home sweet home?

Hello everyone :)

I'm happily back in Holland; the weather is dutch but the cheese makes up for it. It's very strange to be back and I miss South Africa (I now know why sa expatriates talk about their country so much!), but life moves on and that's a good thing too.

Coming back to Europe was definitely a culture shock, everything is so nice here! The clothes people wear, the trains, the trainstations, the gum mozaic on the tiles of the train stations, the fact that people spit their gum out onto the tiles of trainstations. Ok maybe that last thing isn't so nice, but it's strange that someone would do that (that I've done that!). Meh, I'm being idealistic.

I was always so amazed at how grateful the kids in Durban were for the things they got, it seemed so different from my own attitude to life. But then again maybe their reaction isn't that different to middleclassmaterialist one, since they're happy for little things, which to them seem like big things, just as we're happy for things that seem big to us. At one point when I was teaching at Stella I realised I was being part of the problem by always commenting on the clothing the kids wore - partially because they would point out their new shoes/shirt/skirt to me, but also because I was nervous for the first few weeks and struggling with remembering names. I then realised how silly that was, since I what I was really saying was that it's the clothes you have that make you special. A few times I caught someone looking ashamed of the shirt they were wearing or the shoes they weren't, which hammered that point home too.

South Africa was very cool (at times literally so), and I only have three regrets. 1) that I didn't go on a Very Early Morning run with Sean's sister 2) that I wasted time regretting not going on said run (5.30 is far too early, even if you do sight a Kingfisher and jog through the jungle) 3) maybe that I didn't blog enough. But then again, there was something to comment on every 10 minutes or so, and my friendship with Emma wouldn't be where it is had I blogged-to-da-maximum. That internet cafe guy, on the other hand...

I was going to upload pictures today but my technological skills are LEDC as ever and besides I've lost the little camera connector thingy. But I'll be back with pictures soon :).

All the best (and it may be in front of you...)

xxHeidi

ps. Canal Walk in Cape Town claims to be "the biggest in Africa". Watch out Gateway...

Durban down, Capetown to go...

I'm sitting in the business centre of a boat-themed hotel in Capetown's waterfront. It smells like a boat, and I swear I felt a slight swaying when walking down the corridors. This may be my mind playing tricks on me. That, or last night's goodbye dinner rosee is kicking me in the shins.

Capetown is gorgeous, but it's all filtering in through a cloud of nostalgia. My own personal tablecloth (which is what they call the clouds that sometimes settle down on table mountain). I miss Durban: the Stella noonoos, Emma and the Bastables, the Sunday school kids...eish, I even miss the Lodge, that "little house by a church" (which was the explanation I'd give to the wee ones when they asked me where I lived. "With your sister?" "Yes, I live with Emma" "Who cooks?" "Me, usually" "Can I come live with you?" "Umm...look, a hula hoop!")

I haven't seen them for over a week now but my mind keeps wandering back to that daily routine and their funny expressions. One girl in my yellow group called Nokutula (which ironically enough means 'quiet girl' even though she was one of the loudest in the class) never failed to answer "Jesus" to questions she couldn't think of another answer to. "Of what type of flower are we talking?" "Jesus!" "What is it that does this *Mrs. Van mimes a helicopter propellor with her hands*" "Jesus!"Lol and I'm sure someone has given a go at justifying those statements, somewhere, somehow. I love theology...

One of the coolest days at Stella was when we took them to the park. The place was simple enough, with a big patch of grass, two see-saws, two sets of swings and a jungle gym. I came with the first bus and watched the kids gallop towards the playground like a herd of little wild kudu. Soon I was sorting out the squabble by the see-saw, concerning who got to sit on the seats. Then the second bus arrived, and as I looked behind me I saw two girls running across the grass to meet it. Their arms flailed from side to side, their bodies tilted forwards like birds. So happy.

My parents and sister arrived last Sunday. It's strange to have your budget quintuple in a matter of minutes but hey this is the double life students lead and I'm not complaining. Just commenting. We stayed in Umhlanga (pronounced Umshlanga, "place of reeds"), which 15 years ago was still sugar cane but now is the Beverly Hills (or Wassenaar) of Durban. At first it was all mega-disorientating and I found myself in a mental knot of haves vs have-nots. But I got accostumed to it all quite fast, as people do. The cappucino machine helped (there's nothing like milk foam to soothe your philosophical troubles).

I'm off, all the best to you my reader! I'll be back soon with more Capetown news, and maybe something from the Durban archives.

xxx