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Dear Blog Friends 3
Before I continue with my blog and that is I am unable to put up some of my pictures of my beautiful children on so for now I can't do anything about it but I have an idea, whether or not it will work is a different story but we shall see.
So on the Sunday we had our first combi and Savannah experience alone whilst also finding out that pretty much everywhere on a Sunday shuts around 2. So after the events of our first week I decided it was time to ring home. Finally I couldn't face another day of bursting into tears and not understanding why without giving ringing home a shot. At first I felt like I had completely let myself down for giving in and ringing home but then again it worked, I rang Dad and as I spoke to him on the phone I cried, laughed and felt 100 times better about everything.
Something that people at home will find strange is that because your life here is moving on so fast you feel that everyone else's world is as well, which is fine but as you miss home you begin to wonder, am I being forgotten? Will I come home and nobody wants to have anything to do with me anymore as they have all moved on? And for me this feeling is the worst I have ever felt in my life, it is as though you need home to still be there but you don't know if home is still going to be there when you get back or has it even changed so much considering the way things are with you. But having a line back to home with the reassurance you are being missed and people are genuinely interested in what you are doing and still care about you just as much as you care about them is one of the best feelings in the world.
So after the weekend it was back to work, without Am being there and my whole view on the school was changed. I was given jobs and responsibilities and the whole issue of not doing anything soon went as my kids had their welcome to spring time concert meaning that we had them practicing and putting up displays. The night of the actual concert was very sweet the kids did their few pieces then the school choir sang their numbers plus a few more numbers by different groups and things. We then caught a lift home with the music teacher Elmarie who invited us round for tea and coffee. We walked into her cozy home and met her friend Dino who makes the most amazing lemony biscuits! We sat and chatted and she was telling us about the differences in SA such as how people from Cape Town have a very different dialect from that in the rest of SA. She is also incredible on the guitar and was playing traditional Afrikaans songs to us.
The week cruised on and we reached Friday a quick shopping trip to savannah eventually led us to piling into our tiny bathroom and dying Jenny's hair back to her original blonder look. Of the four of us that live together it is Jenny that I share a room with, well we say a room it is the box at the end of the living room, it's very cozy with all our photos up and the beds being less than a meter apart but we cope as we are as messy as each other but we do have blasts of our room where everything gets tidied.
The Saturday was the annual kite flying day. All pupils turn up and small marquees are set up selling kites and children's toys, men setting up huge braiis (bbq to you and me,) sweet shops, bouncy castles and everyone associated with the school turns up. We spent the morning running round after kids whilst eating the best chicken kebab things with chili sauce on. We also invited the lads who live in Matoks to come and visit us for the weekend so they arrived at school and saw the amazing set up that is Mitchell house and how all the children whether they are from the main school or the enrichment centre just running around and playing together with many members of staff taking the opportunity to "help" when really they wanted an excuse to run around a field like a child again, I would never do such a thing… I don't need an excuse J.We then met a guy called Josh who was visiting Mitchell from Tzaneen a town around 100km from Plk. Josh comes from Perth in Australia (where I was last year!) and he is volunteering at a private school in Tzaneen, which has its' own outdoor centre.
We then went back to the flat and cooked our very first meal, not planning on anything much we had a few drinks and chilled out talking about our projects etc when there was a knock on the door and the girls who live down the corridor turned up to give us our official welcome and in our living room began to teach us how to dance, luckily we had some experience of this thanks to the past volunteers but o my days I can't dance like them as much as you try you are still the white girl.
My week again was good and yet homesickness was still hitting me hard. I cried every day whether I was just talking about home or to someone at home and yet the phone calls I needed just to remind me that people still cared. Post came through and was always eventful as I cried reading all the lovely things my family had been doing and how they were carrying on without me. Looking back those first few weeks were tough on me and everyone I rang, my partners were amazing and without them I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be writing this blog now. School was becoming more and more interesting as I was given more responsibility and the kids began to warm. I was no longer the cool stranger I was now Miss Lucy/ Miss Evans/ Miss Flowers as they call me. Miss flowers as on my first day I had a daisy chain drawn on my ankle and my ring from Henry is a daisy chain.
We also organized that at the weekend we would visit Liam and Hamish in Matoks which is around a 45 minute bus ride away and only costs 1 pound 50 to reach if you don't mind being squidged in a combi for that long. This plan was brilliant and then disaster, Jenny got sick. She wasn't feeling well on Wednesday so we left her in bed on Thursday by Friday we sent her to the doctors who gave her the wrong tablets.
We carried on though and she battled her way to Matoks which was pretty eventful to start with. Arriving at the Taxi rank we had several marriage proposals before being thrown into the oldest rustiest looking combi I have ever seen. Sarah and Yzzy were put on the very back seat whilst Jenny and I got sat in the very front. I was in the middle next to the non English speaking Spedi driver who smelt of BO and cheap aftershave. We opened the windows
- To get rid of the smell
- For some cooler air as it was already hitting 28 degrees at 10 am
We opened the window to be bombarded by street sellers asking did we want things from breakfast to socks. Just when the sellers had gone a man came and tried to talk to Jenny and I but we couldn't get rid of him! In the end he asked us for a drink as we had them in our hands. Thinking fast I blurted out
"Sorry she's really ill" pointing to Jenny, he gave me a funny look and then when she opened her mouth to talk this husky man's voice came out
"You really don't want to catch this bug."
I had to stop myself from creases of laughter as the man walked away but as soon as he had gone I wet myself laughing and had never been more thankful for someone being ill.
Sure enough we still hadn't gotten away from the herd of people that now recognize us as the wives. That's right they think we are all married to Hamish and Liam and that we visit them when we can. One of the combi drivers saw us and said
"Next time you see your husband's come and I will take you in my combi not this poo"
All I can say is there is never a dull moment being a white girl downtown. We drove to Matoks after I debugged my seat belt (no lie flicking mini cockroach things on to the driver as fast as I could) and once again realized the windscreen was indeed cracked to high heaven we arrived. As soon as I stepped out of the combi the words Lahoa rang loud and clear around me we had definitely arrived in Matoks. We walked and met the lads and then continued to what is now our rock we have only climbed it twice as a group but when you stand on the top you can see the whole town below. Matoks is just a living space rather than an actual town, there is the centre which has a bakery, post office and a few shops and then from there it is just houses spreading as far as you can see with a few schools scattered here and there.
We also went and visited where the guys live, something else that is strange about Matoks is that there are the most beautiful houses but hardly any of them have running water so Hamish lives in this really nice looking property and yet if you throw things down the sink then they end up in the kitchen cupboards below. With no running water there also becomes the issue of the toilet, this is actually a long drop at the end of the garden which I honestly don't know how Hamish copes as I could barely stand near to it never mind inside it. They also have to wash from a large metal bath which means when they come and visit us they take full use of a hot running water shower for both Liam and Hamish as Liam has a shower and some running water yet it is more like standing under a leaking hose not a shower from what I gather. Personally I would rather live with the cockroaches, rats and mould than have a cold shower, I will explain more in a moment about the above.
We returned to Polokwane with the knowledge that we have a few luxuries under our belts and that the thought of eating pap every day for the next year, like they are pretty much doing, would physically drive me to tears
Sunday was spent helping Jenny recover by running to the petrol station, collecting food and watching films in the comfort of our little flat which came as a nice little relief for the week ahead was going to be hectic as we broke up for holidays on the Thursday so everyone was hyping up for that, teachers as well as students.
We couldn't wait for the holiday as we were off to Durban and Umzumbe!
Monday night found Sarah and Yzzy sleeping peacefully till they were woken up by this scratching sound almost as if it was coming from the bath not wanting to go and find out they stayed in bed.
Tuesday evening was going to be an early night and then I got an unexpected phone call from Elmarie saying I want to show you something so Yzzy, Jenny and I all hopped into the back of her car and off we went we picked up some snacks and then she drove us round Polokwane in the dark and we saw all the posh houses and the football stadium at night and saw Polokwane in a completely different way than we have ever seen it before. We had a lovely evening and then Jenzo received a phone call from Sarah.
The gist of this phone call was that the scratching in the night was actually a rat which had made an appearance in Sarah and Yzzy's room as Sarah was sat on the bed. We then spent the rest of our relaxing evening driving round town to find rat poison
The story of the rat will continue at a later date….
For now I shall love you and leave you with this that no matter how bad things feel at home remember I have rats living in my roof, cockroaches living in the kitchen, a shower that is forever dirty (but is still a shower) and a bathroom that is forever covered in dust and sand. With that I send my love, I miss everyone but I wouldn't change this experience for the world.
Miss you
God Bless
Happy Travels
and
Love Always to all
Lucy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- comments
Stefanie Lowndes Hey Lucy. Enjoyed reading your blog. I'm glad that you're having an incredible time. We aren't forgetting you in the slightest. There will be a Lucy shaped hole in all our lives for you to fill when you get back. xx
margaret lovatt you seem to be having a very exciting time. We all miss you at church those notices are just not the same without your smiley face. Paul broke the system this morning.God keep you save and enjoy all these new experiences.Margaret
Dave chadwick Hey Lucy :) I'm so glad you are having such an amazing time over there. I too remember the feeling of thinking the world back home would not accept me when I returned. The truth is tho...it's called "home" for a reason. It don't matter where we go, for how long or what we do when were gone. It always pulls us back there eventually :) Enjoy the rest of your time Lucy and continue to make a difference in those kids lives. God bless X