Last weekend, the entire IES group traveled to the nearby township of Gugulethu to spend the night in Tambo Village as a part of our home-stay program. We arrived in Tambo Village late Saturday afternoon and were greeted by many energetic children running around in from of Mama Knox’s house, who coordinated the home-stay program. As we each waiter for our individual ‘Mamas’ to come pick us up for the night, we played with the children of Tambo and were greeted by many of the village’s residents. My suitemate, Rachel and I were roommates for the night and anxiously waited for Mama Titi to come pick us up and bring her to her home. She arrived with her precious granddaughter, Nilady, and we walked to her house just as the sun was setting behind Devil’s Peak and Table Mountain, which we had a clear view of from Tambo. Mama Titi had small and very beautiful home in the village, and introduced us to her daughter and Nilady’s mother, Tumi, and her 18 year-old neice who also lived with them. Tumi and Mama Titi had prepared a delicious traditional South African meal for us and we all ate dinner together shortly after our arrival. It was one of the best meals I have had during my stay in South Africa so far.
After dinner, we all watched South Africa’s version of American Idol together, and Nilady played with my hair. I told Mama Titi how nice it was to be in a real home again with a family, and shared stories with her about my family in Michigan. Rachel and I both hit the hay very early and slept like rocks at Mama Titi’s.
On Sunday we all attended the Gugulethu church. It was very high-energy service with a live band, and lots of signing and dancing. Shortly after, we walked across Gugulethu and headed towards Mzoli’s Place to eat lunch. Mzoli’s serves traditional South African braai meat, and it was so delicious! It was truly a barbaric experience, there is no silverware handed out, and tons of meat seasoned with braai is to be eaten with your hands. It was so delicious and quite the experience! Unfortunately my camera’s battery died during church and I was unable to capture any of the Mzoli’s experience.
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Julianna Ashe
<p><span style="color: rgb(29, 29, 29); font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; background-color: rgb(237, 237, 237);">Jules Ashe is Senior at the University of Vermont majoring in Environmental Studies and minoring in Women's and Gender Studies. Her passions include traveling, cooking, music, photography, and making new connections and relationships with people all over the world. She is very excited to live beside both the Atlantic and Indian Ocean in Cape Town, and be surrounded by a range of beautiful mountains. Mostly though, she cannot wait to take many new pictures and share them with everyone back home!</span></p>
