Birthday In South Africa

Friday, June 23

I'm here in South Africa for ten weeks, learning Zulu and doing research on 19th century Zulu history.

I spent my 32nd birthday in a township named Imbali in South Africa, trying to learn Zulu. For the entire week, I lived with my Zulu family--a family of women, pictured here. Families headed by women, or consisting mostly of women, is quite common in South Africa. Most of the other students were similarly struck by the lack of men in or around the township or in their families.

The four girls you see in the picture on the right--my sisters (odadewethu)-- woke me up at 6:30 by singing Happy Birthday in Zulu. I took this picture on Friday evening, just before most of us went to a braai (a barbecue) for all the Zulu students and their host families. There, around 80 Africans and American students gathered in the living room and sang happy birthday to me in English, isiZulu, and amaXhosa.

My Zulu mama--uElizabeth wakwaNene, pictured on the left--works in a town far from her home. She is gone Monday through Friday, so the four girls (two daughters and two nieces) stay with uGogo (Grandmother). I was amazed at how responsible the two oldest girls were and how much work they had. Gogo is old and like many women her age (72) spends a lot of her time in bed, especially in the winter, when it is cold. (In these unheated houses and buildings, it is very cold!!!!). Gogo is a lovely lady and we had a lot of funny moments--like the time I gave her a piece of candy and she accidentally chewed it with the paper on, not realizing it had paper on it. She finally spat it out, mumbling that it had no taste, and the girls (udadewethu, my sisters) just laughed and laughed and laughed.

My friend Bukhosi (who Matt introduced me to) gave me my Zulu name, which is uBuhle. It means Beauty or Goodness. Names are given to signify what parents (or in this case, friends) hope for the person. My family called me noBuhle, which actually means Queen of Beauty. They called me this because I usually introduced myself as "igama lami nguJessica kodwa igama eliZulu nguBuhle", which, when shortened, becomes uJessica noBuhle (Jessica and Buhle). But noBuhle has a special meaning as well.

My teachers call me Buhle as well.

Thanks, Bukhosi! I'm enjoying my name.