From Ellie's Mom

I'm really sorry I haven't been in touch more often this fall. Suffice it to say, I am in awe of the amazing semester that Ellie and the other girls have had - what a privilege for all of them. I know the trip reports and photos probably don't do justice to the reality of their experiences, but you have brought so much to us as parents through them. We have been so grateful to hear about their travels, activities and academics in such thorough and sensitive reports, and the continual feedback about Ellie in particular is very much appreciated.

Gennifre, you were with Ellie at the beginning of the trip and Jen, you saw her towards the end - I heard such a "transformation" in her voice starting around the homestay. She turned a corner (I think treating the ear infection helped?) and hasn't looked back, as far as I can tell! In fact, she has said how difficult it will be to come home and "leave what has become my family". Believe it or not, this is music to my ears because I know she has blossomed and is full appreciating and soaking up all that your wonderful school has to offer.

I can't thank you enough for making this experience possible for these lucky girls. The time and care you put in to every aspect of the program - from the schoolwork, to the training, to the activities, to mid and final term comments and grades, and so on - is nothing short of remarkable. I cannot wait to see Ellie and have her back at home, and I will have even more to report to you after she has been home for awhile. (do you have any advice about "re-entry"? I think this is going to be very difficult for Ele...)

Thank you, thank you again - I look forward to reading the final (sob!) trip report and mentor comments/grades. I know they will be similarly thorough and thoughtful, so very helpful to this mother.

Fondly, Cordy

Counting the days!

To Other Parents Counting Days All Over The Country!
I know that Brian Walker Molly and I are counting days with happy hearts. Our adventurers are probably (hopefully!) thrilled to come home yet I imagine some heavy hearts at the end of their journey. I cannot wait to see and hug and listen to the person that I see come down the escalator at the Minneapolis airport.
To get me to that day I created a photo album for Maggie. I keep hearing that it will be hard for the girls, and thought that if she had hard copies of photos to share immediately that she would not have to do all the talking. Family and friends could get an idea from the incredible images that we received from Gennifre and Dawn through Snapfish and Kodak Galleries. I ordered numerous photos from both sites. They came within a week.
Here is what I did. I bought a sketch book - simple and inexpensive. (Maggie has told me that she does not think she can even walk in a Target again....and always has a sketchbook.) I went to our spray paint supply and found a chocolate brown and blue (like their bus!) and randomly sprayed the cover and pages. I double stick taped the photos in - leaving room for her to comment and caption. I added a few e-mails and other text that came from TTS. I am not a scrapbooker. This was easy, therapeutic, and will be something that she can hold on to and may help her adjust! (is this where I add that this is the first photo book I have made for her in 16 years - the rest are in boxes!) I also had 5 X 7's framed two groups of 3 for her bedroom wall. My favorite is the back of the boots as the they are looking out the bus windows. I think that Maggie is in there!
I know that she is coming home with more photos and we can print those - make a slide show - whatever she wants. Truly I am sending this to hear how other parents are doing and hear about any communication that others may have recently received. I know that Maggie is going to need her space and re-entry is not going to be easy. I would love any tips advice or thoughts that anyone has to share! This journey has been incredible to experience from our part of the world in Minnesota. I cannot even imagine what we are about to hear when our traveler comes home.
Keep in touch!
Marsha Burgeson

A note from Namibia

Hello, parents! This is Grace's mom, and I'm sitting in an Internet cafe in Windhoek, Namibia. We left the girls yesterday near Etosha National Park, and they are all doing great! Mallory's dad and grandma, Dave and Amy, joined Jennifer Royall and I on this trip and it's been a blast! Thanksgiving was so wonderful. We all worked hard in the morning at the Cheetah Conservation Fund, and we got a lot accomplished there. We had a 'traditional' Thanksgiving dinner, thanks to (teacher) Emily's parents, who brought many of the fixings. The girls participated in a poetry reading after dinner, and it was so amazing to hear what some of these incredible young women shared. We were moved to tears more than once.Your daughters are wonderful, every one of them. I didn't get to know all of them as much as I'd have liked, but the 'groupness' of these kids was apparent the entire four and a half days that we were with them. The teachers -- Dawn, Emily, Rhea, Leah, and Shannon -- are all fabulous women and truly love our daughters. I was able to sit in on some of the classes, and their enthusiasm and knowledge base was impressive. They are so integral in making TTS what it is!I could go on and on. The words to express what the TTS experience really is escape me -- as a writer, I hope that I can come up with them some day. If you send your girls on another semester with TTS, please do try to make the parent trip -- it's worth every penny to get just a glimpse into the amazing world that our daughters are living in.Take care and God bless.
Laurie Stopher
lrstopher@yahoo.com

From Maggie's Mom

I received an e-mail from Maggie - my first - so I know that today is going to be a great day!

I need to contact Minnehaha and set up a time for her to speak in chapel. It sounds like she wants to do this before Christmas break. I will contact them today and would like to know how long this presentation is. Five minutes? 10? Please advise. Am I correct in assuming that Maggie is implying that it needs to be done pretty quickly after she gets back?

I cut and pasted from Maggie's e-mail. In her defense she did tell me that she did not have time to edit. My daughter is enthralled in things that I never could have imagined. From the zillionth time - thanks for your vision and program. The Burgesons are ever thankful to TTS and all of you!

Take Care,
Marsha



FROM MAGGIE:I sleep outside every opportunity i get. The night sky is something that will forever hold my interest, i love it. If you go outside and look up it's fun to pretend all the stars are rain drops frozen in time .It's hard to do but it's fun if you can concentrate on it. I also love to think about how far away that all is.. We have star maps so I'm figuring out all the constellations. Also i have located some dust masses and galaxies and it's all very enthralling to me.

(talking about Namibia) Dawn is so cute, she loooves rocks so she was in heaven.

Packages from home

I have sent a couple of small packages to Katie with some candy and photos and I don't really know what else she can use. Anybody have any other suggestions for something that the girls really enjoy or appreciate while they are in Africa? Also, if it is not too late, is there something that I could send for the family that she will be staying with? Thanks - and thanks to everyone for the stories and information that they have shared to date. I check out the blog every day and I'm so excited when I get to read something new - so keep it coming!

Mary Bentley (Katie's mom)

Book Recommendations

I've come to realize that I don't have as much of an understanding of the history/culture that my daughter is immersed in as I'd like to have.Years ago I read "African Women" by Mark Mathabane on the perseverance of three generations of women in his family-- from his grandmother to his sister-- through extraordinary conditions in South Africa. I'm not always a big non-fiction reader but I remember being captivated.

Just wondering if any of you have recommendations...

Thanks.
Vivienne Frederick

In a student's words..

If any of you would like to share in Melissa's descriptions of her experiences, you can find her blog here. Happy reading.

Vivienne

"Never doubt that a small group of people can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has." ~Margaret Mead

Close Encounters

I had a restless week, so I thought I’d share what had kept me awake. During my first “beefy” call with Nilsa, clatter in the background disrupts our conversation. She politely informs me that she needs to place the phone down because she wants to see the hyena that’s been spotted in the campground. “Yes, Mom. There is a hyena in our campground.” Hmm, I think this is odd. I don’t dwell on it, though, thinking maybe it has something to do with the conservation program or maybe my warning bells were disconnected because I so much wanted to hear my daughter’s voice. We continue our talk and a bigger commotion ensues. “Oh my god, there are four more hyenas in our campground,” she interrupts. My adrenaline kicks in, but without sending her any alarms, I tell Nilsa that now is a good time to end the phone call so that she can pay closer attention to her surroundings. I don’t know much about hyenas, except how evil they are in “Lion King.” I hang up trying to convince myself that there’s no danger since TTS would not place them in a risky position. However, I couldn’t really stop thinking about it because my maternal instincts were on overdrive. A week passes before I speak with Nilsa again. (In the meantime, I had written an e-mail to Jim and in a nonchalant manner had asked him “whatever became of the trespassing heinas in the campground?”) During the span of a week, Nilsa seems to have forgotten the hyena episode, so I bring up the subject. “Oh, they weren’t really in our campground. They were on the other side of the fence, which we couldn’t see because it was dark. Mom, did you know that they can crush your bones in a single bite?” No, I didn’t. Thank goodness. After the call, I received Jim’s response confirming Nilsa’s story.

p.s. Thank you, Gennifre, for posting your magnificent pictures and writing a lengthy update. Keep them coming.

When your daughter is sick on the other side of the world.

Melissa called last week and started right off with stories of her amazing experiences… but she couldn’t hide what her father heard in her voice:

“How are you feeling?”

“How’d you know?

I waited anxiously to get a hold of the phone. She had been to the clinic for a chest infection. After lots of news on both ends, including her amazement at the free health care she was able to receive in South Africa, I told her to get well and sleep inside the tent until she felt better. We said good-bye. My mind was a whir—my little blonde child from rural upstate New York in a health clinic in South Africa-- what a lesson in what it is like to be different. Amazing… but wait a minute… my little girl… sick… in a health clinic in South Africa?

Of course, I started to worry. I asked Jennifer to check on her. Still, I knew most certainly that she was in good hands—more than well equipped to handle a bout of illness. I remembered a call home early in the South America Semester when Melissa told me about her friend who needed to have a surgical procedure. How the Traveling School had worked through things; how her mother was flying down to Quito for the surgery and staying with her a few days until she could rejoin the group. I remembered how anxious Melissa sounded then, her voice weak, so far from home. And then I saw it again: how strong she’d grown, how remarkably the group had pulled together.

When Melissa returned home from South America, I reflected on how many times I had been told that she would come back a different person. The next day, I wrote the teachers to let them know that she hadn’t: she was the same person, only so much more. I couldn’t find the right words; I still can’t. And so, while I wait to hear that Melissa has indeed recuperated, I remember the lessons of strength and courage, of compassion and friendship. And I am once again amazed and inspired. I’m sure most of you have had days like me-- maybe your daughter is sick or sad or maybe you just miss her. On those days, I recommend that you sit back and think about what this experience means for all of our daughters, and I am sure that you too will feel grateful for the more-ness of it all.

"Never doubt that a small group of people can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has." ~Margaret Mead

Text Message update from Grace's Best Friend

Just got an update that Grace called her friend Monica today.

I'm at the Board of Directors Retreat and meeting for TTS in Bozeman this weekend (ironically).

Monica says, "Hey! I talked to Grace last night!!! She slept in a cave Friday night. It was Saturday morning when we talked, she wanted to tell you that she loves you."

More Questions About Mail

(a) is it too late to send mail for it to get to the address provided before the time the girls leave that town? Or, rather, when DO the girls leave that town so that we can figure when the latest we can send mail and it will still be received?

(b) "CD mixes"? Do they have access to a computer to copy these mixes to their iPods?

Hello from the first week!

Dear parents and friends,

I'm writing to send a quick note as your daughters are spending the afternoon in class. This morning they went rock climbing, mountain biking, or did a team-building activity involving a large cabbage and a kayak. They are sweaty, dirty and enjoying life! It is HOT here!

We've enjoyed this first week as a wonderful, busy and exciting time to get to know each other and start building our community. The girls have been rock climbing several times - and every single one of them has made it to the top of at least one climb (yes, YOUR daughter has been climbing hard!). They went backpacking this weekend for 9 dusty miles through a stunning river gorge and spent the night either under the stars or inside a tent. We cooked over an open fire and hiked back the next morning.

Tomorrow we go to a township high school and the girls are busy preparing songs and dance routines to perform before the school. They'll be teaching classes about how they stay postive in their worlds and they'll try to form connections between some very different cultures. Afterwards, we'll enjoy a lunch of spicy peri-peri chicken before rappeling next to a 150 foot waterfall - a great last day in Boven!

The safari truck arrives tomorrow night and we'll all head to Kruger Park Friday morning to see elephant, giraffes and zebras for the weekend. We're going to stargaze with a prominant astronomer and we'll do an evening game drive. At the beginning of next week, I'll fly home and the girls will continue south - I'll bring back photos, videos and all sorts of fun!

Expect to get a phone call from your daughter this weekend - and from this point forward! She has lots of things she'll want to share!

And if you are sending a package to Cape Town - please rememeber to put the city - Cape Town - in the address!

Thanks for all of your support and we'll be in touch soon!

All the best,

Gennifre

mailing address for letters

Where would I send mail to reach Cheyenne? I have several friends and family that would like to send her a card and are requesting an address. Thanks for your help!

Susan Hensey (Cheyenne's mom)

From Barb Snyder - Advice for parents!

I thought I'd pass along a few things we did (or wish we had done) before leaving last semester that made communications easier (long, but hopefully helpful):

• Discuss whether the first call on any given day should be to mom's cell, dad's cell, home, work, etc. Sometimes the girls only have a few minutes to call. Hitting voicemail is frustrating for all and takes precious minutes from any subsequent call, if one is even possible.
  Encourage messages if she hits voicemail or when she has the opportunity to call but knows you're not available. "Hi, I'm having a BLAST!!!" is much better than waiting another week to hear her voice. Plus, you can play it back over and over and over. :-)
• If your daughter will call more than one place (mom's house, dad's house, older siblings, etc), let her know those of you back home will communicate with each other (she repeats less; you get more updates). And, she won't be as likely to pass up making any phone call because she doesn't have time to make two phone calls.
• Discuss time differences and best times to call (but know they may not have options and call when the opportunity presents itself).
• Write down your daughter's calling card number and pin so you can check available minutes and reload before it runs out.
• Have your daughter create a blog so she can post news and stories for people back home. Although Jenna was only able to post twice, I added a few of her emails and photos the teachers sent.
• Create a separate blog for friends and family to post news from home, photos, etc (we made this by invitation only). This provides a single place for her to read updates when Internet time is limited. Jenna said Facebook and MySpace don't work as well.
• Make sure your daughter adds all email addresses to her contact list, and if possible, creates email groups (family, friends, teachers, etc) to save precious email time.
• Share what you hear from your daughter on this blog -- other parents will love you! Not all girls call or email at the same time or share the same stories.
• Know that no news is good news -- if she's homesick, sick or hurt, you'll hear (hopefully none of us will hear any of these things).
  This all said, know that you will ache for the next phone call and email, and no matter how often you hear from your daughter, those calls and emails won't be as frequent, as long, or have as many details as you'd like. But, when you do hear from her, oh, it is wonderful!

Welcome to the TTS12 blog!

Hi everyone-

Only 2 more weeks until the backpacks are packed and everyone comes faces to face in Washington DC - what an adventure! Please use this space to ask questions, post comments, and interact with other families who are preparing for the same adventure! Check out TTS 9, TTS10 and TTS11 blogs on this same site for previous postings from previous semesters. We're going to be clicking in Zulu and climbing incredible African cliffs before you know it! :)

All the best,

Gennifre Hartman
Executive Director
The Traveling School