Ecabazini and Durban

This weekend was BUSY. On friday afternoon we made our way to Ecabazini, a traditional Zulu homestead (umuzi in zulu). Realistically, it's more of a recreated homestead that's open to visitors, but it is set up the same as a "real" homestead and is run by Zulus that live in the almost identical homestead right down the hill. So it was pretty authentic as zulu homesteads go. So we were greeted at the gate by men in traditional dress and were escorted to our respective huts- the men were in the hut on the top of the hill and the rest of us women stayed in the huts beneath the central one that would have housed the first and second wives. Our leaders got to sleep in the huts beneath ours that would have housed the children. After being shown the huts and bathrooms the tour began. The zulus were very intentional about every aspect of what they did and everything had a reason behind it so there was a lot to explain. The homestead is centered around the cattle kraal which gives you an illustration of the centrality of cattle in the zulu culture, and the kraal is surrounded by the huts for the men, wives, children, and the cooking hut. After the explanation of the buildings we were staying in, the people that were working there, and the traditional garb they were wearing, we walked down to the homestead where all of the zulus lived. It was remarkably similar to our set up. The houses were older looking and certainly a little more worn but there were all the same structures made from all the same materials, and this is where these people lived, which really put the whole experience into perspective. We walked into the cooking hut which was not open like ours so i was expecting a fair amount of smoke and soot, but the hut was quite clean. Zulu huts are made from thatch laid over a stick frame which lets the hut breathe and keeps them cool and dark, so the hut was only covered in soot from about 2 feet off the ground and up. The bottom portion of the hut was still the golden brown of the thatch which was really interesting. Then we went into the isangoma's hut. The isangoma in zulu culture is the mediator between the zulus and the ancestors who control their lives, so the isangoma is the spiritual leader of the community and has a lot of influence. And the spiritual presence in his hut was overwhelming- i know a lot of the group felt oppressed by the presence in the room and many of us were praying through the thickness of the space, which was our first real encounter with spiritual warfare on this trip. So after we left that hut we moved into the home of the isangoma which was decked out with lots of modern conveniences. The "real" zulu homestead has a methane producing system that gives them all gas to cook and heat water. They harvest- for lack of a better word, the cow manure that builds up in the kraal and then mix it with water and put it in an underground reservoir which channels the methane from the holding tank into these people's homes and provides them with free clean gas. After our tour of the other homestead we walked down to the lake that may or may not have had crocodiles and some of us went swimming. After we got back we ate dinner which was steak grilled over the fire and zulu bread as an appetizer, and then chicken, beans, maize, and vegetables cooked in curry which was all incredibly delicious. After dinner they let us try zulu beer which is made out of fermented sorghum- the indigenous grain that is used in a ton of the traditional dishes, and they performed traditional zulu dancing for us which was incredible. The dancing was more feats of strength then it was dancing like we would think- it was a lot of kicking as high as you possibly can and then jumping around but it was great to watch and my favorite part was the singing. God gifted the africans with beautiful voices and all of it was so incredibly effortless. The were harmonizing like nobody's business, and it was no big deal. No one was ever out of step and the drum was never off beat, and we were in a round hut so the sound surrounded you and it felt like the drum beat was coming from the floor. It was perfect. It made me very excited to go to zulu church and hear the zulu choir and get to experience these people singing again cause they are so naturally talented and it's fun to watch. After zulu dancing we went to bed and the next morning we got up and had sorghum porridge and a few more normal breakfast items and then we moved to a different part of the camp and they showed us how to do traditional zulu pottery. Zulu pots were not fired which makes them all porous which means the clay absorbs the moisture of whatever is in it. Normally this is not what you want happening to your pottery, but when your clay is wet it sweats and becomes cool which in turn makes the liquid inside cool, so the zulus put their liquids in clay pots to keep them cool which is super interesting and works remarkably well. After making pinch pots we had tea and then got to hold the baby goats. We then moved into a hut where we talked about daily life for the zulu people and our guide showed us weapons and talked about zulu history for a while. And then we got to the cow dung. The floors of zulu huts are made of hard packed termite mound which you can't clean with water, so to get off mud stains the zulus rub the floors with cow dung which they told us they do about once a week. One of the zulu women then proceeded to do this and show us how and a few members of our party got to try. Then they showed us how they grind the sorghum to make pretty much everything in a huge mortar and pestle which we also got to try. Then we had beadwork time which is a traditional zulu craft and is something that i'd seen zulu women do before so we all made bracelets to take home. And after that our trip was done and we got back in the bus and headed home. We got back just after lunch so we decided to set up our new slip n slide which is a grand total of 30 ft long and was a lot of fun although a number of injuries were sustained. Sunday we got up and went to church at a new place that meets in a circus tent and it was a congregation of mostly zulus and indians so in the african custom they prayed out loud all at the same time which i always enjoy. Then we headed to durban to visit the markets because they are the best place to buy souvenirs so we got some stuff for real cheep and then made our way to the beach. This beach was very different from the one we had been to before because this was in the middle of durban and was very comparable to any beach in LA. It started raining about an hour after we got there and people had homework so we called it a day and made our way home but everyone had a lot of fun swimming, the indian ocean is really warm especially to the californians, and we all made some good purchases so it was a successful day for sure.
This week is midterms so it is busybusybusy for everyone but we'll get through it and then this coming weekend is safari which should be great!!!