Tshabo: Rural Village Homestay

From March 7^th- March 14^th my friend Becky and I lived with a family in Tshabo, a rural village twenty minutes outside King William’s Town in the Eastern Cape. In order to get to the Eastern Cape from Cape Town in the Western Cape we took a grueling 17-hour bus ride on an Intercape bus. The running joke of the voyage was that it would have been faster to fly non-stop from Cape Town to New York City then it took us to drive across the bottom coast of South Africa! Luckily most of our journey took place at night and there were stops along the way for bathroom and snack breaks, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. The only small hiccup of the trip was that the aircon was blasting all night and when Jenna approached the driver to ask if it could be turned down, she was told that there was a “chemical leakage” and the aircon was on full blast so we wouldn't smell it… ummm what?! That couldn't be good! Around 5 am we were allowed to get off the bus while the crew cleaned up the spill. Based on the amount of blue liquid being cleared away, we determined that it was probably the detergent that was used in the bus’s toilet that had leaked or spilled, not carbon monoxide like Lara feared.

The rest of the voyage was thankfully uneventful, as was our stay in Tshabo. Living in the rural village was much harder for me than I had anticipated. After living in Cape Town for the past four weeks I was unprepared for the slow-paced lifestyle of the village, along with the lack of reliable electricity and running water. I also had technology withdrawals as I didn't have internet access and didn't feel comfortable pulling out my laptop and ipod in front of my parents and siblings to do work or listen to music. The stay in the village was also emotionally hard for me. Even though I had my cell phone, I had to conserve my airtime as there wasn't anywhere to buy airtime in the village, and as a result I felt very disconnected. I also didn't have room in my bag for my letters from home so I couldn't pull them out of my bag and read them when I was missing my family and friends. The biggest difficulty however, was the language barrier. My family spoke very limited English and Becky and I combined spoke even less Xhosa, so the week was full of broken English and Xhosa and lots and lots of hand gestures. While stressful at first, I was able to adjust over time as we all found a way to communicate with one another.

Even though the week in Tshabo was tough for me, I still did my best to stay positive! Here’s my list of high points from the week:

-Being greeted by our mamas at the high school. When our taxis pulled up all the mamas were lined up along the drive singing and dancing, welcoming us into their homes. As soon as we jumped out of our transports they were there to greet us with handshakes and hugs!

-Food. So much food all the time. Two breakfasts every day. And bread. So much homemade bread.

-Taking in the beautiful view of the village and surrounding area from my backyard

-Free time! We didn't have classes and only had a few planned activities, including an excursion to the Steve Biko Center, so we got to explore the village, socialize, and just plain relax after a few stressful weeks

-Getting to talk on the phone with someone special from back home

-The village dogs! I actually got to pet them unlike the dogs in Langa

-Learning how to bead and teaching mama how to make friendship bracelets in return

-Playing with my siblings, (mama’s grandkids) Lisa, Emishle, Lakanye, and Anita, and the rest of the neighborhood children

-Becoming friends with Anita! Anita is five and up until our last full day didn't want to have anything to do with Becky and I because she was so terrified of us. Everything changed at the homestay party however, when she decided to try to tickle Becky and I. By the end of the day the three of us were the best of friends!

-Mama’s excitement when Becky and I gave her our thank you gifts for the family: a new broom, dish towels from Vermont, and maple syrup from Massachusetts. I’ve never seen her so happy! She started jumping up and down when she opened the packages and had the biggest smile on her face

-Our siblings’ excitement when we gave them their gifts: noise makers and kaleidoscoops. It was a good thing we saved the noise makers for the last night because boy they were loud!

-Getting to spend time with Becky. We were good friends before Tshabo, but living (and bathing!) together has definitely brought us closer.

-My Tshabo Family. Though we couldn't always communicate, there was still a lot of kindness and love. While I might not miss living in the village, I will miss my family and look back fondly on the time we spent together over the course of the week.

our house

our chickens + the outhouse