Today was great. Simply great. I went to church with Catherine and Gogo – African Anglican Church to be exact – and it lasted from 9 am to 1:30 pm. It was youth Sunday and the initiation of several new members into the Mother’s Union so it was exceptionally long. The service was pretty traditional (with African flavor in the music) and quite full! Although I could not understand much of the service – the pastor did preach on the story of Samuel and Eli in English and the woman in front of us was particularly helpful the entire service. I made friends with the 12 year old girl sitting next to me, asking her her name in Xhosa and other introductory questions. We used a mixture of English and Xhosa during our first interactions and at one point she asked me: are you from South Africa? I laughed and felt a twinge of happiness at my Xhosa/English mix pointing her to think I was from South Africa!
My favorite part of the service was probably when the youth choir sang. It was a bit more of the type of music I was expecting – great contemporary vocals and a lovely African beat. : ) I had my first communion with real wine and boy was that a surprise when I drank from the cup! Quite strong compared to the grape juice I’m used to! I’ve concluded that Anglican church is pretty much the Protestant version of Catholicism – or something like that!
After church we came home, had lunch, and then Gogo went back to church for more Mother’s Union activities. I stayed in the house, finishing my food with the door open. Two women dropped in to inquire after Gogo, and I had a great time greeting them in Xhosa, letting each visitor know Gogo was out, and speaking with them for a bit (two separate visits). Later in the afternoon Catherine, Emilia, Alex, and Alex’s host brother, and I walked around the neighborhood visiting other SIT friends and meeting their Mamas!!
I already love the sense of community and friendliness here in Langa – it reminds me of Church Hill a bit – people sitting on their porches, walking around outside, visiting friends, calling hello from all over, sharing food . . .
Gogo is awesome! I am so thankful for my placement. We pray before each meal and she seems to be quite happy to have me here.
No one has left you a comment so I thought I would. Been reading these and love to hear your story! Sounds like an awesome experience and just know you have people even in Tallahassee, FL praying for you. Hope your time there only gets better. I am so glad that I got to spend a summer with you, especially our time at SB2W. You are a pretty sweet person!
ReplyDeleteJohn 15:5
PS Thanks again for my red Spree's!