'a' as in duck

Sanibona! We had our first Zulu lesson yesterday. The professor passed around some handouts to help us learn how to phonetically sound out the Zulu vowels, and "'a' as in duck" was the first line on the page. I knew immediately that this would be a difficult language to learn! I guess you have to say "duck" in a thick English accent to come up with the "a" sound. I soon realized that the Zulu vowels are pronounced the same as Spanish vowels. The Zulu language uses several "clicks" and although I am fantastic at mastering the three main click sounds, I cannot for the life of me click WHILE trying to say a word! I keep accidentally saying "breast feeding" instead of "please." AND whenever I can tell that someone is having a hard time speaking English with me, I start speaking SPANISH to them! What is wrong with me?! This is going to be a long four months...

Some "interesting" lines on the handout include:

• o as in law
• u as in look
• t as in pretty
• th as in tune
• p as in pet
• ph as in speech
• hl as in Hluhluwe (????????!!!!!!!)

'A' as in duck is still my favorite, although 'hl' as in Hluhluwe is a close runner up!
Here is the word "knock"- ngqongqoza.
Each "q" is pronounced as a click.
GOOD LUCK TO ME!

It has been raining here since Tuesday afternoon (it's now Thursday afternoon), and it has been nice to get some cooler weather. Despite the rain, I hiked in the Game Reserve yesterday with my handy-dandy rain jacket, and I ran into about ten antelope. I did not stumble upon any Zebras or monkeys, but I have seen enough of those monkeys lately! I wonder where the animals hide in the rain...

A path I walked down in the Game Reserve

Hello Antelope! We did see a male in this pack, but I don't think you can tell in this picture

How many antelope can you count in this picture? Here in SA they are all called "buck."
This one is for you, Mom:

Some sweet looking mushrooms!

Thursdays are wonderful for me because I have the entire day off! The other two nursing students have to take Nursing Research, which I took last semester. I slept in until 10 today, and got up to go to "tea time" because I didn't want to wait until 1pm to eat lunch. I love tea time. The entire country upholds tea time, and I think it is a wonderful tradition. The nurses in hospitals even take shifts for tea time! I love that at two times in the day, we all come together to have muffins and tea or coffee. It's a nice time to take a break from whatever you were previously doing to catch up with people and relax a little bit. Yesterday the nursing students were out with our instructors visiting the various clinics that we will be working at this semester. At 1030 our instructors asked, "Where would you like to go for tea time?" AMAZING! I love it. Now if we just added in the Spanish siesta, this place would be perfect.

This is the road we take to reach African Enterprises. Reg (our director/professor) says "All calls to Heaven are local calls." Perhaps you can see why! This is what it looks like rainy weather:

Look at the contrast of colors when it is sunny!!!

Not sure what this is... I split it open and it looked like the texture of a pineapple. They grow on trees like apples.
Jurassic Park?
This big guy was outside my chalet the other morning!

Oh, I rearranged my room!

I am still constantly amazed by the beauty here. I do not regret my decision to study abroad one bit! This is a fantastic experience and I am enjoying every minute of it! Thanks for reading and praying for me! Please comment here or email me to let me know how you are all doing. I do enjoy being updated on life in the States!

xoxox