Little Thatches Benoni

... better, but not risking food after a failed experiment earlier in the morning. The transfer back took 8 hours and thankfully we had over cooked the night before the safari and had left-overs in the fridge at the hostel. I finally got to eat something and found that I was back to full strength and we tried to book the next hostel in Singapore over the internet. They promised to let us know by email within 24 hours, but we would be halfway there by then. Oh well, I guess this is proper ...

... some sounds on their stereo,head in the clouds,not wanting to spoil their day by arresting any of their old mates from the township.I thought of how the white police must have felt in Apartheid days,seeing crowds of rioters on street corners,and going out and shooting some of them. Wrong as that was,for a short while,I could understand how they might have felt.Fearful and angry,thinking that these "up to no goods" were asking for it ...

... wouldn't let us do anything apart from buy stuff from the shop of the cafe (yeah right). Moral of this story - make sure you're driver knows where he's going and make sure you question everyone in South Africa for the smallest possible detail because even saying "if we make it before 4:30 we'll get into the museum - yeah?" doesn't work. DAY 3: Wedding Day What can I say. Morning running around, changing hotel for the resort, afternoon in the sun drinking beer ...

... loose in a casino, but I doubt anyone would've guessed that we'd be far more interested in the food than the gambling... One funny thing to mention about South Africa: everyone there says, "Is it?" the way people at home might say, "Really?" or "You don't say!" They seem not to realize that this doesn't really make grammatical sense. Real examples, drawn from my one-day South African experience: -"What time does your bus leave?" "I actually haven't checked yet." "Is it ...

... squealed - guys and girls alike - and beat a hasty retreat, leaving me to figure out a way to catch the poor thing. It was obviously scared, and really really fast. I grabbed a blanket off the bed and threw it over him/her/it. Then I had to carefully unwrap the expanse of fleece to find the tiny thing, clinging for dear life to the folds and bearing its sharp little teeth at me. I took it outside, parting the small crowd of backpackers and ...

... pencilcase a name. She is now Peggy the pencilcase... I couldn't get to sleep because a ****ing cricket has taken up residence in Dineo's bathroom, which is through the wall from ours. The light has gone in there, so when I went in there to shut the bloody thing up, I couldn't see it. And of course it stops crick-cricking when I go in. The bathroom is all tiled, so the sound echoes and amplifies until it's almost painful. - Wednesday involved more rain ...

... all of it. Then went to Cool Runnings, a Jamaican Bar with a basement room full of guys playing bongo drums. Very cool evening sat in a circle of improvising rastas. Another highlight was having some Amarula. Yum! Unfortunately we didn't get it until 1am, so tomorrow is going to be fun.

... walk back, or get the transport - a bus this time, jammed full of rowdy schoolkids heading back to the village. When we get back we have a bit of 'us' time - Katie usually writes home/in her journal. She still not happy here I don't think. I read or chat with someone in Rainbow. I spend some time setting homework, so it's all ready for 3.30. Then we take our usual groups until 5.30. Sometimes I have to find the kids, cos they don't turn up at Starlight, the house where there's a ...

... to walk alone, particularly through the field, since it can't really be seen from the road, and if we get into trouble no-one will stop anyway. It's a bit warm... After a breather, we separated for the homework sessions. The afternoon flew by and Katie spent most of it writing her diary. Mielie meal (maize flour and water - like mashed potato, but less tasty) for dinner. It's called pap - and it's the staple. I think I'm going to sleep well.

... She wasn't good on Coll for the training course, but I figured she would get caught up in the excitement. We'll see, I suppose. We saw the village next. It's called Sunshine Village, and it's referred to as 'The Village'. There must be about 60 kids here. So many names and so many faces. I'm sure I will learn to differentiate them, but right now all the faces look the same!! Most of them are black, but there are some white kids too, as well as a few coloured and ...