Day Six: 13th Oct 2009

It is almost a week since I left England and yet it feels like a month! Time goes very slowly when every minute you are encountering new and strange people...and have to sit in silence while everyone around you talks a language you can't understand!
My work hasn't really started yet, I have been setting up a cell phone and internet - cell phone took one day, internet 4 days! But finally, today it is all sorted and I have internet on my own laptop, wherever I am. And I have been trying to get to know the children, again the language is a big barrier. Strangely enough for me, I have discovered the way to overcome this is through SPORT! There is a sports day coming up at the weekend and the girls are playing netball, so I pretended I knew what I was doing and refereed them one afternoon. Then the next day they were short of players so I joined in!! 5 years since I played but I didn't seem to do too badly. My team were winning 7-0 and the others were getting frustrated so I swapped sides. Then the other team scored again and again in a row [my new team] and so there were more arguments! I knew they were talking about me because I kept hearing 'Auntie Rebecca'...they seemed to think I was the secret to success, haha. So they have asked me to play on the team on Sat! Apparently I am allowed even though I count as staff.
Through netball I have started to become good friends with the teenage girls, tonight I went round to help them with their homework, but basically we just try speaking English and they try teaching me Zulu. They are really pleased that I am trying to learn Zulu and seem to take it as a real honour. I couldn't imagine going to live among them and not making an effort, that would seem so rude! But apparently other people that have stayed there have never learnt more than 'hello, how are you?' So I will keep trying and prove that I am committed and want to be part of the community. It would be so much more interesting if I knew what everyone was saying! Instead of being in my own little world, just watching the world go by, hearing but unable to listen!
My next plan is to see about visiting the local primary and secondary schools, it was so much fun last year I'm really excited about going back. Hopefully I will be allowed 2 or 3 mornings a week to go and teach in the secondary school.
Hope you are all well, missing you all and sending my love xxx
p.s. Thank you Anna and Sarah for my letters! I would love to have you as pen pals, and just as soon as I can find paper and an envelope I will write to you x