Zweletemba

I spent this past week in Zweletemba, a black township outside of Worcester, South Africa. I turned 21 at a table prepared by three amazing black South African women who, even though we had known each other for about 2 hours, had a bottle of champagne to celebrate me with. There was also mashed potatoes, dad, you know I was happy! The whole week was really just an incredible experience that is impossible to tie up neatly in one blog entry. Instead, I will just recount one day in the life of Jessica in Zweletemba. For a bit of context, Zweletemba is centered in the boland region full of large, breath-taking mountains, and gorgeous wine vineyards.
"I began the day geared toward my need to get out into the indescribable beauty that surrounds this place. After waiting for an hour and half for the transport to arrive, 17 of us piled into a taxi and eventually found something of a trail behind a small campground and vineyard. The trail quickly dissipated into us scrambling up a steep hillside covered in prickly bushes and shrubs leaving me covered in scrapes and scratches... all well worth it. At the top we took in the sights, layed in the sun, listened to music, and relaxed. The way back down was a bit more troubling for me, lots of falls, but all was well. I was hoping for a glass of wine at the bottom, but I had to get back to the township to carry on with the adventures of this day. Nikki, my friend, was asking our mom about sangomas in the area. Sangomas are traditional healers. This led to us going on a very involved "sangoma hunt". At the first house we went to the sangoma was out of town. Quickly we realized that we shouldn't fear--there is a sangoma at every street corner (later we learned for a young boy that Zweletemba is a unique township in that it is particularly witch-infested, thus the need for lots of sangomas). The next sangoma we visited was too tired and told us to come back later. The next one we met chatted with our hose moms for a while and then said she would take us to the place where a lot of sangomas congregate. We then wandered around Mandela square, an slum part of the township. There we met another sangoma who was extremely stern and simply pointed onward. At the end of the hunt we arrived at a house with about 10 sangomas who were participating in a ceremony for a novice sangoma. It was absolutely surreal. We were welcomed into the room that was clearly busting at its seams. Two women created a small opening between their bodacious butts for me to plop into. When all the sangomas began singing and dancing in a circle I was filled with tingles and chills. The woman who was being initiated was probably around 30. We learned that she had been really sick and went to a traditional healer. The healer said that her ancestors were beckoning her to be a sangoma. This coincided with dreams she was having. Once she accepted the calling, she was healed. This is pretty much the same story for every sangoma we have met or heard of. I think it is so incredibly fascinating. That is their truth. It is 100% real. Why don't my ancestors call me to do things?
After the sangoma hunt, we came back home and cooked a feast that ended up feeding 16 people! One of my roommates is Indian-American, so we made tandoori chicken, potato curry, lemon rice, bread pudding, and good ol American chocolate chip cookies. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed it, and it felt so good to give something back to this absolutely beautiful family that has given us so much. It is so nice to really be in a community. After the never-ending feast, we went back to the first sangoma who had dressed up so that we could take pictures of her posing with her certificates. What a day!"

Now I am back in Cape Town living in the Bo Kaap district. It is beautiful and once again I have an amazing family. I finally have kids in my family (three girls, 11, 7, and 2). It is great fun. There is only 3 weeks left on this crazy adventure. Thanks for following through it all with me!