Return to Bundu: December 2

After weeks of promising the Nkosi’s that we would come to visit, we finally decided to take the short trip back to our training village. We had SMSed Sesi earlier in the week to let her know that we would be coming and to make sure that she would be there for our visit. We left early because although Bundu is only a 30 minute drive from Vezubuhle, we have to take three taxi’s to get there which not only adds to the amount of time it takes, but also to the adventure. At our first stop we decided to pick up a gift for our family and against our better judgment, we opted for a chocolate cake. We were treated to a good laugh on our last taxi ride when the driver turned around and exclaimed with great excitement that Joe was, “the yebo guy!” The driver had hosted one of the other volunteers and remembered the yebo skit from the family party at the end of training. Arriving in Bundu, we ran into two other PCV’s and had a great time catching up. However, we had to cut our conversations short as we were anxious to see our family and the chocolate cake was melting in the sun. We enjoyed the short walk to the Nkosi’s, noticing the new greenness due to the recent rains. Upon arriving at our former home, we were greeted by gogo who was working on a plastic mat in the yard. Searching the premises for someone we could talk to, we immediately noticed numerous changes: a new gate between the main house and the kitchen, the start of another fence, a chicken coop, freshly painted rooms, and plans for a garage. The family had been busy! We found Ma doing laundry and she indicated that everyone else was away for the day. What?! We chatted for as long as our limited vocabulary allowed, then decided to take a walk around the village in the hopes that someone else would be home by the time we returned. Along our walk, we explored some new areas of the village and picked up some plastic bags for Ma. Returning to the house, we enjoyed chocolate cake (at least we all pretended to enjoy it) while playing with the NYC cards we had given the family upon our initial arrival. We taught Ma and Precious (Antocia’s sister who was visiting) how to play war and build card towers. Ma really enjoyed the card towers until her early morning started to catch up with her and she began drifting off. We took this as a sign to go, but Ma was insistent that we stay until Sesi returned. We were a little weary as to when that would be because we quickly came to realize that everyone thought we would be staying for 4 days. Just as we were trying to explain that we were not prepared to stay that long and that we needed to get back to Vezubuhle before dark, Sesi walked through the door. We had a wonderful time catching up over the next hour and made plans to return in a few weeks when we would hopefully be able to see more of the family. Arriving home safely, we enjoyed a stir fry made with the vegetables Ma and Sesi insisted that we take.

pictures: a greener bundu; gogo on her mat