Special everydays

So this week obviously hasn't been as exciting as last week (who can top Cape Town, the African look-alike of my favorite city, San Francisco?!), but it has been nice all the same. I have had some special everydays, by which I mean that nothing incredible happened, but it was still special. I think that any good week should be filled with special everydays. So, let me fill you in on three:

1. On Tuesday I began my SeSotho class. To answer the obvious question, yes, Sotho is an ethnic group in South Africa. So, why SeSotho, you ask? Well, the Se before Sotho denotes language. Zulu and Xhosa (said with an initial click that I can totally say) also do this, adding Isi- to the rest of the word. So, I have begun SeSotho. I can now greet you, tell you my name, where I live, my age, my cell number, my birthday, and that I'm not married (some of you are very relieved by this, I know). Anyway, I have to study a lot because the sentence structure, etc. is very different than English. So the first special everyday came on Wednesday when I greeted my Lesotho friend Isaac in SeSotho and he then made me do it for Eunice and Dumisani who both maintain that I speak exceptionally well for a white person from the States. Obviously, it made my day! I am now doubly excited about studying SeSotho and am determined to be the best Southern-American-accented SeSotho speaker around.

2. On Thursday, I got back from SeSotho and was tired, but still had to eat dinner. I walked over to see Pascalia and she immediately insisted that I come in, as she and Janet were braaing meat and watching a South African soap. Not only did she feed me some wonderful braai, but she also made the traditional African dish, pap! Pap is much like grits, but without any of the fancy schmancy things we might add to it like salt or butter or cheese. It's also much smoother than grits. You eat entirely with your hands (they say it doesn't taste as good with a fork), and you roll the pap into little balls. Any of you who ever ate sack lunches at elementary school would be good at that--think bread balls. So, we sat and watched this soap about a woman who is a South African doctor whose mother is possessed and she has to decide between Western medicine and African beliefs, and ate our dinners. It was a very special everyday.

3. Last night, Katy, Ursula and I went to see the Drakensberg Boys Choir in their farewell concert before they leave for the States for the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) convention in Miami. I know that some of you may be going to ACDA, and if so, be sure you don't miss this opportunity. These boys are incredible! They did a version of Bohemian Rhapsody, some Ravel, two new pieces by a South African composer named Martin Watt, some traditional African music and dancing, and a great version of the Star-Spangled Banner. They were really, really wonderful. Want to see them? Well, you're in luck because they're touring the country. You Birmingham folks don't have a show, but there is one in ATL and one in Nashville! Here is the website: http://www.dbchoir.info/. I'm telling you, you won't be disappointed! That special everyday made me excited about all the special everydays to come here. There's always something new and exciting to do!

Love to you all! Hope birthdays were happy this week. Oh, and props to Lenor for the Pictures of Alabama postcard (dude, that thing had a green light on Vulcan--how old is it?!), and Carrie and Donnovin for the pictures over email! I love hearing from you!