Swazi Wedding - video

I’m not sure what sentiments are conveyed in this dance up to the groom’s family. It looks filled with bravado – almost like a mock challenge, but I never found out the actual meaning. The fellow involved did later offer to take me home, explaining that he was looking for a white girlfriend (such offers are a common joke here). And shortly before we left, he sidled up to translate the song that the women were currently singing and dancing to. He said the lyrics were “I’m afraid to sleep alone.” Fortunately, I am not.

Swazi Wedding - installment 4 (the ceremony)

Around 3:30 p.m., we finally saw the bride’s family, in traditional regalia, advancing toward the tented viewing area. First, the matrons led a procession into the paddock and past the bemused cattle. Then the family marched and sang their way back to assemble in an open area across from where the groom’s family and guests had gathered. Then offerings were laid before the women of the groom’s family and various people danced and sang before them. After that, the whole group began to dance and sing to accompany the bride toward her new family. Most members of the groom’s family, other than the groom and his groomsmen, did not appear to join in the dancing. Eventually, the bride and groom met up and began to dance as family members gave them offerings of oranges and of money (which they stuck in the bride’s large, feathered headdress). The dancing and singing looked to continue for some time, as everyone involved seemed to be having great fun. Unfortunately, it was now approaching 5:00 p.m., and we had to leave. And I was really looking forward to trying the samp!

Swazi Wedding - installment 3 (waiting for the ceremony to start)

After visiting the bride’s contingent, we (Laura, Bheki, Simon the wedding photographer, and I) wandered around some more examining the damage caused by the last five years of drought in the low veld. The earth in places looked like concrete rather than anything resembling soil, and the cattle we saw looked very thin. Many of the neighbors' homesteads also did not look very prospersous.

Swazi Wedding -- installment 2 (the bride's campsite)

After meeting the groom’s family, we wandered over to the area where the bride’s family had gathered. According to custom, the bride’s family would not be allowed onto the groom’s homestead until the ceremony began. However, nowadays, the practice is for the bride’s family to stay within the compound overnight then move to their official off-site camping area in the morning and stay there until the ceremony. We were sorry to see that the bridal group was not in a hurry to get going. Most were still lazing about under fleecy blankets while others prepared food provided by the groom. Perhaps the chilly weather that day (mid teens, Celsius) was slowing people down, or perhaps we were the only attendees who thought the affair was supposed to start before late afternoon.

Swazi Wedding - installment 1 (the homestead)

On Saturday, September 27, I was lucky enough to attend a traditional Swazi wedding ceremony with Laura and her colleague Bheki (who was the person actually invited). It was a long day. We met at the museum at 9:00 a.m., then collected some traditional fabric to wear so we’d ‘blend in’ (ha). It took maybe an hour and a half to get to the homestead of Wisdom, the groom, in the Malindza area of the low veld. We arrived, then, around 11:30, but nothing was close to happening yet – just lots of preparations still going on. The men were preparing fabric for their traditional garb and the younger women were cooking mass amounts of pap (maize porridge) and samp (a cracked corn dish reminiscent of succotash), among other things. The older women were huddled inside against the chilly day drinking tea and eating as they visited. These were all members of the groom’s family. We were shown around the homestead and introduced to people, then sat and drank tea in the new, nearly finished house Wisdom is building. He told us the younger members of the family all live elsewhere at least part-time although they have built dwellings on the compound. The grandmother, or go-go, is the only family member living on the homestead full-time. Her large, round, thatch-roofed dwelling is the largest in the compound and functions as a family meeting center. Plus, the big, outdoor kitchen is attached to her dwelling. The go-go definitely holds the highest status in the family, which I find interesting as, otherwise, Swazi culture seems male-dominated. (i.e., men can take multiple wives but women can’t take multiple husbands).

Transport!

As of September 26, I have transportation. It’s a 2000 Nissan Sunny ex saloon (I hoped that meant there was a minibar in the trunk but it turned out to be CD changer). Actually, this vehicle is a rolling boombox, with a bass-boosted stereo system that blows small livestock off the shoulder as I pass by (not that I would ever play my music that loud). The first day I drove it, I ended up driving home in the dark in the rain on a Saturday night on the left-hand side of the 2-lane Ezulwini road – a baptism by fire, of sorts. I just kept telling myself that eventually I’d get home and then I’d know I’d survived the worst driving experience that was in store. Well, I made it home, but now I realize there are probably many more worsts in store given the roads here. Ezulwini Road was harrowing mostly because of the dark and rain and my unfamiliarity with the road and with sitting on the right while driving on the left. For the most part, that road is in good shape and fairly well marked (better than roads in Alaska).

The following Saturday, in a new vehicular trial, the boombox and I ended up on what seemed like an endless expanse of rutted, narrow, rocky, hilly and steeply winding dirt road. We were travelling to an orphanage near Piggs Peak, which was already a fairly long drive from Mbabane. So there was no point in turning back. The boombox made it all the way there, but when Laura and I went to leave about an hour and a half later, it refused to start. Would not even turn over. I opened the hood and noticed that one battery terminal connection had bounced loose. So I tightened it, and (hurrah) the car started. But, once it started, the hazard lights began to flash and they would not shut off. I believe the poor vehicle was voicing its opinion of the road conditions it had been forced to travel. We had to drive all the way back (on the highway and the freeway) with the hazard lights flashing, which of course annoyed other motorists (although they did know to look out for me which, as an American driver, is probably a good thing). The following Monday, I took the car to the mechanic recommended by a colleague. I was worried that, as an electric glitch, the problem might be spendy to find and correct. However, it only cost me E150 (about $20) and two hours of waiting around. It turned out the boombox was, in a way, voicing its disapproval. The problem was a previously installed alarm system that had only been partially disconnected. So the hazard lights should have been accompanied by a shrieking alarm. My guess is that the battery disconnection may have set it off (or the bumpy road, or maybe it was just ready to misbehave.)

More on Mlilwane -- specifically, Stu

Our guide, Stu, as I've already said, was very knowledgeable about the flora and fauna and even the poo to be found in the park. In the second picture here, he is explaining why hippo poo is so filled with undigested vegetation (hippos are not ruminants). We later decided that some of the folklore he related to us (e.g., the magic male-enhancing powers of the 'sausage-tree' fruit) may have been more amusing than informative.

Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary

Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary, which we visited on September 6, is small and lacking in the “big five” (lion, leopard, rhino, buffalo, elephant); plus, we didn’t arrive there until noon when most animals are on siesta. Still, on a 1 ½-hour tour with our knowledgeable guide Stu, we saw crocodiles, wildebeests, zebras, impalas, blesboks, antelopes and different birds. We also just enjoyed riding around in an open-top vehicle on a perfect sunny day.

40/40 celebration

The 40/40 event, held one week after Umhlanga, was a combination party to celebrate 40 years of independence for Swaziland plus the king’s 40th birthday. Many dignitaries attended – I was dismayed to learn (from an official Swazi radio news report) that a big star at the scene was Robert Mugabe. Perhaps he’s seen as admirable because he dares to stare down the powerful Western states. But one would think his ruthless politics and incompetent economic management would matter more. Makes me wonder what people here in Swaziland really have been told about the man and the state of his country. (Actually, I had the occasion recently to read many back issues of the Times of Swailand and found numerous articles and opinion pieces critical of Mugabe. But not everyone here reads English-language papers). Laura and I were at the nature park most of that Saturday, but we stopped by the 40/40 site around 4 pm. The stadium was still full, but by now it was packed with spectators waiting for a soccer match to begin. Outside the stadium were numerous entrepreneurs selling everything from grilled meat to bags of oranges to sarongs and Swazi flags. And there was loads of garbage (including those dreaded Styrofoam containers) covering the ground. We didn’t hang out too long, as many of the men had been drinking and as far as we could tell, we were the only white people in attendance. Thus, we were celebrities and everyone wanted me to take their picture (especially with their arms around poor Laura). Fortunately, she’s a very good sport.