bye bye heather, hello gugu

that is right folks, my new name is gugu, short for gugulethu which means precious or treasure or something like that? i hear different things every time. one thing that everyone does do when they hear my name is laugh. i take this to be a welcoming thing, like you are one of us cause you have a name we can understand. i am probably wrong.

so i have been in bergville now for 10 days. 10 long, interesting, confusing days. i am still alive and i haven't burnt my hut down with my candles yet, so i consider this a victory. it has definitely been interesting! i had a breakdown my first night in my hut because it was so dark and nothing was unpacked. i cried like a baby and then went to bed at 8pm without making dinner. since then, i can honestly say that things have gotten much better. everything is put away and i have kind of gotten the hang of things. my bedroom is pretty cozy and cute, with pictures up everywhere. my kitchen is functioning and will hopefully become more welcoming once i have spent some more time decorating it. i use tons of candles and paraffin lamps as my source of light and i cook (sometimes) on my two burner stove top that burns the green gel. i have a SWEET collection of buckets that i am proud of. i have buckets for dishes, buckets for laundry (which i haven't braved yet), buckets for water, a big ass bucket for bathing, and another one for mopping/throwing out my dirty water. oh i also have a bucket for peeing. it is pretty sweet. i have fetched water once since living there and it is a pain in the ass. the pump is a 10 minute walk away and i cannot carry the water back without the help of my 17 year old host sister, who throws the bucket on her head and walks back without using her hands to hold it. she totally puts me to shame. i have a whole new appreciation for how much water i use, and i have learned to bathe in a very small amount of water. i think hut life will be ok, if a little boring. the nights get lonely and i would kill to be able to watch a movie on my computer. i am considering buying a car battery and running my laptop from that. i will let you know how it goes.

i have absolutely no idea what i am doing at my ngo, but the people are very nice and i think i will like it. i have spent the last week and a half just following around joseph, my direct supervisor. most of it has been meetings or trainings that are all done in zulu, so i understand very little. what i gather is that the trainings are important and interesting, and it makes me angry that i cannot speak a lick of zulu. this also makes me wonder how i am going to help the hiv/aids sector when most of their work is done in the community or with community members and it is all done in zulu. i promise you all, i will never be fluent in zulu. guess i will just have to see how these first 3 months go.

in a couple weeks my whole office is gone because they take vacation days. normally, i would use this time to travel, but since i am on lock down and cannot leave the bergville area, i am stuck. the thought of staying at my hut for a whole week without coming to the office makes me nervous, but i am trying to come up with ideas for how to spend my time in a productive way. i just met a teacher who teaches at the primary school in my village (moyeni) and i have asked her if i can attend classes at her school one of those days. she is now very excited and already asking me for my input on things she is doing. the risk you run in asking to OBSERVE something. she has also invited me to some womens prayer retreat as well, which i will have to find a way out of. ha ha. i will let you all know how it goes.

ok i have to go catch my work taxi home. time for some more pasta for din din. maybe i will knit tonight. or maybe just go to bed at 9pm. i am officially a grandma!