7 Days

I apologize for the pause in blogging for the past week. Our house was hit by lightning in a large storm a few weeks ago and our internet and computer have been out of whack for quite some time. But we seem to be back on track (finally).

I wrote this blog out on some paper scraps from our classroom at St. Leo’s. It was lunchtime when I was writing (10 a.m.) and Shin and I were listening to Eddie Vedder sing to us from the Into The Wild soundtrack. Shin was reading aloud from her Bill Bryson book about Shakespeare and offering me interesting facts about his life and I was trying to ignore the screaming Grade R outside the door to focus on this blog post.

I’m still feeling the effects of the mid-year slump. My love for this place and the kids and people I come across is constantly at war with my frustration with the way South Africa works as a whole and with my homesickness and longing to feel comfortable again (although, my physical comfort is fine… my discomfort is almost entirely intangible). What a loss to myself if I fail to continually challenge myself towards discomfort. I hope I never settle into comfort and disregard the worlds injustices.

So, moving on… I guess an update about life would be a good place to start:

- Things at 1000 HCH are going well. There’s been a little bit of conflict regarding Meg and my job definition as full-time volunteers. It’s challenging to not have a clearly defined role in a place. Otherwise, we gave out quarterly food parcels on Tuesday and the center was a madhouse. But it was a positive energy. Everyone was singing and dancing while they patiently (for the most part) waited to be given their parcels. I haven’t seen Samke or Phume since their first visit, so that is upsetting. On a brighter note, we are helping two diabetic Gogos pay for their medicine through the aid of an awesome US NPO called Care Now!. If it goes well, they might start a sponsoring program for the Gogos!

- St. Leo’s is going well this week. We made hats with Grade 4 last week (picture coming soon!). I am planning to go to an internet café sometime soon and upload a video of them singing so you can envision it a little better. We had mass with the school and a new Zulu priest yesterday. I feel solidarity with them in the strongest way possible when we attend mass together. It is a very unique and special feeling. It’s as if skin color finally becomes irrelevant. Wealth doesn’t matter during the ceremony because when it comes down to it, we are all part of the same big thing. Thank God for little prayers answered.

- Everyone in South Africa is gearing up for the World Cup (which, by the way, is only 7 days away). Every Friday everyone in the country wears yellow and green and pulls out their Bafana Bafana jerseys. At St. Leo we have a pep rally to get pumped up. When I’m not focusing on how damaging the World Cup could be for my kids, it actually is quite a unifying and beautiful thing for this country. It evokes pride and comraderie that reminds me of the Post-9/11 feelings that happened in the United States. Everyone seems to look past their differences to wear the SA flag and cheer together.

To leave you on a laughing note, on Monday Shin and I taught Grade 6 and I had the most hilariously klutzy day. First, as I was writing on it, the chalkboard flew off the wall and almost ate me. Then, as I was picking up the chalkboard and trying to recover from the incident, I accidentally stepped on the hem of my skirt and as I stood up I failed to bring my skirt with me. Thank goodness I chose to wear leggings that day, though I think the Grade 6 boys were still thoroughly embarrassed (don’t worry boys, so was I).