Molweni!

So much has happened since my last real update. I apologize for being delinquent in my blogging…I’ll try to give a quick overview of my last several weeks.

After we left Langa, we flew to East London in the Eastern Cape province. For five days, I lived with a Xhosa family in the rural village of Tshabo. My mama and tata spoke maybe 10 words of English, so my Xhosa skills definitely came in handy—I think my most commonly used phrases were “Ndingakunceda?” (Can I help?), “Enkosi kahkulu” (Thank you so much), and “Ndihluti” (I’m full). I stayed with one other student, Cat, and we had 3 bhutis and 2 sisis. Sinathemba, our 16-year-old bhuti, befriended us immediately, helping us out when we had no clue what mama was trying to say to us. We also became close with the 23-year-old twins, Amanda and Asanda. We shared a room with Asanda, and she pretty much took care of us—cooked our mealie pap for breakfast and heated up buckets of water for us to bathe in. Our other two bhutis, Thulani and Xhabiso, were 19 and 21 and were not around very much. By the end of the five days, I had begun to become really comfortable with the routine of rural life. Every morning I awoke with the roosters, trekked through the field to the small outhouse at the edge of the hill, and admired the beautiful view of thick forest and rolling fields. While in Tshabo, we took part in the women’s community beadmaking project as well as their paprika farming co-op. One afternoon, a bunch of us piled into a truck and went to a local rugby playoff game…where I didn’t watch much of the game, but I did get a marriage proposal from a nice young Xhosa man. Later, we were invited to participate in a Xhosa ritual in Tshabo in which the ancestors were summoned in order to bless a marriage. All of a sudden, amidst the singing, stomping, dancing, and drinking of “African beer” (sort of a milky alcoholic concoction that is essential to these rituals), one of the elders pulled me up into the dance circle and I quickly learned how to properly stomp to the songs. Cat and I made good friends with two young neighborhood girls: Sinaxolo and Mbasa…they taught us their favorite clapping games, one of which I remembered from my own childhood—a small world this is. I spent a day at Nowawe High School, the center of the community, and witnessed firsthand the appalling conditions that are still allowed to exist in rural schools. We attended a four hour church service, which was just a small gathering of about 16 in somebody’s home. I grew accustomed to the layout of the village…traveling along the worn dirt paths, stepping over and under barbed wire meant to keep the goats where they belonged, becoming familiar with the little children that were always roaming around, belonging not just to their biological families but to the entire community. Leaving Tshabo just about broke my heart. I loved every minute of it, and wished our stay was longer than it was.

Our next stop was Buccaneers Backpackers, in Cintsa Bay on the coast of East London. Buccaneers is touted as one of the best backpackers in South Africa, and I’d say that sounds about right. Right when we arrived, several of us ran into the warm Indian Ocean in all of our clothes…I spent most of our three days here on the beach, and took a 3 hour surf lesson one gorgeous morning. I pretty much sucked (shocker I know), but had a great time.

After our mini-spring break, we piled into some vans and drove the 10 hours to Durban (stopping for the night in Kokstad). Our week in Durban was interesting…there is a large Indian population there, and we spent most of our time in lectures for our seminar on Indian Identity in South Africa. The highlight (well, maybe lowlight) was eating “bunny chow”…an Indian turned South African dish of a lot of spicy stuff inside a half a loaf of white bread. I’m not so big on spicy food, and I thought I was going to die…but as our academic director would say, it was ‘experiential learning’ at its finest.

Quick recap [will elaborate later], because I’m dead tired right but I really want to post something:
Okay, after Durban…we went to a game reserve for 2 days (saw rhinos, giraffes, zebras, buffalo, hippos, and other less exciting animals), I went back home to Langa on Easter Sunday, had a weeklong homestay with an Afrikaner family in Stellenbosch, stayed for another week with a “coloured” family in the Bo-Kaap (a Muslim community at the top of the city), and I’m now staying in a loft apartment in the Gardens district of Cape Town with my good friend Claire…we are finished with structured classes, and we are now in the middle of our independent research projects: mine has involved conducting focus groups with high school students in 3 schools (predominantly “coloured”, black, and white), talking to kids about the proposed school pledge as it relates to building a unified national identity. More on this later, it’s been fascinating.

As I write this, I am laying in bed in my room in Langa. I spent all morning doing interviews at Langa High School, and I decided to come spend the night here with mama Nomsa. Walking into this house felt like coming home. Everything is so familiar…I didn’t realize how much I missed being away from this place, and it breaks my heart that tomorrow I actually have to say goodbye.

If this experience has given me nothing else, it has given me family. I have family scattered across this country, and that is an incredible thing. I have witnessed the deep divisions that exist in this society…and I have been blessed with the ability to transcend those divisions, experiencing South Africa in a way that most South Africans may never be able to.

<3

written by  CariLeighAnn on April 29, 2008 from Cape Town, South Africa
from the travel blog: Semester Abroad: South Africa
Send a Compliment

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Even though we talk on the phone and trade emails, reading your journal really helps bring your experience to life for me. Thank you, by the way, for turning down the marriage proposal! I don't know that we could have gotten there in time for the service! I wish we could get to know all the families you have met and grown to love. I hope you let them know how much your American family appreciates how they have opened their hearts and homes to you. I know your time there is now seeming like it has flown by and that you will be leaving soon--I am sure with a very real sense of sadness. But you have many families here, too (not just Mom, Pops, and Joel!) who can't wait to see you and share in your experiences more fully.
love,
Pops (aka Dad)

written by  Barry Nash on April 30, 2008

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I agree with Dad on all accounts. We miss you and want you home and I know your families there will miss you too! What a blessing you are to so many!

Love you, Mom

written by  Cheryl Nash on May 3, 2008

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Cari, I can't believe your time in Africa is almost over. This has been an amazing adventure for you at this time in your life. I will be glad to see you when you get home, love me

written by  Judy Birckhead on May 4, 2008

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