A Busy Festive Season

Here in South Africa what we would call the Holiday Season is called the Festive Season and mine was very busy!  I apologize for not posting recently but I’m going to give you an update on the past month and when you hear all that I’ve been up to I think you will understand. To make up for it, I was actually able to put some pictures in this post! Woot!

In mid-December I travelled with Reverend Xaba to Ladysmith (about an hour away) for the Southeastern Diocese(SED) Youth Conference.  I didn’t have any idea what was going to be happening, what I should be, or where I would be staying.  The only thing I knew was that it would be from Wednesday afternoon to Sunday and some other MUD volunteers would be there.  When we arrived I was greeted by Jaime and Katie who live near Johannesburg. (They aren’t actually in the SED but Jaime’s host is the General Secretary of ELCSA and wanted them to come so they did!) Eventually Isaac and Elise came from Durban and Pietermaritzburg, respectively, so it was a nice chance to see some other volunteers.

As for the conference, it was several days of speakers who all talked in isiZulu for the most part.  Needless to say, we didn’t understand much of it but we did have some helpful youth that would translate important parts for us.  Everyone seemed to appreciate us being there though and was very hospitable. We took part in a really fun march through the town in support of a campaign against the abuse of women and children which involved a lot of singing and some running!  We also took part in the choir competition although there were only four of us compared to the parishes with at least 15 people.  I don’t think we won but we got a lot of cheers!

On Saturday we went with the host family that we were staying with to a traditional Zulu wedding in a nearby township.  When we first got there they were slaughtering the cow which was a gift for the bride’s family.  It wasn’t the most pleasant sight to behold but interesting to see. The wedding involved a lot of singing and dancing in both contemporary wedding clothes and traditional Zulu wedding attire which was really cool to see.  There was a great sense of community with everyone there and it was an experience I’ll never forget!

Bride and Groom and Wedding Party

The Kwaz Centre’s last day was December 21^st and they had a nice lunch celebration to end the great year and thank everyone for their hard work.  At the end of that week I went to Pietermaritzburg to hang out with Elise and Steve for a couple of days before going back to Ephangweni for Christmas.  The church Christmas celebration was nice with a reenactment of the Christmas story by the Sunday School children that was very cute!  It was very weird sweating during Christmas church service and was definitely an, “I’m in Africa” moment.

The biggest event of the past month was my trip to the Mother City, Cape Town, with all eleven other volunteers.  We all decided to meet there to celebrate the New Year together and it was a great time.  We visited Robben Island, the penguins at Boulder Beach, Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope, Long Street, the V&A Waterfront, and several of us climbed Table Mountain.  I even tried my hand out at surfing when we were at the beach in Muizenberg and had a great time! I was able to get up on the board my first time and by the second try I was riding the waves, albeit not that big, all the way into shore!

Climb up Table Mountain! It was intense but so fun!

View of Table Mountain from Robben Island

Hang Ten! =P

Earlier this week I had received several cards in the mail for my birthday and Constance, my host, said “Why do you have so many letters this week?” so I told her that it would be my birthday on Friday and she nodded but nothing more was said.  Well Friday came and I talked to Constance during the morning but nothing was said about it being my birthday or anything so I just figured she had forgotten and that was alright; I didn’t need a celebration or anything.  However, tea time comes and Constance tells me to come with her which I know is strange because she usually has tea in her office.

She leads me into the dining room and all the staff is in there and they start singing “Happy Birthday” to me in both Zulu and English and all I can do is smile.  The tables are filled with snacks and drinks and there is even a cake for me.  I was so grateful for this kind act and Constance said they wanted to celebrate another year of life with me.  When they finished singing they started clapping which usually happens when there is going to be some Zulu stomping so I got excited. One of the women acted like she was going to do it but then backed up so I went into the middle and did a few stomps and they loved it! It was a great experience and I was truly humbled by their generosity for my birthday.

Overall, the past month has been full of a lot of great experiences that I know I won’t soon forget!  I hope that these last six months will be full of many more “I’m in Africa” moments and experiences that remind me what I’m doing here.  I hope that you all are having a blessed start to 2012 and continue to have a great year!