Because it was Bekah's birthday, she was designated the queen of the day at school. Part of her school day was set aside for celebrating her, complete with a teacher-made crown, cupcakes, and tons of special attention. She loved every minute of it. In fact she loves everything about her school. Her teacher, Brenda, is the teacher every child should have as an introduction into the world of learning. She is energetic and caring and has a zest for living through the eyes of her preschoolers. So, a birthday celebration at Beachwood Pre-primary only added to the joy of the day. After Katilee and Jack got out of school, we went over to the Port Elizabeth "Museum and Snake Park." Bekah had picked this out as the special activity she wanted to experience on her birthday. It is a great museum, complete with a history of shipwrecks off the coast, apartheid struggles, and dinosaur bones. The snake park was great because we were able to see up close all of the poisonous snakes we are living with here in South Africa; but behind glass. The snakes looked so peaceful and friendly behind bars, er, I mean glass. After the snake park, we went over to watch Jack's karate class, where Bekah loves to also partake on the sideline. An evening meal of macaroni and cheese and another cake ended a wonderful and beautiful day. Happy birthday, Bekah!
Two days after Bekah's birthday, Kathy's parents, Art and Ruth, arrived. Now this is a monumental feat as we have been wondering over the past 4 months if Ruth would be able to pull off convincing Art that South Africa was a destination he wanted to see. Everyone was rooting for her to come, as we knew she desperately wanted to visit while we were here and would have probably regretted it for the rest of her life if she didn't come. Her perseverance paid off and Art agreed to come. It was a great pleasure to see them step off the plane, especially for Kathy. Shortly thereafter, Ruth told me she was staying for 2 months. Ha. Funny one, Ruthy! It didn't take them long to adjust to South African time and get out to see the sites. Art has found a series of coffee shops and a place to buy a newspaper, which has become his morning routine. Ruth is enjoying the kid's activities and looking forward to beginning the adventures we scheduled for them, with the first one being a weekend at de Jager's Bushmans River Mouth summer home. We spent the weekend with Andre, Marina, the kids, Martha, pronounced "Marta" (de Jager's domestic helper), and Marlene, pronounced "Maleen" (Martha's eldest daughter). The weather was beautiful and we were able to get out on the river as Andre had brought his boat. Unfortunately, Bekah was completely under the weather, with a high fever all weekend. We feared it might be mono, as one of the girls in her class was recently diagnosed with mono. Great. That's all we need. Mono. We took her to the doctor when we returned from Bushmans and they believe it is a case of tonsillitis, which basically means, "We don't really do tests but I've seen enough to know she has tonsillitis." Unfortunately, tonsillitis really means nothing, as it is just a generic word for "something's going down to make her sick." I just hope it doesn't turn out to be mono. Bekah cannot stand the idea that she is missing school. To have to miss it for the next couple of weeks would just about kill her.
Our kids have grown to love Martha. She is a wonderful woman who gives them a lot of hugs and attention. The domestic helper employment in South Africa is quite large. A domestic helper is a cross between a nanny, maid, cook, and Jack-of-all-trades. Many people who can afford to hire a person to help out in the home have one or more domestic helpers. It's a hard thing to get used to, not being from this culture. In the U.S., the generation before us grew up with hired help regularly coming into the home for a variety of services including nanny, maid, gardener, etc. By the time Kathy and I grew up this practice had sort of regulated itself to what we perceived to be practiced only by the wealthy. The reduction of domestic help is probably due to the advancements in technology coupled with the rising costs associated with paid employees. I'm guessing the advent of washing machines, fast food, day care centers, and the like reduced the need for in-home help; whether good or bad is yet to be truly seen, although we are starting to see some of the negative health and social effects associated with our overworked and overburdened lives. In South Africa it seems like everyone has domestic help of one sort or the other, or are domestic helpers themselves. The previous Fulbright Scholars who have stayed at the UPE flat we live in all had a domestic helper that came in once a week and was paid by the university. Although that service was not in place when we arrived, we do have a cleaning lady who comes in once a week and helps Kathy clean, and a drop-off laundry service. So, I guess in our own way we have a pseudo-domestic help setup. Our limited experience with the domestic helpers in South Africa paints a rosy picture of providing service jobs for those who are in need of employment. However, there are situations where domestic helpers are being abused. The government has recently established a minimum wage-type law for domestic help, which ensures workers are not abused. Unfortunately, it is written in such a way that those who benefit tremendously from their employment, like Martha, may actually receive less remuneration due to the new constricts of the law. Remember, there is so much unemployment in this country that there is a guy to do every job you need.
Prior to Bushmans, I spent two days up in the Amatola Mountain area serving on a Fulbright committee interviewing South African students who applied for Fulbright scholarships to study in the U.S. We stayed in a small village, Hogsback, which was situated high above the plain with a clear view of the neighboring mountain that had a ridge that looked like a bush pig's back (hence, "Hogsback"). An old country Inn, complete with authentic British-style pub and no heat, was our digs for the evening. The British were the primary settlers of this area, compared to the Afrikaners in many other parts of South Africa. Many of the British-Xhosa wars were fought in here; hence the name often associated with this region: "Frontier Country." A number of battles occurred as the Brits moved into lands that were inhabited by Xhosa people for hundreds and thousands of years; thus, names of towns and sites such as Ft. Beaufort, Ft. Hare, and Ft. Fordyce. Apparently these bloody battles were part of the early struggle for conquest of the South African peninsula. Yep. I can just see it. The British Empire--the mightiest empire on the earth at the time--against Xhosa tribesmen, complete with spears and clubs. Nothing short of a progressive slaughter. General Custer would have been proud. The Fulbright interviews took place at Ft. Hare University, the legendary "black" university of the apartheid era. During apartheid, non-whites were allowed to only study at a couple of "specially designated" universities, with Ft. Hare being one of them. This was where people like Nelson Mandela, Stephen Biko, Robert Sobukwe, Walter Sisulu, and other leaders of the anti-apartheid fight studied. As far as I am concerned, it is holy ground as some of the greatest leaders of the 20th century walked and shared intimate moments here. Thus, I was honored to be on this campus. One of the days we were at Ft. Hare there was a fairly new celebration, "Africa Day," during which time all nations of Africa celebrate together. To see the students celebrate this day, which is in part due to the direct influence of the struggles born by those who were educated here 50 years ago, was great to behold. We have been here for a number of the national holidays during the past 4 months but this celebration at Ft. Hare was the closest I have seen that matches the feelings displayed during our Memorial Day or 4th of July celebrations back home.
Our week ended with a 10K road race for Kathy, Kara, and I. A gruelling, hilly course, yet beautiful. We all finished and even brought home a silver and two bronze medals. Yeah, so the top 600 finsihers got medals. It felt goods to have raced!
