"Cause all I see is a tower of dreams. Real love burstin' out of every seam."

Work has been pretty slow going this week. With Sifiso out this week because of his grandmother passing away, waiting to get back registrations from the mentors and limited work to be done, not a lot has been happening. Let me go over the highlights from each day, though.

Lwazi's cousin has been staying with us this week. He's in his final year of university in Durban studying engineering. He has taken the car and made it his baby. He has washed it, cleaned the interior and has been the driver all week. I decided to use this to my advantage. On Monday, after my run, I asked him if he would teach me how to drive manual. My past two attempts to learn (thanks Amith, Dennis and Billy) have not left me confident. Plus, this is driving on the other side of the car. He agreed and we went out. It was slow going at first. But after a while...it was still slow going. Like most things in life, practice makes perfect. I do feel more confident driving manual and on the right side of the car! After the lesson, we had to go into town to pick up Thandazo. I came along, still wearing my running shorts and flip flops, thinking it was going to be a 5 minute trip. When we arrived in town, Lwazi was also there to be picked up. Great, two birds with one stone! Lwazi got behind the wheel and started driving in an opposite direction of home. After 5 mins of clearly driving out of town I asked where we were going? Lwazi laughed because he thought I knew. We were heading to Richard's Bay (an hour away) to meet Thandazo's brother to exchange a car battery. I then realized this was going to be a lot longer than a 5 minute trip. 5 hours later we pull in back home! Our trip included going to the wrong place, stopping at a fast food place called Wimpys, going to Thandazo's village to pick up her kids (an hour trip on a dirt road at night with patches of fog), dropping them home and finally getting back. Oh and I got the 995th bug bite on my thigh along the way because I was wearing running shorts. Went straight to bed after that.

There were two highlights from Tuesday. The first was that I bought some clothes! Not just any clothes, I must say. I purchased a traditional Zulu outfit. It comes with pants, a vest and...head gear. That is all I will give away. The outfit is for a coworker's pre-wedding party in a week. There will surely be plenty of pictures taken so you will all just have to wait until then to see what it looks like. The second was making rice, daal and keema (rice, lentils, ground beef). Daal turned out very close to mother's recipe. The keema...way off. The tomato paste, like ketchup and other tomato products, has a sweet taste to it. It didn't taste bad, it was just different. The best part was the abundance of green chilis in this country. I was able to enjoy two hot ones with my meal.

Yesterday was a pretty low key evening. Lwazi has gotten me into the daily soap opera here that comes on at 8 pm called Generations. Last night episode was CRAZY! One guy found out his father isn't his biological father. Oh yeah, he's engaged but sleeping with another main character. A receptionist who is in a relationship with her boss is taking advantage of it. The boss isn't happy with it. Let's not forget the 50 year old woman who is trying to make it into the music business but at the recording studio, everyone tells her that her songs aren't cool enough. Thank God for subtitles because I wouldn't get any of it.

This Saturday we will be attending the funeral for Sifiso's grandmother. Apparently drinking and eating will be involved. I like how things are done around here.

Today marks the four week mark of my trip. I am a third of the way through. I've had many great experiences and hopefully there will be many more to come.

"Jesus Christ I'm not scared to die. I'm a little bit scared of what comes after."

Wednesday night I had a talk with Lwazi about the program that I have been working on. Work has been at a real stand still with waiting for a final copy of the manual I had made to come back and waiting on enrollment from the villages. Lwazi and I spoke and he told me the full scope of this program. It is meant to not only cover the 18-25 year old range in helping them to find jobs but also assist 11th and 12th graders apply for universities. This was going to require a different, shorter manual and a new presentation. I went into work Thursday with a renewed drive to get this next manual done. Sifiso and I worked ont his for most of the day. I checked in on Thandazo to see how here mother was doing. For the past week, she has been complaining of a pain in her arm. She went to the hospital, it got better and she was sent home. The pain came back and more severe so she had to go back into the hospital. It has been a difficult time for Thandazo as anyone would be when their parent is sick. She left work early around 1:00 to go to the hospital to be with her.

During lunch, Sifiso and I were joking around about the weekend. He told me that his grandmother was very sick. She is in her 80's and having complications. We talked about how he was probably going to visit her this weekend. After our lunch we continued on working. At 3:00 pm, Sifiso came to my desk and told me that he had to leave. His grandmother had passed away. I didn't really know what to say since a few hours before we were talking about her. Always being awkward around the subject of death, I made some awkward noise like WHOAH and stuttured out "Yeah you should leave." I obviously felt bad for him as it is surely a sad event.

I left work to come home. Lwazi was traveling to and from Johannesburg so I had the house for the evening. I picked up some dinner. Sat down and watched my Thursday night wedding shows: Four Weddings (British version) and Don't Tell The Bride (Amazing British show where the groom plans the entire wedding). If you know me, wedding shows have been a guilty pleasure of mine since senior year of college. When Lwazi came back, we chatted and he told me that Thandazo's mother is now terminally ill. Not a good day for family members of Child Care staff.

Friday I went in to work. Obviously Sifiso wasn't there and neither was Thandazo. The mentors from the field were in the office so it was bustling more than usual. I was working when around 11 am Lwazi told me that a bus was here to take all of us to Sifso's house. Not seeing this coming, I just got on the bus. It was 15 minute drive to the village. We pulled up and went to the house. The 11 of us filed into the living room and sat. We were sitting alone. My seat faced the door where I had a view of a bush that was blossoming pink flowers. Lwazi then began to sing, followed by the others. They were singing Zulu hymns. There was one verse in English that was simply "Glory, Alleluia." I tried my best to follow and sing along. Sifiso's aunt came in and sat while we sang. After the song someone said a prayer followed by another hymn and prayer. You would think it was planned but I don't know if this was custom or people were just wingin' it. From my seat, it was a very calming feeling. Surrounded by hymns and prayer while looking outside at the bush with pink flowers. I said prayers but Sifiso's grandmother, his family and was thankful to be part of this community. The aunt spoke and then we left.

The afternoon was capped off with lunch at 3:00 pm. A few of us went to get a special treat. We ate tripe and a dish that was obviously beef. I dug in and enjoyed it all. What I didn't know was that this beef was from the cow's head so it contained brain as well. When I found this out I picked up another piece of it, said "Here's to the cow's brain!" and popped it in my mouth. Delicious! This was all swallowed down by a refreshing Heineken.

That night, Lwazi and I drove 40 minutes to his aunt's house. The reason for this trip was that Lwazi was going to a funeral today. It is polite and customary to visit before the actual funeral. The thing is that this wasn't even for a family member. A family friend had passed away. Since he didn't have any family of his own, Lwazi's relatives were putting the funeral on for him. This is, of course, more complex than your average American funeral. Lots of food, drinking and people.

Today was low key. Got my hair did for about $8. Read and then watched the film...Out of Africa. How convenient it was on tv since I'm in Africa and my blog is named after it. That Robert Redford...such a great actor.

The past few days have been a continuing education into African life. In the past week, I have learned much about how death is handled in the Zulu culture. As in outsider, some things seem strange. Some things are familiar. Last Saturday I experienced a joyous party for someone that passed away a year ago. Friday I was there for a marvelous experience where song and prayer were poured into a house to bring some kind of relief. Last night I met a family that was doing so much for a person who died that wasn't even family. It really is this sense of community and connection here that is less striking and more refreshing. Would I do the same for others? Would others do the same when I passed away?

Happy Human Rights Day!

Today is Human Rights Day here in South Africa. It is a public holiday so didn't have to work. Before I talk about what I did today, let me back up to Monday.

Monday we didn't get much done at the office. They are replacing a whole bunch of things at the office so it really is an inconvenience. There was lots of construction that at times was so loud we could barely hear each other speak. I decided to focus on my Zulu. I spent all morning learning my numbers 1-10. I kept going to my coworkers and reciting to them like a 7 year old in English class. I finally got them down and I was pumped! I then realized, after some thinking...no one uses the Zulu numbers when speaking in normal conversation. Everyone just says them in English. I felt rather stupid for wasting all that time and just like that, I erased them from my memory bank. 

Tuesday was a bit more interesting. I found out that a bunch of us were going to go to a Thandazo's home village. The purpose of this trip was to meet with the Chieftain, members of the village and youth to discuss issues in the community. We were supposed to be there at 11 am. It was another case of Zulu/Buntu time. We arrived at 12:30 pm. The meeting didn't begin until 1:00 pm. Yeah, talk about late. I attempted to introduce myself to the group in Zulu but completely butchered it. Embarrassing. The discussion was led by Thandazo and it was completely in Zulu. I tried my best to follow along but had some trouble. Luckily Thandazo was taking notes next to me so I was able to see some of the issues. An example of the issues that were discussed were: child abuse, alcohol abuse and teenage pregnancy. You know a discussion is going well when the facilitator doesn't have to do a lot of talking and the members of the group are doing the most of it. The chief was talking, different men and women spoke, the teenagers got involved. After an hour and a half, it came to a close with a prayer. I, like always, had the camera on me and was able to snag some pictures with the chief and village members. 

The Chieftain and yours truly

Guess I didn't get the memo to not smile.

The building where the forum was held. The current hall was under construction so had to use this building.

Sign for Thandazo's old high school that was next to where we were.

Hard to tell, but down that road was the high school. Pretty nice back drop, though.

We then hopped into a truck taxi. I got my first taste of typical taxi travel which is cramming into a covered bed of a truck with 10 other people while traveling over unpaved, dirt roads. Big headache afterwards. Instead of heading back to the office, I went home seeing as we didn't get back until 3:45 pm. 

Lwazi found out that the car Child Care owns, which has been in the shop for 3 weeks, was ready in Durban. Lwazi and I hopped a van taxi and made it to Durban by 8 pm. We were picked up by Lwazi's mother at a McDonalds (yes we ate there and their spicy chicken sandwich was legit spicy) and we went to her house. There was the car but it still wasn't fully fixed. It's nickname was Dimples because of all the dents it used to have. It also had a hole in the roof from rust. All that has been fixed and it looks as good as new. Except for the fact that it doesn't start. Have to give it a push and hop into gear for it to run. That still needs to be fixed. This morning, Lwazi had errands to run in Durban so I hung out with his mother. I talked with his mother, watched the President give a speech for Human Rights Day and I read. Pretty chill day. We left Durban late in the afternoon and had a nice surprise when we came home. The kitchen was flooded with water. The next 2 hours were spent cleaning up the water. It was caused by poor plumbing work done recently but the contractor was able to fix it.

Big thanks to my brother for lending me his camera! I carry it everywhere I go and have been enjoying taking pictures. New hobby perhaps???

Anthony Bourdain Status...plus more...WAY more

Let me start by saying that the reason that I haven't blogged in the past few days is because not a lot has happened. It has been pretty slow going. The highlight was finding out that I get an allowance each month. It is a welcome surprise because I felt that a place to stay and an opportunity to work was plenty enough.

Yesterday, though, is a different story. I've been getting my hopes up for Saturday all week. Here is the background. We received an invitation, at Child Care, for an event happening at one of the board member's houses. After some inquiring I found out that it was a special event. The board member's father had passed away a year ago. They bury the body and mourn. A year later, they have another funeral and a remembrance for the person, which happened on Wednesday. On Friday, they slaughter a cow. On Saturday, they invite the community to a big, lack of a better word, party to eat and drink. The point is to celebrate the person who died and let the deceased know that we remember him. Obviously I was excited. A Zulu custom that incorporated drinking and eating is exactly something I'm down for.

I woke up on Saturday, went for a run (my first one in this country...a little rough), watched tv and got picked up around 2:30 pm. It was about 10 mins out of town in a rural area. The road leading up to the house wasn't even paved. There were two big tents, a house and a few smaller houses/huts. The place was packed, though, with around 150 people. Maybe more. I arrived with my co workers and instantly was nervous. Everyone was looking at me because I was definitely out of place. I went with the flow and followed my co-workers to the food line. That's when Spu came up to me and told me to come sit with him at a table. That already made me feel better. To know someone else who had friends provided encouragement. I found the table and ate my food, which was very good. A beef curry, which is very similar to my mother's dry meat, rice, potato salad, beets, salad and pumpkin. It was all fantastic! I was greeted by 8 other guys at the table. I immediately struck up a conversation with a gentleman named Stix. He was already drunk so I knew this was going to be good. We discussed America, South Africa, Zulu customs, music, everything! He became a good friend through out the night.

Let me tell you. Alcohol was the focus of the night! It was always on hand. I had SA beer, Heineken, Zulu beer, Johnny Walker, Chivas and Jameson. Jesus...that was a lot of alcohol. I then met Pa...something. He was that drunk guy that everyone loves. He refused to speak to me in English, only in Zulu. I impressed him with what Zulu I already knew and we hit it off. They then brought us meat from the cow that was cooked in water and salt. Along with the meat was a simple bread that was also cooked in the broth. They were all impressed with my eagerness and willingness to dig in with the rest of them. The next 6 hours were a blur. I drank a lot. A LOT. I learned that is custom with the Zulu beer to take a sip before passing. When passing, it is important to pass with both hands. Otherwise it is as if you don't care and are just saying, "F- it, here have this." I quickly learned to follow this custom. I got to know all of the guys around my table very easily. I became friends and was exchanging numbers/emails and taking pictures with them. After more drinks, I was learning Zulu songs and singing along with all of them.

There was also a BIG match on the tv between the Orlando Pirates and the Kaiser Chiefs, the two biggest soccer teams in SA. Half the party was split between the two teams. The Pirates won and the Chiefs fans were not too happy. Once it started getting darker, we moved to another tent where music had started to play. If you know me, that is pure joy. I wanted to play it cool, though, and provide a little surprise for this group. I didn't want to let them know that I am not too shabby on the dance floor. I was led to the heart of the tent and took a seat. Soon, I was pulled up to dance, though. I then showed them what I had. And they ate it up! People I hadn't even met that night were taking pictures of me. This little boy was taking a video of me dancing on his phone! This older lady pointed me over and I danced with her for a bit! Man oh man...that was fun.

I was then pulled aside by Spu's friend, who we had dropped off in the hood last weekend, to go somewhere. I was nervous because it was away from the party and I didn't know where my friends before tonight were. I kept my guard up. We went to a small little hut and I saw people I had met through out the night sitting around in a circle. I joined them, poured a scotch (do my father proud) and started chatting. More and more people started coming in. I realized this was purely a hang out. No tv, no music, no distractions. Just singing, talking and...alcohol. I learned that all of these people come from poor backgrounds and this was their way of getting away from everything else and just sing their songs and be themselves with no worries. I relished in the situation that I was in. I sat there and watched as the only outsider to this hang out session. I loved it! I had learned a song earlier and Pa...whatever would come up to me, I would sing it and the entire room would laugh/sing along!

My ride was leaving, the rain was pouring and the electricity went out so I had to say goodbye. I now have someone coming to visit me in America, whenever he can make it (sorry Kerri). I have an invitation to go to a wedding next weekend. I have made some new, great friends. All from one day at a Zulu party. This was truly something special and I am so grateful to have had this experience. Yesterday has easily made this whole three month trip worth it. It is days, like yesterday, that I will look back on and remember for the rest of my life.

In the middle of the table is the meat from the cow and the bread. In the glass pitcher is the Zulu beer. Then there are some other beverages being consumed.

Here, I swear I was only drinking it to respect the culture. The other times, well...that was because I was having a good time.

My new friend Stix and I.

Here is Stix and Captain. The guy in the back wearing the white hat was Pa...something.

A pic of one of the tents at the end of the night. This was right before it started to pour rain and the electricity went out.

Pics of the office

Today is a pretty lazy day at the office. I finished my work early so thought I would go around and finally take some pictures.

Here is an angle shot of the office. It used to be a house that they bought and converted.

From across the street with the sign included.

In the back doing gardening work. The man is Sifiso. The woman next to him is my advisor, Thandazo. The woman in the background...haven't gotten her name down yet.

This is a staged picture. I wasn't actually doing any gardening.

The back of the house. This is Sifiso again and Nkululeko in the red.

This is at the front door of the house looking in.

The first office on the left. The desk on the left is my desk.

Thandazo's desk.

2nd office on the right. Three desks in this office with the only computer.

The meeting room.

The kitchen leading to the back.

3rd office. Has the desk shown and a desk to the left.

This is after the workshop that was yesterday. This is the entire group that participated. That is Anita, the American, in the back.

They wanted me to be in one of the pictures too. Rocking the JMU purple tee.

Snacks I've Enjoyed

I forgot to mention all of the snacks that I had on Saturday. I was curious and I had some different ones.

These are well known internationally. I've been eating these since I was a kid on trips to India. In U.S., Smarties are those small, sugary pieces of crap. These blow them out of the water. They are similar to M&Ms but taste even better.

I saw this at the gas station. It is described as "Milk Chocolate with Golden Honeycombed Centre." It was alright.

I see this brand of potato chips everywhere. How could I not want to try them with a great name like Simba! Tried this particular flavor...very good. Odd thing is I had one bite and I was singing I Just Can't Wait To Be King!

Biltong! This wasn't my first time having this. Chelsey's dad makes this and I've had it a couple times at their house. When I saw it at the store, I had to pick up some. The most similar food to Biltong in U.S. is beef jerky. This has a distinct taste. This is as much as I know about Biltong but if you have anymore questions, I refer you to my South African expert, Chelsey Crookes.

"If there are Indians, you know it's safe"

The quote is from Spu's friend, Q, that I met Saturday night. We were at a casino/food court/club/movie theater/hotel in Durban. The place was packed with people at 10:30 at night, most of which were Indian. He said "If there are Indians, you know it's safe." So I knew that this place was super safe. 

"How did you end up in Durban?" you say. Let me rewind to Saturday morning. It was a lazy morning. Lwazi left early to go to a clinic at work. I got out of bed around 9:30 am, watched some movies on tv. I then took a shower. Went to the grocery store because I was planning on making dinner. I then came back and watched Tom and Jerry and Scooby Doo and Scrappy Doo. After that, I read for a few hours. The weekend was turning out to be a pretty easy going one. 

Well Lwazi came back around 5:30 pm stressed out. He had just had a stressful day dealing with a stranger taking the keys to his mother's Mercedes that he was borrowing. He was stuck at the clinic site all afternoon freaking out but luckily the person returned the keys. He had made some frantic calls and already had Spu (who I had gotten dinner with and bonded over Rick Ross my first night) on his way up from Durban with the spare key. Lwazi sat on the couch and said that he needed to get out of Eshowe and go to Durban. I said, Sure I'm down for an adventure. Once Spu got to the house, with a friend of his from his "hood" nearby, we headed out. I rode with Spu and his friend while Lwazi drove his mother's car separately. First we went to the hood to drop off Spu's friend. It was a lower income area that was dead on the side streets but alive near this main area where a restaurant and bar were. Spu told me that he would bring me back to the hood next for a barbecue. After dropping off his friend, we drove through on and off heavy showers to Durban. We reached the city around 8:30 pm. As we entered Durban, Spu was telling me about the different areas where the blacks lived, where the colored people (mix of Indian and black) and where the white people lived. Very interesting to hear about the separation. We drove straight to the beach and met up with Q, who was with his girlfriend and girlfriend's friend. We piled back into the car and drove to different parts of Durban to drop off the girlfriend's friend and girlfriend. Definitely saw some different areas of wealth during this drive. Spu then drove us back to the beach and to the casino/food/etc. place. Plans to get dinner were changed once we got in contact with Lwazi. We left this place that was buzzing with life. Adults, families, teenagers, kids running around all over the place. As mentioned before, most of them were Indian and this is when Q told me about Indians and safety. After meeting up with Lwazi at an intersection, I hopped out, bid farewell to Spu and Q, hopped into Lwazi's car and drove to Lwazi's mother's house. Lwazi had gotten some good ol' Indian mutton curry. I'd been wanting to try SA Indian food since getting here and I'll say...I can't tell a difference. It tastes just like other curries I've had. We watched some bad Nigerian soap opera and then went to sleep.

Sunday we got up early and headed out. Lwazi drove us through Durban so I could see it during the day. I was able to see the Durban Soccer stadium that is in the shape of a basket. It is awesome looking. Also got to drive past the rugby stadium that hosts the Sharks. I then finally got to see the Indian Ocean and it was beautiful! Blue waters with merchant ships in the background and white waves crashing on the beaches. Can't wait to go back and go into the water. Alas we had to head back. We drove a different route back to Eshowe that for the first 20 miles or so was a coastal highway. Ocean on the right, rolling green hills on the left. We stopped at this town called Ballito, where I'm considering buying a vacation property in the future. It is about 20 miles outside of Durban and right on the coast. We went to this outdoor mall and got breakfast. Post-breakfast we walked around to different shops. The temptation to buy shoes and clothes was killing me. We spent about two hours there before we headed off. The rest of Sunday was what I initially thought the weekend was going to be, lazy. 

This morning I came to work and found out there was going to be a workshop happening for the employees that go out into the field and work with villagers. Since I do not fall into that category, I've been working on the presentation for the program. Interesting enough, though, is that the woman who was leading the workshop is an American woman. She is from Connecticut, went to school at Georgetown, has worked in Norway and Angola and then ended up in Durban. What was supposed to be a 5 month stay turned into 5 years. She is a consultant now and specializes in a variety of areas. It was great to meet her and I will definitely be getting her contact info. I just finished my lunch which was...KFC! Let me say, the KFC here is much better than in the U.S. 

My next goal is to get some pictures of my accommodations and office. I've just been too lazy to do it. Filled out my March Madness brackets. Have you??? 

Lwazi's mother's house in Durban

She is on a hill so this is the view from her house

Durban Soccer Stadium. You can go in a cart up that arch.

Home of the Sharks rugby team

The Indian Ocean with the merchant ships in the background

Another shot of the ocean.

Happy Friday!

It's the end of my work day on Friday and I thought that I would update everyone one the past 2 days. The weather has improved greatly. Wednesday was a beautiful day with the sun shining and temperatures in the upper 70's. Thursday was a bit cooler in the morning and I had to walk to work in an annoying light drizzle. Since then, it has cleared up and become another great day. Today has been gorgeous all around.

My Wednesday began with getting to work and being asked if I wanted to accompany a co-worker to a rural school. I, of course, said yes. We left at 9:00 and walked a heft 30 mins into town. It was actually my first time heading in that direction. If you put the house where I'm staying in the middle of things, I always turn right to go to work. Yesterday was the first time that I had gone to the left. We passed the mall and the busy shops filled with butcher shops, cell phone stores, churches, KFCs (2 in the span of .25 miles) and many other stores. We then walked down a mud path that had small, shack shops on either side of it. Fake watches and  Man U jerseys on one side and delicious sausages and meats being grilled on the other. At the bottom was the taxi hub. We found one going in the direction we were headed and piled into a 15 seater van with all the seats filled. Very reminiscent of times in India. We then headed out of Eshowe and down the hill that it is set on. As we would head down, people would get off and we would pick people up. Once we reached our stop, we then had a 15 minute walk to the school. The back drop was quite something. Since it was cloudy and raining when I drove up to Eshowe, I didn't get to see the surrounding areas. Green hills for as far as the eye could see! 

We came to the school and went to the principal's office. Inside was a girl having a conversation with the principal and it was evident that she was crying. My co-worker talked with the principal and with the little girl. My only contribution was when I saw her searching her purse for a pen and I pulled one out of my bag. At the end of the conversation, the principal asked me if I was American? I responded with a dutiful, Yes sir. He then asked me if I was going to try and learn Zulu in 3 months? I laughed and told him that I was going to try. His smirk and eyes told me that I had no idea what I was doing. Afterwards, we left and headed back to the main road to  catch a taxi back into Eshowe. I asked my co-worker why the girl was crying. Apparently, she was an orphan and has been her entire life. The problem is that she doesn't have a birth certificate or any kind of identification. They were trying to get her one but were not having much luck. Luckily, that is the kind of work that we do hence the reason my co-worker was talking to her and got her info.  

After about 10 mins of waiting in the sun, a van came along and we got in. Once back to Eshowe, we were both tired. My co-worker said there was no way she was going to walk another 30 mins back to the office so we went back down the mud path to the taxis. We got one and went back to work. All of this and we were back at the office by noon. The rest of the day was spent working on the manual and making paper airplanes with my supervisor's nephew. After work, I walked on over to the mall. There is a grocery store there so I went and picked up some supplies. Once I got back, I found Inception on the television and plopped myself down. Once Lwazi came back I began making my dinner which was pork fried rice. Turned out well but was definitely missing some Siracha sauce.

Thursday I got into work late due to the fact that my alarm was set for 6:30 pm and not 6:30 am. Why does technology have to ruin my life? I arrived at work and was asked if I wanted to go to an Eshowe town hall meeting for people with disabilities. I was at first insulted and wanted to say that being very hairy is not a disability! I then read the invitation and it asked for members from non profit organizations to attend. After calming down, I agreed to go with my co-worker Sifiso. We walked to the same area as yesterday and was exposed to Zulu Time. This is similar to Indian Standard Time or ENTER ANY ETHNICITY STEREOTYPICAL LATE Time. The meeting was at noon, we showed up at 12:15 and the meeting didn't start until 12:45 pm. That was impressive. There was a lot of argument about this Disability Forum being included in the HIV/Aids department of the local government. Apparently a man in a wheelchair, who everyone kept shaking their heads at, was saying some very inappropriate things. Around 2:15 pm Sifiso and I decided it was time to leave. We headed back to the office and hung out the rest of the day.

Today was time to buckle down to work on this manual for this program. Sifiso and I worked all day researching, typing, reading, editing and BOOM we are done with it. It looks fantastic. Did take a break today because a guy in a VW pulled up and was talking to Sifiso outside. Everyone knows everyone in this town so it was normal. The guy called me over and was trying to confuse me while speaking in Zulu. After realizing that he was just pulling my leg, we laughed and talked in English. He told me that he is going to bring me some South African beer later today. Met the guy for 5 mins and he's already offering to bring over a 6 pack. I like this guy. It's Friday so we get to leave at 3 pm today so I'm getting ready to leave.

Thanks for following the blog and I wish I had someone to console me during the break up of Peyton Manning and the Colts. I was fond of the Colts because of Peyton. Oh well, still hoping the Redskins get RGIII!

The side of the school we visited Wednesday

On the walk back from the school to the main road. Love the hills!

2nd Day of Work

Well the weather outside is still pretty miserable. Lots of wind and rain that keeps going off and on.

Yesterday was my first day of work. It was pretty relaxing, which was a good thing because I'm still trying to adjust to the jet lag. I met some of the mentors who come in once a month to provide a report. The mentors are the ones that are in the rural villages working hands on with the children and members of the villages. After a morning meeting, the mentors went out to do their work. All that were left were three others and myself. I spent a lot of time just chatting and getting to know my new co-workers. They gave me a language lesson in Zulu. I can now say Sawubona which means "Hello." I can also say Ngi Cela Utshwala, which means "I would like a beer." These co-workers are already better than my old ones. Lyndsey, Jacqui, Kazia, Todd, etc. never taught me a sweet language. And I will never forgive them for that. Ever!

In the evening I took a nap because, as mentioned before, I'm still trying to get over this jet lag. Woke up, chilled with Lwazi and we made dinner. I pan fried steaks while he made mashed potatoes and a vegetable medley.

Today another co worker and I have begun creating a manual for the Vuleka - Be Wise Program. We've been doing research all morning and finding information to put into the curriculum. This is the program that teaches life skills and career guidance to people age 18-30. It's exciting to be part of a the creation of a program that should make a positive impact. Especially since it is a subject matter that I am interested in.

Interesting Observation: I keep getting asked if I have any children? It appears as if it is very common for someone my age to have children, even if you're not married. I politely tell them that I'm not ready yet but in the future I will.

For those who watch, anything good happen on The Voice (the show that Nive and I were addicted to before I left) last night???

Photos from days traveling

Inside the indoor market in Frankfurt

Outside the indoor market in Frankfurt

Walking towards the Frankfurt Cathedral

Inside the cathedral

Left side of the interior of the cathedral

The depiction of Jesus on the Cross

Again, inside the Cathedral

Outside the cathedral

My currywurst and potatoes

The cart that I got the food from

First place I get food from at in Johannesburg

Flying into Durban

Warning: This is a long one

What a couple days of traveling! It all began with an idiot person working the desk at United at Dulles. He claimed that he could only check my bag to Frankfurt. From there I'd have to collect it and then check it in again. After a big stink, with the help of my parents, we were able to get someone a bit more competent to figure out how to check my bag in to my final destination. I got on the plane to Frankfurt in my window seat and a gentlemen sitting next to me. Thankfully this man was a loving husband and was able to find empty seats a couple rows back for him and his wife to sit in. This left me with no one next to me and space to sprawl out!

We arrived at Frankfurt airport and I was running on 2 hours of sleep (trouble sleeping even after drugging myself). Since my flight to Johannesburg wasn't until 10:10 pm, I planned to travel into the city and do some exploration all day. After a lot of asking around, I hopped on a train and ended up in the center of Frankfurt. It was very bustling as there was plenty of shopping to do and people going and coming from work. I lugged my heavy back pack around and went down some random streets. I ended up at an indoor market. I walked around looking at all the bakeries, flower shops, meat delis. There were plenty of customers there doing their shopping. I ended up at a bakery and used my "nearly perfect" German to order a chocolate croissant. I found a bench to sit and enjoyed it. After leaving the market, I found an old church to explore. It turned out to be the Frankfurt Cathedral. The tour cost 5 Euros so I didn't bother with that. I went into the entrance and was able to look into the church. Lots of great architecture, stain glass windows and a crazy depiction of Jesus on the Cross. It was a neat experience. 

After the cathedral, I went walking around some more. Yet, lugging a heavy backpack and my 2 hours of sleep was wearing me down. I decided to go into a mall to relax and people watch for a bit. I came to the realization there that my day of exploring Frankfurt wasn't going to be a day. I decided to grab some lunch and then head back to the airport to find a place to pass out. I picked up my bag and hit the streets. Trying to find an authentic looking German restaurant that I could spend 10 euros at was becoming difficult. After going left and right, up and down, fate brought me to a street. The street was filled with food carts and business folk on their lunch breaks. I walked around and took in the sight and smell of delicious foods. I came across a random truck that had a line and a menu that I felt confident ordering from. It was a quick order, receive your food and get out of the way place. I ordered currywurst and a potato hash. Currywurst is a bratwurst cut into pieces with ketchup and curry powder on top of it. Simple and delicious! I sat myself down at a random bench with other people there for a quick lunch.

After my lunch I slowly walked to the train station with fatigue kicking in big time! I hopped on the train for the airport, found a reclined chair meant for sleeping and passed out for 2 hours. I woke up at 3:30 and felt it was best to just head to my gate. I don't know why I felt arriving 6 hours early to boarding time was a great idea but I was groggy from my nap and still exhausted. I headed to the gate which was taken over by Chinese people as they waited for their upcoming flight to Beijing. I sat myself down right near a film crew that appeared to be making a video with a promotional video for Lufthansa using a pilot. Through my nosy eaves dropping I saw that the film crew was a mix of Germans, Brits and Americans that were under the direction of a young American director. A lot of drama was going down, though, due to all the Chinese people that were making a lot of noise. They eventually called it quits. I started to read and the Chinese boarded their flight, emptying out the gate area. Soon after, the film crew was back. They set up, did the shot and were drinking beers in no time. A huge success that had the director telling the rest of the crew he knew where they were going to party that night and there was sure to be crazy and have lots of ladies. Made me wish I had stuck around in Frankfurt for another day. Alas, I had a journey to complete that was encouraged more by the sound of K'Naan - "Wave Your Flag" from the nearby cafe. Amrou knows my love for this song.

About an hour before boarding, I decided to go take a cologne shower. If you don't know what this is, this is where you don't have time/access to shower so you spray yourself down with cologne. I meandered over to the Duty Free, sampled some fragrances and settled on a Versace cologne to give myself 2 quick sprays with. I boarded the massive Airbus A380 plane and wasn't so lucky to have an empty seat next to me. The great service, food, drinks and touch screen head rest monitor made up for it though. I enjoyed spaghetti bolognese and red wine while watching the Adventures of Tin Tin. Alas, the hectic day, lack of sleep and wine couldn't knock me out and I only got 3 hours of sleep. It was completely frustrating waking up at 2 am and not being able to go back to sleep. I made the best of it and watched 2 more movies.

I arrived in Johannesburg Saturday morning at 10:30 am. I changed dollars to Rand (7.39 conversion) and headed found a place to get some much needed coffee and water. If you know me, you know I only drink coffee in desperate situations and this was one of them. When it was time for lunch I found the chain of one of my favorite places in D.C., Nando's Peri Peri. I knew I had to get some authentic Nando's and enjoyed every bite of it. Before I knew it, it was time to board my 3:30 flight to Durban. I boarded a half empty flight where my assigned seat was in the last row where there was no one else sitting in my row. There was a group of obviously athletes that boarded the plane. They were all wearing button up shirts with "GM" on the back and a logo on the front. I stared at one guy and wrote down what it said. The team was the Highveld Lions, who I came to discover is a South African club cricket team. Pretty cool stuff.

I arrived in Durban on a very cloudy day. I still could see some of the surrounding area which was nothing but lush, green, rolling hills. It was a beautiful site! I collected my checked in bag, which I was fully expecting not to arrive due to the idiot at Dulles. I headed out and was collected by the director's, Lwazi, mother. She works for the government in Durban but comes to Eshowe every weekend. We hopped in her car and drove the hour or so to Eshowe. We had a great conversation about what she does, her past, my past, the economic situation in South Africa and many other things. I know you guys are wondering and yes, Gotye is playing on the radios here too. She did tell me that those clouds I saw as I flew in were from the cyclone warning that was in effect for the area. Do I make an entrance or what!

I arrived at the house with the rain pouring down. I was greeted by Lwazi with a big smile on his face. I gave him a hug and I settled in. First thing I did was take a much needed shower. Don't worry, the effects of my cologne shower were still there. I said goodbye and gave my thanks to Lwazi's mother. The woman who is to be my supervisor came over. I don't remember her name but will keep you all updated. We chatted and then braved the rain to go to a restaurant for dinner. A friend of Lwazi met up with us there. It was great chatting with them about South Africa, work, natural disasters, cars, etc. We hopped in the friend's car and we automatically discovered that we shared a love of Rick Ross. I then found myself driving around Eshowe at 9 pm, in the rain, blasting Rick Ross. You can imagine how happy I was in that moment.

Tomorrow I begin work. I'll also begin my lessons in learning Zulu. Hopefully after 3 months I can be fluent in the language! Posting photos seems to be a problem. I'll try again tomorrow with this blog and Facebook once I get to work. Thanks for following me and I miss all of you!

In South Africa

Made it. Exhausted. Going to sleep. Will update tomorrow.