Monday here we come! Today was my first day back at Namzamo! I was so excited to be back but truthfully a little nervous going back since it had been two weeks since I have been there last and I was worried that the kids would have already forgotten me. Boy was I wrong!! As I arrived and walked down the corridor I heard the kids in the dining room eating breakfast. As I passed the glass window one of the little boys immediately saw me and smiled, said something to the other kids in Xhosa and pointed. They all looked, smiled and got so excited! The look on their faces made me want to cry! They definitely remembered me! I let them finish their breakfast and immediately headed in to see the Mama’s (caregivers of the children) and the babies in the nursery. They too were very excited to see me again and it felt so great to be back and wanted! I immediately started to feed the babies and play with the toddlers. A few minutes later I heard the stampeed of little feet and voices coming towards me. Before I knew it I was being engulfed by 10 little kids knocking me to the ground in the process and all giving me hugs, kisses and affection. It was precious. We spent the rest of the day playing outside, singing songs, coloring our handprints and taking pictures. I can’t tell you how much fun I had being with them today.
After volunteering Laurel, Becky and I went to St. George’s Cathedral, the Gardens downtown, the peace march exhibit and Long Street. Then after getting stuck in traffic finally arrived home only to be picked up and whisked away to a South African softball game. Pat is one of the staff members at Friends of Valkenberg Trust and her husband Michael is who I help teach the cooking class with. He scores for a local softball team and he was excited that I played softball back in the day. They are absolutely fabulous and took me to the game. They even brought me softball snacks and a blanket. I am telling you…they are awesome! Ironically softball has always been viewed as a “colored” sport in South Africa and is not as wildly viewed or played as soccer, rugby and cricket is here. We watched the first game and unfortunately they lost by one run but they played really well and were considered the underdog. I then got to meet the coach and we went to the concession stand for some food. In South African tradition…they have something called “chips on a roll.” I had no idea what this was but when in South Africa…eat what South Africans eat! In South Africa “chips” are the equivalent to our version of French fries and a roll is actually a hamburger bun. So…you are basically eating French fries in a hamburger bun with either ketchup, mustard or chutney sauce on it. It was a tasty treat but I can tell you that I met my caloric and carb intake for the day with that Softball treat. I guess chips on a roll would be the equivalent in popularity to eating a hotdog at a baseball game…take me out to the ball game! After our little snack we moved to the next field which is one level higher than our team (think A team and B team) and watched the remainder of that game and how fast the pitcher was throwing. Even though the team we wanted to win also lost by one run...it was one of the most fun nights I’ve had while being here with great company! Off to bed to rest up for the kids tomorrow...xoxo from Cape Town
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