highs and Ocean Lows

Snickerdoodles, dark photographs are my bane. My friend Doug sent me these photos to post on my blog and here they are. The first, unseeable one is of some fish, directly above is Doug and to the left, I assume it is Doug as well - diving.

The quick update is that my car died on the highway yesterday at rush hour. Apparently the distributor points were burned (for any interested parties) and this morning the mechanic said it was the coil and it seems to be running quite well now.

I went to the Department of Home Affairs today and managed to get an application to change my status. Now just need to get the paperwork together. On my way to staying until November 20 now. :)

Exploring the Terra Firma

Scrap the pictures, keep picking the dark ones. This was just a artistic picture of some trees.
And if you look closely enough you can almost see the gap in this person's teeth, suggesting the "passion gap" I have mentioned earlier.

I have started exploring the area more. Taking Vuyo out in search of hikes and walking spots. Saturday we went to the Rondebosch craft market in the park and then a birthday picnic cut short to attend puppy obedience classes. Back to the party to catch the second half of the Rugby World Cup game of South Africa Springboks against Tonga. The Springboks are looking good to win the tournament and they play the USA on Sunday. I've been telling people that I am going to paint my face for that game (to do list: find some face paint).

Sunday, I tried to find a dog show and came home. Took Vuyo out to Sea Point for a walk, but forgot the leash. Fortunately? my car's seatbelts are tied to a bracket on the floor and I untied one and used that as a leash. Then off to St' George's Cathedral for the Evensong service.

Monday was a public holiday, Heritage Day. Parked my car for the day and read a book and went for a hike with some dogs and friends in the forest.

This week is Spring Break, so no work with the schools and half the Children and Violence Programme is on holiday.

A Green Wednesday being followed by a Purple Thursday

The cricket stadium with a view of Devil's Peak. The rugby stadium is just off to the right side.
South Africa vs. Pakistan in cricket
A soccer fan
The vuvuzela's are a requirement at soccer games. My friends claimed their ears were ringing afterwards.

Sagas continue in perseverance and waves. So I messed up a bit with application stuff. My holiday visa expires October 22 and I thought I could keep extending that as long as I could show financial ability. Nope. I should have applied for a temporary residence visa from the beginning. Now I need three more weeks on my visa and I can't get anything less than six months and I need a reason for it at that. So I can change my plane ticket and pack up and go home October 22 or take a letter from The Trauma Centre stating that I am volunteering for six months (and that is just to start the application process).

My car and my colds continue at much the same rate.

Two weeks ago, I went to a cricket game and a soccer game. I have learned a bit about how cricket is played. Fortunately it was the twenty 20 World Cup and so it was a much quicker game than other cricket matches (4 hours). Did you know that one team bats first and than the other team just tries to surpass their score? Once that happens, the game ends.

The soccer game was between a local Cape Town team (Ajax) and a Johannesburg team (Jomo Cosmos).

The New Addition to the Household

We added a Labrador puppy to our house Thursday night. Jules brought home two puppies from his uncle's litter in the Eastern Cape (one for someone else). Unfortunately, they spent Thursday night throwing up and so Jules did not get much sleep. What a rude introduction!

Then Jasmine (Jazz) also spent Saturday night throwing up and was taken to the hospital on Sunday. She has cat flu and is still at the vet on a drip. Fortunately Vuyo has had all his shots and has not shown any signs of being sick. But my housemate is having a rough start to being a dog owner.

Vuyo loves to play with Jazz, but is still learning to play gently and Jazz fights back. Plus, I am sure they are sorting out who will be on top at the house. :)

Hiking and Sporting

The title has to do with the forthcoming sport photos. But only hiking ones today. I went for a drive Saturday morning to do a little exploring and walk with Vuyo. We ended up stopping and hiking through some trails briefly.

The top photograph is almost the tip of Africa. Cape Point is sometimes falsely stated as the tip of Africa or where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. Not quite accurate.

On other points, I had some news yesterday regarding my future plans. This past week, I have been trying to ensure that I was registered to take the board exam in two weeks. I learned yesterday that I must first send in my application to register as a psychologist. I have had that application ready since February, simply waiting on a letter of endorsement from the Department of Health. The Dept. of Health sent me a letter endorsing me to take the board exam, so that is the next step I took.

The committee that reviews the foreign applications for psychology meets quarterly - next meeting 29 November. The next board exam is in January (while I am scheduled to be in the USA) and the deadline to register for that is 1 December. Currently then, I cannot take the board exam until April.

I think I have narrowed things to three options:

1) return home and wait until April

2) try to find a job doing something else in South Africa

3) pack it all up and move on to something else

People Hide Out in the Kitchen

Brad, my housemate's brother with Vuyo
Housemates - Cat and Fritz
Housemate - Jules

Vuyo is not allowed in the Kitchen and so people will tease him by running into the kitchen.

These are just pictures of us hanging out one night.

Ostrich Dances and Thieving Baboons

Ostriches at Cape Point. At the turn -off to Cape Point we saw over 20 baboons ahead on the road. Baboons are all over, see them walking along the road and they will go into people's homes and take food.
The Funicular...the ride to the top of the hill.
The lighthouse at the tip of Cape Point, said to be the most powerful lighthouse in southern Africa.
Some of us climbed over the wall to sit on the rocks. Brad in the foreground is my housemate Jule's brother, his girlfriend Lydia and her brother Matthew. Brad said we should lay down because the wind can suddenly come up.

Vascillating Between Blue Skies and Gray Rains

Still a bit of winter in the air as we move into spring in the Southern Hemisphere and those in the north are cooling down.

I am on the tail-end of a horrible cold from last week (took two days off of work), so not much activity. The Rugby World Cup started last weekend in France and South Africa Springboks are hopefuls to win, so i forewent the National Soccer team (Bafana-Bafana) playing Zambia in an African Cup qualifier down the street to watch the Springbok's opening game against Samoa. Tonight they play England - the title-holders and I am excited that the USA is in the same group and so will play South Africa soon.

I have met with parents to start individual therapy with children and expect to actually meet some children for counseling next week (with only 7 weeks left at my internship).

I have been climbing out of my slump and gathering focus. A sermon at church on Sunday was about Joshua and the crossing of the Jordan River and about transition periods. Some time spent with coworkers this week talking about life in first- and third-world cultures, as well as community and attitudes on race in South Africa. Getting back to working on paperwork, making sure my name is on the roster for the board exam in October (currently can't be found).
Remembering that despite my exhaustion in living life these days, this is where I should be and where I should stay for the time being.

The Last Time I Wore Goth

Thought I would post the pictures referred to in comments of the time my friends witnessed (and participated in dressing up). On the left is Sonya and on the right is Aurora. This was for a Rasputina concert at the House of Blues in Chicago a few years ago. Rasputina is an electric cello trio.

Another View Through The Window

A picture I took through the car window when we stopped at the shop in Hermanus.

Oky, So I do Know How To Work with People

The past month has been filled with workshops and evenings of work. Yesterday, I took over a social skills group of elementary and middle school age students. The two interns that had been leading it were kinda thrown into it and the school in some ways was setting them up to fail. The one intern is traveling for two weeks for training and I am filling in for her, although I will finish the group in order to minimize changes. There were only 3 yesterday (the others having been suspended) and the quietest of the learners as well. These are the children the the teachers have said are naughty and we are going to teach them manners (so you can see their anger at attending this group and reluctance to participate). With those issues in mind, I think it was a good group. We talked about feelings and were one feels them in their body and then we tore up newspapers and spread them all over the room (well one student and I). One learner that didn't respond at all, did for a moment push his chair away and tear up a sheet of paper...I felt like that was a success!

Last night was the last parent workshop and I was doing it by myself. I haven't conducted anything by myself yet. The first week there were 15 parents, then 5 or so, last week 4 and last night 7. We reviewed the previous sessions and talked about helping children understand their feelings and appropriate expressions of feelings. One couple said they had seen a huge difference the one week they had attended. This past week, the dad has stopped yelling and swearing, the daughter brought friends over for the first time and the son wanted to come with his parents last night. I was on such a high last night. And then I rushed from there to the International Trade Fair with some friends. The theme is Indian.

The big thing about yesterday was that it was a good confidence builder as I finally get into some individual therapy (feeling rushed to be able to get it done before my internship ends, but had to wait for a clinical supervisor and then for my car). It has been a while since I have provided therapy, but yesterday showed me that I do still have the skills and training to know what to do. :)

We will be Home

To give you all some idea of Vuyo's size these days. He is about one week shy of 4 months. My housemate Jules is traveling this weekend to pick up his labrador puppy and I am superexcited about that.

And here to announce my return to the States (temporarily hopefully:) )

My plane ticket is purchased for 20 November to 8 January, most of my time will be spent in Maryland with my parents, but I do hope to get out to New Mexico before Christmas. Vuyo will most certainly be coming with me. :)

NATO in the Harbor

The NATO Star
The USS Normandy is to the left and the Toronto to the right
Trent, from Texas, one of our tour guides
"Don't Tread on Me"

I was supposed to make it to the "tip of Africa" this past Saturday - Cape Point (which is not actually the furthest tip of land in Africa. The rain dampened that parade and my friend and I went the the South African museum and then toured the NATO Navy convoy docked at the Waterfront. According to the seaman on the USS Normandy, it was the first time the ship had been opened for public tour. I was able to walk around the USS Normandy (USA), a Canadian (the Toronto) and a Dutch ship (Evereton??). We were too late to board the Portuguese ship and I don't know the nationality of the fifth ship; there was also a German supply vessel. It was interesting to see each ships approach to the tours. The Dutch ship had demarcated the walkway and had a couple people posted around, but we walked around on our own. The American Ship had people wait on the pier (what is the difference between a wharf and a pier?) until tour guides were available, and then guided us around, from there we walked across a gangplank to the Toronto and again toured at will, but they had information and people posted around, but they did open the control? room.

Must Love Rugby

I attended a rugby soccer match the other week. The stadium is within walking distance of my house. :) We watched the South African Springboks play their last home test match before the World Cup in France. They played Namibia and although they beat them soundly, it ended on an exciting note.

At the buzzer, the score was 98-13 and so everyone eagerly cheered on the Springboks to get one more try before the play ended. They did manage to break 100!