I find it hard to believe that
we have been living here in Qolora for a year already. What have I
learnt during that time you might ask? Well something interesting is
that many roosters get castrated. It’s a special skill, practised
by a couple of trained grandmothers or old men who know which part of
the internal bits to remove. They turn the bird over, deftly slice
under the ribs, pop out the goonies and slice off the unwanted bits.
Where I come from, people take their poor cats and dogs to the vet
where they leave their testicles and their dignity behind and return
home docile and less likely to roam the neighbourhood. Loosing your
manliness would take the wind out of your bag I guess. Anyway here in
Qolora, all the dogs are brown, scrawny, hungry and from the same
stock. Having more than one cock on your property is more of an
issue though as they will fight each other to the death to put claim
to their roost of hens. Turns out our hen, the one who doesn't lay
eggs, but occasionally squawks a pathetic sort of crow and doesn't partake in any recreational fowl play around the yard other than an
occasional dash, isn't who we thought she was. After she grew tail
feathers, I asked a Xhosa woman who probably thought I was as thick
as a plank for not knowing the basic facts of life, to identify our
unique fowl. Turns out our eunuch chicken has been under the knife
which explains his behaviour and why he’s getting so fat. He is
meant for the pot but Theo doesn't seem to be making a move to
slaughter it as he’s too busy figuring out what to do with only one
egg per day. Meanwhile the eunuch rooster doesn't know where it
fits in, the functional rooster is getting cockier every day and the
hen is getting laid more often than she is laying eggs.
Besides learning about the
schematics of our chickens, I've also learnt that facebook is
addictive. I was probably one of the last people to succumb to its
web of exploit. Now, every time someone has an epiphany or comes
across a quote proclaiming peace and happiness it seems I'm also
informed along with the rest of the world. I've joined an Anti
Animal Cruelty group and I'm horrified at my response of being
reminded daily that I belong to the same human race as those
repulsive people who abuse animals, yet I do nothing about it. I've become bored with the window into other peoples lives but I still
find myself scrolling down daily looking for something but goodness
knows what it could be.
Naturally, the two most
important things I've learnt while here in Transkei is the Xhosa
culture (which is an ongoing quest) and the Transkei education
system, the first being intriguing and the second being shocking.
Here, the Xhosa style of cooking is not very imaginative and copious
amounts of oil and Aromat are the only flavourants used. All cuts of
meat are chopped into hunks and boiled in their own juice or braaied.
Xhosa people share their food readily and when feeding visitors, the
correct etiquette is to fill your guest’s cup and plate to the
brim. People always carry left overs home. Xhosa women enjoy their
tea or coffee very hot and use a tablespoon to sip from their cup.
Umfino is a bitter leafy wild vegetable boiled with pap and oil.
Vegetables can be chopped into minuscule pieces without using a
chopping board or a mixer. Much less preservatives or additives are
eaten in the Xhosa diet so people don’t suffer as much from cancer
and other modern diseases.
I've learnt that getting my
tongue to click at different angles in my mouth at the same time as
pronouncing a bunch of syllables is difficult. I've learnt that
Xhosa people are in no hurry to get anywhere and they love singing
while doing chores, walking, visiting, partying or any occasion.
Gospel tunes are favoured. Night time singing while walking home
through the hills makes one feel braver in the dark. Ululating and
repeatedly flicking out your hand towards someone is a show of
appreciation and handshakes are a three part ritual which has nothing
to do with rappers. The colour of the beautiful, beaded, traditional
outfits of wraps, skirts, aprons and headgear worn by older women
often vary from area to area. A new bride’s patience is tested as
she is expected to serve her inlaws hand and foot for the first few
weeks of her marriage. A man with a foreskin is still a boy. A
medicine person treats patients without asking them to describe their
ailments as opposed to a regular doctor who does, thereby exposing
their incompetence for having to extract the ailment from the
patient. A medicine person also treats cases of bad luck and
psychological ailments.
Xhosa superstitions are
different to western superstitions. Black cats, ladders, Friday the
13th,
7 years of bad luck from broken mirrors, salt over your shoulder,
lucky charms which keep one safe or help you rugby team win and
number 3, 7, 13 or 666 are not considered. Sitting on your front step
blocking your front door is considered unlucky because you are
preventing a family member from returning from whatever place they
have travelled to for a length of time. Dangling a needle over your
pregnant friend’s stomach to find out if she’s carrying a boy or
a girl isn’t practised but if you have twins it used to be
recommended to plant a Euphorbia (Naboom) which is a hardy plant and
as long as the plant grows strongly, so will the children be healthy.
I’ve learnt that funerals
are a very big part of Xhosa life and that if a young man disrespects
his tradition by not attending, (which also leaves less men to dig
the hole) he can be fined as much as R500 by the elders. I’ve
learnt that important family decisions are made based on people’s
dreams and that even ancestors can get very jealous of each other.
I’ve learnt that killing a cow sorts out a lot of issues.
The most important aspect of
Xhosa culture is the traditional belief in ancestors. This is
changing and unfortunately as younger people are drawn to a more
modern lifestyle in cities, so their customs are being forgotten.
And then there’s the
education system. Where to start. Well, the whole system sucks.
Teachers, themselves struggling with the English language,
ineffectively teaching in schools without sufficient desks, chairs,
books, working toilets, jammed into overcrowded classrooms, regular
absenteeism and led by principals without any management training is
the norm. I’m learning to go with the flow but seeing the system
fail the learners on a daily basis is frustrating.
I think the most important
thing I’m learning is that the way I view my world determines my
place in it. I’m here in Transkei to observe not to judge.
