9-29-11
Big girls, you are beautiful
Every day begins right around 5:45 when my alarm goes off and I push snooze, a minute later my phone alarm go off from across the room. Thats the point I get on my Nikes and get out the door, where I can actually enjoy the cool morning. It effort to adapt to what is later to come I even put my bag of chips in the fridge. This is just the beginning of what is starting to feel like bikini season and the rest of the world would probably say South Africa isnt ready, but Im pretty sure they would disagree. It can be a little bit confusing some seem to care about staying fit, healthy, but packing on the pounds is totally embraced. If you call someone fat its a compliment! It means they are well feed; they know how to cook, probably would make a good wife, and looking good. So after unsuccessfully explaining the idea wasnt to gain weight, and I am eating plenty I just blame it on the running. My tanana from my first home stay use to tell me too skinny I like them like fatty boom boom, then he would point to his wife. What brought me to this blog was the group of teachers Im working with in one of my primary schools. After sending the students home the teachers are required to stay until 2:20 and so they gather in the staff room for the remainder of the day, though Im not sure why the students were released at 12:30. Upon gathering one of them grabs a dusty scale from on top of a cabinet. One by one all the teachers jumped on it and announced their weight just playing around and as people walked in the door they jumped right in. It was funny to me because in America we are so shy when it comes to stepping on the scale especially if youre the heaviest one, but here regardless of how big or small you are from across the room someone would yell, What does it say? In America no one would ever really ask me my weight, but they just say without a second thought Xongile get on the scale. So though I plan on advocating health and fitness I cant say I dont like the idea of just embracing who you are and your body without any shame.

When life gives you lemons
Its pretty simple actually and quite ingenious, one cup of sugar, one cup of water, heat until dissolved. Next add a cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice, and 4 cups or so of cold water, cool or freeze! As everything is just beginning to ripen up the lemon tree has been ripe for months, and with plenty of fruit on it. They arent the picture perfect smooth lemons I grew up with, but theyre better, and they are right in my backyard. So I decided to make my first go at it and with the finished product I offered it to my family, surely theyve had lemonade before, they have a lemon tree. So just sugar, water, and lemons, thats it! We didnt know you could make juice out of it, try this swa ndzahia (its delicious)! After that batch was finished, two days later my housefather offered me some of his batch that he brewed up. I took a sip and it was the sourest lemonade Ive ever had, but I drank it anyway and I was heartened to see that he tried to make it, so I promised to show them this weekend. Sometimes its the simple things, and without even trying our two cultures were building a bridge. So when life gives you lemons, teach someone to make lemonade.
Salani kahle!
Peace and Love