"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?