Ethsey’s exciting blog

My Senior person’s name is Peter.

Peter’s Primary School Days
The streets were quite safe at that time. When I went to school all the grades were in one classroom. I went to a school called Mount Ayliffe. I always walked to school. My subjects were English Afrikaans, History, Geography, and Arithmetic. I suppose the subjects are more or less the same nowadays. We wrote in our books with pencils or dipping pens. Our desks had inkwells and we dipped the pen in those. It was messy sometimes. There were no computers in those days. The schools were very strict. If you were very naughty you were whipped with a cane, or you stood in the naughty corner with your face to the wall. I had to do homework every day. Now that is hard work!. I liked to play cricket and soccer on the playground when I was at school.

Peter’s teenage years
I remember wearing stove pipe jeans and bell bottom jeans. Nobody had cell phones. We didn’t really have extramurals like you do today. In my spare time I did wood work. There were no TVs. People used to listen to the radio instead. I listened to stories and plays on the radio. We didn’t have servants in our house. I used to walk to my friend’s house to play sometimes. I went on my first date when I was 17 years old. We went to the bioscope (movies) on dates. I liked adventure films. The boys used to like holding the girls’ hands. The young people like to listen to rock ‘n roll music.

How has South Africa changed since Peter was a child?
South Africa has changed a lot. The government has changed. It has also become a very dangerous country.

What can Peter tell us about his grandparents?
My grandparents lived on a farm, and they stayed there until they died.

What advice can Peter give us to help us in our lives?
Don’t rush into anything that comes into your mind.

Any herbs and remedies that were popular when Peter was a child?
My parents loved to give us lemon and honey. They said it kept us healthy.

Any other interesting stories you could tell us?
I remember when the first helicopter landed in our town. It was so exciting. They closed all the shops and schools so that everyone could go and look at the helicopter. I also remember hitch hiking all over South Africa when I was young. You can’t do that any more because it is too dangerous. Once I rode 800 kms on my bike.

Everyone was sad to say goodbye at the end of the project.