3/11/2010

First day of homestays! We didn’t have to leave so early this morning, as we weren’t due in the villages until after 230. We took a nice game drive through the park, and then leisurely made our way there. Once in Ha-Makuya, we divided into our six groups. I was with Jay, Hannah and Benjy. We got to go to a village called mulokowabane (I am positive I spelled that wrong), along with one other group. We were split up, so we didn’t see them the entire time. Our host mother was about 30, but at first glance I could have sworn she was no older than we. They were all whooping and hollering as we pulled up, and they seemed really excited to have us there. They had made us lunch, so the first thing we did was learn about proper meal etiquette. The girls serve, and then bow to the men. It’s a very sub-female system. First meal? How about some locusts? They taste like popcorn. Then we went and sat outside, talking with the adults, learning the greetings, playing games with the children, dancing…no one was ever not doing anything. We then made dinner, which consisted of pap (pronounced pup) and a bean leaf dish. Hannah and I helped make it, and let me tell you this; pap is hard to make. You have to work so hard to mix it, and neither of us really had the guns. These women, however, were just whipping it about like it was milk. When we finally got done (it took us forever to make the pap), it was dark, and so we ate inside with the lights on. For a treat (two treats, actually), after dinner they gave us watermelon and some sprite. We finally went to bed around 10, and then had to write our field notes of the day on the resources the family uses.