Shop.

Sleep.

Sample.

Be.

My time here is ending, and I honestly didn't expect to love being here as much as I do. I came here with so much grief, and I didn't really know how to be. I struggled to interact with the students -- to form new connections that felt dangerous, because of the loss inherent in love.

Today I took the students to Dainfern, passed out a quiz on our project in FNH and directed FPM (somewhat) to complete their typing for their business plans. Afterwards, the students more-or-less did their Women's Day preparations, and I took photographs of FNH for their future Team Vistan pen pals. That's when Khanyisile and Glorymore started dancing, and Gugulethu told me to take a picture of them, and that's when they all started jumping in the pictures, laughing, being totally silly, and I kept snapping photographs and laughing, too.

Soon it was time for them to go to the bus, and time for me to head back to Linbro Park. I felt happy and sad simultaneously. The days go by so quickly. I don't know how I'll come home, or how my heart can just keep growing to contain more and more people, more and more hearts. I am excited to meet my new students (as are the students at LEAP 4 excited to meet them) and to introduce them (via letter & photograph) to these fantastic young people that I've been privileged to be around in Diepsloot.

Format.

In addition to teaching, etc. while I am here in South Africa, I also came with the goal of finishing this book that I've been working for-freaking-EVER (3 years). After coffee and a chat with Nadine, I stayed at Caffe Frappe and forced myself to just sit down and finish some vignettes that I knew had a place. Then I formatted it so that I will be able to complete a read-through and see what else I want to do with it before I declare it draft 1 finished and send it off to my critical readers. I like how it looks with chapter headings and what-what.

Sip.

I guess today it occurred to me that I am going to be leaving in a week. I came home tonight after work and just felt aimless. I made myself a cup of Milo so I could sip something hot and then sat outside on the porch step, watching as the night fell on one of my last days in South Africa. Tonight I looked at pictures of my Team Vistans, and remembered how much I have to come home to, but it's still hard to think about leaving.

(p.s. In addition to sipping my Milo, I also had three cups of coffee today...:)

Visit.

Today was adventurous, and it turns out that I am extremely lucky (or as Nana would say, "blessed").

I woke up this morning and bumbled into the car to drive to work. My commute to Diepsloot is about 50 minutes every morning, and so it begins very early. I noticed as I was pulling out onto the road that my alignment was off. I shrugged it off, thinking we'd just messed something up on those back-country roads to Drakensberg.

I waited at the usual stoplights on London Road, and that's when a pedestrian signalled to me something I should have already realized: I had a flat tire.

I turned around and prayed that I'd make it back to LEAP 3 where I could get some help, and not just be a stranded young white girl on the side of the road. Mike and Obed helped me get the tire changed, and then I drove down to the nearest Engen station to get it patched. The whole ordeal took about 4 hours and $10. I spent the rest of the day feeling grateful that it gone as well as it could have gone, considering.

But this is a side note to my verb of the day, which is Visit. Today I had the privilege of visiting Khanyisile and her father, and Lesego and her cousin, sister, brother and mom. I loved getting to chat with both of them, and meet their families. I feel like I am getting to know some students really well, and in many ways, it just feels like I live here, too.