Adjusting to Rural Life

Hello all. As I spend my days in rural South Africa, living in the Northern part of Limpopo province, I often feel that the modern world has passed right over Africa. With no running water and limited electricity, I find myself working hard to do things that at one point were so simple. What used to be a simple chore of throwing clothes in the wash, now takes four hours to fetch the water, lift the water, soak the clothes, scrub them on your hands until your raw and bleeding, then rinse them, wring them and hang them while they bleach in the blazing sun. It takes roughly four hours. Much like life now, things are slow, quiet and peaceful, all taking hours to complete a task simply becuase it's so bloody hot here, you can't do much but sit under a large tree and have "cold drink" aka soda.

Last weekend I spent my sunday with my cousins learning to cook Morogo, a type of spinach and porridge. I picked it from the garden, cooked over a fire pit that was so hot and dusty, my eyes were tearing the whole time, and milked cows to use the milk for our porridge. Everything I ate was something I picked myself and made from scratch. I went to church where a prophet called me from a crowd, pulled me aside and rambled for ten minutes in Sepedi, all of which I could not understand. It was translated that if I drink tea for two weeks, my family and friends in America will be well taken care of. I figure, why not. And after church, and being rained on in a typical afternoon shower, two full rainbows appeared in the dark stormy sky overhead. My cousin grabbed my hand and said, "Lethabo, do you know what that is?" as she points to the sky. I say, yes they are rainbows. She said, "You know what, Lethabo. It rains today on us and shines with rainbows because people, you know, they pray. They pray for their pain to go away. Today is a good day. God shed tears for all our pain, and now we can eat and be happy." And she grabbed my hand as we stood in line for porridge, cabbage, chicken feet and morogo, as people danced and sang, feeling free of their sadness for one more day.