Viva OBAMA Viva,

this is what i saw on the back of a combi (taxi bus) yesterday morning on the way to work. I didn't even realize that the election was so soon. Let me say though that everyone here is thrilled with the results. They are very excited that a black man is president in America and are very confident that he will do a great job.

Now I realize that I never got around to posting on the weekend. It actually takes some effort to make it here and I was feeling too tired on saturday to motivate myself to walk down here. Actually, there wasn't a whole lot in those three days to write about anyway and it seems that maybe many of you are busy because my usual commenters (if that is a word) did not leave anything, with the exception of Marsha. Tis alright though. No harm, no foul.

I don't really remember last Thursday at all. I think it was just a usual day at work. I do remember making it over the the video store though to get movies for the weekend. Friday was much more exciting. Our morning meeting was very short and informal because the supervisors were all in a meeting of their own. At 11 I headed over to the soccer pitch with most of my team mates. We have left the YMCA indoor league that we were originally playing in and are now playing in an outdoor league of our own that currently has three teams. Each team plays two 40 minute games so we get lots of play time now and we can play with a full 11. We all had very professional jerseys complete with sponsors and we had a huge turnout of fans who not only cheered us on but sang soccer chants which they had made up for our teams. It felt as much like a real soccer match as I will ever play in. I had some difficulty because I haven't played an organized game of soccer with actual positions in a very very long time and my team speaks mostly Zulu (big surprise eh.) In fact, I was the only white player on the pitch. But I played a pretty successful left back defence and a more successful center back defence the second game. One of the strikers on the other team sensed that I didn't really know what I was doing so far as positioning is concerned and he started giving me tips right in the middle of the game. All in all it was very competative but very friendly. My kind of game.

Saturday and Sunday were two lazy quiet days with only 4 of us in the house. I cooked a South African Chicken Tandoori dish on Sunday which only Aerin and I liked because the others complained it was too spicy. It really wasn't that spicy though. It's been my observation that the Dutch are not used to spicy food at all.

This week at Haniville has been murderously slow. Our supervisor wasn't there Monday or Tuesday and coupled with the bad weather, or interns were unmotivated to work and we had almost no kids. Wednesday Aerin went to visit a school so I spent the day working with Thabo again. He and I spent the morning on some very difficult homevisists of which I am not at liberty to disclose the details. I helped him in the office with some typing to make his English sound more proffesional in some letters he had to write. Today was another slow day at Haniville but I am glad the week is over now. I am ready for the weekend. Aerin and I did learn a really fun game today though involving cans and a ball. We both agreed it would have been really fun or gym class.

Some cultural things...

I learned my Zulu name today. It is Umuhle. I am pleased with it because it is a decent enough sounding name.

Zulu food is very dense and filling. Unfortunately I still have a teenage boy metabolism and so I am hungry again shortly after eating.

Zulu men don't like it when you say they are gorgeous.

It is very hard to order fast food.

You can buy CocaCola in a very large can.

South Africa is a country with many faces. There is a comercialized western face that does not betray the fact that you have ever left America. There is also the poor face of a third world country vastly different from the west. There is the face of a victimized people, and the face of a people have and still grow rich by raping and exploiting those of lower class. You cannot live here as a foreigner and not experience a great conflict of concious.

Until next time,
Hamba Kahle!