Wow!

We are just back from Lesedi, where we got to watch traditional Xhosa, Pedi, Sotho, and Zulu dancing. There were huge drums and people were singing, whistling, clapping, stamping, clicking, and shouting. The songs and dancing were very high-energy. The dancing was in a large circular thatched building with a fire in the center. We got to see some traditional spirit dances, and hunting dances, and even a barbecue dance celebrating that everyone was about to eat. At one point, two tiny little boys, not more than 2 or 3 years old, wandered in through the back door and toddled over to one of the groups of dancers. These kids, who live at Lesedi and obviously see a lot of dancing, just started to join in the dance, which was pretty darn adorable! (Let me just say LOTS of photos were taken!) At the end of the Zulu war dance (which saw the women trying to outkick the men in mock battle against the Zulu enemies), they said that now they sometimes end the dance with an English word...the word WOW.

And that about describes our day today!

We got a very emotional and personal tour through the Apartheid Museum, with our guide, Shane, a White South African, almost in tears at points. The museum is excellent, managing to be both very detailed and very emotionally powerful at the same time. We started by entering the building divided into two groups, the Whites and the Non-Whites, using two separate entrances and walking through two different displays separated by wire caging. All throughout the museum were video displays of important moments in Apartheid history, as well as testimonies from witnessess and participants (willing and unwilling). Some of the photographs were amazing,and it the museum was careful to start the story several hundred years ago so we could have the context in which Boer (Dutch) Nationalism was so strong; and of course, it was out of this nationalism that Apartheid was born.

One of the strongest moments in the museum was the room in which they have an actual Casspir, or large armoured truck that had been built to carry the security police into the Black townships. The truck was immense, with giant wheels, small windows that were impossible to see in, and the front of the truck had metal spikes on it. The police were packed in the back of the truck, up high so they could see down or jump out on top of people. The bench seats in the back held more than a dozen officers. We have seen photos and film of these trucks rushing into neighborhoods and bringing violence and chaos and fear, and to see one of these massive trucks in person really helped understand the scale of the power the police had.

We also got to understand just how beloved Nelson Mandela is. They call him The Great Man, and everywhere we go, we see his photo. And people ask us what we have heard about him, and then they share their own stories and memories of when they met him or heard him speak. At one point, we were pointed to a particular spot on a carpet (this was in Soweto) and told we should stand just there, as Nelson Mandela had stood there some years before. Today, while we were at Lesedi, we were watching a presentation about the different traditional cultural groups in South Africa, and at one point, Nelson Mandela's face was projected on the screen behind the actors and presenters, and everyone stopped and looked up at the photo. When the photo was taken down, they all nodded their heads in respect. It was a small little moment that told a lot. It isn't just Black Africans, by the way, who look up to Mandela. Many Whites do as well. I think in America, we know how important Mandela is, but we don't really understand how deeply important he is to his own country.

Jameson wins the award today for the most adventurous eating. In one day, he managed to eat Ostrich, Wart Hog, Spring Bok, and Crocodile. Many of the adventurous eaters tried a few bites of Crocodile (which tastes like a kind of oily fishy chicken). We also tried Peri Peri hot sauce at lunch (VERY hot), and many of us discovered pepperdews, which were very delicious (and are quite a common pizza topping here). Nobody tried eating the Pedi dried Mopane worms, which were fat and round, about the size of finger joint, and looked like they would be very crunchy. I have to point out that the worms did not look at all delicious!

Random geek fact: the South Africans have pioneered the disguise of their cell phone towers. They dress the towers up as large palm trees or pines. So we'll be driving along, and suddenly there will be a very tall and oddly regular palm tree and as we get closer, we'll realize it's all made of metal. They look kind of strange, or funny even, and I can't really imagine that it's so much better than looking at cell phone towers. But watch out for strange tree-shaped cellural towers at home, as apparently the idea is spreading internationally...

Tomorrow we leave early to head towards Kruger Park. We will be stopping along the way to see some amazing geological formations (they call this area of South Africa the Panorama Route, as some of the views are so amazing). I think everyone is going to charge the batteries for their cameras tonight!