March 23

Sawubona Umndeni Wami Nabagane (Hello My family and friends)

Warning: This will most likely be the last long email ya’ll get until May, and then I might be so busy wrapping up, that it will have to wait until Zimbabwe. Ah but there will be chaos so….I’m exaggerating, just warning all those that are desperate for my updates. Hehe

Anywho…here’s the latest. Before I begin-I got the package from home!! Thanks!! So classically Engell that it was a Cheerio’s box. It made me smile so much! Plus the identifier on the package in Mom’s writing “Clothes and cookies.” The post office is at this mini-mall strip about a 10-minute walk down the hill from school. Its literally downhill all the wall and then….a long walk back. Reminds me of Dad’s “When I was a boy and had to walk to school uphill both ways in the snow.” Just add sun, 30 oC and it’s the same. Makes for intense runs, that’s for sure. I actually may too many clothes now for the backpack! Funny twist. I’m wearing the shiny green skirt now. Thanks so much. The medicines are unnecessary for me but will help someone in Zim. Public hospitals have been closed since Jan. Good. Glad Mugabe is still living in a palace while his country dies.

I moved out of Cato on Friday morning. I won’t get into the heart-tugging details but basically, when it’s like when I returned from Ramah for the first time and broke down crying at a pizza parlor at the Pot holes. Remember that? Its remarkable how close people get in 6 weeks when you are the only ones you’ve got. I moved into Surf n Dreams, a backpackers a 30 minutes walk from the beach and I just discovered on my early morning (6am) run today, 3 streets away from where the Simpsons live. The weekend was centered around breaks in paper writing. My CHS paper on GoLD, which I will email when I finish, is almost done. The 20 single-spaced pages just flowed from me, putting all my struggles with paper length in my college career to shame. It’s amazingly refreshing to just be able to write. To have primary data changes everything.
Our breaks included making veggie lasagna from scratch, a few afternoon beach strolls, and runs. Super nice not to run in a square repeatedly. Plus, I was entertained by U19-ish boys soccer match that provided relief from the heat. I choose to break at 11:30am on a scorcher of a day. Other meals we concocted were fake-meat fajitas, salad topped with tuna and dips and crackers. There is the most fantastic dip on Earth at Spar, our grocery of choice-Sundried tomato pesto dip. I know! Its fabulous! Spar is like BigY or Stop and Shop. Woolworths is like WholeFoods.

Pretty much it.
This week marks the last of school and lectures. April 1 I leave for Manguzi. Have no fear-I took my malaria pill on Saturday. Judith says no need for malaria tablets unless I go to Vic. Falls on the weekend, which probably won’t happen because she can’t travel with me due to trying to save the country, which it needs rather badly. Unemployment hit 80%. Awesome.