When a Ton of POO Gets Dumped on You, Scoop It Up and Use It as Fertilizer for the Good and Useful Crop that's Coming

Of course you are wondering where this genius phrase came from.  Well, I will tell you.  My dear mum e-mailed me this wonderfully encouraging letter which contained the aforementioned phrase.  I had told her all about my trials and dumb annoyances mentioned in the previous blog and that is what she came up with.  AWESOME

Anywho, I guess you could say that I have been shoveling loads of poop onto a flat bed truck and using it to fertilize the good and useful crop that is coming.  In lamens terms, tons of little annoying things have been happening to me.  For example, pretty much everyday I end up with a new cut or scrape or gash or bruise from who knows what.  Luckily, the 10 beautiful nurses we have with us have been dressing my wounds and keeping me safe.  Also, I sneeze probably 587 times a day because I don't even know why.  But NBD PTL TIA  (no big deal, praise the Lord, this is africa)  Seriously, I am in such a good mood because of all the wonderful encouragement and love that is shown amongst the people in this group.  I enjoy them very much.

THIS JUST IN: Update from the previous weekend spent in Ecabazini!

Yes good evening and good morning to those of you who subscribe to/read Adam'g blog.  It has become apparent that he has not blogged in quite some time because of all the adventuring.  So, here is the update from this past week.

Half the group went on a Safari and the other half went to a Zulu homestead.  I was with the group that ventured to the Zulu homestead of Ecabazini.  Upon arrival, we were met face to face by the zulus who dressed in their traditional garb for us.  The men had the most excellent loin cloths ever with arm bands, leg bands, head bands shields and spears.  The unmarried women only wore skirts so they were bare chested.  the married women wore shirts and dresses though.

They build their homestead on a slope.  Not at the top and not at the bottom.  If it's at the top it will get struck by lightning and if it's at the bottom the lake will flood and wash it away.  The first thing we did was move in to our respective huts which are made from mud and grass.  They showed us how they built their huts and it is probably the most articulate process ever.  But it does work wonders because it's totally rain proof and does not get hot with the sun.  We then discovered the many uses for cows.  All the cows are herded into a ring in the center of the camp during the night.  When they poop the manure goes down into a hole and collects in a kind of septic tank underground.  The methane from the manure rises to the surface and is collected in piping system which is used in each household to start fires, burn candles etc.  This way, the manure does not smell bad at all and is then used to coat the clay floors of each hut once a week.  This is done by hand and is actually quite fun.  We got to do this and the manure is a wonderful exfoliate as well.

We then swam in a croc infested lake, learned about the medicine man and their beliefs  (while we were in his hut, there was a very real and huge spiritual heaviness present) and then had the best dinner ever.  They cooked us the most amazing meat ever right over the fire, and then we had chicken, zulu bread (which is the best!) and some spectacular, although I can't remember the name of it, beans, rice, cabbage tomatoes all mixed up.  SOOO good.  ah yes, it was called putu.  Then there was samp which was a cron meal type deal.
That night everyone was herded into the main hut and treated to some awesome zulu beer and dancing.  Their dance is pretty hardcore because it involves lots of stomping and yelling (apparently, the warriors used to do this dance on thorns!)  Then they made all the guys get up and do it.  They picked the best stompers and made them do a dance off.  SOO MUCH FUN.  The same was done for the females as well.
But the  most fun came later that night when my good friend Zach and I discovered the zulu loin cloths in the kitchen hut.  As you might suppose, we quickly stripped down, put on the clothing and ran around camp with our spears and shields.  We hunted some of the girls who were going to the toilet and freaked them out pretty good and then did an intimidation dance in their hut.
Afterwards, we practiced our night time spear throwing and stabbing by dismembering an aloe vera plant and wrecking a bamboo wall.  ZZZZ best!
The next day we got to hold and play with baby goats (most precious things in the whole world), make ceramic pots, build beaded bracelets, and STICK FIGHT!!
Seriously, look up zulu stick fighting on youtube.  We got to fight the zulu warriors...best day ever.  Then we ate hot dogs and left.  THE END

Thank you for tuning into KTLADAM for this brief weekend update

As I was saying, I enjoy these people.  After we got back to campus from the zulu homestead we busted out a 90ft slip 'n slide and got absolutely destroyed!!  So much fun though!!  My back is wrecked from sliding off the end into sticks and hard grass.  I should also have a broken nose and no front teeth because I decided I would try and surf the whole way down.  This ended up with me slipping (it is called a slip 'n slide) and slamming my face straight into the ground.  Luckily, all 10 nurses were there to save my life again.  THANK YOU NURSES
Then we went to Durban for the day.  We checked out some serious marketplaces and I purchased all the things a white american might purchase such as : vuvuzela, south african flag, random souveneirs, and a south african world cup jersey for pretty much no money at all.  We then swam, once more, in the Indian Ocean.  This was the warmest water I have ever swam in!

Apparently, it is also one of the most shark infested places on earth too.  Tons of attacks and deaths.
Well, NBD PTL TIA

And remember, When a ton of poo gets dumped on you, scoop it up and use it as fertilizer for the good and useful crop that's coming