I seriously don't have enough time here to do all of this...

This week at the library, I:

cataloged reports (approaching 600 completed since I got here)

cataloged & covered all the remaining children's books

re-arranged the shelves to fit the new books

cataloged, covered, & shelved a steady stream of new books

went through the "Environmental Education" section and re-classified most of them as either regular non-fiction, reports, or children's books, because that section was just a mish-mash of titles that didn't necessarily fit elsewhere

created a children's non-fiction section in addition to the story-books we've got, mostly out of the EE section

solicited department of education for help with village-library project

ordered office supplies

received, checked, and returned unsatisfactory library materials

ordered new library materials

came up with cataloging/labeling scheme for children's books (differentiating fiction of different age groups, non-fiction, and in a way that children would be able to find things)

finished writing the community-outreach report and submitted it/edited it/got it approved by the necessary higher-ups

All of this in between helping a regular stream of students find books and figure out the computers (some of them have never used them before and needed to have things typed or what-have-you).

Eish, that's a lot of work!

I feel like I need an assistant sometimes. Seriously.

In other news, I've got a boyfriend. His name is Thabang, which if you've been keeping up with my blog you might recognize the name from earlier posts, as I met him when he was doing thatching here and he started teaching me Tsonga. He makes me happy, although we both know I'm leaving in two months and neither of us really wants to think about it.

Thabang came over this weekend, and took me out to experience a bit more of the "real" South Africa, as he put it, which included walking through an open market, walking on unpaved roads, waiting hours for a taxi, riding in a taxi (an experience I will elaborate on later...suffice it to say that it's an experience like no other), drinking home-made marula-beer from a stand on the side of the road (that shit is STRONG), being the only white person for miles, getting stares for being the only white person for miles, eliciting giggles and surprised looks when I (a white person) greet people in their language, going to a "nice" black neighborhood (considered that way only because all the houses have running water and the cows don't out-number the people), and meeting some of Thabang's family. And after Thabang went home, I did my laundry the South African way, or at least partially (because I've got indoor plumbing), meaning by hand in a tiny sink and then hanging it out to dry, running out to take it down when it starts to rain, and putting it up again, down again, up again, according to the weather, and in between I cleaned house, which due to the squirrels and bugs, is constantly in need of a good sweep-and-mop job.

And now it's bed-time because I've got work tomorrow. U etlela kahle.