Ethiopian convivality experience

To those loyal followers who know of my lack of conviviality in Flat 14 Langerry, you will be pleased to know that I had a fully community experience at a little Ethiopian “restaurant” in Central on Thursday.  We planned to meet our Finnish friends a few others at the “Ethiopian restaurant” that other international students talk about.  Our flat of five women and one other Johnnie rode in the cab to central assuming that the cab driver would know the location of the famed quasi-restaurant.  Apparently, he had never heard of it.

We were navigating by the direction of one text which had a street name and description of “a kiosk” for the store front.  After asking some men hanging by a storefront, one phone call to Suvi, and the cab driver saying, “Ummm, can we go now, it’s really not safe to just sit here,” we stopped at the “Mini Stop” on Rose Street, walked through the convenience store to two dining rooms and a kitchen which smelled divine.  The dining rooms had tables with maroon and white table clothes and clear plastic covers.  We had brought our own drinks and sipped while we waited for the rest of the group to arrive. 

When our group was complete, we each took some of the Ethiopian sour dough flatbread, that, after some research, I surmise is “injera.”  The porous white bread was rolled and pull off in pieces to eat the variety of dishes with our hands.  The chef was a beautiful woman in a cut-off blue plaid vest and the most infectious smile.  She brought out about 9 bowls of mixtures that we put on our plates and two other meat dishes that we devoured in about fifteen minutes (about twice the length of time for the average American meal).  I will let the pictures do the rest of the talking.   This was one of my favorite experiences in South Africa.  The food was great and we were in great company.  Ya-hoo!

I wish you could see her smiling eyes

The other end of the table.  You can see a lot of the bowls with the different flavors we could "dip" into.  From the left- a cabbage dish much like sauerkraut, but not so sour, red lentils, African potato and butternut, my favorite orange dish that I have no clue what it is, yellow lentils and then two of the meat dishes.  In the bottom left of the pic you can see the white flat bread rolls.

Suvi demonstrating using the piece of bread to dip.

Chowing down.

My plate was kinda full :P

The aftermath

Suvi and Sari, our Finnish friends.

Some of my rooommates- Taylor, Laura, Katie and a German friend Sarah

Roommate Heather with her friend Giovanne and his brother Marcello.

Everyone doin there thing, and Kevin bein' a little weird and all-powerful with the arms, ha.

The convenience store view from the restaurant

The kitchen and one of the helpers

Another view of the kitchen

And another

Extreme poverty can mean extreme danger

I asked Norma to arrange a trip with the Missionvale caregivers into Missionvale township.  Because it was the last day that the service froup was going to Missionvale (because the conditions become more precarious around election time), I had to miss House today But I was prepared to miss one day at my normal service site to have the opportunity to visit patients’ homes and see how the care givers operated.  I ventured with four care givers and six students past a flooded lowland acting as a water source for cows and goats, covered with mounds of garbage, through countless, nameless smells, and arrived at a home with a single, HIV positive patient  She complained, “How can a person live like this?  With water running in the house with all the rain.”  I was about to ask her for a picture while the nurse took her blood pressure when things got a bit tense.

The care givers normally encourage us to take pictures and spread that word about Missionvale Care Center.  Some guys asked Heather to take pictures and one care giver, Bella, immediately became tense.  She said, “Oh no, not those guys.”  She started packing up and told us that we were going back to the Care Center immediately.  My emotions were heightened and tingles ran up my spine.  Bella said that those guys have stolen laptops, cellphones, and cameras every day.  She said they would spread out and try to surround us to take the cameras.  She said they would follow us until we were safely in the care center compound, and while we were out in the community, the volunteers were her responsibility.  She was probably more nervous than us.

We walked back as a group, vigilant of our surroundings.  I asked her how she knew those guys, and she said that she lives in Missionvale and knows the people.  She said that they wouldn’t be able to go out the rest of the day because the guys would find them and ask them where the Americans were.  The greatest danger came from the lack of law enforcement in the township.  If the men were to attack or rob volunteers, the care givers could not report them, because they would be in danger the next time they went into that area of the township.

I was sad not to have seen more patients and experience a normal care giver visit.  Usually patients prepare for the caregivers’ visits and entire extended families are often present to greet them.  Patients are often eager to tell their stories and especially share their perspective on their surroundings and conditions in Missionvale.  The volunteers have never been threatened like we were today.  But, that is all part of the volunteer experience as well.  I am happy that the care givers were keen enough to know when to split.

As we left Mark, a SJU student said, "It's one of those times when you try to be nice [by taking a picture when they ask] and you just can't."  It's an unfamiliar concept that by being nice, one becomes very vulnerable.  It's really sad to think that reaching out meant danger.  It's reality though.

Some men right in front of the Missionvale Care Center

A sickly looking chicken

The patient's home

Another view

Safely back at the Care Center.  Heather modeling the food parcel that people can pick up.

Britney at recess with the kids who go to the school at Missionvale Care Center school

At recess

The kids lined up at the end of recess, and as a good-bye gift, the CSB|SJU volunteers gave them cookies.  As the girl in front is showing, each child got three cookies.  They were very excited.

After recess, the volunteers went to take some pictures of the garden plot they spent weeks clearing from weeds and overgrowth.  The organization couldn't miss this photo op.

If you can see, this home has burglar bars.  Norma, the program director wanted a picture of a house which as she described, "Has burglar bars, but the house looks like you could just push it over."

A woman working her plot in the garden.

A woman in another plot.

The fruit stand (which also sells regular and fire hot Cheetos) in front of Missionvale

The garbage heap/pond/flooded lowland from all the rain, on the way to the first visit.

Kids hangin out on our way to visit the patient

Can you see the pigs across the way?

This home was moved to dig a post-hole for a new power line.  Can you see one wall is papered with magazine pages or news clippings?

Cows (black) meet goats (white)

The care givers

Baby-mama's at the Care Center

Kids in line for their cookies

Picture in the gardens they cleared

A toddler outside the Care Center

Oh Afrika!

Wednesday night I usually have practice from 5-7 but arrive a bit late because class isn't over until 5.  This week, we went to the gym after receiving a confirmation text that practice was at South campus at 5.  But, life doesn't always go as planned.  Before we went downstairs to the locker room to change, I checked the gym because I was skeptical of its availability due to end of term activities which have taken up space there frequently.  It was full.  So we tried to get a hold of other team members to see what the deal was. 

A bit later we found out that practice was moved to Missionvale campus (about a 25-minute drive).  Transport was meant to arrive at 5:45.  Volleyball is oftentimes on of my favorite parts of life in SA, so I figured that although the changes were a bit of an inconvenience that would require us to waste time until 5:45 and have the potential to keep us out later than we planned, I would be happy once we got to practice.

So, we went with the few other team members who could take themselves away from end-of-term school work to Missionvale campus.  We spent the first 10 minutes trying to find the lights to gymnasium and once lit, realized that the space is not used very often.  The space has a great design with two large courts in a sunken arena with Colosseum-type seating all around, but big swatches of floor sealant were peeling away and the floors were very dusty.  We also found an orange cat who was keeping us company during practice. 

When we finally arrived home, after 9pm (two-hours late), my arms were completely brown from wrists to elbows from passing, I was really hungry for dinner, and I was a bit flustered at the lack of worth-while practice completed in a dragged-out practice with only seven women.  Seven is a very small number to do any smoothly-running drills with.  The whole time at practice I was trying to remind myself that TIA- This is Africa.  And, although I felt like I was mostly wasting my time, I was seeing more culture first-hand.  I observed that the ladies who showed up really care about the team and were willing to spend the majority of their night, during exam time, to play volleyball.  The athletic department, although they didn't let us know until after practice should have started, cares enough about the team to arrange transport for our practices. I also realized that a great community space was not being used very much or maintained.  That could be a result of the way that the people are treated.  I have learned through service and personal experiences that people begin to act how they are treated.  If the people in Missionvale are treated like dirt, they are going to act like it, unless they have a strong source of encouragement from somewhere, telling them that they are worth taking care of and keeping up with.

On that note, Thursday we learned that Missionvale-ians (inhabitants of Missionvale, the township which houses one of NMMU's campuses and one of the service sites that CSB|SJU students attend- see more about the social and economic conditions at http://lindsayganong.blogspot.com/2011/02/our-first-full-day.html or the blog "Our First Full Day"), dismayed at their lack of sanitation services, dumped their feces at the gates of Missionvale campus as a protest to municipal government's lack of ability to provide bucket toilet waste removal.  I'd be upset, too.  The politicians went to Missionvale on Friday and appeased them with more promises that the Missionvale-ians hadn't heard for the first time.  Perhaps if the government delivered service, and the people were treated with respect, they would treat their community spaces with respect out of pride for themselves.  Unfortunately, I think PE's municipal government is a long way from consistent and efficient service delivery.

Back with the kids

Tuesday our group was so happy to return to House. First we went straight to the children, and it was amazing how much they grew in the short time we were away.  We played with them for a bit, and one of the house mothers came to me right before the kids went to the playschool.  She pointed at my chest and said, "I want you in the kitchen today."  She is one of the mothers who doesn't enjoy her kitchen shift at all, and the faster one can chop for her, the better.  I have chopped so much that I have actually developed some calluses.  That is a sign of accomplishment for me.

We finished the painting!  In all we painted six bedrooms and two sets of bathrooms for House.  I was happy that we were useful, both for our own sense of purpose and to accomplish something for House.  We were fortunate to have a great relationship with our service site as opposed to some more strained relationships with some of the other sites in which students didn't feel useful or wanted.  I have been really blessed at house.

We chopped lots of carrots, potatoes, and sweet potatoes.  Then we had a meeting about the fun day we are having for the kids next Saturday.  We will have all of the kids from the play school and the ones who are normally at school.  We discussed details for the braai, jumping castle, face painting, and some logistics. I am very excited for our fulllll day with the kids on the 14th.  We also get to share our experience and our relationships with some of the other CSB|SJU students who are going to come help us with crowd control, braaing, and face painting.  We also discussed a book we are making for the children to help them understand that sometimes life circumstances causes separation.  But, that doesn't mean we don't love them.  We are making a story-book which depicts a great relationship that must end, but that it's still okay to love those people.  I don't think the kids are going to have a challenging time with out us, but if they would, this could help their transition by putting the situation in terms that they may understand better.

Smoking Dragon to goat's as stop signs

Saturday morning Brit, Meg, Taylor and I drove about 20km to Real Natal National Park.  We hiked a loop from 9-1.  We encountered lotttts of baboons and evidence of them (poop) on the path.  It was terrifying to be walking on the path and have one pop up about three feet from me.   Right after that we had a seemingly never-ending hill which had a fabulous look out rock at the top.  The views were great and we even stopped to chill at some cascades for a while.  By 1 we were excited to get back to Amphitheater to get the full experience of the festival we were required to be a part of.

We chose to go to Drakensberg because of the hiking, but we picked the weekend of Amphitheatre’s festival weekend.  Since we stayed at the backpacker we were required to pay the extra charge for the festival and the participants were all around us.

I wish I had taken a picture of the flier in it's entirety, to show you an example of of the vibe of the festival.

How's that for an image?  The advertisements were written over this picture with psychedelic writing that listed the sponsored activities: female performers, artists and crafters, live bands, DJ’s, a color light show, dramatists, belly dancers, stilt walkers, vibing giant UV puppets, fire jugglers, fire dancers and blazing fire sculptures. Smokin!

Most of the afternoon we listened to music, checked out the booths and supported some of the women, and journaled about our time on break.  I joined some yoga that I saw from across the lawn.  I was SO excited to loosen up and I even learned a partner yoga routine and how to begin inversions (head stands).  I am excited to keep practicing.  There is always room for growth, especially with a lifelong practice such as yoga.

We had some funny encounters throughout the day.  One of the CSB ladies was shopping for a scarf and couldn't decide which one to get.  The booth-owner, if you will, commented, "If you take off your shirt I think I could decide."  Whew, how about a come-on!  The best part (besides yoga) may have been when some festival-goers asked two CSB ladies where they could find some shrooms.  Okay, of all of the people at the festival, they may have been the least likely to look like they did shrooms.  I hope it was a joke to get at reaction from them, but they is not the most probable conclusion.

After watching some of the performances, the climax of the evening was the fire show.

Making dinner in the dorm.  This was the best backpacker we stayed at.  We had our own bathroom, full kitchen with utensils and dishes, a table, and a bar, pool and jacuzzi a few steps away in the lodge (although we didn't use those because of the out door festival).

A bee on fire and being swung around.

A Madonna-in-a-pointy-bra fire shooter.  Classy

There were also flame throwers, jugglers and a hula hooper who set her hoop on fire.  After the exhilarating fire show, we cashed out.  Sunday morning we woke up at 6 and were on the road by 6:30.  We drove all day, returning to PE at 9pm.

Typical.  Did you know that herds of goats also act effectively as stop signs?  I think I left a little rubber int he road after coming around a corner in the mountains to two people herding goats across a national highway.  They aren't quite like the roads in the states. ("Cow(s) in the road, swerve to the right.")

Mountain village in the Drakensberg (Draken=dragon in Zulu)

Typical homes.  Mostly shacks or cement block houses.

This road reminded me of Hwy 128 near Spring Valley.  Although there are green hills in Wisconsin rather than the brown mountains in this case, there were corn rows here just like on 128.

Much closer to PE the sun sank below the hills.

  Monday, a national holiday, we recovered from the break by writing a biology paper and preparing readings for our week of studies.