NGO and the Weekend

Haven't written in a while..been very busy. We have been solidifying our ISP proposals and what not and also had our first CHS (community health seminar) paper due today, Monday. So Thursday I visited One Voice South Africa which is in Durban but a totally different part of Durban that kind of looks like Raleigh almost. I love this place..its so interesting every part of the city is like a different area in the U.S. This NGO educates 8th-12th graders through creative and fun ways about health and HIV specifically.

Friday was a normal day..we had to present dialogues in Zulu which was very interesting..I was from South Africa and my name was Bafana Bafana which is Zulu for boys boys and its the national soccer teams mascot. We are obsessed with Bafana Bafana. We are also obsessed with the sports song/chant Shosholoza..you should probably youtube it. It's incredible we sing it about eight times a day even though we haven't learned all the words or learnt as the South Africans would say.

Friday I made tacos which the family absolutely loved. They ate them for breakfast the next morning. I taught them how to assemble and eat them it was really fun! I brought them chocolate chip cookies which by the way is impossible to find here. They don't make fresh cookies its blasphemy. Anywho I brought them cookies, chocolate bars and popcorn for Valentine's Day. They also loved that of course.

Saturday I hung out with some peeps for a bit then we took a taxi into town to stay at the Happy Hippo backpackers again so we could go to the rugby game. We got our tickets for the rugby game which was between the Durban Sharks and the Jo'burg Chiefs. The game was amazing, much like our sports games in the U.S. but rugby is just awesome in general. And the best part was they sang Shosholoza. It was raining at the game so we got a little wet but its all good..it made the game more interesting. After the game they all have a braai or barbeque on the field which is super cool.

Spent the night Saturday night and came back Sunday, there was no toilet paper in our house..that was fun. I ran around the town to the Tuck Shop which is like a little stand that has stuff to get some toilet paper. Then I worked on my paper for CHS. No one was home and a girl came and knocked on the door and was like hey Kaitlyn. I was like oh hello and she was like can I come hang out and I was like ok sure. So she came in and chatted with me for about an hour. Apparently she lives next door but goes to boarding school so this is the first time she's been home. It was really interesting to talk to her..shes really intelligent and her English is superb. Chilled with the fam for the rest of the day. Mama made me eat a lot. I watched a Valentine's Day Hallmark movie when my bros weren't home so they didn't turn it to Cartoon Network or the Style channel. Then we watched Titanic.

Today we have class in the morning and then we leave in the afternoon for our first rural homestay. I'm going to Amatikulu which is where we are shadowing community health workers. We stay in pairs so I am staying with Sam she's cool shes from Colorado and goes to school in Washington. Were staying till Thursday, so thats when I will be back on the internet. I'm sure I will have lots of stories.