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Do people put Christmas lights up in SA? Bear in mind that I don?t walk anywhere at night, so I only know what I saw in the daytime. Maseru, Lesotho?s small capital city, had decorative lights strung across main street and, in a small park, red and green plastic palm trees stood around a traditional Christmas tree shape out of white lights. I didn?t see lights or decorations in front of houses in residential areas of Maseru or Pretoria. Most homes are surrounded by walls with gates across the driveways, so you can?t see much. At the Bloemfontein mall (where I went to see The Hobbit) there may have been some signs about Christmas in store windows, but I don?t remember much decoration there either. Back in Kameelpoort, I saw one man putting up a short string of white lights above his door on Christmas Eve.
Is the church service long? Do they sing lots of Christmas carols? I didn?t go to church the Sunday before Christmas because I had just returned home. But there were no Christmas Eve or Christmas Day services that I knew of. On Christmas Eve, I walked around the village with a young woman friend,
Jane, and met some of her cousins and friends who were visiting for the holidays. While walking, I struck up ?Joy to the World? which Jane and her friend knew...but Jane didn?t want to sing in front of others.I don?t know much, do I? I am ignorant about what?s on TV or radio, and I don?t get the newspapers. (I do read the 3-month old newspapers sitting in the outside latrine) I love having my outside room, but I don?t go into my family?s house often. Some PCV?s join their families at 8 each weekday to watch Generations, a very popular TV show. It is about two successful families in Jo-burg. Like Dallas without JR. Instead there is a lunatic young woman who put condoms in her friend?s suitcase so that the friend?s boyfriend would discover them; later on she got injured in a fall and is milking that for all it?s worth. One of the sons got married to another man, but he has a baby on the way with the daughter of the other family (who, of course, are feuding....though the mother of one family and the father of the other were involved previously and that
might be sparking up again). Like all soaps, if I watch it every 3 months or so, I catch up on all the dirt.My family invited me to join them at Patricia?s house near Pretoria for Christmas. First, which one is Patricia? In the car, I made a list of Martha?s family with Ouma?s help. Ouma is 4th down the list of Martha?s nine living children. She and her husband, Edison, live down the street from us and Patricia is the 2nd of their 5 daughters. Patricia is around the same age as Martha?s two youngest, Zanele and Samuel, who live at home. Such an age spread, and honestly, I can?t see the age differences at all! Since Christmas, we have had a young woman and her 3 yr. old daughter staying with us who are the daughter and grandaughter of Jane, Martha?s middle daughter.....who no way looks like a grandmother! So Martha?s great-grandaughter is younger than Martha?s grandaughter, Thandeka, who is Zanele?s daughter. There are two other granddaughters (or great-gd) staying here this break and watching these 4 girls play together is such a kick! This is why I enjoyed myself so much this Christmas....Just feeling like
I was getting to know the family.As an ugogo, I sat most of the day under a canopy with Martha and Ouma (Ouma is a very heavy woman who can?t do much physical work). Early in the day, Patricia let me slice up the carrots, but I was never in that very small kitchen when all the food was being dished up. I brought a crochet project along (a potholder I gave to Patricia later) and Martha did most of it. She used to knit and crochet a lot before her eyesight worsened; but this was an easy thing, so she was happy. Others joined us under the canopy, Patricia?s father-in-law and another older man. They had a beer or two to drink, but I didn?t see anyone drinking too much that day. Two men grilled the meat outdoors (a braii - pronounced bry) , and then young people delivered plates of food, to the men and elderly first..including me. (Let?s not go there!) Food was pap, tomato/onion gravy, vegetables, and meat. [Time in SA: I was told we?d leave at 8 am, but we left at 10 and arrived before noon. Food was served about 4. Martha?s son, Moses, said something which made the others laugh (which of course, I couldn?t understand) When I asked his wife, Hilda, what he said, she told me he was being ?the rude uncle? by commenting on how long it was taking Patricia to get the food ready. Anyway, things happen when they happen here in SA.] After our food plates are taken, large plates piled with an assortment of chips and nuts appear. There is nothing to drink during the main course, but now large cold drink bottles are set down by every 4 or 5 people and glasses are poured around. After this, dessert is a bowl of cake, fruit cocktail, and pudding. Last is a plate of watermelon. About two hours have gone by, with young people carrying plates back and forth between the guests and the kitchen. I just sat, waited, and watched. We were about to pour wine for those of us under the canopy when the thunderstorm which had been sputtering for the last hour, became a downpour. Grace came out with an umbrella and escorted us, one by one, into the house.
It?s not just time that?s laid back here, it?s something about life. (It?s really quite different from the characters in the TV show, Generations, with all that drama.) Conversation (with a lot of humour as far as I can tell) is the order of the day. My take on this, is that there is also a lot less ?fretting, arranging, and worrying? than I?m accustomed to. Arranging the meal is not a feat to be accomplished and family members are content to just sit around and joke amongst themselves......for hours. Some of the jokes I get translated even seem pretty lame to me. All contribute to the conversation, and everybody is just there, with no expectations. (I DO expect some days of heavy-duty card playing arranged when I get back to the States, however.) Do you see how our cultures are different? I know I am from a family that likes to fix things up so they ?go right? and I know that some of the frustrations I may have at work will be because I expect things to be examined and improved; which may not happen here in quite the same way. Who knows, maybe all this ?worrying? I equate with my American home is really part of a culture centered on financial success, and can be found anywhere, as Generations seems to show. Or maybe Martha?s family is just so nice....Martha has a great chuckle and I never heard her sound like she was scolding or reprimanding anyone. Whatever dramas there may be in such a large family which is bound to have conflicts or concerns, they didn?t surface on this holiday.
The evening ended with the music being turned up and people going outside to dance whenever the rain let up. The house was so small that it felt like a college party in a rented house packed with people. Music and laughter were very loud, everyone was enjoying themselves. Then we piled in the two cars (Samuel?s and his girlfriend?s); I had Lindo (one of the little girls) asleep on my lap. And we got home before midnight.
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Source: http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Mpumalanga-/Barberton/blog-765327.html
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