Saturday
For the weekend, we stayed in a township
called Guguletu. In general terminology, we stayed in the hood. IES staff split
us up in groups of two and three so that we could stay with a particular family
for the weekend. I was paired with Kayana. Kayana and I met our sister for the
weekend and she took us home. The first thing I asked for was food. You know a
big girl like myself gotta eat in small intervals of time.
Our sister offered to make me an egg sandwich
but I insisted on making it myself. I don’t like being treated like royalty…and
I she probably wouldn’t have made it how I wanted it. I made me a nice sammich
with three slices of bread and an egg between each slice. It was gone in 2.5
seconds. Shortly after I stuffed my face, we began cooking breakfast so that it
could be nice and warm when our mama got home. We prepared potatoes, maize
meal, and chicken. No our sister prepared that. Kayana and I just peeled the
potatoes and cleaned the chicken.
When our mama got home, I stuffed my face once
again in 2.5 seconds. When I finished eating, everyone else was on her first
bite. And I’m absolutely sure I didn’t get my plate first. My mama and sister
watched me in disbelief as I got up to go put my plate in the kitchen. I had to
break the silence with an “I THROWS DOWN!” They laughed. We watched a soccer
game between two rival national teams as I waited for them to finish their
food. Kayana was over there eating like she only got one taste bud, trying to
make sure all the food passes over it. I wanted to take her plate so bad.
I started catching a case of the itis and
started to prepare my mind for bed when a bunch of people barged through the
front door. DAMN! This many people live here? Our mama assured us that they
were only visiting cousins. Whew! I thought I was about to be sleeping on the
floor. Our new cousins took us to go see a sheep get slaughtered at the house
around the corner. I learned that a sheep tongue is very strong…and so are
human tongues probably. After meeting a few people we decided to head back to
the house to catch up on sleep. We had to go to church the next morning.
Sunday
Yawn! What’s for breakfast? Why am I the only
one awake? I thought old people always wake up early. Not my mama! I figured
that by the time I take a shower and get dressed, she’d be awake and done with
breakfast by then. I went into the bathroom and was reminded that there is no
shower. There was just a bath with a tap, but hot/cold gauge. Not even shower
curtains. I tippy toed into the kitchen looking for pot to boil some water in.
I scrimmaged around the stove making a lot of noise that woke mama up. She came
into the kitchen and made me look bad. There was an electric kettle sitting on
top of the table waiting to be seen by me. She just filled it with water and
plugged it in. I’m glad I woke her up because she remembered that she had to
make breakfast.
I had a very awkward time in the bathroom.
Inside the bath tub was a huge bucket.. I filled it with the hot water and left
a little to brush my teeth. I added some cold water to bucket, but not too much
to make the water not warm. I had to bend down every time I wanted some water
on my body, which was a lot! Taking a bath is supposed to be a relaxing
experience; this was torture. I now appreciate the little weird, low-water-pressure
shower we have in our dorms.
I got in dress in my Sunday clothes and walked
to the kitchen. As I presumed, breakfast was ready right on time. Mama served
us cereal, 1 slice of toast, 1 fried egg, a slice of tomato, and a huge block
of butter. Everything disappeared in 2.5 seconds and I asked for more. Sweet as
mama is, she couldn’t say no. :)
I demolished 2 more slices of toast and we were off to church.
I don’t even know why they call this place a
church. We didn’t talk about God not once. We were dancing and singing songs
and having a good time. It was more like a gospel concert. I’m not complaining
at all, I just wish they would call it, as it is – a gospel club.
I don’t even know why they call this place a
church. We didn’t talk about God not once. We were dancing and singing songs
and having a good time. It was more like a gospel concert. I’m not complaining
at all, I just wish they would call it, as it is – a gospel club.
After clubbing in the name of Jesus, everybody
was ready to eat lunch. IES organized for us to have lunch at a famous spot
called Mzoli’s. If you ever visit Cape Town, you have to go! It is an outdoor
party from morning till dark, filled with alcohol, women, cars, and meat.
Basically MAN HEAVEN. Why don’t we
have places like these in America? I’m writing a letter to Obama ASAP.
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