The White Girls Are Lucky

On Saturday, February 9^th we began our homestays in Langa, a black township outside of Town. It was pouring that morning so we couldn't go to the beach like we had originally planned, and instead we ended up going to our classroom in Rondebosch and eating lunch at the restaurant beneath our classroom before heading to Langa around 2pm. While we were eating Tabesa surprised us with letters from our host mamas! My letter was short but sweet. In the letter my mama welcomed me to the family and told me that they had given me the name “Lilitha” which means sun ray in Xhosa because my family knew that I was coming with brightness and light. Anyone who knows me knows that I was balling my eyes out reading this letter (Hi Tay). I was so moved that a group of people who only know me through a letter already loved me and wanted me to be a part of their family! After weeks of anxiety about whether or not my homestay family would like me, my nervousness melt away and became replaced with excitement!

Langa is a big township and all twenty-seven of us are living in different parts, so Tabesa split us up into three groups to make pick-ups and drop-offs easier for our drivers. My group consists of Becky, Liora, Jenna, Myaisha, Carol, Juan, Sarah, Sharkey, and I and our driver Martin. After gathering our belongings from the various taxis and SIT office we piled into Martin’s taxi and set off for Langa!

Funny story about arriving in Langa – I actually got dropped off at the wrong house Saturday afternoon. After leaving Becky, Liora, Jenna, and Juan with their host families, Martin announced that I was next. Butterflies filled my stomach. We pulled up to a brown house on a corner where there were two girls and an older woman waiting by the curb. Mama hugged me and grabbed me bag, pulling me toward the door. As we approached the door I noticed that there was a big number eight on the wall. Panic immediately filled my stomach. I was supposed to be at dropped off at number six, not number eight! I let the woman drag me into the house before politely telling her that I thought I was at the wrong house. She then proceeded to pull out a picture of Sharkey, her real host daughter, and compare our faces. At about the same time Martin realized that he had made a mistake and started yelling for me to come back outside. Mama helped me bring my bags back to the taxi and gave me a hug, saying she would invite me over soon before dragging Sharkey and her suitcases inside. We almost had another drop-off mistake with Myaisha almost getting dropped off at my house but luckily Martin realized his mistake before Myaisha’s bags were out of the taxi. I pulled my suitcases out of the taxi for the second and final time, waved goodbye to my friends and walked into my new home for the next 23 days with Mama Yoli who was waiting for me at the front gate.

Mama Yoli (my grandmother) showed me to my room where we dropped off my bags before leading me to the back of the house to meet my mama, sisi, and the baby. Mama greeted me warmly and welcomed me to her home, then sent me off to unpack my bags. The unpacking process didn’t take long as a) I don’t have that much stuff and b) I needed to do laundry pretty badly at this point, so after depositing my belongings on the dresser and hanging up some dresses I made my way out of the safety of my room to socialize with my family. While I was in the kitchen with mama who was cooking fat cakes (the South African equivalent of fried bread dough) my tata came home with his friends. The first thing he said to me was “you have pets?” I was thrown off guard and stammered that I have a pet dog named Luke at home. “And?” he asked, “You said you had two pets. That’s only one.” Que awkward moment when you realize your homestay dad is referencing the letter you wrote introducing yourself and you can’t remember your (deceased) pet rabbit’s name… (Sorry Allison). I finally managed to come up with Junior’s name after a long pause and explained that he passed away over the summer which is why I couldn't come up with his name. “Rabbits aren’t pets,” my tata replied,* before his friends jumped in and started asking me questions about life in the US. After chatting for a few minutes Mama Yoli informed me that I would be accompanying her to a party and that we would be picking up her sister Mimi and Kelin, one of the girls in my program, on the way. That was fast! I had only been in Langa for a little over an hour and I was headed off to a party!

The party was being held at Mama Yoli and Mimi’s sister’s house. When we arrived the house was already full of people, but Kelin and I managed to find a space on a bench in the living room with the rest of the women. At first I felt a little awkward because everyone was speaking in Xhosa and at that point I only knew how to say a few words, but I realized after a while that no one expected to me to know any Xhosa or even participate in the conversation so I spent most of the time taking in my surroundings and observing the people around me. It was quite entertaining to say the least and I found myself enjoying the party, even though I was only a bystander. At one point our hostess switched from Xhosa to English and addressed the party, “Today is a good day. Rain brings good fortunate and it brought these two white ladies to us. These pure white girls are lucky! They are lucky! Go out and buy Powerball tickets and you will all be winners!” Stewart and Tabesa had told us that rain was considered to be a good sign in this culture and that our hosts would probably comment upon the fact that our arrival coincided with rain, but I didn’t quite expect this sort of response! All of the party-goers laughed and laughed and then resumed chatting with each other in Xhosa.

After a few hours Tata returned with the car and brought us all home. Mama made dinner for me as I hadn’t eaten anything at the party and invited me to watch TV with her in her bedroom while she took care of the baby. My tiny sisi is about 16 days old and the sweetest little thing, though she can be quite vocal when she’s hungry and at bath time. After spending some time with Mama and baby I was sent to my room to get some much needed sleep.

On Sunday morning I got up early as Mama and Mama Yoli had arranged for me to go to church with one of Mama Yoli’s friends’ daughters and Myaisha, another girl in my program. Nande, Myaisha, and I, along with two of Nande’s friends headed to the Methodist Church in Rosebank, a nearby town. I had never been to a Methodist church service before and boy was it long – three hours to be exact! The time went by quickly however, and I really enjoyed the service. The pastor was white which I found extremely interesting since 99% of his congregation is black, and the service itself was in English while the singing was in Xhosa. The service was very lively and there was lots of dancing among the youth group members. One of the crowd’s favorite dance moves was what my Pontigny 226 girls and I fondly refer to as “the Mayshit” (hey Mary), which made me laugh so hard! All in all I had a very enjoyable time, though I was glad when the service finally ended.

Almost as soon as I walked in the door I heard people shouting my name from outside the front gate. Mama shooed me outside to find out who it was, and to my surprise I found my friend Lara with her sisi and a friend looking for me! After chatting for a few minutes we decided to walk down the street to Juan’s house to check up on him and say hi (you did say stop by anytime, Juan!). After being informed by one of Juan’s bhutis that he was at Ryan’s house, we set off across Langa to find our friends. On the way there we actually ran into Juan, Ryan, and Kelsey Rae with their siblings! We decided to merge our two groups and set out to find more of our friends. We spent about two hours exploring Langa and picking up our classmates and their siblings from all over the township, and it was one of the most enjoyable afternoons I've ever had! As we walked kids playing in and along the street would stop and stare at our rag-tag group. The brave children ran up and interacted with us. One little girl ran up beside me and grabbed hold of my wrist as I passed by and walked with me for a few paces before letting go and running away giggling. Another little boy gave me the thumbs up as I passed, which I returned. Next time I go for a walk I need to remember to take the small party favors I brought so I can make some more friends! When the sun got too hot to bear, we all headed back to our respective houses around Langa. When I got back Mama gave me a plate of food and sent me to my room to rest because she wanted to watch a documentary with me at 8:20pm and didn't want me to fall asleep. My mama already knows me so well! That night we watched “Miracle Rising in South Africa” on the History Channel which was about the democracy movement in South Africa from Nelson Mandela’s release from prison to his election to the presidency in 1994. The show had a star studded cast, including both of the Clintons, Oprah, Bono, and Peter Garbriel to name a few. It was a very informative program and allowed me to fill in some gaps about post-apartheid South Africa. It also gave me the opportunity to bond with my mama by hearing about the democracy movement in SA from her point of view. Experiential learning at its finest, am I right?

I’ve been living in Langa for six days now and am really enjoying the experience! If the past few days are any prediction of the future, I will (hopefully) pass my Xhosa course thanks to Mama’s diligent coaching and leave South Africa addicted to soap operas (Isidingo and Generations, to be exact).

* This comment has also been agreed upon by Lara’s sisi who had the same reaction as my Tata when I was recounting this story