what a rush today was... i am glowing a bit from the high of teaching children who are so musical and eager to learn. before school we had an assembly and they all sang a song for me, about knocking on the door and the door opening, their way of telling me "i'm welcome!" they have scripture and prayer too at their assemblies, something new for me. apparently there is no seperation between church and state here. kind of cool. the students and i were able to get to know each other a bit, and make music right away... i taught 6 classes, 2 1st, 1 2nd, and 3 5th. the young ones were too cute, sang to me about head and shoulders and then we played some good games. the 5th graders will be able to do much part singing and movement... singing is not an issue, they catch on so quickly and have such rich voices. i will also work a bit with the choir... looking forward to challenging myself the next weeks.

i feel good after this first day, know more what to expect and have more confidence already in my own ability and instincts. it is always hard to find a balance as an american white teacher coming in to a black community with so much richness musically already... how do you support their musical culture, but also do your best teaching. my best teaching is a mixture of many different traditions and i choose many different kinds of music... so i have to teach from my own background, but with sensitivity.

had crazy strong dreams last night... who is praying that i will sleep like a rock every single night? it's amazing how much i feel myself resting here. spiritually, physically, emotionally, and even in my teaching i feel renewed. thank you lord.

church yesterday, we walked to the catholic church that is part of the christian brothers community on our property. the congregation is all twana people from galashewe, the township where we live. they sang strongly, rejoiced, worshipped, and i was blessed. the communion though was particularly touching for me, i was longing for that i think. there is something about Jesus giving his body and blood that was so meaningful to me... our body is such a human and personal thing... and sometimes i think we forget that he understood that.

the sisters (they live on the other side of the property) invited us over for tea. same basic floor plan as the brothers' place, but what a different feel. we women really know how to make a home, don't we? this one woman in particular, sister hildegunt, from germany, was delighting us with stories and tales of living here... she had been here for 51 years, can you imagine? picture this small old woman with wrinkled face and arthritic hands, full of joy, just laughing and laughing with her german/south african accent and telling story after story, some tragic, some memorable, some poinant. i want to be like this when i'm 80 i thought, to enjoy life so much that even the hardships of loving families with AIDS and abuse and alcoholism will not dampen my spirit and my confidence in a God who is big enough.

we spent the afternoon learning the parts and dance steps to some more complicated twana and zulu music that we will do with the salvation army choir when we join them for rehearsal a few times a week. that was really fun for the five of us to sing in five parts and then layer these patterns into our feet. there is something like floating when you combine the meters and hear the rhythms meshing and conflicting around you. there is nothing like it in our western tradition, we are too symmetrical, and so i find myself being really challenged musically. it's fun to have to work to get something, and then thrilling when you feel it come together.


last night when i came back from the rehearsal, there were three boys outside our gate literally begging me for bread. "we are so hungry miss" they said in that charming accent... and i was so sad. why must children go hungry? this i cannot understand. and i realized i have seen such little hunger in my life. even in mexico, there were very few children, people in general who were not taken care of. or maybe when i see it, in the cities and in the homeless in the us, i don't feel it somehow. yesterday, i was feeling their hunger. "we are so hungry miss".

the paper is full of articles about aids, i'm sure there is some press in the states too about the distribution of funds and so forth. being close to other countries like zimbabwe and zambia, actually all the countries to the north, and knowing that south africa is by FAR the most wealthy, is shocking.


thank you so much, all of you, for the great feedback. i have a sense somehow that God is really using my experiences here in ways that i cannot even see. it's good to know that you are following me, in a sense, and i feel more able to come home and "reenter", having been able to share so much already. kathy is asking us not to email as much now that we are able to have relationship with our schools and teachers and students... we'll see how it goes. i totally support that, and want to really take risks and enter homes and the community. but i also see this as important somehow... balance balance. if we have this, then much falls into place, no?


i did spend some time with some of the parents, mostly women who feed the children at school. 600 children they cook for every day! today they had hemp and beans. they do buy some small snacks and bring bread from home. i was expressing to them my feelings of being a bit stuck and locked in at st boniface, and they don't seem to be as cautious about me walking in the township. tommorow, maureen is going to walk with me to another elementary school where two other music teachers are, and we will stop at her home... a little tour. i'm praying that God will continue to open these doors. i teach until around 12 every day, these women will feed me, and then i have most afternoons free... except for choir m and w. i'll be at the high school a bit too, want to learn there, but i also have fridays off... so there is time for much relationship.


i miss...

bickering with sam.
ice coffee.
phone calls with mom.
my car.
warm california evenings next to the grill. talking to jeanette while she cooks the chicken.
smiling sam sam.
hugs.
church service. being able to share anything.
ilene's spirit.
victor and jamaal drinking 100% juice and leaving their cup for me to wash.
mail in my name.