"In just a little bit....."

self explanatory (shout out to fabio humor)


the physical manifestation of the hand headache (i got a real shiner on my palm just below my thumb)


kids in the village have a tea party! note the bugs bunny stuffed animal guest in the background and the flowers in vases


the table we are sitting at now, but in the dark. during the process of writing this blog the power has gone on and off 3 times. as a novice mistake we blew out the candles after it came back on the first time. (btw is this a poker table we are eating at? insert joke here)

So it is already Thursday night, and we have no idea where the week has gone. Nor really what have we done/accomplished during it. The problem is that we need translators for our project in the village, but our translators are at school until five, and then have chores to do. So right now it is a no-go on the village project (although if you read the blog below you will see that we did put in ample time mapping the village, and got ridiculously sun burned which has now turned into a tan, and we don’t feel sooo white).
So today… what did we do all day long? Let us tell you: we walked around the mall of course! Before it was even open! We wanted to get the ball rolling on the yoga so we went to buy mats, as well as get some cones for soccer practice. But the way things work here is that if you are going out, you go oooouuuuuttt. The bajillion errands must all be run. So this morning, we woke up at the crack of dawn, aka 6am, which we cant even complain about bc everyone here wakes up at 5:30 and we have been sleeping until 9. We woke up so early bc we had to take someone from the village to the hospital to get his ARVs (AIDS meds), and the hospital has a sign that says “free HIV testing and treatment,” so we can understand that there would probably be a crazy line (Ilene’s estimation, since we arrived so early and all, 3 hours). So we dropped off village dude and then got dropped off ourselves at the mall at 7:30am. But the mall doesn’t open til 9. We brought a book just for the occasion (we had a feeling that going to the mall and leaving at 6:30am didn’t match up). We asked our driver about how long did he think we would have and he said “in just a little bit.” Cultural competency lesson #1: in just a little bit in South Africa actually translates to 7 hours.
So prior to our knowledge of this South Africanism, and going with our 3 hour assumption, and taking into account that we were there for an hour and a half before it opened, hence we had an hour and a half to get everything done, we bought groceries. Meat. Yogurt. The goods. The we got the yoga mats and such, and lugged all of it around in a oversized shopping cart. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. So you already know the end of this story. 7 hours later, our meat was excreting a mysterious liquid and had turned an unfortunate shade of brown-grey. But we learned an important lesson about buying meat at the mall: don’t.
Other South Africanisms:
Hoot = Honk
Naughty = every child
I reckon = not just for hillbillies
Is it? = really?
Neh? = yes? Or maybe no? we are not sure
Hows it? = How are you?
Sharp (pronounced without the “r”) = Got it? Excellent! Sounds good
See you now = Ill be back in a few minutes (but now that we know more about south African time, this could mean hours from now)

On a more serious note, we would like to recognize and give accolades to the amazing staff here at Botshabelo. They are over-worked, underpaid, over-stressed, under-staffed, and never get a break. Weekends, ha! Holidays, what’s that? After being here for 2 weeks, we are awed by their total and utter dedication and commitment to their vision, and to their unwillingness to let the intense trauma they see everyday, the struggle for funds to feed all of the children, and the sheer exhaustion of being on 24/7 bring them down or stand in their way. And when we say they are struggling to feed the kids everyday, we are not exaggerating. It is a daily fight. Partly because they are mindful of where the money comes from, and the energy it brings. Hence no big name endorsements (which have been offered), and no religious zealots that have strings attached to their very hefty “donations.” So that makes what they do here all the more honest, compassionate and with pure intentions. Awe-inspiring, yet scary the intensity of the commitment they have made for themselves, and their spouses and children.