LORD, High and Holy, Meek and Lowly,
Though hast brought me to the valley of vision,
where I live in the depths but see Thee in the heights;
hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Thy glory.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
10.25.11 Bo Kaap Homestay!
Five days into my Bo Kaap homestay and I’m loving it! We went on a walking tour of Bo Kaap this past Thursday, learning about the history of this predominantly “Coloured” and Muslim neighborhood just a few blocks from Cape Town’s City Center. We visited the first mosque in Southern Africa, saw rows of colorful houses, and ended the tour meeting our new host-families. I have a mother (Raldi), a father (Anwar), and 3 siblings: Sham (16), Heema (12), and Beera (8). They have an apartment at the top of Bo Kaap, making for a gorgeous view of the city – off their balcony we can see the water, Table Mountain, and a lot of the city! Although my family practices Islam, I do not need to cover my head or dress in a particular way. They have been incredibly welcoming and accommodating! I am definitely learning a lot more about Muslim culture and the Islamic faith. Each day the call for prayer sounds throughout the neighborhood from numerous mosques several times a day. Last night we watched a National Geographic documentary entitled “Inside Mecca.” I knew before that one of the five pillars of Islam is a pilgrimage to Mecca, but I never realized what an intensive process the visit itself is – involving 5 days of rituals.
My mother loves “gospel” music, which in her vocabulary means all Christian music. She knows Mary Mary songs and even “You Raise Me Up.” She has training in first aid (which helped with a weird spider bite I have) and is an amazing cook (curry, mac&cheese, chicken, and traditional Muslim food)! I feel like a royal guest in their home – particularly when the youngest daughter sneaks in and makes my bed while I’m in the shower, or when the mom does my laundry without even asking! The two daughters (Heema and Beera) love music – in particular Backstreet Boys and Celine Dion! They can’t believe I don’t know all the words to Celine Dion’s songs when they play the karaoke videos on their tv! The brother loves listening to my ipod and has taken a great interest in Lecrae’s music. The father sings in an incredibly talented Malay Choir, which trains 6 months of the year and competes in festivals. All in all – THEY LOVE MUSIC! The second night in their home, the father turned to me and asked me to sing something. I paused and asked what I should sing. I sang a bit of a Dreamgirl’s song and the dad said: O stop, you’re going to make me cry!
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
10.19.11 Leaving Stellenbosch & Camping at !Khwa ttu
I left my lovely Stellenbosch family on Monday morning after a wonderful week with them – including many long dinner discussions, playing with their five kids, making imovies, trying to help keep their baby duck alive (he died sadly), great faith discussions with the parents, taking the kids swimming next door, delicious freshly brewed loose tea, an awesome movie night (watching The End of the Spear), and a great hike on Sunday afternoon.
On Saturday I met with a member of Stopping the Trafficking of People (STOP) – a faith-based non-profit in Stellenbosch fighting human trafficking. We had a great one-hour meeting and I am now planning to return to Stellenbosch for a few days in November to stay with my host family again and research STOP further!
Since Monday evening we have been enjoying an educational and cultural center of the San people, called !Khwa ttu, on a beautiful farm/reserve an hour and half outside of Cape Town. We are camping in tents and learning about the history and culture of the San people – historically referred to as the “Bushmen.” The San are one of the first indigenous people of South Africa, who survived with a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Over the centuries, they were repeatedly pushed off their land and decimated with disease. Today only 100,000 San remain alive – mostly in Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa. !Khwa ttu seeks to educate visitors and the San people themselves about the history, culture, and languages of the San. In addition, to being something of an educational tourist destination, !Khwa ttu has a training center for San people to come and receive cultural tourism training for 9 months. Then most trainees return to their marginalized San communities across Southern Africa and help facilitate community-based tourism. It is quite the unique initiative!! The land is beautiful and as we drive to our campsite each evening we see zebra and springbok just roaming around.
Friday, October 14, 2011
spiritual nugget . . .
This week I've been meditating upon the following combination of words - a beautiful description of the believers of Thessalonica centuries ago. . . O that my life would reflect a similar description.
Work of FAITH
Labor of LOVE
Steadfastness of HOPE
In Jesus Christ.
[from 1 Thess. 1:3]
10.14.11 Stellenbosch
WONDERFUL WEEK IN STELLENBOSCH [the 2nd white settlement in South Africa]! It’s been full of lectures on University of Stellenbosch’s campus – about Afrikaner identity, Afrikaans, gender issues, land reform, etc. – culminating with a wine tasting visit and tour this afternoon (in the pictures). I was sick the first night in this homestay but it was thankfully over after one bad night. My hostfamily here is lovely – white parents and five kids ages 3 to 12!!
Prior to this week we have been repeatedly learning about the oppression of blacks and coloreds by the whites under Apartheid. Different moments this week, however, have been deconstructing my old notions (predominantly negative) and forming new understandings of what “Afrikaner” and “Afrikaans” mean. This process began with my academic director Stewart’s comment that languages are neither good nor evil, oppressive nor liberating…it is only how languages are used. I think I have definitely been seeing how diverse and complex Afrikaner identity is. I was surprised to learn how many non-white people (predominantly “colored” people) speak Afrikaans as their first language. One lecturer even mentioned it is estimated that each Afrikaner has 7-9% non-white blood in their veins. Wonderful interactions with my hostfamily have also been contributing to this deconstruction of my former views!!
Monday, October 10, 2011
10.06.11 O the difference between everything we want and what we really need. . .
“. . . Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
~ Matthew 6:34 ~
Today I am sitting on the balcony of a beautiful hostel on the beach of the Indian Ocean, with a gorgeous view. My surroundings are quite a contrast to where I lived for the past week. Yesterday morning concluded our stay in the rural village of Tshabo and now we have a few days to recoup before heading into our one-week Stellenbosch homestay on Sunday. As I enjoyed a hot shower, a delicious breakfast, and a run on the beach all this morning, I found myself pondering the differences between Tshabo and this hostel-resort. I am only an hour away from where my family in Tshabo lives, and yet have they ever been to this beach? What an overwhelming sense of privilege I feel to be enjoying this place halfway around the world when my mama, tata, and sisis one hour away may never [or rather, seldom] experience the beauty of this ocean and beach. . . I also wondered: Why was I so content in Tshabo this week? What was it about living with less, surrounded by the rural beauty of God’s creation, singing praises all day long, dancing with my sisters, and living day by day that was so beautiful?
I keep coming back to the words of my favorite Nichole Nordeman song, especially the last line:
Daily bread, give us daily bread
Tucked away beneath our sturdy roofs,
Or maybe not, not today, maybe You’ll provide in other ways,
And if that’s the case . . .
We’ll give thanks to You with gratitude,
A lesson learned to hunger after You,
That a starry sky offers a better view if no roof is overhead,
And if we never taste that bread.
O the differences that often are between
Everything we want and what we really need.
10.06.11 2nd half of the week in Tshabo
On Monday our group visited a 92-year-old Xhosa woman, named Mama Tofu, to learn more about Xhosa culture and traditions. We heard about the initiation ceremony for boys to become men, the different vocabulary used by married women in comparison to single women, traditional songs – and we finished off our time with Mama Tofu by eating traditional foods, most of which I have eaten already with my host families here. On Tuesday we had a free morning, so Cynthia and I played, danced, sang, and colored with our host sisters before doing some beading with all the Mamas in the afternoon. Wednesday was a free morning as well, which we spent with our family, learning how to make fat cakes. [Fat cakes (amaqwinga) are essentially funnel cake in a ball without the powdered sugar.] They turned out deliciously and were devoured quickly at the farewell dinner we attended all afternoon with the host families and students.
Cynthia and I were quite sad to say good-bye to our host family on Thursday morning. We loved our Mama’s cooking, trying to speak English/Xhosa with our Tata, playing with our young sisi’s, learning Xhosa schoolyard games, singing new Xhosa songs, playing Gofish over and over again, and even taking our bucket showers each morning! Our 17-year old sisi told us that she will come visit us in the U.S. in ten years. We knew saying good-bye, however, that seeing each other again would be questionable. . . : (
10.02.11 1st Half of Week in Rural Homestay
[quick catch-up: I felt the township of Langa (and my host mama Gogo) on September 25th, then we spent a few days at a lovely hostel in the coastal Simon’s Town before flying to the Eastern Cape for our one-week rural homestay in a village called Tshabo.]
I LOVE THIS RURAL HOMESTAY !! The past three and a half days here have been so wonderful. Wonderful in many ways. For one, it’s definitely rural, which means we traveled on a dirt road for the last 20 minutes of the 45 minute ride from the city. Rural also means a beautiful landscape: there are gently rolling hills with colorful houses grouped together in village clusters. On a different note, rural means I need to look down while walking to make sure I don’t accidentally step in a cow pie! I feed my banana peel to the pig each morning and just before dinner our host father rounds up the cows from the yard to get them in the corral for the night. A rooster crows each morning quite loudly and the chickens run freely around the yard. We eat vegetables from the garden each dinner and bedtime is quite early (around 8-9 pm)!
On our day of arrival our bus pulled into Tshabo and all the mamas and tons of kids were there to greet us – singing!! Cynthia and I met our mama – who speaks almost no English – and then we lugged our suitcases for a good fourth of a mile to her house. We walked into the yard, and kids, cows, dogs, and chickens were there to welcome us! The family took us into the one-room house and immediately I noticed the one double bed. I found myself wondering: where are all of us going to sleep? 7 family members plus Cynthia and me?! That first night of sleep was honestly the only really uncomfortable experience here in Tshabo – they gave Cynthia and I the big bed and the four girls slept on small mattresses on the floor, while the mama, dad, and older brother slept in the smaller tin-structure/room elsewhere in the yard.
Other than the bed situation, I’ve felt completely comfortable and relaxed here – even using the outhouse, having no running water in the house, and taking bucket showers! The food is delicious, and we’ve been having a great time with our girls playing cards (Go fish, Crazy 8s, Spoons), teaching them songs and learning new ones from them, and dancing together (along with Cynthia teaching us to step)!! Each night I have a bit of quiet time before bed which I greatly appreciate, and sleeping here has been lovely after the first night when I had to wake Cynthia to go to the outhouse in the middle of the night!
On Friday we went into the nearest city (East London) to visit the Steve Biko Foundation and learn more about his life and Black Consciousness. Then on Saturday we visited the tribal authority office in the morning – learning about the role of the chief before and after Apartheid – and then in the afternoon we had ‘traditional day.’ The mamas all wore their traditional outfits and then they danced along with younger girls a few traditional dances. Three boys and one girl danced a gump-boot dance (similar to stepping) – a tradition of dance which originated with migrant workers. The afternoon was so enjoyable and the mamas loved our version of “Akeko Ofana Naye.” We probably sang the same song for them three times! I made friends with a young mama and asked to hold her little 3-month old baby, and then on our way home she let me carry him on my back in a towel!! I will definitely be implementing that practice when I have my own kids – such a good way to carry a baby!
Today it rained all day so we didn’t get to attend church – instead we had an incredibly relaxing and lazy day in the house, playing cards, watching Nollywood movies, drawing, eating, and chilling. I only left the house three times – all were trips to the outhouse. I’ll be ready for some sun and exercise tomorrow!!
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