Celebrations All Around

This morning I came out of my room, glasses, retainers, etc. to find my family gathered around singing Happy Birthday to me. It was heart warming.

Yesterday going to the wedding was quite the adventure. It was about a 3 hour drive to "farm" country. The houses there are very simple--cement walls with metal roofs which leak a lot during the heavy rainstorms and no central heating (it is much colder and rainy in this particular part of South Africa). My mama's brother and sister were very nice--when we went to pick up her sister a bunch of people from the town came by the house and said they had been waiting all day to see us. At the wedding in the hall everyone was staring at us but were also very welcoming to have additional guests at the wedding--there were about 250-300 people (most of the town from what I understand) gathered in the hall so it was a large affair.

The wedding was very disorganized according to our family members (we thought that the disorganization was just a South African thing but they said it wasn't), so we ended up having to stay there until 10:00pm. We had to help prepare the food for the wedding...which was done in a makeshift garage with a leaking roof and a bin filled with rainwater was used to wash dishes and hands. We walked up out of the pouring rain into the garage and found four women cutting meat off of a dead cow carcass and interchanging the knife they were using to cut the meat with the one to cut the salad....our American stomachs are not used to this. It was quite the sight seeing all of those women working together like that. I have lots of pics (side note: I tried to download pics today but it was taking forever so I think when I get to Capetown at the end of the month and have more time I will download all of my pics) and they loved having us take them. They assigned Regina and I the task of opening about 30 cans of food with knives. At least we can add that skill to our resumes. Then the wedding was very different--according to one of mama's friends, Wendy, who traveled with us--than a normal Zulu wedding. She said this was "disorganized" and felt bad that we didn't get to see a better wedding. Regina got to see the traditional Zulu part of the wedding and said it was more enjoyable than the "western" portion I got to see. Again, lots of pictures of that.

I got a bit of a stomach ache and was ready to go home which caused quite the stir about the family--they are great caretakers and I think they were worried I was very sick. I think it was the first time I was really really terribly homesick. But once I laid down and got to talk to my Mom (I have had trouble with my cell so this was the first time we had talked for more than 10 minutes) and John and felt much better.

The standard of living here is just very different from the US. Even though we are staying with a middle class family, their standard of living is more like that of some of the poorest people in the US. They are all very intelligent and capable it's just that with the unemployment rate at 45% I don't think there are very many opportunities for them.

Mama's sister asked us if New York was in America and if we knew Ricki Lake. What we are doing--traveling like this--is completely foreign to them. A three hour car ride is the equivalent of us going from California to New York. We are so lucky to be doing this and that's what I keep reminding myself.

So I guess you could say I was experiencing some culture shock. John and my Mom reminded me why I am here and I felt much better--this is a truly life changing experience.

The clinical aspect of this trip is invaluable and I love all that I am getting to see. But when we get off of work (going from 7:00am-3:00pm) we have about 20 minutes in the mall before we have to start walking home (about 2 mile walk) and then it is dark and we can't leave the house unless we have a taxi waiting outside for us. So we sacrifice a lot of independence. We are not allowed to go anywhere alone. My family allows me to go on runs alone in the morning but only up and down their street (thankfully it has two big hills so it is a good workout) and the other day I almost got attacked by two dogs. What's that phrase? What doesn't kill you will only make you stronger?

Regina and I are laughing about everything we saw yesterday and just getting through the tough times together. They have a very interesting culture here.

Speaking of Zulu culture, I am doing my best to pick up the language here but with the clicks that they use it is difficult to train my tongue. One of my sisters, "Shorty" was helping me practice common phrases today. They are all such loving people who only want us to have a great experience.

So today is my birthday. I just finished reading all of my lovely emails from all of you. Thank you so much for keeping up with my journey and supporting me all the way through it.

I am off to the beach with my sister, two cousins and one of their friends. This is a very big deal for them to go into the city. They didn't want to come because they were worried about spending money so Regina and I packed some food and we'll buy them some ice cream and pay for the taxis.

We are meeting up with our friends at the beach then going back to my house for a birthday party and then maybe out in the city for the evening. Sunday night is a big night to go out here.

Again I love you all so much and I hope you are enjoying my blog. I love being able to share my stories with you.

Love,

Alexis