Weekend Update

It is Monday and we are back. Woot.

Saturday:

I woke up Saturday morning desperate for the internet-- I had planned to go to the library and apply for jobs [for when I get back home]. I carried my laptop aaaaaaaaall the way to the library in the middle of the city, fearing for my life because if someone had found out I was carrying a laptop I thought I would surely get mugged. I should have been fearing for my back, because carrying my very heavy laptop in an inconspicuous side bag was very painful. I went to the library, inquired about the wireless internet that I was told they had, and the librarian laughed at me. Wireless? Ha! I then discovered that all of their computers were also shut down "until further notice." So there went those plans. I left the library with a few books, including "Confident Cooking" [which I recently discovered had the 20 pages on baking ripped out] and "Indigenous Zulu Recipes." If I can figure out what "mealie meal" is, I should be able to cook

anything!

I walked through the shopping area on the way home, found myself going upstream in a parade of born-again Christians holding signs about all

humans being sinners and ended up in a 10-minute conversation with a woman who happened to be the pastor's wife. A few minutes later I followed the sound of drums down the street and stumbled into a traditional Zulu dance troop. Unfortunately I only saw a little bit before the store security made them move because spectators were blocking the entrance.

But Saturday afternoon was the best. I think it is the most fun I have had since I have been to

South Africa. I went to Natal Children's Home just to give some personal time to the kids there [there was one caregiver there for over 30 children]. Within minutes of walking in, a skinny freckled red-headed girl was attached to my hip. Her name was Maria and kept trying to speak to me in Afrikaans. I sat down on the field and immediately had a large group of kids circling around me, fighting over who got to sit in my lap and hold my hands. I immediately noticed that none of the children had shoes, except for one boy playing with a flat soccer ball-- he had one shoe on for his kicking foot. One girl kept introducing me to every child that passed by: "This is Auntie Britt! And she is from America! And she has a boyfriend!!! And knows Rhianna and Chris Brown and Beyonce and 50-Cent." I did everything I could to tell the kids that because I am from California, it doesn't mean I am actually friends with the movie stars. They didn't buy it. They played with my hair and told me it looked like wig as I let everyone brag about knowing how to spell their names. I then initiated a cartwheel contest [despite the fact that my legs were asleep from having 6-year old Mpume sitting on my lap the whole time]. They boys came and talked to me about sports, impressed that David Beckham was

playing for the LA Galaxy soccer team, and then really disappointed that rugby and cricket are not big sports in the states [by the way-- rugby I can almost make sense of... but cricket?! No. It is nothing like baseball and it is really, really weird. I don't understand it at all]. I had a chance to spend time with the 17-year old girls who were putting extensions into each others hair, and it was a nice change in conversation to talk to the older girls. It was then back to the younger kids, who were playing "pick-up rocks," which is the same as Jacks, a game my mother tried to teach me but I never got a hold of. It was a busy but very fun and gratifying day! I loved it.

The Natal Children's Home is an orphanage that is walking distance from me and is quite nice a place. There are about twice as many girls there as there are boys, and the children's ages range from 2-years to 19. Many of the children have parents who died or mothers who were drug addicts, etc. Some of the children there are a bit mentally impaired, and sadly that is a reason many of them were put in a home. I met one boy who is very artistic [can sing, dance, draw], fluent in English, Afrikaans, and Zulu, very athletic... but really, really struggles in school. He is good at math, but everything else he usually gets very low marks in. I look forward to spending more time there. My new best friends are all little kids!

Sunday:

I walked nearly 3 miles to get to church and it was worth it. The familiarity was nice-- same church as at home, but different people. It was arguably the most diverse place I have been since landing in South Africa; there were whites, blacks, and Indians and many languages represented [but the service was in English]. I was invited over for lunch by a family after church, becoming a new playmate for their children who insisted that I go up in their tree house despite the fact I was wearing a skirt. It was a nice Sunday!

I am sorry my blog posts are so long!