Food and Horns

Sawubonani! Ninjani? (Hello! How are you?)

I have had some new cultural experiences today that I would like to share on my blog. First off, I have been initiated into the amazi club. Amazi is a South African dish made of sour milk, plain yogurt, cream, and putu which is a grain (also called mealy-meal it is the staple of poor people…a necessity. If you cannot afford mealy-meal it is given to you by the government). This is all combined together to form a dish. When I came home, I thought I smelled food being cooked... I guess I was wrong. My mama told me I would be eating something “very different” for dinner today. Amazi has a reputation in our program, because many of the homestay families love it… it is a nice break from cooking, a nice break from hot food (particularly in hot weather), and a break from all of the spices. The dish, however, does not sit well on the American stomach. Some of my colleagues were introduced to the dish earlier in the homestay, and I felt lucky I wasn’t in the number...but I got it today! I tried it...as I am open to trying new thigns. It wasn’t unbearable, but I am not used to consuming sour milk. I think I might be a tad lactose intolerant anyway, so I try to stay away from milk as much as possible…but having a dish filled with sour milk didn’t appease my taste buds, or my stomach. I had to take an antacid tablet just now to try and calm my stomach from the flips it has been doing. Luckily my homestay family noticed my lack of enthusiasm for the dish, and allowed me to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I felt really awful about the whole situation! Mama’s like when guests clean their plates…and I usually do… but this time, I barely touched my meal. Anyway, here’s to new cultural experiences!

I began to watch my first soccer game on television tonight, although I had to retire to my room, because it is already past my 9:30 bedtime (I have to wake up at 5 am tomorrow). Before I retired to my room, however, I learned that South Africans really love their soccer. Moreover, every time RSA scored, you would hear the vuvuzelas (the horns) blowing… not only on the television, but in around the township as well. Hopefully we will go to a soccer game sometime soon, and maybe I will purchase a few of them to bring back.

Lastly the violence here is awful, and it struck close to home a few days ago. A grandson a few houses down have begun to take an up-and-coming drug called wonga which is made of HIV antiretroviral pills, rat poison and methanphetamines. The boy stabbed his grandmother several times because he got into an argument with her. As the gogo or grandmother was bleeding, and ambulance was called... but it did not arrive for 4 HOURS! By the time it arrived someone took the gogo to nearby Westville Hospital (in the rich suburbs where the megamall Pavilion is located). The gogo tried to get treatment there, but she was informed she had to pay R10, 000 upfront before she could be treated. Imagine, bleeding all over your body from stab wounds, and a hospital is refusing to treat you because you cannot pay upfront. The gogo was then transported to another public hospital, King Edward. Although she had to wait in a long line there, at least the services were free. These are the issues of the current South African medical system.

It’s a travesty.