Winding Down

My meanderings through the U.S. are coming to a close - I’ll be on a plane to South Africa a week from tomorrow - and thank goodness for that. I’ve enjoyed the travels and made lots of new friends and seen lots of old ones. Nothing, however, has changed my mind or made me question the wisdom of my decision to stay in Mthatha a second year. At some points, I’ve thought it would be nice to extend my stay in the U.S. a few days or weeks longer but it’s always been clear I must go back. I miss the people in Itipini. (And I also miss my own bed and the ability to sleep in the same bed for more than a night or two.)

I’ll have more to say about my travels once I get back to South Africa and have had a chance to reflect on things but I wanted to note I crossed a major threshold today. I sold the last of the Itipini choir CDs I had brought with me. I never counted how many I had but I think I must have sold or given away to various gracious hosts at least 125 of them. If you bought one, thank you! (If not, you’ll have to catch me the next time I’m back. Hopefully by then, we’ll have a new CD as well and I can sell them as a set.) The CDs were secreted in various corners of my suitcase, wrapped in various items of clothing to prevent them from cracking, and it is so lovely now not to grab a pair of pants have 20 CDs come tumbling out.

I had hoped that once the CDs were gone, my suitcase would be much lighter but I have acquired several more books on this trip than I ever anticipated and a new pair of shoes, which means I’ve had to add an extra piece of carry-on luggage and even still I think my suitcase will exceed the weight limit on my flight back.

(I should also add I am woefully behind on replying to e-mail. I've been too busy talking to people in person for once to stay on top of everything. So if you've written me recently, you might have to wait until I get back to South Africa for a response. Sorry.)