Weekend Recap

22 Mar 09


Song for this post: http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858548570/


Went to Port St Johns this weekend for a mini vacation from our stay in Malugeni. It was nice to get away and enjoy the sunshine, beach, running water and a room to ourselves. Today is global water day and I can't help to think how wonderful it is to have the simple things in life like a nice hot shower that instantly turns on when you would like it to and you can brush your teeth, shower or even get a glass to drink. According to the internet site I was reading, 1/6 th of our population will die from lack of water. Wow! We forget how lucky we are in the US. I mean we consume over 8 glasses of water a day, take 30 mins or longer in the shower, cook, clean our cars and give our pets plenty of fresh water without blinking an eye. The women in Malugeni spend lots of time tending to our water. Making sure that our bath water is boiled, that there are buckets and buckets of water there for us. They carry it from the rain collectors on their heads and even have other young girls collect water for us. This is NOT a task that men do by the way. This is one of the many many chores of a woman for her day never ends. I must say, I am glad not to be born a xhosa woman for I don't think I would cut it.

Back to the weekend - We saw lots on our trip. I another way of life here in South Africa which was the beach town. It was very similar to many of the beach towns in the US full of hippies smoking weed, beach bums, surfers, townies, and roadside cafes to grab a bite. We ventured all around this mountain beach town on both tar roads and what they call "bed rock" roads. This was an adventure all in it self. Mind you were were in "Bessy Bens" - the small hach back Mercades that we rented that we affectionately adored for getting us through the non tar paved roads filled with rocks the size of tennis, golf and footballs all while making vertical climbs. Boy are we glad to be back in Mthatha. We laughed at all of us in this car going through these towns were the kids were grabbing at the car and we are driving yelling "sweets, sweets" and only Jason knows how to change a tire. As I am sure you can imagine.. we love Bessie Bens for getting us through it all.

Today I saw a baptism on the beach where the baptismees were dressed in white robes and were escorted in the water by the ministers. Bystanders were beating on a drum and dancing and chanting. After 4 or 5 dunks in the cold Indian Ocean, they were escorted back to shore where they proceeded to get some type of holy ghost. They would fall to the ground, have to be picked up by all fours and dragged to safety just to stand up and then fall out backwards again hitting the ground on their back and lay there for a few mins to recover. It was a sight to be seen only to be topped by the heard of cattle that showed up on the beach on the other side of me. Can't say I have ever seen that before. It was an eventful morning! Can't wait for my picture on my camera to be downloaded.