Rural African Life in Community
We arrived back in Manzini on Tuesday, July, 24th.
The city didn’t change much with out us, but we changed with out the city.
We picked up a few habits, learned some new tricks and found appreciation in the small things, I mean the really small things.
Mornings on the cattle farm would start out early with the battery free alarm clocks all around (the chickens that is).
Emilie, Courtney and I were the early risers of the bunch, getting a head start on the day before the chaos began.
As the rest of the crew would sporadically emerge from their tents we would chat about our most recent bites (tick bite fever was a common illness among the group, I however was not a victim of the infirmity), flat sleeping pads (June racers not included) and how many days it had been since we last showered.
Silas and I would go on our morning runs and by the time we left the property, we would have a school of children running with us. Even little ones as young as 7 would keep up with no shoes on (its not that I’m in bad shape, it’s just that they are in excellent shape, okay maybe not).
Me Courtney and Emilie Silas, my running partner
Africa is not known for its punctuality, so in order to turn the potential frustration into fun we would bet sodas for the closest guess of what time our ride would arrive.
A trip to the Matata Supermarket was the weekly excitement, even worth dressing up for.
Everyone knows the quote; “The best thing since sliced bread”. But does anyone know how valid that quote really is.
This is something we learned during our first week there.
The Matata supermarket had a bread slicer, our local supermarket, however, did not. Tamara taught us that if you can slice a loaf of bread without squishing it, you are ready to get married.
Some of us have actually become quite the experts at bread slicing.
In rural life, you don’t find your normal backyard pets like dogs and cats.
We have zebras, giraffes, chickens, cows and one cat. Our backyard also suffices as a kitchen.
We have hay bails for tables and chairs and cook over a fire with two cauldrons, EVERY NIGHT!
Meat is luxury item in meals while baked potatoes, creamy macaroni and cheese and tropical stir fry are some group faves.
Emilie and I discovered the fun behind playing a real game of “HOT POTATO”.
zebras giraffes
James making the fire. Also notice the hay bails The famous cauldron
zebras giraffes
James making the fire. Also notice the hay bails The famous cauldron
Did you ever know buckets could come in so handy?
We had several multi purpose buckets.
They are good for doing dishes, washing laundry, flushing toilets, scrubbing feet and storing random items.
Another hot commodity around our place was the electric water kettle.
It was great for hot drinks, boiling water for dinners, heating up water for bucket showers and filling our
nalgenes on cold nights.
I’m not sure we would have made it so well without our water kettle.
Our return to the city has brought us to terms that smoke is not a pleasant fragrance and showers are slightly more common than one may have practiced over the past five weeks.
Although we became very accustomed to the life of rural community livening, it has been a surprisingly easy adjustment coming back to the house.
