[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!!
No comments:
Post a Comment