General News

My Karate classes have been going down a treat in the evenings and strangely enough it feels good to be punched in the stomach again after such a long break from the sport…the only thing is the puncher has no hand pads and I’m always on the receiving end so I come in afterwards with rather large red splodges across my stomach! Ho hum…she’s happy and it’s great to see her escaping her worries!

Lessons are going well…end of year exams are fast approaching (late Nov), so I’ve been busy revising with the children and re-teaching lessons taught by past volunteers (although this is tricky as I only have a vague idea as to what was taught)! A lady now comes in during the afternoons to teach the children beadwork which they are getting quite good at!

Mthatha is as crazy as ever. I have now been the witness of a man standing in the middle of the road, draped in blankets with his trousers down to his ankles, peeing into his hands and washing himself with it…strange. Also, a man putting his hand break on at the front of a queue at a crossroads before jumping out of his car and running down the hill after a man who had stolen something from his trailer. He’s braver than me! Ohh and the funniest thing ever – I was walking back from town and crossed the single bridge over the Mthatha river, where no one ever obeys the traffic lights (or ‘robots’ as they are called here) on either side. I approached the middle of the bridge after walking past a growing traffic jam to see two cars facing each other, bonnet-to-bonnet. Not too unusual. Normally one will reverse backwards to let the other one through and finally decide to follow the robot rules. But after a closer look I discovered neither car had a driver in it. Both of whom were sitting on the handrail on opposite sides of the bridge, facing different directions and stubbornly ignoring each other. I wonder who it was that gave in, in the end. Apartheid still seems to be an issue here. One driver was black, the other white.

Church has become a bit surreal lately. The children have been taken to Sunday school to practice Christmas carols, whilst I have stayed in the main church with the older girls. Being an atheist I still don’t really understand what is going on and half the service is in Xhosa making me even more confused. On Sunday I was left a little embarrassed as everyone around me collapsed to the floor before wailing, crying, screamed and shouting, whilst I sat in my chair clueless as to what to do, as I didn’t feel his ‘presence’. Oh well, another experience to add to this year’s growing list, at least!

My ears are still ringing from the ‘Away in a Manger’ and ‘Silent Night’ practise we had in the classroom today! The children have been invited to take part in the Christmas service which I’m secretly looking forward to, but strange hearing Christmas songs in late October with the sun beaming down outside!

I hope people are enjoying reading my blogs. If there’s anything people want to hear about, let me know as I love sharing both my good and bad experiences of this year with you all. I'm trying to keep them varied and honest so if there’s anything people want to know, just get in touch J Hope everything’s OK where you are!