World Cup jitters

Eita!

The World Cup is fast approaching and I'm using my last leave day to write this update before all the madness begins. Already the city is looking transformed. The City Hall is our next door neighbor and was the scene of both times I someone attempted to mug me. But now it is full of colorful flashing lights and full-sized beaded wire sculptures of soccer players. The other day the World Cup trophy was there and open for viewing.

Burgers Park is also seeing changes in preparation for the Better World Village (www.betterworld.org.za). A big screen is being installed to show all the matches as well as to support the events that will be happening daily and to show other information and films. The School of Creative Arts is preparing for the Art Village which will be running during Better World. It will host workshops in differnt kinds of dance, drama, visual arts and music and also will include a reflection space to provide a refuge from all the noise and activity.

This is evaluation and exam week at SoCA and then we will be closed for the duration of the World Cup, like most other schools in South Africa.

One of my main responsibilities for the Better World Village is the exhibition of the [re]branding homelessness contest. After much work and reasons to have low expectation of success I am thrilled at our winning entries, which you will soon be able to see exhibitted on our website, www.rebrandinghomelessness.org.za. The winning entry was designed by three students, who are going to provide a prototype for their hammock-like creation to be displayed during the Village.

Since the last time I wrote, I've been madly consuming my leave days, which have been accumulating all year. I've largely used them to prepare for whats coming next. There are still many mysteries, but I'm starting to feel less pannicked about the upcoming changes.

My boyfriend, Mandla and I have now begun the process to get him a visa to the U.S. I'm hoping we'll both be there sometime in September. I've also been working on job applications and countless other logistics.

I have gotten to spend some of my leave days more excitingly. Our good friends, Paul and Kellie arrived at the end of April and I was able to spend some time showing them around. It's been great having them! They are also volunteering, running the sports village at Better World. Robin and I love having new housemates. Our home is becoming the U.S. embassy here. A couple weeks ago Aaryn Shadlow arrived followed by Robin's boyfriend, Cameron this week. Now all our beds are full and the house is never quiet, but often full of laughter. After Aaryn arrived the five of us took a couple days off and drove (we rented a car!) to Busisa Farm in Kwa Zulu Natal. Its a Christian camp and is currently empty as camps will start next week. The camp is on farmlands and rolling hills between wild patches of jungley landscapes. We all fell in love with the place before we even got out of the car. Two large beautiful dogs greeted us with kisses as we unloaded our baggage into the cottage that was our home for the weekend.

We spent the next few days working, exploring the land and getting as cozy as possible in the increasingly cold weather. We cooked our meals by candlelight, since there was no electricity. We worked on projects during the days. I tiled part of a bathroom floor. The others worked mostly on painting and trail blazing. On our play day we trekked through the woods, saw a tree hyrax, zip lined 200 meters across a ravine, walked on a very loose bridge made from just two ropes, jumped off a seven meter water fall and I slipped and fell off various objects throughout the adventure.

We also saw sunsets and sunrises, cuddled with the dogs and built fires. It was great to be out of the city. The only downer was a flat tire on the way home. Following that I drove for the first time in ten months on the scariest stretch of road for 50km which felt like 200km.

Returning to the city has not been too hard since there have been so many exciting things happening. Yesterday, Mandla's niece (and his mother's first grandchild) was born to his sister, Edith. This weekend we'll have a baby shower and I'll get to give the blanket I've been working on for a month.

That's all for now. I'm sure there will be much more to tell soon.