As the days go by, I feel more at home in PE. Today I sorted more clothing at House while five of my comrades painted a bedroom. One of the mom’s at House, Sheila, guided Laura and I through sorting boxes and sorting to an even greater extent in another room where moms can come browse for the kids. Each mom at House has her own cottage and six foster children. Sheila has kids of her own ranging from 25 to 27 years, but she is going another round with a group of six in which the youngest is two and the oldest is thirteen. She is a kind woman, and it was nice to get to know a person so willing to dedicate her life to the organization I get to serve at.
After a quick lunch, Taylor and I walked to school for music class. Today we had a singing workshop with an upbeat young guy who has done workshops in the UK, Japan, the States and other countries abroad. He led us through the national anthem Nkose Sikelela which has five of the eleven national languages in its text. The Xhosa words Nkose Sikelela are part of a prayer and the title of the national anthem is translated God Bless Africa. We also learned a very difficult song called The Click Song precisely because the clicks typically trip up Western singers. The words are as follows: Igqirha lendlela ngu Qongqothwane Ebeqabelegqithapha (yep that’s one word!) hayi uqongqothwane. The words translated into English are “Doctor of the road dung beetle. It went over the hills that dung beetle.” The legend says that if one is lost, put the dung beetle on the road and it will show the way home. It was written by a woman in exile during the Apartheid era. She missed her country so much that her message is to hold dear to home. If the text doesn’t seem difficult enough, each “q” has a click in which the mouth needs to make the shape of the next vowel in order for the sound to resonate. Our visiting teacher had a little too much faith in us when he combined all of the text, melody, pitch, annnnnd dance. It was a fun but challenging time. Next week we have a fieldtrip for a marimba (like a xylophone) workshop, yippee-ki-yay!
After class, I went with three other Bennies to volleyball practice. Today we didn’t have a next, so we did conditioning for the first part and other ground work like passing and a game called switch for the rest of the time. I love to play volleyball, and practice made me very happy.
I am almost overwhelmed tonight having had service, school, and practice. I still have homework to do, and I am used to being able to go to bed whenever I please in SA, but tonight it’s a different story! It has been very relaxing so far, and we shall see how I cope with adding a bit more to my schedule. Volleyball is only two practices a week, and it’s so fun, but I feel much more like I’m at St. Ben’s when I have a fuller schedule. It’s kind of odd.
Glad you are getting settled in.
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