*Wake up at 6:10, dash to the kitchen so that if mama Lucy made porridge (cream of wheat or oatmeal) I can dish my own and put WAY less (full cream) milk and sugar on than she would.
*Grab the pot of hot water mama has so kindly heated on the stove for me, dump it in the bath tub, and add an appropriate amount of cold water for a refreshing (sponge-ish) bath.
*Grab my stuff and head across the street to walk with Katie P. (my house is the one on the left and this picture was taken while waiting for Katie)to the pickup point and eagerly await Thula’s arrival.
*At 8:30 classes start. Zulu language class and a lecture by the one and only Kathy alternate between filling the first two hour time slot. Chances are either way, we are ready for a break by the time lunch rolls around as Zulu leaves our tongues twisted and Kathy leaves our minds twisted. (She’s fond of speaking of the BARKING MADNESS of history.)
*Lunch time comes at 1 so the kitchen gets nice and crowded before people migrate to the pool or take a stroll around the neighborhood.
*Afternoon lecture starts at 2. Here is when we usually have guest lecturers or field trips. By the time lecture is over, we have a little down time, then it’s time to go back to Cato Manor!
*Walking back in the afternoon is an experience, as all of the kids are home from school and we are usually greeted with a chorus of “Hello!”. (For some reason they are so determined to speak English to us and we’re so determined to speak Zulu to them.) I’m always greeted by my little brother Simphiwe running out of the door to say hello while Londiwe waits inside.
*Dinner usually comes around 6:30 which is conveniently time for Rhythm City, a fantastic soapie (aka soap opera). The big drama now is that Stone left his girlfriend/fiancé/wife at the alter of the in church wedding after going through the Zulu wedding because he couldn’t deny any longer that he was in love with his best (man) friend. Every episode, a lot of snot runs down is face. Then comes the evening news, and GENERATIONS, the biggest soapie in South Africa. I can’t even start to explain how wonderfully bad it is. It will truly be missed back in the States.
*After that it’s just homework time and then I make my Zulu teachers proud by declaring, “Ngidinga ukulale!” (I need to sleep!) before heading to bed!
This may sound unglamorous at best and boring at worst, but Zed (our program director) would back me in saying that the true gems of experience are found in the everyday.
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