Ramblings...

Well, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed the other morning, stressing about money. South Africa is insanely expensive. And unfortunately, the resume job has been slow lately. I do still have hope on earning a small stipend with this nonprofit; however, our schedules have not allowed for a meeting yet (well, let’s be honest, more their schedule). With all the trips for Chris’ research and visitors and food, it just seems like our bank account keeps dwindling. So, I was feeling stressed, but only for two days, because then something happened that grumpy morning…

I walked past my favorite security guard (whom I pass by each day on my typical route to the gym). We have been working towards introductions and higher-level conversations each day. Today, we got past the weather and discussed his work and family. He told me he sees his family once a month because the taxis are so expensive and take more than an hour each way. He has a wife and four children (22, 13, 11, 4) and highly recommended I don’t have more than two as it is a ton of work. His 22 year-old son has been using drugs and he helped get him sent to prison in hopes it would clean him up. He makes $20 USD a day, standing outside in the hot sun, for 10 hours. So, nothing more can cure a pity party than hearing someone else's pity story that is about 100x sadder. So, I feel ridiculous for stressing out about money. I now want to do something for him, but haven't figured out what yet. The other day, I came up with a plan for beggars that Chris and I have been implementing. If you hear about the "banana bandits," it is probably us. You see, I decided we should carry around bananas everywhere we go and give these to people who look like they could use one. And, so we have. And yep, we feel quite good about it and even the beggars are quite appreciative. A banana is not enough for my security guard friend though, so I will keep thinking. Feel free to comment on the blog if you have any ideas.

I played in a beach volleyball tournament on Sunday with my partner, Ayanda. As with the tournament in the gymnasium, it takes a looong time to start because we are on “African” time and throughout the day, there is a lot of sitting and waiting. However, I am WAY more patient when watching the waves at the beach, sitting outside in the shade. For only playing a few times together, Ayanda and I are developing a nice partnership and we even won $10 each both weekends for taking third place. With more practice, I hope for us to win 1st by the time I leave. Aside from playing volleyball and enjoying the sun, it is entertaining to be the only white person and completely clueless on typical volleyball banter or the events of the day because most everyone speaks Zulu. One of the organizers is bound and determined to help me learn Zulu, so he taught me “Hello,” which is “Sawubona.” As Zulu conversations took place, I would randomly say my one word, “Hello,” to fit in. We were going to try “thank you” but they sounded too similar and I was forgetting “Hello.” I am a slooooow learner with languages. Oh, and yes, everyone does speak English too, in case anyone was wondering.