Sundays

So last night I managed to get on here before I settled in for an evening filled with eating way too much popcorn and movie watching. The option to post pictures on Blogger was up and running again! Yay! I decided that I would wait until this morning to take advantage of the returned feature...and this morning, it is gone. Man! I guess I'll have to come back and post pictures (I have some good ones!) whenever it comes back up... at least there's the reassurance that it will be back up eventually.
It's been one of those weekends where you're not really focused on time... where you just float through the hours pretty content with the way things are going. I have to say I'm on a high right now. It feels good because all last week my energy and interest in being here was waning, AGAIN.
My office closes on Fridays at 3, so I always get a head start on my weekend. (Ha! I love that that means I get an extra hour of reading in, or that I can make my popcorn an hour earlier than every other day, or that I'll be able to make it to the post office before they close without having to leave the office early.) I washed all my dirty dishes from the night before, swept, and then, yes, finished book number 2 for the week. (It was 500 pages of intensity). Kori came around to my door, knocked."Mmapula? Mmapula?" "Yes, Kori?" "I am coming now now." (translation: He'll be right back) I opened my door and waited for him to come back, I mean he did say now now.. When he came around the corner from his house, he was grinning from ear to ear. He thrust his homework paper (that I had helped him with a couple of weekends before) into my hands. "48/50! Kori! That's wonderful! This is beautiful! You want some sticky stuff so you can hang such a good score on your wall?!" He was giggling (for the record this kid, most of the time, is too cool for giggling) and puffing out his chest, very proud of himself. It felt good that I was part of such an achievement. Tanya called to see if I wanted to get to the post office before we headed down to Christy's (another PCV who lives in a village just down the road from ours) for the night. We met at the main dirt road (which soon will be paved!), walked a little ways, and then threw up our fingers when we saw a car coming in our direction. The car passed us and then stopped a little ways ahead... the guys driving knew we were heading to the post office... and offered to give us a lift. We got in the back seat and the passenger kept making references to knowing me, seeing me in the village, and apologized for not being able to give me a ride the day before. We were in the car for a good 5 minutes before I realized that, yes, in fact, I did know this guy, he actually was kind of a friend of sorts... Synett's brother-in-law, the guy who drove us to Giyani to turn in some reports. I laughed when it all clicked. It's amazing how often that happens. You find yourself in the middle of a conversation with someone and you suddenly realize you know them. I wish I could keep track of everyone I've talked to... and everyone's names.. but well... that's a tall order, there are a lot of people! We made it to Christy's just as the sun was setting and had a nice night eating a ton of cookies (Girl Scout Thin Mints and Samoas! and Oreos,too), reading trashy celebrity magazines, and talking... good downtime with good friends (those girls have been a constant for me, I'm so glad they've been around).
Yesterday I wasn't feeling rushing around to get everything done, but I really wanted to give Esther and Mashego the blanket I had made (a real, made by Megan, crocheted baby blanket!) for him. Came home, washed, put the finishing touches on the blanket, and then caught a taxi to Lorraine. Going to Esther's was the best decision, a lovely afternoon indeed. Mashego was fascinated by the bright colors of his blanket and kept staring at it, we had cold drink, and I got to visit, on the phone, with Esther's husband who I haven't had a chance to meet yet 'cause he works in Joburg. He thanked me profusely for my present to his son and for being a good friend to Esther, for teaching her things, and for being a good source of support (what?! I constantly want to thank her for all of those things). It was a recharging afternoon. I love that Mashego is going to spend the first couple of years of his life with a good friend from the States. When the sun was gettin' low Esther and her daughter walked me towards the tar road to catch a taxi. And, the way things go here, Freddy, one of the social workers for the Sekororo area happened to be driving by. I got a ride home to Metz and had a pretty interesting conversation about how frustrating social work can be, lack of funding in the area makes it difficult to help as many people as he (and I) would like. Some things do happen everywhere. Some challenges really are universal.
Hopefully pictures will be up soon...