Mthwalume

This past week we spent in our last rural homestay in Mthwalume which is on the South Coast. I should note that I have been craving chocolate (specifically brownies), coke, and coffee like no one has craved anything before. I yearn for it honestly! So I realized what these had in common…caffeine! I guess I don’t get nearly as much as I do when I’m at home. Anywho so Monday started off with a cappuccino that I got from Steers which is like South Africa’s hmmm Burger King perhaps. I was a happy camper! They don’t drink much real coffee in the homes that we stay at just instant Ricoffy coffee. I’ve gotten use to it though..blaaa.

We arrived in Mthwalume early so we chilled at the beach for a bit. Then we got dropped off at our homestays. Becca and I’s family was pretty well off so that was a surprise. We stayed in a house with ten other people, Gogo (grandma), Mama, her sister, and seven children. We settled in very nicely. This is the first time SIT has had students go there so all the families were really excited to get the opportunity to host students (Americans). We ate..standard. Slept.

Tuesday we got picked up and visited a TB hospital that was in the community. They don’t treat MDR or XDR TB so they didn’t have too many patients but nevertheless to have a TB hospital in that rural community is a blessing. Then we visited a clinic that serves 6,000 people a month but is tiny. The nurse there which by the way the nurses prescribe medications and what not and give them to you right then. Anywho, the nurse there practically had no time the lines are ridiculous. The Love Life Center came next which is an afterschool program for the kids where about twice a week they have “classes” and debates teaching them about things like body image and HIV…stuff like that. It’s a shame though because currently the place we visited doesn’t have enough money to pay their electric bill so they have no electricity. They are still functioning though. Unfortunately it seems like Love Life might be a thing of the past. Once we got back to the family Becca and I read our books. I am currently reading Say You’re One Of Them which I think Dad you bought around Christmas time or something. Anyway it’s pretty good, its filled with stories of children in Africa. We had the best dinner ever that night! We had steam bread, which I will make when I come home..maybe, chicken..like I had a legit chicken quarter, and then this spinach type stuff that they grow in their gardens are cooked down into basically cooked spinach.

Each morning we also had a feast of eggs, bacon, hot dog thingys, rice krispies, tons of fruit, juice, tea, bread…they treated us soooo well. Since we were the first Americans they had met we asked them what they thought we would be like and they said glamorous, basically you know really rich and diva-like haha. Somehow we asked them if that’s how we were and they said absolutely not, that we were just like them..eating their food living how they live. I’m glad this is their impression however being glamorous wouldn’t be awful either. Nonetheless I’m glad they are getting this impression of Americans! Now I’m scared what everyone else thinks..all they see is MTV and what not..50 Cent is not my image of America.

Wednesday we visited an art center..where the women come together to do a lot of bead work and pottery too and then sell it for a living. We came and made AIDS ribbons out of beads, ridiculously hard by the way. I have a whole new respect for them now. It took us about 3 hours to do them and most of us didn’t finish. Mine is beautiful! Then we visited a primary school which I was very impressed by. Not only do they teach them academic stuff, they also teach them life skills. They are practicing permaculture and making backpacks our of their reusable food bags. They are teaching them lessons on abuse by teaching them songs, which I have a video of a 1st grader singing us the song. He is so animated; it’s the cutest thing ever! Lunch was at the beach at a restaurant there. I ordered coffee again and I was a new woman if you will! After lunch we traveled to the Sangoma’s house. She works mainly with water as a cure but also some herbs. She also refers patients to the hospital if need be. We had a photo shoot with the family when we got back and they absolutely had a blast, especially when I suggested we do funny faces. I think they laughed for about 15 minutes when I showed them their faces…quite the bondingness! We watched Generations every night of course. Opted to not use the pee bucket/tubs inside the house. Fumigated our room with enough Doom to kill a small child every night as well however the last night we saw our first cockroach. We spent about 15 minutes chasing it around the room with Doom..it finally took shelter under Becca’s bed (oh ya we had our own separate beds). I was pretty ok with that..decided it would crawl on her first during the night.

Next morning I left the 3 year old put some make up on me..looked better than I was looking so great success overall. Decided to shower at the SIT house before coming back to Cato…Cato Mama secretly appreciated that. Narrowing down my ISP and picking accommodations. Edendale hospital has an iteach NGO program within the hospital that researches and helps traditional healers work with the hospitals in treating TB. I’ll probably research more into that program and live in Pietermaritzburg for my ISP.

This weekend…home on Friday gotta work on my ISP proposal and CHS paper. Saturday some of us are going into Durban to go to the beach then 3:30pm soccer game ABSA premiership league game in the Durban Fifa Stadium. R20 for the game..pretty legit. Then stay in Durban for the night at the Happy Hippo again. I will have internet that night so everyone should get on, perhaps staggered timing though I get a little overwhelmed. Got another letter from Gran and Pa…they are definitely in the running for my biggest fans!