Dumelang!
I am sitting in an internet café in the suburbs of Johannesburg. The internet is painfully slow and I am paying for a half hour… so I will have to be brief. It took me 13 minutes just to log into my blog...
Everything is well. We are living the good life in South Africa. We are staying at some sort of old meditation center. The girls each have their own room with a sink. It is not luxurious by American standards but it is very cozy. The gardens are lovely and we spend a lot of time lounging around in the sun doing yoga, reading, and such.The air is dry so it makes your nose, eyes, and throat dry. The mornings and the breeze is very chilly but the sun is HOT (I already have a sunburn on my face). The flight wiped us out. It was SO LONG. When we got to the airport we happened to witness the Springbok rugby team coming through the airport, which was an exciting welcome to South Africa.
Meeting our host families was nerve-wrecking but endearing experience. My host Mom's name is Mamokete, and she and her cousin Dimokatso come every morning to practice Sesotho with us. It is exhausting but we also pass the time singing and having cultural discussions with all the other mothers. Their Sotho is so fast and with all the clicks you can hardly understand what they are saying but I think I'm getting better. On Wednesday we will actually go to live in their homes and meet the rest of their families. When we are having group discussions it takes forever because they all talk at once until the nkhono (grandmother) speaks and tells them all how it's going to be. There are many other cultural differences that I can't even begin to describe here. There have already beem many challenges to overcome.
The food at St. Benedicts is pretty good. It's also pretty fatty. We also have tea about four times a day, thanks to British influence we have tea at 10:30 and then an afternoon tea, which both also include more food. We're getting a little bit restless in the garden, but soon we will be in Soweto with our families. I am litterally out of time. I will hopefully write again sooner than later!
Khotso, I love you all,
Laura (Bophelo)
Love you too!! Thanks for posting. We are eager to hear more but in the meantime our prayers continue <3 Mom
ReplyDeleteWe love and miss you Laura! Your in my prayers. :)
ReplyDeleteDot
Just read your blog with Uncle Darrell, Grandma and Grandpa K around their kitchen table. We missed you at our gathering yesterday at your home. Keeping you in our prayers, Aunt Emily
ReplyDeleteSo glad to hear that you made the trip & are doing well. We miss you at West Main & look forward to keeping up with your journey. Embrace this wonderful opportunity! Love you, Shirley
ReplyDeleteHi Laura Lou! Thanks for the update. Keep on writing, learning, singing and drinking tea. Have you had Rooibos yet? Love ya, Aunt Juls
ReplyDeleteSo good to hear from you and learn that your experience is off to a great start. Tea sounds good. I think of you often...when I am having breakfast you are having lunch. You now go to bed before me. You are in my prayers. Love Dad.
ReplyDeleteLove the blog, especially Laura the Explaura. Tonight we are going to a volleyball game. I will cheer for Dot and tell her it is from you. Love, Karen
ReplyDelete