Ecabazini

Sawubona!

So far I am having possibly the BEST weekend of my life!!! The past couple days I was living at Ecabazini, a Zulu homestead, and it was amazing. The people are beautiful, the culture is rich and refreshing, and the landscape is absolutely breath-taking. I love being in rural areas- I have a country girl's heart. I love the simplicity of life, and the focus on family and quality relationships. I love all the animals and nature. God's creation astounds me. I wish we could have spent more time there.

The adventure started out Friday when we drove past zebra, giraffe, wildebeest, ostrich, monkeys, and warthogs to a rural Zulu area. After arriving, we got a tour of the homestead we would be staying at and the homestead "next door." We learned about the traditional clothing of the Zulu, the plant life and its uses, how one becomes a medicine man or is called to become a speaker to the ancestors, how the homestead is designed and who lives in each hut. We learned how to make ropes from grass, and mats from reed picked by the lake. The thing that impressed me the most though was learning about how they use cow dung. They have a fancy pit in the ground that they put the cow manure into everyday with a little water, and it allows them to utilize the methane gas for things like mini gas stoves. This gives them free energy, limits the amount of trees they have to chop for firewood which equals less destroying of oxygen production and less work for the people, and by burning off the methane gas they are also protecting the ozone. This is not a traditional Zulu custom, but something they brought over recently, from India I believe. Super cool!

Above on the left is a photo of the hut I spent the night in, and above on the right is the center of the homestead which is where the cows are kept at night. I love cows- so cute.

After our initial tour, we had an hour of free time so we walked down past the orange groves (whose perfume was sweet and lovely and filled the country's air) to the lake, and a few of us enjoyed a swim while the others kept a look out for crocodiles. It was wonderful. I LOVE lakes! The water was refreshingl, and I love the feeling of squishy lake mud in between my toes.

Then we came back and had a traditional Zulu feast. Red meat is only served for special occasions because it is expensive and also because if they are going to kill a big animal there needs to be enough people to eat all that is killed so they don't waste. When they do have meat it is served first before the rest of the meal so that the people can really savor it and enjoy it for what it is. For that portion of the meal the men sit on one side of the fire in a circle, the leaders sit together in the middle, and the women sit on the other side of the fire in a circle. They cut the meat and serve it with Zulu Bread (YUM!) with piles of salt. First the server takes a bite of the food to show you it is not poisoned and then you start eating by taking the meat and dipping it in the salt. Then, after that, we got into one big circle around the fire and were served individual plates with chicken, a white cous-cous like substance, a type of bean mixed with a grain, a cabbage dish, and a stewed tomato dish (sorry for the lack of appropriate dish names).

I thouroughly enjoyed the hours around the fireplace-Good food, Great conversation, and beautiful stars (we could even see the Milky Way really clearly).

After dinner, we went into one of the huts and started off the evening with some Zulu Beer (non-alcoholic). Like the meat, the hosts drink first to show that it is not poison.

Then we got to watch some traditional Zulu dancing and singing, and afterwards I even got a chance to dance with them. I love the passion in their dancing. They were all having such a good time, and they have some very impressive moves, like their high kicks that I attempted.

This morning, after a frog catching and a lovely breakfast of malta bella (a porridge made from the same grain the beer was made of), toast, eggs and Roobios tea; they taught us how to make pottery. It is so much harder than it looks, but still- lots of fun!

Next we played with the baby goats...It is official-I want a goat!!! They are absolutely adorable (even when they try to eat my braids).

Then they taught us to how to bead. Below is the bracelet I made.

After bracelet making I got to learn how to stick fight like a Zulu Warrior. Thank you Trevor for the sword fighting lessons this summer, never knew it would come in handy here in Africa. (Below is a video of a tiny bit of it)

One of the highlights of the day was when I was taught how to clean the hut floors with cow dung...Yes- that is right, I was not cleaning up cow dung, but using cow dung as cleaner. (Picture below on left)

Below on the right is me and a couple of the Zulu women. They put red clay on their faces as sun block. For part of the time we were there they wore traditional clothing and the other part they wore more western contemporary clothing. Traditionally, the married women wear shirts, and the single women go topless.

I loved being immersed into the Zulu culture.

I am so thankful for this experience. God is so Good!!!

Sala Kahle!!!