"What are you guys so excited about?"

"We're making an assembly line!"

This is how most of our trips begin. Last Friday we left for the Drakensberg Mountains. I was still under the weather with stomach issues, doctor thinks perhaps some bacteria, which is finally going away with some Cipro, thank God, so I did not participate in the assembly line action. But water bottles and hot dogs and s'more fixin's were passed down until the trailer was unloaded and our lovely camp site (a building with dorm rooms lit by candles!) was all ready. We sat around and watched the rain, lots and lots of rain, for the evening. Oh- we also roasted marshmallows over charcoal. 

The next day was our hike through the mountains up to see the Khoi-Sans rock art. The rain had all cleared up and the scenery was so, so pretty. I can't even put it into words, but there were mountains on all sides, crumbled and eroded, with tops fading into the clouds. Our path, sometimes over streams, sometimes through reeds taller than we were, but mostly through knee-high grass and mud, snaked around the mountains. There was a range of colors from blue, blue sky to gauzy clouds to white rushing streams, and of course green- everywhere green, in different shades at different layers of the mountain. We got to a stream after about an hour, then began the climb upward. This was a grueling, but much needed endeavor. It felt good to sweat and get my heart beating fast after the monotony of Cato Manor. As we climbed, the air thankfully got cooler, though thinner. We eventually found our way to the rock art, still on the rock walls after about 200 years. Much of it depicted cows and horses, as well as a few battle scenes. It was wonderful, painted with such detail, and sometimes with several layers of shading. No one really knows about the individuals within the Khoi-Sans community who painted the art, or for what reasons, or really what all of it depicted. A mystery! 

We ate chocolate and cheese sandwiches and hiked back. Afterwards we bathed and swam in a river (cold and spring-fed with a swinging bridge over it!), which made me very clean-feeling, peppermint-smelling, and relaxed. Dinner and various other niceties made for a wonderful day. The next day was nearly better.  We walked out past some baboons up on a ridge, about 30 of them, to spring that formed a waterfall. We were afraid that, due to baboon's aggressive nature, they'd attack us when we jumping into their watering hole, but were just being paranoid because all they did was look at us. We all stripped down to sports bras and such (perks of being on an all-girl trip) and jumped into the very, VERY cold pool at the base of the waterfall (think NaCoMe for those of you who've been). We dubbed the pool Baboon Lagoon and hiked back, with a short sunbathing diversion by the same now rain-swollen rapids of the river. 

Mid-day we left for Impendle for our rural homestays. On the drive there it rained again for about 4th time- things were getting muddy. We got there and my friend Laura and I (who were rooming together) met our mama, who was awesome. She spoke very little English, and we spoke very little Zulu, so there was a lot of gesturing and more laughing. We met more neighbors and friends and family throughout the weekend. We were staying nearby two other girls from our program, as well as a few hippies, a couple who were cool and one who was new to the country, a little spacey, and oh yeah- and wore ENTIRELY purple. 

The following morning we went on home visits with home-based care workers. There were a couple of TB patients and a diabetes patient and 2/3 were bedridden. They lived in rondoval huts with their families looking after them. Poverty... well it sucks. A lot. The last patient needed to go to the doctor for a visit, but her father couldn't afford the fare to get her there. Also the closest hospital was an hour away, meaning that if you need an ambulance for any reason you are pretty much out of luck.  There was a bright note, one of the patients we walked past was busy hanging laundry and said she was near finishing her meds and would soon be moving back to Jo'burg to work!

Relapsed with getting sick at about 3:30 AM... with a long-drop toilet (think wooden port-a-potty). Thank goodness for my headlamp. Got driven back to Durban in the morning, saw a doctor and am now well for good, after two courses of different antibacterials. Take that weird germs. Please please don't worry about me with the whole sickness thing, it's pretty common here and I knew what I was getting into. Way worth it for the experience I'm having.

Otherwise I've been very busy lately figuring out things stateside. I have housing (hooray), have been invited to apply to the Senior Honors program to pursue my thesis (awesome), and various other things. I'm also figuring out contacts and specifics for my Independent Study Project for my last month here. Busy busy... Hope you all are well.