Ah, what a busy week!

Sunel was gone Monday and Tuesday, so I was running the show at the library. It was relatively quiet on the staff-side because everyone knew she was gone until Wednesday so the phone wasn't constantly ringing with people looking for her. I actually got to take my lunch break on time and not plough through my food like a heathen in order to make it to my Tsonga lesson with more than 15 minutes left. I'm sure if Sunel has figured out what I do with my extra lunch time, she'd resent me having more interest in Tsonga than Afrikaans. No offense, but Afrikaans is just too difficult. It's related to English slightly, so you'd think it'd be easier, but it's not. It is easier when I'm reading it, though, because I can see how the word looks similar to an English one, and I can usually figure out the gist of something (which is helpful when I'm cataloging Afrikaans titles). And with Shangaan, it's pure memorization, but the words in Shangaan/Tsonga are so much easier for me to pronounce. If I can't figure out how to say a word, I won't remember it, and the spelling of Afrikaans words compared to how it's said is something I can never figure out.

While Sunel was gone, I basically got a bunch of cataloging done and helped students find/use library materials. Almost like I'm a librarian or something, ne? I was glad when she came back, though, because she brought with her a donation of about 200 books from Middleburg library. There were a lot fewer children's books than I'd hoped for, and of them, more were in Afrikaans than English, which members of the community would appreciate less. The village schools the books are intended for are entirely black schools, and if reading material isn't in their native language (good luck finding free books in Tsonga), English is preferred as it is a common language in South Africa that everyone knows, and it's becoming more and more a world language that will get you more opportunities if you can speak/read/write it fluently. Plus, some black people actually resent Afrikaans because they consider it a relic from Apartheid, and if a kid comes home from school with an Afrikaans book and not also an English one, then some parents might feel that they're being forced to learn it rather than English or their home language.

So, after unloading, unpacking, and sorting the books, I had to assess their content and quality in relation to needs of the intended patrons. In non-library jargon, it means I had to figure out what to keep and what to chuck. For instance, some of the books were in pretty poor shape, but if they were in English and a children's book, I'd keep it anyway. However, if it was in Afrikaans and an adult fiction book, it's also more likely to be kept, because there are a lot more Afrikaaners on staff who come looking for reading material at the library than Shangaanis. After figuring out what we have and what we need, I had to develop a strategy for addressing the gaps in the collection. Which in English means I had to figure out how to get more books. Keep in mind that I have absolutely no money to order things. So, I've expanded my search geographically to include libraries slightly farther away who might be looking to get rid of some discards, and to follow up more directly with the libraries which didn't respond to a written request. Also this week I've drafted a letter to the department of education requesting assistance, and I'm researching community demographics and such to put into my proposal before I send it out.

I didn't actually realize until today that it wasn't just the schools which didn't have books. There's no library whatsoever anywhere near the villages. I mean, the closest public library is in a small town three hours' drive from here, and not many people who live in the villages even own cars. I knew the place was poor, and even after visiting there last week, I realized how poor, but it just never occurred to me that there wouldn't be even an inkling of a library anywhere. Maybe that's just the librarian in me being shocked, but I think even just as a person it's a bit of a culture shock. There we have it, folks, my second real dose of culture shock from South Africa (the first being when I realized that nobody here believes in evolution). I've decided that if I ever win the lottery, I'm coming back here to build a library in Welverdiend. I know nothing's going to happen in the remainder of my semester here, but I feel like eventually I want to have as a professional goal to build a library in rural Africa somewhere. But first I need to finish library school. Some days I feel like that's never going to happen. I've started more classes than I've finished, and anytime it looks like I'm going to get my shit together for a decent semester, I've got some personal crisis to deal with and school sits on the back burner. I was such a good student as an undergrad. In high school, too, and junior high, elementary, even in kindergarten I was ahead of the class. But somehow graduate school has combined forces with the Universe at large to kick my ass. But whatever. I'm going to stop whining about it now.

Looking up pictures of puppies and kittens on the internet was part of my job this week. And that just wins. The 23rd is International Spay Day, and it's my job to create postings to put up on the notice boards, so I got to search for pictures of adorable animals to decorate my informational posters. I like having something creative or fun to do when I get sick of cataloging. I also printed, colored, and cut out little pocket guides to safe and eco-friendly fish choices for people to take away on my biodiversity display (which I actually spied people stopping to look at!). Other things, other things...I'm constantly doing little things for Sunel, whether it's running an invoice down to accounting or faxing something, but I don't mind because it gets me out of my chair. I also researched prices for books that patrons particularly recommended we get, and helped decide which ones were feasible to obtain. I started cataloging the donations we got, and had to figure out a cataloging/labeling scheme for the children's books. That project is ongoing, and I think I'm going to wait until we get more donations before I finalize how it's all going to be.

I'm kind of annoyed that my knee still friggin' hurts. The doctor was supposed to call me today with some test results and a plan of action, but he didn't, and when I called, the receptionist kept insisting that he would get back to me today. I'll be pissed if he doesn't call me tomorrow. In fact, if I don't hear from him by lunch time, I'm going to call the office again and get obnoxious until I get to talk to the doctor.

*Update* Doctor finally got back to me, and sent my prescription to the pharmacy, which I couldn't get to. However, my boss's husband's brother's wife was coming through this weekend, so she went and picked it up for me, and I'll pay her back whenever I next get to the bank for some South African cash. Someone I've never met is picking up drugs for me and taking it on faith that I'll pay her back. Ah, the kindness of strangers. I mean, it's not totally random, but it's kind of out there. I'll be happy when I'm healthy enough to exercise and not need to sleep all weekend.