Some updates:
We went to a Rugby game on saturday, the KZN sharks vs the lions. It was pretty exciting, but kind of an odd experience to come from living in Cato to the stadium, which was made up of almost exclusively white spectators. I didn't know there were that many umlungus in Durban- I have no idea where they all came from
Saturday Mama took me to a Zulu funeral of a 50 year old woman who "got sick" (AIDS?). It was much like an American funeral, but better music, and when they go to lower the coffin in the ground, all the men grab shovels and bury the coffin then and there, and then stick a wood cross on top. Also, no one really cries, oddly. I think people die here a lot. Also, 50 makes you a grandmother.
Sunday was beach day with the mamas, except it was really cold. By really cold, I mean high 60s, but it's been over a hundred most days here, which is miserable. Mama kept saying she felt like she was going to die at the funeral, which seemed somewhat inappropriate to me, but hey.
Today I spent the day at a hospice, which is really a physical and social support center for people with terminal illness, aka AIDS or incurable cancer. Tomorrow, I'm going to an orphanage, and friday until tuesday is rural village take 2. Hopefully this time we won't all get sick. We're bringing all our own water, just to be on the safe side.
I can't get pictures to load to my blog, which is stupid, so there's some on Picasa, but the quality is poor because you have to compress them a ton to upload them on our slow internet connection.
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| Africa, Part I |
Kara, funerals were the craziest most lovely thing to see in Varanasi. Ceremonies=culture=deep. Sorry for the loss, but happy you got to share in it!
ReplyDeleteGood luck, too, with the water. How's the weather at night? Does it get really cool after dark or is it a constant heat?
Curious about the "football" too. What's the language there again? And how similar is it to swahili? Cuz Muzungu is "white person" in swahili...
oh, and when you get back you should look into language stuff at BU if you are interested in keeping up. I just met this grad student studying swahili there and doing an african studies IR degree, cool lady! Maybe they'd have (fill in appropriate language here)
::HUGS::
That little girl is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised you're not melted in that heat! But South Africa sounds amazing, I wish I could be there with you :^(
We watched a movie in my class about the Lost Boys of the Sudan who were trying to assimilate in to the US. It broke my heart! Now I want to dedicate my life to helping refugees. But, I still want to dedicate my life to the elderly. And to saving the environment. THERE ARE TOO MANY THINGS TO DEDICATE MY LIFE TO! CRISIS!
In the meantime, I'm excited to go to New Orleans tomorrow!