The Last Week

Well, it's finally here - the last week of this incredible experience as a Fulbrighter in South Africa.

Friday morning was the official Early Childhood Department goodbye breakfast at The Blue Crane, a beautiful restaurant near our campus. There was lots of laughter, lovely gifts, and a card filled with kind messages. Then we had to head back to the office for a 2 hour department meeting! Believe it or not, even at the end of our department meeting, Marie, Judy and I talked about extending my "Image of the Child" research project into the UP programme, Nkidi and I tried to figure out how to make revisions to the mother tongue grant proposal without the promised template from the Department of Education, and Miemsie and I interviewed Ina for our research. The rest of the afternoon was full of cleaning up the office for me and going through things that needed to come back to the flat for sorting or returning to colleagues for materials that we had shared for our collaborative projects.

Next stop, supper at Elizabeth's house in Tembisa. To celebrate my consistent ability to get lost on almost every trip I take, Themba managed to forget exactly which street Elizabeth lived on, but we eventually made it without anything but a little wounded pride. Friends from St. Peters joined us (fortunately without getting lost) for a wonderful meal, fellowship, and goodbyes. We ate our rice, roast beef and gravy, creamed spinach, and beets. It was just fabulous!! For dessert Elizabeth bought cake and served homemade malva pudding. As Steven poured the vanilla custard on his pudding, Isaiah began to laugh, remembering their first meal in the US when we had a stop at a restaurant on the way from the airport to the Valley. We had a buffet breakfast and Rev. Zibi got some fruit salad. Consistent with his custom to add custard to his fruit salad, Zibi did the same thing at the buffet and returned to the table. He sat down at the table with us and began to eat, but was shocked at the taste. Turns out, he poured melted cheese over his fruit! This has remained a favorite funny story that seems to be retold every time we are together and have custard. Our time together ended in song and prayers for safe travels and love for the people at Trinity.

Saturday: The living room/dining room is my staging area with even the ironing board up as a place to sort through things. Last week I began packing and promptly filled my 2 suitcases, searched for a large plastic tub to serve as a trunk, and still, there was stuff still laying around. So I went through papers and notebooks, books and journals, all trying to cut back. I went through clothes that I could leave behind and give away and there was still the need for more storage. So on Saturday, I had a VERY long morning at Menlyn mall, trying to spend down a gift card at Cross Trainers, pick up some odds and ends from the Checkers Hyper, and purchase the fourth suitcase. Then it was home to pack more stuff, throw out more papers, pick out more things to give away, and figure out a plan for getting to the airport with all this luggage! I took down paintings I had bought while Ben was here, packed my warm FIFA blanket that Becky and I bought at a World Cup game, emptied all the cupboards and drawers, and have everything in the parlor now so basically, the home front is a mess rather than my cute little space.

Sunday became a turning point. Somehow, almost miraculously, I started shifting my focus from saying goodbye to South Africa to saying hello to family and friends in America. With my original plans for a trip to the Voortrekker Museum canceled, I had the luxury of reading Ina's book for that book review I need to write before I leave. Then it was lunch with Nkidi and her family (more great food!), and now I'm back at home. I can't stand the mess in the living room and can't wait to get the rest of my stuff put away so there's space on the table and the ironing board is back in the closet. I'm also restless, eager to finish up the tasks that feel like they're hanging over my head. I'm thinking about the details of packing cars and traveling to the airport, of weighing luggage and checking in for my flight, of last hugs and farewells. But most of all, I'm ready to come home to see everyone I've actually missed quite a lot.