Jan. 28^th (a bit more)

Jan. 19^th and 20^th checking what happened while I was gone. No progress on the car. The assessor still hadn’t come so we don’t know what the insurance will say, but probably write-off.

Jan. 21^st  Mass at Savannah Park followed by birthday celebration for Bishop Lobinger. The ACTS group brought tons of food and a cake and good company. It was a delightful day. The food from the monastery we ate for supper. We had some drinks and a long conversation till about 3:30pm. Lots of things discussed. Nice. (Bishop Lobinger loaned me his vehicle to go for mass. After mass I went to the store and bought him a birthday cake)

Jan. 22^nd  Sister was kind and fetched me with a car from the convent to save me the walk to the hospital in the morning.   About 25 minute walk.

                                                                                                                                                    

Jan. 23^rd.   Got the OK from insurance to get a loaner from Avis. Good for twenty days. Hope that the car will be finished by that time.

Jan. 24^th. My turn to fetch sister and then to catch up on all the stuff that I was unable to do when I was carless.

I killed many birds with one stone. Pharmacy to fetch my medication for the month (an old folk’s chore)---Stop at ATM to take out some cash… Rajes the travel agent to make sure that all is OK for the trip to Chicago…Pavilion shopping mall to get a pair of shoes to protect my delicate feet in the cold and snow of Chicago…haircut at hairdresser.  All in one go. Wow.

Jan. 25^th Cut grass the whole morning and got a call from the insurance at 17:20 in the evening. They are going to write it off , as we thought, what do I want to do. I am too poor to buy another vehicle so I will keep the car and use whatever the insurance pays out to repair it. Probably not enough but what can I do… Called the insurance broker in Mthatha and she says they will send a report. Who knows how long that will take.

Jan. 26^th.   Not much, more grass cutting before I head off next week. Also started packing my suitcase. Less than half the weight allowed but I will only be there for a few days. So I put a box in to take up the space so that they don’t crush my suitcase. Ha.

Jan. 27^th. Cutting the whole morning, the last part that needed cutting. Visit by aunt and child (9^th grade) who is asking for help in buying school things. I looked at the items (over R4000 worth…I don’t know how they expect people to be able to afford this stuff…. It is probably more than two to three times what a person might get in a month…. Holy Moses)… There was an item, something like Ties X 2 R30.00  I asked if each tie cost 30 rand or if that was for both. No it was for both. Then clarify it for me. Then I asked the girl how much is 15 plus 15. She looked at me with a blank stare. She had no clue. She is in grade 9. What did her teachers teach her. What is her future like. The kids here are terrified of maths and it becomes a block. No one gives them a foundation. I once asked something like how much is 25 and 10. After a long while someone was brave enough to give an answer    47. Again, no clue, just take a guess.

    I phoned Shirley in the afternoon (my friend since I was chaplain at St. Mary’s hospital when she gave birth to her last born in 1967) if I could come over and use her internet since ours was on and off, mostly off , and I had some important missives to get off. We had a chance to chat for a while then she was off to Mass and I came hope to prepare my sermon for Sunday, in Zulu, mostly.

Sunday Jan. 28^th. Mass at Savannah Park again. Big crowd. We are growing, even young people. Then lunch with the Pillay family. They are looking after three young girls who have dysfunctional homes. One of them is actually an orphan. But she is of an age where the boys are heading for her like to a pot of honey and she is, of course, responding in kind. It is causing a crisis in the house and may end  sadly with her going back into an institution. She is an angry young girl, grade 11, quite attractive, and angry at the world that has dealt her a lousy hand. That is how I see it. And her anger comes out in very destructive ways to the point where it may come to getting the social worker to remove her. Sad but I understand. Pray for her. Life has been tough for her and she has been tough on those who were kind enough to try to give her a loving home.

That’s it for now. Cas.