Mike Rossmassler

Saturday July 4th
Not a lot going on, since today was an off day. Saw the empty fields of the District Six, which was a Black suburb razed for white housing during aparteid, but left alone by the workers who refused to build on the land that belonged to their countrymen. The nearby museum, which explained the experience in more detail had some very powerful exhibits, including the clippers used by a hairdresser in the district, who had taught himself how to cut and style hair, because none of the colleges would teach non-whites. Another quote talked about a man whose racing pigeons returned to the empty plot of land where his house used to be. While walking around the city, a bee landed on my finger, and when I brushed it off, I noticed that its stinger and venom sac was still stuck in the callous next to my fingernail. I plucked it out with a credit card, and managed to avoid getting actually stung. Had a sausage from a street vendor, which was delicious. After learning more about the plan for the next four months, and that not all of the fellows will be going to Jo'burg, I am seriously considering going. If A.T. does not go, then Sara, and possibly Karly would be there on their own. The big brother instinct kicks in, as it seems to in times of stress. Had dinner at a Brazilian restaurant, who had chicken hearts. Not much fanfare for the fourth of July, which was fine by me.

Sunday July 5th
Apparently the jet lag is catching up to me, since I slept from 2am to 6am. Nothing else on the schedule, so Amy, Beth, Annie, Karly, Emily, Sam and I went to hike up Table Mountain. Instead, our driver suggested that we hike up Lion's Head. We got there, and the hike took around the entire base of the mountain. Halfway up, there we decided to take the easier route, instead of the Half-Dome like chained route. The view along the way, and from the top was incredible. We could see all of Cape town, as well as far inland and out to sea. After hiking back down, we went to the lookout point, which had a similar view. On our way home, we went to an Indian restaurant, where I had lamb brain masala, which was fantastic. Woke up at 5:30 due to an especially traumatic dream. Dreamt I was still in school, living in a dorm. Everyone else on my floor had already moved out, and that I was still not ready to move out. I heard a noise outside my door, and went to open it. Suddenly, the lights went out, and I couldn't hear anything. I went to the door, and it was forced open on me. Campus staff came in and told me they were going to forcibly move me out. Earlier, I had talked with Dom about the clique-ification of the group, and today we talked again about how it seemed to be splintering along age lines. He mentioned that when the group reconvened, I was the only person who said hello to him, and asked him how the trip was. I felt a little embarrased, both for having been the thanked like that, and especially for not remembering it. I believe he is going on my section of the camping trip, so hopefully we can bond more then. I think that this group dynamic reflects the coping mechanisms that people are using to relate to the entire experience. I feel a certain awkwardness around this, as I am one of the youngest people in the group, but at the same time, I feel mentally more mature than my years, such that I can relate to both groups. Did some lesson planning with Dom, which concerned me, as it's been quite awhile since my YSI days. And since we are teaching complex subjects like Venn Diagrams, I am concerned about how effective the way that I convey information will be. Things I have been told to remember when teaching ESL kids is to speak slow, and never ask yes or no questions. Dom had some other good advice, telling me to ask students who look confused to explain back to me what they understand that I taught them. Another way would be to ask another student to explain to the class in a different way what I have just said. Dom's last resort solution was to break the group down into pairs, and have them try and brainstorm the solutions between themselves. And, as always, honesty about the difficulty is paramount; explaining to the students that the failure is my communication and teaching methods, not their learning. Other things we discussed around teaching were to bring in summary exercises a the end (reward the children with a game or activity, while still testing what they have learned). Also, to start as broad as possible, outline what will be learned, and go into exceptions last. Now that I think about it, a lesson plan is remarkably similar to a game design pitch, it just lasts for an hour instead of 10 minutes. Teaching in front of groups who don't know me, and have only a partial understanding of what I am saying due to language barriers will be a test of my calm, collection and presentation skills. I'm still entirely unsure of what my day-to-day tasks will be, but that is neither unexpected nor unnerving. I do fret about how I can contribute to this group, and as a result, I have been more voluntary than usual. Though, I say this not long after Diana has chastised me for my white knight complex, so apparently I am acting very similar to home, despite the drastic difference in situation and emotion. I like being in charge, especially it means that I can help people do what they want to do, so I don't quite know how to reconcile that feeling with the age difference, and the way that I view myself as an outsider, due to the difference in profession, and the unfamiliarity with what I do.

Monday, July 6th
Woke up early after sleeping a bit better than the previous night. Went for another run, and went to school to meet the students from LEAP 3 in Jo'burg. Students bus was delayed by an accident on the motorway, so John gave us some background on the school system, and on the Dinokeng initiative, which is trying to figure out a way for South Africans to walk together into the future, so that South African culture avoids the pitfalls of other methods of citizen-government engagement. Was a very powerful talk on community and teamwork. It was officially decided that I will be going to Johannesburg with Sara and Karly. Still nervous about the entire situation, as I don't know what exactly I will be doing ( this isn't anything new ), but it will be in an entirely new place with a much smaller support network. Students eventually arrived, and we went to a greeting assembly, which had the same joyous feelings as our first, and featured the Leap school choirs (from Leap 1 and 2, and from Leap 3 ), the gumboot dancers, the women's dance troupe, and the men's acapella choir. This time, there were many more students, and the atmosphere was incredibly familial. Had a bit of breakfast, and met up again with John. He presented several projects that fellows could assist with, and I was particularly interested in putting together a concept document for a science project, and for a digital storytelling project. I love writing concept documents, so that sounds like a natural one, as is the digital storytelling one. Worked a bit with Sara to parse through the existing concept documents. Went and got a phone, picked up some groceries, and went home to help with dinner. Cooked the biggest batch of chicken fried rice I have ever seen, and should not have been as surprised as I was when people ate all but one small plate full. Had a quick recap and information session following dinner. Had a great conversation with Dom about adjustment process, and how different people dealt with it differently. It's very difficult to break such ingrained personal habits, and even when I make conscious decisions and take deliberate actions, it's still incredibly easy to fall back on old habits. We talked about how we each bring our own family baggage to the table, and that we have to recognize that when we are put in a situation like this, where we are under a tremendous amount of stress, and are in such close quarters with so many people, that we will begin to function like a family, and that that baggage will begin to wear on us. We commiserated about student loans, and the future. Going to the gym with him on Wednesday, when I have my shorts back from the laundromat. I left my ipod in my sweatshirt pocket, so i'll be quite surprised if it comes back from the cleaner's working, let alone at all. Luckily, I have some music on my psp, but I will be sad and angry with myself if I'm stuck without the small fraction of my music that I have left.

Tuesday July 7th
Early morning trip to Robben Island, which was an apartheid prison in the 1960s, as well as a regular prison at other times. Took a boat ride with the students, many of whom were riding a boat for the very first time. Quite a number of people were feeling seasick, as was I. The majority of the tour was from a bus, which drove us around the island. Our tour guide had take a number of dignitaries around, including Obama, Hilary Clinton, Nelson Mandela and several others. He was quite animated, and was a great guide. We took the same ferry back, which was much more difficult for the students, because the seas were a bit choppier. Then, we got on the buses, and drove to Lion's Head. Hiked up it as the sun was setting, and it was really moving to see all of the students from LEAP 1, 2 and 3 all sing atop the mountain. The hike down at sunset was even more beautiful than the previous times I had done it, and there was a full moon, so there was a large number of people hiking up as well. Finally got back to the lodge at 8:30 pm, after 12 hours of activities. Was exhausted, and went to bed after some pizza, tea and conversation. Slept very well, from 11 to 7, which was a nice change.

Wednesday, July 8th
Woke up at 7am to go to the gym with Dom. He wasn't in the kitchen when I got up, so I waited 15 minutes before going to wake him. Finally realized he was at the gym already, so I went there and we worked out and chatted. Heading to school at 10:30 for a LEAPSA workshop planning session. Sara and I had a “thumb understanding,” the opposite of a thumb war, after promising to keep our overbearing personalities in check. Our group decompression session was really tough, as it was Amy's last night. I was among several people who had difficulty with Amy leaving, as I feel a tremendous debt for her involvement in helping to make me a part of this wonderful organization. Definitely a worthwhile concept to take back to the workplace. Came to realize that my hero worship, both of people and of ideas is often empty, as people are people, and ideas are fallible. This is actually a sad feeling, as my first reaction is to feel that I have been cheated, but it is in fact this fallibility that needs to be recognized. Today was a rather hectic day, as we went to Kalkfontaine, a slum about 30 minutes away from our lodge. Talked with the people there, including Crosby, a local businessman, about his involvement in driving entrepreneurship in the community. Came back for the LEAP 3 goodbye celebration.

Thursday July 9th
Woke up early to go to Pick and Pay ( a grocery store) with Karly, for ingredients for dinner. Today was a series of LEAPSA workshops, led by past students from the school. The lessons started with a brief history of African (mostly xhosa) culture. Was very intersting to hear what has informed the ways that the students view their own history, and to hear the ways that this has influenced the current South African culture. Following this, went to a workshop on gumboot dancing, where Sam, Aaronthomas, Beth and myself learned a style of dancing that was developed by the miners, using their rubber boots. After lunch (which I am learning is regularly quite meager in here), we had a lesson on xhosa, where we learned some new vocabulary, and some pronunciation. It's a neat change of pace to have a group of people who have become friends over the past week, and have the the relationship dynamic switched up to that of teacher – student. The respect seems to move into the classroom, and I am curious how that will translate when it becomes our group's turn to function as the teachers. Then about ten of us went to a singing lesson. Following this, we went home, and cooked a HUGE dinner; chicken tacos. After dinner was a lot of “deep hanging out,” which tends to be conversations about our families, reflections on the day, and any number of ridiculous anecdotes from home. I haven't felt overwhelmingly homesick, partly because I feel such a close bond with so many people, that I just haven't felt that I am spending time away from home. I will, however, feel a little homesick for the group, when I go to Jo'burg. I'm not the only one who is feeling a little apprehensive about this separation, and I am really glad to be working on a workshop tomorrow with Dom.

Friday July 10th
Lifted at the gym prior to school. After breakfast, went to school, and sat in for an hour on the study skills workshop. Met with Solomon from REALISTIC to talk about putting together a digital storytelling project. Want to chronicle the realists struggles and successes, and make it freely available. Possibly using these stories to demonstrate the feasibility of REALISTIC. Also, talked with Matt and Sam about redesigning the website for REALISTIC. Not too thrilled about doing web design, but the tie-ins with the storytelling, compounded with the stuff that REALISTIC does makes it a worthwhile undertaking. After lunch, Dom and I held our Venn diagram and test taking skills workshops. This was the first time I'd been in front of a real class, and it was exhilarating. Our first section had only three people, which meant that the lesson was extremely personalized. Second section had ten people, which made things much more complicated, and much more generalized. Curriculum started with describing sets and ordering. Students learned Topical, Analogical, Chronological and Causal ordering. Then transitioned into Venn diagrams, which apparently was a difficult portion of some of the tests that the LEAPSAs had taken. Then transitioned into the study skills portion of the lesson, which was rushed both times, because we spent more time giving examples for the sets, and for the Still felt like the workshop was helpful. After workshops, we cooked an African dinner, which consisted of rice (4kg), steamed vegetables, roast chicken, and a lamb stew. The spices used were yellow curry and masala, which was a bit of a surprise for me, as was the use of beef boullion.