June Update

FEEL IT, IT IS HERE!
Well the vuvuzela’s remind us everyday that the World Cup has begun. It has been amazing to experience the excitement here! Especially on days that Bafana Bafana play, the hills around here are bursting with the sounds of vuvuzela’s starting bright and early and lasting late into the evening. My lips are almost healed now from blowing the vuvuzela. We have been enjoying many days and evenings down at the Durban beach watching the games on the big screens they have set up all along the beach. The atmosphere at the beach is just about as thrilling as going to a game in the stadium. We are enjoying meeting many people from all over the world. We didn’t intend to go to any other game than the one we already had tickets for (Netherland-Japan) but we couldn’t resist purchasing tickets on the street for the German-Australian game in Durban at a real good deal.
Of course the most exciting game was the Netherlands-Japan game where the city was filled with the colour orange. There were tons of Holland supporters here! We took along with us ThulaSizwe who works on the grounds at TreFontane where we stay. He is a big soccer fan and plays himself on a team. He really enjoyed the game with us.

The school holidays started on June 11. The grade 12 students still come to school for 2 weeks during the holidays for extra lessons. The administration staff just started their holidays today. Caleb and I have been working and will continue through the holidays, however we will come and go a bit more during the day especially when there is a particular soccer game we want to watch. This week we hope to organize the tuck-shop at the school. It used to be run privately but now we have decided that the school will take it over in order to raise more funds for the school. Caleb is going to replace the ceiling and we’ll paint the walls, etc. It is nice during the holidays to finish up some random jobs we have wanted to do throughout the school year. Last week I was washing the windows, walls, floors, etc. in there. The ladies who clean around the school were quite surprised to see me doing this and said…she is a real magoti (wife). They were asking if I also cook. I think there is bit more of a divide between those that do physical work and those who work in the “office”. So they were surprised to see that line crossed. These holidays we don’t plan to travel around too much. We might do a few weekend trips to areas close by. There is so much excitement around here and we really love just visiting with some local friends we have made here.

Just last week was “Youth Day” a public holiday and at the beach they had all these fantastic activities for youth. So we took Sindisiwe and her two kids, as well as her brother’s child and her neighbour. We enjoyed a great day and the kids had a blast! Sindisiwe works on weekends so it is nice during the school holidays to be able to visit with her and her kids more often.

Although we didn’t attend our own graduation I was thrilled to attend Mbali’s graduation (former student of St. Francis when I was here 5 years ago). She had a traditional outfit made for me 5 years ago and she was so proud that I brought it with me and wore it to her grad. A sat with her mom and was so privileged to have attended as she only had the two tickets. The graduation here was awesome. The parents were so proud of their children! When their child was called to receive their diploma they stood up and yelled…whistled, etc. and one mother even yelling in Zulu “I was alone in the delivery room with her!” Mbali’s mom really got the whole crowd going…she was the first to start calling out and yelled Zulu names to even the white students receiving their diploma. When Mbali was called…she stood right up, danced and said “that’s my baby!” It was a beautiful and joyful occasion to have witnessed.

You’ll notice in the pics that I had my hair plated. Along the streets of Durban there are many young women who advertise hair styles and then they take you to their shop. So I found a girl on the side of the street and after bargaining a bit she took me down and alley and up a few flights of stairs into a long hall full of shops, it was a like a whole other world of shops up there. It took about 3 hours to complete. The people here really love it, and often say “Hibo!” when they see it.

We also went ice skating to celebrate Lihle’s birthday, she works here at St. Francis. Felt weird…ice skating in South Africa. But that isn’t the only weird thing that happened. It has been cold here lately and we even had a day where it hailed! We couldn’t believe our eyes when we saw big drop of ice falling from the sky.

Well, I think this is long enough now! South Africa is certainly AYOBA!
Bafana Bafana aren’t finished yet…so keep cheering 

Love Caleb and Brittany