The Hot Dogs are Delicious Here

It appears it's been a week since I last posted. I apologize for that and I'm sure that you, my dear readers, have been anxiously awaiting my next post. Well here it is!

On Monday Halala, Lwazi's cousin that has been staying with us, left to go back to college in Durban. It was sad because he had become a dear friend over the two and a half weeks that we lived together. He was a young, fun, easy going, nice guy. Luckily he is in Durban and I still plan on going down there before I leave. Hopefully I'll get to see him again.

At work on Tuesday, Sifiso went ahead and scheduled some school visits for us. These visits would allow us to  go speak with 11th and 12th graders about universities. We have created a packet that details the information on dates to apply, financial aid, what you'll need for your application and some other information. I told Sifiso to leave Wednesday free so that we could have a day to prep before we get into full swing. He comes back and tells me that he's scheduled three visits. One for next week, one on Thursday and one on Wednesday. Of course. We would just have to work hard on Tuesday and Wednesday morning to get ready. If only that happened. Around 2 pm, I got a call from Lwazi's mother.

Lwazi's mother told me to come to Lwazi's house to let her in and for me to change into the African National Congress (ANC) tshirt she got me. I had gotten permission to leave work early for the day so I went on home. She came and didn't give me too many details. All I picked up on was that we were going to some ANC meeting in Ndomeni. (BTW, the ANC is one of the political parties here in South Africa and is currently in power) We also picked up Sifiso because she said that I may get bored by myself. After swinging by the office to pick up Sifiso, we drove to Ndomeni. Once we arrived around 4:00 pm, it was apparent that we were early. Lwazi's mother went inside to speak with other party members. Sifiso and I did what any other young guys with time on their hands do...we went and got a drink. Right next to the meeting hall was a small store and there we split a cider. Ciders with alcohol are quite popular here in South Africa. It is during this time that I found out that this meeting was special. Sifiso told me that Jacob Zuma, the PRESIDENT of South Africa, was supposed to be attending this meeting. As soon as I heard that, I got so nervous/excited! I knew that if he came, I'd be meeting him. The only American in the room who is with a high up ANC local member was sure to meet the president of South Africa. I immediately started wondering what I was going to say when I met him.

The meeting was obviously not going to start without the president. People started to fill up the small meeting room. Everyone was waiting a while so people decided to pass time. Here they do it by singing ANC songs and dancing. It was fun to be a part of. I immediately got involved in the dancing and singing, where I could pick up. This went on for a while. Minutes became half hours, half hours became hours, hours became many hours. After hours of singing, dancing, sitting around, cracking Zuma jokes with Sifiso and playing Brickbreaker, the envoy was finally arriving. This was around 9 pm. Nearly 5 hours of waiting. The place was alive with excitement, though. I was in the back of the room with Sifiso. Lwazi's mother came to me and told me that I need to sit with her in the front row facing the stage. I was thinking, Oh man I'm definitely going to meet the president now. Military came in, placed a torch in the room, high up people started coming to the stage to fill in. We were then moved from the front row up to the stage facing everyone! I was so excited. I tucked my shirt in and everything. Everyone came in and they started but I didn't see Zuma. I thought he was just running behind. I anxiously waited, listening to some guy in a purple shirt speak for 10 mins about who knows what, looking around for Zuma to come in. Then people started to get up, Lwazi's mother told me that we were going to take a picture, I shook the guy in the purple shirt's hand briefly, we took the pic, then I left. All this while...no Zuma. Once I was in the car, I asked the guy giving me a ride. I said "Sooo...Zuma wasn't coming tonight??" He laughed and said that he was supposed to come but got caught up in Pretoria. Shit. Oh and that guy in the purple shirt who I briefly met but brushed off was the Premiere for Kwazulu-Natal. Yeah the big deal guy who I should have spoken to I brushed off AND I never got to meet the president. Oh well. All in all it was an exciting time.

Wednesday was filled with running around trying to get ready for our high school meeting. A bunch of running around that was all for nothing because we couldn't get a car out to the village. We had to call the school and cancel. Frustrating but that's the way it goes. Thursday I was set on going to a high school, though. I kept nagging Sifiso to make sure we had transport. It worked out and we got the car. After going with Neville for some visits for him, we made it to our high school. It was the end of the school day and we had the last 20 mins with them. After passing out our manual to all of them I got right in to it. I went through the packet, explained to them the importance of applying and emphasized the importance of a degree. It was my first presentation and I spoke a little fast for them at times but they seemed to be interested for the most part. Sifiso had to come in, after I was done, to do some brief explaining in Zulu. All in all, I think it went well. Two students even came up afterwards to ask questions. That's always a good sign. It felt good presenting. I believe these students just having the information readily can make some difference.

Saturday was a day that I fully expected to be a lazy day. No plans at all. At 11 am, Sifiso, Lwazi, and Neville showed up. Lwazi said that Sifiso and Neville were going to Ndomeni and I should join them. Having no plans, I agreed. I threw on some shorts and a tshirt and hopped in the car. After picking up some fried chicken, dropping off Lwazi and picking up some alcoholic cider we were off! We didn't make it far  as cops pulled us over at a traffic stop. The police said that our tires were too worn down and a ticket was issued. Pissed off, we drove on eating our chicken and drinking our cider. I didn't know what we were going to do out in Ndomeni and I still don't know what we did. We stopped at some houses where Sifiso talked to the elderly mothers. All I know is that we ended up at a tavern later. After the tavern, I walked with Sifiso over to his aunt's house. I had met her before and she invited me inside for a soda. She then invited me to have some lunch she was preparing. I had just eaten chicken but I didn't want to be rude. I agreed and shared a delicious meal with her while chatting. I greatly enjoyed this experience. She enjoyed talking and I enjoyed hearing her stories. When I was leaving I assured her that I would be back.

Neville and I left Sifiso in Ndomeni and headed back to Eshowe. The next couple hours were filled with picking up Nattie, drinking, driving around, drinking, getting delicious tripe, drinking, driving around and drinking some more. At the end of the night we ended up in the Location (ghetto area) in an empty parking where people park their cars and drink. We just hung out for a while, meeting new people, joking around, making fun of each other...oh and drinking. Nattie asked me if I wanted a hot dog and since I was some how still feeling hungry, I agreed. I just love food too much. There was a gentleman nearby cooking these sausages in this pan with onions outside this liquor store. In the bun he put lettuce, the sausage, onions, ketchup, mustard and a spicy sauce. That first bite...AMAZING. The spices of the sausage with the sauces all coming together in one delicious explosion was so delicious. By far, one of my favorite things I've eaten here, besides tripe. Always go for the street food when traveling. That's where the good stuff is.

This morning I was a bit hungover after the long day of drinking yesterday. I told myself that today I was going to do nothing. That was until Nattie and Neville showed up at 11 am with beers in their hands. I didn't drink with them but the day was spent sitting outside while they drank, chatting and hanging out. It was a relaxed day hanging out with friends. What more could you ask for on a Sunday?

Lwazi, Halala and myself before he left

Stage for the ANC meeting. That is Jacob Zuma on the table

People coming in singing

Singing and dancing while waiting

The ANC torch

This is from my seat on the stage

Lwazi's mother is in front of me. Purple tie is the Premiere. Woman in black is the chief of Ndomeni.