12 December 2008 - "These boots were made for walking, and that's just what they'll do.."

I'm writing this final missive on the eve of my departure, in bed with the laptop and a few cold bottles of premium strength Castle lager. It’s been 9 weeks and 2 days of my life I can safely say I shall never forget. I've learnt so much in such a short space of time and have basically lived as a local, certainly never feeling like a tourist at any point. I had no idea coming out here it would be such an emotional journey but it really has been. Saying goodbye to those kids last Friday was seriously tough. When I arrived they were all just nameless kids I could scarcely tell apart, but over the last two months I've learnt not just the 52 names but the 52 different personalities and different ways to teach and interact to get the best out of each one. Unfortunately on the last day of term the attendance was really poor on account of the school closing early and parents not able to collect, this resulted in only about half the kids showing up which meant there were so many kids I never said goodbye to. Perhaps this was a blessing as 26 goodbyes were tough enough.. I was so touched by the parents of these kids who all came in to give presents to the staff. These parents just have so little money but still gave us 5 teachers gifts ranging from chocolates and toiletries to money in a Christmas card. I almost felt guilty accepting them but Harriet then told me that Zulu people are very proud people who will go without so they can afford such things and the worst thing you can do is refuse to take them. They got me onto the carpet at the end of the day and asked me to play one final song before the kids left and we chose the soccer song..lip was a little wobbly during that one I can tell you! Afterwards Crystal (whose name I found out last week is actually Christa-must wash out those lug-holes when I get back), Christa gave me a few presents from the school a cap, some chocolates and a keyring but mainly a card with a picture of all the kids on the front. Inside, each child has put a fingerprint in paint and written their name on top. So touching.. Oh yeah, regarding the soccer song and the radio station-I went in to the station again and literally said I wasn't leaving until I was seen to by that illusive git Naveem Singh..the man came out and told me to bring in the song on CD. I have a mate out here who claimed he could make pretty good recordings so went round his house to try and sort out a decent demo. Unfortunately he'd bigged up his equipment a little too much in the pub and the quality of recording was...just horrible. We quickly realized this and so gave up the recording element and just had a few beers and a jam.. so it wasn't a totally wasted evening.

Anyway, I've kinda started at the end here so just quickly to update over the last few weeks we've done quite a bit with the kids. We took them down to the beach which was a quality day out. Unfortunately wally-brain here picked up something he saw floating in the sea which turned out to be a rather savage jelly fish. Thought is was someone’s lost swimming goggles and so started winding it around my hand. Then hand felt like it was on fire. Deserved.

In the last week I had to dress up as Santa and give the kids out a load of stockings Harriet had made. I clearly wasn't too convincing as I was addressed as Father Matthew and Teacher Christmas for the rest of the day!

Right, what else..ok, we did a few more presentations of the school play. Once to the homeless people of Durban...man those oaks kicked up a serious stench..had to make quarter hourly gasps for fresh air outside. We also played to the wider group of people who help out with the school and lastly on the penultimate day for the folks down at the Women’s Institute which Theresa is involved with.

We went out for our end of year lunch at a restaurant in Sebia (that casino I mentioned before) which was paid for by the school. It was top notch all-you-can-eat buffet and without laboring the point, Agnes one of the more robust members of staff, made sure the restaurant made absolutely no profit on her sitting..she could hardly move afterwards and required help out of her chair.

Last weekend I took Harriet and Bill out for a thankyou meal at the revolving restaurant in the city. The restaurant does a complete circle in 45mins and has an amazing view all over Durban, was a really nice evening. Then on Saturday I took Teacher Agnes out for a meal in Umhlanga as it was her 34th birthday. I was a little concerned in light of her efforts at the end of year meal that I would need to take out a bank loan to fill the girl up but I was assured that that was just a one-off. Agnes really has had a tough upbringing and has never had her birthday remembered by her family let alone had a card or presents so I decided to do something a bit special. I bought her a card and also made a photo montage of some wicked pics we've taken over the last two months. She was literally over the moon, it was amazing. For banter I booked the table as Mr. and Mrs. Ashenden and well..the looks we got when a white male in his 20's rocked up with a 'weighty' black female in her 30's out posing as husband and wife! It's amazing how unsubtle people can be when they try to hide their disapproval. Agnes and I thought it was hilarious however and played up to the bant all night.

Harriet, Bill and I have done some fun things since school broke up. Last Sunday we headed upto the Draconsburg Mountains which was a mission away, we left at about 10 in the morning and didn't get back till about 9 at night. The mountains were incredible though, see pics. On Monday, Harriet’s Granddaughter, Michelle arrived to stay with us for a week or so, till after I leave. We headed down to a marine park called Ushaka today which was amazing..saw dolphin/sea lion/penguin shows and got up close to a tank full of sharks. Tonight, Harriet’s friend Nasrine came over and brought her kids along too. She also brought two huge pots of curry which were right on the money..my curry craving finally satisfied after many letdowns. It was a good evening though, the guitar made an appearance and we all sat round singing songs.

Anyway, I think that’s me pretty much done for now, am exhausted in every way a person can be. Have a flight at 5pm tomorrow and need to get some kip.

So there we have it! Time to hang those traveling boots up once more.....for now -)

Matt

xxx