(Ain't it funny) how time slips away?

Lately I've been finding it hard to think about going home to New York. Obviously I miss my friends and family dearly, but South Africa has started to feel like home in a way that I wasn't necessarily expecting when I arrived here 9 months ago. One of the ways I've been dealing with these feelings of ambivalence is to commit myself to having a wonderful time while I'm still here. This hasn't proven to be much of a struggle so far, and I have another fun weekend ahead of me.

Tonight, I'm going to see the Durban-Maputo Connection: a high-energy concert of original music and well known South African and Mozambican songs performed by four Mozambican musicians, from Maputo, and four South African musicians, from Durban. Tomorrow I've been invited to a Zulu engagement party - called an umbondo - out in a small town called Ixopo (that 'x' isn't a typo. it represents one of the click sounds in Zulu). These parties are known to be a rollicking good time - several days full of food, song, dance, and liberal doses of Zulu beer. Can you tell I'm excited? I've been encouraged to bring my camera to capture the awesomeness. Hopefully I'll have some good pictures to share with you guys, as I can only imagine that you might have a difficult time envisioning it from my description.

But first, a quick nap. There are plenty of other things I'd love to tell you guys about, but I think I'm just going leave you hanging for the time being. (Fine, a brief teaser.) I'm also trying to put together some of my concluding reflections about my time in Durbs, South Africa - especially in comparison to what my original thoughts/expectations were when I first rolled up in January.

In heavy rotation:
Al Green - Funny How Time Slips Away
(the video's a bit random, but the only one i could find of al's original version)