One week at GGA!

Today is a hot and humid day again after 2 days of cool rain. Yesterday it got quite cool, and we even had to dig out our jeans and sweatshirts. My first batch of laundry since we left home is hanging out in the sun (it’s a big one!) to “dry” although the high humidity causes everything to feel a bit damp at all times.
It’s Saturday afternoon, so the routine around here is different and more relaxed than weekdays. Right now all is quiet because all the children (including ours) are in the big theater for a dance workshop. These kids LOVE to sing and dance, and will spontaneously break into song (anything from Silent Night to pop songs) often throughout the day. Even the little 2 and 3 year olds can sing in tune, and the older ones sing in awesome harmony. Some really talented Zulu musicians come here several times a week to work with all the kids on drumming, dance, and singing. Last night Dan and I sat in the theater for a while to watch the “Young Zulu Warriors” practice. This is a group of about 25 of the most talented of the kids here from ages 9 to 20 that do drama, dance, and sing accapella in amazing harmony. They are practicing for their Germany tour which begins in March. Last year they toured the States and even recorded a CD which raised quite a bit of money for GGA.
Some of you have asked about the food here. We have only eaten one meal with the kids in the dining hall and usually cook for ourselves. On Wednesday and Sunday evenings, chicken and rice is served (we joined in on Wed for that), but every other day the kids get “semp and beans”. I haven’t been brave enough to try that yet, but Dan (who eats anything!) tells me its brown beans in a sauce on top of a gluey starch much like hardened Cream of Wheat. This is served almost every day because it is traditional in the Zulu culture, and if the kids are fed western food here, they will not integrate back into Zulu culture when they become adults. We do have to supervise at meal time though, and I find it the saddest thing about being here. The portions are never big enough, so the kids scrounge from each other or eat any morsel that falls. Let’s just say that our kids have not complained about any of our food since we got here!
Mealtime for us is more simple, but not unlike home. Many edible things can be found at the grocery store, and the fruit is great! Mangos, pineapple, bananas and peaches are cheap and taste delicious. We have eaten good sausages (without too many questions of what was in them!), fairly decent spaghetti, omlettes, grilled cheese sandwhiches and other normal things. But, there are questionable foods…when I was looking for stir fry sauce the other day, I came across “monkey membrane sauce”. Hmmmmm.
Yesterday at the mall in Durban, we found KFC, Pizza Hut, Payless Shoes, Tommy Hilfinger, Bata Shoes, and several other familiar chain stores. We chose to eat at a place called “Mac Rib” which appears similar to a Tony Roma’s. The steak and ribs were disappointing though.
Other than alcohol, which is nice and cheap, everything here is comparable in price to Canada. This was a surprise to us, since we expected food and clothing to be cheaper. Apparently vehicles are very expensive here, as is gas.
This morning I was on the 7:30 to 1:30 shift with the babies again, so I am enjoying putting my feet up for a few minutes. In addition to our weekday jobs, we well be working every other weekend, and then off on the alternate weekends. We are looking forward to our first days off next weekend, and will head out on the road to explore the area.