Since our night and the following day in Durban on Saturday, we drove about an hour up the road to Pietersmaritzburg, where we stayed at a camp, called African Enterprise, which if you Google, you'll see was founded by a very influential Christian man who was involved in working with South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in the post-apartheid era. The center provided us with a night of debriefing after our encounters with the Muslim community in Durban. There was also another group there, training reformed troubled youth in urban dance, in a program that evangelizes to street kids in urban areas.
After spending the night in the cabins there, we had church early on Sunday morning, attending a 2-hour Anglican service, which was pretty hard to follow at times, with all the songs and recitations, thumbing around in a series of books to find the prayers and such. When church was through at 10:30, we spent another couple hours socializing with the church's youth group of about 30-40 teenagers, playing games they had, conversing, and interacting with them over lunch.
Around 1 pm, we piled into our group's vehicles and drove 6 hours to Johannesburg, where our host families met us. These families are members of the Methodist church here, white upper-middle class people. Our host mother is in her late 60s, and she just remarried (not sure if both of their spouses have passed away or how they got together... maybe we'll find out about that later). Her husband's name is Jonathan, and they both were gynecologists. They have a German couple who are tenants in the guest cottage on the premises. We had a late dinner last night, around 9, since we didn't get to their house until around 8. We settled ourselves in their guest bedroom, which has a very nice bathroom as well (complete with a shower, and not just a bathtub!). We turned in for bed around 10:30, only to discover a huge spider crawling in the sheets! While I crushed it and checked the covers to put it out of my mind, Chelsea was unable to fall asleep (she and I are rooming together this time, as well as our two drivers, Mabouti and Whitey).
... it is now 5:30 pm; the power went out shortly after I began writing this post, and thank heavens that eBlogger auto-saves drafts every minute! So now let me just finish posting about the day!
This morning I got up at 7, after having a rough night's sleep. I awoke to a terribly sore throat and ear aches, as well as a very congested head. I'm afraid I've acquired a head cold! Awful hours spent in the car traveling yesterday, filled with elevation changes, grrr! ...Not to mention also that the temperature changes have been icky and thus affecting the barometric pressure and my sensitive little eustachian ear canals or what have I.
Today, we heard from a couple speakers:
1. Govan Reddy, a journalist who worked during apartheid and post-apartheid times in newsprint media, among others, working closely with Mandela and Mbeki (the first two South African presidents after the apartheid regime ended in 1994)
2. Maseko Nxumalo, a 1989 Whitworth grad who knows the Jacksons and John Yoder very well. He gave us an account of his life story, which is really quite amazing, as he was involved in some very political actions in SA during the 1970s and had to flee when he was only 17. He will also be leading us around tomorrow, I believe, since he lives in Jo'burg once again.
Then we went to the African craft market this afternoon, where the banner above the walkway openly welcomed us, proclaiming, "This is Africa! We bargain!" Haha. Saying of the trip. TIA. I'm so wiped out, with this head cold and all, especially after spending a couple hours bartering with vendors as I pursued the purchase of a couple gifts.
Now we are back at Beth's house, going to have dinner in an hour or so. First I am going for a swim in her pool with Chelsea and getting some journaling done. Or I'll play with the two kitties and doggies. Whichever suits my fancy.
This is all for now. I can't believe we fly out in four days! Things are so packed into each day, and these last couple days have been pretty chill in comparison to previous weeks! I want to take advantage of every moment with host families, gleaning as much information and cultural context as possible from those whom I encounter in this country. I can't even begin to express in writing all that I have been learning; that would take far too long to type up, and I'm sure no one wishes to read a blog entry that long anyhow.
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