Guys, let’s do a mad lib.
(1) A holiday. (2) A foreign capital. (3) An obscure language. (4) An American Music Style. (5) An academic subject. (6) A country you’d struggle to locate on a map.
___1___ found me in ___2___ watching an open-air ___3___ ___4___ concert with a group of ___5___ students from ___6___ .
Okay, here’s mine:
New Years Eve found me in Pretoria, watching an open-air Afrikaans rap concert with a group veterinary students from Croatia.
Right. So, after a strange NYE, I headed back to Bungeni with over a week left of summer break. It was nice to be back. I mostly passed that time giving out the souvenir bracelets I got in Tofo, hanging out with the host family, walking around with Vutomi and her cousin Vivian, and playing some games with the neighborhood kids.
I also spent a lot of time playing with a camera I bought in Pretoria, my old one having died on vacation. Some results:
2 y.o. host nephew Kunene spent most of the holiday playing with the neighbor kids, especially second-grader Kudya (left) and his new best friend whose name I still haven’t learned (right).
Give some kids a pack of UNO, they won’t know what to do. Teach some kids to play UNO, and you’ll play UNO every single day for the remainder of your service.
I also taught Kudya and friend how to play Angry Birds. They beat all my high scores.
Kunene “helping” his mom, Queen, prepare lunch.
Vutomi during a thoughtful moment.
Decoration in a local house.
A friend’s room.
The neighbors often braai chicken feet, which they sell sprinkled with seasoning for 1 rand apiece (less than 15 cents). The boy grilling is an 8th grader named Absa. For some reason, he is named after a local bank.
The local kids like hanging around the braai in the evening.
I’m reminded of the part in Hansel and Gretel where the kids poke a bone through their cage, so that the witch will think they’re too skin-and-bones to eat. That trick would not have worked on a South African.
Queen’s birthday was in January, and we celebrated in typical South African style with cake and soda.
Kudya showing off one of the big millipedes that appear after the rain. They are called songololo, based on the verb songa, “to roll up.”
These lizards are my faithful companions in the war against roaches.
A bag of litchis, R10 (about one dollar.) So pink!
Juicy, delicious, and way better than grapes for simulating fake eyeballs on Halloween.
A flowering tree outside a house in Bungeni.
South Africans take good care of their shoes. Shined and polished.
Three teachers preparing for the new year. The school is short on space, so the staff room consists of a few desks set under a tree.
The 7th grade English Teacher worrying about the new textbooks.
The view of Mashau Mountain, from near a neighbor’s field. Early in the month, we had some nice sunshine!
Man I love your photo captions. Such wit. Oh yeah, and cool photos, too.