dodgy

So i have 14 roommates (15 tomorrow, we get a newbie coming in), all of which are so different and so hilarious. Hannah and I represent Texas well, don't you worry. It has officially been a week that we have been here and it's strange how fast a group of people can become over such a short amount of time. I love it. My lingo has officially been labeled "car-phonics". and is catching on, obvs. I don't really see the big deal about my abbreviations, but naturally foreigners are in awe. I have started to pick up on a few of the European expressions/words and my top 5 would probably have to be:

1. dodgy- shady, sketchy, awkward.
2. mental- weird, and crazy.
3. lovely- an expression of a person, or time. example: "the children give me a headache, but overall they are usually quite lovely."
4. lashed- drunk, out of control.
5. cheers- good times or 'alright great!' example: scene: saying goodbye to a co-worker; Me: "it was great seeing you today Al, cheers!" Al: "Cheerio, Carlita!" and we part ways.

Today, we began training for Holiday clubs (American definition of VBS, vacation bible school), which was intense. But funny. In each community there is 1 team leader, and about 10 other volunteers. I am with Josh in ocean view and the rest of the volunteers are local volunteers. The African humor is loud and goofy, they are very laid back about everything and just love to joke around. I taught some of my group how to give a proper "dead leg". hehe. Anyway...Basically holiday clubs are for the world cup, because the kids have 2 weeks off for winter break and then 2 extra weeks for world cup. So we'll be teaching pre-k through 7th grade. Apparently they think I'm responsible enough to be in charge of the 65 pre-schoolers that will be in attendance. which i think is absolutely mental, but hey if i can learn to tame 65 african toddlers, teaching back in the states should be a breeze, eh? *Prayer requests for all of our teams in all the different communities, it's going to be a long month of holiday clubs! And we'll need all the prayers we can get.

7 Fun facts about Africa:

1. Patagonia's aren't cool here
2. Teachers can no longer slap, pinch, push or reprimand children in schools as of this past Saturday. We were given a lesson on different ways to correct behavior. (i thought it was funny considering if i ever touched a child like that in the States i'd be sitting in jail)
3. if you ask for a 'napkin' you will get something very different from our version of a napkin...
4. they know Lindsay Lohan as "the girl with freckles and orange hair"
5. a child from Cape Town thinks Hannah rides a horse to school
6. they only have Coke and Fanta, no Dr. Pepper
7. They sell the crappiest phones here. And I am a proud owner. A phone for 99 rand aka $12.00. it weighs about 2 pounds and has only black & white text. Oh simplicity.

jambo- carl