Sandra’s Wedding Reception

One of the things that I have been really grateful for here in South Africa is the opportunity to teach English. It's often a really big challenge and more times than not I find myself with no real idea what I am doing, realizing that my own knowledge of the English language is quite limited. Despite all things, it has definitely been an overall positive experience (even after very over whelming classes). Part of this reason has to do with my students, all of whom are immigrants from the DRC. They are always eager to learn and even if I am not always the most helpful, I think we're getting somewhere.

I especially like my one student named Sandra (who is actually only about three years older than me). Being one of the few (and sometimes only) female in my class, I am always delighted to see her when she walks in to class, dressed very nicely, with a new hair style and a sheepish grin on her face, that she uses to apologize for being late.

This past Friday, I had the opportunity to go with Christine and her two daughters, Annika and Lydia, to Sandra's "wedding reception." Sandra and her husband have technically been married for awhile. They had their traditional ceremony in the Congo months ago, but last Friday were finally able to become registered as a married couple in South Africa.

Being at the party was definitely a memorable experience, although we didn't do a whole lot while we were there. We arrived at the party close to five (although the invitations we got said 3:30. This was probably my first true taste of "African time." Things run slower than North American "time" in South Africa, but it really isn't that extreme. Congolese time, however, was a whole other story. Surprisingly, the slower time didn't bug me – someone who is typically prone to be "clock oriented." This probably had to do with the fact that I was currently skipping the beginning of the Mega Youth Camp, and thus was happy to be anywhere but there). I sat with Annika and Lydia for awhile, ate some snacks, and had some small talk conversations with a few of the people already there as we waited for the bride and groom to arrive at the house. They came, eventually. I think it was probably close to 6 before they actually showed up. When they did, they stood out by their car for awhile until all of us came and greeted them. We then proceeded to "dance" them into the main sitting area. (Dance is a very loose word here. Basically we lined up in groups of two behind the bride and groom and slowly walked behind them, stepping to the right and left with the rhythm of the music being played. (Sorry for not knowing how to else describe it). After that we took our seats again and watch Sandra and Adolph dance. Eventually supper was served, although I am pretty sure it was another hour after they arrived that we were able to eat. There was a ton of food there including chicken, fish, two different tubs of rice (and I do mean tubs), a cabbage salad-type dish, and this African dish that is basically just cooked cornmeal. It was all really nice. (Since we have Congolese neighbors, I am pretty sure I've had more Congolese food than I have had "traditional South African" food – or Zulu food). We left shortly after we were done eating, but Christine informed me that gatherings like this would go really late into the evening. Actually, I was a little bit sad to leave. The place had a great atmosphere and it was so "chill." Plus, I got out of part of the camp – so definitely an awesome evening all around.