South African Idol, Black Flag, and macrocephalic aliens

After 8 hours of class on Saturday (which were actually made quite worthwhile by engaging content, terrifically committed classmates, and a brilliant professor), it was time for a little fun - in the form of an outdoor concert on Sunday at the beautiful Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. The leading act was Jamali (pictured), a 3-woman group who performed, along with some guests (one of whom apparently won the last round of South African Idol?), a song-list fitting for Valentine's Day (mostly covers). It was quite crowded, and I think I beat most people home by being on bicycle (and by living down the hill!).

Monday morning, it was back to class. It was my turn to bring food (so I rode up the hill to the upper campus with a pineapple, a cantaloupe, and some nectarines) and music that could be used in a lesson. For the latter, I chose "Free Nelson Mandela" by the Specials and Black Flag's "Gimmie, Gimmie, Gimmie." Any guesses on when and how I've used that one in teaching? The Monday morning class which I'm helping teach is the subject-area methods class for post-graduate students seeking certification in history. On Thursdays I also work with the geography group, and on Tuesdays we meet with both groups for lesson planning and micro-teaching (they teach ten-minute sessions that are then video-taped and critiqued). Having been through such a thing a few times makes me sympathetic to these students, all of whom, so far, have been quite well-prepared and effective.

I've been to two schools in the first two days of this week. Between classes on Monday (the one I'm taking meets Monday afternoons 4-7), I went to give a guest presentation on Marxism in a history class, and then, on Tuesday, a math teacher who spent last year in Oregon toured my colleague and me around an excellent all-girls school. The school, Rustenburg High School for Girls, is a fee-charging public school, and it had an exceptionally focused and functional atmosphere. They have an active environmental club, and I plan to go back to see it in action.

Last evening, I accompanied one of my landlords to a quite good outdoor production of "Anthony and Cleopatra." I don't particularly agree with this review of the production, but I chose to link to it because it includes the line "macrocephalic alien from Star Trek"! We were both struck by the intensity of the lead actress - and also by the live snakes handled by the Egyptian mystic.