We moved out of Cato this weekend, which was really sad. I'm sure I'll go back to visit at least a couple more times before I leave South Africa, but still sad not to live there. We had a big party friday night, with lots of traditional African food, and all the mamas dressed up. Saturday, I said goodbye to all the kids, which was the hardest. When I came down to say goodbye, all the little kids scream umlungu, because they can never remember american names (they have also taken to calling me umude, which means tall, because I'm the tallest of the white girls). One of my favorite girls, Mascuto, yelled at them, and told them I wasn't umlungu, I was umuntu. Umuntu is just a person, usually a black person. So, apparently I'm moving up in the world. I was pretty happy about that.

We are leaving for our last rural adventure today, and then we'll be in Durban for the remainder of March. And then I have no idea where I'm going...

We spent this weekend in Durban, at a backpacker's called Gibela. It was really fantastic and relaxing. A whole bunch of the girls wanted to go out clubbing with some sketchy Afrikaaner boys, so six of us decided not to and just hung out for the weekend. Which turned out to be a good decision, because the rest of them got mugged at knifepoint. Funny thing, apparently getting drunk and wandering the streets of Durban in the dark is a bad plan...

We went to a couple flee markets, which is kind of bad, because everything is really cool, really incredibly cheap, and there is a lot of artwork depicting elephants. And, its fair trade and supports local artists. If you know me at all, you will realize why this is a problem. Anyway, roommates and family, I appologize that African artwork will soon be taking over our house and apartment. Yesterday, we went to the Durban botanical gardens, which is the oldest garden in Africa (and by that, we of course mean the oldest garden made by white people), which was beautful. Last night we went to see Slumdog millionaire, which totally deserved all the awards it got, and then went out for ice cream. All for under $5, including the cab ride home. For all of you in America lamenting the economy, never fear, the South African economy is doing far worse, so the exchange rates get better by the week. We also cooked a lot of pasta and other such American food, which tasted fantastic after 6 weeks of African curry and rice. So all in all, a pretty good weekend.