Weekend in Cato Manor

Sanibonani!! Ok so I spent the weekend with my host family. My mama is very quiet, but I've learned that if I go out in the neighborhood their are plenty of kids to play with. Bubbles are particularly popular, and kids will spend however long your willing to blow bubbles for, popping them. I also learned stones from some little girls next stone, its similar to jacks. you throw a stone in the air, and before you catch it, you remove as many stones from a circle as you can, then you throw the stone again and before you catch it, you put all but one stone back. If you do this successfully you get to keep that stone and go again...I failed to do this successfully most of the time. Life at home is SUPER quiet, but at least I've been doing all my homework :) It seems like some of the other Mamas are more chatty with their students, but eh, I'm well feed, lots of beets latley, but im almost learning to like them. We are all celebrities in the neighborhood, and we can't go anywhere without people waving and laughing at our zulu. On Wednesday we are going to visit special needs schools. the one I am visiting is for junior high school age kids that are physically handicapped. Then on friday we are staying at a hostel in downtown durban to blow off some steam and go out for a drink and maybe some beach time Saturday, before returning to Cato Manor which is pretty isolated, and not much is safely in walking distance for the rest of the weekend. The following weekend we are going for a five hour hike, and then staying in a remote village (dung floors etc.) I'm excited for the experience, and the hiking. I won't get ahead of myself. For now I have a week of pretty intense class at temperatures that feel around 95-98. Part of me feels like I missing out on some of the culture others are getting in their actual homes by having conversations in their homes, that seem rather forced (on my part) but there are always kids playing outside. I have a test tomorrow on South African health demographics...should be fun. Hmmm, can't think of anything else. Here's a new zulu word for you: I love you...Ngikuthanda. the n is silent well sort of, and the th sounds like a t. More, when more happens...I miss you all! Oh a quick history of cato manor. It was originally land designated to the Indian population who rented it to blacks who couldnt own their own land, then they were kicked out of the area and it remained vacant until independence in 1994 when blacks moved back to reclaim it, as all the violence that happened here during apartheid have made it famous...thats the simple version its vastly more complex and actually involves raging violence over beer...all that for another time :) -hamba kahle!