July 7, 2013

July 7, 2013

My first Sunday here in South Africa.   So far, I am learning many new things every day and I don’t think today will be any different.  Church started at 9:30 and we were there by 9:00.  Before church started, everyone stood around and greeted each other.  When you greet people here, it is not a typical handshake.  Instead, you clasp thumbs (that’s the best way I can think of describing it), then you shake their hand and then you clasp thumbs again.  Afterwards, you typically give a hug.  Took me a bit to get the routine down, but I think I know it.  However, if I come back to Canada and someone wants to shake hands, I might accidentally do it this way know – especially after being here for another 5 ½ weeks. 

Around 9:30, once the people that were there were seated, a lady began singing.   Everyone else joined in with most people clapping.  Some of the people even had a leather covered pillow that they held in one hand.  This way, their clapping was louder.   Once a few songs were done, the 10 commandments were read (in Zutu and English), the Apostle’s Creed echoed back by the members and a prayer, the elder preached in English.  A lady then translated the English into Zulu.  The sermon today was from Matthew 6 on the narrow path and the broad path and how that the narrow path is hard to take, but has so much more reward. 

Once we arrived back at the Farm, I had coffee with the Lukens.  And yes, I DID have coffee.  I managed to drink about ¼ cup and one of my goals is to be able to drink coffee by the time I leave – I don’t know how successful I will be as it is pretty nasty. 

In the evening, a lady came who was from Canada. She attends FRC in Ontario, so we played some Dutch Bingo, but did not find anyone common relatives among us.  During this time, the power went off.  This is a regular occurrence, so no one was worried.  We put on our candles and kept doing the regular things.   In a few hours, it was back on. 

Since this is a short blog, I have some time to describe what you see when you drive down the roads.

As I mentioned, the shape of the primary roads are excellent and shape of the secondary roads are decent.  However, the shape of the roads going to people’s houses are quite rough.  The dirt here is red and so imagine packed red dirt with lots of pot –holes and bumps in it.  You have to crawl over the roads and vehicles are quite worn down by them.  As you are driving, you will see people of all ages walking from one spot to another, whether it’s to a grocery store, to a business, back home or just walking.  In the main intersections, there will be people walking around trying to sell newspapers, toys, household decorations, flags and many other small things.   Along the side of the road, you will see many different buildings.  Some are made up of red brick, others are constructed of tin.  They are about 12 feet by 8 feet.  These are businesses.  There will be signs displaying what each is for – haircuts, funerals, tires, upholstery repair, etc.  There does not seem to be any rhyme or reason to the location of the buildings – just wherever there is an empty spot on the side of the road, a building was placed.  Some businesses do not have any building – instead they just place their product on the ground and move it when the day is done.  This typically is for fruits and veggies. 

Hopefully, this gives you a bit of a picture of the South Africa I am seeing.