Happy Easter

Thursday we went to church at night. We got there a bit late. The service started at 7 pm and we arrived at 7:45. The church was packed with people. We had to stand at the door for the entire service. The pastor was in the middle of his sermon and I'm not sure when he started. He didn't stop until around 8:30. Now I have grown up with sermons being 10-20 mins. A sermon being at least 45 mins was something different. Especially when the sermon is in a different language. It was fiery too! This guy was very impressive. There were many hymns and prayers through out the service. We went up to get our feet washed too. I was getting a lot of looks as I would come from the back of the church to the front. It definitely had to have been because I was the lightest skin person there. That and I'm just so handsome. The service lasted until 10:15 pm. I am also not used to services being that long. It was a great experience that I did really enjoy. Even though it was a 3 hour service, it did not seem that long.

Friday was a public holiday in South Africa. Monday is also a holiday so this will be a nice long break. On Friday, Lwazi's mother, cousins and family friends came over. I got to hang out with another one of Lwazi's cousins. We drove around and he told me about how he used to take Lwazi to school when he was younger. He considers himself to be an older brother to Lwazi. I enjoyed getting to know more members of his family. Besides that, the day was very relaxed and chill.

Saturday was a day I was looking forward to since I got here. It was Tholakele, my co-workers, big coming of age party. This party is usually thrown for people when they turn 21. She never did one but since she is getting married in December she was going to have the party now. For the past two weeks she has had to stay indoors. She wasn't allowed to make contact with anyone, unless they are family. Of course this meant that she hasn't been at work for the past two weeks. I bought a typical Zulu outfit two weeks ago just for this event. After going for a run, showering and shaving in the morning, I put on the outfit and we headed out. She lives out in the rural areas that was about 20 mins away. It was a beautiful sunny day out with temperatures in the mid 80s. A truly perfect day. We showed up there and I quickly noticed that I was one of the only guys wearing a typical Zulu outfit. I did notice the typical Zulu outfits worn by the women. Women that are unmarried and children wear these outfits that I'm about to describe. Pretty much...a skirt and jewelry. No top. A lot of topless girls. Before you go, "That's awesome! Topless girls, Whoooo!" know that all but a few of these girls were teenagers or younger. It was awkward at first but then I just took it as it was, a cultural experience. This all took place outside in a field where all the women and girls were dancing and singing songs. Tholakele and other women would walk across the field with sticks, where we were all sitting, and would put the sticks in the ground in front of a man. The man is supposed to bring the stick back and give money. This was happening for a good bit. While this happened, we were drinking Jack Daniels, wine, Heineken and other stuff. After a while of this, I was getting pretty sentimental. I was enjoying the gorgeous weather, the African background, the cultural event going on around me and my new friends around me. It was all such a fantastic feeling.

After a few hours, I was getting hungry. Luckily, food was right around the corner. While they were finishing up the ceremony, we walked back to a house for dinner. We were definitely receiving an honor because we were in a house, sharing the table with the chief and Tholakele's father. The food consisted of rice, beef, fried chicken, beet salad, cole slaw and home cooked bread. Like most of my meals here, it was delicious. Afterwards the traditional beef was brought out. The chief offered me meat from his dish. I don't know if that is an honor or not but I like to think it was. After food, we all started singing, clapping and stomping for a while. I really got into it and had a ball.

We all left and went outside after we were done. After hanging out for a bit, we piled into the car and headed out. It felt so late because of all that had happened already and the stars being out. It was only 7:30 pm. Oh well. The drive back was also a blast. Six of us piled into the car dancing with music blaring. When we arrived back to the house the night was surely not done. We grilled lots of meat, drank more, sang and drank more. There were plans to go to church at midnight but everyone was a bit too...worn out. The beds were calling so we all passed out instead.

Saturday was a great glimpse into the traditional culture events that are still practiced in this area. I was honored to be a part of it while wearing a traditional outfit. I even had one drunk fellow approach me and tell me how happy he was that I was wearing the outfit. He said that it showed a blend of cultures and that's why he was so happy.

With all of the alcohol drank yesterday you can imagine that we were a little late in waking up this morning. Since people slept over and the slow start we kinda missed church... In fact not much has gone on today. Just a lot of recovering. I hope everyone has a happy Easter, though, and that you'll enjoy the pictures I've posted. Due to the explicit content of some of these photos and videos, I will not be posting all of them. If you want to see them all, just send me an email and I'll send them to you.