I am approaching one month here in South Africa. Sadly, my visa is about to expire. That said, Friday was my last day with Kusasa working with the children. My heart hurt badly as I was saying good bye to everyone. The children,teachers, and volunteers I have been working with have no doubt changed my life forever. I have learned so much from all of them. They have helped me learn a lot about myself as well. I can only hope that I was a positive influence and a small catalyst for change in the lives of the children I was fortunate enough to work with. My last act in the classroom was reading back and forth with the 3rd graders. It was a story filled with Rs. If the kids struggled with the words, I would read the sentence back to them, and they would in turn read it back to me. I have essentially been following this basic strategy with the students for a few weeks. Something however didn't sound right today. Then it hit me! The kids had been listening to me read to them for a month.... This story was filled with Rs and some of the kids were reading as if the were no Rs in the words they were reading!!! I had managed to infuse a Boston Accent into a classroom on the other side of the world! Got to love that silent R. There was no chance of me being able to explain what had taken place to anyone but it was incredibly hilarious. Perhaps this is one of those things you had to be there for, but I had a dozen Xhosa speaking 3rd graders Pahking the cahh in Hahvahd Yahd. Pretty cool.
Caution: Golf Story!
After my last day in the classroom, I was invited to play in a charity golf tournament. All the proceeds were going towards my friend Kyle's organization. He coordinates youth basketball programs all over the Western Cape and does everything from scheduling, providing uniforms, coaching, mentoring etc. The work he and his team does is simply incredible and they bring so much joy to so many children.
As for the golf, I made my way over to the course and teamed up with three Afrikaans speaking gentlemen. Johan and I took to talking right away. Such a nice guy. Then there were two other older gentleman that were not NOT giving me the time of day, but didn't have much to say to me either. After being introduced to my golf clubs that I'd be using for the day, I did some carbon dating on them and decided they were top of the line clubs in the mid 1970s. I didn't care. It was so nice out and I was getting to play golf. As I stepped up to the first tee, I was introduced to a modest crowd as "some backpacking American trying to play golf." People got a chuckle. I then took out my ORIGINAL BIG BERTHA Driver (1991) and took a few practice swings. Go Big or Go Home I thought. I then hit an absolute bomb right down the middle of the fairway! I think somebody called the bomb squad! It has been a while since I have done that. I was told it measured out at about 290 meters. Whatever that is. It was long! This is when the 75 year old Afrikaans guy in my group screamed Ill gaan na die fokken stryd met jou enige dag! My Afrikaans is a little rusty. That said, I had NO CLUE what on earth was going on. There were about a dozen people watching and they were all laughing at me/us. Turns out, after seeing my tee shot, grandpa yelled at the top of his lungs that he would go to F'n war with me anytime. I guess he was excited about my tee shot. Somebody needed to remind him that we were storming the first tee at Paarl Golf Club, not Normandy. Golf was great. 39 with a 6 on a par 3. The course was beautiful and wide open. Worked well for my game.
As for my final few days here in South Africa, I am looking to going out with a bang just as I did in Costa Rica. Again, nothing is set in stone as I am at the mercy of others to get around this country that has no public transit. However, there may be another opportunity to watch a live feed of me doing something absolutely hectic tomorrow. Perhaps a second episode of Mark/Chops TV. I'm beyond excited. If this works out it will no doubt be incredible. If there is an opportunity to post another link for you guys to watch, perhaps you can set your alarms and get up in the wee hours on Sunday. It WILL be worth it. No doubt. If not, hopefully, I can capture some video/pics of it all. Wish me luck and feel free to guess what I am doing.
AGAIN, Mom and Susan, DON'T WATCH!
Cheers,
Mark/Chops
PS.. I just went to the post office looking to mail a few things back to the states. About 5-7 pounds of gear to get rid of. Quote unquote the mailman says: " I should be able to get this to the states for you sir in under 60 Days. Does that work for you?" WTF?! 60 days? I could swim home with my things in under 60 days! TIA baby. This Is Africa!
PPS. I won the closest to the pin contest at the golf tournament. That said, I was given a case of fancy wine as my prize. Needless to say I was thrilled and drank it all at once.
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| Kusasa's Early Learning Center. I think this was the first time ever that I was the tallest kid in my class! |
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| Last Day! Desperately trying not to lose control of my emmotions. I love these kids! |
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| When life hands you lemons.... I thought the tree was cool. That's all. |
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| Fellow Kusasa folks Frances and Sintu. Thanks for the memories you two! |
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| I had no choice but to do wine tasting. It is a way of life here. I said " Hey, what's that!" The wine guy turned and looked. I dumped the wine out. Proceeded to tell him it was a little smokey and went down smooth.... I don't know... |
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| These are the REAL Heroes. Kyle to my right, Founder of Kusasa Doug Gurr to my left, and the head of the Kusasa early learning center, Hillmarie. You guys/gals are the best! |
The Future Is No Place To Place Your Better Days
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