Windemer

Whindemer is still amazing.  This past week has been rainy; the lightning storms over the ocean and the beach have been absolutely incredible at night and it, been a little easier to work on homework rather than lay on the beach.

This weekend I went back to Cato to visit and I’m so glad I went.  I don’t think I would have truly appreciated the opportunity that I had if I had not left. I now can go visit and truly appreciated how amazing the Zondi family is and relish every conversation, with my mama and brothers, the neighbors and friends. I just get to treasure moments like being taught how to play Sudoku with Ayanda’s dad, or having a debate on politics, and multiple relationships with Spa, Mlu and Ayanda, or dancing with beautiful Bule when her two incredible twins slept.  It was so good to come back to mamas cooking and my room, and have S’bahle wake me up in the morning and ask if I would play race cars. I still feel guilty not living there because I made a conscious decision that took away part of their monthly income. I also at the moment feel like I am a tourist who is posing as a student. I have to remember that is still South Africa, just a different part, when else and I going to get the opportunity to wake up in the morning, go swimming, running, and sun tan, and then be back in my apartment writing a paper all before 8:30.

Bread!  I learned that I can make some pretty tasty bread without a recipe.  Water, oil, salt, flour, yeast, and a little sugar and you are set.  I have been having fun making bread for my apartment mates.  Our apartment became a home with a little help from smell of freshly baked bread.

Our friend Bongani, has theater connections at Durban’s theater and got us free tickets to the mellow drama ‘mating birds’ at Durban’s Play House.  It was fun to go out to the theater and experience a different part of Durban, Monday and Bongani are hilarious university students who are studying here. Let’s just say I’m still processing it.  “A black man and white woman meet at the beach and end up making love.  When this is discovered, a case of rape is wrongfully declared, and the made is sentenced to death.  It was set during apartheid and highlighted some of the issues around race, rape, cultural assumptions. 

Every day I try to do at least two things. 1) I always to a cart wheel, this has happened every day since I have been in Africa and 2) have a completely new experience, they do not necessarily need to be epic events but in their own way each one is.  When I return to the states I’m going to keep up these goals.  So new experiences this week, there are many more I just need some time to remember them:

Living in my own apartment for the first time in my life

Baking bread without a recipe

Figuring out the public transportation mini-bus system between Cato Manor and my apartment

Going to a mellow drama

Playing with match box cars for 3 solid hours with my little brother

Nina’s “bachelorette” 21^st birthday party

Good Bye Cato, Hello Rural!

S'bahle bunneded up for school, on my last day in Cato

This past week I have gained many amazing and wonderful memories I will treasure for the rest of my life.  After two rural home stays and a stay in Drakensberg Mountains I have truly fallen in love with South Africa.  The warmth and excitement of its people and the beauty of the land holds me captivated and eager to learn more.  This week was a tidal wave of emotions, sorrow after leaving my home in Cato and the arms of my new family in Cato, joy of gaining two new families and standing in awe at Gods beautiful creation.

The rain mocked me as I hugged mama as she stood by the pickup area for the last time. I stood next to five year old S’bahle bundled up in his winter jacket, gloves, and umbrella.  It was so hard telling him that I would not be coming home to play race cars with him, or swing him around by his arms between the houses. My family opened their home and treated me like their daughter and sister. We piled into the vans and headed out of the city.

Umthwalume

This is a beautiful costal area region that extends into rolling hills of sugar cane.  We went to the home of a umthandazi a traditional healer who is said to pray to god, use the help of her ‘twin’ and water to heal.   We next visited the Dustan Farrell Specialized TB hospital, which was situated miles back in the hills.  I questioned how patients arrived at the hospital.  According to the staff over 80% of the patients who were living and being treated at the long term care hospital did not have insurance and the hospital was mostly supported by government funding, even thou they had a really great system.  It was hard to interact with the patients because most of them only spoke Zulu, once I got passed the greetings, I found myself struggling with small talk in Zulu.  Being at the TB hospitals we were required to wear masks so patients could not see our faces, and I realized how much I use smiling to communicate.

Love life is the South African version of a YMCA, a organization dedicated to promote healthily lifestyle choices for teens.  I Umthwalume they have amazing facilities with computer room, radio center, and grounds for net ball, soccer, basket ball and volley ball, it was centrality located between a few high schools.  Teens could go there and take dance classes, and computer classes, a multitude of sports, as well as participated in debates about HIV, multiple relationships, and life style choices.  All these activities were to keep the kids busy and not having sex doing drugs or drinking their life away.  The center was run by hip young facilitators who were trained to be roll models for the teens, I hope they were full filling that position, and creating a safe space for the kids.  There were tons of fantastic ideas and initiatives but I have to ask how much it is going to help in the future.  The radio station only broadcasted to the complex of love life, the computers some of them worked none had internet, and I didn’t know if all the facilitators practiced what they preached. 

The Beaders… this was a humbling experience. At every market, the beach, an on the side of the road there is always people selling beaded art work, and until now I did not have a true appreciation for the skill and time that is put into every peace.  We were brought to a work shop set up by the government where single mothers and gogos worked beaded every day.  They gave us a demonstration and we tried our hand at beading.  Let’s just say I would not be alive if I had to bead for a living, and I was one of the better one’s of the SIT students. 

Home stay mama was really my home stay sisi, she was a 24 year old mother of a three year old and so excited for use to be living with her. I had eye opening conversations with her about relationships, violence and life in rural Africa.  Our home was a whole community of people children, uncles, grandparents, at any one time I didn’t know who all lived there, people floated in and out at all hours of the day. 

Impendle

Impendle is a beautiful mountainous region just north of the Draconsburg Mountains.  I stayed with the Zuma family and learned SO much!  This is the family that I will be staying with during my independent study project, in November.  I will start with the obvious differences of my new family, they are polygamists.  I have always heard about polygamy but I have never been exposed or met a family.  My mother is the 2^rd wife of her husband and she has 6 children, who are grown up and or going to school with in Johannesburg with their father.  She is also raising three children from the 5^th wife.  Living in the same complex is the Husbands 3^rd wife. They each have separate houses and culture kitchens, but they live in the same complex. My father lives in Johannesburg with wives number 1 and 4 and the rest of the 22 children, he comes to visit his Impendle wives once a month. He is a witch doctor who sells cattle and goats, which must be a fairly lucrative business, because supported 5 wives each with their own house, land cattle, and had his own car.  My mother, my new sister, and all the multitude of extended family was so open and welcoming and excited to show me their world and culture.  We all gathered in the culture kitchen with the Zulu drum and I got a Zulu dance lesson as we sang traditional songs, church songs, and modern pop songs.  It was such a loving open atmosphere.  Dance really brings people together.

Other events:

·         Dancing with Gogo crafters

·         Hiking in the mountains/hills right outside our door with me new family

·         Constant zulu vocabulary lessons

·         Amazing star gazing with no lights at all

·         Bucket baths

·        

·         Visit to non ‘eco’ eco school

·         The most amazing primary school dance performance I have ever seen.  Children are born dancing and with a sense of rhythm and they just keep dancing!  Their sung their own music to dance to and their voices should have been recorded and sold all around the world. 

Polishing the floor with cow dung with the neighbor in Impendle

·         Polishing the floors with cow dung with my mama to get the houses ready for the return of the Husband Mr. Zuma.

·         Painting the house with different pigments collected from different areas in the mountains.  Red from the top of the ridge, brown from the bottom of the valley.

Drakensberg Mountains (named after Dragons! And I could totally imagine dragons hiding away in the cliffs and caves in these mountains)

The rolling grass foot hills dotted with cattle homesteads surge up to gigantic table tops decorated with boulders from a rock climber’s dream world. It was absolutely amazing hiking in these mountains the first time I have been away hiking since I left Alaska.  I have realized there are many outdoor experiences I have taken for granted, in Alaska it is common for to go to hatchers pass or the Chugiak mountains and possibly be the first person to ever stepped foot on that ground, or only one in a hundred people, I have had the opportunity to go back packing and camping all my life.  I tried to explain backpacking to some of my new friends in Cato Manor and they did understand the concept of hiking or being somewhere where there was no pavement or people. I wish I could talk all of them to the Drakensberg and share with the joy of walking for hours and not seeing any one else. I was so sad to leave the mountains and come back to the city.

Our own apartment!!!

It is sad not to be living in Cato anymore, and I am planning on going back to visit but our new apartment is INCREDIBLE.   This morning I woke, went running on the beach and then jumped in the ocean and did a stair work out up 12 stories to our balcony where I watched the surfers as I ate breakfast. It was an amazing way to wake up.  

In my apartment It is strange being able to buy and cook all my meals, until now we have been part of family units with set dinners times, and food put in front of us.

At the bottom of the mountain a there was a stream created where large rocks created a perfect swimming holes to cool off in, then we could crall on the on the rocks like beaches seals and suntan. At night after a fantastic brii (South African BBQ) we star gazed for hours spotting shooting stars, the Milky Way, Southern Cross, and Scorpio.  It was sad to leave the mountains and com back to city life in Durban, I would come back to South Africa just to hike I those mountains again.

Reed Dance

A Great Day!  September 11^th 2010

One sentence dump of the day’s events… 50,000 bare breasted virgins dancing before the Zulu king, elephant parading across the road, family style meal with all the sit students and staff, real coffee, animal impressions, plunge into a frigid pool,  5 girls in a tub, pavilion dance party, long bonding talks in to the wee hours of the morning

At 7 in the morning we all piled into van and headed to the Reed Dance, a yearly Zulu tradition where virgins from all over Zulu regions gather at the Zulu Kings Palace to dace before the King and his princes.  They dance in hopes that they will be chosen to be the next Zulu king or princess.  Going into this even I was slightly angered at the promotion of a “topless beauty contest” that objectified women’s bodies for royalties and men’s delight but my opinion has changed since experiencing the event.

For the Zulu Virgins the morning started at two as they were splashed with water to wake them up, then each girl is subjected to a virginity test performed by a female elder, or mama. The mamas are trained to open the girl and see if the hilum has been broken.  This is a very invasive practice, the mamas switch rubber gloves to prevent the spread of STI and HIV, but with so many girls I have to question the gentility of the test as well as the complete sanitation, in tents. It is true that many of the virgins were most defiantly virgins, but I had a conversation with multiple neighbors and sisters who told of the bribery that when on to receive the virgin certificate

Body image boost!  It was amazing to see how girls of all shapes and sizes were so happy and proud of their bodies.  All of them looked beautiful and it was an inspiration.  All the girls were probably on adrenalin high of their lives, they were so lively and excited with their dances and songs. This event would be the equivalent of a national Girl Scout troops gathering mixed with beauty pageants of queen Ester.

Along with the 50 thousand virgins thousands of family members were attending the event, the zulu kings land turned into a 48 hour fair ground, all paid for by the government.  We watched for a 5 hours as a constant stream of girls walked up the hill towards the Zulu king’s palace carrying their 20+foot high reeds.  They passed into the gates of the palace and dropped their reeds, and were presented before the king.  (if the tops of the reeds were to break off while walking to the king, it was a symbol the girl was not a virgin, silly notion because they had all been tested but it was bad luck)

Test of the system. HIV education and prevention was lacking at Reed dance. The department of health was at the Reed dance with the mission to promote VTC (volunteer testing and counseling) but they were not out champing in force. My friend Julia and I were talking to these health providers about VTC and she asked if we had been tested. Wow hypocrisy check… over the past month I have been encouraging others to be tested and know their HIV status, but I didn’t know what these test entailed.  Julia asked if she could be tested, and I decided I would use this opportunity to understand and test the system.  Before the test we were asked if we knew what HIV was, and how it was spread, we replied very basically, having unprotected sex.  I was expecting the councilor to elaborate but she told us to us condoms and made us sign consent that we had been counseled about HIV prevention.  Then she took out an HIV instant blood test (she actually had to go get one from another provider, the department of health didn’t have any available even tho they had clinics set up around the reed dance)  The test itself was new and we watched her take the needle and blood test out of the plastic, but she did not have gloves and if we had been infected she would have come into contact with our blood. There were no biohazard containers for the needles, used test, or cotton swabs.  Good thing I officially test negative. Ha ha, anyways it was an experience.

We drove through a game park on our way home, and our first 30 seconds in the park an elephant walked across the road.  Then we turned the corner and there were two rhinos, zebras, and buffalo.  We stayed the night at St. Lucia at a lovely backpackers. Dance party, tree climbing, family style dinner, 5 girls in a tub.  Hippos in the morning, great picknick.

The past few days we were dispersed in small around the Durban area and placed in Schools, NGO’s and Hospitals.

Background to the Reed dance/ Zulu lesson

Some background about the Reed dance It is a rare occasion, many South Africans have never seen the Reed dance, it’s not every year the Zulu king chooses a new wife.


The Zulu Reed dance is an educational experience and opportunity for young maidens to learn how to behave in front of the King. This is done while delivering reed sticks and dancing. Maidens learn and understand the songs while the young princesses lead the virgins. The maidens wear 'izigege' and 'izinculuba' that show their bottoms. Traditional attire includes beadwork to symbolise African beauty at it's best. At this stage the maidens are taught by senior females how to behave themselves and be proud of their virginity and naked bodies. That allows maidens to expect respect from their suitors who intend approaching them during the ceremony.

The second phase is educating the young maidens 'amatshitshi' by their older sisters 'amaqhikiza' on how to behave in married life. Young maidens are encouraged not to argue or respond immediately but to wish the suitor well on his journey back. After protracted discussions the older sisters then approach the mother of the impressed maiden about the impending love relationship. If the father accepts the suitor the two families meet and gifts are exchanged as a sign of a cordial relationship.

After this the young maiden 'itshitshi' takes the next step of being 'iqhikiza' a lady in charge of the young maidens. By then they are experienced chief maidens who act as advisors to the younger maidens – and are ready for married life. The Zulu Reed Dance plays a significant part of Zulu heritage in reflecting diverse African customs. Thisceremony is still close to the heart of many traditional leaders and citizens. It portrays and instils a sense of pride, belonging and identity among the youth.



Some of my dialogue for Zulu this is a very short basic conversation, but this is what I do for a few hours every day!



N:Sawubona Ophra

O:Yebo Sawubona Sisi, ungubani igama lakho.

N:Ngingu Namo. Ghithanda ukubuka iTV show wakho nomdeni wami. ngiyajabula ukuwazi

O:Ngiyabonga, nami ngiyajabula ukuwazi. Uphumaphi?

N:Ngiphuma eGoli, kodwa manje ghihlala e Cato Manor

O: Ngizosebenza eCato Manor ngesanto eli zayo

N:Usebenza wako ubalulekile, kodwa uthanda ukwenzani ngempelesanto eMilika?

O:Ngitanda ukusiza abantwana, nokufund ibhuku, nokuthenga. Wena uthanda ukwensani eThewini

N:Ngithanda ukurelaza ekhaya, nodemi wami, nokupeka, nokuthenga.

O:Kumnandi, uyathanda ukuhamba name ngiyothenga?

N:Yebo! Ghitanda ukuthanga ePavilion

O: Kulungile masihambisane ngolwesihlanu ngo 4

N:Sobonana ngo 4

Hamba kahle sisi!

coffee and ISP

There is a serious lack of coffee in this country. I found one place in the mall, where I was able to purchase small 8oz cup of filtered coffee, and until then I have been surviving on instant coffee. With large quantities of milk and sugar you can disguise and bare the taste. South Africa does drink a lot of tea, it is a social event, I have tea in the morning and every night with my mama.

I have been researching an independent learning project topic and I am starting to become excited! In South Africa there is a major lack of qualified comprehensive health care providers, 70% of the black population visit some sort of Traditional Healer (where there is around a 500:1 radio), so there has been laws created, (in the national health reform even) to try and start a collaborative effort to use traditional healers to subsididse the lack of health care providers. Efforts have been made to teach TH about the spread of HIV/ and other communicative disease and preventative measures and when to refer patients to biomedical health care providers. So I am looking into making arrangements to live in Impendle for my ISP a rural community in the province of Kwazulu-Natal where I will have access to a few traditional healers as well as a community health clinic to do shadow, assist and interview. I would like to participate in a practicum based and social analysis of the reform laws dealing with the cooperation efforts between the two different methods of health care. I’m so excited to start working on this project. Sorry this was a vomit of words on the page but I hope it makes sense.

Free weekend in Durban

Free weekend in Durban


Jamba! Body politics. The most amazing, inspiring, political contemporary dance performance I have ever attended.

This weekend I went with my apartment mates (Julia, Hilary, and Telise) to the local University Theater and watched/ participated in “Lime Lights on Rights.” It was this incredible show that exposed African funeral policies which the media has exploited people’s emotions by marketing and publicity schemes. In Africa Funerals are ridiculously expensive, and people are convinced they need large amounts of ceremonial and expensive frufru . On TV there are advertisements for funeral policies/ insurance, (which would be similar to a life insurance policy) this dance highlighted this exploitation and the audience members experienced some of the same emotions of being ripped off, misinformed, and confused. The audience was invited to walk outside and up a set of stairs were a the stage was set in the middle of a clearing in the woods. There were a about 20 chairs set out for an audience of 100 and half of them had ‘reserved’ signs on them (just as a African funeral would reserve seats for the family.) Other chairs were strewn around the stage as well as in the bushes, no directions were given and the audience confusion started to grow. There were three dancers( I will try to explain their actions coherently to the best of my ability): an older gentleman who represented the left behind relative of the disseats, a younger man who played a character to symbolize the emotions created by the exploitation and death of a family member, confusion, anger, numbness, and then in the end the physiological breakdown after the proceedings of the funeral did nothing to deal with the other emotions and pain. And last but not least the coroner, who used a chicken to represent the preparation of the body (he eventually snapped running around into the forest. Eventually though out the show the audience was given chairs and had their chairs taken away from them, the audience was scammed in the fact they had paid for their tickets and didn’t even get a seat for the entire show. The show was very powerful and I wish I could have explained it better.

The second act of the show was the most amazing dancing I have ever seen. It was a the first piece Cedric Saidou a French/creole chorographer ever created and it was beautiful. Didier Boutianaa and Shay Arzeux preformed a duet which incorporated fantastic dramatic lighting and perfectly controlled sculpted bodies to portray fear of being confined, misunderstood, need to be faithful to ones roots and culture and then being able to leave that culture. The dance was a combination of break dancing, hip-hop, yoga, and contemporary dance, all at an insane whirling pace. Their body control inspired me to one take care of my body and better eating and exercise habits, but also start dancing to express my emotions. This was one of best artistic events I have ever been to, and defiantly the best night I have experienced in Durban.

Quotes for today

“I always get sun burnt, and I don’t really care because it will turn tan…and it makes me warm” Telisis justification of sunburn

“Today, in front of you, I confess, today I want to rise from dreams and dance reality”

Night at Cool Joes, having a blast with 5 hours of amazing dance music 20 some girls, and ‘sex on the beach’

This weekend we gave our home stay families a break and took a break ourselves by having a free weekend in Durban. We are staying at Windimer flats, beautiful apartment style housing on the beach. Frisbee on the beach, morning runs the beach, body surfing, battling the sea with our massive sand castle constructions, a night out at cool Joes, the best picnic lunch ever, avocados, cheese and hot fresh bread!

Great conversations over dinner (lovely vegies and chicken over pasta), I got to know Julia, Telise, and Hilary so much better. Start of some really great friendships.

Cato Manor/ Chestervill

Our main means of transportation in the Stu and Thula MobileBeach front in Durban!

Neighbor hood kid, tough guy impression!