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. . . : (
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