New entries, at last

First of all, if anyone has been reading this, I apologize for the lack of entries this fall. One excuse I have is that I've been sick a lot; another reason for the lack of communication is that there’s not so much new to report. Life in the second year of a fellowship takes on a familiar and thus somewhat boring routine. For work, I’ve been teaching my classes – the News Reporting class again for JMC and one section of ACS (Academic Communication Skills – freshman English/composition), plus some practice sessions for Virginia’s grammar class. In my spare time, I’ve been trying to organize a couple workshops for the teacher training colleges, which is surprisingly and frustratingly difficult considering that we’re not charging the colleges a single emalangeni to come and teach their students useful methodologies. Unfortunately, while the lecturers (at least some of them) are enthusiastic about the opportunity, the college administrators seem to think these events will somehow involve effort on their parts, the prospect of which they adamantly oppose. This is definitely a place where people rise to their level of incompetence.

In my personal time, I watch TV, workout, take walks and talk to myself a lot (which I suppose begs the question of why I don’t take the time to write more blogs). Oh, and of course, I eat, which is why I must workout and take frequent walks. Living on campus is secure and convenient, but it also makes it easy to get into a rut of just going to work then coming home every day. Sometimes I go a week or so without visiting the outside world.

Anyway, as I haven’t a lot of new, exciting events to describe, I’ll go back and tell about some of the things that happened last spring.

Virginia's Lobola -- part 1

Although Virginia and her husband Abiola have been married for about six years, they decided to hold the traditional lobola ceremony to cement the ties between their families. They chose the end of June, which meant I was able to attend before heading off on my summer break. About a week before the event, Virginia suggested that I acquire some more traditional attire for the occasion, so I went along with her to the tailor. Virgina was having a couple different garments made – she needed a traditional Swazi outfit to satisfy Swazi custom and a traditional Nigerian outfit to honor her husband’s family. I bought some of the blue and white fabric that’s pre-printed into panels from which to make a skirt. Traditional Swazi women wear skirts or dresses; in fact, wearing pants is considered improper, even slutty, and their are gangs of self-righteous traditional males who sometimes harass women (even foreigners) caught in slacks. Most rural women sport a uniform-like pinafore which often includes a built-in apron and ruffles around the sleeves and hem. I asked for a very simple, long skirt and was satisfied with the result.

In the week before the lobola, I also ran some errands with Virginia to fetch supplies to sustain the many guests who would be converging for the 2-day event and to deliver said items to the family homestead. We purchased fresh milk and mas (sour milk) from a local self-sustaining convent, acquired copious quantities of sweet potatoes, pineapples and paw paws from the farmer’s market, and arranged the purchase of an entire cow to ensure adequate supplies of meat (Swazis are insulted by small servings of meat).

The pictures included here include a couple at the tailor’s and from the convent where we bought the milk products (I loved the old wood stove there).

Virginia's Lobola, part 2

The pictures here are from the family homestead. You can see that Virginia’s mother is wearing a very simple version of the pinafore (combined with other, mismatched colors that oddly mimic what I’m wearing at the tailor’s – hmm). The building she is posing in front of was built by her long-dead husband and is falling down, but she won’t allow Virginia to demolish it; too many memories. The snazzy, stuccoed building shown is the new house Virginia and Abiola have built for her.

More on Umhlanga (please start w/ first entry)

Dear Reader:

I realize I should have posted these entries in reverse order so that they could be read from top to bottom. However, I didn't think that far ahead, so if you haven't already read the first Umhlanga 2009 entry, please scroll down and work your way back to the top.

The official estimates, which may be inflated, declared that some 80,000 maidens participated in Umhlanga this year, most travelling from rural areas by public transport or by government-provided buses and kombis. The government also provides barracks-style housing and food for thousands of participants, which makes me wonder what the whole event ends up costing. Most urban Swazis I’ve spoken with don’t attend the events although they may watch it on TV, and most don’t seem to let their daughters participate. I was told by one such person that the rural girls just come for the free meals, as many are OVCs (orphans & vulnerable children) who live in near-perpetual hunger. I’m sure other girls participate for the chance to travel out of their villages (and, probably, to meet boys, although the girls must be “certified virgins” to participate). Certainly there were many young and not-so-young men roaming around the fairground. And according to one local newspaper columnist, Umhlanga girls are renowned as easy picking for sexual predators.

The government also estimated that nearly 30,000 tourists travelled to Swaziland during, and presumably to attend, the Reed Dance festivities. I doubt that I saw more than a hundred or so obvious tourists on the day I went (meaning white folks with lots of cameras although those with the fanciest cameras were likely the press).

Once the reeds were deposited, the long lines of girls moved on to the parade field and began to snake their way around with each group again singing and dancing for the crowd of royals and spectators. There was also a group of official singers who sang the same song with gusto over and over (and slightly off key). The king and his entourage eventually came out and ran among the girls to inspect, or perhaps, to honor them, as photographers madly rushed behind.

More Umhlanga 2009

The process of lining up and waiting and singing and dancing in place and marching took the thousands of participants a number of hours. So, of course, there were vendors around to sell needed cold beverages and food (after days of chilly temperatures, the weather had turned quite hot). At the end of the line, each girl finally handed over her bundle of reeds to be added to the ceremonial stack.

Umhlanga 2009

This year, I attended the Reed Dance ceremonies on the first official day (Aug. 30. On that day, the girls ceremoniously lay bundles of reeds against the royal krall (corral) at Lobamba. They gathered these reeds a few days earlier in specified areas, and the material supposedly will be used to repair and maintain the Queen Mother's residence.

The pictures here are mostly of some of the girls gathered and waiting for their turns to present their reeds. I enjoyed wandering around with my cameras and found the participants generally accepting of having their photos taken. Some, especially the young men, even insisted. The young man pictured here was chagrined, after seeing the image, to notice that he had a chip bag stuck in his armband. But he was still pleased to have his photo taken and even offered to marry me (he'd had a bit to drink).

Kruger -- part 3

On the second day, we were treated to several big cat sightings. We even saw a cheetah, and they’re very rare (perhaps less than a hundred in the whole park). Somewhat surreally, we encountered that animal on a tarmac bridge. It came right out and meandered among the vehicles, which of course had all stopped. In fact, I saw quite a few illegal arms and heads out of windows as people tried to see past the car ahead or to get a photo. We were parked quite a ways back down the bridge (we joined this scene a bit late as at first we thought people were just hippo-watching); thus, we didn’t get a good glimpse of the cheetah until it exited the roadway and climbed up a bank. Then we saw it clearly. Not long after our cheetah encounter, we saw two lions swimming across a stream – another rare sight although a bit distant. After that we headed back to the dead rhino site to see if the lions were more visible. They were, if one could make it through the parking cluster and get close enough to see. As the lions had now been in this area for a couple days, it was so well known that the small parking area was mobbed. Marjorie somehow shoehorned her Lexus into a spot from which we could see (I got a photo showing both the male lion and the rhino). Then we got out of there quickly before more vehicles could squeeze in and trap us there.

That day, there were quite a few elephants near the road. Some were not pleased at being gawked at and hemmed in by large noisy vehicles. Once one of them charged our vehicle, I realized that possibility was why Marjorie always left an open lane between us and any elephant. Other drivers would pull up and stop much closer which gave them little room to maneuver for a quick escape.