Moving Back Home

A beautiful summer day in the Eastern Cape

Wow!  Six months is such a super short amount of time to try and learn everything one can about a musical genre that has such profound impact on history and personal lives.  I have been procrastinating this entry, as it signals the end of my Fulbright studies.  Waking up in the U.S. is wonderful, because my bed feels so comfortable and my husband is always here, instead of sometimes.  There are so many places to go and things to do, that I feel pressured to get up and go, though I truly enjoyed having days between commitments in South Africa.  Most of the time, I had plenty of photos and videos to review and organize, and I had an active social life and loved traveling to all points with Dennis, and with Elene and my cultural informants.  My teaching seemed strange, because I didn't have access to all my resources, and the class sizes were sometime huge, at the University of Zululand.

I never had to wait very long, though, before someone called or came by my home or office to see how I was doing.  I met people who have never traveled outside their own towns or regions, but they always showed me the most caring and thoughtful hospitality.  I was included in day trips, lunch hour excursions, concerts, rehearsals, meetings and gatherings of all types---often having nothing to do with my studies or my teaching.  I cannot express my gratitude in words to all of those people who thought to include me.  Sometimes my phone rang and it was someone I had just met, calling to say hello and goodbye one more time.  People want to connect, and just being there for some people to do that was an honor I'll never forget.

Maybe I'll post photos or thoughts as I unwind and re-enter my old life.  I'm not sure that I can yet say that this is my final entry.  I'm a little sad about it being over and a little overwhelmed about being back home, so maybe after I sing through some of my new songs with some old friends I'll level out and get back to you.